How did you end up in Ibiza?
The Shop was responsible for a global marketing campaign out of America
for Khalua and subsequently produced some 30 music events around the globe for them. Competition winners would then arrive in Ibiza which meant that I was positioned here for 2 summers in
1999 and 2000. I had my first boys holiday in Ibiza in 89 though.
What is The Shop Ibiza?
We are a marketing and spectacular events agency based in Ibiza but with
partners in Australia and the UK. We work with brands and private clients
to produce some rather exciting events. Our productions have twice been in Tatler top 10 parties of the year and our corporate clients range from MTV to Pioneer,
DC Shoes and Burn.
How did IMS come about?
We (the partners) all felt that there was a gap in the market for a
serious content based conference which really set the agenda of getting
back to business within the music industry. We are also residents in Ibiza
and wanted to do our bit to extend the summer season and promote tourism and particularly responsible tourism and music in Ibiza.
What role do you play in making IMS happen?
I head up the logistics and production team behind the event. In
particular, we liaise with the authorities of ibiza with all the licensing
for the Gran Finale event in the old town of Ibiza. We are responsible for
all ticketing, promoting and production of every element of the
conference, satellite parties and the dal villa concerts.
Tell us about MTV this year?
I want my MTV@Amnesia runs from Friday July 1st for 10 weeks. Its big live acts on the awesome terrace stage including Snoop Dogg, Duran Duran, PlastikMan and Primal Scream amongst many others. It really will be the biggest night this year. In the main room resident Layo and Bushwaka will be joined by a host of tech house talent, its all very exciting.
What are the production needs and challenges for IMS and MTV?
First of all IMS is in a UNESCO World Heritage site, the road to the site
was made for a horse and cart, not a lorry so all materials end up being
cross loaded which means you need to rethink every aspect of the
production as well as the logistics. Load in and load out times are
incredibly short allowing just 12 hours to have all materials removed from
the site and to be looking better than when we found it. It requires some
serious stamina and motivated teams to get the job done. To give you an
idea of how precious the site is we have to bubble wrap the cannons and
have only currently ever found 1 company that will insure this special
event. The thing I love the most about Dalt Villa and the Gran Finale is
that everyone that arrives at the site is just totally blown away, it
really is a show case for Ibiza to be proud of and certainly one that The
Shop Ibiza is very proud of, Its our little baby and its growing!
For MTV we will be dealing with world class acts who will all bring a fair
amount of production to Amnesia themselves. They are used to working with the best production in the world so were bringing in an awesome D&B J series PA system that will provide
confidence to the artists as its pretty
much known as the best in the world as well as a professional team of crew and engineers from the UK and Spain including a systems tech from
Brittanea Row, again, this is to create a feeling of confidence with the
artists and their tour managers which is essential when approaching the
talent. Turn around times are even tighter than IMS as we cant enter the
club until 8am when it closes from the night before.
We need to install extra lighting, trussing, a sound system as well as all the back line for at least 1 or 2 bands each week. It will be upwards all the way but I think that MTV and Amnesia will raise the bar of live performances this year and The Shop Ibiza very much looks forward to the challenge and will prove that Ibiza can stand proud and provide the services required to attract this level of talent each year. On top of the artists production we will also be coordinating all of the MTV film crews, again, more stamina and a lot of spreadsheets will be needed.
