What's spinning on GURU FM

"Without music, life would be a mistake", said existentialism's darling, Friedrich Nietzsche. Guru does solemnly agree. And who pushes a significant portion of music in this city? Bangkok's live DJs, of course! They're like our unsung heroes, our hidden gems. They really do hold the keys to our city!

We have them to thank for getting us through our darkest hours. Without them, there'd be no fun, no late night kao man gai, no 7-11 cheese toasties of the carbonara variety and no waking up the next morning being like "WTF???" Most importantly, there'd no life and soul to any party, period. Shout out to all the DJs out there spinning for a living or out of pure passion. Without you, Bangkok would die.

And, here's 12 fly AF DJs Guru can't get enough of right now.

MENDY INDIGO

STYLE: Techno
SOUND: "Deep. Dark. Dirty"
PLAYS AT: Beam, Glow
WEAPON: Allen & Heath xone 92; CDJ 2000 nexus
ADVICE FOR ASPIRING DJS: "Have a passion for what you do. And if you're good, get in touch with me via facebook. I'm always looking for local talent to play for my monthly night, "Dark and Dirty", at Glow"
FOLLOW: http://soundcloud.com/mendy-indigo; http://fb.com/Mendy.Thailand

♦ Ms Mendy is one of Bangkok's leading female Techno DJs. Her musical journey started aged eight with her love for singing, something reflected in the melodic vocal beats she'll weave into her sets. She started DJ'ing after a trip to Nepal changed her life when a German friend introduced her to electronic music. It wasn't long after she returned to Bangkok that she was spotted playing in top clubs. "My second home is Glow, where I developed a lot of my style".

NOXRO

STYLE: Future Sounds
SOUND: "Boundless -- I play what I prefer in that moment"
PLAYS AT: DND, Beam
WEAPON: Pioneer CDJ-2000NX; DJM-900NX
ADVICE FOR ASPIRING DJS: "Do. Instead of saying ‘I will do it', just do"
FOLLOW: http://fb.com/NO10RO/; http://fb.com/whvck

♦ Noxro, dare we say it, gives one of the biggest eargasms. As one of the founders of the creative music community WHVCK, he believes that music is a universal language that binds all. He's famous for his futuristic hip hop sound, yet he's also been known to delve into house and techno. Coming from turbulent beginnings in Bang Saen, music was always something that centred him, especially after he dropped out of high school. "I've always had to take care of myself and my mum; I did every possible job under the sun as a kid". His DJ'ing career in Bangkok started off as a long commute every week -- he'd board a bus and travel for two hours to come and play a two-hour set and then catch the 4am bus back to Bang Saen. Word spread like wildfire about his awesomeness and those commutes have now stopped. He's relocated permanently to Krungthep because he's just getting gigs left, right and centre now!

22 BULLETS

STYLE: EDM
SOUND: "High energy music"
PLAYS AT: All over. Follow upcoming gigs on his FB page
WEAPON: 4x CDJs 2000 Nexus; DJM 900 Nexus
ADVICE FOR ASPIRING DJS: "If you want to take a career in DJ'ing seriously,
do your own production. Be patient and keep going. There's no shortcut to success"
FOLLOW: http://soundcloud.com/22bullets; http://fb.com/The22bullets

♦ Usually captivating audiences at festivals with his energetic mash-ups -- his performances at S20 and Northfest this year had listeners gasping for air -- 22 Bullets has been DJ'ing since the tender age of 14. He recently played in Myanmar and is expecting a lot more worldwide gigs this year. As a producer for Thai celebrity Dome Pakorn Lam, he also has had releases on labels such as Panda Funk and Dirty Dutch. This year will see his release of collaboration tracks with international DJs such as Robert Falcon, Makj and Ftampa.

DOTT & JUNESIS

STYLE: Deep House Techno
SOUND: "Seductive. Groovy. Energetic"
PLAYS AT: Glow, Dark Bar, Mustache, Whiteline
WEAPON: Allen & Heath Xone92; CDJ 2000 Nexus
ADVICE FOR ASPIRING DJS: "Always do your best at every gig no matter how small your audience is. You never know who's watching!"
FOLLOW: http://soundcloud.com/junesis, http://soundcloud.com/dogsontheturns, http://fb.com/junesiss, http://fb.com/dogsontheturns.

