More DJs With Surprising Pasts

Active for over two decades, DJ EZ (real name Otis Roberts) is one of the finest and most highly regarded DJs on the planet. Known as the “DJ’s favorite DJ,” the London-born garage artist is a creative mixer with unparalleled instincts and exceptional technical abilities. He has some of the quickest fingers in the game, showcasing his cue button action during his sets.

Roberts is the man behind many of the biggest UK garage compilations to date. His Boiler Room live stream is touted as one of the greatest UK garage sets of all time, with millions of views. Another notable live stream, Roberts played a 24-hour set in 2016, with all proceeds going to Cancer Research UK.

Across multiple decades, the UK DJ has won many awards, solidifying his place at the top. He won ‘Club DJ of the Year’ at the 1998 Underground Garage Awards, ‘Best DJ’ at the UK Garage Awards in 2000 and 2002, and won three awards at the 2004 People’s Choice Music Awards, ‘Best DJ,’ ‘Best Old School DJ,’ and ‘Best Radio Show.’

Being inspired by pirate radio and his love for house, hip-hop, and electro, Roberts began recording mixes in the early 90s in the hope that he would have his own show one day. He landed his first DJing gig with the pirate radio station Dance 93FM, where he played house music and was known as Easy O. He tried his take as his own station called Dimension FM, but it wasn’t long-lived. Instead, he went on to host his own show every weekend on Freek FM 101.8 in 1994, changing his name to EZ.

Roberts finally hit commercial radio in the late 90s, covering for Steve Jackson and Bobby & Steve’s shows on Kiss 100. In 1999, Kiss offered him a permanent show, starting with just one show a week and quickly progressing to two more shows. He hosted a range of shows over a 14-year period, which came to an end in 2014.

In 2020, he held a monthly residency with BBC Radio 1. This was also the year he started his own record label and globally syndicated radio show called NUVOLVE. It quickly became known as the place to discover some of the hottest UK garage talent, both emerging and established.

Also as of recent, Roberts goes beyond UK garage and back to his roots with his alias Elvin Zedo, dedicated to house and techno music.

Roberts has performed at some of the biggest festivals, including Coachella, Glastonbury, and Creamfields, on top of countless sold-out tours globally. Over two decades later, Roberts continues to perform live and on air, soon hitting events like Boiler Room London, Dekmantel Festival, and Contrair Open Air.

United Kingdom

DJ EZ

house

pop dance

uk dance

Sonny Fodera

uk tech house

Danny Howard

2-step

Oppidan

Spain

Amnesia Ibiza

Amnesia Presents Week 9

Amnesia Presents

future garage

Gorgon City

tech house

Miane

deep house

Dusky

Amnesia Presents Closing Party

Hannah Wants

bass house

deep groove house

Low Steppa

disco house

funky house

funky tech house

tribal house

vocal house

David Penn

Arielle Free

uk house

Monki

Ushuaïa Ibiza

Defected Week 2

Defected

Lithuania

Greta Levska

charva

Belters Only

Amnesia Presents Week 13

experimental club

Ahadadream

Ammara

deep minimal techno

minimal techno

techno

Alan Fitzpatrick

Ben Hemsley

ambient house

electronica

Bicep

deep rai

Darius Syrossian

deep disco house

raw techno

Eats Everything

Eliza Rose

scottish techno

Ewan McVicar

old school bassline

ukg revival

Flava D

Fleur Shore

Girls Don't Sync

Hannah Laing

drum and bass

liquid funk

Hybrid Minds

breaks

experimental house

Interplanetary Criminal

float house

uk bass

wonky

Joy Orbison

K Motionz

Ireland

irish electronic

KETTAMA

LALA

LF SYSTEM

Netherlands

dutch tech house

Luuk van Dijk

aussietronica

australian house

lo-fi house

Mall Grab

France

Oden & Fatzo

Australia

ghettotech

Partiboi69

Paul Woolford

Prospa

Sam Divine

Sammy Virji

Sarah Story

Curaçao

dutch house

Shermanology

classic dubstep

Skream

Solardo

Sosa

modern jungle

Special Request

 is a premier electronic music festival held annually on the stunning Zrce Beach in Croatia. Since its inception in 2011, the festival has grown into one of Europe's leading destination festivals, attracting thousands of music enthusiasts from around the globe. Known for its exceptional lineup, breathtaking location, and impeccable atmosphere, Hideout Festival offers an unforgettable experience for all attendees. Zrce Beach hosts some of the world’s best beachfront clubs, including Papaya, Aquarius, Noa, and Kalypso, which serve as the main venues for the festival's events.

Hideout Festival offers more than just music. Attendees can enjoy sun-soaked pool parties, boat parties, and raves across five beachfront stages. Each venue features mesmerizing lighting, world-class sound systems, and an unparalleled party atmosphere.

In addition to music, the festival provides a variety of adrenaline-pumping activities such as water sports, banana boats, jet skis, pedalos, and the famous bungee jump. For those seeking relaxation, there are beachside massages, as well as opportunities to rent quads, boats, and pedalos in the nearby town of Novalja.


