Published
Fri, Jun 21, 2013, 09:00
- This week our column investigates some of the island's less obvious options.
Following on from our chat with Underground last week, RA takes a closer look at some more of Ibiza's alternative venues. We also catch up with Marco Carola to touch base on Music On's sophomore season, as well as dropping in on nights at Amnesia, Sankeys and Privilege's Vista Club.
Alternative venues
Amnesia, Pacha, Space... These, plus a handful of others, are the names that immediately spring to mind when you consider Ibiza's clubbing landscape. Island veterans, however, will tell you that there is a world beyond the superclub. This week, we present several of the island's alternative nightspots; places to enjoy a pre-party drink, grab a bite to eat or dance the night away.
Santos
Photo credit: Tasya Menaker
This sleek Playa d'en Bossa hangout is barely a month old, incorporating the apartment blocks above into an all-in-one hotel, bar and restaurant option. Kitted out with Funktion One sound, the music is markedly sunshine-appropriate, with poolside day parties the main attraction. Oriol Calvo from Ibiza Global Radio and L. Mugart are the residents, and aside from Hed Kandi on Thursdays, you can expect a regular serving of underground house. If it's the food you're after, Thai is the speciality here. Open daily from 8 AM through 2 AM, Santos offers a more than viable option for all your pre-club needs.
KM5
Photo credit: Tasya Menaker
Entering its 19th year in business, KM5 has long offered something of a classier option to both visitors and inhabitants of the island. Starting life as a small bar, the venue now boasts a fully functioning restaurant (specialising in Argentine beef cooked by Argentinian chefs), sushi lounge, caviar stand and boutique clothes shop, all housed within Bedouin style décor. Music-wise, a revolving roster of residents spin laid-back house for diners and the early evening crowd, with more of an upfront, dance floor approach on offer in the inside club room come midnight. Armed with custom-built Pioneer sound, look out for the all-female DJ team on show at popular Saturday night party Lady's Soul.
Aramon
Inaugurated in 1936, this bar-cum-club in the heart of Ibiza Town was originally built as a cinema. The current owners have been there nine years, and this summer will focus their efforts more than ever on playing host to a variety of late-night ventures. Tuesday to Thursday will be purely electronic, with Deep and Ibiza 1936 pushing a well-rounded strand of house and techno. The weekends are more experimental, with Sunday's promise of cabaret a potentially intriguing prospect. Techno DJ Marco Bailey will put in an appearance this week (June 23rd), so expect more of the same as the weeks roll on.
Photo credit: Tasya Menaker
In a similar vein to the above, Savannah and Café Mambo, both on San Antonio's sunset strip, are among the best places on the island to take in the celebrated Ibiza sunset. The latter is especially busy between 9 and 11 PM, with that night's headliner at Pacha putting in a performance before heading off to the main event. Further up the bay, Itaca hosts Departure across its indoor and rooftop spaces, a house and techno party so popular it has taken up residency at Sankeys this year. Grial, situated a stones-throw away from Pacha, offers a cheaper means to enjoy drinks with friends before heading into the iconic club. The intimate Bubbles by Ibiza port has hosted Nina Kraviz and Francois K in the past and is worth keeping an eye on for the occasional worthwhile event.
Underground, (as explored in last week's column), is as much a nightclub in its own right, as a place to wile a few hours before hitting nearby Amnesia and Privilege. JAG, located opposite Space, is new this season, and looks set to become another viable afterhours option (the afterparty for the Amnesia opening was held there). Hotel Es Vive meanwhile is popular with touring DJs, making an impromptu post-club session with the likes of Frankie Knuckles or Tony Humphries a more than likely possibility.
Interview: Marco Carola
Photo credit: David Pareja - Amnesia Photo Team
Marco Carola has long been one of Ibiza's best-loved DJs. After a symbiotic relationship alongside Cocoon saw his stock on the island steadily rise, Carola followed Luciano and Richie Hawtin in setting up his own night: Music On. Debuting in 2012, the party proved an almost instant success. We caught up with the Neapolitan DJ a few days after he had cemented his return to Amnesia for a second season.
Music On opened for its second season on Friday. How did it feel to be back?
I was really nervous beforehand. When you're planning and thinking about something for so many months, as soon as opening night arrives, the nerves take over. Musically however, I felt very prepared. I had spent the previous weeks listening to loads of great new records.
