At midnight on September 14 th , the vote for the best 100 DJs ranking in the world closes: with your
support, I could be seen in this very important international limelight for the first time.
VOTE NOW bit.ly/VoteAndreaCasta
Once you click the link you’ll have to enter your data, then write down your 5 favorite DJs: I ask you to write my name (the first name gets 5 points, the remaining 4 get decreasing points), for the other 4 you can vote whomever you like, but if you don’t have any preferences in the world of electronic music I gladly recommend Leandro Da Silva, C-Fast, Tenaj and Valmar (my label companions with whom I collaborate on several levels).
Why should an electric violinist be included in this ranking? Well, let’s just say because by now I’ve actually also become a DJ, and share the market, the scene and the world circuits precisely with these types of artists, even though my instrument luckily leads me to integrate many different expressive typologies and show/event proposals.
Do you know what’s one of the main reasons for why I’m requested in the main clubs, dance floors and festivals, as I’ve gone beyond the classical figure of musician/performer already for the past several years? Precisely my closeness with the DJs, their culture, language and technique.
In the years 2000, when I started working in the clubs, I played in the piano bar of the VIP lounge: I sang at the piano, and every now and then I would grab the violin for solos or instrumental pieces, and entertained the evening for 3/4 hours in a row. In the main room there was always the DJ, and during my breaks I too would show up behind the console.
At the time, when I was 20 but already had experience in radio, TV and theater, I listened to the DJ sets and tried to really understand what musical language the DJs spoke. I listened and watched, a lot and carefully.
I often saw them accompanied by performers of various kinds: sax, percussion, trumpets, sometimes guitars, and sometimes violinists. Many times, they were musicians of excellent quality and taste, but often, during the DJ set, they overlapped with the DJ’s flow without really grasping the choices and style, as if they spoke 2 different languages.
I’ve always grasped this performance limit from the outside and when I began, with great respect, I set out to overcome it. My approach to the console was gradual and constant: as I acquired the “culture” of danceable music (house, tech, edm, deep, techno or any shade of dance) I processed it in my violin style with the aim to integrate perfectly with whoever selected the sequence: the DJ.
Because of that, I was slowly able to play with top names, I gained the trust of the protagonists of the scene and I too became a dance producer and a DJ able to transform the performance into a “back-to-back”, that is, a shared choice of sequences.
The challenge of producing magical, narrative and captivating songs in the dance scene starring the violin is still one of the most stimulating areas in which I invest my time and the future of my career.
If you have read this far, whether you are a DJ, a fan, or a simply an online fan of my music, I count on your support, vote here bit.ly/VoteAndreaCasta
