John Dimas found his way into DJing through clubbing. Inspired by the Chicago, Acid House, UK Garage, and Breakbeat he was hearing in Thessaloniki, Greece where he grew up. He bought his first records and taught himself to mix using two belt-driven decks and a homemade mixer that formed part of a high school project. He played his first gig two years later, in 2001, in a tiny bar where he remained as a resident for over four years before moving to Decadance, a larger venue that regularly booked artists from abroad. Dimas was quickly snapped up by a major Greek booking agency and also Red Bull, who signed him a resident DJ for their nationwide party series.
Dimas’ international bookings picked up quickly. Having carved himself a reputation with some lower-profile support slots across Europe, he’s now established himself as a highly respected DJ , acknowledged for the diversity in his selections and deep knowledge of music; scattered within all Dimas sets are various obscure cuts that even the most avid music fans are yet to discover. “I like peaks and troughs, and giving lots of different dynamics to keep things interesting,” he says. “I don’t like to be predictable with the records I play and love surprising the crowd.” Recent years have seen him perform at Ibiza’s DC10 and Amnesia, New York’s Resolute, Paris’ Rex, Bucharest’s Guesthouse (alongside Ricardo Villalobos and Raresh) and all across Berlin, including Club der Visionaere and Watergate. It was a 2011 booking at this latter venue that inspired a 2012 move to the German capital.
Important, too, is Dimas’ production work. He began experimenting with production in 2007 and incorporates lots of edits into his sets. His 2018 XLR8R podcast consists only of these. On a release front, he’s maintained a steady output since his 2010 debut, pushing a futuristic fusion of techno & house sound that is clever, energetic and infectious. Of all his releases, it’s 2016’s Raum…musik debut, Multiverse, and 2017’s Telexistence via Raresh’s Metereze that stand out and releasing on that label, Dimas became the first non-Romanian to appear. In an aesthetic that’s long been overly saturated, Dimas has found a voice all of his own.
