The others

Charm

As the first Italian DJ to tour the world, he’s put his homeland on the global techno map. As the first DJ to mix live on the eminent BBC music show Top Of The Pops, he’s helped bring techno to the widest audience possible. As the man behind Meganite – one of Ibiza’s most successful and longest running nights – he has recruited some of the world’s most respected underground DJs as residents; Adam Beyer, Marco Carola and Chris Liebing.

This journey to legendary status began over 25 years, 700 releases and 7 million unit sales ago when he became the first Italian finalist in the world DMC championships in 1988. Galvanising this success the following year with a win on a live broadcast Italian DJ competition called The Walky Cup, his national crown as a premiership DJ was realised... And the world beckoned.

A string of sonic successes, dancefloor dominance and industry victories followed; early chart appearances as R.A.F and co- writing for myriad European house acts during the early 90s led him to become a partner Media Records, while his reptilian trilogy in 1998 elevated him to a global level; ‘Lizard’, ‘Iguana’ and ‘Komodo (Save A Soul)’ fused trance with techno on such a level they became hymns for the biblical superclub explosion during the last few years of the 20th century and charted in many countries. From this point onwards, the world could no longer ignore the dance music and techno phenomenon. And Mauro was driving from the front. As one of the most in-demand artists across the globe, he barely left DJ Mag’s illustrious Top 100 DJ list throughout the first decade of the 21st century.

Constantly searching for innovative developments – both musically and technically – Mauro expressed an early vision that is now common place within electronic music: his ability to bring the underground to the masses, to fuse melody, hooks and harmony with industrial strength drum dynamics, his innate understanding of widescreen DJ selections that cover the whole spectrum created a reputation that positioned him in all corners of techno.

This focus and attitude meant that as a DJ he’s been invited to perform the broadest possible range of peaktime sets from Berlin’s famed Love Parade to Turin Winter Olympics via Timewarp, Tomorrowland, MTV Festival, Awakenings, Sensation, Mayday, Ultra Music Festival, Space Miami, Ibiza and thousands more. As an artist this gave him the freedom to flex from major remixes of top tier acts like Freddie Mercury and The Pet Shop Boys while delivering extensive albums that explore every side of techno with daring experimentation with tracks such as ‘Baguette’, ‘Contaminato’, ‘Hong Kong’, ‘The Riff’ and ‘Asteroids’.

As well as his journeyman DJ sets and full spectrum productions, this vision is also evident in his two brands. Both established in the early 2000s and still going strong to date, his Meganite events and Alchemy label are both melting pots for evolution and development. Meganite at Privilege is one of Ibiza’s most infamous techno parties and has since gone on to take over clubs and arenas across Europe and the US while Alchemy has delivered cuts from the likes of Adam Beyer, Chris Liebing, Joseph Capriati, Paco Osuna, Popof, Sasha Carassi, The Advent, Steve Rachmad, Nicole Moudaber and many more. Not just a label, Alchemy has also given the world a successful festival in Mauro’s motherland Turin in 2010 and is the home to his hugely popular podcast series that is syndicated across the world and listened to by audiences of millions. 

Biography

Born in 1981 in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire in the UK Simon Voakes has a real passion for music and a wide appreciation of the ever expanding genres, from trance to drum & bass, through punk & indie to ambient & classical. But his true love is electronic dance music…


Back in the early 90′s the rave scene in the UK was really taking off and Simon, just entering his teenage years, took an interest in the Jungle & Hardcore scene. He would listen to tape packs & collect flyers until he was old enough to start attending live events and this is when his love affair with the scene really began to take off.

Back in 2000 he began frequenting top nightclub events including Peach @ Camden Palace, Slinky @ The Bournemouth Opera House & Gatecrasher @ Republic. At that time he was listening mainly to Trance & Hard House. The people and the music combined to create an atmosphere and sense of belonging he had not known before, he was now well and truly hooked. Simon also revived his passion for Hardcore & Drum & Bass by attending raves at the Sanctuary in Milton Keynes, the NEC in Birmingham and other major venues.

By early 2002 he had started to play around with mixing techniques and experimented with the different ways 2 or more tracks could be played together creating ‘mash-ups.’ And in 2003 he moved on to the next stage, no longer content with mixing other artist’s work he wanted to create something that was his and entered the world of music production. He had some experience with sound production, gained through an HND Multimedia course, including time spent in professional studios, but still it became clear there was a lot to learn.

Simon began building his home studio where he continues to develop his skills and is loving it just as much as the day he started. After starting with trance he has produced tracks in variety of styles including Hardcore, Drum & Bass, Breaks & Dubstep and brings a wealth of experience and variety gained from all these genres together to produce his own brand of uplifting Trance as ‘SV Digital.’

The EDM scene has been a huge part of his life and he takes great pleasure in being able to put something back into it. ..

Charm

Mauro Picotto