EVERYONE IS A DJ
KLUB RECORD Founders Wesley G and Manu Naykene talk everything afro house and more. New episodes drop every Tuesday.
EVERYONE IS A DJ
EP. 14: HOW DO YOU GET A GIG IN IBIZA?
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2570537/support
WATCH/LISTEN ON SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/13w1zkpv9vGaF9VxK6FsBr
LISTEN TO OUR PLAYLIST: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4xahAhOa1PVRlILXdOAF01
GET OUR MERCH
https://shop.klubrecord.com/
FOLLOW KLUB RECORD ON INSTAGRAM
https://www.instagram.com/klubrecord/
FOLLOW KLUB RECORD ON TIKTOK
https://www.tiktok.com/@KLUBRECORD
ALL LINKS
https://clozer.io/KlubRecord
Alright, we are back. Episode 14. We're getting it right this time. It's your host, Wesley G. Got my co-host Manu. How you feeling, brother? You good?
SPEAKER_01What's up, guys? Hope you uh enjoyed your your Easter break. I had four days, yeah, four days off. Friday, good Friday, and then in the UK we get Easter, Easter Monday, so it was a nice, nice break. Happy to be back, man. Happy to be back. Happy to be back. Wesley, how you feeling?
SPEAKER_00I'm good, bro. I'm good. Too much food this weekend, bro. Like I had um I had two dinners, a Friday night dinner, and then a Saturday dinner. You guys always chopping.
SPEAKER_01What what did you chop? Oh, yeah, you sent me a photo. You guys were eating steak, right? It was a nice spread of uh of red meat.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, steak, chops, prawns, and then a bunch of sides, bro. That's just like for me, okay. I'm a big I'm a big barbecue man. I've got a really serious barbecue outside. So whenever I can use it, especially now that weather is getting a little bit warmer, I'm out there, bro. Oh, so it was uh at your place, right? Uh at my place, yeah. At my place. Oh, so you're hosting.
SPEAKER_01Nice, nice. Yeah. We were also chopping on Sunday, so I mean, this is quite personal, but I I think it's fine. My fiance's um mom, she's moving back to to Zambia after what 20 years in the UK. Oh, yeah. So we're having like a yeah, we were having like a family get together, you know, chilling out, and uh lots of food, as you could expect, like Zambian food, Ghanaian food. My mom came over, she brought like a big pot of jalof rice, you know. So we were in there just just just yamming, you know. Bro, next year, next year I need an invite, bro. Come on now. Yeah, but well the thing is now we're all gonna be traveling to to Zambia and you know, going there to see her, and that's gonna be a that's gonna be a nice trip. I mean I love I love going to Africa. Like people are always you know when it when it comes to like this time of the year when you start thinking about vacation, I'm always like Africa, Africa, you know. So now I'm thinking like what other destinations in Africa can we can we look at? I was looking at Kigali, I know that's super nice in Rwanda right now to check it out. Different, different, different, different spots, but uh no, it was a good weekend, man. It was a good weekend. I think do you know what happened last Friday? So last Friday I woke up quite early, so I was just in bed chilling, and a friend of mine texted me at 4 a.m. and he was like, bro, let's go to the gym. I'm up, and I'm like, bro, it's 4 a.m. But then I was just up, right? So we just went. But then I got home before seven or just before like just after six. Bro, the amount of work that you get done when you hit the gym that early, you come home, you're fresh, you're locked in, you're turned on. And I was just like, okay, I think this is this is the optimal kind of routine for me anyway. Yeah. To like get in the gym by six, just before six, get home before seven or just after seven, and then you, you know, it's almost like you're set for the day, man. It's quite good.
SPEAKER_00No, I feel that. Have you ever have you ever read a book called The 5am Club?
SPEAKER_01Is it by is it the four-hour work week? Is it similar to that one?
