The whole story

Origins

Miguel Peres Sousa Magalhães was born in Lisbon on the 20th of June 1977. Despite having lived in different cities, it was between Lisbon and Torres Vedras that he began his school career and extracurricular activities that undoubtedly were decisive in his interest for music and djing.

Interest in music

The first deep contact with music happened under the influence of his father, an amateur musician with the transverse flute as an instrument. In 1987, he decided to enroll and accompany his son in accordion lessons whose practice and knowledge aroused his sensitivity to music.

A year later he moves to Lisbon to live with his mother who, not being a musician, influences him with the cassettes and LPs that he buys for himself according to his tastes. Classical music, albums by Demis Roussos, Eurythmics, by singer Joana, a pair of cassettes by Maestro Pedro Osório and a recording of a live concert by Roberto Carlos that he had given on television that year. This was what was on the (then popular) walkman of the future DJ and was mocked by schoolmates for listening to such a repertoire.

Her training and passion for music began here, necessary foundations for the activity that she later discovered, djing.

Discovery of djing

It's 1989, back in Torres Vedras and, incredible as it may seem, it's the sporting activities that “update” your musical knowledge and your taste for djing. At the height of Hip Hop culture, he became interested in skateboarding and Breakdance, which has rap music as its identity. It then goes from being the laughing stock of the previous year to being a reference for modern sounds. The first contact with an active DJ takes place while skateboarding through the school's outer corridors and comes across an electoral campaign for the academic association. It was a bench set up with classroom tables that included some Hi-Fi speakers, a homemade amplifier with a downward-facing fan (very popular at the time) and two Technics turntables.

The following year was influenced by friends and colleagues who introduced him to rock with Transvision Vamp and R.E.M. your neighbor was listening to or Xutos & Pontapés, his best friend's favorite band at the time. Despite the rock influence, his preference has always been for electronic music and from a dance music perspective, he is replacing rap with techno-house.

Towards the end of the school year, he goes to a matinee for the first time at the Túnel Disco, where he remembers listening to songs like “Roxane” by The Police or “To Go Crazy (In the 20th Century)” by Lee Marrow and is fascinated by the magic that that party atmosphere conveys.

The music bug grows and with it the need for equipment to start the hobby of DJing. He gets his father's help to buy the Technics turntables, having to go to work to help pay for the small fortune spent.

From amateur to professional

Jumping to 1993 and back in Lisbon, he continues to go out at the Crazy Nights, Zona + and Alcântara-Terra matinees, at night at the Absoluto and Benzina nightclubs, and participate in private parties at the homes of friends and acquaintances.

He later meets João Costa e Silva, owner of ABC Audiovisuais. The company had the collaboration of DJ Gonçalo (current Master G resident at the Kremlin) who was leaving because he was going to opt for residency in a nightclub. It was at that moment that the opportunity for the first paid job arose, a wedding in the Vale da Carva space.

In the following years, there were several job opportunities, whether at weddings, company parties and academic parties. As all the works had very different audiences, it is at this stage that he begins to easily build (thanks to his heterogeneous taste), his well-diversified audio library, which currently can be classified as one of the most complete with more than seven thousand themes in sixty genres. many different. In addition to his work as a DJ, he also participates in various services as a sound and lighting technician, gaining knowledge and experience superior to other DJs.

From part-time to full-time

His academic background is in the banking area to which he was connected from 1993 to the beginning of 1998. Working for others, he feels limited in his creativity and freedom of expression and therefore chooses to dedicate himself to full time to music.

This change allows you to be more available to customers and therefore creates a methodology, which includes a meeting (essential to establish a personal connection and exchange of impressions) and a questionnaire (where you gather all the specific information of the service) , which is still in use today.

In 2000, he is the first DJ to bet on an exclusive stand at Expo Noivos and in the following years he already has dozens of parties held all over the country as a result not only of advertising but also of recommendations made by customers. Customers highlight the fun medleys of themes from series and movies, the return to the past with children's songs, the musical variety that pleases all guests and the fact that there is no time limit. Of course, there are other details that go beyond the sensitivity of the customers, such as the quality and correct tuning of the sound equipment, the management of more or less fast themes so as not to saturate the dance floor and the mixes that create long sequences without interruption. All this makes the entertainment experience as pleasant and lasting as possible.

From vinyl to software

Although vinyl is his preferred support (not only because of the warm sound but also because of the feeling when handling the cymbals), the transport and the difficulty in arranging vinyl themes means that in 1996 he starts using CDs exclusively. The collection grows and in 1999 there are already seven suitcases to transport and display in places that sometimes have little space. On the other hand, there are problems with readers who mostly jumped on old wooden floors that gave in to the euphoria of the dance floor. It was on New Year's Eve from 1999 to 2000 that he decided to implement djing from a computer, being one of the first dj's at the time to use software. The change requires the conversion of around 800 cd's to several gigabytes of mp3 files, a process that takes 15 days to complete.

In 2001, he established a good relationship with Quinta dos Azulejos, who started to hire him preferentially for their events.

A new phase, time to modernize

With the creation of ASAE and since the legislation does not allow the conversion of cd's to a digital support, the entire music library in digital format has to be repurchased to be allowed legal use in the dj activity.

After 10 years of successfully using the PC DJ program, it is imperative to choose a new software compatible with the most current iTunes formats, with Traktor being chosen.

With new files and new software, it is necessary to reconstruct all the information related to the audio library. The classification of genres, styles, periods and other important information for djing is redone, a research work that takes more than a year to do and is currently completed.