RA Ibiza Weekly: Las Dalias, Nightmares On Wax

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  • This week we journey to the north of the island to Las Dalias, Ibiza's oldest club.
  • RA Ibiza Weekly: Las Dalias, Nightmares On Wax image
  • RA takes a closer look at an Ibiza institution this week, as we head to Las Dalias for the opening of Wax Da Jam and a catch-up with party proprietor DJ E.A.S.E. We also continue our behind-the-scenes series with a look at the world of DJ management, as well as the customary roundup of the week's best events. Las Dalias Photo credit: Tasya Menaker Amnesia first opened its doors in 1976; Pacha in 1973. You might, therefore, readily assume that they stand as Ibiza's oldest nightclubs. However you'd be wrong—and out by almost twenty years. Inaugurated on November 4th, 1954, Las Dalias was opened by Juan Mari Juan, a farmer and carpenter who felt the area was in need of a bar, somewhere for the local community to while away their evenings. Soon after, a dance floor was added, then later a cinema, rapidly transforming Las Dalias into northern Ibiza's definitive social hub. At the start of the '80s, Juan Mari passed over responsibility to his son, and current owner, Juanito. Immediately, Juanito set about updating the venue, making it appealing to the new, fresh generation of island inhabitants. It soon became a hotspot for the Ibiza glitterrati, proving especially popular with the rockstars of the time, including Brian May, Jimmy Page and Ronnie Wood. In 1985, the first market stalls were put in place—five in total—going on to form the basis of what stands today as Las Dalias' biggest attraction. On any given Saturday at the height of summer, as many as 20,000 people will visit the famous Hippy Market, with night markets springing up on Monday (June through September) and Tuesday (July and August) nights. Musically, Las Dalias has always been a hotbed of sounds and styles. In 2013, its long-serving, Indian-themed Wednesday night party, Namaste, still stands as one of the very few, and very best, places to enjoy trance and psy-trance on the island. It's the advent of Wax Da Jam on Tuesday nights, however, that lands as this season's most exciting prospect. Run by island aficionado George Evelyn, AKA Nightmares On Wax, the party has always striven to blur the lines that the rest of Ibiza's electronic music scene hold so rigid. A fusion of sounds, sights and smells—including funk, hip-hop and some premium jerk chicken—the opening party on Tuesday outlined what a potentially cosy new home Las Dalias will prove. One thing for sure, this iconic landmark of Ibiza culture remains one of the island's absolute must-sees. Interview: DJ E.A.S.E. (Nightmares on Wax) Few can boast as rich and diverse a career in electronic music as George Evelyn. Originally hailing from urban Leeds, the eclectic producer always held an affinity with Ibiza, making regular trips throughout his career, be it to perform or party. Today, he lives permanently on the island, raising a family, making music and running his parties: Wax Da Beach and Wax Da Jam. We caught up with George at the WDJ opening to discuss and dissect the vibrant summer ahead. Photo credit: Tasya Menaker You and Ibiza go back and a long way. When did you first come to the island? It was the first time I ever boarded a plane, in 1988. I was 18 and knew nothing about Ibiza. I went with Kevin [Harper], my old N.O.W. partner, and we went to Amnesia and San Antonio. Three or four years later I came back again and then we actually got invited to play as part of a Soak tour [Leeds warehouse party] on the Space terrace in 1994. I've been coming back sporadically since then, so my relationship has grown slowly with the island. What made you want to make this your home? In 2005 my wife and I arrived back in Leeds after getting married in Thailand and something didn't feel right. It was all bricks and grey skies and it didn't fit. We didn't want to bring up our daughter in England so we moved to the place that made the most sense for both of us: Ibiza. 18 months later we were settled here on the island. It was a life-changing move; the George that left Leeds is not the same George that sits here now. It's taken time to adjust to the pace and energy of the island, but I couldn't be happier. I've just finished my seventh album here, the first I've written fully in Ibiza. It's called Feeling Good. It's out in September, and I feel it conveys who I am and what I've been trying to say all along—I think... Any collaborators? The backbone is all me, but several island-dwellers played their part. Shovell [former drummer for M People], who I met gigging on the sunset terrace at Space, plays a part. Wolfgang Haffner, who I met in Formentera, and then I worked with an orchestra and composer in Berlin for the string sections. Moses, a singer who's worked with Zero 7 and myself before, and a vocalist called Katie Gray from Texas. And it's 