SPEAKER_00It you know, it's one of those, right? But like in short, it's about you know, I think the the book is like prolonged out. They they did a little bit too much with it, but like it's all about optimizing your routine and um get getting ahead of the curve, right? So I'm I'm up by 5.36 every single day during the week. On weekends, up by seven or eight, uh at least I try to. And um, for me, I'm not an I'm not an early gym guy, but you know, getting some work done like right at the start of the day, especially on club record, afra house feed, um and then you know heading to my day job, you know, by by nine o'clock, like I've already I've already got so much done by the time I get into work, and I don't feel like I'm falling behind. And if I don't do that, I really get screwed over.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think again, it's all about it's all about maximizing, maximizing your schedule and and your time, especially I think if you're working on different projects, you know, you and I have different things going on, club record, you know. I just started a nice project now with Wavy and and obviously music, DJing, personal life, different things, right? So it's just like okay, how can I allocate, you know, two hours here, three hours here? Um, because you know, once you start to like mix things, it's almost like you don't get anything done, right? So you've got to really spread that time and be strategic. But uh, I mean when I when I started working for myself, I was like, okay, I don't need to go to the gym that early anymore. But it's not even about you know lie, you know, getting a lie in and staying in bed and getting up later, it's just like you gotta get shit done, right? So yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, like for for me right now, my my new thing that I'm really enjoying, bro, is that um when I'm at work, like during our lunch break, I go to the gym because there's a gym in the building. Oh, perfect. So I'll go, I'll go do like most of my workout, come back to the office, chop my food, get back to work, and then at five when we finish for the day, I'll go back to the gym and then finish off whatever I didn't get a chance to do, you know, in that time, right? Um Yeah, because it's only an hour. By the time you get there, you gotta change all your work clothes. You know, you only have like 30, 40 minutes to to get a few sets in. Oh, that's huge, man. And then, you know, you finish up, you know, at five, and then I'm back in the gym for like another 30 minutes or something. My guy loves being in the gym. You must love being in there. I love the gym, bro. I love the gym. But last week, bro, I was like, last week I threw my back out completely. Like I I couldn't move, bro. Pause, pause, pause, pause. Okay. What happened? It was bad. My back seized up like on the way, on the way, uh, on the way somewhere, and then I got there, I was like, yeah, I have to go home. I can't uh I can't function. It was bad.
SPEAKER_01Bro, I I I can't comprehend going to the gym twice. I mean, listen, obviously, you know, I mean, I I used to I grew up playing playing sports, so yeah, training twice a day is not uh like uh an alien thought, but yeah, you must do like what two exercises and you go back to and then you come back.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, exactly. So it I don't see it as training twice, it's one workout. Like if I did it at you know, after work, it would take me like an hour or just over an hour um to get it done, but it's just splitting it up, and then you know, also during the day, giving yourself that trance to be active, get the blood pumping. When you come back to the desk, you're like recharged, you can focus, you know, you're not drained. Um, so it's working for me, bro. It's working for me.
SPEAKER_01You might as well um I was just gonna ask. So you must shower like three times some some days.
SPEAKER_00I'm gonna be honest, bro. I don't shower, I just go back to the office, bro. It's fine.
SPEAKER_01Okay, we're gonna cut that out.
SPEAKER_00We're gonna cut that out. Bro, it's fine, man. It's fine.
SPEAKER_01Interesting, interesting. Nice, okay. But yeah, man, that's that's the routine right now. Like, even today, I was up, got back home around seven, got shit done. Now we're doing the podcast. Now, you know, it's Tuesday today, so this podcast is gonna be up in a couple of hours. And then yeah, man, good to go, good to go. Um, what's the first topic? What should we start with today?
SPEAKER_00I wanna I wanna talk about Nigeria a little bit, bro, and the topic of Jollof Rice and and all of that stuff, bro.
SPEAKER_01I saw a nice uh Nigeria themed hat, right? Yeah, you got the colors. There you go.
SPEAKER_00You got the green and white. Um, yeah, man, pretty, pretty amazing. I mean, we've known for a while that there's a little bit of a house music scene. Um, shout out to to Ronnie and Spectrum Entertainment, but this past weekend, this Easter weekend, was a massive, massive show with Black Coffee as a headliner, openers, Cairo and Unapa, DiCapo, Masala, Masuma. Um, Masuma, sorry. Um that bro, like that's insane for me to see that in Lagos, like as somebody who who's lived there, like that caliber of DJ, you know, was not a thing back in the day at all. Like, no DJ's. Spectrum guys, are they behind it? No, no, it's different different uh different promoters, different venue. Um the venue is owned by this uh Lebanese Syrian family, and then the promoters I think are are part of their their group, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Wow, it's um yeah. I mean, when I saw the announcement and the lineup, I was like, okay, it must it must be Spectrum. And Spectrum, for those that don't know, is a promoter that I've played for uh about a year ago now in in Lagos. Very good guys, organized, they know what they're doing, and they've done many, many events, so they have the experience. But yeah, to know that it's even another player in in Nigeria that is that is involved, that is great. Because I think, yeah, they have a a good house music seed. Of course, we don't have to talk about the musical talent that they have with Afrobeats, etc. But yeah, I think when it comes to house, untapped market. I think the whole the whole of West Africa, it's an untapped market. Uh, Nigeria, Ghana. I know in Ivory Coast they have a presence. There is a presence when it comes to Afro House. Yeah, I think Kasango played there last week, but it's great to see, man, and what a lineup. Like if you if you have Black Coffee, Cairo, Eno, the Capo, Masuma, which provides a different type of style and vibe, right? It's good, man. Yeah, kudos to them, man. Kudos to them. I think they've done a good job. I didn't see much of the of the content. How did it look?
