61. Skazi

Skazi

When Skazi's third album, 'My Way' hit the eardrums of metal-loving psy-trance heads worldwide this September, the inclusion of the rough, syncopated rhythms of dubstep was hardly a surpr...


 

Style: Trance-rock.
Best known for: A show with an electric guitar
Tune of 2011: 'Equinox'
Breakthrough DJ/Producer of 2011: Skrillex.

What's the future of DJing? Computers.
Favourite app? MicroPool, it's like snooker.
Discovery of the year? I am still hooked on Family Guy after three years.
Rediscovery of the year? There isn't one. I am moving forward, not backwards
Awkward Moment? It took me 35 hours to get from Mexico to Israel because of a cloud of volcanic ash. I was pissed off.
Style or substance? You need a combination of the two
Pet Hate? Bad connections at airports.

When Skazi's third album, 'My Way' hit the eardrums of metal-loving psy-trance heads worldwide this September, the inclusion of the rough, syncopated rhythms of dubstep was hardly a surprise. The only producer in this poll to slam monolithic electric guitar riffs into thumping trance, it's not only Skazi's experimental propensity that makes the raucous, globally embraced elements of the sound an obvious choice for the Israeli stadium churner.
“For me, dubstep is very metal,” he explains. “I am using synths but I still keep the guitar pumping. People like it, they love the mixture of many styles.”
And he's not wrong. The official music video for his single 'Warrior' hit 60,000 views in the space of a week, he tells DJmag, and with several repeat appearances in this poll, he's obviously doing something right. But, as ever, in the past 12 months, he's been reluctant to rest on his laurels, racking up a host of monster collaborations for the album, including various rappers, ragamuffin singers and, most impressively, Guns & Roses drummer, Matt Sorum.
“I have shown I have big balls to do something on this album, I hope,” he adds.

Apart from knocking up six music videos for upcoming singles - one filmed in a 2000-year-old ancient chapel - and playing to 25,000-strong crowds as far as Brazil, Moscow and Korea, it's been a relatively quiet year for Skazi… by his standards, anyway. ADAM SAVILLE