036 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 howmuch 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 fromme 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.
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