Shonky, Dyed Soundorom & Dan Ghenacia

Apollonia left to right: Shonky, Dyed Soundorom & Dan Ghenacia

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DJ571.Features-apollonia.indd 30 19/06/2017 16:07 t’s late May 2017 in Ibiza, and the end of a long underground while conquering the island’s most Apollonia are the gods week of opening parties on the island. Shortly cavernous spaces. of groovy, stripped-back after Apollonia close the terrace on the fi rst Forming their three-piece back-to-back-to-back night at Hï — the all-new White Isle superclub DJ outfi t and label in 2012, made up of Shonky, underground house music. opened on the former site of Space — Shonky, Dyed Soundorom and Parisian house stalwart Dan of the French DJ trio, is hosting an after-party Ghenacia — who each had formidable individual The French trio — consisting at his apartment in the hills overlooking careers before forming Apollonia — the trio are of Dan Ghenacia, Shonky Talamanca Bay just outside Ibiza Town. He’s long-serving residents of CircoLoco, a bastion of the beenI spinning for hours with his Apollonia band- underground on the island. But last year saw what and Dyed Soundorom — mate, Dyed Soundorom, on the set-up on his dining once might have seemed unthinkable happen, with table — made up of two Technics 1210s and a DJR their alternative sound of Ibiza taking over the main have been slowly but surely 400 portable rotary mixer from Parisian audio design rooms. Booked by Marco Carola’s Music On to play company E&S. Amnesia’s famous Terrace for six dates throughout bringing the sound of the Work by American artists Jim Dine and Georgia the summer, they also span at ANTS at Ushuaïa Beach after-party to the biggest O’Keeffe adorn the walls, while a small collection of Club. And this year looks set to be even bigger, with close friends sit outside on scatter-cushions soaking an all-night-long gig planned for July at Hï, as well rooms and stages on the up the sun that’s risen high above Dalt Vila in the as more dates booked to play extended sets at Music distance. Vinyl litters the area surrounding Shonky On — alongside, of course, regular bookings as part planet. DJ Mag joins the and Soundorom, and both smile as they dance to of the DC-10 family. the hypnotic ‘Where Do I Go’ from mysterious ‘90s Apollonia brotherhood for an Chicago house producer, Gemini. Watching them Ahead of CircoLoco’s opening party, DJ Mag sat down extended stay in Ibiza to talk spin, it’s clear — even 20 years into their love affair with the trio at the Fish Shack — the back-to-basics with deep and trippy minimalist house music — that restaurant hidden away at the end of Talamanca boats in Paris, the evolution their desire to play hasn’t wavered. Beach that’s a favourite with island regulars. “For “It’s always an important moment for us to be back us, the mission was always to bring the after-hours of the underground, DC-10 on the island,” Soundorom beams as he sits down sound we play to the biggest rooms,” Ghenacia family, the golden age of during a break from the decks. “It’s the time that explains as he sips a glass of wine, looking across the you can fi nally take off your jacket, grab your mojito water. “But without compromising our taste. It was electronic music, long-lasting and enjoy the parties again. The vibe at the opening complicated to export what’s been happening at DC- events is very special, and we’re excited because 10 to different clubs, and it takes time, as what we’re friendship, living for the there are more big gigs coming.” doing is different to playing loops and effects to rock the dancefl oor, so it was a slow evolution.” weekends, and much, much Openings began exactly a week previously for the “We loved to party at places like Amnesia,” Shonky more... Apollonia trio at DC-10’s Monday shindig, CircoLoco, interjects. “But always dreamt about hearing the at the beginning of a summer that follows the year music we love there.” And that’s a dream that’s Words: ROB MCCALLUM Pics: TASYA MENAKER they became kings of the White Isle — loved by the become a full-on reality for the trio. “I could never djmag.com djmag.com 031

DJ571.Features-apollonia.indd 31 19/06/2017 16:07 Pic courtesy of Hï Ibiza Pic courtesy

APOLLONIA’S LA BATOFAR CLASSICS

Kenny Hawkes ‘Play The Game’ see the evolution that’s happened now, though,” and trippy house that selectors like Ghenacia, as well (Music For Freaks) Ghenacia smiles. “That the music would become so as Jef K, Jerome Pacman, D’Julz and DJ Sonic were “At the time, Kenny Hawkes was one of the big.” playing at the same time began to permeate Parisian key players. He gave us the honour of playing dancefloors. at Kwality, which is a very special moment for IBIZA Dyed Soundorom was then running PR for the club us. RIP.” All three members of Apollonia now call Ibiza home Les Bain Douches — where Ghenacia also played — for the summer months, and say the island may be and met Shonky as a club-kid while running the door DJ Garth & ETI ‘Twenty Minutes Of Disco more relevant to electronic music than ever before. there, before taking him to see the Kwality resident Glory (Wicked Crew Remixes)’ (Grayhound “There’s an intensity in the clubs in Ibiza that exists at La Batofar. “I first went as Dan’s biggest fan,” Recordings) in only a few places in the world,” Ghenacia explains Shonky laughs. “We went every fortnight as it was “This is the sound of San Francisco from over dinner. “It’s very influential at the minute, but it special what was happening there, and a different the Grayhound boss. Groovy, hypnotic, also has a strong commercial image, which means it’s way of playing: deep house in the realest sense, but psychedelic and a journey on its own. easy for people to hate if they’ve never been to the because of the system it had an energy I’d never Everything we like!” island. But once you come here, you get it.” heard from it before.” It’s not just Apollonia that have emerged from the Chez Damier & Ralph Lawson ‘A underground in Ibiza this summer. Cocoon welcomes La Batofar paved the way for the continuing trend Dedication To Joss’ (Serious Groove) the likes of Raresh, Rhadoo, Nastia, Sonja Moonear of parties on a boat we’re still seeing in Paris today, “Ralph Lawson had a real impact on us and Zip, while Unusual Suspects has locked Thomas led by the jewel in the crown of the French capital’s through his 20/20 Vision label, with most Melchior, Ion Ludwig, Mandar and DeWalta in a current house and techno scene, Concrete. But the tracks from its early catalogue played at La season bringing many names not closely associated music being played at the Kwality parties also forms Batofar. Moreover, Dan invited him to mix with Ibiza to the island. Underground, the long- the blueprint of the sound Apollonia still play today, the second part of the ‘Kwality Batofar’ standing haven for more minimal house and techno immortalised by the ‘Kwality Batofar’ compilation, compilation. Thanks Ralph!” alongside DC-10, also has arguably its strongest which demonstrates that the music the French DJs season in some time, with residencies from tINI & The were playing at the time had one foot (if not more) Derrick Carter ‘Sitting In The Sun’ Gang, Raresh and Rhadoo, as well as performances rooted firmly in the sound of US house music. (Distance) from Praslea, Mathew Jonson, Molly and more. Being “The proper definition of the groove from the in Ibiza this summer, it’s clear the underground has LA BATOFAR Chicago master. This would perfectly fit the truly taken over. Before starting his Kwality residency in 1998, vibe of the boat, when the party had come Ghenacia had just returned from living in San Diego, to an end and we were all sitting together in Apollonia’s road to becoming mainstays on the island where he moved to learn to speak English. There he the sun enjoying the summer after a great didn’t happen overnight, however. Far from it. With would meet Mark E. Quark, who was working as the moment of clubbing.” the trio having known, partied and played together buyer at a record store in the city. He would serve for almost two decades, one of electronic music’s as Ghenacia’s mentor, introducing him to mixing Foremost Poets ‘Reasons 2 B Dismal’ (Tu most enduring relationships started at a small but the sounds of deep and druggy house music coming Chicks) seminal after-party in Paris — the city they all used from Californian labels like Grayhound Recordings, “A special track. It came out on a bootleg to call home — in the late ‘90s. and soundsystems like the Wicked Crew, with music series called Tu Chicks as a reissue off the epic It was there that Ghenacia played as a resident at from Chicago house imprints like Cajual Records and label Nu Groove. Totally crazy.” the now-famous Kwality after-party on a small red Guidance Recordings. boat permanently docked on the River Seine called “It was funky, freaky and psychedelic,” Ghenacia Jaz ‘Skyler’ (Jump Recordings) La Batofar. It was here that he would spin to a says affectionately of the music. When he returned “Minimal-tinged and from the West Coast, small, tight-knit community on the venue’s intimate to Paris he opened Traffic Records, where he peddled this track has never left our record bags. dancefloor, a party that would still be going strong the deep house he brought back to the city. “You There’s little to it, so we don’t know exactly come the venue’s close at midday. At the time, French couldn’t buy music on the internet at the time,” he why, but we’ve just never stopped playing it!” touch was morphing into filter house, and the likes of continues. “So record shops were the only place Daft Punk and Cassius reigned supreme. But the deep you could get the music.” He’d start mixing his US

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DJ571.Features-apollonia.indd 32 19/06/2017 13:01 Untitled-1 1 16/06/2017 15:55 influences with English labels like Music For Freaks need to play to make a space work.” apartment ahead of the show. “They like to move and 20/20 Vision at La Batofar, and the party would It’s this ability that led to Marco Carola giving them from point A to point B, which is a shift that can last often carry on elsewhere after the venue closed — the honour of staffing Amnesia’s hallowed Terrace for a long time.” and it’s there the trio would first spin together. for their series of all-night-long dates last summer, a Despite long sets usually being reserved for the more “What we’re doing now, we used to do in an booking that surprised many when it was originally discerning end of the dancefloor, there’s something apartment for hours at an after-party,” Soundorom announced. “Maybe on paper it looked a bit weird universal about Apollonia’s all-night-long stints. explains. “It’s just more people are listening that we got booked for Music On,” Ghenacia says. When the trio did their BPM Festival live stream in now.” And the music they’ve come to represent “But Marco figured out that we’re good at longer January, concurrent viewing figures peaked at just encapsulates the sound the three artists have played sets, so they gave us the space to play — as they over 9,000 while live — more than NASA gained for through their history, mixing the deep house of La knew we’d deliver.” their moonwalk — and total 497,000 views at the Batofar with newer, techier cuts. All of this music The balance between long and short slots in bigger time of writing. “What we do is versatile,” Shonky — whether it be stripped-back house with punchy and smaller spaces on the island is what they say is continues as he sits in front of a window looking out kicks, druggy rhythms and intricate percussion, or best for their dynamic as a trio. At DC-10, they are over the festival site. “We play with the groove, and peak-time tracks from their sphere more fitting for usually tasked with playing individual sets of 90 that’s what we try to transmit to make people dance. Ibiza’s main rooms — falls loosely under the tech- minutes, whilst at Music On — where they also played At first you must capture the crowd, but once you’ve house banner, despite it becoming a dirty word in the after-party at Cova Santa last summer — they done that, you have more time to experiment and recent years. could spin together for up to 17 hours across both express yourself.” “I have no problem with the phrase,” Ghenacia venues. “That was the cherry on top of the cake Apollonia spin right through until morning at smiles. “We say we play quality tech-house, though. last year,” Shonky smiles. “If we stay for that long, Sunwaves which, despite their love of extended sets, Just the good ones,” he laughs. And something the it’s the sign of a good club. We’re not like Duracell clocks in at a grueling 11 hours. But Shonky says trio keep returning to when they talk about the music bunnies, just running for hours, but if the party has that often DJing to a tough crowd for a short length they play is maintaining a focus on the dancefloor. an intensity and vibe, it’s nice to have those long of time is harder than a long set to a responsive “We like to party and we like to dance, so we want to sessions.” dancefloor. “Marco [Carola] is the marathon man, see people on the floor enjoying the music and giving though,” he laughs. “He does what we do between a good reaction,” Shonky adds. “There’s no point in ROMANIA three of us on his own!” playing the best new record you bought that week if Before the week of Ibiza’s opening parties, DJ you feel you’re going to lose half the crowd.” Mag met Apollonia in Romania in late April, where Back on the island, DJ Mag meets Apollonia again they’re at Sunwaves to play an all-night-long set at a at DC-10 after they play CircoLoco’s opening party, The trio all agree that the space and system also festival famed for its DJ marathons, with a line-up of where Soundorom and Ghenacia spin b2b on the directs the music they play. “You learn that you might selectors from the minimal house and techno scene iconic club’s packed-out Garden, with a set that mixes have an ideal world, but tracks don’t sound the same that are well versed in extended performances. “The their bouncier, more percussive side with playful everywhere,” Ghenacia explains. “You have to adapt common thing they have with us is that they all love interjections of tracks like Wildchild’s ‘Renegade yourself to the system, and learn to know what you to play a journey,” Shonky says as he relaxes in his Master’. Shonky, charged with controlling the Terrace

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DJ571.Features-apollonia.indd 34 19/06/2017 16:08 as the sun goes down outside, opts for techier club tracks that give the venue’s revered Void Acoustics system an early season work-out.

