Hailing from the Northwest of England, DJ Rasp has become one of Europe’s premier and most respected hip-hop DJ’s, and a true “champion” turntablist.
Rasp started djing back in 1996, influenced by hip-hop DJs and turntablist crews such as Cash Money, ISP and The X-Men. After his initial years of dj’ing at house parties, producing mixtapes and non-stop practising, in 1998 Rasp decided to start competing in the highly technical and competitive DJ battle circuit.
Rasp is the touring DJ for a number of hip-hop crews including G&G Sindikatas, The Shakti, The Punning Clan, Random Era as well as the 12 piece funk band The Elementals. DJ Rasp has a number of club residencies throughout the North West of England, as well as performing at various music festivals, theatres and B-Boy events across the UK and Europe. He has also featured his scratching skills on a number albums and singles for various recording artists.
DJ Rasp has become a veteran at DJ competitions, reaching the UK finals many times and becoming double UK champion in 2009, taking both the DMC UK and IDA UK crown’s and in 2010 he successfully retained his IDA UK champion title. In 2014 Rasp is crowned DMC Battle for Supremacy UK Champion yet again.
Left: DJ Rasp performing at the 2018 UK Redbull 3Style Finals Recorded live at Westbank Arts and Music Club, London 26th September 2018.
In total Rasp hold 7 British DJ championship titles (DMC and IDA).
As resident at Ibiza Rocks, one of the island’s best-known and most inclusive events, Patrick Nazemi regularly entertains crowds of up to 3,000, playing alongside a list of acts befitting of some of the world’s largest festival stages. Technically gifted, with deep musical knowledge and tons of personality, he is a true representation of the art of DJing who has earned himself universal respect from industry figureheads and, most importantly, the crowds he entertains week-in, week-out…
Born in Los Angeles and raised in the UK, Patrick set off on his merry musical path as the member of a punk rock band in his youth, but he eventually transferred his passion for music into working at events, quickly becoming fascinated with the world of DJing. That fascination led to him learning the basics from one of the promoters he worked for, before picking up his own decks and teaching himself all the essentials and more. He found a natural affinity with DJing, being able to read crowds and becoming a superlative selector seem to have been Patrick’s calling. Incredibly, his first big gig was warming up for the mighty Zane Lowe, who now says of Nazemi: “Pat, you’re fast becoming a liability to have to follow on the decks”.
In 2014 Patrick was handpicked to become the main headline resident at Ibiza Rocks, during that season he played over 100 gigs to well over 50,000 people. His work at Ibiza Rocks has helped to cement his position as a highly regarded all-rounder, as capable of warming up for grime stars like Stormzy and Skepta or bands such as Jungle and The Libertines. In December 2015 he supported Mumford & Sons during their tour of the UK and in 2016 he was hired to be resident DJ at Craig David’s TS5 parties at Ibiza Rocks, too.
Outside of Ibiza, Patrick tours the UK for events like Propaganda – the UK-wide indie event – and Ramshackle, as well as his own hip hop party called Brooklyn Zoo. For each event he demonstrates his ability to traverse the boundaries between genres, all done with a deft touch and typically dynamic DJ sets, which show off his technical prowess as well as his selecting skills. He has also been booked to do his thing on the big stage at festivals such as Glastonbury, V Festival, Reading and many many more.
More recently, James has branched out into production and remixing, having taken the plunge and invested in Native Instruments’ Maschine and Komplete Kontrol. His remixes and bootlegs are often debuted on his international radio show, Hot Right Now, and despite being more of a personal interest than a commercial venture, they have been picked up by radio stations in the UK, US, and throughout Europe.
Originally from London, James is a larger-than-life Club DJ and Radio Presenter who has spent the past 10 years ricocheting between the student and gay scenes of London and Manchester. Having held residencies for the iconic Gatecrasher and O2 Academy Music venues, as well as some of the most renowned gay clubs in the country, he’s entertained the likes of Pride queens, BBC Radio 1 nutcases and club kids with his distinctive mix of chart pop, dance, house, and club classics. On-air, James can be heard presenting mixshows to a combined total global listenership of over 3 million people on Gaydio (Manchester), This Is Electric (London), and Nexus Radio (Chicago), alongside his hour 2 co-hosts, Stonebridge, Dave Audé, and Paul Morrell.
James is entirely self-taught – having taught himself to mix records together in his Student Halls in 2008. He’s mixed on a variety of different platforms and hardware setups – but for the past 8 years, James has DJed exclusively on Native Instruments Traktor, due to its nature as a one-stop-shop solution for library management, commercial-grade internal mixing, and its flawless mix recorder. As a result, James can offer informed, honest comparisons for those who might be familiar with DJing, but not necessarily Traktor.
Student success Caoilfhionn Rose interview