- BiG AL’s live performances emanate a whole lot of dancefloor know how. (BPM Magazine USA)
- BiG AL is a brilliant producer kicking out quality music. (Klublife Magazine Toronto, CA)
- BiG AL, a renaissance man, keeper of the unified groove and a real floor shaker. (The Mirror Montreal, CA)
- BiG AL and his Ready Mix Sessions events have finally landed in the city, bringing a breath of fresh air to Abu Dhabi’s nightlife. (Time Out Abu Dhabi)
- Nominated by the Mirror Magazine as one of Montreal’s Top 3 beat masters. (The Mirror Montreal, CA)
- BiG AL’s about tight mixing and slamming house beats punctuated by gutsy tribal drums. (The Hour Magazine, Montreal, CA)
- BiG AL is a ground-breaking DJ/Producer with Middle Eastern roots. (The Daily Star, Lebanon)
- I am a big fan of AL’s work! (Nick Warren)
- AL’s one of the fastest and hardest working sound engineers I’ve had the pleasure to share the studio with. He really knows what I want and where I’m going and always delivers. (Angel Moraes)
- BiG AL’s one of the best sounding DJ’s out there. He belongs to the league of legends. (Craig “Shorty” Bernabeu) The SBS Slammer NYC
Hailing from Montreal with Lebanese/Persian roots, BiGz formerly known as BiG AL is surely one of the longest serving, globally renowned and respected Middle Eastern DJ on the planet, starting his DJ career back in 1989.
Having fallen in love with music at a very young age, his journey evolved naturally, leading him to the New York underground house sound. BiGz was among the first to import western club music and culture back to his native Lebanon where he hosted the primary radio show spoken in the English language; playing underground House Music and Disco Vinyl imported from the USA and Europe. But in a civil war torn country, it was time to spread his wings and search for the source.
Arriving to the USA in the early 90’s, BiGz became a regular club kid at the Sound Factory, Red Zone, Limelight, Shelter, Tunnel, Twilo, Palladium/Arena, Arc/Vinyl and other seminal venues, soaking up sounds laid down by Junior Vasquez, Danny Tenaglia, Masters At Work, Roger Sanchez, Frankie Knuckles, Tony Humphries, Francois K. et al.
A true World citizen, over the years BiGz has lived in the UK, Cyprus, Switzerland, France, Germany, Morocco, the UAE as well as Boston, NYC, L.A and Montreal, Canada. BiGz has worked and assisted legends such as Frankie Knuckles, David Morales, Angel Moraes, Danny “Buddha” Morales, Satoshi Tomiie, Chus & Ceballos, The SBS Slammer “Shorty”, John Creamer, Omid 16B, Nick Warren, Hector Romero and many more in different musical, professional and private projects.
Following a Marketing degree in 1996 and a computer assisted sound design & engineering degree in 1999, BiGz started his creative production journey and has since built up an impressive discography of over 500 releases under his own name as well as a multitude of aliases such as Beat Factory, Harlem Knights, Audio Lab, Soul Collective and The Suppliers. Over the years BiGz has produced, remixed and released his music on more than 150 labels, among them GU, King Street, Ministry of Sound, Armada, Toolroom, iRecords, and Anjunadeep. His smooth production style is both highly distinctive and deeply rooted in the culture, so much so that he can count on Sasha, Dave Seaman, Hernan Cattaneo and Nick Warren among his fans.
As well as maintaining a hectic touring and studio schedule, BiGz owns and manages a group of 6 successful record labels: Ready Mix Records & Haute Musique (run alongside his wife Zee), Stereo Trip (with Chriss Ronson), Itom Records (with Moti Brothers), Tiny Lamp (with Ellroy) and Empty Whisky Flask (with Harlem Knights cohort Levi). His original and best known imprint Ready Mix is home to over 300 of the finest house music producers and holds events in Ibiza, Miami, Beirut, Montreal, Amman and Dubai. Ready Mix was also highly praised and reviewed by the media including The Mirror Mag (CA), Mixmag (USA), The Hour (CA), Vice (CA), DJMag (UK), Voir (CA), Daily Star (LB), Our House Mag (UK), Infusion Mag (UAE), DJ Times (USA), XLR8R (USA), Big Shot Mag (USA), Mixer (USA), Time Out (Abu Dhabi & Beirut) and was nominated “the best Montreal Record Label” as well as “the Canadian label to watch” by Canada’s ‘Klublife’ Magazine.
During a long and fruitful career in the music business, BiGz has become a real ‘go to guy’ for those in the know, working as a beta tester for Native Instruments and Beatport, director of bookings & artist relations at Montreal’s ‘Stereo’ nightclub, Beirut’s ‘B018’ and Abu Dhabi’s “Cubes”, MENA & GCC exclusive representative for The SBS Slammer (NYC) custom built analog sound system products, doing bookings, management, promotion, distribution, marketing and acoustic consultancy for a variety of clubs and labels around the world as well as being the personal programmer and sound engineer for US legend Angel Moraes.
His warm demeanor, powerhouse work-ethic and boundless talent have kept him at the epicenter of electronic music for almost three decades, with absolutely no signs of slowing down. Whether behind the decks, in the studio, touring or showcasing new artists via his networks, BiGz continues his ceaseless mission: to tell a story, educate, diffuse good vibes, be the liaison between the old-school and the contemporary while always pushing the sonic barriers to bring exceptional sound quality and music to the world.
