An interesting look into James Zabiela's toys by Pete Tong for BBC Radio1

[Sean]

I'm surprised this hasn't been posted yet.
Also great to know his background and how he has come from low-tech to move into so much high tech, talk about gadgets!!


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[mostapha]

It's really interesting to find out that appreciation for the music came second to appreciation for the techniques. Apparently, that hasn't changed.

Heh…jokes aside, I enjoyed it…kinda can't believe I spent an hour doing it…I had stuff I was supposed to be doing. Oh well.

[mostapha]

Bump.

Did no one else watch this? As much as I make fun of him, JZ is a great guy. I ran into him in a club in Miami last spring, and he took the time to say hi and was very gracious…on his way back to his VIP booth with drinks and a couple girls waiting for him.

The video is definitely interesting, and while I don't like his artistic style, it's nice to see someone using so many controllers and a laptop without resorting to the same tropes as every other controller DJ…other than the overuse of effects, of course.

[ChrisHynds]

very interesting watch, seemed pretty awkward in parts between Tong & Zabiela tho, some good topics brought up, Thanks for posting this +Rep

[mrkleen]

Pete Tong is a TERRIBLE DJ with very little creativity - JZ might as well be speaking greek to a frenchman in this video.

[ben mills]

I'm not a fan of Zabiela's style much - it's glitchy and doesn't really flow well to me. He does some amazing stuff with the equipment and really maximizes the abilities of the gear with his undeniable technical skill - just not for me.

[Finnish_Fox]

I'm not a fan of Zabiela's style much - it's glitchy and doesn't really flow well to me. He does some amazing stuff with the equipment and really maximizes the abilities of the gear with his undeniable technical skill - just not for me.

Same with me... not a fan of the music he plays but I love seeing him live to watch him do what he does. Plus... he freakin' loves being up there and I'm always stoked to see a DJ that into it - head bobbing, huge smile.

[Sean]

I saw Zabiela live back in 2007 or so and I thoroughly enjoyed his set, there was so much hype so much energy!

[DJNR]

Really interesting.

[lingk]

He didn't say much really.. It was an hour of nothing. He didn't talk about his work flow much or how he dose stuff. He was more talking about I like this because I can do ABC. that's fine, but it was all real basic. For a "Master" class I was expecting a lot more detail on setup/routing/work flow and that.

you could almost make a drinking game out of how much Pete Tong says music on an SD card.

[mostapha]

Masterclasses never show anything interesting. They're made to sell products.

Also, was this a masterclass?

[Pavin]

"I still like to beatmach"-JZ
BOOOOOM

[bobbyd]

Weird. It just seems a bit geeky some times. Just excited about another piece of gear - but not really excited much about the music.