JAMIE JONES: “MANY HAVE TRIED AND FAILED, TO KEEP PEOPLE COMING BACK YEAR AFTER YEAR, I GUESS SOMETHING MUST BE RIGHT.”

Jamie, when you look back at the early years of Paradise in Ibiza, how do you remember that very first season, and what pushed you to take the leap with your own concept?

It’s actually a wild story how Paradise was born and its connection to where it ended up now. After the success I had in 2011, being voted the number 1 DJ on the Resident Advisor top 100 poll and the growth in my career following the success of my “Hungry for the Power” remix, Vista Club, which was part of Privilege, which is now of course called UNVRS, approached me asking if I’d be interested in doing my own event on a weekly basis. I was very tempted by this because Vista Club used to be called the Music Box at Manmission and it was where my career in Ibiza started as a resident in 2004.

I envisioned the sun coming up through those windows and the music being fun and emotional and I could honestly really see myself loving that. At the time I was a resident at Circo Loco in DC10, a Party and Club I had gone to every week for over a decade at the time. When I spoke to the Circo Loco guys and transparently told them I was considering doing my own night elsewhere, they immediately asked if I’d be interested in doing the party at DC10 instead. Given my history at DC10, being resident for several years and a raver for many more before that, I decided to stay there. We named it Paradise after the Paradise Garage, a homage to the legendary Larry Levan party in New York.

We started off only doing the inside room at DC10 and at first we were getting 800 to 1200 people a week, not a bad start, but in the first year we were on a Thursday, up against the newly launched Enter at Space by Rich Hawtin. We were definitely offering something different, booking artists like Metro Area and DJ Harvey. After year one we decided to move to Wednesdays mainly because I liked to afterparty a lot back then and leaving for shows on a Friday right from the afters was killing me! It was the right move and the night grew and grew until a few years later we were using the whole of DC10 and packing the club out.

Paradise quickly became one of the most influential residencies on the island. What do you think resonated so much with people: the music, the atmosphere, the community…?

I always say any entity, whether it’s a restaurant or a company or a party, is a reflection of the people behind it. The energy and passion that people put in behind the scenes is what people feel on the outside. Paradise is a true reflection of the team behind it. We are all clubbers and ravers who spent years on the dance floors in Ibiza. We all have spent a huge part of our lives intertwined in the culture of Ibiza. We’ve always been welcoming and inclusive, but most of all, we love to rave; we don’t care who you are or where you come from. If you want to have a good time and listen to fresh music, you are welcome. I think people feel that honesty and passion when they come to Paradise. We are not elitist and we are non-judgemental. We are not trying to be cool; we love our vibe, our aesthetic, and you are welcome to enjoy it with us.

At that time, Ibiza was already full of well-established parties. How did you manage to stand out and bring something fresh to such a competitive scene?

I think the main attraction has always been the music. As a DJ, I love discovering and playing lots of styles. I was really paying attention over the years, watching residencies and parties come and go in Ibiza, really noticing why some events stagnated, didn’t progress, or moved with the times. One of the things I noticed was that some events didn’t really support young artists, and it was very difficult to break into being a successful DJ in Ibiza. I wanted to change that, just like with my label, Hot Creations. We really focused on booking up-and-coming artists. Doing this has really helped the party progress, move with the times, stay relevant, but it’s also helped artists break through, which brings me so much joy.

I come from a time in Ibiza where the events seemed magical and had a story. Manumission always had a theme and a narrative to the summer. I always believed that parties in Ibiza should be like nowhere else, so we really spend time on developing a theme and a story for each season. I think this really makes people excited each year to see our new production, dancer costumes, and aesthetic.

Many artists found in Paradise a platform to grow. Was it intentionally created as a space to support new talent, or did it just happen organically?

Definitely. I am excited by new talent, new ideas, new sounds. As much as I love injecting some nostalgia into music, I’m of course in love with 90s and 2000s house, 80s music fused into modern sounds, but it always has to be a new way of morphing the music to excite a new audience and an older audience that craves freshness. By surrounding myself with new artists, it really helps me push my sound forward and keep Paradise at the forefront of the scene here in Ibiza.

Over the years, Paradise became synonymous with a culture and lifestyle. How has your personal and creative relationship with the project evolved from 2012 until now?

