This post is also available in: Nederlands (Dutch)
Meeting Daniel Gavilán aka DJ/producer Greencross in 2014, ended up in him staying at our place during ADE 2016. Before that, he had already told me the story of his DJ debut. "The night ended when the police shut us down."
“My first gig was in my home-town, Lecherías, Venezuela. I was nineteen at the time. I had a large group of very close friends and we wanted to go out. Unfortunately, the city was lacking of any club culture whatsoever. So, one day I decided that I would do something about it.”
Fairly decent sound system
“I had played at home before, but never in front of an audience. Luckily, one of my friends had a fairly decent sound system. So I simply picked up the speakers and threw them in my car to find a place to play. There was this pizza restaurant that had a terrace on top. it was unused. So, after picking up the sound system, I simply went to the restaurant owner and told him that I had around 30 friends with me, and we needed a place to play some music. That I would bring all these people along and that they would all drink at his place so he would be making money.”
Rooftop party
“This was all on the same day that the party took place. We suddenly had a venue, out of nowhere. Rooftop, on the beach, with a bar, a sound system and a line-up of two DJs and myself. It was dream-like!”
High expectations
“I tried not to show it, but I was very nervous indeed. It felt like a big responsibility to play for everyone that you know, completely unprepared in an unplanned venue. I knew that he expectations were really high. Also, in our group of friends, there were several girls that attended the party. I really wanted to impress each one of them. (laughs) This hasn’t changed to date.”
Pure joy
“The nerves evaporated after I put on the second track. From that moment on, I only felt pure joy. Of course, I had practiced many times at home, but I didn’t plan this set. It evolved spontaneously. I knew what to play and I already knew what track was the hit among my friends: Unlucky Punk by Magnum Force.”
“It was fantastic to see everyone having the time of their lives. It was very exciting; the crowd was totally pumped. I really loved this first experience. I could totally feel a direct connection with the people on the dancefloor. I had a great time and so much fun, that I didn’t want to stop playing. The next DJ literall had to make me stop. (laughs) This is when I knew that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”
No power
“I can’t remember if I made any horrible mistakes. If there were any, my brain must have deleted them. I think that at some point the power went down, but I can’t recall if this was during my set or during the set of the other DJs that played that night. I taught me for all next times though, that the power must always be strong enough to handle the power of the speakers.” (laughs)
“Although it was a spontaneous event, one by one all of my friends arrived and they brought even more friends along. Some people who were passing on the boulevard also got curious and started coming upstairs. I think we ended up with around a hundred people.”
Police
“The night ended when the police found out about our party and shut it down. Gladly it was already around 5 am and everyone had been able to play a fair amount of time. Most of my friends present that night, moved abroad by now, just like myself. Luckily, there’s internet and they support me online until this very day.”
“I owe a lot to my mentor Randall. He taught me the basics of DJing. I appreciate him until today and I still think he’s one of the very best DJs I’ve ever seen playing. Sadly, he retired temporarily, but he’s planning a comeback very soon. We’ve been friends since high school. He was a local legend in Lecerías and nationwide known in all of Venezuela for his technique and skills.”
This interview with Greencross is originally published in November 2014 on DJMag.nl.
More Daniel Greencross?
Venezuelan DJ and music producer, born in Puerto La Cruz, also known as ‘Greencross’. Daniel Gavilán starts his DJ career in the year 2002 when he moved to Barcelona, Spain. His debut as a producer takes place in 2007 with an EP on Madrid’s legendary Antiritmo netlabel. Both his DJ sets and at the studio, there is a marked eclectic character, which brings variety and originality, creating unique presentations and compositions.
Currently he manages ‘Different Is Different Records’, a digital record label releasing underground techbno music.
As a DJ, Greencross is constantly touring much of Europe and Brazil and has already played in Spain’s top techno venues such as La Cova, Florida 135, Be Cool, Sala Apolo to name a few. His work as a producer has hit important milestones such as remixing Ken Ishii, Angel Alanis, Drumcomplex or Adam Jay. High profile techno producers like Johannes Heil, Angel Alanis, Morgan Tomas, or Adam Jay have remixed his music. Greencross releases on labels such as Home Audio Recordings, Vokodek Music, Slap Jaxx Music, Seta Label, and showcases of his productions have been aired on Radio 3 Radio y Televisión Española.
Greencross’ music can be found in DJ sets by Groove Armada, Adam Beyer, Michel De Hey, Patrick Zigon, Funk D’Void, to name a few.