How do you feel it went?
It went well. I started playing at 4 AM and we had a really late closing, around 9/9.15 AM. The club seemed full right up until the end, which is always the sign of a good party.
It proved such an instant hit last year, almost as if the island had been waiting for a second techno night at Amnesia. Why do you think it was such an immediate success?
I think for several reasons. For one, I have cultivated a strong following in Ibiza over many years that I brought with me. Of course, Amnesia is a great club and the people love it. And I have an amazing team working with me: Roberto and Ernesto have been living on the island for 20 years, so they understood the dynamics behind creating an event, and then there's Luca, who's not only my manager, but also did a lot of the bookings and has promotion experience. It was a combination of all these things that made it work.
Tell us about some of the changes at the party this year.
The biggest change is that the booth in the Main Room is now down level with the crowd, as opposed to up in the sky. And we improved the lineup this year, with Joseph Capriati playing more dates as the main resident. Other than that, we felt that the night was working really well last year, so left it pretty much intact. It's not about changing it, but about making it better.
There's a slightly housier feel to the lineups, with Martinez Brothers, Jamie Jones and DJ Sneak all big headliners. Was this a purposeful move in that direction?
No, I don't think so. Like I said, we improved on the lineups but as to the style or the sound of the party as a whole, I don't feel it has shifted. I chose these guys because I enjoy their music and they all came to Music On last year and know what we are about. What will be interesting is to see how they interpret our crowd and vibe. I'm excited.
Do you find that the other artists on the bill influence the way you play on any given night?
I certainly try and follow on from the DJ before me and continue what they started. As the night progresses however, I slowly set about creating my own atmosphere.
Photo credit: David Pareja - Amnesia Photo Team
Once again, you're specifically playing the Terrace, as opposed to the Main Room, every week this year. What is it about the space that works so well for you?
For me, it's a magical room. The Ibiza crowd are so well prepared, so you really have to bring your A game. The room is also divided into all these different spots with all different kinds of people – you have the dance floor, the raised steps, the VIP area, the balcony. Of course, the light plays a huge part. That feeling when it streams in in the morning is unlike anything else in the world. I could sit here and speak to you about it all day but in reality, words will never do it justice.
You're playing long sets every Friday, often to a lot of the same crowd. How do you make sure your sets stand out week-on-week?
You should see me in October, I'm white as a sheet. I feel I have a responsibility to the people that come to the club. I listen to a lot of new music during the week to alter my sets and always try and keep my sets sounding as fresh as possible.
So most of what you play is new material?
Definitely. I'd say about 90 percent of what I play.
One of the more noticeable trends on the island this year is that all the big DJs are playing each others parties. However, aside from for Carl Cox in July, you're sticking with Music On. Was this a conscious decision?
This is complicated. Last year was a very difficult year for me. I was starting a new project and as a lot of the bigger DJs were already tied in with other promoters and other parties, I found that the only people that were behind me were Amnesia. As a result, this year I feel that they are the real priority and I have to show solidarity. Of course it would be fun to play for everyone but I feel the most important thing is that I support the club, given the way they supported me last year. In the future I'm sure there will be plenty of collaborations, but for the moment I'm sticking by Amnesia. That said, I'm also playing for CircoLoco at DC-10 towards the end of the summer.
Do you agree though that there's been this power shift from the clubs and promoters onto the DJs?
I don't really know, I don't especially want to think about those things. I personally think it's great for there to be this culture of exchange. What I love about our scene is that there is a unity and a friendship between all us DJs. I know, for example, that with trance or other styles of music that this doesn't really exist. There is much more competition between them and it's ugly. This is why I enjoy being a techno DJ: we exchange information and try and value our friendships above all the politics. It's not always easy.
Reviews
Music On opening at Amnesia
Photo credit: David Pareja - Amnesia Photo Team
The biggest talking point of last year came in the form of Marco Carola's defection from Cocoon to set up Music On, Amnesia's newest techno party. It was an instant success, capitalising on both Ibiza's thirst for variation, and for something worthwhile to do on Fridays, typically the quietest night of the week. As a result, the buzz circulating the island prior to the opening party was palpable.
