BILLY GONZALEZ

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RANK	SCORE ?	GENRE	LOCATION
65123	0	All Styles	London, GB

Billy Gonzalez was born nodding his head to a 4/4 beat and has so far DJed in every London club, bar or warehouse worth every London club, bar or warehouse worth throwing a beat at! His passion for House music and insatiable desire to share the often underplayed sounds of the underground have taken him all over, rocking the dancefloor wherever he goes from Ibiza to Brixton, Warsaw back to Madrid. Now looking to take things to the next level, he has been hard at work translating his eclectic sound to his own production. The result is his debut single "Serotone" forthcoming on Red Recordings, a darkly melodic peak-timer that refuses to be pigeonholed into either minimal techno or Electro-House....

We can thank Billy's older brother for getting him into House music in the early nineties, having been musical from birth and taking in all genres. Eclectic influences remain today and, while generally classifiable as House, you can hear his sets blending many variations on the theme and crossing over at will. Rather than sticking to one style Billy keeps things moving with the times, carefully selecting and blending the finest tracks available from international producers, on or off of mainstream distribution, to create a seamless flow of energy and passion in the mix. He strives to keep a balance between playing for the people and controlling the dancefloor, constantly picking up on energy levels and crowd reactions.

It was in the Summer of 2000, when first visiting the white isle, that Billy was inspired to take his passion for dance music further. Here he witnessed the response to big name DJs, the showmanship of live DJ performances and atmosphere in these huge dark rooms of pounding Techno moved him and watching Eddie Halliwell cut, scratch, loop and filter his way through tunes had an instant appeal, persuading Billy to learn the same art on returning to the UK.

After picking up tips from DJ friends and some considerable practice, playing any and every house party around, Billy got to work on recording his sets for mix CDs- the first of note was Funct House, followed by Selectro and, by Autumn 2002, he had his first House/Breaks/Techno demo prepared. While at university he joined the LSE's Underground Dance Music Society and was given the opportunity to play at a number of events held in the Underground Bar. His performances there attracted a lot of attention, earning him recommendations to promoters and soon enough the sets were coming in thick and fast.

Then based in Shoreditch, he played for nights held in The Charterhouse Bar, Parker's Place, Fluid, 1920, Bed, The Bear and Ember. His prime-time club debut came in March 2003 when asked to play a set in The Quad, the hour just before Judge Jules- once labelled the most influential man in the UK scene. Bridging from funky house before him, he kept the rhythm going adding techier sounds through the set climaxing to a trance finale ready for JJ to take control. He remembers asking Jules if ready, to which he replied "No I'm enjoying this. Do you want to stay on for a bit longer?" This led to him being booked the following September for 'Party Like There's No Tomorrow' once again playing before Judge Jules, this time for 2 hours in the main room of Turnmills.

In 2004, two of his mixes were selected to be showcased on the Chemical-Records site and he was invited to play live on Pulse FM radio station. Getting on well with producers of the show he was invited back to host his own weekly show "An Education in Dance". At the 2005 Pulse FM Awards he won the "Best DJ" category and "Best Club DJ" the following year. Always responding to changes in tastes and shifts in the club scene, his second trip to Ibiza showed him a new sound coming from DJs such as Felix the Housecat, Dan Ghenacia & Benny Benassi, whom he met with and discussed the Electro and minimal genres. He returned to London with an aim to champion these sounds, splicing them into his sets at 333, Heaven, Hidden, Masque, Meet, Ministry of Sound, SEOne, Turnmills, Egg, The End and The Key, creating his own edits/bootlegs of preferred tracks to make each set unique. He was voted in as president of the UDMS in 2005 and took them in new directions, organizing a national DJ competition and putting on some wild parties at Cosmo, Play, 93 Feet East, Plastic People, Thirst & again at the Ministry of Sound. He returned to Ibiza in the Summer of 2006 with TiC as part of the WiLDCHiLD tour, a brand who had helped propel him onto the main stage in the past and now had booked him to play El Divino, the Kanya opening party, Savannah's back room and the notorious Pukka Up boat party. His love affair with the island and Balearic lifestyle continued.

Alongside the UDMS, his own Tongue In Cheek promotion went from strength to strength, giving other up-and-coming DJs a chance to break into the highly competitive London club scene. Starting as a small-scale free preparty in a bar in King's Cross it travelled with him and his hand-picked residents Cooley, Oliver James and Luke Danger across London, hosting rooms for some of the bigger clubs including Pacha, Turnmills, The Key and Egg. The veritable peak of this was hosting an arch of The Cross on a packed Saturday night in January 2007. A truly emotional night for Billy to make his debut on the hallowed decks, he first rocked the VIPs arch and then finished off proceedings in the main middle room, booting off Steve Smart and keeping things pumping well past 6am with cries of one more coming from the crowd! Whenever possible Billy brings his friends in support, to share the experience but also to get truly honest feedback and they have all shaped the artist, helping him get to where he is today. It was a friend who booked him to play his first international gig in Poland for 7am Promotions' night at Panska 97, with Sandy Rivera and Billy deciding to go back to back, after Glasse, and they continued on to the nefarious Lustro- a dimly lit Warsawian joint open from Friday through to Monday in true Billy G style. On the back of this he returned to headline at Egoist the following year , where he was interviewed by the Polish equivalent of MTV and repeatedly broadcast across the nation. It was also friends from the Union DJs that added Billy's name to the lineup at Fabric recently with Groove Armada and Simian Mobile Disco. His first studio programmed mix entitled "7am Wind Down" arguably his greatest work yet, was showcased on House FM's Saturday night DirtyGroove show and is available for download on this site, showcasing a more chilled out, stereo friendly vibe. Now ready for the next step, he has taken to the recording studio and has his first track signed to Red Recordings, which will be released officially as "Serotone" with remixes in the late Spring season. Watch this space!!!