To be honest, I had no idea what I was letting myself in for by starting Paradise. I had no idea how much of my life it would take over. It’s an all-year project, working on concept, artwork, production, costumes, merchandise, and lineups. On top of that, I need to play to an audience every week that’s made up of a lot of regulars. One of the things that I promised myself as a young DJ on the dance floors in Ibiza was that if I ever have my own residency playing every week, with hopefully young DJs like I was then on the dance floor, I would make sure that my sets were different and fresh each week, not just playing for the tourists that are only there that week but for the locals. To be honest, going back to a previous question, this is probably one of the reasons why we’ve had so much success too. Island residents can come, and they know they’re going to hear a different set from me each week. It’s the island people, the workers that spread the word and create the hype. Without them, it’s just a show; with them, it’s a party. I have two rules: never wear the same shirt, never close with the same song. Haha.

Ibiza has gone through many transformations over the past decade: regulations, shifts in the crowd, new technologies. How has all of this influenced the way you program and conceptualize an event?

I have so many incredible memories in Ibiza. I’ve spent 25 summers here now. Some of the events we did over the years I have no idea how we got away with them. We once did a party on an old military ship, hundreds of us partying for about 30 hours non-stop. Boats coming and going dropping people off taking people home, I actually think that we caused so much distress for the Coast Guard, they brought in new regulations about offshore parties.

Despite the heavier regulations and the earlier closing times, I still see 20-year-olds come to Ibiza and have the time of their life, there’s still magic here. I have no doubt about that. Maybe it’s a little harder to find these days but if you’re willing to immerse yourself in the island and let yourself go, It’s here.

As far as technologies is concerned we’ve been very lucky to have always been on an upward trajectory. We moved from DC10 where space is limited for production, to Amnesia and now to UNVRS where the scope to utilise new technologies in production is almost endless. We really adapt to the space that we are in, and stay true to our aesthetic. We love mixing retro styles, lighting decor and so on with futuristic intentions, this is what we always do and always will do. As technology progresses, this just makes the process and results more exciting.

Looking at your career, what role do you think Paradise played in your evolution as a DJ, producer, and global figure in electronic music?

Paradise has been huge for my career,

For example, even in the first season at DC10, we were offered a stage at Tomorrowlands, I’d never played Tomorrowlands before that, so it helped instantly. It definitely really pushed me forward at the time. I was coming off the back of some great success as a producer, but as a DJ playing every week pushing myself, digging non stop for music, it forced me to focus and master my craft as a DJ. I think that people took notice. I started getting booked at landmark events like Timewarp in Manheim, still probably one of the hardest festivals to get booked at, and still one of the best large events in my opinion. That’s just an example of how I broke into different scenes because of my djing, after being part of the deep house scene mainly as a producer.

Also having success and constantly growing as a party in Ibiza was respected by other promoters because it’s not easy. Many have tried and failed.

To keep people coming back year after year, I guess something must be right, and I think that people and the industry noticed that, which of course helped my DJ career blossom even more.

Now in 2025 you’re presenting a new concept with [UNVRS]. How does this club differ from everything you’ve done before?

Honestly, I love UNVRS . The thing I love the most is the sound, L’acoustics is my favourite sound system and the club is fitted with a top of the range model that’s custom built for the space. The night league team who are behind the club spared no expense on making sure that the sound was warm inside this huge space. The first thing I noticed was that the crowd could really feel the warmth of the baselines something that’s rare and hard to achieve in big rooms. I think Ibiza really needed something fresh, a state of the art venue with the best of everything.

Ibiza is expensive, We all know that, but at least when you go to UNVRS you can hear, see and feel that that money has been reinvested into an experience that’s unmatched. I think it’s an exceptional addition to the special group of clubs that you can only find here in Ibiza.

I’ve been lucky enough to play to probably hundreds of thousands if not millions of people over my 20 years touring the world. In the last 10 years I predominantly played large festivals and big venues. It’s not easy to make a club that has such a huge capacity feel intimate. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t feel like a 300 person basement club but it also doesn’t feel like a huge soulless warehouse. It still feels like a club, not a venue, which is a huge achievement considering the capacity. When I play I feel like I can play deep music. I feel like I can play disco edits or groovy old school house which sometimes doesn’t translate or work on big stages or rooms. This is because of the sound and the way the club has been designed the energy from the music does not always have to fill the room. People can be grooving without their hands in the air the whole time and the vibe and energy still feels epic.

