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.”
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.”
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.”
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 interview with DJ Celeste is originally published on March 27th 2014 on DJMag.nl.
Who is DJ Celeste?
DJ Celeste is a music fan, DJ and producer. Born and raised in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in 1974, she started performing as a dancer in the winter of 1991 with Dutch dance music formations as QUAZAR and WARP-9. This was followed by a long period of touring with these bands and guest performances being a dancer at various clubs through out Europe.
Next to DJ Celeste’s passion for dancing, house music and performing in nightlife, Celeste became a keen collector of vinyl recordings containing all her favorite styles and tunes in dance music from ambient, groovy lounge to trancy minimal electro techno.
Inspired by other DJs playing all sorts of different club and dance music, using various techniques to scratch and mix styles like garage, hip hop, R&B, popular Top 40 and progressive techno, DJ Celeste began to practise and experiment with turntables and a music mixer. Attending The School of Audio Engineering (SAE), Celeste trained to become a studio engineer.
In 1992 Celeste had her very first airplay. After that she was invited regularly as a guest DJ in various programs on Amsterdam local Pirate Radio Station Radio 100. DJ Celeste also made her DJ debut for a clubbing audience at Amsterdam’s former famous Club MAZZO. After this gig that happend on a Thursday night, DJ Celeste was soon asked to play her Celestial Night Grooves in various clubs, several private and student parties in The Netherlands.
DJ Celeste began as a warming-up DJ for Dimitri and Crazy Shaun at ‘Club 36 op Schaal van Richter’ in Amsterdam and organized and hosted her first own night on Monday’s at Club Amnesia in Amsterdam. Soon more nights at various venues hosted the impressing atmosphere Celestial Night Grooves bring to people all over the world.
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