The trio first visited the venue in 2000, after Ghenacia played Ibiza for the first time at the opening year of David Guetta’s F*** Me I’m Famous party. While on the island he first encountered Tania Vulcano at DC-10 — dubbed the First Lady of CircoLoco. “I realised we had a chance when I came here,” Ghenacia says as he relaxes back-stage. “When I saw Tania playing, I had that feeling because of the music. DC-10 isn’t for everyone, but for DJs playing a deeper sound, it’s the club that gave an opportunity to express yourself in front of a lot of people.” Ghenacia went on to meet Vulcano, and would give her a copy of the ‘Kwality Batofar’ compilation when it was released in 2002. “They called me the week after and asked me to play,” he smiles. Ghenacia played twice that year, including at the closing party, before becoming a more regular fixture the following summer. In 2004, they told him whenever he was on the island, he could play the club. On that premise, Ghenacia moved to Ibiza for the season, becoming an early resident at CircoLoco. Soundorom was the next of the Apollonia trio to play the club, at the end of 2009, before Shonky began to become part of the family in 2011. “The idea was that they didn’t want to have a star DJ, but residents instead,” Ghenacia continues. “But then they became bigger. DC-10 helped develop a style which now represents the evolution of clubbing, and for that reason it’s one of the most important clubs in the world to help underground music grow.” UNDERGROUND The surge of Apollonia has come in the middle of a boom for the entire underground electronic music scene. The quality and breadth of house music has arguably not been as strong since the trio’s formative years in the late ‘90s, whilst the industry continues to grow at an alarming rate. “Everything is getting bigger,” Ghenacia explains. “There’s more huge parties, and the underground is very strong and very underground again. And people aren’t just into one sound any more. Before, one style would be on top — like electroclash or minimal was — but now there’s space for everybody, and a lot “You can’t play for 10 hours with someone you don’t of staff at DC-10, they know every waiter in the of genres are more stable and have a scene because like,” Soundorom says as he drinks a Peroni. “We see restaurants we visit through the week — the island is of that. We’re in the middle of le âge d’or [the golden each other a lot. It’s not like we just play together as very much part of their makeup. age].” work, we spend time together outside gigs too, and The friendship Apollonia is built on is what they The trio stay into the night at CircoLoco, with that makes a huge difference. We wouldn’t have done owe much of their career to. Before embarking on Shonky seen lifting his shirt over his head in the as much as we have if it didn’t work like that.” the project, Ghenacia ran his seminal Freak n’ Chic booth behind DVS1 in the main room long after the They agree they never argue too. “We just don’t have imprint along with French DJ/producer David Duriez. end of his set, and the trio playing charades with that side to our relationship,” Ghenacia smiles. “We It would press the debut EPs of Jamie Jones, David K, Joseph Capriati in the office at the back of the venue are conscious that a lot of what we do is about the Sebastien Bouchet and Djebali, and it was through in a moment of downtime. “The opening party is vibe between us. If we have an argument, it will kill the label both Shonky and Soundorom would both a big reunion,” Ghenacia smiles. “We know all the that. But it’s very easy. We don’t have to make an see their first material released too. doormen, bartenders, drivers, it’s a family here. It’s effort.” Around the same time, Ghenacia started the T Agency always good to feel at home in such a big club, and They live just walking distance from each other on to support artists around him. “It was a DIY thing,” being here means the season is open for us.” the island, with the Fish Shack, where we met earlier he explains over dinner. “There was a lot of friends It’s being residents at DC-10 that served as a in the week, the halfway point between them. And sharing the same passion in Paris, so I wanted to springboard for Apollonia to become some of the it’s in that laid-back environment that any Apollonia make it fast and easy for our crew.” After a falling out biggest stars on the underground scene. During the meetings tend to take place through summer. “We’re between Freak n’ Chic’s investors, the label folded, opening party a fan shows the trio a tattoo of their conscious that it’s a blessing to be where we are, as and the concept of Apollonia rose from its ashes. logo that she’s had emblazoned on her forearm, there’s a lot of competition,” Ghenacia explains. “So The agency morphed into Lola ED — which has gone while in the booth there’s barely room to move as we’re professional and have serious conversations on to represent established artists including Chris they spin. “Openings isn’t a time to bring vinyl,” to make sure everybody is happy before making any Carrier, D’Julz and Terence :Terry:, as well as newer Ghenacia laughs. But they still say it’s something decisions and share ideas.” names likes Diego Krause and Traumer — and with that’s vital to the party. “You have to learn to it, Ghenacia established himself as something of a manage the stress, because it’s about the vibe, As the trio eat, they are more than happy to have mogul of quality French house music and the artists there’s no good party without that.” their dinner interrupted by passing fans asking for that circulate its sphere, looking after a significant photos, and it’s clear they have adopted Ibiza as proportion of the scene. Later in the week we meet at another of their their second home. Shonky — who, like Soundorom, Shortly after, in November 2011, Cassy invited them favourite spots on the island, La Tana. The small spends the winter in Berlin — recently bought his to play together at her birthday party at Panorama Italian restaurant lies just outside Dalt Vila’s walls in apartment on the island, whilst Ghenacia, who moves Bar, where they would realise their loose rule of one Ibiza Town, and as the trio laugh and chat there it’s to a new house mid-way through opening week, also record at a time — starting with Ghenacia, then clear that friendship is the key element that lies at throws a regular beach party in Ibiza through the Shonky and then Soundorom. “We realised having the heart of their success. winter months. Much like they know every member that discipline worked better,” Ghenacia explains. djmag.com djmag.com 035

DJ571.Features-apollonia.indd 35 19/06/2017 16:08 “When we play now, we can have drinks or a quick this scene,” Ghenacia smiles as he finishes his pasta. The morning after we meet, the trio board a flight chat, but the fact that there’s a certain rhythm “When you reach a certain point, it’s very difficult off the island to play solo gigs before hitting the means you know your time is coming.” to jump to the next step. If you’re still there after 10 UK together to spin on Saturday night at We Are Following that, Apollonia was formalised as a DJ years, you have to do something to become bigger.” FSTVL. It’s that circuit that they feel offers them trio at Lola ED’s party at the next Amsterdam Dance And they say the energy of watching three friends their next big challenge. Alongside Sunwaves, the Event, where selectors on the agency played to together on stage has played a huge part in their trio played the inaugural edition of Marco Carola’s represent their labels — Le Loup and Seuil span as resurgence. “It’s entirely different to seeing one guy Music On festival at the beginning of May, as well as Hold Youth, Djebali as his eponymous imprint, and play,” Ghenacia beams. “It isn’t intentionally a show having established themselves as regulars at BPM Ghenacia, Soundorom and Shonky under the banner when we’re joking around on stage, but it’s how it Festival and Time Warp. “We’re three years into that of their new label. With it, the band was born. comes across.” network now, and that’s where we have to build a Returning to the theme of balance, the trio agree lot,” Ghenacia explains. “We didn’t know the limit of APOLLONIA (THE LABEL) that recently midweek has become their solo time, our music until we played in front of an audience of Right from the beginning, their label has been a where they take days apart and hit the studio. 10,000 people, but when we realised it worked, we musical melting pot of the minimalist house music Shonky keeps his in Berlin, where Soundorom is were super-happy.” the trio spin, and has now established itself as a also currently adapting his own to incorporate more buy-on-sight imprint amongst discerning selectors. analogue gear, while Ghenacia is building a small set- The night after We Are FSTVL the trio are back on But Ghenacia says times have changed since his Freak up in Ibiza to compliment his main studio in Paris. the island to close the main room at Hï’s opening n’ Chic days. “You can’t live solely from a record label Their last joint production was Apollonia’s ‘Tour party. Playing together in a booth with more space now,” he tells DJ Mag. “But it’s a good way to show À Tour’ album that landed in 2014, but since then than they were afforded at DC-10, the trio seem the music you represent and create a brand for your they’ve developed a new b2b2b production method at ease as they let loose while working the stacks gigs. Because sales aren’t crazy, there’s less financial where they work remotely and move the production with their minimalist tech-house. The 20 years it’s risk, which gives you more freedom to run weird and between them. taken Apollonia to conquer the island’s biggest obscure music.” “It’s a very Apollonia way of working,” Shonky venues maintains a realness to them as individuals, Early releases saw Ghenacia and Shonky’s ‘Close To observes as the bill arrives. “We’re experimenting to as they haven’t lost the essence of what made them The Edge’, a pseudo anthem on an underground see if it works in the same order as we play, but it’s who they are. The bottom line is that Apollonia is scene that doesn’t operate on a hit formula, as interesting as when you’re alone in the studio you a brotherhood built on a love of digging for house well as a repress series featuring Point G’s classic can completely release yourself, which gives more music in its purest form. It’s taken them from masters ‘Underwater’ and Kerri Chandler’s ‘Sunday Sunlight’. feeling in the music. When you listen to the tracks of the after-party to the world’s biggest stages. More recent releases have seen iO (Mulen) with his we have so far, you can really hear a bit of each of us “Sometimes when you know a new record is good, ‘Letters & Numbers’ EP and Shonky’s ‘Tyrolien’ EP. in them.” I just wait to see their faces when I play it as it still “We want to make sure we don’t follow the same The trio plan on road-testing the material they’ve gives us a buzz,” Shonky smiles at the after-party at style,” Soundorom says of the label. “So people been working on through summer, before deciding his apartment following Hï’s opening. “But that’s are prepared that Apollonia (the label) can have an on three tracks for an EP they hope to release in early because we’re party people. I caught the nightlife element of surprise. Our only rule is that it has to fit 2018. But there’s plenty of new material landing virus at an early age, and then I was fucked,” he into our DJ set, whether that be warm-up, peak-time, in the meantime, with Shonky’s ‘Tyrolien’ followed laughs. “Even after a huge weekend, by Thursday late-night or at an after-party — we have to want to by five remixes by Ghenacia and Carrier, including a we’re always ready to go back, as 20-years later the play it.” rework of Guti’s ‘This Must Be The Future’ and Madrid weekends are still the most important thing in our Inc’s ‘My Sunday’s Love’, whilst next up on Apollonia lives. It’s clear that the Apollonia project has created a is Laser’s ‘Body’ EP, a repress of an Italian rarity from renaissance in their careers. “That’s how it works in the ‘90s that lands in July.

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DJ571.Features-black coffee.indd 38 13/06/2017 13:44 DJ Mag takes Ibiza’s newest DJ resident, Black Coffee, to Tell us about the concept for your Ibiza night... “Well, when we were coming up with the theme for visit the magical island of Es Vedra at sunset to talk about the night, we were wondering what direction to go homegrown philanthropy, playing at CircoLoco and what it’s in. Eventually we just thought, ‘We already have a strong brand and a strong social media following — like to see your name in lights... we already have a name: my name!’ So that’s why we decided to stick with calling the residency simply Words: CHARLOTTE LUCY CIJFFERS Pics: GEMMA PARKER Black Coffee. We’re thinking of maybe taking this night on tour at some point as well, so it works well outh African DJ and producer Black tip of mythical city, Atlantis. It’s the fi rst time Black naming it after myself (laughs). Moreover, I think that Coffee is riding the crest of a wave Coffee and his team of cameramen have been to the my name represents a certain sound — that Black right now. From humble beginnings famous rock, as we chat non-stop on the hour-long Coffee sound that people know — and we want to in South Africa’s townships to drive to Es Vedra’s leafy and secluded location. inject that sound into the island. I just feel like I’d like headlining sold out festivals and As we drive we spot multiple billboards with Black to introduce a slightly different sound to this place, releasing his latest big international- Coffee’s face blown-up to gigantic heights, erected something different, something uplifting, something selling album, ‘Pieces Of Me’ on Ultra, to advertise his new Hï Ibiza residency. “It’s still soulful...” Black Coffee’s rise has been nothing super-weird seeing my face on signs,” Black Coffee short of meteoric. It seems only comments as we speed on by. “I’d actually seen a few How involved have you been in the curation of the right, then, that the famous South African export billboards from the Hi residency already before I got night? Sis kicking off his fi rst-ever island residency at Hï here — people sent them to me back home. But to be “I’ve been very involved with Yann planning the night, Ibiza — the new White Isle superclub with its name on honest, you never really get used to it.” alongside my managers and team, of course. There’s a everyone’s lips. It’s a humble assessment from arguably one of the few special back-to-backs happening and I’ve selected When we meet Black Coffee (real name: Nkosinathi biggest DJs playing Ibiza this summer — here’s what some people who I’m super-excited to play with!” Innocent Maphumulo) we’re squished (rather happened when we took Black Coffee on a road trip to uncomfortably) into the back of a Renault Clio, watch the sunset at Es Vedra... What does your new night at Hi Ibiza mean to you? speeding up a motorway outside Ibiza Town and “This residency is actually more than I ever could have towards one of the island’s best-known secrets, Es You played the Hi opening recently, how was it? imagined. When I fi rst came to the island it was at the Vedra. A magical rock that juts out of the sea in the “Amazing! It was a full house, big production, massive invitation of CircoLoco — playing that gig was my only island’s north, Es Vedra is reportedly the third most club, big everything! Yeah, it was really cool. I had goal. And ever since then I’ve been saying, ‘My new magnetic place on Earth — after the North Pole and seen some fl oorplans so I already knew what it would goal is to get my own night’ — and now I’ve realised the Bermuda Triangle — and is said to be the sunken look like but nothing beats seeing it in real life.” that dream, and it feels great.”

