John Dimas

John Dimas found his way into DJing through clubbing. Inspired by the Chicago, Acid House, UK Garage, and Breakbeat he was hearing in Thessaloniki, Greece where he grew up after moving from Albania in the early 90’s. He bought his first records and taught himself to mix using two belt-driven decks and a homemade mixer that formed part of a high school project. He played his first gig two years later, in 2001, in a tiny bar where he remained as a resident for over four years before moving to Decadance, a larger venue that regularly booked artists from abroad. Dimas was quickly snapped up by a major Greek booking agency and also Red Bull, who signed him a resident DJ for their nationwide party series. Dimas’ international bookings picked up quickly. Having carved himself a reputation with some lower-profile support slots across Europe, he’s now established himself as a highly respected DJ , acknowledged for the diversity in his selections and deep knowledge of music; scattered within all Dimas sets are various obscure cuts that even the most avid music fans are yet to discover. “I like peaks and troughs, and giving lots of different dynamics to keep things interesting,” he says. “I don’t like to be predictable with the records I play and love surprising the crowd.” Recent years have seen him perform at London’s Fabric, Ibiza’s DC10 and Amnesia, New York’s Resolute, Paris’ Rex, Bucharest’s Guesthouse, and all across Berlin, including Club der Visionaere and Watergate. It was a 2011 booking at this latter venue that inspired a 2012 move to the German capital. Important, too, is Dimas’ production work. He began experimenting with production in 2007 and incorporates lots of edits into his sets. His 2018 XLR8R podcast consists only of these. On a release front, he’s maintained a steady output since his 2010 debut, pushing a futuristic fusion of techno & house sound that is clever, energetic and infectious. Elsewhere, Dimas also heads up Elephant Moon, a record label through which he aims to search out and support new talent. The label does not accept demos; rather, Dimas himself hunts for artists, “so there is always a high quality maintained,” he says. The label celebrated its 11th release with Dimas’ album debut, One Against Time. “I had to the opportunity to express myself completely and draw from all my influences over the years,” he says. In 2020 Dimas launched a second imprint SYNQ as well as Intermission Records with Voigtmann to release their debut album for their new collaborative project VO1GT.M4S. 2020 also saw the revival of his other alias Secret Universe, with a release on Gottwood Festival’s Nottwaxx Compilation and 2021 shows no signs of Dimas slowing down either with a full touring schedule for the latter part of the year, a release on Francesco Del Garda’s Timeless imprint, a second release on his label SYNQ as well as three remix projects out before the year’s end. In an aesthetic that’s long been overly saturated, Dimas has found a voice all of his own.