Viața lui Phillip Straub gravitează în jurul muzicii electronice de peste 20 de ani. Prima debarcare în Ibiza l-a adus în peisajul unei scene de clubbing neatinse de cohortele de weekend party people descărcate de EasyJet-uri, în momentul în care rave-urile erau ceva obișnuit.
Este unul dintre motivele pentru care Philipp a ajuns să coordoneze una dintre cele respectate voci de pe insulă, găsind echilibrul perfect între viața de noapte și business.
L-am regăsit în 2015 implicat în vârtejul #burnResidency, competiția globală de DJs în luptă directă pentru un boost de 100.000 euro în carieră și o rezidență în Ibiza.
Un interviu stufos despre verile din Ibiza și locurile departe de comercialul absolut dar și despre Golgota carierei de DJ în aglomerația scenei electronice europene
Povestea #burnResidency din acest an a fost transformată într-o serie de webisodes disponibile aici
Your first Ibiza encounter
That was around 1997 with Rave on Cruise. At that time this was the first trip of it’s kind and today still goes on from the same German promoters but held in Thailand. It was the peak time of the rave area in the 90’ies, we were all totally in the mood, Ibiza was more an insider tip then known a lot to the mass and most of nowadays clubs did not exist. We stayed in the harbour for some days, I remember we loved the vibe on the boat so much, surrounded by 300 crazy friends, that we hardly went on land. Just once we attended a party somewhere open air. One for the books!;)
The next years I occasionally visited the island but never to long nor to often. Around the year 2000 I changed my style of life a lot and started to dislike Ibiza for all the pressure of just going there to get really mental and crazy. So I stopped and it took around 10 years to discover the island once more new. But this time from a different perspective and with it’s full broadband. Of course I felt in love with it and since that try to stay every year all summer season. It is a magic place that can give you so much energy but also peace, I love the great weather, the local people, the delicious food and of course the crystal clear sea!
Talent is important, luck is always very helpful and the right strong network is the key of most success stories.
How easy was back in those days to become known as a DJ, compared to today?
In my opinion it was not more easy but just totally different. The main difference was that back in the days the challenge was to get what you need. The records for which you had to search and wait sometimes for many month or even years, the feedback from demo mail outs which took also many month, the network to find people who love this music as much as you do. Nowadays the story is completely different. Everyone has the same unlimited recourses available. So today’s challenge is being able to stand out of the mass. There is so much talent out there but most of them haven’t got a real chance to be recognized or heard. That’s also the main aim of our #burnResidency program.
How much is talent, how much is pure luck and how much is connections for a DJ to breakthrough?
A nice mixture of all these 3 together is ideal I guess. Talent is important, luck is always very helpful and the right strong network is the key of most success stories.
How many years do you spare in your DJ career by winning #burnResidency?
A nice question! I often get asked about the winning of the program and what it means for the lucky guy. And I always answer that this can be seen like a time machine booster which allows you to fasten forward a certain period of time and achieve things in 12 months which most likely would still stay out of reach in a 5 to 10 years scope of time.
The most influential mentor you had as a guest, from all the #burnResidency editions
Beside our head mentors, Carl Cox, Pete Tong and John Digweed, who brought a lot of value, knowledge and support to the program, every guest mentor is bringing additional value with him. No matter if he or she just comes to talk, holds a lecture, a master class or judges on a challenge or competition. We had for sure far more than 100 guest mentors in the past years and as every of our roughly 20 final candidates who comes to the island to our boot camp from a different part of the world every year, also had a very different history, every one of them benefits from a different mentor, who also all have of course very individual stories. In the end we want to show our students not only that the guys in this industry are all humans with own stories, needs and ideas, but also that they somehow have a lot in common when comparing their career and what made them succeed. Being patient and passionate is for sure one of the many important lessons to learn!
The under the radar spot you enjoyed the most during this summer in Ibiza
There are many places I love on the island, but the most relaxing one is the villa of joy from Carl!
What impact do you think the 6:30 AM closing time law to be applied next year will have on Ibiza’s clubscene?
Well this industry always is in a permanent change. Change of music styles, change of trends, change of visitors, etc… Many people intend to look back and think it was better back then. I don’t like that at all. It was great, yes, but just different in my opinion. I like the progress that is important and you never know what comes out of something, that in the first place might not feel right or even be painful. There were regulations for clubs in general already in the last years and some of the very well known clubs just did not care at all. So the first question is, if this new law will be executed and on what level. I personally like the idea of being home not to late and having a chance to enjoy the day, but I have no concerns that this industry finds a way to please the very party hungry crowd coming to the island in one or the other way, even if this law will be executed in a tuff way.
The best 3 parties you’ve attended this year
One of the many Revolution Events with Carl at Space for their unique intense party vibe. Dixon with Solomun at Pacha for the music. Uner on actually every party he plays.
3 albums that never left your iPod
For sure Stephan Bodzin’s “Power of Ten” album, including the remixes, which are coming out in December. I know Stephan since a long time and like no one other artist he manages to re-position himself constantly. His current live act to perform his current album is breath taking! Joris Voorn’s “Knowbody knows” I would like to name, even tho it was already released in late 2014, but the remixes got added in 2015. Such an epic timeless masterpiece!
Then I would say Nils Frahm, who is the most mind-blowing artist / musician I have discovered in the last years. Everything from him is exceptional!
Winter in Vienna versus summertime in Ibiza Town
Ha, Ha!:) Yes indeed. Well I like to see it that way, that I live a Yin and Yang life. In summer it is Yin, Ibiza, sun, beach, hot, friendly, etc… In winter it is Yang: Vienna, cold, grey, not a lot exciting going on, etc… But this balance is good as well. Honestly even tho Ibiza brings back a lot of additional value and quality to my life every season, it is a fact that you can never realize the same amount of work then in other more regular cities. So with being back in Vienna for some month in Vienna this allows me to prepare new projects, focus on my work and realize a lot of my business goals. Like that one is completing the other quite well I would say;)