Ariel (DJ)

Ariel (born Ariel Belloso on 14 September 1967), is an Argentinian, UK Based DJ and record producer. He began his career by playing new wave music and disco music in Argentinean clubs in Rosario and Buenos Aires during the early 1980s and moved to London in 1991, after spending 8 months in Ibiza, where he was influenced by the early house music and acid house sounds.

Ariel

While DJing in London and throughout the world during the 1990s, he developed his personal individual style, a combined sound between hard house and trance, influenced rhythmically by his Latin music background with main focus on polyrhythm grooves and energy flow. This sound proved to be an integral and vital element for the evolution of London’s hard house and trance scene throughout the 1990s. He was also the first Argentinean artist to enter the UK Top 30 Singles Chart with his record “A9”.

Since 2001-2002 Ariel moved on musically, by abandoning the 1990s hard house and trance in the sake of a new Latin influenced house and techno sound, which he produced and performed through his 7 year weekly residency at London’s cutting edge club, Fabric.

History

Early years (1983-1991)

Ariel was born into a nightclub owning family known as Katanga, in the city of Rosario, Argentina. Being inspired by his older brother, he followed his steps and soon enough he started his first residency in the club Dimension in Rosario, a 2000 people capacity club. More residencies followed, including Mengano, Metro, Lager and Damasco. On New Years Eve 1985 Ariel ended his residency at Dimension club in Rosario performing a 17 hour set.

Ariel’s early musical influences and DJ style include early new wave music and disco sounds of Talking Heads, Blondie, Kat Mandu, The Clash, The B-52's, Flash and the Pan, and Gino Soccio, as well as local bands, including Sumo and Los Fabulosos Cadillacs.

Early 1990’s (1991-1996)

File:Fuct flyer.jpg

An example of Ariel's early 1990s press pin-up shot

After finishing off his secondary education with the highest mark in his school, Ariel attended Rosario University of Economics, were he studied for 2 years, before taking the decision to leave for Europe.

He arrived in Europe in the spring of 1991, more specifically in Ibiza. Very quickly he discovered the newly established rave scene, house music and the Balearic Beat and met the Pacha resident DJ Alfredo, also from Rosario. Soon after Ariel played his first European set at club Pacha in Ibiza, which was followed by guest spots in Lola, Es Paradis, including one gig at the recently launched terrace at Space.

As his reputation spread so did the bookings and basing himself in London, he began his residency at Crews in the heart of Covent Garden during 1993. Regular sets at Tribal Gathering, Limelight, Club UK and Tunnel Club together with an arduous touring schedule saw Ariel become a pioneer of the UK hard house and trance scene of the early nineties . Also, during these residencies Ariel became a pin-up in the London scene due to pictures taken by art designer Trademark.

Mid 1990’s and the “Freedom Era” (1996-2001)

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Poster back from 1998 advertising Ariel's 8 Hour Sets at Bagley's Studios

In 1996 Ariel decided to try something new, a weekly residency in London where he could play all night instead of 2-hour regular guest slots. Very soon he was offered a 10 hours long set in the second room of London’s biggest venue, Bagley’s Studios in Kings Cross (now renamed Canvas) for the weekly Saturday night named “Freedom”. Three months later he moved in the main room, where he performed for 8 hours, from 11pm to 7am playing a fusion of hard house, trance and techno rhytmically inspired by his Latin roots. For that period, Freedom was one of the busiest Saturday nightclubs in London. Over the next 5 years (1996-2001) many music magazines and websites started labeling Ariel's 8 hour sets at Bagley’s Studios legendary. Enhancing the above notion was also a phenomenon observed in many music related virtual communities and internet forums such as Harderfaster.net and Dancemuzik.com which comprised by a sequence of numerous nostalgic posts discussing the night and praising it as London's Biggest Clubbing Landmark along with reunion messages by fans and lovers of the Freedom club and Ariel's 8 hours sets. This Freedom reunion-comeback desire was ignited few years after the club ceased in 2002. However as of May 2007, those attempts were unsuccessful.

