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to look professional.” When they asked him
which nightclubs he had been to, Pereira
answered with a smile on his face, “Err, I
haven’t been to any nightclubs. Daryus then
said,‘You’ve come for a job as a DJ and you’ve
never been in a nightclub?’ I said, ‘No.’ But
he still decided to take me on board, and
man, was I eager to show them what I could
do? So my first club was in Bombay, a club
called Illusions and with that came popularity.
Daryus Panthakey is an amazing guy!”
After firmly making his presence known
in his homeland, Jez turned his ambitions
towards global success. “I was totally blown
away by all these new experiences happening
in my life, a lot of private events were
popping up and I was being asked to play the
music. I was playing for Bollywood and at the
same time doing commercial, high energy
pop music. I then started doing my own
events which were closer to home and much
more convenient for me, but I was setting
my sights for an international adventure.”
Infused with enthusiasm and glee in building
his reputation, a modest and insightful Jez
explains, “I then found myself in London in
2006 through a friend I met while out playing.
Due to one particular event at a museum, I
was asked if I would be interested in coming
to the UK. In truth I was only thinking of a
holiday break as I felt that I needed one.”
With his musical journey starting to
take shape in 2006, Pereira got talking to a
few people and began to get a real feel for
the place. Close to the town where he was
staying, he found himself passing by a bar
every other evening and soon got chatting
to the owner. After speaking with him on a
number of occasions, Pereira asked about
playing at his bar. Looking up and smiling at
me, he adds, “He wasn’t too convinced at
first, but he liked my personality and said,
‘You know what, come
by this Tuesday’ so
the following week
I got the chance to
play. But even with the
openings that were
coming my way, there
were occasions when
I would pass all these
little charity shops
on my walk around
London town, and
I would pop in and
browse through old records that just took
me back to my native India. All these 80s
gems like Chic, Michael Jackson, Boney M,
you can’t go to wrong on spending 30 pence
for an original single even though I had not
much money to spend on music in those
days.”
From that time forward in London, the
making of the name ‘Jez Believe’ started
leading to a list of main room appearances
with the likes of Van Dyke, Erick Morillo
and guest playing at the 2013 Cannes Film
Festival.“These events helped to develop me
as a DJ artist because I really got a feel for
what people were listening to in the city of
London.” Even so, there were some people
who were quick to make judgements and not
take him seriously as a DJ.Pereira recalls with
a signature smile a time when this happened,
“While living in Croydon, I came across a
record shop, while crossing the tram tracks
on the way back from church and saw this
shop called ‘Swag Records’ inWest Croydon.
I got speaking with the guy there called Paul
and he made fun of me at first, but when he
saw me picking out what I liked, his mocking
came to an abrupt halt and I knew at that
moment in time, that I was going to be taken
seriously as a DJ.”
Travelling the globe, visiting cities such
as Tokyo, Colombia, Brazil, Moscow and the
iconic party island Ibiza, Pereira headlined
one of the big exclusive events at Livorno
in Italy with Federico Scavo, one of house
music’s finest producers, that saw a packed
sold-out crowd of 4,000 people. I asked
Pereira if he would ever consider getting
into production, “I’ve been involved in a
few projects, done mixes for S&S Records
and there’s more to come in the pipeline. I
have worked with Elijah Collins on a classic
house groove called ‘Jack Your Body’; the
reviews were great so I felt quite proud of
that achievement.And with my friend Madoc,
we’ve done remixes together for Shalimar
and Kanye West. Production isn’t a big part
of my life right now, but I do want to create
that special sound.”
Coming to the end of our conversation,
Pereira concludes, “So basically it all started
from playing in these small bars, then
eventually West End clubs, and also just by
knocking on doors and making it happen.
I still do it today, it really helps in having a
belief in one’s self, and hence the name ‘Jez
Believe’ and I really believe the music I play
promotes that.”
www.jezpereira.com