Throwback Thursday: DJ EZ Boiler Room

Image: DJ EZ

There's an insane amount of Boiler Room sessions available on this wonderful thing called the internet, from house to bass to techno. Pretty much the who's who of each genre has been given the opportunity to showcase their skills and selections as a DJ through the stream.

Some recordings are lacklustre and fall to the bottom of the pile, some do the rounds for a month or so after being uploaded, but some of them permeate your conciousness and you find yourself falling back on them time after time. They work at pre parties, after parties, on public transport, when mopping the floor - and they just never get old. DJ EZ's is one of them. 

If you need to ask yourself why EZ has been confirmed to play headline gigs in huge venues next year, or why he's become one of the most sought after additions to a festival line up, this three hour-long Red Bull Boiler Room from 2014 will answer every question running through your head, as you struggle to keep it still. 

At only six tracks in, he drops one of the most defining records of an EZ set, DJ Zinc's '138 Trek'. He brings it back with rewinds and stops it all together, before starting again as the crowd lose their heads properly for the first time. He flicks the channels up and down in a way that only he could execute, controlling the tracks in a way that most DJs could never pull off. 

Boiler Room crowds are notoriously tame. Apart from that one guy that gets a bit too loose right behind the DJ, the rest are normally stiffer than the brim of EZ's Nike cap (R.I.P). But even if the London venue was filled with the most rigid of ravers for this, he could have coaxed howls of "oi oi" out of all of them when he unleashed 'Blunt Edge'.

In true EZ style, he mixes effortlessly between old tracks and new, proving that despite his extensive career and pioneering reputation, he's still got his finger firmly on the pulse of scene, going from five Todd Edwards tracks on the trot to Secondcity's 'I Wanna Feel' in the space of 15 minutes. 

A speeded up version of Isaac Christopher's tribute to Chic's 'Le Freak' at the two hour mark is our personal highlight. A wobbling garage beat over one of the most iconic disco vocals of all time and a drop that ravages the room.

It's the last track before he shifts to vinyl, proving that he doesn't rely on the technical assistance and association with his CDJs. Offering up MK's 'Always', MJ Cole's 'Crazy Love' and Dajae and Cajmere's 'Brighter Days' the latter half is an intoxicating rollercoaster filled with classics. 

With over a million views on YouTube, we're clearly not the only ones that use this as their go-to mix in all situations. It's a three hour, hypnotising summary of why EZ has become the biggest garage DJ on the planet.

Check out DJ EZ's upcoming gigs. 

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