Barbuto: “Everyone was dancing – it was fantastic”

barbuto press picca 2016
For the series My First Gig I interviewed the Australian DJ/producer Christian Barbuto about his first gig. "I wanted to impress everyone!"

This post is also available in: Nederlands (Dutch)

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In 2016 I interviewed the Australian DJ Christian Barbuto about his first gig. His advice: "Don’t play it if you don’t love it!"

“My first club gig was in a cool club in Sacramento, California, called the Tower Club, right next-door to the original famous Tower Records music store. I was 23 at that time. Was I nervous? Maybe just a little, but I mostly felt excited!”

Exciting time

“The audience was an enthusiastic crowd in their early 20’s, who were totally into house music. There were around 150 people, which felt like a lot to me! This was in the year 2000, so dance culture was at its peak in the city. It was a really exciting time.”

Fifty records

“During this time it was all vinyl records. I was just getting started with playing, so I had a bag of around 50 vinyls with the highest energy at one end of the bag and the more chill-out tracks at the other end. Evenly placed in between them, I went from high to low. Regardless of all those options, I pretty much just played all my high energy ones, which is what I still do today. Even now I don’t fully plan out a set. I usually have 5 or 6 tracks that I will be wanting to play for sure and then I will skip around in between.”

Warehouse parties

“In that day and age we used to have big house parties. In fact, these were often bigger than any club-party. Sometimes over 300 people would show up, so when I started to play in the local clubs and warehouse parties after doing all these house parties for such a long time, me and my colleagues had dozens of friends supporting us in those clubs.”

No clue

“Honestly, I had no mentor back then. I had to learn everything on my own, which, now that I look back on it, I believe was the best. In the beginning I really didn’t have a clue about what to do with turntables. I would just stare at the DJ for hours, then go home and practice sometimes days at a time.”

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Impress

“All of my friends were there, when I played that first gig. It was a great feeling! There wasn’t really a girl I wanted to impress, I wanted to impress everyone! And I still do, haha! That first gig was so much fun. I was addicted after that and have never looked back. All I still want to do after all this time is DJing.”

Train wreck

“I was really happy with my set and the experience. The massive pro sound system, the club lighting and everyone dancing – it was fantastic! I don’t recall making too bad of a mistake if any, but I am pretty sure – since I was mixing with vinyl – that I probably made a little train wreck here and there. Well, maybe once.” (laughs) I’m much more critical of my sets today.”

Full house

“What I learned from that first gig, is to know that, when you have the opportunity to be behind the decks, it’s your own special time to express yourself and play your favorite music and to just have fun. Besides that, it’s important to always play like you’re playing for a full house, even if there aren’t that many people. Just go for it! If you make a mistake, blow it off and keep mixing. Take risks, so your transitions and drops are wild and fun and don’t just stand there like you are bored! Only play your favorite tracks, the ones you absolutely love. Don’t play it if you don’t love it!”

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“From the perspective of funny trivia: before I started DJing, I lived in The Netherlands for four years and was part of the Dutch Cycling team Sauna Diana from Zundert. This was a famous amateur cycling team. When I was free, my team mates took me to raves and clubs all over The Netherlands. That’s how I fell in love with the music.”

This interview was originally published on DJMag.nl on May 26th 2016.

Who is Barbuto?

The location was Sydney, Australia. An influential member of the techno monarchy was born. Christian Barbuto’s skill set and musical prowess would be discovered over 20 years later upon relocating to Austin, Texas. It was here, in the live music capital of the world, where industry protégé Christian Barbuto would fully realize his creative ability and duty to the underground.

It didn’t take long for Barbuto to righteously find his place at the forefront of Austin’s club circuit. One may say the stars had aligned with the opening of Kingdom Night Club. Barbuto found himself standing tall in the DJ booth, further refining his skills behind the decks. A venue that’s been touted by world class techno talent as one of the best clubs in the country to play, Kingdom Night Club is a techno arena and Barbuto is the undefeated champion.

His ever-evolving sound remains loyal to the dark, bass-hungry attributes of techno. Watch in awe as Barbuto’s sets cast a spell upon the dance floor. Weaving crowds in and out between moments of deep, infectious groove to minimal modulation, Barbuto approaches each performance with intellect and vivacious energy. Keeping audiences transfixed for hours upon end, Barbuto sets the bar for all others to strive for.

This edge is exactly what has landed Barbuto on many of the industry’s prestigious imprints including Octopus, Transmit, Funk n’ Deep, Phobiq and Natura Viva among others. He’s hypnotized the dance floors of WMC, The BPM Festival, CODA (Toronto), Avalon (Los Angeles), Space Miami, Tree House (Miami), The End Up (San Francisco), Spin (San Diego), Jet Lounge (Houston), Quality Control (Salt Lake City) and dozens of underground parties across North America.

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