Aron T

Aron T (dB UKi / Defected in the House, Tokyo) -

A seasoned DJ with over 17years experience behind the decks of London’s House scene and around the world. His experience and talent have seen him spin and hold residencies at such legendary nights as Soul Heaven, Garage City and Housexy and take to the decks of the capitals top venues, including; Ministry of Sound, Pacha and Bar Rumba. These nights regularly put his sets along side respected DJs such as; Kenny Carpenter (Studio 54), Norman Jay (MBE), DJ Disciple (Catch 22) etc.

Having been based in Tokyo since 2006, Aron gained himself a respectable following amongst the city’s ‘heads’ from both the local and foreign community. Off the back of his own event creations, high profile DJ bookings and some very respectable residencies, his has become a household name in this thriving metropolis. 2007 saw the creation of Aron’s own event production company ‘dB UKi’ and his first Tokyo event ‘SOUL’, which drew on the true spirit of the London Deep/Soulful House scene. The DJ bookings soon flooded in thereafter, seeing him headline and hold residencies at such respected events as ‘SOLID Tokyo’ and super club ‘WOMB’.

2008 was welcomed with co-organisational/promotional responsibilities and a residency for the world renowned ‘Defected in the House’ series at super club ‘Air’, which put his sets alongside many stars, including; Dimitri from Paris, DJ Gregory, Sandy Rivera, Charles Webster, Kevin Saunderson, Simon Dunmore, The Shapeshifters, ATFC, Copyright, Yass, Hardsoul etc. and even gained him a place alongside a plethora of these artists for the ‘Defected in the House 10th Anniversary’ at Tokyo mega-club ‘AGEHA’. In parallel with this project, Aron re-launched the legendary ‘Junior Boys Own’ record label in Tokyo with an event series featuring its owner and founder Terry Farley.

In a very segregated industry with foreign events on the one side and Japanese events on the other, Aron has been one of the very few foreign DJs able to charm his way into the Japanese community and remain, allowing him to enjoy both sides of the industry and perform to some very different audiences. Entering 2009, Aron’s diary filled up even further with regular bookings for Japanese run events; ‘King Street Sounds’, ‘Cyber Japan’, ‘Hed Kandi’ & ‘Pacha’ having him play alongside artists such as; Quentin Harris, MR.V, Danny Krivit, Sarah Main & Chuckie and begin a series of appearances at super clubs ‘Warehouse702’ & ‘eleven’ (formerly ‘Yellow’). Aron also started a series of monthly events at Tokyo’s ‘UNIT’, stepping away from his purist House routes and exploring all walks of dance music, with artists such as; Oliver Ho a.k.a. ‘RAUDIVE’ & Ashley Beedle (X-Press 2).

In 2010 Aron took it upon himself to break new, fresh talent in Tokyo, beginning with Vega Records/Yoruba Records rising star; Boddhi Satva. Towards the end of 2010, Aron was invited by Yellow’s ex-manger and manager of new hot-spot ‘Microcosmos’ to take on resident duties alongside Studio Apartment’s Masanori Morita for new flag-ship event ‘NXT1’, which saw the two friends play back2back from open to finish allowing the pair to really explore the depths of their record boxes and find new and exciting ways to play regularly as a duo in front of an intimate crowd. Also in 2010, Aron became an integral part of ‘AUDIO’, the first foreign organised 5000person+ 2day electronic music festival to be held in central Tokyo and then again in 2012 as the festival joined with UK mega event ‘The Hacienda’ adding more of a live element to the festival and putting Aron alongside legends of both the DJ and live music world.

In 2011, Aron cemented himself as a mainstay of the Japanese clubbing scene and was instrumental in nurturing it through difficult times. The opening of new super club ‘Sound Museum Vision’, saw Aron play a major role in events including the mighty Basement Jaxx and the legendary Louie Vega. While 2012 saw Aron continue to evolve musically as a regular feature at ‘Sound Museum Vision’, supporting artists such as Los Hermanos, Ken Ishii, Boys Noize, UMEK, Matt Tolfrey and Matthias Tanzmann.

As we enter 2013 Aron feels he has made as much of an impact as he can on the scene in Tokyo, so is stepping away from event producing and being more selective about the DJ gigs he accepts, in an attempt to free up his time to further concentrate on his music production. Ironically, this year he has found little time to commit to the studio as he has been lucky enough to have been invited to be a part of some very special events indeed; Playing the headlining role at AGEHA’s main arena, as well as headlining for the more sombre affair of the closing of Warehouse702. Supporting legends such as Darren Emerson, Dennis Ferrer, Bob Sinclar and also David Morales for King Street Sound’s 20th Anniversary and once again being an integral part of ‘AUDIO | THE HACIENDA FESTIVAL 2013’ alongside legends and modern day stars of the scene such as; Afrojack, John Digweed, Digitalism, Pendulum, 808 State, Happy Mondays, James Zabeila and many more.

With a resume as diverse as outlined above, it’s no wonder that when asked; “What kind of music do you play?” Aron finds it very difficult to answer and despite the occasional disapproving look from so called ‘purists’ Aron wouldn’t have it any other way, after all he sees variety in music as the-spice-of-DJing-life. It’s an attitude that has kept him busy for the past 17years in London, Tokyo, around Asia, Europe, Australia and even South Africa. Aron is a DJ who is never satisfied standing still musically but one who still remembers his roots, that a smile costs nothing and that the most important people at the party are in front of, not behind, the decks.

Of course, 17years ago Aron began his career on vinyl and like many was reluctant to give up the organic feel and sound quality as CDs made their way in but eventually couldn’t deny their convenience in comparison, especially when travelling and is just recently starting to discover the joys of the USB. Aron personally doesn’t favour the look of the PC DJ but doesn’t knock any other that has found their niche with this technology, especially those who have ‘done their time’; “Sure, using the synch button might be considered ‘cheating’ but DJs who have done their time have nothing to prove and ‘tight mixing’ isn’t the be-all and end-all of what makes a DJ great. Any monkey can learn how to mix but it takes real ‘experience’ to understand how to put together and build a set and ultimately work a crowd. Too many new DJs these days are all about the prime-time slot and have no idea how to warm-up a party!” Aron is so disillusioned with this fact that he regularly likes to take the early-time-slot at his events to show the newbies how it’s done, that parties still work under 120BPM and that playing in front of 30 people can be just as rewarding, if not more so, as playing in front of 3000!

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