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DJ571.Features-black coffee.indd 39 19/06/2017 14:38 And you’re bringing some South African acts over to You’ve been working a lot with children from play with you, too? underprivileged areas in South Africa. How did that “Yes, that’s been one of the key decisions I’ve made come about? with the residency. There’s a lot of talent in SA but not “It actually came about two ways. Firstly, last summer everyone is ready for this platform, so I’ve selected when I was living in LA, I was talking to my manager carefully — it’s been a crucial decision.” and I’d noticed there were all these comments on social media from South Africans saying, ‘Black Coffee How important is it to you to be an ambassador for isn’t ours anymore, he’s now gone...’. I was saying to South African talent? my manager that I did feel like that sometimes, too. So “It’s really important, but it’s also a really big when I went back to my country later that year, I made responsibility. It shouldn’t just be about simply being an effort to go to the schools and talk to the kids — from South Africa — it needs to be someone who is because sometime I do feel a little far away from home. truly deserving, and someone who is going to add to “The flipside was that in December 2015, I got a traffic the story that’s already been told. It’s not even about fine because I was driving extremely fast. So in the how big they are back home or abroad, it’s about them end, they gave me community work to make up for fitting into this specific sound that we’re trying to the fine — and it was talking to kids in schools! It was create. Same with the international artists that we’ve really organised and I did about 16 schools in total. booked for the Hï Ibiza night — we know so many DJs, Sometimes I would do three schools a day, and it was it’s just about picking the right ones for our vision...” so fulfilling. It was just so rewarding to talk to the kids, and be real with them, and to be there as a brother. I Tell us about the first time ever you played for wanted to have a real conversation with them.” CircoLoco... “Well, I wasn’t exposed to the scene at all at the And you’re starting a school, too? time — I literally didn’t recognise one name on the “Well, I was actually working with a local school in bill (laughs). The guy who put my name forward for South Africa for the last few years — just last week we the gig was Seth Troxler but I didn’t know who he was, opened a new computer lab that I donated to them, like, at all! I didn’t know what anyone played, I had which is really amazing to see. I’m also in the process no idea what to expect. I just came as a guy who had of setting up a new school called FAM (Fashion, Art and been doing what I’d been doing — and I’d been invited Music) which will be based in inner city Johannesburg, here to come and do my thing. But over these last but our idea is to eventually franchise it. We’re calling it few years I’ve learnt so much, I’m really proud to say project 2020 at the moment, so that’s the latest thing I’m a student of pretty much everything. I’ve learnt I’m working on. who’s who, what they do, how crucial they are to the “As Africans, we always grew up thinking that scene, what they are offering to the scene, what they anything outside our continent was better. We’re are bringing to the table in terms of DJing — so yes, trying to change that. We would like to take the CircoLoco was a big part of my story!” same concept and have it in Cape Town, even Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, you know, around the contient. We You come from a very religious background, how has want all the students who go to this school to know that influenced you? that your education will be funded for you and, most “Yes, absolutely. I came from a very Christian home. As importantly, you know that when you come out you kids we used to do about an hour’s prayer every single can actually get a job. We want to create a system night — and as young as I was at the time, we all took that works, and by the virtue of being accepted to the turns on who would lead the prayer. It taught me a lot, school in the first place, you’re guaranteed a job when it grounded me in so many ways — I operate in faith. you come out. That’s our mission.” For me, it’s also highlighted a lot of things. The fact that I’m so famous in my hometown, I understand the • Black Coffee’s White Isle residency runs on power and the purpose that I’ve been given. It’s a big Saturdays at Hï Ibiza until 30th September. responsibility to influence and inspire other people, and that’s something I’m ready to take on.”

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DJ571.Features-black coffee.indd 40 19/06/2017 14:38 Untitled-1 1 16/06/2017 15:48 OH MY HOSH! A creative process he describes like “writing chapters of a book”, the making of HOSH’s new album — a continuous mix of new material and series of EPs entitled ‘Stories From Sa Talaia’ — coincided with a move to Ibiza, the birth of his first-born baby and the launch of his new label, Fryhide. We sat down with the Diynamic DJ/producer from Hamburg to hear about the mysticism of his new home, the affect it had on his album, and what the future will bring... Words: ADAM SAVILLE Pics: FABIO CAPELLI

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DJ571.Features-hosh.indd 42 19/06/2017 13:03 p until now it was unlikely you’d hear HOSH’s name (actually Holger Behn) uttered without Solomun’s cropping up somewhere. The Diynamic boss and Pacha headline resident’s astronomical rise to underground stardomU was of the international kind that’s naturally allowed his label family — also consisting of Stimming, Phon.o, Adriatique, Magdalena et al — to, by association, benefit from his success. Now, however, it’s HOSH’s time to shine. He met Solomun, also from Hamburg, during the early-’00s when playing electro-house (“before it got too cheesy”) as one half of the DJ duo Motion 040 at Fusion Festival. His early collaborations with the Diynamic don and a series of solo EPs during the second half of the ‘00s (including jazzy piano house work-out ‘Cash The Chord’), plus a widely acclaimed debut LP, ‘Connecting. The.Dots’ in 2010, established him as easily one of the most recognised faces on the roster — renowned for his quirky touch to production and melodic, funky approach to house music, as well as his skills as a DJ. What’s obvious in 2017, though, is that — more so than ever — HOSH is pursuing his own path, one that’s a step removed from the musical family where his career started, this time geared towards — and spurred by — the emergence of a real-life family of his own. The arrival of his first-born baby daughter Mia Lee last December, following his marriage two years ago to his true love and mother of his baby — the gracious Natalia from Madrid — has offered him a brand-new lease of creativity.

His latest full-length opus ‘Stories From Sa Talaia’, recorded at his villa in Ibiza around the time that Natalia became pregnant, is soon to drop on Fryhide — a label also of his own making, set up to release the album and as a platform for talents such as Tim Englehardt. On the album, you hear a reflective, meditative air not heard within HOSH’s previous work. Made mainly using two synths — the Prophet-6 and OB-6 — across a period of about two-and-a-half months, the LP has spacey, lunar textures throughout, ranging from proggy major chords — most effective when accompanied by aching vocals on ‘The Watergate Affair’ — to the peak- time-friendly, main-room rumble of tunes featuring powerhouse techno duo Pig&Dan, all delivered with a warm underbelly of thick, viscous bass.

The inspired flow of HOSH’s album-making process — one that hears him, albeit unknowingly, meditating on the prospects of his new life through a personal voyage of musical discovery — was such that he decided to present his 20 initial ideas as a continuous mix, given away for free via his Soundcloud, followed by a string of EPs on Fryhide. “I was just recording live sessions, actually,” he tells DJ Mag in a shaded corner of his Ibiza villa, while Mia Lee reclines on the grass under a farmyard mobile as Natalia tends to her as she giggles. “Then I brought it all together with the drums, and I distorted them on the mixer, recorded the reverb, so it has this character from the very first recording session still in there. That’s why it has this live character to it. It melts together because of this. I didn’t plan to do an album, but by track five or six, I was, like, ‘OK, this is somehow different’.”

It’s this ‘live character’ that — just yesterday — had him mixing tracks from the album at a private be-at. tv live stream/album launch party at a quaint villa/ restaurant (Ibiza Food Studio). It’s an idyllic Balearic garden set high in Ibiza’s northern hills, where purple, yellow and pink haze from smoke-bombs floated over a congregation swaying next to an aqua-blue pool, consumed within the hauntingly intoxicating sonics of HOSH’s coming-of-age tale, ‘Stories From Sa Talaia’... djmag.com djmag.com 043

DJ571.Features-hosh.indd 43 19/06/2017 14:39 What’s the reason for the shift in tone on the Tell us about Sa Talaia, the picture on the album You really can hear a flow on the album... album, towards more reflective, emotive house and sleeve. What’s the significance of that mountain? “It’s like sitting down to right a book. You write techno? Why is it so special to you? chapter after chapter. That’s what it felt like, kind of.” “I would never say my sound was like this or that. “It’s the view from where we live. I just love the name In the very beginning it was a bit techier and then of it, because it has a certain mystic quality to it, no? How about Fryhide, your new label, what is your it got a bit more groovy, or more funky even, but And I remember when I first entered San José [where aim with it? Diynamic has always been a DJ label, so we were they now live] in Sa Talaia, I was super-curious about “Even before Diynamic, I always wanted to start a just making tracks for us to play. Also, the sound what was up on that hill, and it’s kind of like a symbol label. I was happy with Diynamic, but now I kind of of our productions have changed quite a lot, but of everything we’ve talked about, so that’s why I feel like this is another opportunity — an opportunity I don’t necessarily see that as a bad thing — I like wanted it to be on the album sleeve. I wanted ‘Stories to sign some new talent. Diynamic already has a lot that actually. It’s different if you’re a producer like Of Sa Talaia’ to sound like a book title or something.” of talent, so this opens up new possibilities. I’m just Stimming, who is just producing, you can tell he looking for younger talents and also guys who are a always has ‘his sound’. I never saw myself like that. I So that mysticism, the fact it’s literally outside bit more experienced to find a good mixture.” just do what feels natural to me. I don’t think about your window, coinciding with your new life and the it too much.” making of the album is all a strange coincidence, So over time you will become less known as HOSH then... from Diynamic, but HOSH from Fryhide as you Your unborn baby’s heartbeat is actually sampled “Yes it is! But that’s what I mean — not to be too follow your own path, then? as a beat at the beginning on the album. How did esoteric — but in Ibiza, it seems, there’s always these “I’ve not had much time to reflect on it. But, yes, the the prospect of becoming a father influence the clear signs around you, that are kind of leading you label will be a way to identify and further crystallise making of the album? somewhere...” what my direction will be.” “I started to produce it [the album] and didn’t know about it [the baby], so it was happening behind the Tell us about the creative process itself. How and scenes. Everything kind of changed actually, with where was the album recorded? It’s obvious you moving [from Madrid] to Ibiza and then not touring were feeling very inspired... in the winter [last three months while Natalia was “I used two synths, a drum machine and an old Sony pregnant] — I would say I was more balanced. It’s Broadcast mixer — because I didn’t have a studio hard to say. The fatherhood is just one part of it. It set-up at the time. After the move, I set it up in one was a new phase in my life.” of the sleeping rooms, a 10-square-metre room built up with all my acoustic elements on the wall, because There’s a mysticism to the album — a sense of the I had the urge to express myself. I was recording magical. How did recording it in Ibiza impact on session after session, and then [after the first five your creative process? or six sessions] I realised I was onto something — “I guess it impacted it somehow! I’m not super- somehow it was not just an EP I was making here. esoteric about it, but there were really some clear So I kept on going, and I didn’t think about it much, signs when we moved here, with Mia Lee then especially because I knew in that little room I couldn’t happening right after we moved here and stuff. I mix it down properly. Then later, I had my studio built don’t know, I felt a certain energy going on. It was [in the garage], so I took the tracks to the studio for •Download ‘Stories From Sa Talaia’ for free from kind of like a wave and I rode that wave somehow — I the mix-down — it was cool, because it all took place HOSH’s Soundcloud. ‘Chapter 1’ EP is out now on would describe it like that.” in the same house.” Fryhide