♦ When you watch this duo perform, you can't help but smile. Introduced to each other through DJ/Producer King Kong three years ago, they were the youngest DJs at the time playing house music at Grease and naturally gravitated towards one another. And they're like this ying and yang force spinning towards the centre of Bangkok's underground house and techno scene. Junesis (right) draws influences from the island life, evoking a "deep house by day" sound and DOTT complements it with a city-centric techno "by night" one. The energy created between them is inimitable and you'd never expect such musical stamina from such an innocent looking pair. We hear they've been caught spinning on the decks for 10 hours straight. Apart, they're insane DJs, but together, they wreak havoc -- in a good way.

CLEO P

STYLE: Electro Bass / Trap / Hip Hop
SOUND: "Swag. Bounce. Hi-Octane"
PLAYS AT: She keeps things fresh so follow her FB. Gogrrrls parties at Dark Bar are her "favourite" though.
WEAPON: Pioneer CDJ-2000; turntables.
ADVICE FOR ASPIRING DJS: "Be true to yourself and develop your own style"
FOLLOW: http://fb.com/djcleop1, http://soundcloud.com/cleo-p, http://cleo-p.com, http://fb.com/gogrrrls

♦ Cleo P's musical journey started off six years ago when she was signed with Thaitanium ENT as a dancer, choreographer and rapper. Although she loved rapping, being stuck in one style of music bothered her so she started DJ'ing, being the first female DJ for Bangkok Invaders and also co-founding Bangkok's "queer hipster" club night, Go Grrrls. She was then playing whatever music she liked from a mix of genres. Starting off as an electro DJ who would add elements of hip hop into her sets, as trap music developed she quickly found the genre combined her two preferred styles, electro and hip hop, which made her instantly fall in love with it. "I love trap music because it has few rules. You can combine all sorts of genres which always seem to get the crowd moving".

DELOREAN

STYLE: Drum and Bass / UK Bass / Dub / Reggae
SOUND: "Fast soul music"
PLAYS AT: Right now the monthly night "Kontraband" by Phatfunk at Dark Bar.
WEAPON: Pioneer CDJ-2000; Technics SL-1200
ADVICE FOR ASPIRING DJS: "Unfortunately it's all about who you know so get down to every gig, set or party you can. You gotta be there to be noticed"
FOLLOW: http://fb.com/DeLoreanDJ, http://soundcloud.com/jgilbody, http://mixcloud.com/jamesgilbody

♦ Delorean is the perfect example of someone who spins purely for passion, working by day as Digital Director for his creative video production agency. As one of the founders of Bangkok's famous drum and bass (D&B) night, Phatfunk, you'll always catch him behind the decks mixing in some dirty liquid D&B and dub that's seeping with London and Bristol sounds. He started off as a jazz/blues pianist and guitarist at his school in the UK and in his teens played in metal bands. The older he got, the more difficult it became for him to get people to practise. Thus, DJ'ing was a natural substitute. D&B was an instant fit with his tastes as it had far reaching influences and he was able to get his fix of jazz, hip hop, metal, funk and soul all into one genre. #musicalgeniusalert.

DJ BOMBER SELECTA

GENRE: Reggae Dancehall
SOUND: "Positive. Creative. Expressive"
PLAYS AT: Sway, Knock, Grease
WEAPON: Pioneer PLX-1000 Turntables; Pioneer PDM-S9 Mixer
ADVICE FOR ASPIRING DJS: "Head, hands, heart. Love what you do and do what you love"
FOLLOW: http://mixcloud.com/bomberselecta, http://soundcloud.com/bomberselecta, http://fb.com/djbomberselecta

♦ As the two-time champion of the Thailand Red Bull Thre3style competition for 2015 and 2016, Bomber Selecta has been DJ'ing since the early 2000s. When he's not DJing and winning competitions, the avid music collector is spreading his musical knowledge and instructing aspiring DJs at Kreatah DJ school. Although his favourite style of music to mix is reggae dancehall, his sound is eclectic as he also incorporates hip hop, R&B, soul, funk, house and Top40s in his sets. And boy, can he scratch. In his opinion though, "music genres are just artificial boundaries that have no meaning". We agree.

DJ PICHY

STYLE: Old School Hip Hop / Drum and Bass
SOUND: "Funky. Heavy. Bass"
PLAYS AT: W Hotel, Beam, Mellow, Surface
WEAPON: DJM-900NXS Pioneer, Turntables with vinyl or Serato vinyl
ADVICE FOR ASPIRING DJS: "Do what you love and don't quit"
FOLLOW: http://soundcloud.com/pichy

♦ As a dedicated and loving full time mother, you'll also catch Pichy spinning every other night of the week. She started DJ'ing back in 2003 around the same time she was working at the record store, Jazzbah Records. With a deep love for jungle D&B that was instigated in 1998 when she started partying, she was soon playing at top venues -- back in the day -- such as Astra, Qbar and Bed Supperclub. 2008 saw a hiatus in her DJ'ing career when she had her baby girl but it wasn't long before she was back on the scene DJ'ing and bringing in big names such as DJ Zinc and Onra, organising events under Quay Records which she co-founded with three friends. If it's not hip hop or D&B she's playing, expect to hear Jazz, Soul, Funk, boogie or garage.