100% produced by me. And when did you start throwing parties in Ibiza? In 2007 I set up Wax Da Beach in Kumharas, beginning with one or two events a month. The following year that became every fortnight, and then in 2010 we were doing them weekly. In 2010 we also started Wax Da Jam at Aura, which equated to about 49 shows across the summer. Now I do Wax Da Beach more sporadically, I want them to be more of an event, whereas Wax Da Jam is the weekly party. Wax Da Jam has moved from Aura to Las Dalias for this year. Why the change? I actually decided at the beginning of last season that that was going to be our last at Aura. You have to progress, you have to feel challenged. Take tonight, for example—it's our opening party and it's genuinely quite scary. If you don't put yourself out there, how are you ever going to know? We were never able to advertise our nights as Aura, as it was primarily a restaurant. There are certain legalities involving adverts that make running a party quite tricky sometimes. Las Dalias is the oldest club on the island. I got invited here a couple of years ago, but it just didn't feel right. But I feel good now. I like that we're not trying to compete with anyone; we're simply offering an alternative. The two foundations of the party are as follows: Everyone turns up as individual and leaves as one. That's the mission. The second is that we represent the foundations of dance music. We cover all genres and really present the epicentre of what this whole culture is all about. I use a lot of live instrumentation—drummers, vocalists—to try and incorporate the crowd into the experience as much as possible. If anyone remembers the first time they went to a party, whether it was a club or a house party, it was all about the interaction, not about the spectacle. People come to be a part of it. Photo credit: Tasya Menaker How will the new venue alter the party? We're able to increase the production. We now have eight projectors in the club space, which we'll be using for video mapping. I see it as a real blank canvas. When I started out I was playing in community centres and school halls, and this is what Las Dalias reminds me of. Like I said, it's about offering an alternative: some people don't want to pay €50 to go into a club. We're charging €20 and we're open until 6am. We've got the whole courtyard, which will hold live graffiti and live performances in the near future. As of next Tuesday, the night market starts, which attracts 3,000 people and should create a real buzz. Las Dalias is an institution as far as the culture of Ibiza is concerned, and it's helped cultivate a real sense of community in the surrounding area. And the foundation of any good party is community. It's baby steps at the moment but as I said, the canvas is much bigger. Plus, it's no coincidence that I'm a northener and this is up north. What kind of things can we expect from the party this year music-wise? We're going to have the residents [Shovell, Wolfgang Haffner, vocalists] that I mentioned before playing every week alongside myself. Daddy G from Massive Attack will be dropping by, we've got DJ Vadim and Mark Farina who'll be doing a Mushroom Jazz set. Plus we've got my album launch party in September which will include the full band and a couple of surprises for the closing, which I'll keep to myself for now. I have to mention your gig for Loco Dice at Used + Abused in August, which has probably come as quite a surprise to a lot of people. How did that come about? That was a funny one actually. He got in touch with me and asked me why I wasn't responding to his emails. I wasn't getting them: they were hitting the spam folder in my inbox. When I finally got in contact, I had to just pick up the phone and call him. I was as surprised as anybody. He said he'd checked out the party at Aura and was a big fan of my music and just wanted to try something different. We had a chat about it and we made sure we were on the same page—I play what I play, and I'm not going to change that—and he was totally cool. I feel very privileged to have been invited. I went to the opening party, and I was pleasantly surprised. It had the tinges of the old Amnesia, and I like what they'd done production-wise. I'm looking forward to it. I've got three hours to just do my thing. Are you open to playing more regularly on the more mainstream Ibiza scene? Sure, as long as people are recognising me for what I do, not what they want me to do. I'm doing three Defected pool parties as well at Ushuaia Tower and I'm doing We Love... After Dark as well. As long as the energy feels right, I'm up for it. Behind the scenes Carried over from last year, this section will continue to look at some of the integral cogs in the White Isle machine. Tom Preuss has accompanied Loco Dice every step of the way. Over the course of a rich 15+ year history, Preuss has been Dice's official manager, as well as one of his most trusted friends. Ever