There’s never a time when DVS1 playing in your town isn’t a “special” event. The Minneapolis-based DJ and producer sat with us for a 5 Magazine profile a couple of years ago and I’m pretty sure we’ve previewed every event he’s played since then.
His own recordings aren’t even the main highlight these days. Known for his long sets, DVS1 (it’s easier sometimes to say “Zak”) has helmed the increasingly essential Mistress Recordings label, which has grown with each release and has to be considered one of the top 5 American House Music labels going right now. Mistress has released many good records and several great ones, with a roster that began with our favorites Borrowed Identity, Marquis Hawkes (as “Juxta Position”) and Minneapolis’ Ian Lehman (as Doubt). Mistress reached a kind of apotheosis with the three volume Mistress 05 – The Blonde, The Brunette and The Redhead – a various artists comp that simply blew away every other various artists comp of 2015. Most interesting is that none of the vary-ing artists is an artist “DVS1”: these are his secret weapons, not a career vehicle, and the emphasis on A&R is perhaps what’s kept the quality so bloody sky high.
The latest Mistress release is another Juxta Position release, and the next “special” event for Zak is at Smart Bar this Friday, February 26, with SUBterror Radio impresario and sometime 5 Mag contributor DJ Shiva. Good spots on the dancefloor still available!
 is back at Smart Bar this Friday Feb 26 with DJ Shiva.){kind=link}