CAUSE AND EFFECTS

Zabiela is known for his technical skills in the DJ booth. Early on in his career, that meant live mash-ups on two turntables, and copious scratching, which was, and remains, a rarity among dance-music DJs. These days, it means copious use of effects units – and Zabiela acknowledges the link between technical musicmaking and playing a favourite game. “I was doing this feedback loop recently on a Pioneer EFX-1000 and it made me think of what I know as the ‘triple whammy’ in

Street Fighter II – jumping fierce punch, crouching fierce uppercut into dragon punch,” he says. “I had the guidebook that had all the combos in. I got really into it.”