SPEAKER_00It looked, man, it looked it looked amazing. I mean, very, very mixed crowd. Um, so a lot of expats, obviously, um, and then a lot of Nigerians too. But I wanted to actually ask you so when you played in Lagos, how do you find like the Nigerian crowd for the city? It was hard, bro.
SPEAKER_01I'm not gonna lie. It definitely wasn't it definitely wasn't one of my favorite uh gigs. Not not in the sense that it was a shit set, it was more the crowd, I think they vibe differently. Okay, right? I think it's more like they want to look cool. I think they're more of a more of a table culture, I think, in Nigeria. Right. So I think playing in that crowd, you've gotta really make sure that the music you're playing is engaging, you're not playing for yourself, you're not kind of playing too many IDs and the music um makes them dance. Of course, you know, I dropped a few kind of Afrobee edits in there, and and when I played those, they responded. But if you're playing if you're playing what you would play in London, and London is a great crowd because you know it's quite open-minded and you can play different things. It's it's different. You've got to really dig deep and figure out the sound and make sure that you kind of hold in their hand throughout. Yeah, it definitely wasn't the easiest crowd, but yeah, when I finished playing, I was like, man, that was so bad. And someone was like, bro, that was sick. And they were telling me that yeah, they just don't dance. Apparently, Nigerians don't dance, they were saying they just don't dance. They just they just gel. They just kind of standing there. But also I played in front of, I don't know, like must be must have been like 2,000, 3,000 people that day, right? So it's like a decent sized crowd.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's I it's interesting because I wonder if it's because it's like kind of new, they don't know yet, or it's just like that's how it's always gonna be. You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_01I don't know, man. It's the again, it's the the set that I played in Nigeria was similar to what I played in Nairobi. Right. And Nairobi, probably my favorite crowd ever. And the crowd was really like into it, right? But yeah, Nigeria, they definitely it was a different vibe, man. Everyone was there kind of looking cool, doing their thing, you know, just just Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00I get you.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, just it was more of a of a vibe, and again, that type of energy. But it's different, man. It's different, it's different, it's different. Like, again, I think it's more of a table culture, it's more of like uh let me look cool, let me show people that I'm outside.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Kind of thing. But but not sick, man. Listen, I would go back at any point. I think Acra, I want to see someone start something in Accra, man.
SPEAKER_00I think that's yeah, you know, it's it's I'm surprised that Accra hasn't had you know as much uh of an influence or just opportunity for for events like this, right? Because you know, Accra is very diverse, there's a lot of expats, it's a huge city. Um, so it's a bit surprising that they they're not really bringing out DJs at all, to be honest. I don't see much. I don't see much.
SPEAKER_01There's definitely like people that I'm in touch with that are interested in start in starting something, and especially in December, like how much how many opportunities are there in December, right? To throw a party, bring people together and have house music be played and have house music present. Uh, you know, for people that don't know, 30 December is a huge thing when it comes to Afrobeats. Yeah. You know, the diaspora, a lot of I guess African people leave it living in Europe, etc., go back to to Ghana and yeah, they party, they party all December, right? So that's that's a huge thing. And I think yeah, in when it comes to house music, Afro House, there should definitely be something going on there. Absolutely, there should be. But yeah, because I think it might be better than Lagos, I think, in terms of like the reception and and the opportunities. Again, up for debate, but I think it could definitely be a successful brand that comes out of Ghana. Um how do people party in in in in Accra? Is it quite similar to to Lagos?
SPEAKER_00Similar, yeah, bro, very similar. I mean, I think uh I think Acra's a little more rowdy than uh than Lagos, whereas like I think Ghanaians like you know, you're on the topic of dancing, like Ghanaians love to dance, at least that's how I remember it. You know, correct me if I'm wrong, guys, in the comments. But yeah, man, I remember Ghanaians partying hard. Man, there's a lot of nightclubs, especially in Osu area, bunch of nightclubs like out there, um, and a lot of like just just vibes, man. So I'm I'm again I'm really surprised because there is a big expat community, uh, lots of Lebanese people, you know, they love house music um, you know, across the board. So I think it's only a matter of time before we start to see some some bookings out there. But I think there's gotta be a reason, man. There's no way somebody's not thinking about it and hasn't looked at it, and I don't know how to done it.
