Style: “Dirty funkin’ house.” Best known for: “Crazy tweets and awesome Instagram picture edits...” Tune of 2012: “Charles Ramirez ‘Insane’.” Breakthrough DJ/producer of 2012: “Gregori Klosman.”
REGARDLESS of what you may think, the sound Chuckie has made famous across the world in recent years, dirty Dutch house, is not just about house music. Inspired by the sounds he hears on his travels at festivals and clubs around the world from Vegas to Hollywood, Aus to Ibiza, it’s about so much more… “At my parties I’ll start with minimal techno, play some more melodic stuff, then onto dirty house,” says the man who in 2012 has released more big room cuts like ‘1234’ (with Laidback Luke & Martin Solveig) and ‘Breaking Up’ (with Promise Land & Amanda Wilson). Not bad, considering he is — and will be for the foreseeable future — wearing a leg brace, having dislocated his knee by missing a step.
“I love playing so I haven’t cancelled any shows,” he says, “but I’m not allowed on long haul flights for a while. ” That hasn’t stopped him headlining personal highlights EDC Vegas and his own stage at MysteryLand, as well as recently hooking up with soon-to-be-huge American rap talent T Mills for a studio collaboration. “He just walked past my studio and liked what he heard, so we got together and did something in a few hours.”
However, despite telling us this time last year he was working on an album, one still hasn’t materialised. It’s a work in progress, though, and Chuckie is grateful his label isn’t rushing him into a release. KRISTAN J CARYL
If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be? “My superpower would be mind reading. In that way, I can read my crowd even better!” Should you play to the crowd or for yourself? “I believe in a healthy balance between entertainment and education on the dancefloor.” What does EDM mean to you? “EDM means house music to me...” Should celebrities be DJs? “If a celebrity is able to deliver a good DJ set, then he/she can DJ all they want.” Have you ever been thrown off the decks? “I have never been thrown off the decks. I recently dislocated my knee during a set, but not even that stopped me.” Are you a DJ if you don’t beat match? “I know DJs that can hardly mix, but they have the best track selection.” Where’s the next dance music capital? “If I look at the amount of clubs and hotels in one area, I think Las Vegas has the blueprint of becoming the next dance capital.”
Style: “(Raw) hardstyle.” Best known for: “My collection of caps.” Tune of 2012: “Zatox ‘My Life’, that track is special to me — you can imagine why.” Breakthrough DJ/producer of 2012: “None”
HAVING smashed his way into the chart last year, Italian hardstyle DJ, Zatox, has again pummeled his way into the Top 100. Having showcased his unrelenting, electrifying sound on his ‘My Life’, ‘Winter’ and ‘Fuck You Up’ singles, Zatox says his year has been “Hectic! The past 12 months have been one big, crazy story”.
Holidaying in and touring Australia was a high point. “It was incredible
If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be? “For some rea- son people sometimes announce me as the ‘Italian Stallion’. As long as I can fly I’m fine with any superpower; it’ll save me so much time if I don’t have to step on planes all the time.” Should you play to the crowd or for yourself? “You can’t play for the crowd; they come to be guided by you. I’ve followed my own heart for so long and it brought me here. Still, I make a lot of edits after I see people react to a certain part of a track; why not play that part again, or harder?!” What does EDM mean to you? “That is American English for ‘Dance Music’.” Should celebrities be DJs? “No! I don’t want to see paparazzi shots in the newspaper every time I wear the wrong shirt.” Have you ever been thrown off the decks? “Does that happen?” Are you a DJ if you don’t beat match? “Sure; just a lousy one.” Where’s the next dance music capital? “It will still be Amsterdam for another couple of years. A lot of other cities just pay tons of money to fly headliners over, but that does not make you the capital.”
to see such beautiful nature and the country itself makes you feel at peace,” he says, but his biggest highlight of 2012 was imminent when we spoke to him. “I am hosting a stage at the annual Thrillogy event by b2s. I will have thousands of people coming to see me and the guests I have invited; how’s that for anticipation?” IAN ROULLIER