Hideout Festival

Croatia

Zrce Beach

Hideout Festival 2024

Amnesia Presents Week 7

french tech house

Amine Edge & DANCE

big beat

nu skool breaks

trip hop

Groove Armada

Rio Tashan

Eden Ibiza

Defected with DJ EZ and Groove Armada

latin tech house

spanish techno

Miguel Bastida

Amnesia Presents Week 8

uk pop

Alex Mills

deep tech house

progressive house

CamelPhat

Chloé Robinson

Kitty Amor

SYREETA

Fat Tony

Fatboy Slim

Chris Stussy

minimal tech house

Enzo Siragusa

Layla Benitez

Germany

german tech house

Kolter

Türkiye

Carlita

Desiree

ambient techno

intelligent dance music

microhouse

shiver pop

Daniel Avery

Logic1000

jazz house

Dan Shake

Lauren Lo Sung

KILIMANJARO

United States

garage house

Honey Dijon

Glastonbury Festival is an iconic five-day music and arts event held on a farm in Somerset, England, that has grown from a modest gathering into a world-renowned cultural phenomenon. It was founded by dairy farmer Michael Eavis, who hosted the first edition on his Worthy Farm in the early 1970s. The first festival was a small affair, with around 1,500 attending, and tickets cost just £1, with festival-goers famously treated to free milk from the farm’s cows. That humble, communal atmosphere set the tone for Glastonbury’s ethos, reflecting the hippie idealism and countercultural spirit of its time.

Over the ensuing decades, Glastonbury transformed from that intimate gathering into a sprawling, world-renowned event. By the 1980s it was drawing tens of thousands, and each expansion brought new challenges and innovations. New stages and themed areas were added as the festival evolved from a simple concert into a celebration of contemporary performing arts, featuring not just rock music but also dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and more. Despite occasional setbacks, including battles with local authorities over licensing, and planned “fallow” years when the festival skips a summer to let the land and community recover, Glastonbury’s momentum only grew. Today it is often called the world’s largest greenfield music festival, with more than 200,000 attendees converging on over a thousand acres of countryside to form a temporary city each summer.

As its reputation soared, Glastonbury became a coveted stage for the world’s leading musicians. Some of the most celebrated figures in music have headlined the festival’s iconic Pyramid Stage, from veteran rock stars like David Bowie and Paul McCartney to pop icons like Beyoncé. The bill has spanned genres and generations, also featuring era-defining bands (such as Blur and Oasis) and groundbreaking artists from the worlds of hip-hop and R&B (for example, Jay-Z and Stormzy). These high-profile performances have solidified Glastonbury’s status as a pinnacle of live music achievement. They are often more than just concerts; many sets have passed into legend, talked about for years afterward and seen as defining moments in both the artists’ careers and the festival’s own story. In this way, Glastonbury’s stages have become 

, underscoring the festival’s massive influence on pop culture.

Another hallmark of Glastonbury is its long-standing commitment to activism and philanthropy. Far from being an apolitical entertainment event, the festival has used its platform for advocacy since its early years. In the 1980s it forged a partnership with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, turning the festival into a fundraiser and a megaphone for the peace movement. This ethos of giving back has only strengthened over time: Glastonbury regularly donates millions of pounds to good causes, and its official charity partners include humanitarian and environmental organizations like 

. Attendees encounter numerous causes on-site, from stalls promoting human rights and climate action to eco-friendly initiatives - and the festival itself strives to model sustainability. Recycling programs, renewable energy installations, and even the repurposing of abandoned tents for the homeless (through initiatives like the “Give Me Shelter” campaign) are among the measures that highlight its socially conscious mission. Glastonbury has effectively intertwined music with activism, showing that a festival can be both a celebration and a force for positive change.

As large as it is, Glastonbury has preserved certain traditions that distinguish it from other music festivals. For example, part of its grounds is dedicated to the “Green Fields” - zones with no amplified music, where attendees can explore workshops, healing tents, and a stone circle, all of which echo the mystical, free-spirited vibe of the festival’s early years. The festival’s Pyramid Stage, with its distinctive pyramid shape originally conceived in the early 1970s, has become a defining symbol of Glastonbury, instantly recognizable in photographs and broadcasts around the world. Another unique practice is the “fallow year,” when every few years the festival takes a planned break to let the land recover and to give locals and organizers a breather, a reflection of how interwoven the event is with its environment.

Glastonbury also stands out for the sheer diversity of experiences it offers; one can wander from a raucous rock performance to a tranquil field of meditation, or stumble upon a secret set by a surprise guest on a tucked-away stage. This blend of scale and intimacy, of mainstream spectacle and alternative community, gives Glastonbury an atmosphere of magic and camaraderie that keeps fans returning year after year. What began as a humble gathering in a Somerset field has evolved into a cultural institution, a festival unlike any other, revered not just in the UK but around the globe for its history, its heart, and its enduring creative spirit.

DJ EZ

Articles

Other artists