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DJ571.Features-hosh.indd 44 19/06/2017 14:39 Untitled-1 1 14/06/2017 14:30 AS THE CROATIA FLIES Ibiza has long been a summer destination for clubbers from all over Europe and beyond, but in the last decade or so Croatia has been snapping hard at its heels. With a wealth of festivals and destination night-spots, as well as some great places to eat and lots of historical architecture to soak up, more than ever this season Croatia is looking like a great alternative clubbing haven for the discerning punter... Words: KRISTAN J CARYL

roatia is no longer the fresh-faced new of the competition. It means that places like beyond, it hosts Outlook. Heavy on the d&b and kid on the block, but that’s no bad thing: Kalypso, Aquarius and Zrce Beach mix up plush bass offerings, Outlook first set-up shop back Cthe scene has matured, recurring festivals VIP offerings like private booths and prime in 2007 and this year brings Dizzee Rascal, DJ have settled into their groove and enduring viewing spots with sun-decks, pools, open-air Shadow, Goldie and 70-odd more acts to party. friendships and families have been fomented. dancefloors and great light and sound. After 10 years of boom-time, though, it is still Chief amongst them all is Barbarella’s, a club Dimensions Festival also calls the same unique an exciting hotspot to head to for your summer that has such a key role to play at many festivals location home, and has done for a few years now. kicks, and is evolving all the time. each summer that it has continued to creep ever Favoured by those who like to look beyond the big First and foremost, Croatia remains brilliantly higher in our Top 100 Clubs poll. Add into that name headliners, once again this year they pull uncommercialised. You won’t find super-yachts the fact that the accommodation you stay in will out all the stops. As well as calling on legends lining the shores. You wont sunbathe in the often take the form of a spacious self-catering like Grace Jones and funk and soul star Shuggie shadows of imposing 6000-room hotels. You apartment, rather than a shitty hotel room or Otis, they have sets from Detroit heavyweights won’t be forced to pay a tenner for a bottle of tent, and you have not only a lovely place to go for Jeff Mills and Theo Parrish amongst many others, water during any trip you make. Instead, you will a summer holiday, but a boutique festival scene including a long list of live acts like Yussef Kamal, be welcomed by friendly locals who are genuinely that still feels personable. Floating Points, Amp Fiddler and Dopplereffekt. glad to see you. You will be able to drink great Hip-hop headz are well catered for again this local beers and spirits without busting the bank In 2017, there are plenty of movers and shakers year with Fresh Island Fest, which mixes up the and will be treated to good, honest local food keeping things fresh. This year, rather than old and the new with Sean Paul, Young Thug, DJ that ranges from whole roast lamb to speciality hosting their own gathering, techno titans Jazzy Jeff, Giggs, Tim Westwood and Lady Leshurr fish dishes. All this in humble, authentic settings Movement will team up with Sonus to host their bringing the heat, while the likes of Hideout offer in stunning locations by the sea. own stage in Pag. The main festival itself, which populist techno/house acts from Jamie Jones to is synonymous with the more connoisseur end of MK, Skream to Steve Lawler, Hannah Wants to That sea is crystal clear and laps up against the underground techno and minimal spectrum, Barely Legal. pebble beaches in a number of secluded bays. The turns five years old with headliners like Raresh, landscapes are mountainous and tree-lined, with Binh and Ricardo Villalobos helping them on their All new for 2017 is Beer, Beats & Boogaloo. It’s palms a firm fixture around many of the beach way. a festival from the man who started the Croatian clubs. What’s more, because so many festivals More celebrations will be in order at the famous festival revolution, namely Nick Colgan, in have set up shop here, the owners of those clubs Fort in Pula. Hundreds of years old and boasting association with BBC 6Music’s funk fan Craig have had to evolve and expand to stay ahead a stage in a moat, surrounding forest, beach and Charles. He first saw the potential of the now-

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046 djmag.com djmag.com celebrated Garden Resort in Tisno and started the still sorely-missed The Garden festival more than a decade ago. His latest venture has been to set up a local micro-brewery and make his own beers, so this festival is built around that. As well as tasting sessions and beer tutorials, it offers music from legends like Hot 8 Brass Band, Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band, Craig Charles Fantasy Funk Band, Amp Fiddler, Al Kent and tons more. Taking over the mantel of The Garden Festival for a second year is Futureboogie boss Dave Harvey’s Love International festival. Offering one of the longest line-ups of them all, it combines beach and boat parties with sets under the sun and stars, and this year promises special Kalypso early morning dub sets from Craig Richards, back to backs from the likes of Ben UFO, returning favourites like The Black Madonna and Prosumer, and experimental sounds from Call Super, plus too much more to mention.

Another new addition for this season is Labyrinth Open Festival. Coming to you from the people behind Extrema Fest in Belgium, it is a similarly techno-heavy line-up taking place in the previously unused bay that is Omis. As well as music from Radio Slave, Monoloc, Ø [Phase], Rødhåd and Stephan Bodzin, it promises a mix of workshops and discussions, forums and key- note speeches that will tackle a diverse array of subjects. Techno will also be the order of the day at Moondance Festival. Another one turning five this year, Robert Hood, DJ Deep, Ben Sims and more will play out in the stunning Kamerlengo Fortress in Trogir, which dates from the Middle Ages and boasts amazing architecture and huge stone walls in which to party, all right by the sea. If you prefer a more maximalist experience, then Ultra Europe in Split is the one for you. Pyrotechnics, super-sized stadiums and even bigger beats all come from regular Top 100 DJs Hideout poll names like Tiesto, DJ Snake, Afrojack and Hardwell, though more underground names like Jamie Jones, Seth Troxler and Adam Beyer also feature this year as the EDM hype continues to subside. TOP TASTING TIPS Phat Phillie is the co-founder of Last but not least, two festivals are coming back Croatia’s biggest and best hip-hop for a second bite of the cherry in 2017. One is gathering, Fresh Island, so has taken the mighty house crew Defected, who have plenty of stars for dinner. Here he more acts, more boat parties and more razzle- shares some of his top eating tips… dazzle than ever planned for Tisno. Legendary figures like Basement Jaxx, Kenny Dope, Roger STARAC I MORE, PAG Sanchez, Todd Terry, Derrick Carter, Honey “One of my favourites in the centre of Novalja is Starac i More. They specialise in all Dijon, Joey Negro and more link with the label’s kinds of fresh seafood, but you can definitely also get a nice piece of grilled meat all new house stars, and it is those younger faces done on real charcoal bbq. They have just-caught fresh fish laying on the ice — go see that characterise Dekmantel Selectors. This the fish yourself and pick the freshest one. I personally supplied six boxes of pickled cosy beach gathering will bring cult diggers like capers for the new restaurant’s menu (from the island of Lastovo, where my family Hunee, Antal, MCDE, Orpheu The Wizard, Palms comes from), so if you come please try them!” Trax, Sadar Bahar, DJ Nobu and many more for a taste of class this summer. KONOBA PORAT, TISNO “One of my favourite seafood spots is konoba Porat in Zaton, a small fishing town with By now you should have a good picture of how amazing food. I remember taking Eva Longoria and Tony Parker there for a dinner diverse and exciting the Croatian summer when they were yacht cruising around the Croatia islands at the peak of their love. scene has become. And that’s without even Homemade ravioli in a scampi sauce, grilled tuna, black cuttlefish risotto, monkfish mentioning Electric Elephant, Soundwave, cooked in white wine, or a super-small fried fish Golci is a must-try.” Suncebeat, Black Sheep, Hard Island, Barrakud or countless more, so there’s plenty of reasons BISTRO MALA RIBA, PULA to get stuck in as soon as you can. “Even though it is not exactly situated in the Pula region, this beautiful bistro is a must-stop for me anytime I am in Rijeka or on my way to the festivals in Istria. Mala • If you’re heading to Croatia this summer, be Riba specialises in seafood tapas that are laying beautifully in an open fridge when sure to look out for DJ Mag’s Croatia & Adriatic you step inside the restaurant. Apart from different seafood bites, Mala Riba creates special edition — distributed free all around one of the most memorable and amazing fish dishes — a Monkfish tripe that is actually the region. made from a monkfish stomach. Simply irresistible!”

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MAY 2017 - UK.indd 1 5/11/17 6:35 PM Conference (WMC) racks up a jaw-dropping 5.3 tonnes of CO2. Industry-leading CO2 offset climate protection specialists, Myclimate, assert that “the maximum amount of CO2 a person should produce each year in order to halt climate change is two tonnes”. So in real terms, these figures are big. Never one to shout from the sidelines, Hawtin turned his beliefs into actions. Several years back he took the initiative to offset the CO2 produced from his flights to gigs — and so help neutralise the impact they have on climate change — by using the Berlin-based not-for-profit offset provideratmosfair.de . Knowing the positive effect such actions have, he went a step further and extended this programme to offset the air travel of his whole team at his legendary label Minus. Under Hawtin’s watch, a genre synonymous with black has never been so green. CLIMATE CHANGE The Canadian techno master is among a growing set of enlightened electronic artists who are actively fighting climate change. The co-founder of Hawtin’s genre, Juan Atkins, and Chicago-born acid house pioneer, DJ Pierre, are equally resolute in doing their bit. According to their Novi Sad-based manager Dragan Greensmith, they too firmly believe that “the electronic music community has a responsibility to take action”. So, alongside their forward-thinking stablemates at Greensmith Management — who have acts like like Model 500, Marko Nastic, Phuture and Hardfloor on their roster — they are part of the Billion Trees Campaign, an initiative by the UN to plant one billion trees around the world to absorb CO2 and help stop man-made climate change. Dragan says the reason he and his artists back the campaign is down to “the fact that forests naturally filter air and regulate the global climate, making their continued development a vital tool in the armoury against climate change”. On a local level, Dragan has donated a thousand ‘Greensmith’ apple trees to Flying the world as an international DJ has a big impact on the primary schools in his city, helping enhance both the city’s air quality and the urban landscape. environment. DJ Mag looks at initiatives in our scene that seek to counter the effects of climate change and promote a more Over in New York, A-Trak’s Fools Gold label has been mobilised by one of its DJs, Sammy Bananas, to work sustainable future… on both practical solutions and advocacy. Back in 2008, Words: TRISTAN HUNT Bananas started DJs For Climate Action (DJs4CA) “as a collective of electronic artists to offset the carbon o say that some DJs do a lot of air travel impact of the tropospheric ozone and vapour trails emissions from our touring and airplane travel”. About is an understatement. In February, caused by planes at altitude, the impact of air travel to the concept, he says: “The idea was to use this negative DJ Mag reported that Tiësto was the climate change is significant. impact of our profession as a lightning rod to discuss world’s most travelled artist, with a and address climate change”. staggering one-and-a-half million Two dates on the electronic music calendar help draw Bananas’ initiative has proved both popular and career miles to his name. The Dutch this impact into sharp relief. A return flight for two effective, drawing support from major players like Tsupremo’s record narrowly beat Paul van Dyk’s own people from London to the Amsterdam Dance Event LOUISAHHH!!!, Soul Clap, Anna Lunoe, Treasure mileage and eclipsed that of rockers Bob Dylan, The (ADE) produces half a tonne of CO2, while a return Fingers and, of course, A-Trak himself. Bananas says Beatles and Metallica. flight for two passengers to the Miami Winter Music that DJs4CA “has grown into an organisation that co- For many DJs, racking up the air miles is simply part of the job. Though some electronic artists try to avoid Richie Hawtin flying, the need to tour internationally means that, for most, air travel is the only real option. And for fans now too, thanks to the advent of low cost airlines, frequent flights to festivals around the world are the new norm.

Artist, innovator and thought-leader Richie Hawtin says: “As an international performer, I find there are few realistic alternatives to flying thousands of miles per year travelling between performances.” Although in the DJ premier league, Hawtin’s view is indicative of thousands of electronic artists and music industry execs whose careers depend upon air travel. The same is true of many fans who also take flights to the very same gigs to watch artists like Hawtin perform. The techno don is, however, highly conscious that the jet-set lifestyle comes with a duty of care to people and planet. “My personal belief is that flying has a calculable impact on our environment,” Hawtin says. His view is, of course, correct. When the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of flights are taken, together with the

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DJ571.Features-climate.indd 49 06/06/2017 16:29 Sammy Bananas

