A night in Ibiza with Nic Fanciulli

A night in Ibiza with Nic Fanciulli

18 August, 2008 | 12.31PM

• Written by: Terry Church
• Filed under: Music News: ibiza, nic fanciulli, saved records

“Try the steak, it’s superb here,” says a beaming Nic Fanciulli, whilst dragging on a cigarette.

We’re sitting outside at a restaurant in Ibiza that overlooks a harbour full of millionaire’s yachts, and despite the fact that in a couple of hours Nic will be spinning before the Chemical Brothers at the world famous Space nightclub, he seems surprisingly nonchalant.

“The Chems are my heroes, so it’s a bit strange to be warming up for them.

“I am feeling pretty nervous but probably not half as nervous as the Chems, as they were booted off the decks 14 years ago at Space and they haven’t been back since,” he says with a grin.

There’s always a grin with Nic Fanciulli, and he has a remarkable habit of making anybody he is with feel comfortable.

That’s probably why Pete Tong took such a liking to a young Nic, when he was resident DJ at British club night Club Class in the town of Maidstone.

Back then, Tong called him one of the “finest resident DJs in the UK” and since then his international profile has soared.

His recent partnership with fellow Brit DJ James Zabiela under their One+One banner was a huge success thanks to a North American tour, and Fanciulli’s label Saved Records has carved itself a sizable niche in the murky waters between house and techno.

“I’m feeling confident because my set last week at Space was one of my best sets of the year,” says Nic.

“When you play week in, week out, sometimes you get a bit down on the road, but every once in a while you get an amazing night that fills you with inspiration.

“Last week’s gig will keep me going for at least a month.”

It sounds like the DJ’s equivalent of a footballer being ‘on form’; a beauty goal that can change a whole season.

And inspiration is something Nic takes quite seriously - next week he’s relocating his studio to Ibiza for six weeks.

“I don’t spend enough time listening to other DJs, but I think it’s really important,” he says.

“For instance, Dubfire was inspired to change his sound after a trip to DC10 a couple of summers ago, and look where he is today.”

Nic says if he wasn’t a DJ, he’d be a footballer (that’s a soccer player, for the Americans amongst us), as his dad used to be one.

But before Fanciulli was a professional DJ he had some really “shitty jobs”, including working in a pawn shop.

“Being a DJ is a dream come true, and I’m going to keep it going as long as I can,” comments Nic.

Traveling the world DJing sounds incredibly exciting, but it’s not always glitz and glamour as Nic explains.

“One minute you’re playing to 2000 people, and a few minutes later you’re in a hotel room by yourself,” reveals Nic.

“The difference between those two situations can leave you feeling lonely.”

One way that Nic combats the intenseness of touring is by phoning home to ask after the dog, and by cooking for his family and fiancé.

After dinner we jump into a car and drive towards Space club in Playa D’en Bossa.

We ask Nic if he’s got any tips about how aspiring DJs can make it big.

“Nowadays it is harder more than ever to make it as DJ,” he says.

“It seems like most promoters are too scared to book new DJs, so they end up choosing the same big names which doesn’t help matters.

“When James Zabiela and I broke through, we were lucky to get there just for our DJ skills, but these days a DJ has to be a producer as well.

“I think of productions as an expensive business card.”

Once inside Space, Nic Fanciulli heads over to the DJ booth of the main room with his tour manager Kos to get set up.

Nic Fanciulli recently got into the digital DJ system Traktor Scratch, which he absolutely loves.

“Before I used to spend hours burning CDs, but now it’s so much easier to organise music,” says Fanciulli.

“For instance, on my flight over to Ibiza I spent three hours preparing my set in Traktor, and working out the keys of my tracks with the Mixed In Key program.

“Preparation is key for a DJ set, and now I always know my set time, who’s playing before me and who’s playing after me.

“I have tried using Ableton Live for my DJ sets, but Traktor feels a lot more exciting than Ableton which can sometimes feel static.”

At about 11pm, Nic begins his set, starting with the deep tech house track ‘Remote Cocktail’ by Dyed Soundorom.

Over the next two and half hours he builds his set by layering driving techno over chunky tech house.

Here’s a video of Nic DJing in Space (apologies about the terrible sound, the monitors overloaded our camera’s mic).

By the time the Chemical Brothers step into the DJ booth, Nic is playing Patrice Baumel’s minimal throbber ‘Flow’.

And the Chems look happy. Job done.

Nic Fanciulli’s tracklist

“I think as a DJ you have to pay respect to the next artist and give them room to move,” reckons Nic.

“We were joking earlier that I’d end my set with ‘Star Guitar’ before the Chems and then walk off triumphantly, but there’s nothing worse that somebody playing your biggest records before your set.

“So my set tonight got quite pumping in parts, but I played it slow for the last 10 minutes in order to set the Chemical Brothers up properly.”

Nic Fanciulli @ Space, Tracklist

1. Dyed Soundsystem ‘Remote Cocktail’ (Freak N Chic)

2. Nekes ‘Cristal’ (Sascha Dive Remix) (Oslo)

3. Steve Mac ‘Unknown’ (Skylark’s Saved Remix) (Universal)

4. Trancesetters ‘Roaches’ (Peace Division Mix) (Hooj)

5. Matt Nordstrom ‘Lucky Drawl’ (Saved)

6. Karina ‘Unknown’ (Rocha & Lewinger Mix)

7. Steve Mac ‘Scatter Brain’ (Saved Records)

8. Daniel Papini ‘Church of Nonsense’ (Alchemy)

9. Steve Lawler ‘21st Century Ketchup’ (TG Mix) (Sci + Tec)

10. Alan Fitzpatrick ‘Beshektas’ (8 Sided Dice)

11. Minilogue ‘Jamaica’ (Dubfire mix) (Cocoon)

12. Sis ‘Standing’ (CDR)

13. DBX ‘Live Wire’ (Peacefrog)

14. Piemont ‘Black Smoker’ (MBF)

15. Patrice Baumel ‘Flow’ (Get Physical)

16. Marko Nastic ‘Back in the 4th Dimension’ (CDR)

• (2) Comments
• (1218) Views
• Check out Nic Fanciulli on Beatport