Elias Mazian (NL)

Elias Mazian is a versatile house DJ as well as a radio presenter and singer-songwriter who’s well-known for his dreamy Dutch-language songs. His morning show Private Hearts features warm, uplifting sounds for a great start to the day. He also presents Round Midnight on NPO Soul & Jazz, where he takes his listeners on a soul and jazz journey.

“As a kid, music could give me the feeling of going into a time capsule where nothing else mattered” says Elias Mazian, and that is something he tries to convey in every DJ set he now plays. The Dutchman has a Moroccan background but was born in the Netherlands and is now a firm fixture on the capital’s club circuit.

Elias openly admits to being passionate, emotional and sensitive, and it shows in his DJ sets which take inspiration from the music around which he grew up – Michael Jackson, Prince, Stevie Wonder – as well as from more contemporary flames like Moodymann, Pepe Bradock and Tom Trago. Besides his residency at the much acclaimed Trouw, he has played venerated spots like Melkweg, Paradiso, Into the Woods, Lowlands, Studio 80, 5 Days Off, Mysteryland, Welcome To The Future, and DGTL.

“When I make music and I play out, I have to open up my heart and be able to spread the same love that I get when I’m on the dancefloor,” he admits. “That warm feeling that hits my soul is the thing I aim for when producing my tracks or when I play in the club. Music is a highly emotive way of expressing myself, and when people recognize that I’m the happiest person on the planet.”