9 O'Clock

9 O'Clock is a French trio made up of DJs Aociz, DJ Hertz and Mr Viktor. Originally formed as a turntablist crew – musicians who use turntables as real instruments – the group quickly made its mark on the international scene by winning the legendary DMC World Championship three times in a row, in 2013, 2014 and 2015. On SoundCloud, their highly crafted remixes soon confirmed that the routines they performed in competitions were not just technical showpieces, but fully fledged tracks made for listening. Backed by strong production skills, the three DJs naturally moved into the studio to develop their own sound and step beyond the closed circle of turntablism. With "Wake Up", their debut EP, 9 O'Clock delivers a resolutely instrumental project, with no remixes or features and only a few scratched vocals used as one element among others. Their signature Future Beat touch is still there, shifting between bright, Kaytranada-style house (Wake Up) and more hard-hitting, Lido-esque electronics (Blue Vision), driven by massive bass and razor-sharp synth work. Conceived as a calling card, "Wake Up" condenses months of studio exploration around a clear goal: to build powerful, modern material for the stage. Heirs to C2C, the three turntablists put their virtuosity at the service of a spectacular live show, able to speak both to scratch aficionados and newcomers drawn in by on-trend Future Beat sonorities. With this successful move from battle routines to original compositions, 9 O'Clock secures its place among the most exciting acts of the new French electronic wave.