Kicking off with an in-house affair—residents Joseph Capriati and Marc Antona occupied supporting roles—the opening party was only ever going to be about one man's return. Taking his position in the Terrace at 4 AM, the atmosphere in the room shifted; all eyes turning on the unmistakable figure of Marco Carola. Playing an extended five hour set, the Neapolitan began tough and funky, letting the basslines do the work. Percussive rhythms pervaded his output, lending his hypnotic, rolling selections a real dose of dance floor swing. A tech house edit of Royal House classic “Can You Party” kept energy levels at a heady peak, as an incessant flurry of clamours and whistles emanated from every corner of the room. As dawn invaded, Carola opted for a more streamlined approach, effortlessly laying techno track after punchy techno track until it was finally time to call it day.
Carnival Cities meets Defected In The House at Sankeys Ibiza
Photo credit: Tasya Menaker
Following new superclub Bomba's delayed opening, former Pacha staple Defected In The House were left somewhat in the lurch. With lineups, flights and hotels booked months ago, it was left to the backroom of San Antonio hotspot Savannah to host the likes of MK and Nick Curly. Last Saturday however, the Defected team decided to join forces with Sankey's in-house Carnival Cities night, plotting down in the venue's sizeable LAB space. With LA-trio Droog in charge of the Basement, and Derrick Carter and Eats Everything turning out for Defected, visitors were promised a spontaneous night of full-bodied house sounds.
On warm-up duty in the LAB, Maxxi Soundsystem was doing a superb job of getting feet moving. Big-room beats and basslines were adorned with catchy synth licks and the odd vocal; a tough-talking refix of George Morel's "Let's Groove" especially well-received. Unfortunately, in the crossover between his and Derrick Carter's headline set, the club suffered an electrical power-out, shutting off the main lights, and crucially, the air conditioning. As a result, Carter played to many fewer, albeit equally enthusiastic, revellers, dropping the likes of Herbert's "Gotta Be Movin'." Down in the Basement however, the crowd were fully embracing the hike in temperature, with jozif pandering to their need for instant gratification with Romanthony's "Let Me Show You Love." Handing out free bottles of water, Sankeys dealt with the situation as best they could, keeping their dedicated faithful happily dancing away until sunrise.
Next Wave Opening party at Vista Club
Photo credit: Tasya Menaker
During the minimal boom of the early-to-mid noughties, the likes of Luciano and Ricardo Villalobos made their name in Ibiza playing this exclusive brand of stripped-back music. While the aforementioned may have moved on from that era, the sound will forever have a place on the island, especially when you consider its continued staunch following from across Europe. Today, Next Wave is its most recognised proponent. Following a stint at Underground in 2011, last year they moved to what was then Privilege's new Vista Club room. For 2013, they take on their first season-long residency at the venue, inviting Fumiya Tanaka, Thomas Melchior and Rhadoo to perform at the opening.
Entering into Vista Club's well-lit, spacious arena to the glitchy, avant garde sounds of Japanese producer Tanaka, it felt more like a party atop a Tokyo high-rise than a clubnight in Ibiza. The change, faux though it was, was refreshing. With the sparse crowd beginning to fill out, Tanaka responded with harder kicks and thicker, groovier basslines. Melchior's live set picked up from where Tanaka's left off, gradually moving towards more accessible terrain. As faint piano lines and warm synths crept into view, the sparse multitude responded with increasingly agile moves. Devoid of any of the crescendos, drops and EQ-based manipulation that typifies the rest of the island's sonic output, the music at Next Wave placed greater emphasis on the intricacy of sound, carefully toeing the line between the avant-garde and the dance floor-friendly. It made for an interesting experience.
This week in pictures
Used + Abused at Ushuaia
Loco Dice salutes the crowd at the second instalment of Used + Abused 2013 at Ushuaia. Dubfire, Matthew Styles and Robert Dietz also played.
CircoLoco at DC-10
No one knows where Kerri Chandler picked up this inflatable plane. The US jock flew in alongside Seth Troxler, Apollonia, Cassy and a host of others for another round of action-packed CircoLoco mayhem last Monday.
Get Physical opening at Vista Club
Pan-Pot light up Privilege's Vista Club at the Get Physical opening party on Tuesday, where they were joined by label bosses M.A.N.D.Y. and DJ T.