Mountain People

ILIAZ: After more than 15 years of dedication to electronic music, IliaZ has maintained his passion in vinyl and now is able to cover a huge amount of musical ground mixing new and upfront house and techno together with older and classic tracks. His long experience in dj-ing gives him the opportunity to create sets with undeniable flow and depthness that surprises the listener. IliaZ was born in Thessaloniki, Greece, 36 years ago but since 2004 he has chosen to live abroad. A decision that came naturally after he realised that he wants to be a citizen of the world, open minded and free spirited. Thanx to his parents he got into classical music at a very early age taking lessons of musical theory, solfege and also learning to play the flute and keyboards. This background was enought to put the "music virus" inside him and to draw his attention to any musical stimulant..At the age of 15, he dropped the music lessons , but overwhelmed by the early electronic sounds that had reached his home country by that time, he spent hours listening to pirate radio stations of the city broadcasting electronic music, making mixtapes and letting friends listen at birthday-parties and gatherings. The first concert experience listening to Prodigy live in 1996 , definetely had a big impact on him, as he realised he is so attracted to the vibe, the energy and the atmosphere of an electronic music event. So, after finishing school, in 1998 he bought his first turntables and started buying vinyls as it was the only obvious format that a DJ could use at that time. MAW, Todd Terry , DJ Sneak, Kerri Chandler were the first inspirations and after practicing for hours at home, he started organising parties with friends in a strictly amateur style. For the next 4 years in Greece , records kept accumulating at his home, while a network of people was created with whom he organised parties in various bars and clubs in his home town. His sound was already on the process of changing with a more techno orientation, digging deeper into all the legends from Detroit and Chicago. In 2004 he said goodbye to all his friends and family , packed a bag with 80 records, his turntables and his personal soundsystem and moved to London. The next 6 years were just just unforgetable in musical terms. After creating a network of music lovers from Greece, Spain and Italy he was introduced into the London scene participating in noumerous events and parties whether in warehouses in Hackney or just bars and small clubs in Shoreditch. In 2010, tired from the hectic lifestyle of London, he decided to move to Barcelona. For the last 5 or so years, he has dj-ed in numerous events in Barcelona's most important clubs, like Moog, Macarena, The Apartment, City Hall and many bars and underground after parties and has created a strong bondage with the family of Reckon and White Monky. His vision is to contribute to the scene as much as he can and present his kind of view on electronic music.