keen to build on the success of his DJ career, Desolat and booking agency Artist Alife, the duo launched Used + Abused in 2013, Loco Dice's first residency in Ibiza. We caught up with Tom at Sirocco Beach to chat about the season so far and to find out just what being a DJ manager is all about. Photo credit: Tasya Menaker Let's start with a bit of history – when did you and Loco Dice first meet? It was 1995 or '96 in Dusseldorf, where we were both born and raised. We were working together for a promoter—Dice was the booker, and I was hired by him as a graphic designer. Pretty soon I left that behind and started focusing more on events, which were mostly huge raves and warehouse parties, as that big electronic sound took over Europe. From there our journey began. Dice moved from DJing hip-hop to house and techno, he started to tour and left promotion behind. As things picked up, he asked me if I wanted to take care of him. That was in 1997, and we've been partners ever since. So you never really had any experience in the field before? Not at all. We were friends, we hung out, and I received my managerial educations from the volume of work that came in. The work that I'm doing now is totally different from what I was doing ten years ago. It started out as a one-man team, and now our agency, Artist Alife, employs 20 people. It is much more professional operation now that it was then. Tell us about the average week in the life of the manager of a superstar DJ. I have to say that Dice and I are better defined as a partnership, rather than as a manger and DJ. Artistically, he has always known where he wants his career to go, so he's not in need of man-management in that sense. He makes most of his own decisions, but we talk a lot and help each other. At the end of the day it's Dice standing alone behind the decks, but there's a constant back-and-forth with regards to the businesses. And on a day-by-day basis, we are, of course, largely controlled by our inboxes. Do you tour with Dice? The first ten years I didn't miss a show. These days I try and get to as many as possible, but the office duties get in the way. Are you at all involved in his musical output? Musically, no. Dice will ask for my thoughts on his set and we speak openly about the parties, whether the crowd was right or if the sound system was on point. As far as record selections or his style, however, I don't get involved. The Used + Abused residency in Ibiza is a joint venture between the two of you. Tell us about the thought process behind it. Dice has a long history with the island, 15 years or so. He built his reputation mainly as a terrace DJ, starting at Manumission afterhours on the Space terrace before moving onto his DC-10 and Cocoon residencies. Dice actually never wanted to have his own party, he was happy where he was at Cocoon, but then the offer came to throw something in the daytime. In the past decade, all the clubs were forced to build roofs, and time restrictions were put in place which put a stop to daytime parties. The law changed in 2013, and the main place pushing the day-party idea was Ushuaia, who made us an offer. We then sat down and worked out if we could mould the venue to suit our vibe, our people and we decided to give it a try. And it's working well? So far yes. Everyone has been very receptive of the venue. We went in there and changed it completely. Our main objective was to give the party a club atmosphere, which I think we have achieved. So it was important for Dice not to tie himself down with the residency. He still wanted to be able to play for Cocoon and elsewhere. Yes. For many years we had an exclusive agreement with Cocoon, where Dice would only play for them and the odd show for Carl Cox at Space. As the residency is no longer exclusive, Dice took the opportunity to play for his friends. He's joining Richie [Hawtin] at his ENTER. concept, Marco [Carola] at Music On and Jamie [Jones] at DC-10. More than anything, it allows the public to enjoy their favourite DJ in a different environment, which has never really happened on the island on such a grand scale. As well as the events, you guys are running a Used + Abused cinema club on the island this year. Why? As a bit of fun. Dice, his wife, myself and Sabrina, my girlfriend, are all big movie fans. Sabrina and I thought it might be a nice idea to build an open-air cinema on the beach, where people can relax and watch their favourite films. It's free, and it offers a chilled, cultural alternative to all the dancing and partying. We are working together with Ushuaia to make it as vintage and authentic as possible: we have old school popcorn sellers, ice cream wagons and milk bottles. It starts on Sunday, June 30th, and will run weekly. We will be screening classic films, such as Sin City, Forrest Gump, Walk The Line and many others. Back to the music, what do you feel have been the defining moments of your career? It's strange. Even though Dice