SPEAKER_01Any big West African house music DJs? Oh, good question. Kwamzi comes to mind. Quamzy? Kwamzi's Ghana. Um who's in West Africa that's like releasing music like that? Anyone in Nigeria? I guess CMART is uh is there, Olu Adambig, more vocalists, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, more vocalists for sure. I mean, speaking of CMART, I heard I heard CMART starting to uh learn how to DJ, so you never know that that could be kind of the next move, right?
SPEAKER_01But it works, it works. Listen, I think if if in in our space it's an income stream, right? I think vocalists aren't really booked like that. If you look at all the top vocalists in our space, they do a hybrid set. If you look at Arwen um and other vocalists, I can't think of of many names right now, but the hybrid set is almost like you have to incorporate that as part of your um yeah, of your of your of your offering. It makes sense, man. Why not? But also like I've got close close friends who've seen Arwen play, and they said she was amazing, bro. They were like She is good. They were like, Arwen was is the one.
SPEAKER_00She is really good. Yeah, she's she's got a good presence, um, good stage presence, man. And she knows like when when she's on the mic and she's you know doing her thing, um, she knows how to control that room and command the crowd. Um, and then yeah, she she's a very, very competent DJ as well. Absolutely. It's tough.
SPEAKER_01Arwen's tough. Arwen's tough. Owen's tough. Um, but yeah, I think yeah, as a vocalist, like it's tough, bro. You know, you're making money, obviously dropping vocals. If it's not that, it's tough, right? Like, how how what's what's what's the other income stream?
SPEAKER_00No, that I think that's exactly it, and that's why you see such a high volume um of some of these you know vocalists, like they're sometimes releasing every week, every second week, because I don't think they really have a choice. I think if you asked them, would you like to be releasing this frequently, they'd probably say no. But they have to, right? Like Eda Ziziz has been doing it for years. Take a look at Nazamburu, he's he's he's on it. Tabia.
SPEAKER_01Those guys are chopping though, man. Those guys are I think they're they're living good lives, especially if you're releasing every Friday, sometimes they release twice.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And I know this from personal experience. Like, whenever I ask them for just you know, send them an instrumental, what do you think? And it's it's it's it's a bit impersonal, right? Like the responses that you get from them, even if it's just like you're just asking a question, they just come back with a full kind of automated fee, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but it's second nature, right?
SPEAKER_01I think that's probably like sometimes they don't even listen to it, right? They don't even like listen to the track, they just be like, cool, this is what I need, this is how much I charge. It's like, but yeah, some prices where you're looking at like six hundred dollars, eight hundred dollars.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. It's not bad, bro. It's not a bad, it's not a bad uh bad life. I mean, every week, yeah. I feel but I I'm surprised that most of them don't try to like chase the hybrid set thing. Because you know, like a lot of vocalists, when they get a chance to perform, a DJ will be playing that they've collaborated with. They'll come on like for one or two songs at most, and then that's that's their opportunity, right? But every singer wants to sing, but you know, I don't know why they're not they're not kind of chasing that that thing more.
SPEAKER_01It's interesting. I think it's more it's because every track that they release, their name is R the Second. Like yeah. If you just if you're more of a of a primary solo artist and people just come there to see you, see you sing. That's it, right? It's just like any other kind of singer. But when you're kind of attached to a DJ and you're more you know more of a feature, more of a vocalist, and there's that kind of secondary label attached to you, then it's just like okay, why? Yeah, I don't think it's as strong of a sell, is it?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean that's a good point. That's a good point.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think I think that's why there's a lot of struggles in our in our scene when it comes to vocalists. It's like they are seen as like uh secondary add-on artist a lot of the time. You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, rarely given the the first slot as a primary artist. But I did see that actually jogs my memory. I did see I think it you know, I fact check me if I'm wrong, guys. I don't know, but I saw E Daz Z released a song this past Friday where it was just him, just E Daziz, nothing else. So I think he's he's also started moving into a lot more of the live performance side of things. I haven't been Following too much, but I've been I've been seeing him around different festivals, shows around the world, especially with Francis. Um, yeah, I think I think he he's definitely gonna start to chase that that path going forward.
SPEAKER_01We haven't seen uh an artist do that successfully though yet. I mean again Afrohouse it's not, but it is fairly young, yeah, especially like you know, in terms of the notoriety and the level we were at. You know, we've only reached this level a couple years ago, right? So, but yeah, I haven't seen an artist successfully kind of grow into their own yeah, into their own kind of artist from from being a vocalist. I think Alwen probably is up there, I think.
SPEAKER_00Arwen is up there, yeah. She's she's at the forefront. But I mean, listen, speaking of Afrohouse and and notoriety, I wanna I want to switch gears here a little bit, man. You know, coming up at the end of the month, we got IMS and Ibiza, which, you know, I guess is officially kind of the start of the of the Ibiza season. I know people are there already partying, but man, are you ready for Ibiza? When are you going, bro? Talk to me.
