‘There was three of them waiting, like: play this track or else’: DJ EZ, the reality-bending maestro of the decks

The staunch champion of garage is one of the UK’s most talented musicians, manipulating tracks at lightning speed. In a rare interview he discusses neurodiversity, being teetotal – and the truth about his fees

One day around the turn of the millennium DJ EZ turned up for his regular slot at Kiss FM. His career was taking off in earnest, in line with his reputation as a technically gifted mixer and linchpin of the UK garage scene. He was among the first DJs to play Daniel Bedingfield’s Gotta Get Thru This on the radio, shortly before it topped the UK singles chart and earned Bedingfield a Grammy nomination, and his Midas touch was now hotly sought after, sometimes to a frightening degree. As he arrived at Kiss HQ he saw some familiar faces – musicians he says we’d all recognise today – wearing a threatening look. “There was three or four of them waiting,” he says. “Like: ‘Here’s my track. Play it today. Or else.’”

EZ played the song (“Had to!”), survived, and 20 years later some consider him the finest DJ in the UK. He throws everything into the pot, remixing tracks in front of your eyes and creating new ones in real time. Snippets of classics appear out of thin air, sometimes several within a minute. Most DJs play crowdpleasers, but EZ craves pandemonium with every drop, and invariably gets it. His sets are feats of not just dexterity but also endurance: in livestreamed charity events he has DJ’d for eight, 12 and 24 hours at a time. “EZ is God,” says dubstep pioneer Skream. “I literally learned how to mix copying his old tapes when I was like 11 or 12 – I’d copy them mix for mix.”

‘There was three of them waiting, like: play this track or else’: DJ EZ, the reality-bending maestro of the decks

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