Azadi
ZAINAB, Aku, DJ Guari
public records233 Butler St, Brooklyn, NY 11217 · Map
This night happened — Thu 16 Apr
Press play
Who was billed3 artists
In the order the promoter listed them.
Set times were not published.
Who they are
Recently at public records, Club Bohemia, Elsewhere · often with Dynoman, Arianna Danae, AceMo, none of them here that night
“Gabriel Justin Spiel was raised in a musical West Seattle environment by a father who was a professional piano-tuner and a mother who was a dancer.”
their own biography
the whole biography
Gabriel Justin Spiel was raised in a musical West Seattle environment by a father who was a professional piano-tuner and a mother who was a dancer. By age 10, he was an accomplished trumpet player and eventually moved on to French horn, where he spent many years studying with the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Seattle Conservatory of Music at Garfield High School. What better route to go from there than the path of the superstar DJ? He has been DJing the the Seattle area for eight years now, playing at places as varied as Pike Pub & Brewery (where he ran the night and had a weekly residency for three years), Henry Art Gallery, Sonya’s, Mr. Lucky, Contour (currently a monthly resident), the ReBar (currently working on a monthly residency), and Last Supper Club. His major influences over the years have been Sasha & Digweed, Pink Floyd, Dan Deck, his viciously critical roommates, Digweed, Digweed, and Digweed (he sports his “John Digs Weed” shirt when he’s in a bad mood.) His goal is to bring back the DJs who are willing to play eight-hour sets without complaining, who play great tracks (that they truly enjoy), mixing so that no one has to notice where they’re going or where they’ve been; just get lost in the music. Gabe lives by the quote - “As a musician, if you ain’t feelin’ it, chances are no one else is either.” He recently picked up the moniker “DJ Aku” for various sneaky, translateable reasons. What does ‘aku’ mean? That’s up to interested parties to find out. Gabe is currently working piecewise on production efforts with his Confined Media cohorts, approaching the electronic music angle not just from a DJ perspective, but from the mind of a producer, too. He has helped with five ongoing production efforts (yet to be oficially released) and his most consistent and admirable addition to the efforts (drawing, I assume, on his classical training) is “there should be an arpeggio in there somewhere.” (Thanks, man, now get the hell out of here). Gabe is just as comfortable playing for a crowd of two as he is for a crowd of dozens, hundreds or thousands when the time appropriately comes. Over the years, people have told him that he needs to put a more relaxed track in his sets every once in a while, to give people a break and a chance to breathe and go get a drink. His consistent response - “Sure, whatever.” His style is elastic between quick and slow mixes, and he’ll be the first to tell you that he thinks it’s a matters of seconds that make the difference between approaching a mix one type of way or another. He’ll mention that epic is overkill, tracks that don’t move anywhere do just exactly that, weird minimal will clear the dancefloor faster than the ladies can sneer you down, and he has an affinity for tracks that are ‘pretty’. Add to this, he’s entirely willing to eventually have a staff surrounding him taking care of business, so that all he has to do is step behind the decks with his music and do what he loves. Not yet Aku, but your time will come. contact: gabriel@confinedmedia.com set available @ http://www.confinedmedia.com/gabe_sets/invasion.mp3Their RA profile lists Confined Media.Recently at Elsewhere · often with Jawani 4eva, Eshie, jakari wing, none of them here that night
Recently at The Meadows, Honey's, Mi Sabor Cafe · often with Dos Flakos, DADA COZMIC, Lil Zé, none of them here that night
names these artists often play with — not that night
- Bianca Maieli1 with Aku and 1 with ZEEMUFFIN
- Dos Flakos4 with DJ Guari
- Lil Zé4 with DJ Guari
- SKYWALKER4 with DJ Guari
- Arianna Danae3 with ZEEMUFFIN
- DADA COZMIC3 with DJ Guari
- Dana Lu3 with DJ Guari
- Dynoman3 with ZEEMUFFIN
how this compares
- Median final count, Thursdays at public records63
- Middle half finished between35 and 131
- Past Thursdays at this venue counted130
The room
public records — 766 events and 1,571 distinct artists since Aug 2023.
Holds about 300.
