DVS1

Zak aka DVS1(devious one), is one of the most prominent figures in the Midwest/US dance music landscape today. A local DJ favorite since the mid nineties, DVS1 continues to move floors with a combination of deep musical knowledge, unparalleled enthusiasm, and a vinyl collection of more than 10,000 records. Zak's deep roots and his bold and uncompromising nature have won him great respect as a passionate and outspoken defender and promoter (HUSH) of quality music.

Zak began DJing in New York in the early nineties, focusing on the acid sounds of that time. After relocating to Minneapolis in the mid 90's, his style evolved, like that of techno itself, into something more complex, something deeper and more rhythmic. Since then, he has branched out into a wide variety of sounds—from hard and fast, to deep and hypnotic, to slow and soulful. Rather than giving limiting names to the genres he plays, he describes the music as beats, rhythms, textures, and colors. His philosophy is that the genre distinctions themselves aren't important—the emotional content of the music is. This focus is readily apparent in the way he moves crowds—both literally and figuratively—by fusing together sounds that paint coherent, evocative, and powerful moods that are always appropriate for the time and place he is playing.

His range and emotional focus explains why as a DJ, Zak has garnered unique respect locally, around the U.S., and now worldwide. A consummate performer, Zak never maps out his sets ahead of time, opting to craft sets spontaneously from within the context they are intended for. He does this the old-fashioned way—with bags of wax carefully assembled from his massive record collection. This improvisational element makes each of his sets a one-of-a-kind personal expression, never again to be repeated, in which the audience's mood and energy level always plays a notable role. Unsurprisingly, DVS1's sets tend to draw large and enthusiastic crowds. In the past, he has shared the booth and been asked to open for some of the world's most acclaimed DJ/Producers.

As a producer, DVS1 makes music that is simple, effective and captures the feeling of the moment. DVS1's first release, on Ben Klocks label Klockworks (kw05) was released in August 2009 and was immediately charted by heavy weights such as Derrick May, Samuel Sessions, Luke Slater, James Ruskin, Stephan Goldman, Funktion, Dj Deep, Tommy Four Seven, Tamo Sumo, Martin Landsky, Efdemin, Dustin Zahn, Dario Zenker, Ryan Elliot, Insideout, Jonass Kopp, Par Grindvik, Marcel Fengler, Kevin Gormann, Tobi Neumann, Monika Kruse, Dos Santos, Kevin Saunderson, Mike Shannon, Ben Klock, Rejected, Camea.

With his second vinyl release on the legendary TRANSMAT label(MS98 Love Under Pressure EP) DVS1 once again stakes his claim and cements his position among current electronic music tastemakers. Similar to his first release, Love Under Pressure has been received with equal acclaim and charting from his peers. The track "Pressure" was licensed to the infamous Berghain club for Ben Klocks most recent mix CD (Berghain 04).

Future releases are already scheduled for Luke Slater (Mote Evolver) and for Klockworks. Remixes on Perc Trax, Prologue, Synewave and more on the way.