Celeste: “Learned to play at Dano’s house”

Celeste & Marceline 2014
In 2014 Dutch DJ Celeste told me about the beginning of her DJ career. “Dano and Dimitri taught me how to play.”

This post is also available in: Nederlands (Dutch)

We met in 2011 through a facebook group named Huppels. In March of that year Dutch DJ Celeste played at a party, organized through and for this group. Since then, we’ve been friends. Celeste Perez-Vivas remembers the beginning of her DJ career well. “Dano and Dimitri taught me how to play.”

“I started early with going out. It was in the late 80s and early 90s. I loved to dance in a club or at some vague party. On many occasions I asked the DJ what record he was playing. Subsequently, I went to record store Dance Tracks or Rhythm Import and bought those tracks.”

celeste vroeger - Celeste: “Learned to play at Dano’s house”

DJ Phanthomas

“One day Dano asked what I did with all these records and suggested I should come by at his house, where I could try to mix. And so I did. At Dano’s house, on turntables that belonged to DJ Phanthomas, I learned the basics of mixing.”

Little messy

“My first time playing in a club was on a Thursday night at Club Mazzo in Amsterdam. I was opening for DJ Cellie, which was very cool. It would be my first time on such a professional sound system! Of course, I was extremely nervous. Because of that, I think my set was a little messy.”

celeste - Celeste: “Learned to play at Dano’s house”

The ball started rolling

“Not much later, I found the courage to ask Dimitri (Kneppers) and Crazy Shaun if they would let me warm the room for them on Tuesday and Wednesday night in Club Richter in Amsterdam. That’s when the ball started rolling.”

The king

“Club Richter had its own particular audience, that varied from the Amsterdam underground scene and Hell’s Angels till (inter)national stars. Even our present king used to frequent the place. In the beginning it took me a long time to prepare a set, but as I got more experience, it became a challenge to play along with the atmosphere on the dance floor.”

celeste 2018 - Celeste: “Learned to play at Dano’s house”

Proud mom

“My mom was extremely proud of me, especially when I got booked for a paid gig abroad. It took until then for her to understand that I was serious about music.”

“Dimitri has been my true mentor. But Dano, Crazy Shaun and Paul Jay also gave me the opportunity to develop myself technically and musically as a DJ.”

This article is originally published on March 27th 2014 on DJMag.nl.

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