Swiss bliss in the house
Interview by Dan Prince
Mendo welcome to DMCWORLD…where in the world are you today?
On my way to Ibiza for the Reverse Ibiza closing party at Sankeys.
The first piece of music you heard this morning after rolling out of bed…?
‘Hope’ by Abi Wade, I like to listen to relaxing music when I’m not in the studio.
A huge week for you due to the release of the stunning Toolroom Live 03 album where you are joined by Amtrac and Filterheadz, This is your Toolroom debut but you are no stranger to the label, many a night we have enjoyed seeing you and Mark Knight ripping up the decks together! When were you first approached for the project and what were your initial thoughts taking it on? Were you daunted or just plain ol’ excited?
I was really excited. But I also felt proud when Mark asked me to be apart of it, the ‘Live’ series compilations on Toolroom are key albums for them and I couldn’t wait to be involved.
Tell us about the exclusives nestling in your mix…
We produced 2 different tracks with my frequent partner in crime Yvan Genkins, ‘Somebody Say’ is a soul groovy piece that Solomun could perfectly play to his +1 parties at Pacha. And ‘2600’ is a peak time techno killer weapon made to bring madness to dancefloors at 4am in Ibiza!
You have released some brilliant tunes on labels such as Saved, Defected and Noir in the past, but as mentioned, this is your first outing on Toolroom. How much of a platform is this release for really showing the world what you are all about?
As you can see on my Resident Advisor profile, I have already released on more than 70 labels. But I feel I’ve really achieved something here with Toolroom because its definitely one of the biggest labels worldwide in underground electronic music and it’s really the perfect opportunity to draw people to the musical selection I wanted to show off.
When did Toolroom first appear on your radar, what have been some of the tracks over the years that have always been prominent in your sets?
I had been playing Toolroom tracks for years and years because Mark and his A&R always make amazing selections – It’s difficult to remember which ones exactly have been the best for me! They’ve come along way since the re-brand and I’m glad to have been a part of it.
Have you had the opportunity to party with Toolroom head honcho Mark Knight, that dude is usually the last man standing…
Yes…and he won every time!
You have had a very busy summer, I live on the island of Ibiza and I think I counted your name on at least 12 different posters this year. What have been some of your white isle highlights this year?
13 actually! But yes this have been another huge year for me in Ibiza and I’m really happy! Even more so because I had 3 residencies : new Reverse parties at Sankeys on Saturdays nights promoted by my booking agency Magnum and which were really successful even if in their first year, boat parties of my friend David Moreno of Ibiza Global radio who offered us a residency for me and DJs from my label Clarisse, where we had so much fun and, of course, Blue Marlin again this year. I always feel like I’m at home when I’m there. But it’s been a great pleasure to play 2 times at Space too this year for Ibiza Lovin Festival and Raw Change Party.
What up and coming DJ has impressed you in Ibiza this year?
Marco Carola is still the king, able to keep people on top of madness until 11am and Jamie Jones made really great job this year with his Paradise party at DC10. I really liked the set of my buddy Hot Since 82 when I went to see him at Pacha las week too! It’s been a good season.
Your anthem of the summer?
wAFF – Connected on Hot Creations.
Croatia is one of those places that lazy journalists always throw into the ring when talking about ‘the new Ibiza’, you have enjoyed a summer residency at Carpe Diem Beach in Hvar, tell us about it…
It’s the third year we’ve held our Clarisse residency at Carpe Diem. And it’s also my fourth year playing there! The club is one of the most amazing I’ve ever been to. It’s a desert island with just a club, but it’s able to welcome 2500 clubbers. The dancefloor is under the stars in the middle of trees and people have to come and leave by taxi or boat. You can go swimming in the sea 50 meters from the DJ booth during the night. And on daytime it’s a great beach club with a delicious restaurant. It’s seriously out of this world.
October is a huge month for you as amongst other exciting gigs, you embark on a US Tour! The music scene over there is changing quicker than most people thought, indeed the mere mention of the term EDM gets you dirty looks in most quarters. What are you expecting over there this time round…?
Actually both scenes coexist perfectly in the US, when you go to Miami Music Week you have maybe 100 underground parties per day and at the same time, you have big EDM ones and the Ultra Music Festival and everything is packed! This time I’m going to play in Miami again but I will be playing for the first time at El Paso & Chicago! I can’t wait!
ADE is just around the corner, where can we find you spinning this year?
On Wednesday I will play to the Toolroom Live party, with Mark Knight of course but also Prok & Fitch, Weiss, Rene Amesz and many more and on Friday with my bros Hot Since 82, Uner & Mr Montel!
For the thousands of people reading this interview who have never been to ADE, can you try and sum up just why this event is so important on the dance music calendar…
It’s the end of the season – time to talk about what was good and bad during the year but also time for everyone to start to discuss next year too.
What are the 5 big tunes in your box this weekend…please give us a few words on each…
I’m playing a lot of tracks we released 2 months ago on Clarisse at the moment!
Agent! – ‘Do Your Thang’ (Yvan Genkins remix) – which is a monster track for big sound systems such as Space or Sankeys and Mihalis Safras – ‘Desire’, a secret weapon that ignites all dancefloors when I drop it. I would add Pele & Shawnecy – ‘Better For My Brain’ on Riva’s Starr Snatch!, my buddies Prok & Fitch – ‘Jack to Jack’ on Toolroom and Josh Butler – ‘The Essence of House’ in another great remix from Metodi Hristov on Noir Music.
What is coming out next from you studio wise?
I’m working on a remix of a Toni Moreno track, we are going to release on Clarisse and that I think you are going to hear a lot on Ibiza Global Radio! And I’m finishing a great collaboration for a secret Toolroom project to be announced during ADE…
You are one of the few producers out there who doesn’t fit into a particular genre, I think it’s fair to say that you just make music that anyone can enjoy? Is that fair comment?
Definitely! I don’t want to stay stuck in a genre. I produce the music I want to on the moment, maybe it could be house or tech house or techno or even totally deep or electronica. As long as I’m happy with the result and I think people will dance to it! I don’t understand people say a producer has made a shitty track just because it’s not the style he’s so used to producing…
What is the club scene like in your home city of Geneva, where should we head to, who should we listen to…?
It’s not a big one but really but, you have clubs such as Weetamix, Silencio, la Gravière, Motel Campo where you can find very good local residents to big names until Marco Carola and a new one named Baby Boa just opened, I haven’t been there yet but I’ve heard a lot about it. But you have also amazing festivals such as Electron or Présences Electroniques too!
And finally, when was the last time you had a really good dance to a DJ?
Marco Carola at Music On at Amnesia Ibiza 9:30am…
http://www.toolroomrecords.com/
http://twitter.com/MendoOfficial
