The Spanish don taking Ibiza and the world by storm
Interview : Dan Prince
Welcome to DMCWORLD young man – what an amazing time you are having right now both in the studio and DJing. Where in the world are you right now?
“Hello my friend! Thanks and it’s a pleasure to speak with you. I’m at home right now. I arrived back yesterday morning from Ibiza, Coruña and Valencia, and I am back on the road again on Thursday to Pamplona, Cannes, Ibiza and Madrid, so not bad!”
You hail from Lleida, one of the oldest towns in Catalonia. Your first love was classical music, indeed from the age of 4 you were learning the piano – was this a real passion for you or was it something your parents pushed you into doing?
“It was a real passion. I started to play on a little piano by myself at home, my parents asked me if I wanted to learn to do it better and, of course, I said yes (even though I was 4 years old and said yes to pretty much everything!). It was a true love. My parents always asked me if I was happy doing this and told me I could stop it anytime, but I continued with it right up until the end when I decided to study the guitar when I was around 15 years old. Although 3 years later I then left the guitar to focus on the piano again and finish my studies.”
Tell us how your journey into dance music began, how old were you when you first heard the music that would change your life forever and what artists captured your heart?
“I can tell you exactly which tracks changed my life…Jean Michel Jarre – ‘Magnetic Fields 1 / Les Chants Magnetiques’ (I’m actually listening it now whilst answering your interview questions!) I was in love with the full album but I listen to this track and was like ‘what!?’, it sounds like some sort of classical concept but with completely different sounds. This was why I started to search into electronic sounds and then started to play synths. I was around 7/8 years old, I was young but full of things inside my head.”
What was your first break into the music business?
“I started to play live sets when I was 15 years old and my first gig was in Florida 135, which is a classic Spanish techno club. That was my first experience into the business and of course I made a lot of mistakes during the first years, but I was also super excited! I used to travel with my father during the weekend, doing my own music at home (when I wasn’t at school), and playing live shows with just hardware. We had no money for a computer (we didn’t have much money at all as my parents spent lot of years paying off bills) so all the money from my gigs at the beginning went to helping my parents.”
Early DJ heroes?
“Garnier, Hernik Swcharz, Sven Vath…and out of the DJ scene: Mozart, Jarre, Vangelis and Superman!”
You are known as one of the most important figures from the Spanish ‘second wave’ of producers. Who are some of your fellow producers you are rating at the moment?
“As you said we have a lot of ‘new’ producers in Spain at the moment. Names such as Piek, Baum, Hitch, Triumph, Picazo, etc. are doing a really good job and have amazing ideas and passion for music. Other well-known names like Marzenit, Cora Novoa, Henry Saiz, Coyu, etc..are also working hard and with a great success.”
In an interview once when talking about the Spanish scene you said…” we need to show the new generations that the music is not a question of marketing or having more fans on Facebook than others… It’s all about working and trying to do your best and your own sound.” Has this been one of the problems in the Spanish scene in recent years?
“Everything is finally changing here and new artists are really focusing their powers and minds to try to develop good arguments and good music, not only fans and top hits. I think everything will be better in a couple of years as the international scene is starting to focus in on our artists. For example, names like Paco Osuna or myself are traveling 3-4 times per week around the world, which I think is a great step for our music scene!”
The Spanish club scene has for a while been quite commercial. Are things changing?
“Of course! It will also change a lot after the summer, you know, Ibiza is like the first step into everything for our scene. It is moving more and more into the underground with its ‘non
commercial’ events and this can only be a good thing for us because lot’s of people come to Ibiza and they can begin to listen to something that’s new and fresh. That is my opinion anyway.”
Ibiza has obviously played a large part in your recent success. Let’s kick off with Diynamic who you have been working with for four years now. How did the hook up with Solomun and his Hamburg label happen and how involved are you there?
‘Yes, Ibiza did it. I started to work with Diynamic 4 years ago after I released my first EP with them, although I originally started playing in Ibiza with Carl Cox. I met the Diynamic crew for the first time when I played with them in Watergate, which was also about 4 years ago. We had been speaking via email for a long time beforehand, but that was the first time we actually met in person. I’m still working with DIYBooking and the label (as I am currently working on my next release for them) and the family is growing fast. Alex Montoya started to work with us on a worldwide scale, him and Adriano are super connected and I am really happy to see the kind of relationship they have at the moment. They are like my big brothers and I think we all do a great job together.”
You are a regular down at their Sankeys residency in Ibiza, last year Dyinamic was probably the most talked about night on the island. Did Solomun as your advice regarding Ibiza before he signed on the dotted line?
