Just then, Kai interrupts: the show is of?cially
cancelled.
“At all? So no one is playing?” Avila asks,
disappointment creeping into his voice. Kai is glued
to his phone, texting and following twitter for news
from Tiësto.
“No,” he says, de?ating the energy of the room.
“[Tiësto is] super upset.”
Trying to make lemonade our of cancelled lemons,
Avila suggests doing a club show later that night,
and sprawls out on the king-size hotel bed calling
Kai “Tronco,” a Spanish term that’s literal translation
means tree trunk. Avila explains that the affectionate
nickname and title of his hit track released on Tiësto’s
label Musical Freedom, is actually a way to say
“buddy.” Avila even calls his fan base his “Troncos!”
But amidst all the tronco-love are the loud voices of
twitter trolls, bashing the cancelled show.
“I think basically the bigger you get the more haters
you get too. I think it’s a normal thing when it comes
to music,” he says. “I just try to do my own thing and
haters are gonna say. No, haters are gonna hate.”
The botched translation of the cliché sends laughter
across the room. I correct Avila and tell him you’re
supposed to drop the word “are.”
“Haters gonna hate! Yeah, haters gonna hate. That’s
what they say,” he says.
While the haters will say what they will, what is the
biggest misconception about him?
“Some people who haven’t heard any of my mixes or
sets or have never seen me live, they kind of think
just because you are so young you are not able to play
a proper set or make a proper track,” he says. “I’ve
been working so hard so I would say that I have more
experience than people that [are older.]
The hard work Avila’s puts into this industry is
materializing in new tracks/remixes, a popular
YouTube channel and his hit radio show, Ready to
Jump. Avila is working on a remix with [Deniz Koyu]
for Krewella’s “Live for the Night,” which comes
out November 5, and he just ?nished a new song,
“Poseidon.”
Danny Avila Episodes, a web series on his YouTube
channel, gives an insider look at his life, with
behind-the-scenes clips. His radio, that airs every
Wednesday on Sirius XM (and later on Soundcloud),
is just another part of his EDM empire.
“I just try to ?nd like tracks that are not on Beatport
top 100 and everyone can ?nd…it has this…kind of
more exclusive feeling,” he says.
Perhaps Avila’s musical ?uidity is why his live mixing
is so phenomenal. I’ve had Avila’s Ultra Miami set
from this year on repeat the entire week because the
set represents a broad spectrum of music. The set is
about a story and not a classi?cation, just like Avila.
“There’s some DJs where they play full electro-house
or full tech-house or they have a certain or speci?c
genres,” he says. “I try to take different ?avours,
like sounds and different songs from different music
genres and just put everything together…I think I
play like really energetic and try to pushhh bang it
out.”
In order to appease the fans, Solid Events throws a
last-minute club show together with free entry to
anyone that has a ticket for the Dooms Night show
that’s been postponed, and Avila’s on the roster.
Avila played a small set alongside Dim Mak duo,
Dzeko and Torres but he’ll have to wait a little longer
to make his stadium debut in Vancouver.
To make up for the cancelled show, Solid Events
organized an exclusive 3-hour set the coming
Saturday with Tiësto, but Avila was already aboard a
?ight heading to his next show in Florida.
Backstage the next Saturday, I bring up Avila’s name
with Tiësto after his set. With a suppressed smirk
and a spark in his clear bluish-grey eyes, Tiësto asks
rhetorically, “Who opened for me three years ago?”
“Danny Avila?” I guess.
“Hardwell,” Tiësto corrects, beaming playfully at his
trick question. I start connecting the dots out loud;
?rst it was Tiësto, now Hardwell and one day …Danny
Avila. Suddenly it’s clear that Avila isn’t just a great
DJ, but he’s the newest member of a dynasty. From
the Legend, Tiësto, to the reigning King, Hardwell,
and now, the Prince, Danny Avila, has come out to
stake a claim to the throne.
www.djmag.ca
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