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I got to know Hungarian Arnold Farkas a.k.a. DJ Slave in a small private club somewhere at a farmhouse in the countryside. We immediately engaged in an animated conversation. Arnold has been living in the Netherlands for several years now. In 2016, he told me about his first gig."I was extremely satisfied afterwards, because I knew I had taken the first step in the right direction."
“My first rave party was in Budapest, Hungary. It was at Club Kashmir in 2000. I was 27 years old at the time.”
Vinyl Era
“Was I nervous before the gig? I definitely felt a healthy tension because I’m quite perfectionistic. I wanted the transitions in my music to go smoothly. It was the vinyl era, and hundreds of people were coming to party.”
Improvising
“I had meticulously prepared my set because I didn’t want any surprises. Nowadays, I improvise more and try to connect with the audience. I find this extremely important.”
Club Kashmir
“The music I played was techno. True die-hard techno fans came specifically to Club Kashmir to hear the best techno. Fortunately, I could count on a lot of support from friends as well as fellow DJs.”
Signature
“I also had a great mentor, DJ Budai, for whom I am truly grateful. He taught me to develop my own style. What has always stuck with me is that he educated me not to copy anything from others but to find my own signature. He trained me to follow my heart. I still hold onto that. Unfortunately, my mentor wasn’t present at my first gig because he had his own gig to play, but if it was in any way possible, he always came along. He taught me the art of completely embracing the audience.” (laughs)
Amazing Feeling
“I had an amazing feeling after my debut party, although I couldn’t change the vinyl properly for the first fifteen minutes due to nervousness. However, I was extremely satisfied afterwards, especially because I knew I had taken the first step in the right direction. I did feel that my technique needed some improvement.”
Beginner's Mistake
“Did I make any blunders? Uh, yes! Due to the immense tension, I made a significant beginner’s mistake. When one record finished, I still had to grab the next one, and there was a moment of silence.” (Laughs) “But fortunately, I quickly resolved this, so ultimately, no one noticed my mistake.”
“What I truly learned during that first gig is that I learn from my mistakes. I can now say that I hardly make any mistakes these days, but that’s not entirely true, of course. Every time I DJ, I get better. On the other hand, I can confidently say that I make almost no mistakes anymore. This makes my own style purer and cleaner with each performance.”
This interview with DJ Slave was originally published in June 2016 on DJMag.nl.
Who is DJ Slave?
Arnold Farkas a.k.a. DJ Slave started his career in 1998. Since then he has been performing gigs in the cultic places of the Netherlands: in the Sugarfactory, Chicago Social Club, Westergasterras, BarCode, Wunderbar Nijmegen, CUEbar Amsterdam, and on JustMusicFM Budapest radio and many more clubs.
DJ Slave played several times during ADE, the Amsterdam Dance Event, which is the biggest music conference and festival in EU. Last but not least, he was a finalist of the famous Dutch dj-contest TWSTd.
He worked together with several event organizer, like Black Circus Amsterdam, Budapest Delight, Terminology and Fullaudio video. Also he did some live broadcasting from Brazil with his friend L.B.M.12 aka Luide Braga Moreira.
DJ Slave has deep roots in the legendary weekend nights of the Kashmir underground and K2 club in Budapest. His sound was tribal, groovy and rocking at the same time, although he also likes now. He played mainly techno and tech-house and dark tech, but on a classic night he still has his records of the greatest tunes of those days.
DJ Slave’s mixes are attracting about 500 party fans and more than 6,000 radio listeners every time.
Also, he got an opportunity to participate at the Amsterdam series of TECHNO TUESDAY, by Dexon from InDeep ‘n’ Dance Records.
He enjoyed to play live for Pulzar FM and Radio Zone, Techno FM Canada, Abuction Radio US, Planet Radio show. He also hosted music programs on the most popular TV channels in Hungary: VIVA+ and MTV Hungary.