Matt Black ordinates events, social mobilisation, and partnerships with building the wells, which cost just £2,400 each with advocacy groups and progressive brands to remix and are serviced for 10 years. Donate to the campaign the climate message”. DJ Mag readers can check out by searching for ‘Have A Drink On Us’ on justgiving. DJs4CA’s compelling new video and hear first-hand com or by texting EATS20 £3 to 70070 to donate £3. what their artists say on the subject via the website: djs4ca.com With its global outlook, the Association For Electronic Music (AFEM) last year added its voice to the climate Bananas and his fellow electronic artists have change cause with its own Green Initiative. At ADE successfully taken the topic and engaged their fans 2016, the AFEM — the not-for-profit trade body with helpful advice that they can adopt to make a real that represents the interests of the electronic music difference in the fight against climate change. From industry worldwide — formed a partnership with a practical standpoint, Bananas says “offsets are Myclimate. The partnership offers electronic music definitely a way to do something”, while at the fans and professionals alike the facility to calculate and same time he advocates that fans can take action by offset greenhouse gases produced by their flights to switching their energy provider to a greener option. festivals, gigs and events. The idea was championed Bananas highlights a known truth that “DJing and by AFEM member and leading music anti-piracy service electronic music are impossible without electricity AudioLock (which protects over 30% of the DJ Mag Top and power”, so we can all help fight climate change 100 DJs) — a company that, like Minus and Greensmith by choosing power that’s generated from “solar, wind Management, offsets the CO2 made from its team’s something you tick off, it’s something you think about. and other renewable sources”. Bananas also notes that flights to electronic music conferences worldwide. The Ninja Tune co-founder and advocate of renewable there are further considerations in the offsetting/CO2 energy says: “For our tour in 2006 we contributed reduction mix like being mindful of what we eat, saying: OFFSET four-times what the offset calculators estimated, as we “There are also ways that you can take action through Initiatives like the foundation, Myclimate, offset consider the true environmental cost of flying is much your diet. How far does your food have to travel to CO2 by providing solar and heat-efficient cookers to higher than the standard calculators assume”. arrive at your plate? There are emissions associated communities in places like Kenya who would otherwise Such ‘eco-consciousness’ has also been an integral part with that, so try to eat local foods when possible. be dependent on burning wood for fuel. These cookers of Coldcut’s live shows. Black says that their ‘Energy Also, farming large livestock like cattle releases the help either dramatically reduce or eliminate altogether Union’ tour “aimed to vibe people up with a new super- extra-powerful greenhouse gas Methane (the global the need to burn wood, a key source of CO2. In so positive approach to eco-politics, using audiovisual art warming potential of methane, CH4, is between 25- doing they also help preserve the CO2-absorbing trees, with a banging soundtrack” — an artistic approach that and 34-times that of CO2). Cut back your beef and meat which would otherwise be felled for fuel. Moreover, surely shows electronic music at its most inspirational. intake where you can.” traditional wood stoves are used indoors but are poor at combustion, so people in these spaces end up Down under, Sydney stalwart producer Mark Dynamix, DRINKING WATER breathing in harmful air pollutants like particulates and responsible for selling more CDs in Australia than any The subject of food and drink is, of course, especially carbon monoxide. These can, at the very least, cause other Aussie DJ, notes that there are other easy ways dear to one leading artist in particular. Eats Everything serious health problems. So it is a double win if the use to help fight climate change that also benefit your has teamed up with electronic music charity Last Night of wood can be cut or stopped altogether, while also pocket. “The main thing for me is reducing power A DJ Saved My Life (LNADJ) to help people and the helping improve people’s health on a day-to-day basis. consumption in the house and also in the studio, not planet by launching his ‘Have A Drink On Us’ campaign. As people in developing nations are disproportionately leaving items on standby,” he tells DJ Mag. Simple, Supported by Grade Management, Eats Everything’s burdened with the impacts of climate change, such but effective. With millions of fans and professionals forward-thinking and philanthropically-minded work is of even greater importance. in the electronic music community worldwide, if we management company — which also represents the Reducing the CO2 people produce in developing all adopted this approach it would be sure to make a likes of Seth Troxler, Jackmaster and Joris Voorn — the countries is another key way in which people in small but nonetheless important step towards helping Edible don and LNADJ aim to raise £30K to provide developed countries can effectively offset the CO2 further mitigate man-made climate change. sustainable sources of clean drinking water for children they make from flights to electronic music events. Dragan elaborates on this idea: “If everybody makes and communities in the developing world. DJ Mag readers can see how much CO2 their own a little step, from DJs and agencies to promoters and Eats shares Dragan and Bananas’ ethos, saying that the flights generate, and even offset them, using AFEM’s fans, we can send a strong message to the world and campaign proves that “you can still have a good time, Myclimate calculator — just scroll down to ‘Green help make a real difference to preserve our planet for and care”. His view is also the same guiding principle Initiatives’ and click on the AFEM CO2 Calculator at: future generations of electronic music fans to enjoy.” which underpins LNADJ’s charitable endeavours, an associationforelectronicmusic.org/initiatives “We all live on this planet and are responsible in organisation which counts Carl Cox and Fatboy Slim different ways for the problem of climate change,” adds among its many other stella ambassadors. For London-based Matt Black, one half of pioneering Bananas. “Let’s each use our unique qualities to move Eats is on the lookout for artists to pledge their help audio-visual mixmasters Coldcut, offsetting isn’t just us towards a cleaner and more sustainable path.”

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DJ571.Features-climate.indd 50 06/06/2017 16:30 Untitled-1 1 15/06/2017 14:31 WORLD'S LARGEST

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Untitled-1 1 19/06/2017 11:52 FEELIN’ HOT, HOT, HOT! Hot Since 82 is the latest superstar DJ to land a residency in Ibiza, with the much-loved UK export set to launch his all-new club-night, Labyrinth, at Pacha this season. DJ Mag meets up with the Knee Deep In Sound bossman at the Hard Rock Hotel to talk magic, mysticism and moving forward... Words: CHARLOTTE LUCY CIJFFERS Pics: GEMMA PARKER

ot Since 82 wants to bring a coming to the clubbing Mecca for nigh-on two touch of nostalgia back to Ibiza. decades — with his new residency one of the final “With my residency, Labyrinth, pieces in his drive for global DJ domination. “I I want to inject a bit of class, used to watch my idols on the island, people like a bit of nostalgia and a bit of Roger Sanchez, David Morales, Erick Morillo, soul into not just Pacha but Sven Väth and Luciano, that’s why this place is so the whole island,” he tells DJ important to me,” he explains as we chat over a Mag on a scorching Thursday club sandwich. afternoon. Morales is just one of the heritage acts set to spin Hot Since 82 (real name: Daley at Daley’s new night this summer, with Sasha, Carl Padley) is perched on the edge of a sunlounger Craig and Goldie also on the bill, alongside resi- poolside at the Hard Rock Hotel in Playa d’en dents Matthias Meyer and La Fleur. On the brink of Bossa,H Ibiza, swathed in a leopard-print shirt, what’s set to be a wild Ibiza season for the Leeds cascading necklaces and black-out shades. He’s local, Hot Since 82 takes us down the rabbit hole no stranger to the island — in fact he’s been and into the Labyrinth...

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DJ571.Features-HS82.indd 53 13/06/2017 13:58 Hot Since ‘82 plays Labyrinth

Talk us through the fi rst time you went to stuff hanging from the ceiling, we’ve changed kite whenever I’m home because I’m downing Ibiza? the entrance-way, there’s massive model heads about six espressos a day (laughs). My death row “It was 2000, I was 17 and a young raver. I came everywhere as we’ve taken inspiration from the meal would actually be something cooked by me! with 10 of my mates causing trouble down in San Mayans and the Aztecs a little bit. The dancers’ I make this crispy potato rosti with salmon and Antonio where all the Brits hang out. Honestly, outfi ts are amazing, and we’ve curated the line- asparagus and it’s really light and delicious — so it was probably the best holiday we ever went up so it goes on a real journey. I’d probably have that!” on. Obviously we’d all just left high school and “We’re not really booking hot new acts to sell we had our fi rst taste of freedom. We hit up Bora tickets, we’re not booking people with Beatport • Hot Since 82’s Labyrinth is on Tuesdays at Bora and all the local places like Eden and Es Top 10s just for the sake of it. It’s a family affair Pacha, Ibiza until 6th October. Paradis.” but it’s a nod to classic DJs who’ve had a residency at the club for years in the past — David How big a goal has an Ibiza residency been for Morales or Danny Tenaglia, for example.” you, career-wise? “For any DJ I think it’s always a huge goal to What’s happening to Knee Deep In be playing in Ibiza. I think it was especially Sound whilst your on the island? important for me because I started coming out “It’s still going strong! We’ve pretty here when I was seventeen. I started DJing at the much got the releases planned out for same time. I think if you’ve got a residency here the whole time we’re on the island and it resonates worldwide and I’m lucky enough to I’ve got a couple of new remixes coming have my name above the door at Pacha!” up that I’m excited about. It’s just really doing its own thing, and it’s such a joy Space closed last year and its loss is still being doing it. mourned — what do you think about the cur- “When I fi rst started it I wasn’t sure if I’d rent clubbing climate on the island? have enough time to do it — I do all the “Well, Space was always my favourite club — I A&R fully on my own, you see. I check all the used to absolutely love playing on the Terrace. demos, I implement all the remixes. I was I think I’ve had some of my best sets I’ve ever getting so much music sent to me before I had there. Space actually changed a lot for me in even started the label and I didn’t really know 2005 when they closed the old terrace, the one what to do with it — I spent most of my time that used to be open-air. I think it suppressed it just giving young bedroom producers advice a little bit. But yes, it was a massive loss for the (laughs). That’s still the emphasis of the label island. I guess that’s one of the reasons I’m so to this day: signing new talent and putting proud to be at Pacha because it’s still there, it’s out music from established producers still going, it’s always stayed true to its philoso- alongside.” phy — I think that’s really important.” Curveball question: what’s the Tell us the concept behind your night, Laby- death row meal? rinth? “Funny you say that, I’m “Whatever you do on this island it’s really impor- actually really passionate tant to have a concept, an identity. We decided about cooking. And also to call it Labyrinth because we wanted it to be coffee as well. I had to stop about mystery, for it to be a little magical. We’re drinking it for about six going to transform the club so that it represents years but now I’m back on that. The club is going to look completely differ- it and I’ve got the most in- ent — we’re hoping to surprise people who’ve credible coffee machine. even been there loads of times before. There’s I’m literally high as a

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DJ_MAG_2017_Adv_UK_Blasterjaxx_210x297mm_LC.indd 1 09-06-17 10:48 JUMP UP & GETGET DOWNDOWN Jump-up — the bouncy, bassline-led strain ndy C is rinsing Original Sin classics. Hype is hosting Playaz’ first ever festival arena of drum & bass — seems bigger than ever in its 21-year history at SW4. Festivals such right now. DJ Mag talks to the leading playaz as Let It Roll and Hospitality In The Park are stacked with names such as Guv, Annix, in the sub-genre — Hype, Hazard, Heist, Levela, Turno and Macky Gee. Skrillex is playing Upgrade Serum, Upgrade, Macky Gee and lots more — tunes. Jauz is playing Hazard tunes. Everyone is playing Turno’sA ‘Invaders’. Scene innovators Clipz and Generation to investigate the reasons for its return to Dub are coming back, and it’s now officially against the prominence and hear how even some EDM DJs law to not sing along to the basslines on ‘Mr Happy’ and ‘Bricks Don’t Roll’… and Skrillex are jumping on board... If there’s been one particularly dominant dynamic in drum Words: DAVE JENKINS & bass in the last year, it’s the big, hooky, bassline-led sound that’s often referred to as jump-up. But please don’t call this a comeback. Whether you’d paid attention to it or not, jump-up has been one of the most consistent, die-hard sub-genres of drum & bass since jungle splintered from hardcore in 1992.

djmag.com 057 DANCEFLOOR “Jump-up started back in the early ‘90s largely due to producers like Roni Size, Krust, Die and all those guys,” explain the Serial Killaz, long-standing jump-up supporters and ragga fusionists. “The basslines started to get more riffy, more energetic, and that seemed to herald a new dawn of drum & bass. Then of course you had labels like Urban Takeover, Trouble On Vinyl, Undiluted, Formation and the True Playaz camp all making big waves until the late ‘90s where it seemed to die down for a while. Then around 2004 producers like Distorted Minds, Generation Dub, Twisted Individual, Clipz and Hazard all started what we think was the beginning of this new jump-up sound that we have now.” Potted jump-up histories don’t get more succinct. Yet more recently it’s a sound that’s become too broad to universally define. One person’s jump-up is another’s dancefloor drum & bass… and another person’s noise. From the particularly virulent strain of angular, atonal gurning grit that’s come from Belgian artists such as Spaow and Trafalgar to the rolling jungle grooves of Serum, Voltage and T>I — almost any riff-heavy, underground style of drum & bass that can’t be Serial Killaz classed as techy or neuro or mainstream has been, rightly or wrongly, classed as jump-up. Levela “Sub-genre names are all bollocks really,” laughs Hazard in his signature dry and deadpan Brummie style. “But I guess this does need discussing because what people call jump-up is changing these days. I don’t get offended when people call ‘Bricks Don’t Roll’ and ‘Mr Happy’ jump-up. I can see why they do it, but I call it dancefloor drum & bass. I guess there’s a fine line between jump-up and dancefloor. And at the end of the day I don’t think it matters… It’s just music. There’s good and bad music in every style. But surely that’s why we do it? To try and do our best to make the good stuff?” This is why Hazard is cited as the don of the big bassline sound we’re talking about here. Call it dancefloor, call it jump-up, call it what you like: the hook-heavy sound Hazard (alongside other leading figures such as Hype, Majistrate, Macky Gee, Levela and, recently, the currently unavoidable Guv) has championed and crafted consistent labels in this sound — Low Down of murking jump-up with elements of jungle and has been the major influence in the current jump- Deep, a label that’s helped to break some of the rollers. up movement. genre’s exciting next generation talents such “People are now using the term ‘roller’ to “It is all about the hooks,” agrees Majistrate, an as Dominator (RIP) and champions some of the describe the funkier, less noisy sound that I make artist who’s been active in the heavier dancefloor scene’s unsung, long-standing contributors like and I think that’s because they’ve got to draw side of drum & bass for over 20 years. “Kids now Pleasure, Sly and Pacso. Son of original junglist a distinction between my kind of sound and the — even in Belgium where the leading sound has Mickey Finn, if anyone’s followed jump-up’s cycles harder stuff,” agrees Serum, who, putting the been pretty harsh and aggressive for years — are all their lives, it’s Logan. whole jump-up discussion aside for a moment, buying into the hooks. People want something to “We’ve had a lot of crazy noisy stuff in recent has been enjoying some long-deserved focus sing along to. It might be a vocal or the melody of years, which is what it is to be honest — kids go and attention from across the entire drum & bass the bass pattern. People don’t want to hear new mental to it, so people make it and play it,” Logan scene after years of consistent dispatches on tunes dropped in every 10 seconds. They want continues. “But somewhere along the line the labels such as Philly Blunt, Co-Lab, Dread and Low something a bit more than that.” groove was lost. So now we’re hearing people Down Deep. looking for references and inspirations from the THE LOW DOWN… ‘90s and that’s created a groove that’s a lot more NOISIER Part of this new interest in big melodies, hooks rolling and funky. It’s doing the whole jump-up The rise of big hooks and melodies and the and substance can be put down to typical cycles scene justice and I can pin-point two key people merging of the original jungle sound and the that all genres go through. Drum & bass has responsible for it — Serum and Voltage. The sound harder, ‘noisier’ modern take on jump-up are just come out the other end of two particularly they’ve been pushing for years is now feeding only two flavours of a much deeper melting pot, prominent styles: in the mainstream there’s through. Finally!” however; we’re also experiencing an exciting been the commercial pop goldrush, while on the fusion with the techier elements of drum & bass. underground the sound has been dominated Some neuro exponents are looking for something Turno’s ‘Invaders’, for example, has been a huge by the technical neurofunk movement. One heavier, rawer and more human (Teddy Killerz’ track in recent times and has been supported side saccharine and soulless, the other recent adventures into jump-up is a great across the board from Andy C to Ed Rush & Optical dense, complex and dangerously mannish and example), while the jump-up scene has been thanks to its universally heavy yet hard-to- beardstrokey — the thirst for riffy energetic incorporating warmer and funkier sounds. classify sound. Annix are another good example; underground drum & bass from fans and DJs alike And they’ve arrived at the same place at the Nurtured by DJ Hype on Playaz for several years, is logical progression. Even within jump-up itself, same time. Serum is definitely one of the most their own unique experiments incorporate heavy the cycle has hit the same need. consistent and high-profile artists in this new aspects of tech (both in terms of the sound and “Jump-up does go through its own cycles, merging of styles, but he’s not alone. Voltage, their production levels) and has led to cross- yeah,” agrees Logan D, head of one of the most DJ Hybrid, T>I and Benny L are also just as guilty scene support from acts such as Noisia.