SPEAKER_01I'm actually gonna, I mean, for now, I'm planning to go twice. So I've got I've got a stag in May, so we're gonna be there for a week, and then yeah, September gonna be going. I'm playing with Francis, right? So September 21st, September 21st. We have a booking Monday at high with Francis. So yeah, man, that that was a goal of mine for this year to even if it was just one gig, you know, in a in a in a I don't want to say shitty club, but just to be there and play. But for it to be at high for the first one, can't complain, man. Can't complain. Happy days, happy days.
SPEAKER_00Bro, first of all, I mean I I've told you this before, but massive congratulations, well deserved, and you know, obviously, shout out to to Francis uh you know for that. I I mean you've been working with Francis for a long time. I know you guys, you know, have built that relationship over the years, but how are you feeling like genuinely deep down about playing at high? Like you're feeling nervous, you're feeling excited, bit of both. Like I would be shitting it, bro.
SPEAKER_01I think I think I think I'm more I'm um what makes me more nervous is like everybody wants to come, right? So right, all my friends are just like, I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coming. So right, so I think it's more like the attention that you might get outside of the gig or whatever. It's just like you're ready, you're ready, which you know, you're gonna be playing. I think it's more that, right? When you're there and you're playing, that's that's just gonna fly, bro. That's you're just gonna be in there. Also, it's a B2B, so in 90 minutes, you're gonna play what? Nine tracks, eight tracks, yeah, B2B. So it's not like you know, again, I'm not taking anything away from the opportunity, anything like that, but it's gonna go quickly, it's gonna go fast, right? So I think you've gotta I've gotta play some club records, I've gotta play some some some tunes that I'm working on. Just because you're at that stage and you want to say that those sounds were played at high. But nervous, yeah, it's not really to play. I think it's more kind of the organization of it, everyone being excited, and like it's more like I don't even want to call it pressure, but you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_00Like, no, I'll I I look I'm planning to be there as well. Um, you know, if I can.
SPEAKER_01Oh, let's go.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Yeah, I gotta. I can't miss that, man. I can't miss that. So I'll try to make it. First time, bro. Yeah, the thing the thing with like getting there from Toronto is that you spend a lot of money just getting to the island from here, because you gotta fly you know through Spain or something. Um and then you know, flying during the summer from North America, no matter where you're going, is never cheap. Um, and then you know, on top of that, the budget that you're spending on the island, you know, you gotta be realistic about that. So, you know, over over the years it it just hasn't made sense because you know, North Americans, when we're looking at a party destination, you know, most likely Mexico or Costa Rica or something like that, where it's a lot more feasible, and then obviously same time zone, all those logistics just kind of line up. But I think I think it's now or never, man. Like I need to go to Ibiza before you know I slow down too much. And uh I was having this conversation with somebody over the weekend. They were like, Oh, you gotta come to Tomorrowland, you gotta come to Tomorrowland next year, next year. And I'm like, Yeah, you know.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, sometimes you gotta you just gotta you just gotta get it done, bro.
SPEAKER_00You gotta get it done.
SPEAKER_01Get it done. Stop kind of being in your head too much and thinking about this, what about that? It's just like, all right, I'm just gonna go, just get me there and and have a good time. But listen, we're making this sound very simple, of course. If the funds aren't there, and a lot of the times, like if you don't know anyone there, that also like might be.
SPEAKER_00That's the thing. So it's it's yeah, it's it's not it's not just like oh, personally funds and that. I mean, obviously that that plays a factor, but then it's like, oh, you want to get a few people on board, you want to go with some people, and then everybody starts humming and highing, like, oh, this is this is this, this is that, and whatever, right? But that's just that's just uh I think because we're in North America, broad, makes it a little bit harder. Um no, I get it.
SPEAKER_01I mean, flight time you're looking at what six, seven hours? Yeah, probably to Spain or something. Six, seven hours. I think it's like, bro, once you land, you're gonna be like, this is the best time. Like Ibiza, bro. Oh my goodness. Like, there's parties for days, food is great, people are beautiful, like you're just gonna be having a good time. Um especially like, I mean, we're trying to figure out what to do for September if we're gonna get a villa and everyone, everyone can just stay there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Also, that's also cost effective, right? Because you know, it's it's economies of scale, right? So it's like I don't know, the villa might be however many, however much money, but the more people you have, you know, the less everyone has to pay. And that that cost divided, right? Uh so um, well, I'll keep you posted, man. I'll keep it posted. I think it's it's but either way, man, it's gonna be fucking crazy.
