Erol Alkan

DJs, I find, get away lightly with their live performances, as a lot of their work is pre-prepared and pre-recorded, so I was extremely excited to see Erol Alkan when I heard that he predominantly plays his music live, using sample pads, his laptop, kaoss pads, and synths. From the moment he walked out on stage, it was evident that he had years of experience behind a DJ desk, as he looked totally at home as he played a funky riff on his synth and inserted a sample to get his first track going. It was incredible that he managed to hold an audience with a track that we’d never heard for his first song, in fact, it was an improvisation on the spot we later found out, and if had everyone dancing and cheering, and he even replayed the hook several times as everyone was enjoying it so much.

After Erol launched the club Trash, he made a huge name for himself as a DJ, as it’s now one of the most influential clubs around, and he managed to get huge names to Dj and perform there. He was great at getting the audience involved in his show, and when he wasn’t busy mixing and creating music, he was dancing along and shouting out for us to do the same. He played his incredible Daft Punk remix, and held out a microphone to symbolise that everyone should join in, which of course we did. The atmosphere was incredible from start to finish, and his talent blew me away.