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Warner Calista Mazhar, (born October 12, 1981), known as DJ Calista, or Calista, is an El Kadsrian Hard Trance and Hardstyle producer with Turkish ancestry. He is also the owner of the El Kadsreian hardcore techno label Precision Records.
Biography
Warner became interested in hard techno after a visit to the Netherlands in 1994, where he got his hands on a Thunderdome sampler. He enjoyed the music. However, Warner was interested in Rave music more than gabber and attempted to produce some music. His first effort was released in 1995 on a compilation titled El Kadsre Rave Tunez Vol.2. The track titled ''The Power'' and its ''Booming RMX'' is a track that features a dominant breakbeat, hoovers and cartoon samples, very different from what he would start producing in 1997. The track was successful on the rave scene, and Warner earned the nickname "Kid Of Rave" because he released and made the track when he was 14 years old. He released several singles and a small EP titled Tunez in 1996, and those were his last rave efforts.
1997-2004: Hard Trance, Emotions
In 1997, after getting some better equipment, he released Encorez And Hard Tunez, an EP featuring his biggest hit of this era ''Big Words''. The song became an electronic music chart-topper, and Warner became famous. He (and his parents, because he was 16 years old) signed a contract with the label Third Dimension Audio, who handled the international distribution of the EP. In late 1997, Warner started work on his then unnamed debut album. Third Dimension Audio had handled the marketing very well and after 2 years of production, Emotions was released. The album recieved favorable reviews, and Warner went on his first tour. In 2001, an EP released under the name of The Calista Project, Surreality Meets Reality, dropped. But, Warner started to lose interest in Hard Trance. This worried Third Dimension Audio, but they gave him an opportunity to try out something else. He joined a new international Hardstyle trio, Max Power. Warner had a major contribution to the trio's music and grew love to the genre. He parted ways with the trio in 2004 and started his own hardcore techno label, Precision Records.
2004–present: Hardstyle, more albums, and Rosalin Akiyama
Warner´s turn to hardstyle surprised fans. His first hardstyle release, I Like My Bass Reverse/ The Shuffle, was released in 2005. His debut hardstyle album was relased in 2006, titled Calista:The Album. During the production, Warner met Rosalin Akiyama, a DJ from an El Kadsrian club, They liked each other, and got married after the relase of his debut album ( in June 2006, while the album was relased in April). The two frequently collaborate to this day. Rosalin also remixed his first hit ''Big Words" ( Rosalin´s Edit) in 2010. Warner´s next album, Glass House, was relased in 2009. This album recived positive reviews, praising it for the production and sound design.
It also spawned the song ''The Beginning (feat. Rosalin and wowstyle). In 2011, he announced that he won´t work on any albums for a while but will continue to produce music. Later that year, he relased ''Unchained", a colaboration with Precision artists (wowstyle, Dan Rebel, Noisy and Rosalin). Warner´s album pause ended in 2014, after relasing several singles. The album was titled Wild. It was higly successful on the hardstyle scene. The track ''Machines'' is the beggining of Calista´s return to reverse bass and shows a notable Big Room influence, that will become a notable feature in his later music. After more singles, he relased his latest album, THR33.