This post is also available in: Nederlands (Dutch)
In the nineties, Israelian DJ/producer Ziv Avriel left his home country to try his luck in The Netherlands. This turned out to be a good move because his DJ career picked up soon. Of course, he remembers his first gig very well. In 2015 he told me his story. “I had barely heard of beatmatching.”
“As long as I can remember, I was doing something with music. In the seventies, my mother played a lot of disco at home and my father was crazy about The Beatles.”
‘New’ sound
“The first track that really touched me, was Herbie Hancock’s Rock-IT, mixed by Grandmixer D.S.T. His DJ skills astounded me. This ‘new’ sound was my trigger to become a DJ.”
Beat-matching
“My first gig was in 1992 at my high school. I was spinning at a party that marked the end of the semester. I was doing it with a cassette deck and a turntable at the time. I still barely knew anything about beatmatching.” (laughs)
First Technics
“Fortunately, the crowd was having fun and they were all dancing. During this event I realized that this is what I wanted to do! From this moment on I saved up every penny I earned until I was able to buy my first Technics SL-1200. When I became the happy owner of this turntable, I was constantly mixing vinyl in my bedroom.”
Beersheba
“About a year later, I had the courage to present myself in real clubs. This was not an easy thing to do, because my birth town Beersheba (Israel) didn’t have a huge offer in clubs. On top of that, the residents didn’t want to lose their spots. By working hard and being patient, I finally got an opportunity, and I acquired a residency in one of the hot spots.”
Second home
“After a few years in playing most of Israel’s leading clubs, I decided to try my luck in Amsterdam. That was in 1997. By now, Amsterdam is my second home. I met numerous DJs who bought their vinyl legendary record store The Groove Connection, which was ran by DJ JP Lonestriker and Joost Bleeker.”
Trance Buddha
“Through my Defuse Records partner Daniel Englisch a.k.a. DJ Diablo, I got the opportunity to play in a big Amsterdam club, the Trance Buddha. A night I will never forget. To witness that many people dancing and enjoying my music, was awesome. Even though I played quite hard that night! That was the real start of my DJ career.”
“From that point forward, I’ve played in many clubs around the world. Together with Diablo and DJ Juriaan I also had a residency in the epic Amsterdam club Mazzo. And now, Daniel and I run our own Amsterdam based record label Defuse Records. As you can see, dreams do come true!”
This interview with Ziv Avriel is originally published on DJMag.nl on Wednesday April 15th 2015.
Who is Ziv Avriel?
Ziv Avriel is the man Behind Defuse Records. Ziv Avriel has been DJing since the early 90’s. In 1996 he left for Amsterdam to experience The European music scene. In Amsterdam he discovered the sound of techno with DJs like Sven-Vath, Jeff Mills and others who influenced him. It took a few months till he shaped his set and started to play everywhere he could, from the Fun Factory to various other venues in Amsterdam. Ziv Avriel’s musical style can be describe as groovy tribal techno.
In 1999 Ziv Avriel started producing with Dutch DJ Diablo and they are still working on joint material. Some appeared on Defuse Records’s first album “Fusion Vol.1″. In 1999 Ziv Avriel got his Sunday nights’ residency “Underground Heaven” in the famous Amsterdam club Mazzo, where he played with some of the most famous DJs in the world. Think: DJ Rush, Misjah, Valentino Kanziyani, Jerome, JP, Shinedoe, Estroe, T-Quest, Paul Jay, Alan Inferno, Steve Rachmad, Carlijn, DJ Cellie, Thomas Schumacher, Joel Mull, Damon Wild, Commander Tom and Kazu Kimura.
His skills allowed Ziv Avriel to play in diverse other locations as South-Africa, Slovenia, Ibiza and Canada. During 2000-2001, Ziv Avriel was working in the famous Groove Connection record shop, which was voted as the best record shop in Amsterdam that year. In 2005 he became a partner in the “Groove Connection” and continued to work on his music. These days Ziv Avriel lives in Thailand from where he produces new music.
More Ziv Avriel?
More First Gigs? Check them all here!
