Of the fourteen known satellites circumnavigating Jupiter, the moon dubbed ‘Io’ (after one of Zeus’ mistresses) undergoes the most geological change and is in constant flux. Theory has it that due to the sheer size of Jupiter (up to 1000 times greater than the Earth) and Io’s elliptical orbit, Jupiter essentially squeezes and releases Io through varying degrees of gravitational pull, causing great upheaval and massive orgasms of volcanic activity. It is in this same light one could see rising house star Desyn Masiello. Orbiting something infinitely larger than himself and being changed and renewed by it, thus creation through violent inner spasms.
The Desyn Masiello of today encompasses a multi-timbre existence. The release of his most recent mix ‘Original Series (OS_1)’ on Bedrock Records on top of his mix ‘In House We Trust 3’ together with Luke Fair on Deep Dish’s Yoshitoshi Records sees Masiello firmly establishing himself, but it wasn’t always such for him. “When I was working full time (6 years), I was obsessed with music and would be going out weekends clubbing, spending all my evenings till 3 or 4 am listening to music and mixing and going into work late and looking and feeling like shit… Luckily for me when I got the sack for being general office slacker and the last year of going to work, not actually working at all (but searching for records on the net each day), I had just started to get my first gigs, so I had some cash coming in each month to keep me from having a normal job.”
These days it is fairly normal to post one’s mixes online for others to download, but this is only a recent trend. In 2000, Masiello put together a mix of the rarest house records he could find and sent it out to whomever requested a copy. The fact that he had his first international gig in Helsinki within 4 months of having sent out the mix attests to the man’s sheer talent. Along with talent comes hard work and along with hard work comes hardship. “ÉI can go weeks and weeks not leaving the house like an unhealthy sloth just searching for music, editing music and rarely taking time to relax. I’ve been given the chance to do this as a job now (and not have to get a normal job again), so I want to keep it because its what I love; though much harder and more work than my old day job (so don’t be too envious if anyone is!). I’m working harder now than I ever have done in my life.”
Masiello has stripped his life down to a single specific purpose, namely to orbit around music. This then has shaped his own approach to DJing in that it is fundamentally derived from an instinctual and instantaneous process. “DJ’ing is an expression of a feeling and vibe and time is always moving forward and life always changing and progressing, so to plan everything to a tee is to me like taking a snapshot and playing that out all the time. É [Y]ou have to feel the vibe of where you are and be in touch at a spiritual level with things to be able to play a set that touches people and does not pass them by.” Herein lies Masiello’s basic philosophical standpoint on the nature of DJing in general.
“A DJ in the true artistic sense of the word is someone who can make people open up parts of their minds that may have been closed all their lives. It’s a form of communication at another level, beyond words. I think it’s hugely important in modern culture as it can open the mind and make people think less about themselves and more about others and question many things in life that they may have taken for granted before or not seen. I think music is one of the most important tools we as humans have and we are not anywhere near close to understanding its full potential, but I think those that have been touched by it will know exactly what I am talking about. DJ’ing and dance culture is also about celebration and escapism from the ties of society, and for this reason I’m not into any music that is too dark or depressing because life in modern society can be depressing enough as it is. If I’m going to play music to people then it must, in my opinion, lift them spiritually and be uplifting in some sense.”
Alongside this position, Masiello sees his personal motivation as a form of ‘education’, as with his latest release: ‘Original Series (OS_1)’. “Bedrock was harder (than ‘In House We Trust 3’) as I didn’t know what direction to take it for a long time, as my tastes vary so much depending on my audience and vibe at the moment. So Bedrock took me a while to decide exactly what I wanted to do on it. As it was a Bedrock mix I knew many buyers would be prog fans, and I wanted to educate them into more housey stuff but without upsetting them too much, i.e. nothing too drastic or too far away from what they are used too and love the most.”
In 2001 Masiello set up Alternative Route in order to “release big dance floor tracks – from any genre – we’ve even got a drum and bass track coming soon!” Alternative Route’s discography contains such massive tracks as KC Flightt’s ‘Voices’ and Chable & Bonicci’s ‘Ride’, giving testament to Masiello’s honed ear for great music. 2003 then saw Masiello kick off SEXONWAX with 16b “to release cool underground bad boy tracks and very emotionally moving and spiritual tracks”, giving venue for his own productions under the guise of The Idiots alongside Leon Roberts and Omid Nourizadeh. SEXONWAX is also home to a couple sexy Danny Howells productions.
In fact, Masiello attributes Danny Howells as being one his primary influences. “Danny Howells is half to blame to why I’m DJ’ing today, and Will Brunner (pmt) is the other half to blame. So all you Masiello haters out there, you know who’s fault it is now. I heard a mix tape in 92 that Will Brunner made and even though I had decks and was buying records then I was only messing around, but when I heard his mix tape (the best mix I’ve heard still… kills Renaissance!) then it kind of changed my life as I didn’t know music that good existed or could be put together so well. I became a proper vinyl addict at that point. Then about 8 years later around 1999 I was still totally in love with music and DJ’ing but something was missing I felt and I was heavily tied up in my job and I was struggling to hear any other DJ’s who were doing anything special. I was struggling to impress myself with my own music and DJ’ing too, but then I heard Danny Howells DJ. This was over 5 years ago before Danny was recognised at all really, he was not even that well known in the UK at this point but when I heard that man play and the records he was playing and the way he made me feel, it was a big effect. I realised it was still possible to do something special, and that gave me the courage not to give up and to continue my own personal quest to do it. It gave me the second boost and inspiration I needed to finally kick myself up the arse and focus all my attention on it.
“Before that I was really juggling it with a very grueling full time job, it was about a year later I got fired from my work for not doing any work but looking for records all day on the internet at work. So Danny has always been an incredibly important figure in my mind and someone very special to me as I think it was his pure love and dedication beyond any other DJ at that time that allowed him to excel and become as well known as he is today for what he does. To put it simply he proved to me that if you love something enough and devote everything you can to it, then you can do it. The other thing I believe is that music is communication of the soul, and Danny is a really special person and a beautiful soul, and it’s for this reason that his music shines so bright, because you are hearing what is inside him.”
Thankfully there remain artists who have devoted themselves to their craft in complete devotion. Thankfully there remain DJs with purpose. Thankfully there is Desyn Masiello, rocketing through space and time, orbiting and changing.
Masiello’s latest mix, ‘Bedrock Original Series: OS_01’, is out now through Bedrock/Stomp. He touches down in Sydney on Saturday February 19th for his only Australian show at Sweetchilli. Click HERE for more info or to buy tickets.
