James Zabiela: Dance Music's Modest Phenom

Everyone hates their parents' music. Unless you're part of the 1% of the population who actually agrees with Mom's penchant for the oldies, or Dad's affinity for country, chances are you've probably cringed in the backseat during a long family trip, or locked your bedroom door trying to flee lame tunes.

James Zabiela certainly did. Growing up in South Hampton, England, he detested the music his father listened to. As a precocious 12-year-old hard at work with Transformers and Ninja Turtles, Zabiela couldn't stand the muffled rhythms coming through his bedroom floor. The only difference between Zabiela's plight and that of so many others was that his Dad was playing acid house and techno music, and though he didn't know it at the time, the groundwork for a very impressive future was being laid.

In need of an internship, Zabiela went to work at a local record shop where his father also worked. It was the early ‘90s – an exciting time in England's musical history – and rave culture was picking up followers faster than Schwarzenegger did in California. After meeting local DJs and producers through the store, Zabiela realized that dance music was more than just repetitive noise. After two weeks, he was hooked.

And so it was that as a teenager, Zabiela was thrust into club culture. Heavily influenced by the eclectic sets typical of the acid house scene, he immediately taught himself to mix. Small, local gigs followed, but Zabiela was still after his break. In typical bedroom-DJ style, he recorded hundreds of mix tapes and gave them to cab drivers, superstar DJs, and everyone in between.

It wasn't until June of 2000 though that his efforts paid off. During his monthly trip to London for John Digweed's long-running Bedrock night at Heaven, Zabiela spotted Tyrant DJ, Lee Burridge in the crowd. Burridge was (and still is) a resident DJ at Fabric, an esteemed club across town known for its musical prowess.

Zabiela gave Burridge a mix tape, half expecting that he'd never listen to it. Burridge did listen though, and actually called Zabiela the next day to extol the mix. Burridge was so impressed that he passed along a copy to friend and fellow Fabric cohort, Sasha, who is arguably one of the most successful DJs in the world.

At the same time, editors at the British dance music magazine, Muzik were also listening to Zabiela's tape. For years their monthly “Bedroom Bedlam” mix tape contest had been a springboard for emerging DJs. Zabiela won the monthly contest, and was eventually named their Bedroom Bedlam DJ of the Year for 2000. On the strength of that win, Sasha signed Zabiela to his DJ agency, Excession, where he joined a roster that reads like the Who's-Who of progressive house: Sander Kleinenberg, Steve Lawler, Nick Warren, Jimmy van M...

A few months later, with only two international gigs on his resume, a 21-year-old Zabiela joined Sasha as the opener for his Airdrawndagger tour. With dates in every corner of the world, the tour thrust Zabiela directly in front of Sasha's fan base, an audience that proved extremely receptive to Zabiela's unique style of breaks-infused house.

Since then, Zabiela has enjoyed a light-speed rise to fame within the dance community. Having played everywhere from Moscow to Miami, he accepted what might be the world's most coveted residency – Space in Ibiza. This summer he pounded his way into the hearts of the We Love… crowd with sets that at first shocked the trance-happy island crowd, but eventually earned him a place amongst Ibiza's favorites.

For Zabiela, success has never been merely about the records he plays. What sets Zabiela apart is how he puts two (and sometimes three) records together. These days everyone's a DJ, and beat-matching does not a superstar make. Oftentimes he'll go so far as to remix tracks on the spot, mashing two songs into one by combining elements of each. His DJ sets are often likened to live shows due to the level of trickery he employs. Aggressively veering into mixes, Zabiela scratches and loops and reverses, layering effects and echoes, creating a turntablism-influenced sound that blows traditional progressive house mixing away.

Zabiela recently went back to recording mixes, this time for his second compilation release, Sound In Motion. Though Hooj Choons, the British label that released the album recently went under, this 2-disc set could be the most underrated DJ mix of the year. Falling somewhere between progressive house and breakbeat, the true strength of these CDs is their ability to transcend the limitations of those genres; it's breakbeat with feeling and prog that's not boring. And that is Zabiela's gift – his ability to merge the two dance music genres into a hybrid sound that will be a prevailing one in clubland in the months to come.

To make the album, Zabiela used two decks, two Pioneer CDJ 1000s (think turntables that play CDs), and an array of effects units. He mixed both discs live without any ProTools facelift, and amazingly, the mix doesn't even begin to suffer for it. On the contrary, the CDs showcase an astounding ability to tweak records together.

Currently, Zabiela now sees three different countries in a single weekend with barely a moment to rest for the clear-eyed DJ. Bouncing along with the bass, he approaches every set with the gratitude and excitement of a kid on Christmas morning. Though he's still getting used to the insane hand of cards life has dealt him, the shaggy-haired DJ always seems totally in control of the room whether it contains a crowd of 300 or 3000. With the moment appearing this bright, Zabiela's future has the possibility of being entirely blinding, proving, in this case, that father did know best.