Ilija Djokovic

About

The Belgrade-based talent takes care to convey real emotion in his melodies and power in his rhythms. His meticulous approach both in the DJ booth and the studio results in sounds that move people in many different ways. For this reason and after many years of work, he has gone from being a secret Serbian talent to someone now making his mark on the world stage with fans like Paul Kalkbrenner, Carl Cox and Chris Liebig. Djokovic has proven his international credentials over the last decade-plus with releases on high-profile labels like Drumcode, Filth on Acid and Armada. He reached overall Number 1 on the Beatport techno chart with the mighty 'Atom,' which also made Ilija one of the genre's best-selling artists of the year. That track was something of a breakout moment that got high-profile support from the likes of Maceo Plex, and further successes have followed on Second State and Terminal M. More melodic tracks like 'Vega' on Armada Records and 'Equilibrium' on Drumcode showed a different side to this vital artist. The latter was one of the most requested IDs of Adam Beyer's DJ sets at the time: it paired driving drum programming with the sort of mind-expanding synth work that takes dancers to another level. While remaining true to his mysterious and atmospheric signature sound, Djokovic is always evolving as proven with an explosive outing on Reinier Zonneveld's cult Filth on Acid label. It featured tripped-outbangers that fuse spine-tingling chords with hypnotic beats, as do his DJ sets, which have taken him to world-class clubs and festivals like UNTOLD, Watergate, Exit's Dance Arena, Lovefest, Echowaves, EGG London, De Marktkantine and more. As Djokovic continues to climb ever-higher Beatport's Techno Top 100 and prepares to launch his Point Beyond label with a big first release featuring a Flug remix, he is now one of the most essential voices in the contemporary techno conversation.