SPEAKER_00So one of the things I wanted to ask you, I mean, when when that sort of came up, I mean, there there's uh there's a lot of different events happening on the island in and around Afro House. A lot of DJs, you know, are gonna be there for residencies, but that's also showing up on those residencies. Francis Coffee's, you know, always been a famous example of that model. But you know, from your perspective for the up-and-coming artist DJ, what do you think is is like how do you how do you get a gig in Ibiza, bro? Like what do you think is kind of the pathway?
SPEAKER_01Well, I think you have to look at you have to look at the whole kind of calendar year. Right? So say, okay, so say likely if you want to get a gig now, impossible, right? So say unless you know someone drops out and you know they're looking for someone last minute, then you're in. But in terms of like those first choices, that's done. You know, those decisions usually are done like even before the year starts, November, December, January, right? That's that's usually when they start making decisions and sending emails out and putting feeders out and and putting together those lineups. But yeah, man, you gotta start looking at the calendar year. So I would say like around January, say I'm saying I'm an artist, I'm like, okay, I haven't got any gigs, I've got some music, but you know, I'm I'm up and coming. What I would do in January, I would start working on music so that by I don't know, April, March, May, I've got a track that potentially could get me a gig next year. Not the year that the track comes out, but the year after, right? Because when the track comes out, that's already Ibiza, right? You're you're in the summer, things are happening, right? You almost want to like work a year backwards because decisions usually usually are made like in within that kind of six-month period. Um so that's what I would say, right? So it's like if you're listening to to this podcast and you're like, okay, how do I get a gig? It's like try release a track over the next few months that you think has got legs, try release it on big labels, release it on yeah, labels of artists that have nights. So, you know, look at a Francis, right? Deep root, look at Blondish, Abracadabra, look at Erodis, unreleased. I'm sure they'll do something at Playa Solet. Look at Andrea Oliver, all I need, he's in the club room. Um look at what's Damien Lazarus' one, what's it called again? Um, you caught me. Damien Lazarus, fuck man, yeah. His label. But yeah, but you gotta be strategic. Like it doesn't it's not rocket science, you know. Just do some research and look at who's having parties, who are these people, what do they have labels? And then yeah, kind of follow, follow, follow that path. But um I think that's uh that's the best way. Of course, if you release a track independently and it blows up, people are gonna find you, people are gonna call you, you're gonna get gigs. But I would say main thing is like consistency. Um I'm trying to think of like some real examples of like people that have gotten gigs in Ibitha, and then over the years you could see like their presence in Ibiza grow gradually, you know, not exponentially. I think that's also key. Like you don't want like an anomaly example of like a guy that starts at Pasha already, right? You want to kind of work your way up. Um let me think of some names. Yeah, if you look at the the the Magnifi guys, I think though that's that's a good example. Um I think they yeah, go on.
SPEAKER_00You know, you know what I think as well is I I think what um you know on that topic of gradual um you know growth on the island, something I really love about Ibiza every year is how the residencies give opportunity to you know DJs that you know aren't playing you know regularly on the island, right? So, you know, going I said it before going back to Black Coffee's um residency, he's always bringing in artists. Um I'd like to see a bit more, you know, not diversity, but just a switch up because I feel like it's starting to get slightly repetitive there. But then you know, Francis is going to be doing the same thing. Um I know like other other residencies that are on the island as well are kind of giving that opportunity, and I think that that is where you know people in Ibiza start to take notice, like, oh, this guy is sick, he's a great DJ, great musician. Oh, this release is from him, let's book him, those kinds of things as well, right? So the those personal contacts that you make with you know artists in our scene are also gonna give you like a potential way into you know getting on a lineup at some point uh in the future, right? Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I mean what what would you do as Wesley G to get a gig? Yeah, forget what I said. How would you approach it? Because you know, you could just put a track out and hope for the best and and and hope you know that it does what it does and and gets you to a certain level. But just looking at it practically, what do you think are the steps to to get a gig in Ibiza, but only not even get a gig, right? You wanna you wanna grow a career there, you want to grow a name, you wanna be on different lineups, play for different people, different brands. It's a combination of things, right? Because again, someone like myself that plays there for the first time this year, it could be a flash in the pan, one-time thing, you play, and then next year that's it, you're home, you're gone, or you know, it doesn't happen again, right? But it's all about once you get there, how do you figure out how to stay there and climb the ladder? That's the key thing, I think.
