DJ Tennis is one of those artists whose value to the scene goes way beyond just the records he plays. Before he was known as a DJ, Manfredi Romano was already deeply embedded in underground music as a promoter, manager, and the founder of Italy’s first booking agency devoted entirely to electronic music, which helps explain why his taste has always felt broader and more considered than that of a standard house-and-techno headliner. As a DJ and producer, he is usually associated with deep house, techno, and leftfield melodic club music, but the real signature is mood: warm, psychedelic, off-center, and often a little luxurious without ever feeling cheap. Through Life and Death, he also helped define a whole era of more emotional, indie-tinged, cosmopolitan house and techno, so his influence is as much curatorial as musical. What makes him so respected is that his sets feel like they come from someone with a genuine cultural point of view, not just someone trying to keep a dancefloor moving, which is why he still carries that rare mix of tastemaker credibility and global draw.