Some DJ partnerships are assembled for convenience. Jixo & Danz is not one of them. Daniel Jahed and Daniel Azar — Jixo and Danz respectively — have been friends since their school days in Beirut, and have been playing back-to-back since 2001. That history is audible in every set. The synchronicity that most DJ duos spend years trying to manufacture comes naturally to them, because it was never manufactured in the first place.
From Beirut to Dubai
The duo’s roots in Beirut’s music scene gave them an education that goes beyond most. Lebanon‘s underground club culture — centred around legendary venues like BO18, The Grand Factory, and Uberhaus — is one of the most respected in the Middle East, known for its depth, its devotion to genuine electronic music, and its refusal to compromise on quality. Jixo & Danz absorbed all of that before bringing it to Dubai, and it shows in how they approach a room.
Since relocating to Dubai, the duo has built one of the most consistent careers in UAE nightlife — spanning over two decades of performing, residencies, and international bookings.
Blue Marlin Ibiza UAE and the Big Stages
The defining chapter of Jixo & Danz’s UAE career was their seven-year residency at Blue Marlin Ibiza UAE from 2011 to 2018. As residents at one of the region’s most iconic open-air venues, they shared stages with some of the biggest names in electronic music: Solomun, Carl Cox, Marco Carola, Sven Väth, Nina Kravitz, and Dixon — a lineup that reflects the calibre of artist Blue Marlin attracted and the calibre of resident needed to hold the room before and between them.
Playing support for acts at that level, in front of thousands, is not a casual credential. It demands reading a crowd that has come to see someone else and winning them over anyway. Jixo & Danz did it repeatedly for seven years.
The Sound
Deep house is the foundation, but Jixo & Danz are fluent across the spectrum — tech-house and techno both feature when the moment demands it. What distinguishes them is not genre range but execution: super-smooth transitions, deliberate track selection, and a back-to-back dynamic that feels like one DJ with two sets of ears. They don’t fight for the mix. They build it together.
That approach has earned them a following across the Middle East and well beyond the UAE — with bookings in Ibiza, Croatia, Malaysia, Egypt, Greece, and regular return dates in Beirut.
Residencies and Recognition
Beyond Blue Marlin, the duo has held residencies at Soho Garden, Soho Beach Dubai, Code, and Tokyo Vibes — covering the range of Dubai’s nightlife landscape from beach clubs to indoor venues. They serve as brand ambassadors for Sennheiser Middle East, a partnership that reflects both their technical credibility and their standing in the regional industry.
Off the decks, both Daniel Jahed and Daniel Azar work full-time in Dubai’s media industry. In a scene where many DJ careers are built on nothing but the next booking, that kind of parallel professional life is a marker of substance.
