With so much diversity on display in Ibiza, it can sometimes be hard to narrow your choices and decide who to see and where to go, especially when every year an array of new talent emerges on the White Isle. Here we take a look at some of summer 2016's newest and fastest emerging artists that should be on your radar when seeking out new beats and top talent. Watch them and quiver in their wake.
Jamie Roy
Hailing from the UK, Jamie Roy credits his brother for first getting him into electronic music at the age of 14, when he was played tracks by Green Velvet and DJ Sneak. His path towards becoming an Ibiza resident DJ was cemented when he saw Daft Punk's Alive tour, a night he credits as a pivotal moment in his life. Fast forward a few years and Roy, having decided to pack in his job as a plumber and move to Ibiza in 2013, has landed a 15-week residency with Warriors at Sankeys - a combination of hard graft and a little bit of luck. "I got an email from Steve while I was in Australia touring with Hot Since 82. He said he was going to give me a call when I got back to the UK, and when he did he said a few Ibiza heads had mentioned my name and offered me the residency. It's things like that - when people without me even knowing it are saying good things about me - that shows how amazing this industry music crazy thing we do is."
You can catch Jamie and his distinctive brand of house music every Sunday from 19 June until the closing party on 25 September, where he'll be playing with the likes of Steve Lawler, Eats Everything, Denny, Skream, Groove Armada, Detlef and Hot Since 82.
2Vilas
Ibiza native Hector Avila and Mallorca's Carlos Vila make up house duo, 2Vilas. Having met while working as sound and light technicians for Pacha in 2008, the two soon joined forces, and since 2009 have been working at Ibiza Global Radio where they have their own radio show. The pair began producing music in 2010 and have released two tracks with record labels Bondage Music and Straight Music. Although their attitude to prodcution remains relatively laid-back: "We don't think much about it, we've just spent the whole time in our cave, making music and composing what we feel. We've spent many hours working in the studio, and hard work always brings results. We are young and we are starting, we know that this industry is not easy, so step by step, release to release and hard work in the studio, that's our way!”
You can catch this deep house duo at various nights at Pacha throughout the summer months, where they will be joined by legendary players like Todd Terry, Nic Fanciulli, Sasha, Bob Sinclar and DJ Sneak. The guys promise to bring their “Best energy, suitcases full of records. As we always do!”. You'll also find them at Blue Marlin and playing b2b with Andy Baxter at Carl Cox's night at Space.
Josh Butler
Hailing from north England, Josh Butler has been establishing himself on the house music scene over the past number of years, with releases on a variety of quality labels including Noir, Cajual, Avotre, MTA and MadTech. Butler also has several industry awards to his name having won the DJ Mag and Beatport awards in 2014. His 2013 track ‘Got a Feeling' became one of Beatport's best-selling tracks that year, while his 2015 track ‘Live My Life', with friend and collaborator Bontan, garnered BBC Radio 1 support from Pete Tong and Fatboy Slim, with the latter asking Josh to remix ‘Love Life' for the 15th anniversary re-release of Halfway Between the Gutter and Stars. His most recent release, ‘Need Me', premiered on Mixmag only a few weeks ago, with the hypnotic tech-house track indicating Butler's growing musical diversity. This summer, he'll hold down a 13-date residency at Sankeys Ibiza for Tribal Sessions, something he says is already going really well: "We are now in full swing with the season and there's no sign of things slowing down. I'm excited to be back on the 2, 16 and 30 July and again every two weeks until September. This year is my biggest yet, with a full residency in Ibiza and releases on Rejected, Defected and Kaoz Theory.”
Butler will also be going global, with gigs this year planned in San Francisco, Chicago and New York, as well as Tomorrowland, Defected's festival in Croatia, and other UK and European dates. "For me things have always been about steady progression," he says. I never wanted to rise too quickly as I believe you can fall just as quickly."
Hybrasil
Hybrasil garnered fame in December 2015, thanks to Hot Since 82's ‘Knee Deep In Sound' tour; followed by ‘Space Ibiza On Tour' for New Year's Eve and then a show with the legendary Sven Väth in spring. The DJ's first release went out in May and received support from Drumcode stalwarts Adam Beyer and Alan Fitzpatrick, while legends of the scene Gregor Tresher, Richie Hawtin and Dave Clarke are also known to be keen admirers of Hybrasil's minimal techno sound. More releases are planned to follow tracks like ‘Calculon', ‘IG-88' and ‘MacJulian the Fictional Serial Killer' on a number of labels including Rekids, Bush Records and Loose Records. We caught up with him in his hometown of Dublin, Ireland, to get the info on that gig with Sven.
“I had been in for a routine check-up at the doctor's a couple of weeks previously and just on the off-chance I asked him about a mole on my leg. He had a look and was quite worried, to the point where we actually removed it there and then. He had it sent away for testing and I was diagnosed with skin cancer. On 15 March, the day before I was due to play with Sven Väth in my hometown of Dublin - one of the biggest shows of my career as a live act - I had to go for surgery. They had to remove a lyphnode gland from my groin for biopsy and an 8cm radius of skin from my calf. This all required general anaesthetic, so I would spend the day in a deep sleep. The next day, the day of the gig, I couldn't even sit up in bed. I wasn't able to walk, and when it came time to prepare for the gig, I couldn't bathe myself, dress myself or even tie my own shoe laces. But I wasn't missing my set."
A truly heroic effort by the Irishman, and backing from Sven Väth - what more could you ask for? Catch him on Monday 25 July and 5 September at ONYX at Space.
Caleb Calloway
Breaking out from his native Puerto Rico, Caleb Calloway is a diverse musical artist with roots in hip-hop, house and techno. After moving to New York to study sound engineering, Calloway became enamoured with the house and techno scene and began DJing and producing shortly after. Following graduation, Calloway moved back home and rigorously practiced his craft, quickly gaining attention with his unmatchable skills. Soon after, he was sharing the stage with the likes of Damian Lazarus, Art Department, The Martinez Brothers, Green Velvet, tINI, and Loco Dice. It was his relationship with German techno heavyweight, Loco Dice, which proved to be most fruitful for Calloway, and at the tail end of 2014 he was offered the opportunity to tour with him and become his supporting act in North and South America, leading him to be a part of Dice's 24-hour set on New Year's Eve, 2015. That year proved to be a defining moment in Calloway's career so far as he made his Ibiza debut at HYTE at Amnesia, something he admits knocked him sideways: "I was hit by the size of the venue! As soon as I started playing I felt the quality of the system - everything was all in the right place and it sounded perfect. The light show was impeccable too. All of this surrounded by beautiful performers and incredible décor. It was everything I expected, but better.”
Check out one of the hottest new talents on the scene at HYTE on 10 August, 29 September and the closing party on 5 October, where Calloway will be joined by the likes of Pan-Pot, Dubfire, Chris Liebling, Maya Jane Coles and of course, Loco Dice.
WORDS | David Fleming