“We are in touch almost every day with our teams (Adriano is the man between everyone) and we love to share our ideas and ask each other about our new projects all the time. We spoke with Solomun and Adriano about Ibiza during the Neon Nights around 3 years ago, and again last year. We spent a long time speaking about business on the island but Solomun is intelligent and he did not think it was the right time back then. So it was mainly just chats between friends about new steps in our career and what we thought was the best way to continue out work out there. If we have to speak about advice, it is fair to say we were given advice from every artist at Diynamic. They not only advised us about Ibiza but also about the music and DJ sets etc…we love to be together, to share our feelings, which is super important to grow together as a team.”
You are also part of the mighty Cadenza grew, one of the biggest and best house families in the world. What is it about Luciano and his crew you love working with?
“I did some collaboration’s with the Cadenza crew last year in Ibiza and also some EP’s, but we are separate teams who sometimes work together. We have a good relationship and was super fun to work with them last year, but I also want to do some things my own way. I like to try to stay on good terms with everybody and I always think of the good times we had together. They are super funny and they are always on a party vibe I love meeting up with them! This year we are not working together in Ibiza because of my schedule, but we will, of course, continue to do music together.”
You are also on board with one of the icons of clubland, Carl Cox and his Revolution party. Every DJ says they learn so much from watching Coxy spin, what is it about his style that keeps him at the top year after year?
“It is not just question of his music or style. He is a superb DJ who has been playing for a long time and he also has a really clever party concept, but the majority of respect he receives from everybody is because him and his team are such a lovely people! When you are working with them, or living in his house during your Ibiza gigs, you can feel very special and emotional because they are like a real family and they really make you feel like you are part of this! I think this is one of the most important things about them that they have the same respect for each and every artist they meet. That was one of the most important things I learned from them: the love and respect for your fellow artists.”
What is coming out next from you studio wise?
“I have just released my first collaboration with Cocoon & Poker Flat and have also finished a new and original track for Cecille’s 5 years anniversary mix CD that will be out in the next few weeks. I’m also finishing my first artist album which was originally finished until a few weeks ago when I decided I wanted to make some changes and work on new arrangements, so now I am back working on it again now. There will be an EP out during August with 2 tracks from the album and the full release will be at the end of October. I’m super excited with it because was a huge challenge and I have had the chance to develop lots of different styles and musical concepts.”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning?
“In no special order…
Hobo – Incise (M-nus)
UNER meet Piek – LFO (Diynamic Music)
H. Foundation, David Durango – Canvas (Suplement Facts)
Pet Shop Boys – Vocal (Flashmob remix)
Tiefschwarz, Seth Troxler – (Trust)
Dinky – Falling Angel (Matthew Styles) (Visionquest)
Chopstick & Johnjon – Roots (Suol)
Westbam feat. Bernard Sumner – She Wants (MANDY remix)
UNER – Undisclosed (Diynamic)
Stimming – Ueberblick (Diynamic)
So let’s kick in with ANTS down at Ushuaia, every year an exciting new night begins that gets the public’s attention; this year it is ANTS. How has the opening few weeks gone?
“Simply amazing, but it’s not just about the opening because it’s happening every weekend! I can remember 2 weeks ago when I played the closing set at 22:00 on the main stage and it was probably one of the biggest nights I have ever played at in Ushuaia. The concept is perfect, underground and super popular. The people are coming to listen to the music, not just to take pictures with superstars and sing the songs. This is why every artist wants to play there, because is all about the music.”
You have a night off from Revolution, ANTS, INSANE and Diynamic, what club and DJ do we catch you enjoying on the white isle?
“I would go and see Maceo Plex in Dc10, or Richie Hawtin in Space who I would see not only for the music but also because I think Richie has one of the most perfect concepts on the island right now and I would love to go along and learn something. Also, Pete Tong’s Hot Natured live event in Ushuaia.”
You have been slowly developing your live show over the last 12 months, how is it going?
“Yes… For about 3 years I have been playing DJ sets and live sets, but for some reason I had a feeling that I should stop playing live sets for a bit and instead try to do something different. So I have been working on them and developing them up to the next level, at the moment the new live set is almost done so we can announce that I will be playing it during September in some of my Ibiza shows. I’m excited because it’s new for me and I spent a lot of time developing it.”
And finally, what has been the proudest moment of your career so far?
“I’m proud of every day! The main thing for me is being able to continue working on music that doesn’t belong to a ‘trend’, everything has always been about the music and I just want to do it all of the time!”