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SomeBIG-UPS essential up-and-coming new dons bigged up by their peers ANNIX Levela: “My personal favourite producers to come through in recent years has to be Annix. They have created a hybrid crossover with all the feel-good, high energy vibes of jump-up but with a neurofunk swing — and in a technically incredible way! They make drum & bass strictly aimed at the dancefloor in their own unique way. Definitely worth checking out.”

BOU Serum: “There’s a great scene bubbling up in Manchester at the moment, and one Macky Gee guy who’s really impressed me is Bou. He’s got that blend of having a mod- Logan D Serum ern sound but with that extra touch of character.”

DOMINATOR Sadly, during the writing of this article, DJ Dominator passed away from cancer. One of the most-respected next-gen artists in his field, and cited by everyone interviewed in this feature, Dominator was frequently compared to a young DJ Hazard in the way his tunes would be drawn across the board with full support from the likes of Marky and Andy C. One of the most energetic and enthusiastic producers, and a serial collaborator (as everyone enjoyed working with him so much), his body of work on the likes of Low Down Deep, Biological Beats and Sweet Tooth leaves a legacy that will continue to dent dancefloors forever. Rest In Peace, Dominator. “We’ve had a lot of crazy noisy pigeonhole. Be that guy who understands the whole genre and supports as much of it as he likes EGO TRIPPIN stuff in recent years, which is in his DJ sets. Be that guy who makes tunes that Logan D: “Ego Trippin have really found what it is to be honest — kids go every DJ wants to play.” their sound lately. They’ve brought back the older style and revamped it in their mental to it, so people make it And DJs are playing them. Not just Andy C or own way. It takes me back to when I was a Noisia. Not just wider, non-typical jump-up DJs kid; warm, melodic but heavy as fuck!” and play it, but somewhere along such as High Contrast, Dimension or Marky (who, the line the groove was lost.” it has to be noted, has always celebrated jump- up in his vibe-optimised eclecticism). But even raw and rolling ‘Blow’; one of two jump-up tracks LOGAN D further again… Skrillex played in his recent Boiler Room set (the “My Nu Leng have been playing a tune of mine other was ‘Bricks Don’t Roll’). “The fact Skrillex “Annix and Noisia are a great example,” confirms and Phantasy’s, which surprised me,” says one supported ‘Blow’ is mad because when non-drum Heist, another one of the movement’s longest- of jump-up’s most in-demand artists, Macky Gee, & bass DJs play our tunes, it’s usually the big standing producers interviewed for this article. whose popularity is such that there was a queue anthems.” Almost 20 years deep into his career, Heist is best to get into the Rough Tempo tent to see him play known for his heavier, riff-focused bassline tracks at Let It Roll festival last year. “Skrillex plays The cross-pollination/outsider support doesn’t but has fingers in every sub-genre pie you can jump-up. Jauz is, too. And these guys are playing stop at big EDM DJs. The most important imagine; from soul-soothing rollers on Horizons massive shows on a weekly basis. For them to influence on the current surge of energy and to iced-out futuristic soundscapes on Metalheadz. support jump-up is turning a lot of heads.” momentum in jump-up is much closer to home. “It’s great to see guys like Noisia supporting “I fucking live in Norwich mate and make tunes in Both sonically and culturally, grime has helped artists who might be typically pigeonholed as my bedroom. I didn’t even know Skrillex knew my bring jump-up — a scene characterised by the jump-up,” Heist continues. “And it’s great to music!” laughs Upgrade. A young talent who fits genre’s biggest MCs — to the fore. have guys in their position checking everything Heist’s description as ‘that guy every DJ wants to “Musically it’s very similar; it’s hooky, it’s quite I send them. There’s no prejudice. That’s the way play’, Upgrade’s sound ranges from sweet dubby simple in its elements, it makes you move, and it should be and with DJs on the level of your swingers such as the currently scorching-hot it’s raw,” says Turno, who’s known for switching Noisias and your Andy Cs, it’s spreading the best Bob Marley-sampling ‘Shot Down’ dubplate to up his sets with a grime section. “It’s also the message for producers… Be that guy you can’t heavyweight jump-and-awe tactics such as the first completely MC-led scene from the UK that’s djmag.com djmag.com 059 Untitled-1 1 19/06/2017 13:56 blown up. Through grime, people have had more Hazard & Hype exposure to MC styles and lyrics, so they get jump-up more. Ghetts even mentions Skibadee in one of his tunes.” “A lot of the grime originators have their roots in jungle,” agrees Hype. “They’ve been showing their respect and love for people like Skibba and Shabba, who were their early heroes themselves. MCs have worked fucking hard to push what they do while pretty much being shut out by a lot of promoters and label nights and so on. I think it’s great for them that they’re finally getting the recognition they deserve.” FUSION With all this cross-scene fusion, support from notable selectors and external influences, jump- up is getting the recognition it deserves, too. Like MCs, in many ways the whole sub-genre has been shut out of the wider picture. Label nights have dominated the drum & bass UK nightscape, focusing strictly on their own sound. And, in the pursuit of commercial crossover success, many acts have been pushed towards bigger festival shows and kept off the more underground raves (which jump-up DJs still rule and pull crowds of thousands). Even this has been beneficial; time away from the spotlight has helped creative incubation. “Because the so-called superstar artist is NEXT-GEN removed from the underground, their own sound usually changes as their career moves in another BIG-UPS direction, creating a void in the underground,” More essential up-and-coming explains DJ Hype who, as one of the foundation new dons bigged up by their peers DJs who helped develop and push jungle Records thought it would be wise to ask Hazard since before it was jungle, has weathered the to add a vocal to ‘Bricks’. Even as one of the MATZET underground/mainstream cycles more times most popular and heavily played (and sung- Macky Gee: “Matzet is making some re- than most. “That’s usually when you see the new along to) tunes this decade, it still didn’t have ally amazing melodic musical stuff. He young, ground level DJs/producers and even the commercial crossover appeal the major label reckons he’s influenced by me but I think promoters coming forward to try their thing — may have hoped. There’s every chance jump-up he’s got his own sound. He’s got a proper they’re the next generation. may never crossover commercially; the founding understanding of music production, and “Often, it’s not perfect at first, but it develops principal of jump-up is that it’s meant only for his basslines have their own unique vibe over time,” Hype continues, “and they bring a dancefloors. There’s a reason DJ Guv’s ‘Warning’ to them.” new angle to the drum and bass sound; then hasn’t been in the background of Saturday you probably get a two- to three-year period Kitchen. where they grow on the underground — their “We don’t make it for radio, or driving in your car NU ELEMENTZ productions get better and the fanbase grows and or even the gym, unless that’s your thing. It is Majistrate: “This guy is smashing it. I’ve grows, then one hit record pops up and becomes music to make you go ‘What the actual fuck?’ at been watching him for time and his pro- the year’s anthem, meaning it can no longer be a rave,” grins Upgrade. “It’s just something you gression is really inspiring as he begins ignored. Then… Hey presto, it’s the in-thing and can enjoy. I like silly music. I love that appeal. to mix things up more. He’s making those everyone starts loving it.” It’s an opportunity to be silly and to jump around tunes that a lot of DJs want to play. He’s like an idiot and not stand at the back scratching not just stuck in one style.” While jump-up isn’t short of massive underground your beard at how a snare is made. And this is the anthems, for now it hasn’t had its big crossover thing; jump-up fucks all the theory and technical hit. Not for the lack of trying; last year Island stuff out of the window. It doesn’t have to be OZ Heist: “One of the most talented new Upgrade producers I’ve met in years. He’s got ev- “We don’t make it for erything from liquid to dark techy stuff. radio, or driving in Noisia are playing his tunes, Goldie, Lenzman. He’s versatile. And deadly.” your car or even the gym, unless that’s your SIMULA Upgrade: “His sound is scatty! It’s raw. thing. It is music to It’s not perfectly tuned or mixed but the make you go ‘What the way it comes together makes you pull the actual fuck?’ at a rave.” most fucked-up faces.” UPGRADE TYKE Hazard: “Tyke has been killing it for years now. He does things so differently. Cheese-free with big sways of vibe: you could class it as jump-up or dancefloor. Put it this way… When he sends me a four-track EP, I have to play all the tunes. I never do that with any other artist. He’s got that sound.”

djmag.com djmag.com 061 melodic. It doesn’t have to make sense. It can be atonal or rough as fuck. As long as it sounds good in the rave, it’s working.”

It has to be noted that this dedication to the dancefloor and eager technical free-for-all does have its drawbacks. Echoing Hype’s statements about the production levels taking time to develop, all DJs interviewed for this article admit that jump-up suffers its fair share of sub-par sounds. “Because we don’t have a physical dubplate culture anymore, and people don’t have to invest real money in actually getting music out, the bar is pretty low,” admits Heist, who plays a tight quality control game with his labels Sumo, Co-Lab and Calypso Muzak. “Sometimes it seems like everyone can come in. It’s different in genres like neuro, where you have to be pretty damned good to turn people’s heads. In jump-up, I’ve seen acts come along with complete samples of other man’s tunes and getting attention!” “Yeah, there’s still a lot of rubbish jump-up,” agrees Mollie Collins, who has torpedoed to fame in the last two years as a DJ whose mixed-style signature mirrors the fusion jump-up is having itself. “But that’s our job, isn’t it? To pull out the good stuff and make sure that gets the support. I play what I think sounds good and will kick off on the dancefloor.” KICKING OFF And here’s the drop: the dancefloors really are kicking off. More than ever, according to Hazard. “It’s mad,” he says. “In all my years of DJing, I’ve never experienced parties like the ones I’m playing at now. They’re young, they’re seriously up for it and buzzing for what we play. There are a lot of kids who love drum & bass all over the UK.” Mollie Collins “It’s a lot like it used to be back in the early days,” Majistrate agrees. “You can go from Birmingham to Bristol to Manchester to Southampton, and Republic and beyond. on the other side of the world. “I was on tour in everywhere you go it’s ram-packed. No party is “Jump-up right now is being picked up in Latin America last year and playing in places like having a knock-on effect on the other, they’re all countries and places that it hasn’t done before,” Venezuela and Colombia where they very rarely massive.” explains Levela. Cutting his teeth as resident see international jump-up DJs,” Lavela tells DJ This is spreading internationally, too. Belgium at key rave Innovation in the 2000s, the Mag. “It became apparent that it was a very new isn’t the only source of air-miles for jump-up- Multifunction Records founder was one of the sound to them and they were incredibly excited by related artists, almost every DJ in this article is earlier jump-up artists to be supported by major it — which in turn excited me!” keen to cite the exciting scenes in Austria, Czech US EDM acts and regularly represents the sound Drum & bass fans have a lot to be excited about Turno — full stop. For the first time in years it genuinely seems like promoters, DJs and other sub-genres within the scene are showing more unity and support for each other. It’s evident in the exciting sounds, it’s evident in most d&b DJ sets. But, tellingly, the strongest evidence is in this summer’s festival line-ups. “I’ve lost count of how many names I’ve seen lined-up for Glastonbury,” says Turno, who was one of only three jump-up acts booked to play at Hospitality In The Park last year (the other two, Dominator and Logan D, were booked with him for a b2b2b session). “Boomtown, SW4, Let It Roll, Hospitality In The Park. There is definitely a lot more diversity on line-ups this year… And a lot more representation of drum & bass full stop. I’m talking about the whole movement.” “It’s all just drum & bass at the end of the day, right?” says Majistrate, signing off. “The scene isn’t big enough to have stupid walls between the sub-genres anyway. It’s amazing to see we’re diversifying more and people are taking more aspects into their sets and playing on broader line-ups. This way we’re all in it together and all get to inspire each other. I think some of us forgot that for a while… Long may this unity continue.” Amen.

