The Mix
Talk us through the track selection of the mix.
"In the mix selection you will find my latest music styles and favourite tracks of the moment."
Where and how was the mix recorded?
"Recorded in my studio with my 2 CD players and the USB sticks and the mixer."
What are the musical influences that have allowed you to arrive at this mix?
"First I started with Kraftwerk and American funk music, then I brought in some late '80 acid sounds, my dad always played this style of music and I loved it too. Next I went through a few 90's Hip Hop selections, for me this is my favourite kind of music, I was really into Hip Hop, up until around 1996 when I first got into Electronic music an eventually house."
The Plug
What is keeping you busy at the moment? You're on a pretty hectic tour schedule I see…
"Yes it's been a very hectic year and its still getting crazier... Waiting for Miami of course – which I am very much looking forward to. It will be a lot of fun this year! Then In may I go off to Brazil again. Then finally back to the island for another Ibiza season."
Do you have a favourite club? Warung often gets a shout as the best, but you've done the rounds in many of the most respected clubs. What is it you're looking for that makes it the ultimate party?
"I love ANTS at Ushuaia in Ibiza, it´s one of my favourite locations. It´s open air and has a real 90´s flair, like how Amnesia or the terrace at Space used to be back in the day. It's really special. Warung Brasil, is also a very very big club and one of my favourites too. It's the ultimate party when the people are open to good music."
I'm intrigued to know more about the club you grew up in, your Dad's club. What was that like?
"My father built the club from scratch with some friends, I was 14 years old and instantly fascinated with it! I used to go everyday after school and help him on the building site. Then when it opened, it was amazing. It was packed with so many happy dancing people. I stood in the DJ booth and got goose bumps, from that moment on every penny of my pocket money went on buying records (I still have at least 10,000 records!). Music became my whole life, I was practicing in the club during the day and then started playing Breakdancing sessions. I'm still very grateful for that opportunity and that I now have a job that still makes me so happy and allows me to inspire people trough music."
We have it on good authority you will be involved with the ANTS invasion of Ibiza during the 2014 season, is that right? Excited?
"YES! I am joining the colony for another season and I am super excited about it! It is the best party on the island and it's so cool to be a part of something so unique."
You're also set to play the Ushuaïa opening? What do you think of the place?
"In my opinion, it's the best club in Spain. It has such a special vibe about it. Yes I am playing at the opening and yes I can't wait!!!"
I spotted a photo of you with Loco Dice on the DC10 terrace in 2003, is it strange to have grown up surrounded by so many people who were, or would later go on to be so involved in the dance music scene?
"I sort of grew up with Loco Dice, we produced a single together in the mid-90s called "Coming from DTown". We were both Hip Hop DJs at the time, all that changed later on when we both became a part of the electronic scene."
On that basis, was there ever another avenue you could have taken your life in, away from music and DJ'ing?
"No, music has always been my life. I could never see that happening."
Finally, you have a weekend off. What do you do? Where do you go?
"When I'm off, I love to stay at home with my wife and my 2 kids and doing the family thing and my studio productions."
Biography
Tapesh was brought up in his father's clubs during the early 80s, where he had no choice but to listen to things like Kraftwerk and proper funk music. Given his impressionable young ears, it's no wonder he has never stopped listening and now spends his days playing music to others. Having finally broken through into the public conscious thanks to productions like Reminisce on Get Physical, Feelings on Mobilee and Got To Live on OFF as well as others on labels like Noir and Defected, Tapesh has become very much in demand around the world, taking his flamboyant DJ sets to clubs like Cocoon in Frankfurt, Warung in Brazil and Studio 80 in the Netherlands.
With multi-cultural roots informed by everything from house to breakdance across scenes in UK, US and Europe, Tapesh has fomented a very unique DJ style that takes in plenty of sounds and knits them together into one grater whole. Loco Dice, Jamie Jones, DJ T and Anja Schneider, for example, are all fans of that special ‘Tapesh feeling', and that same feeling is what makes the man's music so well loved. As for the future, Tapesh is currently working on a new compilation and a full artist album as well as working on new singles and EPs all the while.
