Bio Mixes Moments

Latest

Life as a Labyrinth

Santa Marta - Colombia - Feb 9 2023

…It was night time and the full-ish moon was smiling down as the river flowed and all the creatures made their distinct sounds. A fire warmed our bodies as music feed our souls.

Inspired by the human experience that unfolded in a beautiful container surrounded by Mother Nature. This set was a celebration of the journey’s ending … or was it the just beginning ;) I was in a complete flow state, I knew two tracks I wanted to start with and two towards the end. Tunes were pulled from many different pockets of my collection…

RH Burn Night 2022

…During my burn night set, she sat on my booth monitor as I played from the heart. We shared tender moments as some lyrics hit home for us. I chose music that reminded me of life, love and dust. My hopes were it would do the same for others. Two of my favorite memories were when I played a track with the lyrics “falling for you” and the man fell. And the track that followed - I’ll let you figure out why ;)…

RH Freeburn 2021

The “FreeBurn” was so needed! To celebrate life - we needed to reflect, dance, laugh, cry, and let go - in the place we call home…

…I feel blessed to have been able to express myself musically on our magical bus after such a long break.

4 Geo <3 !

 
 
 

Robot Heart w/ Swamy

Burning Man... Burn night!

Jason Swamy has been my friend for 30 years now, He is the one who introduced me to electronic music.
Mix that with playing on a bus that has one of the most dialed sound systems in the world and being surrounded playa love and dust.  
Needless to say these are very special to me.

John_Dill-Burning-Man-2012.jpg

Burn Night 2012

This was the year Swamy and I played as one. Our prep was a simple nod to our dance floor stomping days at Twilo (Classic NYC club). I always preferred Digger's bass driven bombs and Swamy gravitated towards Sasha's ethereal gems. So we each channeled our heroes back in the day and called it a night. A 4 hour Odyssey awaited...

John_Dill-Burning-Man-2013.jpg

Burn Night 2013

I think this note sums it up nice...

"Hey brother, I’m listening to your and Swamy’s 2013 BM Robot Heart set. It remains on of my all time favorite sets. I absolutely love it, I absolutely love you, and I just want to absolutely blast some love your way <3!

Thank you for being and making magic"

- Michael Sanders

John_Dill-Burning-Man-2014.jpg

Burn Night 2014

This is probably one of the most emotional sets I have ever been a part of... A tear or two may have been shed.

Special Set 1

 
 

aphrodilliac - Halloween 159 After Party
Sunday October 27 2013

Released October 2017 - I did not play any sets that Halloween, as I’d benched myself again due to tinnitus. I've decided to release this 1.5 hour slice from a 6.5 hour set. Some of my favorite good vibe tunes at the time. This mix is from 4 years ago at an after party at 159.( I was rocking a wig the whole night and morning by the weeeeeeeeeeee hours. It looked legit from all the sweat and shenanigans.) It was one of those flow state sets where tracks were just melting into each other and choosing each other… lots of love in the air and smiles all around. Thus the name of the mix - AphroDILLiac, my nickname from the party. Hope you enjoy this little flashback.

 
 
 
 
 
afrodilliac-background.jpg

Concept Mixes

Inspired by life...

John_Dill-The-Brazdillian.jpg

The Brazdillian

Rio is such a sexy city I wanted to create a mix to match.

A special mix for my friends of Make my Day. Thank you for the warmth and beauty.  Hope to see you again soon! This mix was recorded live on my last airplane ride using traktor for iPad.

John_Dill-Rainy-Afternoon-Dillight_(Recovery-mix).jpg

Rainy Afternoon Dillight (Recovery mix)

It was a rainy afternoon in Singapore, I'm in bed recovering from a detached retina listening to some of my favorite chill tracks - old, newish and in between.  At one point thunder and beats dominated the air. I stopped the music to record the storm on my iPad and enjoy nature’s rhythms.

Later, I decided to go back and make a short mix .  Since I cannot use my usual set up because of my eye / recovery situation I decided to give traktor on my iPad a go, so keep that in mind as you listen.  Its my first iPad traktor mix with, no editing. t reminded me of making a mix back in the day.

