After a worldwide career, Gil Glaze seeks success at home

In a completely normal outcome – at least for the colleagues he was traveling with. “My friends drank, danced and partied in the club,” said the 27-year-old in an interview with Keystone-SDA. “And I stared at the music desk like a nerd until four in the morning and memorized everything the DJ did.” At that moment it became clear to him that he wanted to stand there one day.

Gil Glaze, whose mother tongue is English, calls his beginnings in the party scene “Promoting”. As the son of South African and Australian parents, he attended an international school in Zurich, from where he brought many people to the clubs on the weekends. The operators would have enjoyed it and at some point Glaze asked if he could also create the atmosphere as a DJ. From 4 a.m. to 4:20 a.m., for example – as a beginner, he says in retrospect, you are happy about any time window, however short.

What Gil Glaze says doesn’t really fit in with his appearance. The hobby tennis player looks shy in pictures, at least down-to-earth and modest in conversation. “My teachers from high school would confirm that I was silent and that I preferred to sit in the back row,” said Glaze. “Which is pretty much the opposite of being on stage and shouting ‘what’s up Serbia’ to 40,000 people.”

Gil Glaze has now studied at the Davis School of Recorded Music in New York. He had applied there as a DJ and organizer, but ultimately learned everything from writing songs to producing. In addition, his engagements increased steadily. He was booked in clubs in New York, Miami, Las Vegas and even in Asia. Mainly big and international, that was the focus of Gil Glaze from the beginning.

When it came time to get a record deal with a big label in the USA, the DJ fell on deaf ears. The competition in the country was simply too great and its sound was not in demand enough. Friends from the music business would have advised him back then: “If you really want to be successful, you have to make it in your home country first.”

The DJ returned to Zurich with a diploma and equipment, where he was promptly signed by Sony in 2019. “Now my goal is to be played on Swiss radios and to take part in major events,” says Glaze. Because only in this way will he be able to make a name for himself here. And that’s his next goal.

The artist, who played the saxophone as a teenager and sang in a choir, believes that this step also requires a musical reorientation. “I don’t just want to be a DJ anymore, I also want to bring live elements to the stage: piano, drums or guitar.” He started with House, from now on he wants to be perceived as a pop act, says Glaze.

Much like the British band Coldplay, who “play from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. and can be in bed at midnight”. In general, he can only endure the rigors of this business because he is “strong enough”, doesn’t drink alcohol and doesn’t use drugs, says the DJ.

A step in the live direction was the tour through Australia, on which he was able to accompany The Chainsmokers a few years ago. “A long story,” says Gil Glaze when asked how this collaboration came about.

The short version: The acquaintance began with a remix that the Zurich native produced for the American DJ duo. This refused him, but came back immediately after the song was fished from the net by the US radios and played up and down. With his second Chainsmokers remix – they gave him another chance – Glaze reached three million streams within a very short time. This sealed the professional friendship.

Gil Glaze also produced a remix for the Dutch DJ and Grammy Award winner Tiësto, which triggered a lot. Tomorrow (Friday) he will release his new single “Did Me Wrong” on Tiësto’s label Musical Freedom Records. And then the musician looks forward to returning to the stage, to the nightlife, to the big wide world. “I like to be awake.”