What’s On profile James Zabiela as comes to Dubai to play Plus Minus Sessions at Nasimi Beach, Atlantis The Palm, Dubai. Get tickets information here.

Also this weekend…
– John Morales at Story
– Kry Wolf at Dek On 8
– Radio Slave at Blue Marlin

If you caught James Zabiela’s autumn gig in Dubai you’ll know he tore Plus Minus Sessions apart. If you missed out, here’s your chance to witness the club carnage as our friends at Hype hear from the man himself…

– “I’m definitely more confident about my music and studio expertise now.”

– “Get out there and meet people. For me that was the hardest bit, being quite shy when I first started out. But it’s so important to meet your potential peers.”

– “I was always fascinated by scratch DJs and computer games as a kid. When I was growing up I mostly just wanted to emulate my hero Sasha, who was the king of the long seamless blend and was technical in an entirely different sense.”

– “When I go in the studio to make stuff, I just go in and see what happens. In the past, I would go in with a plan for what I wanted to make, but now I see that as really quite restrictive and would rather just play around and let it all naturally unfold.”

– “I find myself quite confused musically, as I like so many different styles. Sometimes it’s a challenge to fit all these genres into your set. Getting from house to techno, then to drum ‘n’ bass, and getting it to sound smooth is all part of the challenge, but also part of the fun.”

– “I was doing some work experience at a record shop when I was at school. After I finished school, I went back, worked there all summer, and by the end of it I’d caught the bug. All those relentless, repetitive grooves suddenly became something really captivating, and I think it’s the same for a lot of people.”

– “The last few things I’ve made had field recordings and things like that. I think it helps give the music some kind of human element, as opposed to everything just being preprogrammed and electronic.”

– “Sometimes I’m sitting in the taxi to a show, still making playlists and adjustments to things. I don’t give myself any time to panic because that’s what I probably would do.”

– “I’ve gone from someone that plays other people’s music to A&R guy, club promoter and label owner, which is pretty overwhelming, but it’s going surprisingly smoothly.”

– “DJing is an amazing and fun thing to do. It’s ever present. The record label [Born Electric] was born out of wanting to sink my teeth into something. I’m learning as I go along; I’m getting there.”

– “Turntablism has definitely helped me through my career. I’ve always said that I’ve got one foot in the past and one foot in the future when it comes to DJing. I try to use new technology in creative ways. I like taking risks, knowing that it could go wrong at any minute.”

Plus Minus Sessions Season Closing Party, Where: Nasimi Beach, Atlantis, The Palm Jumeirah, Dubai. Friday, 2pm to 2am. Ladies free and Dhs100 for men before 7pm, Dhs150 afterwards. Tel: (050) 3599798. Taxi: Nasimi Beach