DILL BRIDGE MIX
(Remembering Demba)

I made this mix a few years back just in case it was needed to bridge two music acts as the 2nd set up a live show. I never released it publicly for some reason. Today June 3rd, 2018 I found out that Demba Nabét (1972-2018) passed. I met Demba in 2016 on a MaiTai adventure in Cabarete. He was a ball of energy, always animated and spitting out lyrics that would make people and himself crack a smile. One night when I was DJing, he did a small performance over one of his tracks. Also rocking some lit dance moves. Later that night we exchanged some music. I used two of his original tracks on this mix. Thank you Demba, you have a fantastic soul, May it soar even higher!! See you again one day amigo.

John_Dill-IN-SEARCH-OF-SIGHT-CHAPTER-1.jpg

In Search of Sight:
Chapter 1 "Beautiful…"

I created this mix from tunes that I played over and over while making images for my art show : In Search of Sight - Chapter 1 - "beautiful…"  

“Waves are crashing, sun is transforming and all of a sudden hundreds of black dots filled the sky. That was the moment my retina decided it was going to let loose. It was quite beautiful and poetic…”  

This mix is dedicated to that moment in time and the friends who helped me bring chapter 1 - "beautiful…" to life.

Special Set 2

 
 

Further Future 002

In January my ears decided to start acting up and has altered the course of my musical passion. I cancelled all my gigs from February to April to let my ears rest for Further Future. I planned to make this my last set for a while.The previous year, I got to close out FF with a 9 hour set with Anton helping me hold down the fort till we made it rain. I think we may have opened up the faucet and forgotten to turn it off.

The RH Bus and it’s booth have given me SO many magical musical moments. Welcoming sessions at the Gate. Burn Night sets with Swamy warms my heart when I think of the emotional journeys we’ve created together. A sunrise set that turned into a 5 hr one on one tag team set with Lee. A spontaneous 11 hr set with Benjamin Alexander that ended with 2 CDjs being added with Lee burridge and Greg from Thugfucker joining. The next year we brought rain and lightning as we woke up the playa family style. That morning a forklift with a bleacher full of peeps joined the party madness… was epic. Last year, a solo night time musical journey that brought up the sun and drifted well into the morning. Many more moments that blend with time and dust, sweat, blood (my clumsy self) and sunburn with my playa family!! beep beep! <3 <3 tear tear.

What to play? I wanted to make this set special and play a few gems from my past while lacing it with some current favorites. I went thru my music and collected 100 tracks and one NSFW Prince tribute. The tribute was the only track I knew I was going to play, the rest of the set unfolded on its own. I invited my good friend Dave Kim to play some electric violin, you will hear him weaving in and out. My emotions ran high for this short but loaded set. Hope you enjoy.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ff-background.jpg
 

Dusty Pickle Series

Inspired by my first Burning Man journey (2010)

John_Dill-The-Brazdillian.png

Dusty Pickle: Morning Bump

A taste of my morning/day sets at Burning Man 2010. This set was my love letter  to the playa. It was the first time experimenting with these chill sounds and a beginning of a new chapter in my sets to come. Legend has it a few babies were made while listening to this mix.

John_Dill-Dusty-Pickle-Part2.jpg

Dusty Pickle: Midnight Juice

A flash back to my tag-team burn set with Swamy at Burning Man 2010 on the Robot Heart Bus. I tried to remember the tracks I played and created this night time mix.

John_Dill-Dusty-Pickle-teasing.jpg

Dusty Pickle: Teasing you all the way Home

A mix that is meant to tease, laced with vocals that build slow.. "are we home yet?" I made this mix as a gift for pre burn prep 2011.

Special Set 3

 
 

Deep Blue Mix - The ocean Gala

This set was dedicated to the ocean.it is laced with lyrics that swim through your mind. It is a chill mix, but kicks up  and then back down again like a nice wave near the end. My good friend Dave Kim added a beautiful layer of violin.

The Ocean Gala is, a fundraising event to support ocean conservation. As a collaborative community of passionate men and women, these organizations have partnered to bring together today’s and tomorrow's global leaders in a collective effort to protect, value and celebrate the ocean and its wildlife.

 
 
 
 
gala-background.jpg
 

Archives

My first demo I was super proud of.... bedroom DJ days in boston. I nice little journey of sound.

Space disco filled the room as the catwalk was struck! Fond memories of playing my dear friend Tunji's Fashion show.

When you head to your first WMC back in the day locked and loaded with a proper demo on CD. 

Jason Swamy and John Dill take us on a magical Burn night journey during Burning Man 2011. Part 1

When you get asked to play a fashion show on feb 14th. You make it special. Love Love Love.

Jason Swamy and John Dill take us on a magical Burn night journey during Burning Man 2011. Part 2