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Dieselboy

21 listings in 10 named rooms, over the last three years · 899 following on RA

DIESELBOY – THE DESTROYER!

At a time when headline "DJs" shamelessly play pre-programmed or pre-recorded sets and the masses mindlessly embrace the charade, Dieselboy stands out as a rare veteran of the art and craft of live DJing. His focus on creating complex and unique mixes every performance have created legions of fans around the world. Very few artists mix live on three decks with more precision, intensity or finesse.

For over two decades one of the world’s great ambassadors of drum ‘n’ bass and more recently dubstep, Dieselboy, also known as Damian Higgins, is America’s most iconic underground bass music curator and pioneer. He was the first drum ‘n’ bass artist to chart a single on Billboard’s dance chart with “Invid” in 2000, and the first American voted into the UK-based Drum & Bass Arena Top 10 DJs online poll in 2004. He has appeared on magazine covers, been heard on MTV, ESPN and numerous video games, and sponsored by DC Shoes and Pioneer Pro DJ.

The rest of it — eight more paragraphs

In 2002 Dieselboy founded Human Imprint, North America’s most prolific, dynamic and innovative drum ‘n’ bass label, and is co-founder of dubstep/electro label SubHuman, both now under the umbrella of Planet Human. Planet Human is beloved by its fans for top quality high energy releases by international vanguard artists including Bare (US), Mark Instinct (Canada), Mayhem (US), Muffler (Finland), Nerd Rage (US), Nightwalker (UK), NumberNin6 (US), Pixel Fist (UK), Subshock (Spain), and Zardonic (Venezuela).

Dieselboy’s legacy is one of trailblazing dancefloor devastation non-stop on the international club circuit as well as at major global music festivals including Bonnaroo, Coachella, SXSW, Electric Daisy Carnival, US Virgin Mobile FreeFest, Detroit Electronic Music Festival, Summerfest, Ultra Music Festival, Shambhala (Canada), Global Gathering (UK), Creamfields (Poland), Pirate Station (Russia), Jisan Valley Rock Festival (Korea), and PHAT 09 (New Zealand). He also toured with Moby’s Area2 and played metal concerts with Orgy and Disturbed.

Dieselboy’s DJ career began in northwest Pennsylvania DJing high school dances, and progressed as a University of Pittsburgh student learning to beat-match vinyl live on college radio and playing trance, happy hardcore and breaks at house parties. His 1994 mixtape “The Future Sound of Hardcore” led to out of town bookings and his ensuing popularity and skills led to the honor of being the first American asked by a British drum ‘n’ bass label to mix a compilation (“Drum & Bass Selection USA,” 1996).

In 1997 Dieselboy moved to Philadelphia becoming drum ‘n’ bass buyer and T-shirt designer for seminal rave culture/record store 611. In 1998 Dieselboy was the first American drum ‘n’ bass DJ to be nominated for Best Drum & Bass DJ at the Global DJ Mix Awards and tied with LTJ Bukem. From 1998 to 2004 Dieselboy hosted North America’s premiere drum ‘n’ bass weekly “Platinum” at Fluid.

A passionate connoisseur of food, books and film, Dieselboy has continuously raised the bar for mixtapes and mixed CD compilations as art forms, and each from 1992 to his February 2012 tour de force “Wake The Dead” stands the test of time. State of the art showcases of producers and graphic artists of each respective era, Dieselboy’s mixes have been described as “cinematic” and “intoxicating.”

Dieselboy’s goal in creating “Wake The Dead” was “to make the most intricate, layered, nuanced, amazing drum ‘n’ bass mix ever done. Period.” In its dramatic intro (a Dieselboy signature) the narrator describes a soul-crushing epidemic of epic proportions – a thinly veiled reference to the death of the art of DJing – a theme that has resonated amongst his DJ/producer colleagues and fans and beyond.

An inspiration for generations of DJs, Dieselboy’s longevity and relevance in a mercurial industry is a tribute to his relentless drive to create “amazing” experiences for his fans in their iPods and at his legendary live shows.

Dieselboy fans praise his skills as “genius.” Says The Destroyer: “I don’t fuck around.”

Their Resident Advisor profile, in full and unedited.

SoundCloud ↗Discogs ↗

Records out on System Recordings. — their own list on Resident Advisor

The nights

21 listings across 19 nights — two dates carry more than one listing, and all of them are here.

2026

2025 — 6 listings
2024 — 8 nights
2023 — 3 nights

Their rooms

One tick a night, on the one axis this page has — Aug 2023, where the listings start, to Jan 2027, the last night anybody has announced. The shaded end has not happened yet.

Aug 2023Jan 2027

Once each: Pier 78 at Hudson River Park, The Brooklyn Monarch, Hello Meadow, 3 Dollar Bill and The Woodshop.

Who they play with

Counted from the bills themselves, over bills of twelve names or fewer. A pair's count includes a night that is announced and not yet played; where there is one, the row says when.

  • Dave ShichmanRoberta's ×3, and 3 more rooms · Aug 2023 – Aug 20268 nights
  • Agent 137Roberta's ×2, and 4 more rooms · Oct 2023 – Aug 20266 nights
  • DownlinkRoberta's ×2, Xanadu ×1 · Oct 2023 – Nov 20243 nights
  • HamboneH0L0 ×1, The Sultan Room ×1 · May 2026 – Aug 20262 nights
  • Reid SpeedPier 78 at Hudson River Park ×2, The Sultan Room ×1 · Dec 2023 – Jun 20262 nights
  • Des McMahonRoberta's ×1, The Sultan Room ×1 · Jun 2024 – May 20262 nights
  • SISTER GAIAH0L0 ×1, Roberta's ×1 · Aug 2024 – Mar 20252 nights
  • DJ DaraRoberta's ×1, The Meadows ×1 · Aug 2023 – Apr 20242 nights

On record

88 more, back to 1994

Every one of these resolves on Discogs; the ones that do not are not printed. What Discogs files them under is not printed either — its label column carries mix series as if they were imprints.

The nights, the rooms and the bills are the listings themselves. The biography, the labels and the photograph are Resident Advisor's. The records are Discogs'. Nothing on this page was written for it.