When the first Lockdown struck earlier this year; The Devout as well as the rest of the musical community and indeed the country were plunged into uncertainty.
Our gigs postponed with no feasible date of when we could perform again; we began looking at ways we could invest our time in developing things within the band. A lot of these things, we will have great pleasure in showing everybody when our live shows return.
However, a shining light pierced through the darkness of those lonely weekends. Our Reza called upon his experience gleaned from his profession as a performer, musician and DJ and launched ‘Reza’s Devout DJ Hour’. From the first show, it has grown into something extremely fulfilling.
So in honour of the 22nd show ‘heralding’ in the forboding second Lockdown; we thought we would give a little insight into the man behind the Twitch stream who, with the lovely Nikita, Luna and various special guests, has kept us going through these dark times.
How did you get into music in the first place? My Mum got my into Elvis in the early 70s, then in 1978, I watch the movie Grease and knew I wanted to be a performer! Things evolved through Disco, 80s, Rock and then Electro and darker edged synth music.
How’d you get into Depeche Mode? A friend of mine lent me The Singles 81-85 record in 1987.. and the rest is history!
As a DJ online and for your day job, how do you go about choosing a set of songs to play? Most of what I play is off the cuff and whatever I feel the direction the vibe is going in. If I get requests beforehand on the event, I will try my best to slot those in at the appropriate time.. again working with the vibe.
Will be hear a DJ Reza set list playing before live Devout gigs? Would this be something fans can pick pre gig? Hopefully, yeah.. that would be a great and very fun idea!
Why did you decide to do Reza’s Devout DJ Hour to begin with? Because, we had done a lot of work with The Devout to create this great live show and also a lot of work went into booking shows for the entire of 2020.. when the lockdown came in, we were denied that opportunity. Plus, we had already done a handful of shows and I realised that there were so many DM fans who were hungry to hear us perform and for DM material in general. I figured we could maybe just give the DM community something to enjoy during that hard time. Little did I know we would create such a wonderful community of fans and now personal friends.. all from that time. Myself and Nikita absolutely love doing the DJ show. It’s also great that it has expanded to Depeche Mode and other Alternative and Electronic Artists. Lots of fun!
So; please join us once again this Saturday: http://https://www.facebook.com/events/4607304646009548/and enjoy top quality DM tracks and songs of their contemporaries expertly spun by our MLG. You can watch as always via http://www.twitch.tv/cryonicamusic
If you can, please also tip and donate, as every penny matters in this extremely tough time. If you want; please do so via Paypal.me/Cryonica.