DJ Ai-Va

DJ AI-VA has been DJing since 1991. He started the first hip hop parties in Latvia in the '90s together with emcees Ozols and Gustavo. He has been involved in rhythmic development of the dance floors almost everywhere in the Baltics.

AI-VA held residency at the biggest nightclub in the Baltics – Club Essential from 2004 til 2011 (the venue is closed now). This multi-floor night club attracted up to 5000 visitors per night. He was also a resident DJ at Pacha - Vilnius, Lithuania; Living Room - Oslo, Norway; Coyote Fly, Pulkvedis, Mad House - Riga, Latvia.

AI-VA has played with Lord Jazz, Scratchator, Jazzy Jeff, DJ Premier, Cash Money, and many more live acts. He’s also spinned numerous sets at sold out festivals, night clubs, bars, and parties. On a regular basis, DJ AI-VA has played and toured most European countries.

He has been on tour or played in the USA, Canada, Sweden, Norway, UK, Ireland, Lithuania, Estonia, Germany, Finland, France, Denmark, Spain (also Ibiza), Dubai (UAE), and other countries. He has played in mega festivals such as Ung 08 (Sweden), MTV B-day, Positivus, Moonlight Party, and Tele 2 Baltic Beach Party.

AI-VA has been on a warm-up / support act for Busta Rhymes, GZA, Onyx, Wu Tang, Guru, Maxi Jazz, Knife Party, Kill The Noise, Pendulum, Digitalism, Akil The MC (Jurassic 5), and numerous other popular artists.

Drawing his influences from Soul, Funk, Rock, Reggae, HipHop, Breakbeat, House, DJ AI-VA extracts the essence of all these styles, blending and arranging them in a way that’s entertaining to his listeners.

AI-VA started spinning hip hop in the nineties, then added house music in the 2000s. During this time he did warm up sets for Faithless, Digitalism, Barbara Tucker, Robert Owens, Knife Party, among other artists. Today he spins all genres and music styles.

In 2004 he became a video DJ using Pioneer DVJ1000s. These days you can find him using Mix Emergency and turntables. Most of his sets today are an amazing audio-visual experience. Through the years he has done official/ unofficial remixes for artists such as Jurassic 5, Kelis, Andre 3000, 383, Royalty, The Cataracs, Ozols, Gacho, Brainstorm, and others. AI-VA has also released numerous mixtapes for himself and companies such as Converse, Red Bull, and Cosmopolitan magazine. Besides playing music he has also produced radio shows with guests varying from Ninja Tune artists to Fatman Scoop to Grandmaster Flash. In 2005 he established the Rhythm Institute, which is a music school for DJs, radio DJs, vocalists, and music producers.

DJ AI-VA is part of the DJ crew called The Mix Syndicate. This is an exclusive members only organization that includes the best professional DJs in the world. He is currently the overseas director for Europe.

For many years DJ AI-VA was on the grand jury of the Latvian Music Industry Awards (similar to the US Grammy Awards), being a judge in many categories such as: Best Hip Hop Artist, Best Album, Best Dance Music Single, and others.