Keeping on mind London’s influence on the musical evolution of the electronic dance music scene, many of the period's crossover tracks exposed on Ariel's dance floor become worldwide hits, while being played repeatedly over a long period. Records such as DJ Sandy Vs Housetrap “Overdrive”, Latin Thing “Latin Thing” and Groovezone “Eisbaer” were firstly heard on Ariel’s dance floor.

Early – Mid 2000’s (2001-present)

Ariel performing in London's night club Fabric in 9th of July, 2006

Approaching the 2000's Ariel became a resident DJ at London's Fabric since its opening night in 1999; furthermore Fabric the first place he showcased his new Latin tech house sound, playing many of his own productions and performing with live instrumentation provided by percussionists and various musicians. An example of this sound is featured on his recent compilation for DTPM Recordings "Sydney Vs London". Ariel left Fabric in 8th of October 2006 after a 7-year long residency, the longest in his career.

Moreover, Ariel exposed his new style in other London’s cutting edge clubs, such as Turnmills. His party “Latinaires” took place once a month, along with the weekly event “The Gallery” for 2 years (2002-2004). In 2004, Ariel launched “Manteca” a weekly Latin music club, at Freedom bar in London’s Soho, playing a wide range of traditional Latin sounds, such as Rumba, Salsa, Cumbia, Plena and Brazilian Music along with live percussionists.

Lately, in 2005 Ariel found partnership with young producers Alex Celler and X Green to co-produce further music projects and lately, in March 2007, he officially launched his digital record label MyDust in partnership with Simon Plaskett.

Music

Influences

Ariel's distinctive electronic sound, both during 1990s and 2000s is formed by his knowledge and understanding of World and African rhythms cultivated into his sets. His percussive, Latin based groove is heavily influenced by the dynamics of Rumba Music and the traditional Cuban roots.

Moreover Ariel’s 1990s influences include the Balearic Beat , the early 1990s Hard House sound of labels such as Strictly Rhythm, UMM Records and later on Dutch labels Aspro Records and Work Records. His 2000s sound is directly influenced from labels such as Mosaic, Camouflage, Mango Boy and Ibadan.

Throughout his career Ariel was inspired by artists such as DJ HMC, S ‘N’ S, Marmion, DJ Sandy, Samuel L Sessions, George Morel and Bear Who.

The Ariel Sound

Since his early years Ariel always forged his own path as DJ. He did not follow any main music current and stayed intact of the passing trends. Furthermore, he managed to formulate a personal sound by choosing the records he played purely according to his taste, not in regard with the artist's or label's popularity and success status.

However, Ariel’s sound has progressed through the last 3 decades beginning as disco and new wave music throughout the 1980s, hard house and trance in the 1990s and Latin tech house in the 2000s.

Ariel DJ sets and track selection are always performed live, guide solely by instinct and consist of various mood changes and techniques, aimed to create energy flow and atmosphere on the dance floor.

Music Productions

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The cover of Ariel's Top30 record, A9, released in December of 1999

Ariel’s debut single “Deep”, released in 1997, was a hardhouse/trance record, released on Wonderboy Records and entered the number 1 spot on the UK Official Dance Chart straight after its release. Following the success of “Deep”, Ariel had multiple commissions for remixes. Some of these remixes include some trance classics as Marmion “Schöneberg”, Vincent De Moor “Flowtation” Dj Sandy Vs Housetrap “Overdrive”, Storm “Time to Burn”, Lil Louis Vs Josh Wink “French Kiss” and Darude “Sandstorm” which became the biggest selling 12” of 2000.

Meanwhile Ariel also released a series of more underground records, including “The End EP” and “Icebreaker/Time”. In 2000 Ariel released “A9” which went on to become the first UK Top 30 hit by an Argentinean artist.(UK Singles Chart #28)

Lately, in March 2007 Ariel started releasing a big number of tracks digitally in his label MyDust. Some of those tracks were made during recent years but were never released.

Gigs

Throughout his career Ariel's has combined his weekly residencies with international appearances around the world.

