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Beirut has been many things to many people over the last century, but thanks to a devoted team of industry players - including whirlwind DJ tag team Ronin and Nesta - the city has become a hotbed of house music. Separately they are Ronald Hajjar and Nabih Esta, marketing manager and student by day, but together they are Ronin and Nesta, a disco-destroying duo who have cemented Beirut's place on the global clubbing map. The pair originally met through a mutual friend in Paris, who hooked the then teenagers up online. They soon bonded over a shared love for electronic music, began playing at the same parties and later merged their NRJ radio shows in Lebanon to created Beirut In the Mix - a pulsating, back-to-back mix of underground sounds ranging from deep house to big room twisted tech. The show quickly escalated into a fully fledged party and club brand, while the radio show - now as a Podcast on iTunes too http://bit.ly/xEtWef - was picked up by the city's largest radio station Mix FM for a prime-time slot, airing at 8pm every Saturday and featuring monthly guests such as Maceo Plex, Deetron, Djebali, Terry Francis and many more. From there, Ronin and Nesta's career has skyrocketed. They were picked up by DJ Magazine as up-and-coming heroes (ranked number 6 in DJ Mag Middle East’s poll for best DJ of 2010), have notched up Middle East air-miles travelling to Syria, Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait (no, really), France and Germany. But their biggest gigs have come in Dubai. Earmarked as Lebanese house ambassadors, the duo were chosen to close out a 10,000 strong dance festival featuring, among others Armand Van Helden and Zero 7. After impressing with their show-stopping, adrenaline-charged set, Ronin and Nesta were promptly invited back for the sequel, closing out the main stage after 2ManyDJs, Roger Sanchez and Sander Kleinenberg. Ronin and Nesta haven't just been rocking it in the Middle East however. They commandeered their own Beirut In The Mix truck at the Paris Technoparade last year with guest DJ friends Tray-c.k and Wehbba, touring their new techno sound through a crowd that neared half a million. Closer to home however, Ronin and Nesta have supported the great and very, very good of the international DJ scene. And even an impromptu storm couldn't stop them stealing the limelight at the Digweed and Timo Maas headlined Bedrock space night. Showing they're equally adept at DIY as DJing, the pair grabbed a handful of big bags, covered the decks and mixer and carried on playing in a huge summer squall to the delight of the 10,000 strong crowd. Other DJ highlights including playing alongside Dubfire, Marc Houle, Zabiela, Paco Osuna, Josh Wink, Tiesto, Paul Van Dyk, Marco Carola, Robert Dietz, Magda, John Digweed, Jim Rivers, Hernan Cattaneo, Alex Picone, Davide Squillace, Satoshi Tomiie, Carl Cox, Sasha and virtually every other DJ in the RA and DJ Mag Top 100. But their most memorable gig of the last year? Lee Burridge's 6 hour deep, groove-laden set at legendary Beirut bunker B018. Then again, perhaps it's no surprise that they look to Burridge's infectious energy, as the Lebanese-born duo rarely have anything but a 1000 Watt grin plastered to their faces when playing. Like the fresh-faced duo, their music tastes have matured nicely with initial preferences for filtered French house and electro making way for a fresh take on the nu-school deep and tech house genre. Following new school up and coming producers, the pair have helped push a vibrant and kinetic deep house and nu disco sound for the past 12 months; digging into slower, sultrier grooves and opening up a world of downright sexy pleasures. And it's a sound that they take around Beirut with them on a weekly basis. With their residency at DJ Mag Top 100 club The Basement now ended, Ronin and Nesta are guests at virtually every Beirut-based club and are residents for the big-name Mix FM parties that dominate the city. Not only that, but the duo are Beirut's first ambassadors for Dance4Life and UNFPA Let's Talk, fund-raising charities dedicated to tackling AIDS and HIV around the world, have featured and promoted regional Circoloco, Bedrock, Toolroom Knights, Cadenza, Supermartxé, Ministry of Sound and Global Underground events, and are currently in the process of establishing their own Beirut In the Mix residency in both Paris and Beirut with fellow DJs Phil and Mismatch. With a dedicated fully-fledged production studio ready, the boys from Beirut see their first EP 'Children's Playground' signed on Turin based Diagonal Music.. few weeks following the release, the EP carve its way as one of the most popular releases on the label. Meanwhile, the tag-team duo are making the most of Beirut, a city that's alternatively a thriving cultural hub, a city riven yet united by political and religious differences and the hottest property on the Middle East house market.
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