Starter For Five: Dennis Cruz
Spanish selector on the best ways to open a DJ set...
Spanish selector *Dennis Cruz* has pushed his way to the top with sheer hard work.
Constantly working on his set, this born perfectionist has moved to the forefront, gaining high profile slots across Europe, America, and even into Australia and New Zealand.
Matching his DJ commitments with studio fascination, Dennis Cruz has built a relationship with the always-vital Crosstown Rebels imprint.
Set to appear on an incoming comp, Dennis Crus sat down with Clash to discuss the best ways to open a DJ set in Starter For Five.
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*Dennis Cruz - 'Bad Behaviour'*This is one of my favourite tracks of mine to start a set with, especially when I want to bring the energy and the mood down a bit and reset things before getting into my set.
The break features some nice pads and vocal that creates a really cool vibe and usually causes the necessary damage needed to start a set in the right way!
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*Crash Course in Science - 'Flying Turns (Villalobos Mac Hawking RMX)'*This remix is definitely one of my favourite ever Ricardo Villalobos records, released on Pressure Traxx back in 2013.
The way I usually use it is to set up a loop once that track is rolling and this then enables me to mix into any style of genre from there onwards as my second track and take the set in any direction that I feel like heading.
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*GOLFOS - Feeling Good (JBL Mix)*This is a track from my project with PAWSA, GOLFOS. We actually made this one in Costa Rica when we were both on holiday there on a small JBL speaker!
The break on this one helps to ‘refresh’ all the minds within the crowd at the beginning of a set and when kick appears people usually go mad!
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*Space Jams - 'Amor Con La Ropa (TMB Mix)'*I used this track at the start of some of my sets last summer at Solid Grooves in Ibiza and I have been playing it out loads as well throughout my sets, not just at the start. Trust me when I say this track never fails.
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*Oliver $ - 'Doin' Ya Thang'*The last selection is this track from Oliver $ which features sampled vocal snippets from Moodymann and came out in 2011 via Jesse Rose’s Play It Down imprint.
I love this one for summer sets and open air parties, the elements create the perfect summer vibe to start a set and to build from.
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Crosstown Rebels present SPIRITS III is released on January 24th through Crosstown Rebels - order it *HERE.*
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