Residencies

The main room in Bagley's studios where Ariel's performed his 8 hour sets between 1996 and 2001

Ariel DJing in the London party of La Troya Assesina, 30th of December 2006 in Ministry Of Sound nightclub, London

Year	Club	Location	Schedule
1983-1986	Dimension	Rosario, Argentina	Weekly
1986-1987	Mengano	Rosario, Argentina	Weekly
1988	Lager	Rosario, Argentina	Weekly
1989-1990	Metro	Rosario, Argentina	Weekly
1991	Pacha/Es Paradis/Lola	Ibiza, Spain	Monthly
1992-1994	Limelight & Browns	London, UK	Weekly
1993	Fuct @ Crews	London, UK	Weekly
1994-1995	Lovezoo	Neuchatel, Switzerland	Monthly
1995	ZAP	Brighton, UK	Monthly
1995	Ritual @ Xenon	Madrid, Spain	Monthly
1996-2001	Freedom @ Bagleys	London, UK	Weekly
1999-2006	DTPM @ Fabric	London, UK	Weekly
2002-2004	Latinaires @ Turnmills	London, UK	Monthly
2004-2005	Manteca @ Freedom Bar	London, UK	Weekly
2006-present	Mondiale @ The End	London, UK	Bi Monthly

Guest Spots

His music has taken him to more than 40 different countries over the last 15 years, including the whole of Europe and main spots in North America and Asia, playing some of the greatest venues and music festivals around the world. Ariel was also one the first international DJs to play the Middle East and Asia, visiting among ohters places such as Israel, Turkey, Hong Kong and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.

Ariel headlined the first ever Gay Pride in Africa in 1997 in Johannesburg and was also invited to performed at the Summer Stage in New York City's Central Park the same year. Ariel's 2005/6 Latin American tour saw him play in front of thousands on Rio de Janeiro, Ipanema Beach, Punta del Este in Uruguay and Santa Cruz in Bolivia.

Lastly, Ariel was regularly asked to perform at the private parties of Madonna, Prince, and Bon Jovi among others.

Honors/Achievements

He was the first Argentinean artist to enter the UK Top 30 Singles Chart with his record “A9”.

In November 1999, Muzik magazine listed Ariel in their Top 50 best DJs in the world.

He was the first international DJ to be broadcast on Cuban radio, following his 2002 'Dia de la Revolucion' street party in Havana.

In 2004 and 2005 Ariel was honored to play 2 exclusive sets of traditional Latin Music at the Argentinean Embassy in London's Belgravia.

During his career, Ariel played repeatedly events for charities, such as HIV Research and London’s Big Issue.

Selected Discography

Some selected discography:

Albums

• 1999: The Sound of Freedom (Automatic Records)
• 2000: Freedom – 4 Ultimate Years Of Clubbing (Wax Records)
• 2003: Nu Latin Live (Red and Blue)
• 2005: DTPM - Sydney Vs London (DTPM Recordings)
• 2006: Mandarin (MyDust)

Singles/EPs

• 1996: Deep(Pilot Recordings)
• 1997: Deep (I'm Falling Deeper)(Wonderboy)(UK Singles Chart #47)
• 1997: The End EP (Pilot Recordings)
• 1999: Icebreaker/ Time (Pneumatiq)
• 2000: A9 (Automatic Records)(UK Singles Chart #28)
• 2000: A9 (Essential Records)
• 2000: Ariel Presents: Tools Volume One (A7 Records)
• 2000: Sampler One - Out Here (A7 Records)
• 2003: Central (Phoenix G)

Remixes

• 1996: Vincent De Moor - Flowtation (XL Recordings)
• 1997: Kool World - In-Vader (Kool World Records)
• 1997: The Vinyl Frontier - Vibe to the 7 (Sound Design)
• 1998: Marmion - Schöneberg (FFRR)
• 2000: Josh Wink & Lil' Louis – French Kiss (FFRR)
• 2000: Angelic - It's My Turn (Serious)
• 2000: DJ Sandy vs. Housetrap – Overdrive (Positiva)
• 2000: Darude – Sandstorm (Neo Records)
• 2000: Storm - Time to Burn (Data Records)
• 2000: DJ Jean - The Launch (AM-PM)
• 2001: Warp Brothers - Phatt Bass" (Nu life)
• 2001: Nigel Gee - Hootin' Harry (Neo Records)
• 2001: Joshua Ryan – Pistolwhip (Nu Life)

External Links

• Ariel's Official Website
• Template:MySpace