HYPEFREAX

STYLE: Hype EDM Trap
SOUND: "Energetic. Uplifting. Powerful".
PLAYS AT: Seen Space, Insanity, EQ, Sherbert.
WEAPON: Pioneer's DDJ-SX; freestyling; bomb AF dance moves
ADVICE FOR ASPIRING DJS: "Always believe in yourself no matter what anyone tells you. To do what you love for a living is truly living"
FOLLOW: http://fb.com/hypefreax, http://hypefreax.com, http://soundcloud.com/hypefreax

♦ When it comes down to it, no one else is doing what they're doing right now for Bangkok nightlife and people have noticed. With DJ and producer Kriszd (right) spinning behind the decks and international rapper "Egypt" freestyling and throwing bomb AF dance moves -- often joined with DJ Kriszd dancing too -- these guys always put on a show that'll leave the audience either screaming, dancing on tables, bouncing off walls or Lord knows what else. They've been kicking it since they were six, back in their Las Vegas days when they "were the only brown" kids in school. When Kriszd moved to Thailand, it was eight years before they saw each other but when they reunited, they both knew they were stronger as a unit than apart. You may also already know them for that song they released that went viral a few months ago, Ride It Like The BTS. If you haven't already, youtube it. It puts a whole new spin on those early morning train rides to work.

DJ SUNNY

STYLE: Electro House & Trap
SOUND: "Shook. Fresh. Ecstatic"
PLAYS AT: DND
WEAPON: Pioneer CDJs
ADVICE FOR ASPIRING DJS: "Have a good personality and build real relationships with people"
FOLLOW: http://mixcloud.com/djsunnyburns, IG: djsunnyburns

♦ Growing up in Surat Thani and a regular attender of the Full Moon parties, Sunny was inspired by the string of international DJs he saw and eventually played at one of the count downs, aged 22. Moving to Bangkok to study Advertising at Rangsit University, he started off playing dubstep at Cafe Democ. In the advent of the trap music and the Powderpuff community and parties that were thrown in its wake, DJ Sunny soon became "known" for trap music. He was, after all, one of the first to play it here.

ELLIE

STYLE: Deep Techno
SOUND: "Hypnotic. Desert. Journey"
PLAYS AT: Mustache, Glow
WEAPON: CDJ-2000-NXS. "Recently played on a Xone 92 Mixer. I'd like to get more acquainted with that!"
ADVICE FOR ASPIRING DJS: "Surprise yourself, constantly"
FOLLOW: http://fb.com/ellie.khodayar, http://soundcloud.com/ellie-bkk

♦ The Thai/Persian Ellie is a mystical force to be reckoned with when she gets behind the decks, pumping a dark and seductive sound like no other. Starting off as a classic bedroom DJ mixing for friends and personal pleasure, her love for music took her to throwing underground parties for ravers where she too would play. After being spotted by techno-star, DJ and producer Sunju Hargun, one of Bangkok's and South East Asia's biggest, he eventually took her under his wing and started featuring her in his monthly event "Inhale Exhale" at Glow. She's slowly building up momentum and entering the eye of Bangkok's techno storm. Watch out for her, she's about to explode.

DJ GUS

STYLE: Hip Hop/ R'n'B
SOUND: "Sexy. Classic. Turnt".
PLAYS AT: Dirty Bar (Demo), Wine Republic, Knock and Darker. 
WEAPON: Everything but mainly Technics sl 1200.
ADVICE FOR ASPIRING DJS: "Practise. Listen to lots of music and always do what you want to do".
FOLLOW: http://mixcloud.com/dj_gus

♦ This guy puts a whole new meaning to "turnt". Starting off aged 17, he learned watching his brothers in the DJ booths and admits messing up many times before he got it right. Practise certainly does make perfect because eight years down the line he's got crowds that would go out purely to listen to him. What we love about DJ Gus is he's fully into what he does: "It's not about playing songs from left deck to right deck. It's all about understanding. You're telling a story to people through music and selection is so important. It can be perfect if you understand what you're playing and you understand your audience". Even though it's the classic dilemma all DJs face, he always strives to make himself and his audience happy in one night. And nothing's ever fixed -- he'll throw in classic disco, funk, rock and even grunge into one night too.