We recently caught up with Greek-born John Dimas and discussed what magnetised him to the sounds of Chicago, Acid and French House, his performance with Djebali at ANTS back in May and his latest release titled “Secret Universe – The Cosmic Lense”.
First of all, you originate from a city in Greece called Thessaloniki. How influential was this city on your career? What does the city have to offer in terms of nightlife to the music scene now?
It’s where it all started for me, in a small bar called Daily which helped me to shape and evolve my sound back then. We had a good scene in my hometown few years ago, there still is but it’s a bit smaller now. It seems to have started growing again recently with different DJ crews throwing parties indoor and outdoors.
For instance, my best friend Jose Amba organises an event called Street Outdoors that started from a small free party few years ago and now they’re collaborating with Dekmantel for their next party.
You were drawn to the sounds of Chicago, Acid and French House. What was it that appealed to you about these sounds so much?
Yes indeed, I’m definitely inspired by these sounds but not only these sounds – I get inspired by much more stuff, a wide variety of music in fact. Chicago and Detroit etc… helped to shape electronic music in the beginning, I suppose everyone is inspired by that sound. I like their innovation, this music started over 30 years ago, and those tracks are still played and they will still be played in the future.
The Ibiza season is here. What is it that gets you most excited for Ibiza during the build up to the opening parties? Will you be attending any events this summer?
Like last summer, I’m going to go and live there from June to October, so I guess I’ll be at a few parties here and there.
You played back-to-back with Djebali at the ANTS Warm-Up party back in May at Ushuaïa Ibiza. What is it that you love most about Ushuaïa Ibiza and how do you think it compares to other venues in Ibiza? What makes it different?
It was my first time at Ushuaïa actually; I hadn’t had the chance to go there before. The sound-system is very good, being up on that huge stage is crazy and of course, the planes flying overhead and the whole atmosphere is very impressive.
You went back-to-back with Djebali at this particular event. What do you think of him as an artist and what kind of chemistry do you guys have behind the decks?
Djebali is a good friend of mine, we’ve collaborated a few times on making music, we know what we like and that makes our back-to-back work very well every time we play. I remember last year, we had a crazy six incredible hours playing back-to-back at Can Soleil (which is an amazing spot)… that’s something you don’t have with everyone you play back-to-back with, I can tell you. If you want to catch us, we’ll spin again together on July 23rd in London for Unleash, and then mid-August at Rex Club for Djebali Residency Ideal Juice.
Moving away from Ushuaïa Ibiza now, where else in Ibiza would you love to perform one day that you haven’t performed at yet?
I would love to play one day on the Amnesia terrace. I love that room.
Switching gears now, your latest release “Secret Universe – The Cosmic Lens” is currently available. Can you tell us a little more about this and the production that went into it?
Every year I take a break from making the music I do and during those two months I relax my ears making ambient stuff and experimenting with other kinds of music. Secret Universe is a product of those attempts.
If you could have collaborated with any one artist on this record, who would it have been and why?
Secret Universe is only me, myself and I, but maybe for the next one I will collaborate with a friend. Maybe Djebali, since we’re always on the same page, that could be interesting. Anyway, the next one is not until next year, so there is time to figure that all out!
Here is John’s back-to-back performance with Djebali at Ushuaïa Ibiza on May 21st – https://soundcloud.com/newfact-music/newfact-music-podcast-018-djebali-b2b-john-dimas
Here is John’s first EP release – “Secret Universe – The Cosmic Lense” – https://soundcloud.com/john-dimas/sets/secret-universe-the-cosmic-lense
Here is the intro text for Secret Universe – http://www.lola-ed.com/releases-june-2016-secret-universe-debuts-ep-by-john-dimas
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