Spotlight: Ryan and jozif you’ve mixed the We Love CD for summer 2011. How did you select the tracks for the compilation and did you both have similar ideas for the sounds you wanted on it?
Ryan: I wanted it to have a little more depth than the average club mix, the mixes that have stayed in my memory have always been a little slower, more emotive and taken you on a journey. I wanted it to be something people held onto for years to come rather than a sound of the summer type thing. It’s a similar approach to our A&R in general in terms of finding music with longevity so it was really just a matter of picking the tracks that complimented each other in the end.
jozif: Yeah Ryan and I had a pretty similar idea right from the start -something a little deeper, slower and not so 'obvious'. To be honest, as we were both reading off the same song sheet from the outset, it made the whole thing run a lot smoother than I'd anticipated.
The Burlington Project is hosting the Redbox again this year at We Love. Is the compilation reflective of the type of music we can expect to hear at Space on Sundays?
R. Yes and no, I like to make a clear distinction between the music I play in a club and music that is likely to be listened to in your car or at an after-party, as a CD like this would be heard. Music in a club environment is a very a different entity, on a big system music becomes a more physical thing, you can feel a kick, a bass line etc., it’s an assault on the body as well as the mind as anyone who has stood in the main room of Space can testify to. My main objective when playing in the club is to make people dance. I think you tap into something more cerebral when the requirement to make them dance is removed. Of course it is still very much our style, just a deeper more melodic version of what we would do in a club.
What do you think it is that’s made We Love a Sunday institution that continues to be one of the most popular nights on the island?
R. Darren, Mark and Sarah have made it what it is, It’s a long and interesting lineage of UK club history…. occupying the most prestigious club in the world on Ibiza’s traditional day of disco Sabbath. Consistently programming it with some of the biggest pioneers in electronic music for the last ten years can’t have hurt either.
j. As ryan said, its all down to the family - you have a group of people at We Love that have a long rich history in club land and with that sort of experience behind its not difficult to see why its been such a success. On top of a varied booking policy they are also not afraid of giving new artist's like myself a chance to showcase their material, which is always important to keep things evolving and sounding fresh.
Jozif on the Terraza at We Love 2011
Ryan you first came to Ibiza as a DJ 12 years ago, how easy do you think it is for new DJ’s/producer’s to make a name for themselves on the island? What gives someone standout?
R. I think there was a much more likely chance of arriving on the Island with a bag of records and making a success story as a DJ when I first got here. The industry in general wasn’t as organised, you could make an impression playing music in a bar and get booked to play the clubs. That doesn’t really happen anymore, everyone is a lot more divided into their own camps as far as club nights go and the people who play in clubs here are either international artists or well established residents of the party. Saying that I still think there is still huge opportunity here if you create your own scene. Look at people like Zoo Project, totally independent and one of the biggest success stories of the last few years, hard work and a good understanding of how the Island and it’s tribes work go a long way.
Jozif aside from being involved in We Love last year you had a number of big releases on labels like Wolf+Lamb, as well as your own imprint with Craig Richards Fist or Finger. Does your release and gig schedule continue to be as busy for 2011?
j. Yeah it would seem that way - I've just done a remix for Shonky on Culprit as well as an Ep for the same label. Jonny White's (of Art Department) no.19 label are about to put out a remix I did for Soul Clap and Tanner Ross and I've also got another EP due out at the end of the year on InFine as well as at least two more volumes of Fist or Finger. I've recently been working a whole bunch of edits that i'm playing on the terrace this season - basically i 'm doing an edit for each week i play, then once I've played the closing, im going to make them available for download - very much like what i did with my RA Podcast edits. As for the gig side of stuff im continuing my 2020 vision London residency as well doing some festival stuff like Lime Tree in August.
Jozif tell us about your Eleanor Rigby remix. Where did you get the idea from and what kind of reactions did you get to quite a brave edit?
j. I've always loved the track (even tho im not a massive Beatles fan) probably because its arranged by the amazing George Martin. My younger brother actually found the string section for me which i then just played over the top of, added to and programmed a rhythm section for. I'm into so much different music that when I was thinking about the RA Podcast I kinda wanted to represent a wider spectrum of what kind of music i listen to.....the same goes with the Runnin' edit. As for the reactions, they seem to be mostly good.... dont think anyone has hated it.......yet !
Ryan O'Gorman
Ryan the We Love summer 2011 CD comes out on your label Vitalik Recordings. Tell us about any other plans you have for the label for 2011 and what will be keeping you busy once the season at Space finishes?
R. We are going to carry on pushing our upcoming artists and work on building a family of genuinely talented producers. Electronic music has caught up with the rest of the music industry in the sense that it is, in the words of Sean Combs, “95% promotion”. I am happy to play the hype game if it means we can put some genuinely talented musicians in the limelight, of course this is easier said than done but that is our goal, persistence is the key. We have upcoming releases from Hugo Barritt, Ethyl, Joe Europe, CDT (The Paul Loraine & Richard Seely collaboration) as well as my own studio alias Soulade, plus a whole host of remixes from some really heavy weight producers. The fastest way to get new talent known is to put them out on an EP with an already established artist. We have a good track record of doing this and it’s a fun part of the A&R making these collaborations, I am very grateful to people like The Mole, Martin Buttrich, Appleblim, Agnes and Mark Henning for believing in what we do.
