Gerard presents The Hit List episode 31 on Scientific Sound Asia, with Diaga joining as the second-hour guest. Scientific Sound Asia is an Asian electronic music radio station, DJ agency, promoter and music-news platform connecting audiences across Asia and internationally.
Gerard is a producer and DJ from Angeles City in the United States whose work spans Deep House, Deep Tech, Tech House and Techno. He has a defined passion for electronic music and approaches both production and DJing with a distinctive method.
His ambition is to contribute to the future of House music by widening its culture and awareness through his style of play and production. The article presents him as an emerging international artist working to establish his own place in electronic music.
Gerard returned to Florida, USA, after a period in South East Asia, and works with Scientific Sound Asia's DJ agency. He was also the Nu-Disco manager for Brasbeat, described as Latin America's first and only digital source for electronic music.
He hosts a regular podcast and mix show featuring the music charted each month. Those broadcasts provide a regular setting for his selections and productions.
Guest DJ (second hour) DJ Diaga.
Diaga is this episode's guest DJ and resides in his hometown of Miami, United States, where demand for his work has stayed strong. His approach is not centred on a single sound or a fixed DJ identity, but on making each sequence make sense for the people hearing it.
He describes his purpose as stimulating open-minded people who love music. His repertoire is not easily reduced to one description, inviting listeners to draw their own conclusions from the selections.
Although predominantly electronic, Diaga's DJ sets incorporate varied styles, deep influences and more extreme elements. Dark melodic hooks, frenetic basslines, warped loops and digital artistry all form part of the approach described here.
Mixing records is an essential part of his performance, alongside live edits and sampled cues. The original profile credits his coordination and technical ability with adding dimension to his sets.
On the decks, he is portrayed as meticulous and attentive, while away from them he is described as amiable and serene. His working manner is quiet and collected, with a poker-faced focus on the next transition.
The profile also describes Diaga building the atmosphere in a listening crowd before turning the room towards a more intense response. It depicts him briefly checking the dance floor, tapping ash from a cigarette and returning to work on the next mix.
His path as a DJ began with self-taught record-playing in his native Nicaragua, where he received his own radio spot at the age of eleven. After migrating to the United States, he worked as a mobile DJ and took guest slots at local bars and clubs, reinvesting his earnings in records and equipment.
A major break came in 2003 when he won the top prize in a Miami-based DJ competition. The award brought two prime-time Saturday slots at Space Miami, where he played to capacity crowds on consecutive weekends.
The original account presents those appearances as the point at which he entered a new level of electronic-music recognition. It also notes that attention for his work grew steadily afterwards.
Press and industry figures have identified Diaga as a name to watch, while the profile describes his outlook as fresh, unafraid and eccentric. It attributes his standing to a passion rooted in music and to standards understood by relatively few but enjoyed by many.
Diaga has shared decks with Miami DJs and internationally known names including Oscar G, Steve Lawler, Josh Wink, DJ Rap, Cedric Gervais, Judge Jules, Markus Schulz, Tommie Sunshine, Sean Miller, Robbie Rivera, Stryke and Skribbles. The article also notes further collaborators beyond those named.
Gerard's The Hit List 31 with guest Diaga opens with Diaga's vocal introduction and Quiver's Garden, before Exit 11's I Try acapella and Eli Brown's Don't Let Me Go receive DJ Diaga edits. Claptone's mix of Drop the Pressure, Purple Disco Machine's Mean Motion vs. Don't Laugh edit and James Hype's remix of Ride It keep the early section focused on reworked club material.
Will Easton's Wow vs. Fired Up edit leads into D.U.D.S.' Nu Nu, a House Music selection given a live edit by Diaga. Marshall Jefferson and Solardo's Move Your Body follows in Extended Mix form on Ultra, bringing a firmer Tech House edge to the sequence.
Diaga then places Tears for Fears' Shout vs. Tear Drop edit beside La Troppa's The Dogs on Sa Trincha Recordings. The latter introduces Deep House detail before Gorillaz's Strobelite House Dub resets the rhythm.
Vibe Injection's This Feeling Inside arrives on Crumpled Sound with an Indie Dance character, followed by Marc DePulse's Timing vs. Praying edit. Hraach and Armen Miran's NowHere on Hoomidaas introduces Organic House textures as the second hour heads deeper.
Paul Deep's Ironic Reality on Sudbeat Music brings Progressive House into focus, with Hraach and Armen Miran's Light and Oliver Schories' Maia extending that mood. Matias Chilano's Analog Ghosts, also on Sudbeat Music, sustains the progressive direction before Olivier Giacomotto's Bipolar Star on Noir Music adds a more forceful Tech House turn.
Luigi Gori and Frankye Lova's Starkato remix of Racy and Hraach and Armen Miran's Gravitation draw the closing stretch back towards Progressive House. Frankey's Dream on Poker Flat Recordings supplies Deep Tech House tension, before Madota's Rangi on Saisons closes with Organic House detail.
The Hit List episode 31 5th of May 2020
Diaga (first hour)
DJ Diaga - Intro (Sneha Vocal)
Quiver - Garden (Original Mix)
Exit 11 - I Try (acapella) [DJ Diaga Live Edit]
Eli Brown - Don’t Let me Go (DJ Diaga WMC Edit)
Claptone - Drop the Pressure (Claptone Mix)
Purple Disco Machine - Mean Motion vs. Don’t Laugh (DJ Diaga Edit)
James Hype - Ride It (James Hype Remix)
Will Easton - Wow vs. Fired Up (DJ Diaga Edit)
D.U.D.S - Nu Nu (Original Mix) [DJ Diaga Live Edit]
Marchal Jefferson x Salardo - Move your Body (Extended Mix)
Tears for Fears - Shout vs. Tear Drop (DJ Diaga Edit)
La Troppa - The Dogs (Original Mix)
Gorillaz - Strobelite (House Dub)
Vibe Injection - Feeling Inside (Original Mix)
Marc DePulse - Timing vs. Praying (DJ Diaga Edit)
Gerard (Second hour)
Hraach & Armen Miran - Nowhere (Original Mix)
Paul Deep - Ironic Reality
Armen Miran, Hraach - Light (Original Mix
Oliver Schories - Maia (Clean Extended)
Matias Chilano - Analog Ghosts
Olivier Giacomotto - Bipolar Star (Original Mix)
Luigi Gori & Frankye Lova - Racy (Starkato Remix)
Armen Miran, Hraach - Gravitation (Original Mix)
Frankey - Dream (Original mix)
Madota - Rangi (Original Mix)
Listen on Mixcloud here.