SPEAKER_00You know, it it it the conversation kind of reminds me of what I'm going through right now. So, I mean, I'm trying to get more gigs, you know, just in Toronto, just because I want you know a bit of mileage on the decks um and in front of a crowd. And, you know, it's not it's never easy, right? There, there's a lot of DJs already that are trusted. Um it's competitive, there's gatekeeping, there's all these kinds of things. And I think a lot of that, you know, probably translates onto the island as well. Um, because this, I mean, the stakes are even higher out there, right? Um, you know, you want to get people through the door, and and when they're there, you want to keep them there, right? If the DJ is not doing a good job, then you you're losing your audience and your revenue for for a portion of that day at least, right? So the way I've kind of learned to start approaching things is it's all about building relationships and connections, you know, beyond just asking for something. Oh, can I have this? Can I have that? You know, if you if you don't ask, you don't get. You know, I'm a I'm a strong believer in that, but there's a way that you need to go about doing it instead of just asking outright for something. So working on those relationships with people on any level, right? If if the relationships are in Ibiza and you want to play in Ibiza, try to focus on people that you can have access to and try to work with them, not only with the intention of getting yourself a gig on the island, but what else can you be doing, you know, on the outside? Can you give them opportunities in the city where you're from, you know, get them gigs out there. Can you make music together? Can you introduce them to somebody else that's gonna level them up? Um, so it's it's a very holistic approach to to um to getting what you want and less so transactional, where it's like, hey, I want to play, put me on yes or no, and then it's done. Right. Um I think that's something we need to be mindful of.
SPEAKER_01I think I think also people have to understand, like, forget Ibiza, but just getting gigs in getting gigs it's not that difficult, it's not that hard. I think right. If you know how to play the game, if you know how to um approach the right people, if you know where your sound fits, and you know, I'm not gonna send my track to Carl Cox, or I'm not gonna send my track to certain DJs that although I respect them might not understand my sound or fit, you know, step fit in that lane or um occupy the space that I'm in, if that makes sense. So you've got to also understand that, and understand that you know sometimes in music is not for everyone, right? But I think as well, one thing that I'm figuring out more and more is collaboration and sending music to people that has um unlocked so many opportunities for artists that I've come across, right? They sent they'll send the track to uh Shimza just for him to hear, for him to listen, and you know he had he he he ends up liking it so much and he likes it so much that he's like okay, let me put my name on it, let me collaborate on it, and then from there, I don't know, you start getting gigs when he's in town, your town, he'll put you on the lineup, things like that, right? Collaboration, I think it's huge, not only obviously on the musical side of things, um, but yeah, you also have to figure out okay, what can I bring to the table that can create a kind of a trade? You know, can I introduce you to this person? You know, whatever other things that you could offer, I think that's also that's also key. Um one more thing I was gonna say is like how many times do we go to ADE and we meet artists that don't have gigs, but they're just there to meet people.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01You know, and again, going uh go going to ADE in October, I could I could argue that's almost as expensive as going to Ibiza in the summer. Like ADE in October is expensive, guys. Like, so and there's there's so many artists that just go just to meet people, just to show face and and have a good time. Again, Ibiza, the level of um entertainment, and it's it is a lot easier to kind of be swayed and have too much fun, but you can also be professional, right? You can also um do what you need to do during the day and then at night, whatever, but you know what I mean? Like there's different ways of approaching it. Um absolutely. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. Yeah, I think you know, we we were we were talking about before the difference between like a European um and kind of North American life. You know, what's coming up this weekend, I think it's this weekend, um, is Coachella in the US. So I don't know, I don't know for you, man, but like back in the day, like you know, for the way I looked at Coachella was like it was this whole big thing. It was like, you know, the pin one of the pinnacles of uh you know music festivals in addition to Tomorrowland and stuff like that, man. So we got we got Coachella coming up, and there's actually a fairly decent. Have you been to a Coachella? I haven't, man. I haven't. I don't know. I just haven't uh it hasn't aligned yet. I don't know. I would love to go check it out, but um I haven't even been to California, bro. That that's crazy.
SPEAKER_01Have I been to California? No, I think I don't think I have. Okay.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Haven't been to California. So I mean I would do it maybe next year. I'll take a look at it. But um, yeah, California life. Um, but yeah, we got some quite some fairly decent names on the lineup. Um, I mean, first and foremost, Shimza playing back to back with Afrojack. I think that's that's crazy. That's a big one. That's crazy. That's a big one.
SPEAKER_01Listen, uh Coachella, my personal opinion, I don't think it's as big as it used to be. I don't know. Uh for some reason I'm just like, has it lost its its its uh its allure? Has it lost that that appeal? I think it has a little bit, but I don't know.
SPEAKER_00Why do you think why do you think that is though? Why do you think it's lost its allure?