062 djmag.com best combination of music and nature laroc sunset club valinhos, sao paulo, brazil for international matters [email protected] follow us /larocclub /larocclub upcoming www.laroc.club jul—sep

oliver goldfish sharam & luciano matador live huntemann 29/07/2017 rodrigues jr live 16/09/2017 30/09/2017 08/07/2017 19/08/2017

Untitled-1 1 19/06/2017 11:58 Untitled-1 1 19/06/2017 14:29 at all those people out there singing and dancing to our music’. It was very special!”

What’s it like to perform in Las Vegas? “It’s such a unique, incredible experience. The best thing about Las Vegas is that everyone there is ready to have the best time, which creates an incredible energy. The crowd wants you to succeed, and that allows you to have a lot of fun!”

Have you ever had any moments in your lives when you’ve thought ‘I can’t believe I’m doing this!’? Huge American electronic act The Chainsmokers have been “Well, pretty much every show we feel that way. The chance to do what you love never gets old, and every announced as 2017’s Miller Genuine Draft partners for Miller show we are reminded of that... To travel the world SoundClash. The Miller SoundClash champion will get the chance with our friends, to share experiences and make memories with our fans is something that we don’t to perform ahead of them at one of Vegas’ best clubs, so we think will ever get old!” took a moment to catch up with the affable duo to discuss Miller If you weren’t DJs, what would you be doing SoundClash and their meteoric rise to the top… today? “We aren’t sure. Drew would probably be an How did you get your big break in the world of all shapes and sizes. Miller SoundClash is an entrepreneur and I [Alex] would likely be in the art dance music? opportunity that does not come around often world!” “Hmmm, not really sure how to answer that. and allows artists that maybe haven’t been able Personally, we don’t think it was so much of a big to break through, or connect with people, a huge Who is your favourite artist/DJ nobody has ever break, but more a specifi c moment that led us to chance to do so. At the end of the day your career heard of? where we are. It was when we created our song as a musician is in your hands, but it’s important “Well, Wuki, he is blowing up right now! We also love ‘Roses’. That moment for us is when we stopped to get out there — and this competition is a great Drezo and k?D at the moment, but there are so many trying to make music that fi ts in and decided to just opportunity to do just that!” great ones!” do our own thing — make music we thought was cool. After the success of ‘Roses’, it really gave us Can you remember the show where you were like: Who would you most like to collaborate with? the confi dence and creative freedom we needed.” ‘Yeah, we’ve made it!’? “Top of the list would be Kanye West, just to learn “[Laughs] We’ve never ever thought, ‘Hey, we’ve his creative process would be so incredible. We How important are opportunities like Miller made it’, but at Lollapalooza Chicago we played a would also love to work with someone like Lorde or SoundClash when starting out as a DJ? very important set and it was during that show that Imogen Heap!” “Incredibly important, opportunities come in we realised, ‘Wow, this is all really happening, look What’s your favourite city to play in? “Our hometown, probably. Playing in NYC is such a good time and we just feel like we are surrounded by friends and family, but there are a lot of other cities close in the running. We just got back from South America and had the most amazing time!”

Is there a country with a local music scene that you love? “Hmmm, England has such a crazy underground scene, not just with dance but with grime, they really have exceptional taste with music… and France as well!”

Do you have any tips for upcoming DJs? “Make music that is compelling to you. If what you’re making doesn’t get you excited and doesn’t feel compelling, go deeper... this shit isn’t easy, and being creative and tapping into that stuff is even harder. Surround yourself with people that want to support you and push you and just never give up — if you’re passionate about this then you never will.”

Any tips for the Miller SoundClash DJs performing live to a big crowd for the ﬁ rst time? “[Laughs] Well, don’t burn the headliner! Have fun, if you look like you’re having a great time people will buy into it!”

•Follow this year’s Miller SoundClash by searching for ‘Miller Genuine Draft’ on Facebook.

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DJ571.Features-chainsmokers.indd 65 06/06/2017 16:31 GREG WILSONWILSO ’S DISCOTHEQUE ARCHIVES

Words GREG WILSON Edited by JOSH RAY

CLASSIC LABEL TOMMY BOY RECORDS CLASSIC VENUE WHISKY A GO GO TOM SILVERMAN decided he’d like to set up an independent label during his time running New York trade publication, Dance LOS ANGELES Music Report, which he co-founded, initially as Disco News, in 1978. He would also co-found New York’s infl uential New Music OPENED IN 1964 at a time when the concept of the discotheque, where recorded Seminar in 1980. music was played in a nightclub setting, was still largely foreign, the Sunset Strip’s The label, Tommy Boy, was launched in 1981. He’d met Bronx Whisky A Go Go not only acted as one of the key incubators in LA’s live band scene, DJ Afrika Bambaataa in 1980 and asked him if he wanted to but also became world-renowned for the freestyle dancing it espoused. A previous make a record — the resulting track ‘Jazzy Sensation’, credited Whisky A Go Go had opened in Chicago in 1958 — this was arguably America’s fi rst to Afrika Bambaataa & The Jazzy 5, a take on Gwen McCrae’s discotheque. ‘Funky Sensation’, helped put the label on the map, but it The French word ‘discothèque’ translates as record library, and originally referred was the next Bambaataa offering, ‘Planet Rock’ — this time to illicit gatherings of jazz enthusiasts during the Nazi occupation in World War II, with the Soul Sonic Force — that sent it spiralling into space, listening to vinyl 78s at clandestine spots in Paris, where jazz — due to its black defi ning the electro approach that would change the course of roots — was outlawed by the occupying forces as degenerate. Following the war, in dance music. 1947, Paris’ Whisky à Go-Go discothèque opened, providing the inspiration behind Produced by Arthur Baker, ‘Planet Rock’ sparked off an the Chicago and Los Angeles venues of the same name. electronic gold rush, which, apart from New York, would London’s early ‘60s mod scene was a further infl uence on the LA Whisky, where subsequently fi nd fertile ground in Chicago and Detroit, live music was interspaced by female DJs/dancers caged in a glass-walled booth helping birth both house and techno, whilst providing a above the audience — notably Patty Brockhurst, Rhonda Lane and Joanie Labine, milestone in the growth of hip-hop. who designed the offi cial go-go-girl costume with fringed dress and white boots. This new electro sound would be synonymous with Tommy Boy Gyrating go-go dancers would soon be seen on ‘60s TV music shows like Shindig, — during the coming years tracks by Bambaataa & The Soul Hullabaloo, Shivaree and Hollywood A Go-Go. Sonic Force, plus artists including The Jonzun Crew, Planet A favoured celebrity hangout, the Whisky soon became an international Patrol and G.L.O.B.E & Whiz Kid, helped set the electronic phenomenon — go-go dancers beginning to pop up in clubs worldwide. The Miracles agenda. The label would also be at the forefront when it came provided an anthem via their 1965 hit ‘Going To A Go-Go’, whilst US troops in to the raw cut-and-paste of hip-hop, pressing Keith LeBlanc’s Vietnam would seek their R&R at Saigon ‘go-go bars’. London’s famous Wag club was brilliant collage of Malcolm X sound-bites, ‘No Sell Out’, and born of a Whiskey-A-Go-Go, which opened in ‘70s Soho in the very building that had Double Dee & Steinski’s seminal ‘Lessons’ series. housed legendary mod venue The Flamingo. Warner Bros. took notice, buying a 50 percent stake in Tommy As well as being a pioneering space for this new uninhibited approach to dancing, Boy in 1985, Silverman becoming a Warner vice-president as the club also stood alongside San Francisco’s Fillmore West as one of the most part of the deal (he bought back the 50 percent a decade on). important venues for California’s band scene. It played a role in the early careers of 1985 saw the release of another, lesser-known catalyst The Byrds, Buffalo Springfi eld, Love, track, ‘Running’ by Minneapolis-based Information Society. The Turtles, Frank Zappa’s Mothers Of Inspired by ‘Planet Rock’, it can either be placed at the end of Invention and The Doors, who were electro, one of its fi nal classics, or at the beginning of a more the house band for a few months until electronic dance direction, which led Tommy Boy to eventually they were fi red for Jim Morrison’s license British acts 808 State, Coldcut and LFO. The label infamous acid-induced improvised would also have a hand in the emergence of Latin freestyle. Oedipal section in ‘The End’. Otis In 1989 Tommy Boy would release one of the era’s great Redding was amongst those to record albums, ‘3 Feet High & Rising’ by De La Soul, dubbed the live albums in the venue (released “Sgt. Pepper of hip-hop” by the Village Voice. However, it was posthumously in 1968), whilst Love fraught with sampling issues, much of the profi t syphoned off paid homage to the Whisky in ‘Maybe to pay licensing costs. The People Would Be The Times Or Tommy Boy would remain at the vanguard of hip-hop moving Between Clark And Hilldale’. into the ‘90s, apart from De La Soul its artists including Queen Given its rich ‘60s legacy, the club Latifah, Digital Underground, Naughty By Nature and House would fast become a hallowed LA Of Pain. music institution, remaining open to this day.

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DJ571.Regular-GregWilson.indd 66 19/06/2017 13:44 CLASSIC RECORD CHIC ‘GOOD TIMES’

CHIC FOUNDERS, guitarist Nile Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards, fi rst tasted success backing the vocal group New York City, who scored with 1973’s ‘I’m Doin’ Fine Now’. With the addition of drummer Tony Thompson, Chic could boast one of the truly great rhythm sections. Vocalists Norma Jean Wright, Alfa Anderson and Luci Martin would also be key contributors. They hit the ground running, going top 10 with 1977’s WHISKY A GO GO ‘Dance, Dance, Dance, (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)’. The follow-up, ‘Everybody Dance’, and ‘78’s ‘Le Freak’ — a US #1 — and ‘I Want Your Love’ continued the LOS ANGELES momentum. They also produced/wrote for label-mates Sister Sledge, with 1979’s ‘We Are Family’ LP spawning a trio of classic singles that year — ‘He’s The Greatest Dancer’ and ‘Lost In Music’ in addition to the title track. Illustration by Pete Fowler Disco pretty much held a monopoly of the #1 US chart CLASSIC DJ position during ’79, numerous radio stations having switched from rock to disco, prompting a backlash by way of the ‘Disco Sucks’ movement. Its main advocate, WALTER GIBBONS Chicago ‘shock-jock’ Steve Dahl, hit the publicity jackpot via July ‘79’s racist/homophobic record- BROOKLYN-BORN Walter Gibbons was a small Gibbons left Galaxy 21 having discovered the burning rally at Comiskey Park baseball stadium, at and shy fi gure but highly assertive where club was secretly recording and bootlegging the very moment ‘Good Times’ was climbing up the US music was concerned. Working at record store his sets, and that a limiter had been placed on chart. Melody Song Shops in the early ‘70s led to the soundsystem without his knowledge. The Dahl and Disco Sucks sadly achieved their objectives. a DJ slot at gay venue Outside Inn before he venue closed in early ’77, soon after Gibbons Despite becoming Atlantic’s best-selling single, the secured his most celebrated residency at the had downed tools. disco-funk of ‘Good Times’, inspired by the Great after-hours Galaxy 21 in 1975. Becoming something of a journeyman on Depression standard ‘Happy Days Are Here Again’ While Kool Herc juggled the breaks at his the NY club scene, unable to settle anywhere (1929), only managed a solitary week topping the Bronx block parties, Gibbons experimented new, his uncompromising style put him at chart before being knocked off its perch by The with a similar technique at Galaxy 21. With odds with both audiences and management. Knack’s rock-workout ‘My Sharona’ — the tide was Herc, the breaks were the point at which the A fresh start across country in Seattle’s The turning, disco fast-becoming a dirty word. dancers exploded into frenzy. However, what Monastery was short-lived and he returned to Before the early rap records were released and hip- Gibbons was doing was creating a tension New York in ‘78. hop as a movement became coherent, kids in the that built up to the fi nal pay-off of a vocal or His Instant Funk ‘I Got My Mind Made Up’ Bronx were into funk and disco. ‘Good Times’ was instrumental fl urry — extending the break of remix never materialised — the suggestive huge, it’s backing re-recorded just a few months on a track like Freddie Perren’s ‘2 Pigs And A Hog’ lyrics clashing with his newly-acquired born- for ‘Rapper’s Delight’ by The Sugarhill Gang — the fi rst so it ran considerably longer. Other DJs would again leanings. Paradise Garage DJ Larry rap hit, and hip-hop harbinger. turn up after they’d fi nished work themselves Levan would be the benefi ciary, taking over It was also central to the seminal cut-up record ‘The to hear Gibbons play into the early hours, the 1978 mix, which became a landmark in his Adventures Of Grandmaster Flash On The Wheels gaining him the tag ‘DJ’s DJ’, whilst François career. Of Steel’ (1981), while many other tracks, most Kevorkian, soon after his arrival in New York Gibbons’ religious beliefs/gospel playlist notably Queen’s ‘Another One Bites The Dust’ (also from France, fi rst found his feet accompanying increasingly alienated him, but he’d enjoy included in ‘Wheels Of Steel’) took inspiration. The Gibbons on drums. a brief renaissance in 1984/85 via Strafe/ groundbreaking 1983 hip-hop movie Wild Style Along with Tom Moulton, Gibbons is revered Harlequin Four’s ‘Set It Off’ on his Jus Born features Grand Mixer D.ST cutting up two copies of at the origins of remixing. He began label. Having contracted AIDS, his health ‘Good Times’ during its amphitheatre climax. experimenting with reel-to-reel edits and, deteriorated — despite failing eyesight ‘Good Times’ was Chic’s last major hit, although after Ken Cayre from Salsoul Records heard he continued to DJ throughout, even Rodgers and Edwards would revitalize Diana Ross’s him mixing between two copies of Double undertaking dates in Japan. He eventually career via a hat-trick of hits — ‘Upside Down’, ‘I’m Exposure’s ‘Ten Percent’, he was invited succumbed to the disease in 1994. Coming Out’ and ‘My Old Piano’. Sheila & B. Devotion’s to edit an extended version — his seminal ‘Spacer’ (1979) and Carly Simon’s ‘Why’ (1982) also ‘disco blend’ the fi rst commercially released benefi tted from Chic’s magic, whilst Nile Rodgers 12” single. He’d work on a string of Salsoul would subsequently co-produce David Bowie’s biggest mixes, most notably ‘Hit And Run’ by Loleatta www.gregwilson.co.uk selling album, ‘Let’s Dance’ (1983), and ‘Madonna’s Holloway, the fi rst time a DJ had been let hit-laden ‘Like A Virgin’ (1984). loose with the multi-track. djmag.com djmag.com 067

