Have you been working with any fashion houses recently? I know that you have recorded soundtracks to various haute couture campaigns, which have you worked with recently? Regarding your past musical work in fashion, do you have a favorite campaign that you were a part of?
In haven’t done that in 15 years. It was fun working with designer Hedi Slimane when he first started with YSL, and even got me on the catwalk at his first Tokyo show. However, when I saw the video I realized I was definitely more at ease in a DJ booth that on a catwalk, and decided to focus on the former 🙂
After about 30 years as a DJ, how do you keep everything “fresh”? Do you still consider the music to be your primary drive? Or has it turned into something else?
I started DJing because I wanted to share the music I loved. Today more than ever, there are so many things about DJing I can pass on to the people. I am still passionate about music and all the technology around it, wether to produce it, play it, distribute it. So there are always things for me to discover and learn. I’m getting older when people in the audience stay the same younger age. It’s an exciting, everyday challenge to use my experience to bring them something they can enjoy, regardless of any age difference.
We are also in the midst of the summer season; do you have any specific techniques to maintain wellness and mindfulness during such a busy travel season? What about after the summer, do you have a way of winding down?
It’s a good question and I wish I had a formula! It can be a lot of travel, not much sleep, but I take it as is comes honestly, and also by keeping a relatively healthy diet. I comfort myself by thinking that I’m still blessed to be able to make a living with what initially started as a hobby. As per winding down, that’s one of the things I’m not very good at. Still working on it 😉
A big part of the summer season is Ibiza. How have you seen Ibiza evolve over the years? Would you say it has evolved for the better or worse? What are your impressions on the upswing in luxury patrons?
Ibiza has indeed been going from an affordable popular destination to a much pricier jet setter one, in the footstep of Las Vegas, Monte Carlo and the like. As a result the market for clubbing has shifted towards a crowd of “premium” customers. There may be not enough big spenders to fill the big clubs, but they are certainly providing a major share of the venues’ income. As such the music policy is geared to please them first and foremost. Since most of the “VIP” crowd are not music heads, a lot of the club events in Ibiza go for a very safe, tried and tested music policy, when not purely mainstream. The positive side of this is that when everyone is following a same direction, it leaves room for others to try something a little different. That’s how Glitterbox started, and is certainly why it has been successful in Ibiza: there is simply nothing like it. The copycats are however coming in, and it will be next seasons’ challenge to make Glitterbox even more special and unique.
Finally, what are you most looking forward to through the rest of 2016?
My remix of Paradise Garage classic “Stand On The Word” by The Joubert Singers is finally on vinyl and digital. Also, I have quite a few releases lined up as my collab project Erodiscotique with Italo DJ Rocca: A 12″ EP on Gomma, as well as a full album scheduled for next autumn in Japan. Finally a remix for Soul Clap’s first single off their new forthcoming album which I’m very proud of, is coming out on a limited vinyl 45 as well as downloads.
28 August | Defected Pres. Glitterbox Day & Night | Tickets | Ministry of Sound