SPEAKER_01I don't know, man. I think it's it's there's a lot of parties now, there's a lot of festivals. Expensive. How many times do you do you go on TikTok after a Coachella or during a Coachella event, and people are complaining about I don't know, the food or the experience, this and that, like the tent, you know, there's a lot of these kind of um reviews and things that happen from a consumer perspective. Um but for me, I think the main thing is cost, man. Like it does seem like people don't care and they'll still spend the money, but there is a lot of a lot more negative negativity and negative comments and negative conversations around the experience and not being not it not being worth it. So I think that's that's also I think hindered not only Coachella, but I think huge festivals as a whole.
SPEAKER_00I think I think yeah, I agree, man. I agree. I mean, you know, we were talking about this um before, but you know, you're kind of justifying your spend with the experience. It's like you're making that comparison. So even though you saw some amazing artists um and you had a great time, you know, you're comparing it to how much it cost. You know, to have a meal and a few drinks, you know, you're already looking at whatever that adds up to it, Coachella. It's it's a lot, we all know it is. So I think you know, from that perspective, it's really hurting, I guess, live performance in general. And it's not it's not only in music, man. Like, you know, if if you go to like a basketball game here or something like that, it's the same thing. Food is outrageous, drinks are outrageous, you know, popcorn is like$20, which is just you know, criminal.
SPEAKER_01Listen, so I might be talking shit because I mean I'm thinking about think about Kanye, right? Last week he sold out twice a week before LA back to back.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Right. People are still going. Kanye again, they've announced him here in London this summer at a festival called Wireless. And he's doing controversy. He's doing three dates, bro, right? So, again, I mean, maybe it's a bad example, but he's a huge name and hasn't toured in a while, hasn't performed in a while.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01People are still spending money and and willing to spend money. But I don't know, just from my experience, I feel like there's some brands that a few years ago their names were a bit carried more weight than they do now. I think Coachella, I think for me, Coachella is one of those. But again, when you when you just look at the crowd size, I guess yes, it still does look like they still pack it out and money they do make. But so I don't know.
SPEAKER_00Well, so I mean, I guess on the topic of North American experiences, what or what are your thoughts on like would you go and do a Burning Man, for example? I would do a Burning Man. That's something I feel maybe I don't know if it's age or or if it's just you know uh things have changed, but I think Burning Man has lost its allure a little bit, at least to me. But I know a lot of people would disagree with me on that.
SPEAKER_01Again, we haven't been to any of these events, so it you know we might be talking, we might be talking shit, right? But from where I'm standing, you know, like a Lollapalooza, is that still a huge thing? I I don't even know, man.
SPEAKER_00No, but you know, but I think the the big ones, the big ones at least that I'm it's like EDC is like one of the biggest ultra ultra still huge, Coachella, those are like the big, I guess Lollapalooza for sure probably as well, right? That's the better ones.
SPEAKER_01Um what was the other one in America? Uh hip hop one, fuck. But yeah, man. Listen, festivals, not really my thing, but Coachella. Who else is playing actually? Sin City, I know Sin City's playing.
SPEAKER_00Sin City, uh Josie is playing, Josie's playing ape drums back to back with Bontan. Interesting, interesting.
SPEAKER_01Kind of music, is kind of music going?
SPEAKER_00I I didn't see, I don't think so. Um Arotis. Arotis is another one he's playing. And then I think Anne Friends is the other one, yeah.
SPEAKER_01But you know, also like the big conversation is sometimes like they do um graphs and charts of like how many of these artists are under the same booking agency that books that Coachella books, right? So again, we'll have to fact-check these numbers, but sometimes like you can see the majority of these artists are are under the same agency, right? So there is that kind of monopoly and um domination of these massive agencies that it's almost like they just contract and do these deals with with these big brands to to get their artists involved, right? So that just raises questions around okay, how fair is the booking process and and you know, is it equal? You know, does every artist or do artists that are as talented as some of these artists, or more talented rather, are they also getting the same opportunity or the same exposure um to be booked? Yeah. That's a good point. Monopolies, man, monopolies. So, yeah, guys, um, episode 14. Everyone is a DJ. Let us know your thoughts on the whole kind of Ibiza conversation. How you know, if you've got any questions, if you are a DJ listening and you want to know, okay, how can I put myself in a position to get gigs, not only in Ibiza, but just in general, let us know in the comments. If we if you think we've been talking shit about the festival world and we don't know what we're talking about, also let us know because again, simply our opinion.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Wesley, anything else?
SPEAKER_00Uh, from my side, guys, we want to start getting some guests on soon. So we've said it before, but let us know who you'd like to see um as part of the conversation. And yeah, thank you for supporting, guys. We're having a great time. Um doing this for you weekly. So, you know, engage, let us know in the comments, and we'll see you next week. Peace.