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Biography /

“Watching James Zabiela play should remind everyone that DJing is a performance art as much as it is being
the purveyor of great musical sequences. The man (is a Dalek!) is an inspiration to his peers and his
apprentices.”
Pete Tong, Spring 2009
The “glistening sonics” of electronic music enticed a grunge loving 16 year old James Zabiela to his first set of belt
drive turntables some years ago, fast forward to 2010 and James is one of the most prolific DJs and producers on the
planet. Over the last 10 years he has played endless gigs the world over, some era defining like his ongoing (8 years
and counting) residency at Space in Ibiza to one off shows like Exit Festival 2006 where Goldie MC’d over his set.
James has released critically acclaimed compilations on various labels including Renaissance and Ministry of Sound;
In 2009, James released The Masters Series, an audio diary of 3 months in the life of James. It out-sold all its
predecessors, rode high in both UK & USA iTunes stores and received top reviews from across the board. His
remixes (official and otherwise) hold the same esteem, commissioned remix artists include Ladytron and Spooky, not
to mention killer bootlegs like his amazing meld of Radiohead and Joris Voorn. Other singles include Robophobia,
Weird Science, The Darkness EP and Perseverance EP.
His style spans house, tech-house, techno, melodic sound-scapes and breaks whilst he still cites Depeche Mode as
one of his major influences he also finds time for the likes of Extrawelt, Modeselektor, Paul Woolford, Apparat and
Phil K amongst others.
A deep understanding of what makes electronic music tick; he’s also constantly pushing the technical side of his art,
both in the studio and during live performances. So it’s no surprise that the Japanese engineers from Pioneer came
to James’ house to pick his brains; an alliance that James is deeply honoured to be part of.
In 2006 James was awarded the People's Choice accolade as 'Best International DJ' at the Australian Dance Music
Awards. In 2007 he was awarded the Best British DJ at the DJ Mag Best of British DJ Awards while 2007 and 2008
saw James sit in the top 20 of the world famous DJ Mag Top 100.
2010 sees the release of a follow-up to The Masters Series in which James Zabiela and Renaissance have joined
forces again to develop a very exciting new concept to release The Masters Series: Life. The compilation once again
features James’ field recordings from around the globe and will be given away FREE at all of James’ headlining club
shows beginning March 12, 2010.