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Henry Saiz & Brian Cid at Ozmozis

Ozmozis has managed to sustain the reputation of throwing some of the best underground music parties the city of Toronto has ever experienced.

With its vision being founded on the belief that music brings together the ultimate sense of unity, Ozmozis prides itself on creating events that not only expose fans to the love of electronic music but also create lifelong friendships and connections. Since its inception the club has distinguished itself as a unique brand with forward thinking programming and has hosted some of the best talent in the industry.

I can vividly remember my first Ozmozis event almost five years ago. I had hesitated in attending one of Oz’s renowned boat parties because I would be solo. Founder, Oz Akugan quickly responded “Don’t be silly, of course you’re coming! You won’t ever be alone at an Oz event.”

From that moment on I became a member of their infamous family, a community of music lovers who, regardless of gender, age, culture, race or status share an incredible level of acceptance all because of their mutually genuine love of music. It is this feeling of inclusiveness that makes an Ozmozis event so special and so necessary for a city like Toronto, where sometimes just the weather can leave us feeling overly chilled and I’m not talking about a vibe of sorts.

Like most of their events there is always a high level of intense anticipation and excitement that encompases them and this past Friday, March 24th was no exception, as Henry Saiz and Brian Cid graced the Coda decks with their incredible artistic and innovative flare.

Having the honor of starting things off proper was our homegrown, Columbian born talent Ceelos aka Carlos Reina who unabashedly warmed us up with a set that had us all in awe of his carefully curated track selection that was laced with a progression of dynamically charged and evolving tunes. It was a flawless segway into Brian Cid’s Brooklyn fused compilation.

Brooklyn based DJ and producer Brian Cid is a seriously driven musical talent that has taken the underground electronic music scene by storm and surprise having DJ mag call him “a producer’s producer, a kind of rare genius”. The sheer complexity of his sensory provoking sound is proof that he has an instinctive ear for music. Quickly becoming an indomitable force in the underground music scene, his rapidly expanding repertoire is taking him global and sees no ceasing.

Promising Toronto fans with an all original set of music covered in Brooklyn flavor, Brian stepped behind the decks in a brazen Brooklyn fury and delivered his promise by pummeling us with a set highly dosed with slick, slow burning tones that thrashed us into undulating drums and jumbled percussion. Coda was lit with his fire of creative ingenuity. Clearing the decks in a storm of sound, Brian proudly passed the music torch onto the Spanish sound genius, Henry Saiz.  

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I can never find enough words to describe the feelings that wash over me every time I hear Henry’s remarkable sound. Humbly approaching the decks to set up his gear, you could feel the energetic cheers coming from the crowd who knew very well what lay ahead of them in terms of music. I, on the other hand knew that every Henry Saiz set is anything but predictable, and this was made evident as his sultry, synthy sound and ambient effects quickly came to life as soon as he began.

The Saiz sound excursion was among us and we were prepared without prediction to get lost in his soul-scaping sound. Adding a wayback playback feel to his set, Henry splashed us with classic 90’s dance music tracks like Bronski Beats ‘I feel Love’ and Moby’s ‘Go’ that had me in a dance frenzy. The level of “WOW” factor was off the charts! I had to periodically remind myself to stop and capture a few shots with my camera but my feet were in total opposition of this idea. Other elements of his track selections seamlessly had the whole venue experiencing the same out of body music experience.

Stopping only to periodically quench his thirst, it was clear that Henry was on a mission to deliver a dreamy dose of sonic menagerie. He kept his masterful wheels turning by pulling out such noted celestial tracks as ´Secrets´ which Beatport describes as a delightful indie-but-clubby gem. Its sharp and charming basslines, misty melodies and haunting programmed vocals kept us on the Saiz music journey.

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The musical climaxes continued as he dropped ‘For Days and Nights’ which demonstrated his affinity for auditory exploration with its melancholic, layers of percussion atop a thumping bassline, flourishing chords building to a crescendo all blended with atmospheric synth melodies and band mate Eloy’s ethereal voice on loop. With precisely constructed buildups, breakdowns and drops the rhythm road of melodic moments ahead of us seemed endless. We were captivated and hypnotized by ‘Moonspell’ as a seductive voice whispers unidentifiable sweet nothings in the track’s intimidatingly stark background.

This Spaniard music magician brings our music expedition to a close with the ethereal track ‘Love Mythology’ making sure that both our ears and hearts were left ringing and throbbing with intense levels of sonic satisfaction.Thank you to Oz Akgun of Ozmozis for helping put Toronto on the map when it comes to fostering a community that truly appreciates solid underground talent. Continued gratitude to the amazing staff and people at Coda for consistently providing our city with a venue that understands the importance of keeping the underground at the forefront of music discovery.

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