Rooted in Amsterdam’s underground, DJ Tjizza follows a creative path that balances music, fashion and community. As a co-founder of Mood Waves and Tanzform, he’s developed a reputation not only as a DJ and artist, but also the projects that uplift the people around him. From local parties and record digging to label and collective building, Tjizza’s career is defined by connection and collaboration, with an ever present desire to give back.
His journey into electronic music began long before. “I guess it was the Mega Dance 1998 CD. I played this a lot in my room as a kid, that was the first connection.” From there, it wasn’t long before the music began to take over. “I remember noticing my love for dance music when I was skateboarding. I was more focused on listening to a Carl Cox set over and over again (the only file I had on my little purple 128MB MP3 player) than doing actual skate tricks.”
DJing came later, when quite unexpectedly, a new passion was born. “One day, a hairdresser named Remy overheard me and a friend passionately talking about music and he asked us why we didn’t DJ. As village boys we had no clue, so he offered to give us some lessons! A very kind guy who put me on track. I remember he had a pair of Technics and some crappy CDJ-100s. So I guess that’s where my love for vinyl started.” That chance conversation began a journey that would eventually take him from those small village beginnings to the heart of Amsterdam’s thriving underground and later, to the creation of the Mood Waves and Tanzform collectives. Two projects that show how much more there is to being a DJ than just playing records.
Moving to Amsterdam in 2008 marked a defining chapter, where DJ Tjizza quickly became drawn into the city’s vibrant scene. “First going to Studio 80 at Leidseplein, seeing Dutch tech house legends like Boris Werner and Lauhaus. And later, more importantly, Trouw opened up 200 meters from our house. We went almost every weekend for years, especially in the first years, seeing Zip, Raresh, Rhadoo, etc. It led us to start traveling after Zip in Europe, especially Robert Johnson, which we considered a musical temple.”
It’s no surprise having Trouw on your doorstep that a lasting impression was made and around that time, DJ Tjizza and his friends began throwing parties of their own, booking artists based on the sounds they were discovering through podcasts. “We brought DJs like Francesco Del Garda and Lutz to Amsterdam,” he explains. “The revival of retro music started a new, interesting sound/scene and that love for old-school drums never faded.” It was a live and direct education.
While his early years were marked by collaboration, the real personal breakthrough came later. “For me, it was after we stopped our Avos project,” he says, referring to the decade-long partnership with his friend Rodi. “It was an amazing time, but when I went solo and stepped out of LowMoneyMusicLove and started Mood Waves with Shaque (and our friends), it started an amazing new musical journey. A fresh path which continues to evolve beautifully.”
That spirit of friendship and authenticity became the foundation of Mood Waves. “It all started very naturally, based around organic connections and great music.” He recalls one story that captures the ethos of those early days. “I once discovered a guy called Jacopo Latini on Deejay.de (of course you are familiar by now!). I liked both his releases on his label Taboo Traxx, so I hit him up to say how much I loved his music. He replied saying he was moving to Berlin. Then out of the blue one day, me and Shaque were making a beat at my place and Jacopo suddenly wrote saying he’d just moved to the city and asked if I was up for a beer. He came over that day and instantly, the three of us were chilling and making a beat.”
That first session led to a friendship and later, the Mood Waves platform. The initial plan was to release Latini’s music for the first release, however after hearing a collab between him and Giammarco Orsini, DJ Tjizza and Shaque were blown away. “This collab led to them making more tunes and starting their alias project, Data Memory Access. Their debut went on to be our first EP, which of course kick-started our label with a boom! We’re very grateful for that release and for the great artists around us.”
When asked what they look for from the artists releasing on the label, it’s clear they are aligned. “Shaque and I share a musical vision: to release tracks with more emotion. We want EPs that can help a DJ rock a party but at the same time tell a detailed story. Hopefully you can feel that.” Alongside Mood Waves, Tjizza is also deeply involved in Tanzform, a creative community that merges music, art and fashion. “In a nutshell, we just want to facilitate cool projects that people are passionate about. Since the start of my musical career, it wasn’t big DJs who inspired me the most, but people who cared and pushed for the scene as a whole.”
He credits that mindset to early mentors. “A personal example was Alex Picone. He supported Avos as upcoming talents and gave us promo copies of upcoming releases that were very special to us. So I always felt we should also give back to the community that gives us so much joy.” That desire to give back sits at the core of Tanzform’s philosophy. “We are in it for the culture. We support locals and talented friends around us (in music and graphics). Shaque is connected with Bangladesh and is responsible for clothing projects with a message: sharing the values we learned from clubbing with a wider audience. We try to let these values shine through in our music and fashion projects.”
For DJ Tjizza, the role of Tanzform goes beyond aesthetics or branding, it’s about connection and education. “We try to motivate more people to connect with clubbing and see the positive impact it has – physically, mentally and socially,” he explains. “A club is one of the last places you can meet people outside your bubble and in this environment, people are in the right mood, so they’re more approachable.”
At a time when algorithms dominate attention, projects like Tanzform keep a human pulse in the scene. “We feel the magic and mystery of our scene is dying because music, like politics, is getting very populist. People now often make music to promote themselves. We aim to focus on the art side again, with special projects and collaborations.” With multiple creative outlets running in parallel, balance has become a theme in Tjizza’s life. “It is definitely hard to find time,” he admits. “Tanzform became more and more our full daytime focus and the rest, we do around that. But I am addicted to music, so when I don’t make or dig for a week, I feel it in my body. Somehow, I always need to make time for it. Luckily, I’m blessed with my fiancée Helly, who understands musical passion and supports me!”
That balance is reflected in his evolving perspective as an artist. “At the moment I feel like I’m getting close to the sonic identity I’ve always visioned in my head,” he says. This follows a shift in mindset in terms of how he perceives the impact of the music. “Instead of seeing tracks with elements, I began seeing them as moods or spells you lay over your audience. They control energy in the room, so I have been experimenting with that. I’m not shy about playing a deep or trippy track at peak time, it feels more elegant when you shift gears instead of just dropping bombs. Compare it with a comedian – you can drop corny jokes the whole time (aka bombs), or tell a more complex story. It takes longer to burst, but it increases the experience.”
Looking ahead, both Tanzform and Mood Waves are growing stronger. “On the fashion side, we’ve made some amazing developments (credits to Shaque!) and we feel ready to collaborate more with graphic artists or brands that want to make quality merch. On the music side, we have cool projects coming, from friends like Nitka, B.ai and Jacopo Latini and of course, some more sounds from us, including a glitter record called Tanzanite. With Mood Waves, we’re involving some fellow Dutchies, Young Adults, for the next one, and our sublabels will have underground legends like Valentino Kanzyani and Jesse You.”
Wherever the next chapter leads, Tjizza’s focus remains constant, nurturing community, creating art and keeping the groove alive. Cool projects that resonate, bringing nourishment to the scene.
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