DJ ZATHAN RADIX | NEWS / PRESS

THE SURROUNDINGS at XIX, is decadently sophisticated. Atop the historic Bellevue Hotel along Philly's avenue of the arts, it's a signature landmark in the City of Brotherly Love. Many a business has tried and failed to get the gays to leave the Philadelphia Gayborhood. (Remember Hamburger Mary's?) But the magical promoter Harry Potter (we aren't making this up) has thrown a Sunday night homo haven. Kudos has to go to Harry, and DJ Zathan for adding the final element to XIX's success; perfect sounds. Zathan has brought gaggles of gays across the Broad Street moat.

Starting at 16, Zathan began his career by mixing CDs for friends. Striving for a continuous track of dance tunes, Zathan worked tirelessly to perfect his homegrown Philadelphia sound. Eventually a CD fell into the right hands, and Zathan ended up DJing a private party at Transit. Learning quickly, Zathan quickly grabbed a residence at 12th Air Command in Philadelphia.

"I've been lucky in life to have incredible supportive friends who have helped me get to where I am now. My friends have cajoled and demanded for me to get into clubs."

After setting the floor ablaze at 12th Air, Zathan was the choice of long-time friend Potter for the nascent XIX night. Potter tapped Zathan to play the party, and he's been spinning since the summer.

"The summer was tough, and it's hard to get a crowd on a Sunday. We
promoted our asses off, with very little money. We passed out flyers, sent out MySpace messages; we worked hard to get a crowd.

The buzz has been building to crescendo. Zathan eschews playing cheesy pop or standard hip-hop, and tends to give the crowd a pleasing mix of dance melodies and tunes. The last few Sundays, Zathan has filled the lux lounge.

" Good dance music is great, and everyone loves it if it is in the hands or the right DJ. Hip-hop has its place in dance, but unless it has a great beat and catchy rhythms, I'm absolutely not going to play it."