With over 20 years of playing at the Portuguese institution Lux, Tiago has not only forged a formidable reputation but a sound understanding of how to move a room. Despite releasing his debut album, Ecstasy and Release as TNT Subhead just this year, he says he feels little pressure when it comes to keeping up with the pressure to consistently release music. “I’ve been always involved in music and recording bands even before I started DJing…because it was such a slow process [it was] all pretty easy going and chilled.” The perks of being a respected figure in the music community don’t fall short of him either, successfully releasing this album without a label without “any pressure for albums or whatever agenda” in the future.
Few artists get to experience such a luxury but this is only proof that Tiago’s hard work was not in vain. Alongside his residency at Lux he now runs a monthly night there, which has “been wonderful and dysfunctional at times like any normal family affair”. What sets him apart from the crowded music scene is his earnest nature and importantly his continual support of the DJ over the producer – a passion ignited by empathy one would think. “Promoters tend to promote more the producer side of the DJ they are hiring when the opposite would be more real cause people are not out for a live show but for a DJ set.” His words are lived through his actions, renowned for his seven hour long DJ sets, a skill rendering him a perpetual long lost soul from the Mercat.
BY KISH LAL