And then of course there’s the windows, when the sun comes up looking out over ibiza. I mean I saved the best till last with this answer, that is the icing on the cake, truly magical when this happens. It really is the moments we live for when we come to party in Ibiza.

Would you say [UNVRS] is a natural evolution of Paradise, or is it more of a complete break from the past?

Definitely an evolution, DC10 to Amnesia was an evolution, bigger space more scope to be creative with production, and UNVRS is just the next step on that journey,

It’s still the same core team as 2012, we still love planets, ancient civilisations and galactic journeys, it’s just now with the help of the incredible team at UNVRS we are able to make our imaginations come to life.

Musically, it’s still me playing sleazy grooves with some vocals and heavy bass lines, new and older artists bringing their flavours, from deep, tech or garagey house to indie dance and all the rest. Now we have this killer Soundsystem to hear it on !!

Immersive technology and audiovisual experiences are shaping a new chapter in club culture.How has the season been, and what are you expecting from this last month?

Yes, the idea for Paradise was always to be an immersive experience. That’s why we have performers coming out of the roof dancing on the stage and everything is supposed to feel like you are partying in a galactic temple at warp speed heading to a majestic party sand planet.

Honestly, this season has been really amazing. I’m still in shock with how successful it has been. The feedback, attendance, the production everyone involved behind the scenes have been incredible.

The summer has gone so so quick probably one of the quickest I’ve ever had. I can’t believe it’s September already. I played a lot of back to back’s this summer mainly because we went from having two big rooms in Amnesia to only one so we had less space for artists, we wanted to make sure everyone was involved so I played a few more B2B’s than I normally would which has been epic, but I’m looking forward in September to doing some solo performances. Other than that, we have more wonderful guest DJs playing in the main room, Wild Comet and the Bunker and I’m actually looking forward to hanging out a bit more as the season comes to an end and my insane August tour schedule is over.

If you had to choose one iconic Paradise moment that defined your life, which one would it be and why?

Wow, very good question. 13 years of absolute incredible magical memories, it’s so hard to pick one. It’s almost like picking your favourite song of all time. Funnily enough, I was discussing this with someone a few weeks ago at the Paradise London festival.

I think this party is considered by many to be the best Paradise party we’ve ever done, one of the reasons for this is because it only happened once in this venue, it was so crazy that the police never allowed anyone to do a party there again. It was so epic that there are videos of someone proposing to their girlfriend on the beach which was a few metres away from the side of the dancefloor. The party went on until midday and the sunrise was unforgettable. The location cannot be matched. It was Paradise at Blue Venado, playa del Carmen, Mexico, as part of the bpm festival in 2015. The party was so good Lee Foss had a $60,000 red video camera stolen and didn’t care because we had such a good time…I think he cared the week after but at the time we were on such a high from the event, it didn’t matter.

I said to someone would this party be so special if we had done it there for the next 4 years? I think it would have been but it because it was a one time event definitely solidifies it as truly legendary to anyone who was there.

And now, opening this new chapter with [UNVRS], what do you hope people will take away from these nights in 2025 and beyond?

That’s another good question. I guess I grew up going to Circo Loco as an after hours on Monday mornings, it’s where I met my lifelong friends and made connections with like-minded people. I think we are the party at UNVRS where people come to listen to new music, rave and dance but also meet people, socialise and get groovy. Our visuals and production are there to compliment the vibe, make things interesting whilst you have a good time dancing to the music, not to be the main focus. That makes us the party to hang out at, the party where people can come to every week and not get bored because its focus is a show. The party where people can make those connections. I hope that’s what people walk away from Paradise at UNVRS with.

Where does Jamie go to find refuge in Ibiza when he wants to disconnect?

I love taking my kids to the beach in the morning before it gets too hot or too busy.

I like the beaches in the north because I can play with my kids without interruption as it’s mainly families there. I love walking through some forests with my kids and our dog too.

I also love going to the spa, a good meditation in the sauna, followed by the cold plunge always refreshes my energy.

Finally, in your own words: what does Fiesta mean to you, and what’s bullshit?

Well until I started coming to Spain, around 17 years old fiesta was a cheap car that older guys in my town in Wales would try to make cool with fake wheels and horrible paint jobs. But in my adult life it’s meant time to party, which I’ve almost always answered with vamos.

Bullshit to me, I mean there’s many flavours, talking shit can be good or bad but to be honest bullshit is always bad, well sometimes it’s funny but it’s never what you need, but sometimes what you get.