Feature

SPIN DOCTORS: DJ MESTO

Italian deckmaster DJ Mesto is no stranger to diversity. Although he made his name spinning R&B, hip hop and dancehall, he’s since diversified into another specialised, but highly popular and energy-laden genre – reggaeton.

Mesto started early. He was bodypopping and breakdancing in his home city of Turin at the age of 12, and by 1989 had extended his skills to DJing and promoting, staging his own R&B and hip hop jams, and getting into the mixtape game. By ’93, frustrated at the slow level of the music’s growth in his home country, he came to London for a piece of the action. He quickly made useful alliances with the likes of DJ Kofi and Shortee Blitz, and opening nights for established international acts such as The Roots.

It wasn’t long before radio work joined the equation. Following a HNC course in Radio Production and Broadcasting, he began working for the Italian radio station Station One. By 1999, however, he’d moved back to Italy, where he continued to run nights, promote acts, and run the digital distribution service mp3mixtape.com

Londoners get a chance to sample his energetic style this month as he heads up La Bomba at Ministry of Sound on Friday 13th July, amidst a whole world of Latin-flavoured dance styles.
For further info., check out www.djmesto.com
Words Mark Devlin