Azzecca - Becoming A Fulltime DJ & Producer

Podcast Overview: Azzecca & Will discuss the fame & lifestyle of successful DJs, online harassment & trolling, the pressure & expectations of the music industry & the adjustments & challenges of full time DJing.

Who Is Azzecca: Chicago’s Azzecca brings techno/house/dark dance to her high energy but thoughtfully curated sets: ‘I personally love the juxtaposition between euphoria and darkness in music.’ In less than a year, after her now 8.5mil+ streamed ‘Other Side’ fully launched the Chicago DJ/producer/musician, she was Beatport’s Radar artist of the month, landed Radio 1 support from Pete Tong in the form of spins and a 30-minute mix, along with spins from Danny Howard and Sarah Story, had a first run of summer festivals like HARD Summer, Neon Garden @ EDC Vegas, Electric Forest, headlined legendary venues like Stereo Montreal, Halcyon SF… while releasing on labels across the spectrum of underground sounds from Adam Ten's Maccabi House to Gorgon City’s REALM, delivering a red-hot remix of TIBASKO’s ‘Still Rushing’, alongside expanding her Chicago ‘Dirty Disco’ female-focused events.

And the only way’s been up ever since, with major gigs at Brooklyn Mirage, CRSSD Festival’s Proper NYE, Seismic Dance Event, Sziget Festival (HU), Sound LA, Portola, Club 04 Haifa, Splash House, Warehouse Project, fabric, Printworks, Floyd Miami, It’ll Do Dallas… sharing a stage with Jamie Jones, CamelPhat, Adam Ten, Gerd Janson, ANNA, Charlotte De Witte, Overmono, Jon Hopkins, DJ Tennis, Seth Troxler and more. As for releases, labels like Maccabi House, REALM, Higher Ground, Another Rhythm have snapped up gems like ‘Ego Death’, ‘Other Side’, ‘Aerial Phenomenon’, ‘Forget’, ‘U Fool’ and ‘Tell That Boy’.

Azzecca’s genre-bending productions are perfect for massive club systems. ‘My sound is always dark and sexy, but I experiment with different genres and vibes a lot. My sets are dynamic, I love to surprise the crowd. I start my own tracks with a bassline, a lead or a vocal sample, I love to use funky arps. My diverse musical tastes give me extreme versatility as a DJ/producer, resulting from early influences like the harsh but emotional elements of electro rock.’ 

Azzecca aka Allie DeCastris cites early influences as Massive Attack, Portishead, Nightmares on Wax, Little Dragon, Bjork, Pink Floyd, and ‘I’ve always been massively into Bristolian electro rock sounds.’ Born to a musical family and attending rock concerts from an early age, she grew up playing flute, bass piano and piano. She began DJing and production as hobbies, until COVID’s enforced re-think started her DJing for small parties winning attention from promoters, while Diplo’s Higher Ground dropped her first single and EP, and she launched her ‘Dirty Disco’ nights. 

‘Dirty Disco’, still ongoing and growing, are female-focused parties she began in Chicago clubs, to fill a need she had identified for spaces where women could dress up and feel good without unwelcome attention. 

As her career spirals ever skywards, Azzecca's targets include conquering new territories, pushing musical boundaries, and touring Dirty Disco to continue giving a platform to emerging underground artists she loves.

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