MY DJ STORY SO FAR

I started selecting records at 16-years-old when I got offered a residency at The Water Rats in King’s Cross in London, where I played weekly for four years. DJing has always been a side gig throughout my career in music as a musician and record producer and, more recently, a filmmaker. I’ve always spent vast amounts of time collecting records for my residencies, but never into promoting myself as a DJ or recording my sets. From now on, however, I’d like take DJing more seriously and hopefully start playing more often.

I eventually took the time to learn mixing records at 20-years-old by attending a DJ course at Rinse FM in East London, which was when I started taking DJing more seriously. Since then I’ve been invited to playfriends’ club nights, events, festivals and promoted my own events around London. Highlights include a 3-hour set at my all-time-favourite venue, Guerrilla Bar, at Shangri-La Glastonbury Festival in 2016, a 4-hour set at Shangri-La Glastonbury’s crew bar in 2017, particular nights at a 3-year-long residency I held at The Duke of Edinburgh in now gentrified Brixton until 2017 and sets at my own club nights in London at venues such as Bloc. Autumn Street, Barfly/Camden Assembly, the legendary but now sadly gone 12 Bar on Denmark Street in Soho, and Amersham Arms in New Cross.

Since moving to Melbourne in 2019 I have started a new series called What I’d Play At…, which is a collection of mixes where I pick records based on what I would play at my favourite venues, spaces and places around the world. No better way to start this than with a club I have recently totally fallen in love with, Revolver Upstairs in Melbourne. This venue is the closest thing I have ever experienced to the atmosphere, vibes and ethics of Guerrilla Bar at Shangri-La, Glastonbury Festival.

Having missed out on clubs such as The Hacienda, Studio 54, The Loft, Shroom and others because of when I was born, this is what I would imagine (after having read and watched several documentaries on these institutions) the atmosphere at these places would be like. Something you can’t quite put your finger on but where there is huge energy and respect in the air and where you meet absolute diamonds.

Please take the time to give this series and any sets I record in the future a listen and let me know what you think!

Pedro x