DJ571.Regular-GregWilson.indd 67 19/06/2017 13:44 SEARCHING FOR EUROPE’S NEXT BIG DJ

NEW YORKER DJ-CONTEST CONCLUDES IN VIENNA The DJ Mag-backed DJ competition by fashion brand NEW YORKER has reached its ﬁ nale. We were on hand to witness the presentation…

welve months ago, we crowd, and a panel of judges including Have you ever entered a DJ teamed up with leading superstar DJ Danny Avila alongside competition before? fashion brand NEW reps from DJ Mag, Untold Festival and “No, never, NEW YORKER DJ-Contest YORKER to fi nd Europe’s booking agency Sushi3000. was my fi rst DJ competition.” Tbest undiscovered DJ. The The judges scored each DJ on various competition has taken us to clubs criteria, including track selection, So what was it that made you choose across the continent — from France technical ability, personality and crowd to enter this one? to Sweden, Bulgaria to Switzerland — reaction and — after some tough “I saw the NEW YORKER competition where we witnessed DJs from across deliberation — announced that Yamina and my fi rst thought was ‘Why not?’. Europe performing for their chance to from Hungary would be the fi rst ever A short mix had to be uploaded to reach the Grand Final. NEW YORKER DJ-Contest winner! Mixcloud. I did one quickly at home, The fi nal took place at The Gasometer and uploaded it. It was so simple to in Vienna, a striking concert venue just Yamina has only been DJing for three be part of the contest, and I thought outside the city. As the name suggests, years, but she has already secured a — at least I will have a new mix on Gasometer is a converted gas cylinder. residency in one of Hungary’s biggest my Mixcloud page. This was the With an original brick exterior, tall clubs and performed at festivals beginning…” ceilings and a large circular dancefl oor, including Sziget and Balaton Sound. the imposing venue was a fi tting She describes her sound simply as What has been the best thing about location for the NEW YORKER DJ- ‘electro’ and cites her favourite DJ as the competition for you? Contest Final. Laidback Luke. “The best thing was to meet Danny We caught up with her after the Grand Avila and, of course, the moment I Eight DJs made it through to this stage Final to pass on our congratulations heard my name at the Grand Finale. after winning their local heats. The and look to the future… Euphoria fl ooded my body. It was fi nalists — Loud Seduction (Germany); too marvellous for words — truly a Mister Zeus (Spain); Hamqush Hi Yamina, congratulations on being once in a lifetime experience. And the (Sweden); Yamina (Hungary); Konku crowned as NEW YORKER DJ-Contest NEW YORKER DJ-CONTEST taught (Switzerland); Mose N (Romania); Silva champion of 2017! How does it feel? me to hang on — I had to do the local (Austria); and Valenso (Russia) — each “Hi, oh, thank you so much, it feels competition in Budapest with a broken had thirty minutes to impress the great!” leg. So never give up!”

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DJ571.NYC_advertorial.indd 68 16/06/2017 14:00 Yamina What do you think gave you the edge over the other DJs? “I think everyone is a winner in this competition, but I trusted myself and my knowledge and stuck to my style, playing an energetic set. I love being on stage, I feel like I am on cloud nine when I am performing.”

Tell us about your experiences in the final? Were you confident of winning after playing your set, or was it a big surprise? “I was next to last in the line-up, so I listened to the sets of the six competitors before me. I had a favourite, and when I heard him, his cool set, for a moment I became uncertain. But after my set, I just felt absolutely confident.”

How have your friends and family responded to the news that you have been crowned as the NEW YORKER DJ champion? “My favourite response came from my dad. I called him after the winning ceremony. I said, ‘Dad, I won, I did it!’ and he said, ‘OK, I have to put the phone down. I’m going to cry. Bye!’ So everybody sincerely congratulated me, and of course my family is really proud of me too.”

What’s the next step? You’ll be using this win as a springboard, no doubt… “Of course, I am looking forward to my gig at the legendary Untold Festival in Romania in August. And I am confident that my booking contract with Sushi3000 will push my DJ career. The Untold gig and the Sushi3000 contract are both part of the NEW YORKER DJ- CONTEST prize, so that’s amazing!”

• Listen to all the finalists’ sets and read interviews at dj-m.ag/nydjay2017

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DJ571.NYC_advertorial.indd 69 16/06/2017 14:01 See you this summer!

Summer 2017

21.06 Armin van Buuren + Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano at Hï Ibiza (opening), Spain 24.06 A Summer Story Arganda del Rey, Spain 28.06 Armin van Buuren + Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano at Hï Ibiza, Spain 29.06 Tel Aviv Convention Center Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel 01.07 Share a Perfect Day Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands 05.07 Armin van Buuren + Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano at Hï Ibiza, Spain 07.07 RFM Somnii Figueira da Foz, Portugal 08.07 Sensation Amsterdam, Netherlands 12.07 Armin van Buuren + Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano at Hï Ibiza, Spain 14.07 Los Alamos Festival Torremolinos, Spain 15.07 Airbeat One Neustadt-Glewe, Germany 16.07 Pacha Ibiza On Tour Malta, Spain 18.07 Ultra Beach Hvar, Croatia 18.07 Noa Beach Club Novalja,Croatia 19.07 Armin van Buuren + Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano at Hï Ibiza, Spain 21.07 Tomorrowland Boom, Belgium 23.07 Parookaville Weeze, Germany 26.07 Armin van Buuren + Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano at Hï Ibiza, Spain 28.07 Sexy By Nature at Tomorrowland Boom, Belgium 29.07 Tomorrowland Boom, Belgium 02.08 Armin van Buuren + Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano at Hï Ibiza, Spain 04.08 GEM FEST Anaklia, Georgia 05.08 Untold Festival Cluj-Napoca, Romania 06.08 Solar Weekend Festival Roermond, Netherlands 08.08 Far Out Beach Club Ios Island, Greece 09.08 Armin van Buuren + Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano at Hï Ibiza, Spain 10.08 Sziget Festival Budapest, Hungary 11.08 Arena Summer Festival Soverato, Italy 12.08 Luna Glam Club San Teodoro, Italy 16.08 Armin van Buuren + Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano at Hï Ibiza, Spain 18.08 Top Hill Budva, Montenegro 19.08 Machac Festival Doksy, Czech Republic 22.08 BCM Planet Dance Magalluf, Spain 23.08 Armin van Buuren + Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano at Hï Ibiza, Spain 24.08 Sexy By Nature at Creamﬁ elds Daresbury, United Kingdom 26.08 New Horizons Nürburgring, Germany 27.08 Mysteryland Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands 30.08 Armin van Buuren + Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano at Hï Ibiza, Spain 03.09 Electric Zoo New York, United States 04.09 Marquee Dayclub Las Vegas, United States 06.09 Armin van Buuren + Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano at Hï Ibiza, Spain 13.09 Armin van Buuren + Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano at Hï Ibiza (closing), Spain

www.sj-rm.com

Untitled-1 1 16/06/2017 15:50 WAX LYRICAL

Steffi

AFTER MAKING her name DJing and throwing whole docks of Amsterdam! A steel staircase let the ultimate Detroit banger for me. parties in Amsterdam and moving to Berlin in you into the chill-out basement where they had “Abstract Thought ‘Galactic Rotation’. One of 2007, Steffi’s inauguration into the Ostgut Ton lots of mattresses. I remember a woman cuddling Drexciya’s many side-projects! It almost sounds family as Panorama Bar resident led the way for a wall cloth and, after blinking my eyes a few clichéd but Drexciya have been simply of massive her to become one of the label’s leading lights. times, I saw it was a massive vagina and you could importance to me ever since I started DJing. It With five albums under her belt — two solo and wrap the lips around you like a blanket! Crazy still blows my mind how they sound so unique and the others co-producers with Virginia, Analogue shit!” set the tone. To keep it simple, this is unbeatable Cops as Third Side and with Martyn as Dom & and I’m (like thousands of others) their number Deykers for 3024 — she’s also in charge of various What’s the most crucial record ever made in one fan, period!” labels, including Klakson, run with Dexter, and your opinion? her own Dolly with its offshoots. “That is such a difficult question to answer as If you could meet anyone — alive or dead — who Her productions have already provided a modern- there are so many highlights from those early would it be, and why? classic dance track such as ‘Yours feat. Virginia’, days that had such an impact on me, and bring “Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac, of course. She is as well as tunes for Permanent Vacation and back lots of memories of my early club days even the example of a true artist! She is close to 70 and Underground Quality, and she’s recognised as one before I started DJing. Electronic dance music was lives for the music, still tours almost every year, of the finest selectors in her field. such a new thing, in that short period of time so and has written so many amazing songs. Pure Her ‘Fabric 94’ mix (out now) is yet more evidence many classics have been written. Like inventing devotion, and a woman with a mission! I’m ready — as if it were needed. By commissioning all the wheel! The list is long and I honestly can’t to have a sit-down with her anytime.” the tracks exclusively via a group of friends who pick one favourite, however I clearly remember approached each track with “a certain mindset”, the first time I heard this new-beat record called Imagine the world is going to end tomorrow. she’s laid down a classic-sounding but future- ‘Something Scary’ by Zsa Zsa Laboum in the late What are you gonna do tonight? facing exploration of angular techno and robotic ‘80s. I thought, ‘What the hell is this!?’ I instantly “Party like it’s 1999, or rather party like it is 1992, electro, featuring the likes of Answer Code fell in love with this rather odd style of music. as I was in much better shape that year!” Request, Voiski and Dexter & Virginia alongside a I grew up in the south of Holland close to the whole host of unchecked talent. Belgium border, and this was the type of early Describe what you imagine clubbing will be like It’s a mix that reveals as much about her past as house music that was very popular at the time in the year 2300... it does her pathway forward, so we’ve asked her in that area, and it caught my curiosity to start “This is a scary thought as we are already moving about her history... going to parties and exploring this new world.” towards alienation in many ways because of rapid technological evolution. Virtual clubbing is Remember your first rave? Please tell us about Three tunes that never leave your bag... nothing new and we seem to be very hung up on it... “You are killing me, this is another impossible our digital world these days. I guess the existence “One of my first raves was around 1992 at a one! Acid Jesus ‘Radium’ is one of my favourite of a club will disappear unless a revolution against squatted warehouse in Amsterdam called De techno tracks. It is an absolute killer track and so social isolation happens, and people are smart Graansilo. It was a very rough place with a tiny timeless — still gets me every time I play this one. enough to value the importance of a club or a entrance. I guess fire regulations weren’t much “Octave One ‘Daystar Rising’. I went through place to celebrate together. So, in an ideal world, of a priority back then and I remember it did not four copies of this record already. The Burden I hope we step back and evaluate a bit, and soon even have a proper toilet (laughs). There was a brothers, in general, can do no wrong, but this move to clubs where you have to put your smart- wooden ladder to access the rooftop, where they one in particular is such a massive banger. Snare- phone in a locker before you enter. There is no had a fire going on and you could overlook the drums pierce right through a brick wall and it’s harm in dreaming!”

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DJ571.Regular-WaxLyrical.indd 71 16/06/2017 14:06