and I have been through so much and there have been so many life-changing moments, you never once think to look back on what you've achieved. When you're constantly moving forward—thinking about the next gig, the next project—it's impossible. There is, however, one specific experience that sticks in the mind. In 2007 Dice played Love Parade in Essen in front of more than one million people. I remember we came from a festival in Holland, and it was the first time the Love Parade had moved from Berlin, so we weren't expecting much. We flew there in a helicopter and we saw the crowds of people lining the streets and the huge stage they'd set up. Dice went on before Westbam, and I recall us both standing there thinking, "Fucking hell—this is something completely different." It was the first show of this size for both of us. It was stunning. Reviews Elrow opening at Vista Club Photo credit: Tasya Menaker As a newcomer to the island, every opening party has so far constituted a step into the unknown. While the energy of Circo Loco and the might of Music On have been impressive, they nevertheless slip comfortably into the category of conventional club nights. Elrow, however, does not. While the legend of the Barcelona outfit carries far and wide—many claim Row 14, the official home of the party, to be the best club in the world—nothing could have prepared me for Saturday night. Set to a Balkan theme, Vista Club was transformed into a flamboyant adult playground. Bikes and parasols hung from the ceiling, an impromptu jazz band improvised in the courtyard and a team of impeccable Balkan impersonators milled in and out of the enthusiastic (and slightly befuddled) crowd. Production-wise, the attention to detail was unlike anything I'd ever seen. In the main room, Dutch DJ 2000 And One was well into his headline set, laying down slab after slab of high-octane hip-house from a customised wooden shack. The music, though slightly uninspiring at times, suited the energy of the surrounding chaos, with a four-to-the-floor remix of Chicken Lips' seminal classic "He Not In" drawing particularly excessive clamours. As members of the Elrow team threw down an array of party-props—from inflatable killer whales to novelty hats—and clouds of confetti streamed through the air, it made for a truly unforgettable sight. What was most striking, however, is how much fun everyone appeared to be having. With Laurent Garnier dropping by on Saturday (June 29th), you'd be mad not to make this party a top priority. Cocoon at Amnesia Photo credit: David Pareja, Amnesia Photo Team After the return of Luciano to the Amnesia Terrace last week, this Monday night it fell to Seth Troxler to wow the floor with his only Cocoon date of 2013. Warming up for Sven Väth, Troxler kept the vibe suitably slow and trippy, well-suited to the modest early crowd. As his profile continues to balloon exponentially, it felt a rare treat to witness Troxler showcasing some of his weirder, more considered records. The uplifting chimes of Oni Ayhun's "OAR003-B" sent particularly fervent ripples through the surrounding throng. As the dance floor began to gently heave, Troxler picked things up a bit, raising the BPM and adorning his selections with more an assertive techno bent. Monday also marked Sven Väth's inaugural Terrace performance of the season. Starting with Innervisions smash "Gotham" by the enigmatic Ten Walls, you felt the energy in the room instantly lift. Three or four tracks in, Väth suddenly launched into a full-on rave number before dropping back into deeper, more tempered tracks. Here was a master cleansing his palette. From there he built the atmosphere slowly, keeping things light and progressive, before moving into darker territory, characterised by Tale Of Us's recent "Another Earth." As dawn beckoned, we found ourselves back in the rave era, chopped together with more streamlined, hard techno. Given the party's slightly placid beginning, only a DJ of Sven Väth's calibre that could have ignited a spark and kept the room ablaze with such consummate ease. This week in pictures Photo credit: Tasya Menaker Crew Love at Sankeys Ibiza No Regular Play's Greg Paulus takes it jazzy at the US-heavy showcase on Thursday. Soul Clap, Wolf + Lamb and Tanner Ross also featured. Photo credit: Tasya Menaker Circo Loco at DC-10 Ryan Crosson sends the Main Room into a frenzy, while the likes of Dixon, Ellen Allien and D'Julz spun away in the adjacent Terrace. Photo credit: Tasya Menaker Get Physical On Ibiza at Vista Club Patrick and Philip from M.A.N.D.Y. get playful at the second week of their Get Physical residency at Vista Club. Anja Schneider and Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts headlined. Photo credit: Tasya Menaker Sands Anniversary Party The all-star cast of Seth Troxler, Skream and Eats Everything keep the party rocking at the Sands anniversary party on Tuesday evening.
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