Diego Cozzi, as he is called off stage, has been performing under the name Fais Le Beau for well over ten years, playing mostly house and techno square through Europe. As anyone can see, that path has certainly paid off. Among other things, he also co-founded Gay Haze, one of the largest music collectives for the queer and LGBTQ+ community in Brussels. Gay Haze is now a fixture of the electronic music scene in the Belgian capital.
For almost five years now, DJing has been Cozzi's full-time profession. He gave up his previous career to throw himself fully into music. Before then, when he was still starting out in electronic music, he said the prospects of making a full-time career of it were far more uncertain. Reflecting back on this today, he notes: "It did take some time to get to where I am now. Fortunately I got there in the end otherwise I might already have given up." Pursuing a career in music requires many sacrifices, he pointed out, and demands a great deal of energy and time. Of course, it is a fine feeling when the effort pays off and you are taken seriously in what you do.
At Tomorrowland in Belgium, he is playing the opening slot on the Core Stage, which is largely reserved for well-known artists from the underground scene, a big stage designed to make room for niches and to serve connoisseurs of the genre. The world of electronic music is enormously broad, he pointed out to RTL, and does not boil down to EDM à la David Guetta. The show will also be a special one for the crowd, since he will not be playing solo but back-to-back with Sixsixsixties, another DJ from the scene whom Fais Le Beau has known for a good ten years and has collaborated with. Playing back-to-back brings a different kind of energy, Cozzi said, a real synergy that takes some of the pressure off and simply makes the whole thing more fun. Sharing the stage in that format, he added, had been his own wish.
Appearances like Tomorrowland, along with other major commercial festivals such as Pukkelpop and Dour, which he has already played, are also springboards to build a bigger profile and draw attention to his work. He is now performing at major festivals and events all over Europe. At first, that felt unusual, since, like most artists in the early days, he came from the underground and had rarely played on such large commercial stages. Over time, and as his reputation has grown, that has changed. The audience is also very different, and his motto in that context is: "Give people what they want, but not what they expect." In other words, the crowd is simply bigger, and he still wants to stay "true" to himself and not put on too much of a show for so many people. It is a balancing act he has learned to master over the years.
Performing in New York remains one of his dreams, even though he has already played on other continents. What appeals to him most about the US city is the particular scene there. Ibiza, meanwhile, is also on his to-do list. Berghain, the Berlin mecca for DJs, was crossed off that list some time ago.
Berghain was a "mega milestone" for him and a brilliant calling card, now his second Berghain slot is coming up in August. Tomorrowland is likely to become the next such milestone, given that many people regard it as the festival par excellence for electronic music worldwide.
Fais Le Beau will play live at Tomorrowland on Friday, during the second weekend of the festival in Belgium. He will open the Core Stage between midday and 3pm. His full set will also be professionally recorded on site.
