DJ James Zambiela beats things up at the turntable<\/p>\n
Joseph Mangga, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Jakarta was once again treated to some top international DJ
\ntalent when 24-year-old James Zambiela, the world's #11-ranked
\nDJ, played to a crowd of nearly 1,500 people at Club Centro on
\nJan. 24 in South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
From Southampton, UK, Zambiela grew up with a sensory overload
\nof the latest UK acid house, since his father worked in a nearby
\nrecord store.<\/p>\n
He started DJ-ing at 15 when his dad got him a set of decks
\nand a mixer as a Christmas present. He immediately became an
\nincurable vinyl addict and left school aged 16 to work in a
\nrecord store and hone his DJ-ing skills.<\/p>\n
Less than four years ago, he was a starving graphic designer
\nby day and a struggling part-time DJ by night. Going to work each
\nmorning, frequently with only three hours sleep, he handed out
\nhomemade-mix tapes to virtually everyone he met.<\/p>\n
One of these landed in the hands of Lee Burridge -- the
\ncurrent world #30 DJ, who played the Triple-Xperience party at
\nAncol in North Jakarta last August. He was so impressed he passed
\na copy onto DJ god Sasha -- world #4, who played Stadium in late
\n2002 -- who was looking for a deserving young up-and-comer to
\nopen for him on some upcoming gigs.<\/p>\n
As the story goes, Sasha was listening to the mix tape in his
\ncar when he telephoned Zambiela out of the blue, offering him a
\ndream slot with his DJ agency, Excession. They say lightning
\nnever strikes twice, but that very same month the same mix tape
\nwon the prestigious Mixmag Magazine Bedroom Bedlam competition.
\nIt must have been one helluva mix ...! As Zambiela said, in an
\nexclusive interview with The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
\"When I gave them that tape it was like a mixture of all my
\nfavorite DJs at that time. I used to like Danny Howells and I
\nliked what Lee and Sasha would do. I think every DJ is a mixture
\nof their favorite DJs. Its kind of a weird thing.\"<\/p>\n
What's even weirder is how quickly Zambiela became
\nunquestionably the hottest young DJ sensation on the planet.<\/p>\n
Besides headlining huge gigs in Europe and Ibiza last summer,
\nhe has also recently toured Asian cities like Hong Kong, Taipei,
\nand Singapore, and now Jakarta. This was only a quick two-city
\nAsia trip for the young spin-master, then he's straight back to
\nEngland to record a two-hour Essential Mix for Radio 1 -- the
\nhighest profile dance music radio show in the UK.<\/p>\n
\"Its kind of really a privilege to be asked to do, but I'll
\n(record) it live. I don't use Pro-Tools (i.e. a 'virtual studio'
\ncomputer program used by most DJs and producers). Its kind of
\nsomething I'm against. I just like the whole live thing, (making)
\nit up as you go along, using FX units and things (like that).\"<\/p>\n
Sound in Motion -- his only commercial release to date -- is
\nvery unusual for it is more or less a live recording of his DJ
\nmix without any overdubs or major studio manipulation whatsoever.<\/p>\n
As Zambiela describes, \"It was simply a case of me going into
\nmy bedroom, putting the tape recorder on, DJ-ing for a couple of
\nhours, then I gave the tapes to the record company and that was
\nthat\".<\/p>\n
As for current projects, Zambiela has a song remix, Eli,
\ncoming out on Global Underground next month, plus a shadowy remix
\nCD scheduled for release sometime in July.<\/p>\n
\"Eli is a track by Adin Lavelle, James Lavelle's (world #44
\nDJ) little brother. I finished it the day before I left so I
\nplayed it last night (at Centro Singapore) for the first time
\n(and) I'll play it again tonight. I'm (also) going to do a new
\nmix CD, but it's top secret at the moment. I can't tell you what
\nlabel or anything. I don't know how I'm going to do it yet, (but)
\nI'm going to try and get an even more live feel to it.\"<\/p>\n
One of two things that distinguishes Zambiela from most other
\nDJs is his ability to utilize the latest DJ gadgetry to its
\nfullest potential, live: using the decks and effects units to
\ncreate a separate lead instrument.<\/p>\n
\"Right now I'm using the Pioneer CDJ-1000 CD deck and EFX-500
\nunit in a much more musical way, trying to put in more of a
\nperformance rather than just 'playing records', one after
\nanother. I've also had a lot of scratch influence from (scratch
\nhip-hop) DJs like Run-DMC and Jazzy Jeff.\"<\/p>\n
During his Centro performance, this translated into extended
\nbass drop-outs followed by spacey, improvised CD-scratch solos
\nand full-bore assaults of FX-laden vocal and synthesizer loops.<\/p>\n
\"Sometimes (I'll use) three decks and an a cappella vocal as
\nwell. I've worked out (how) you can use the feedback delay on the
\nPioneer FX unit in the same way as the C-Loops feedback loop.
\nIts kind of weird (for) it's not meant to do that,\" Zambiela
\nsays.<\/p>\n
The other thing unique about Zabiela is his extensive use of
\n\"breakbeat\" tracks -- quirky, off-beat, almost jazzy rhythms,
\nsqueezed somewhere in between a standard 4\/4 beat.<\/p>\n
When asked about his style, Zambiela said, \"I'm a sort of a
\nreal mixture of everything, so I guess that's me. Just a mish-
\nmash. I play a lot of break-beat, a lot a techno, a lot of house.
\nA real mixture of anything, that acid house stuff, mellower
\nstuff, more melodic stuff as well.\"<\/p>\n
Zambiela certainly succeeded in taking everyone on a very
\nunique musical journey that evening at Centro. For a closer
\nimpression, we asked him what he likes best about the overnight
\nDJ-ing success that has befallen him.<\/p>\n
\"The fact I'm sitting here in Jakarta is pretty amazing for a
\nstart ...! I get to travel and see things and play music all
\naround the world. It's like the best thing ever, so no
\ncomplaints.\"<\/p>",
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