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Music

Here's How Your Favorite DJs Are Celebrating the Holidays

From Soul Clap, Nina Las Vegas, Tiësto and more... untz, some egg nog and to all a good night!

Everyone knows that DJs live much of their lives out of a suitcase. Whether it's jetsetting across the world to headline a festival, or going to and from Las Vegas to fulfill their residency responsibilites—these guys and gals are always on the move. When's the one time of year where they (hopefully) can catch some R&R with their family and friends? Holidays, obviously. To help celebrate this most merry time of year, we asked some of our favorite selectors the same three questions about how they're basking in the holiday spirit this year: What are you doing this season? What are your holiday traditions? Is there a non-holiday track that embodies the spirit of the season. Here's what they told us…

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SOUL CLAP

Eli Goldstein aka Bamboozle:

This is my fourth year in a row spending my holidays with my wife's family in Caracas. I'm Jewish, but they're Catholic and it's been super fun to get to celebrate Christmas!

Down here Christmas is the most important holiday of the year. Everyone takes most of December off work and spends the month with their family. Drinking whiskey, making Hallacas, eating Pan de Jamon and dancing to Gaita music.

This one is my mother-in-law's favorite

Gaita

:

Charile AKA Lonely C:

This holiday I'm touring Bali, Thailand and then a lonnnnnnnng jump (34 hrs) to Bahia, Brazil!

Typically Christmas for liberal Jews is all about movies and Chinese food—I guess I'll have to substitute with some Pad Kee Mao this year.

You know, Bootsy Collins did a Christmas album and took his classic "I'd Rather Be With You", added the words "THISS CHRISTMASSS" and of course more sleigh bell sounds. But thinking about it "I'd Rather Be With You" really captures the spirit of the holiday season, to spend time with those who we love.

LOUISAHHH!!!

This is the first holiday since I moved to France that I am coming back to the USA for Christmas as all of my family will be in New York. I'm expecting some holiday orphan action where everybody who doesn't have a place shows up and we go to a soup kitchen to volunteer, followed by a home-cooked vegetarian feast at my Mom's. Sounds pretty idyllic; I hope we an pull it off without too much chaos. Holidays is chaos, though, but we can make it altruistic chaos. This is the dream, at least.

My parents split up when I was 20 years old, so there was a process of having to create new holiday traditions. In order to take the pressure off of a potentially weird/sad time, it became standard to volunteer with a bunch of friends at a place called PATH, cooking and handing out toys to homeless families.

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Besides Leonard Cohen's standard "Halleljuah," which my dad always pulls out for the holidays, I don't know any words to Christmas carols so I like to sing them in "meows," like jingle cats. This is catchy. All other songs re-appropriated for holidays seem depressing because I lean towards melancholy anyway, so it ends up being like…weeping to Ladytron or Smashing Pumpkins, walking alone in the snow. Oh man. Merry Christmas!

UNiiQU3

I plan on spending this holiday with my friends and my family. I'm excited, since I've been traveling a lot more I don't get to see them as often as I'd like to.

Other than stuffing my face I don't really have many traditions. Oh wait! I'm half Puerto Rican so I'm really looking forward to the Coquito.

I always respected that Christmas is one of the holidays with its own music. I'm looking forward to hearing some dope holiday club tracks.

CURSES

I'm Italian, so [we do a] Feast of the Seven Fishes. This will be our eleventh year!

HEIDI

I'm headed to Bali with my boyfriend for some much needed sunshine and R&R

We used to have one holiday tradition when I was younger when I lived in Canada. It was to get as drunk as we could on my dad's homemade egg nog and play Black Sabbath really loud. The amount of booze he used to put in it would sink a ship.

I have this Surgeon edit of Jeff Mills "The Bells" mixed with "Jingle Bells." It's hilarious but works. No one sees it coming.

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TIËSTO

I'm going to be in Holland for the holiday before I head back to the US and Canada to wind down the year with some shows.

I always make sure to go home for the holidays. It's a special time of year and I like to be with my family.

[For non-holiday track that embodies the season] I guess I'd pick "I Love It" by Icona Pop. It's a fun song and the lyrics don't make much sense—off beat and not so serious which is what celebrating the holidays and New Year's Eve is about!

NINA LAS VEGAS

Sweet eff all. I haven't been home longer than a few days without flying anywhere so I'm staying in Sydney.

On New Year's Day [my family has] a cake that has $2 hidden within. Even if you're not there, a piece get saved for you‚ who ever gets the $2, gets good luck for the year!

"Christmas in Harlem" by Kanye is still one of my fav Yeezy tracks.

However you're celebrating and whoever you're doing it with—we hope your holidays are rad. Happy Holidays to you and yours!