DJ MAG HITS THE ROAD WITH THE DIXON BROTHERS

"We won’t bore you with aircraft tales. It’s the usual procedure, check in, sweat about baggage allowance (not such a panic these days since Serato changed the game), befriend the cabin crew which is important, do the absolute most with the in-flight menu and get to your destination."

STOP 1: MARBELLA

"Having not played in Marbella before, we did a little digging into what the crowd we were going to meet like to get down to. Multi-genre was the brief and that's right up our street. Being 'open format’ does not mean just turning up with a USB of the top 40 tracks smashing in the clubs right now — it's more the understanding of how to read the crowd and deliver a variation of genres in a smooth and succinct way.

"Upon arrival at Plaza Beach, we were greeted by a busy beach terrace crowd primed and ready for an ‘old skool and anthems’ party. Major Lazer’s ‘Pon De Floor’ (can you believe this track is 9 years old), Katy B’s ‘On A Mission' and Shy FX’s ‘Shake Your Body’ were just a few tracks from the KISSTORY repatoire we knew would ignite the party. DJ’ing a pool party in 30+ degree heat throws up it’s own set of obstacles to consider; is the equipment going to overheat, why is the CDJ sticking and how do you get people off their rather relaxing sunbeds and onto the dance floor?

"When you’re having fun, a 90 min set will disappear in a blink of an eye; one moment you're setting up Serato and the next minute it’s High 5’s and fist bumps at the front of the stage. Day one of our mini-tour ticked all the boxes...however I’m still trying to figure out how JD ended up in the sea fully clothed?!?! A quick celebratory steak followed by cutting a few shapes to our DJ pal Colin Francis (congrats on the number one album) and it’s back to the hotel ahead of our flight in the morning. Next stop London for our second KISSTORY party at the O2!"

STOP 2: LONDON

"London's O2 is one of the most high-profile entertainment venues in the UK. With that accolade to their name as a performer you’re afforded a level of confidence that their sound tech team know their stuff. It can happen that you’re promised the world as far as the tech however you’re greeted with two saucepans for decks and a cardboadbox for a mixer (metaphorically speaking). This was not the case for KISSTORY!

"Our KISS station-mate Justin Wilkes had kicked things off. True to form, he lit the O2 up and started the party in perfect fashion. Our DJ mission was to take over from Justin, set the crowd up for live performances from Lisa Mafia & Romeo from So Solid Crew, after which we'd retake control, before transitioning into the super-amazing Wideboys who would bring the party home. We love a big stage as it allows you to connect and interact with the crowd which is a vital part to a successful set. Having shaken off any cob webs from the flight back to London, we kicked things off with our mash up of Kanye West’s Touch The Sky and Dimitri From Paris's remix of Jackson 5’s 'I Want You Back’. 90 mins later we were saying goodbye to the London crowd, and back to Gatwick with Mallorca in our eye sights."

STOP 3: MALLORCA

"BH Mallorca is always one of our favourite venues to play at. We host the Kiss Presents Sunday Pool Sessions which is the warm up for the evenings main stage event. The set up for the pool party was 2 Nexus CDJ’s, the classic DJM 800 (arguably Pioneer's best ever mixer) backed up by a couple of Funktion One boxes.

"The party was hype — a KISSTORY mix of RnB / House & Garage and basement party classics was the order of the day and it went off in true BH fashion. Apologies to anyone who got caught in the swimming pool mosh pit. The evening saw us utilise our AAA passes to watch David Guettas show from backstage. As big tech nerds we have to salute Guettas production team who were slicker than an F1 pit crew.One quick sleep and then off to Ibiza!"

STOP 4: IBIZA

"We were certainly looking forward to Ibiza's Ocean Beach. Located directly on the S'Arenal waterfront in San Antonio, Ocean beach club Ibiza has become over the years one of the most important places in Ibiza to have on your CV. To the uninitiated, the Ocean Beach crowd can be intimidating...these guys are on middle name terms with the island's major players, they've witnessed historic sets from some of our planet's best DJs and as such won’t stand for any sub par DJ’ing. With all that to consider it was always important that we understand the crowd whilst delivering our own brand of set. Bringing out the turntables at Ocean Beach is a rarity and we’re proud to still be using Technics 1210’s even if there are MULTIPLE hazards to the equipment at any given time. We again experienced one of those sets that are gone before you think you’ve even warmed up. Having dealt with the doom of an impending shower of Mojito, the highs of a pool side electric slide; matched with an awesome crowd, Ibiza 2016 has gone down as one of our favourites. 

"Looking forward to next year already. With only a few hours left on the island it was time to hit the airport and get back to London for our radio show and back to the studio. This has been a taste of what's to come next year with hard work, consistency and the unwavering love of of DJ'ing. It’s easy to think that you’ve “made it” when DJ’ing at your bucket list venues. AD almost left it all after playing in Vegas (true story). We’re always hungry to see what’s next, travel the world and have these moments and experiences with new people and new fans."

"A quick couple of weeks later saw us on our way back to Ibiza to rock KISS UK’s Pool Party Live with Three Mobile at Ocean Beach. If you've been keeping up you'll already know that Ocean is a must for anyone looking to party the day away before hitting the super clubs till the early hours. As advocates for vinyl (digital vinyl is cool too) we were heart broken to see our control wax rapidly start warping in the glistening sun at the start of our set. After a quick, yet stressful, mid-set live switch over to CDJ's we were back in the saddle rocking out tracks from Armand Van Helden, to Snoop Dogg, Shy Fx and the Jackson 5. Having reached the end of our set we bode goodbye to Ibiza for another year; we’re already counting down the days to summer 2017."

Have you checked out the Dixon Brothers latest Kiss FM show — find it here: bit.ly/DIXONBROS