Richie Hawtin on Cocoon Ibiza

Richie Hawtin on Cocoon Ibiza

24 July, 2008 | 1.34AM

• Section: Music News Topics: Beatport Blog, Cocoon, Ibiza
• Written by: Industry Boy

Along with Ricardo Villalobos and Sven Väth, Richie Hawtin is resident DJ of Cocoon in Ibiza.

Here’s what Richie had to say about his residency at Ibiza’s biggest techno night.

“Cocoon is always special – I’ve played for Cocoon Ibiza dozens of times over the past few years so I understand how things work in this club, how the music flows, the timing and energy of the people, things that you need to understand to have a good set and a successful night.

“I’ve also played Amnesia many times and understand what music works at the club.

“There are two dancefloors in Amnesia and the main room has an uncertain intensity to it.

“Traditionally the main room was where you had a little bit more of an intense sound, but now with the new setup on the terrace you can really feel that the energy and musical style between the two rooms is much more connected. 

“Amnesia is a world class club and it’s a pleasure to play on either of the floors.

“For me it’s where I really feel at home playing in Ibiza.”

Richie Hawtin’s sets in Ibiza are a bit different to his sets elsewhere, as Richie explains: “As a DJ playing in Amnesia, I always try to play the music that I love, perhaps however with an extra dash of melody and tangible hooks, but not too tangible!”

“A hell of a lot of people come to Ibiza and they’re not all techno heads, so it’s important play the darker deeper music for the true hardcore fans and lighter more tangible music for the tourists.

“The mix of these sounds, and the mix of all the different people on the island is what makes these parties something special, and different to what you’ll find elsewhere.”

People work all year and save money for a two week vacation to Ibiza and Richie feels that the island’s guest DJs need to understand that when they play.

“As a performer it’s important to recognize the big effort people go through to get to the island, and to put in that extra effort yourself,” he says.

Cocoon is now one of Ibiza’s biggest club nights, and techno, minimal and tech house can be heard in some of the island’s clubs, but it hasn’t always been that way.

As Richie explains: “10 or 15 years ago there wasn’t a place for our sound.

“Now, Ibiza has become a great centre of distribution for quality electronic music, culture and ideas.

“When 7,000 people come to Cocoon and hear our music, they then go back home to the four corners of the planet taking that experience with them, the memory, the intensity, and of course, the music, spreading it all around the globe.

“In just three months so many people come to Ibiza.

“The Internet has been great for helping to spread our music further than ever, probably inspiring many people to come to Ibiza in the first place, but nothing beats the real live physical experience of a night with all of us at Cocoon!”

The partnership that Sven Väth’s Cocoon Recordings and Richie Hawtin’s Minus have created is one of the strongest in Ibiza.

Sven invited Richie Hawtin to play with him in the early days of Cocoon and Hawtin reckons the success of Cocoon has been very similar to the success of Minus.

“Both are built around a family of friends and artists that push a sound and an experience, and for us it made sense to keep both of these families together in one place on the island,” he says.

“I also think it’s important that fans can see that not matter how splintered things get in other scenes, they can see two of the biggest DJs and brands in techno working together.

“At the moment our entire scene has a huge amount of hype and success, so collaboration of artists and labels is very important, as it helps maintain a balance of our original beliefs, ideals and direction.

“It also humanizes electronic music.”

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