The time was finally upon us and our DJ Competition winner Steve Toombs was minutes away from starting his warm up set for Space's midweek party, Be. We caught up with the man himself minutes before he made way to centre stage to find out how it feels to be playing Space.
Hi Steve, how nervous are you ahead of your gig?
Well, when you guys first told me that I had won the competition I was extremely nervous and have been until I touched down here in Ibiza. Now though it has all turned into excitement and I can't wait for it. I mean, it's any DJ's dream to play Space, and to get the chance to play la Terraza is just amazing!
Have you prepared yourself any differently for this gig in comparison to others?
No, I haven't really. I don't usually tend to plan my sets far in advance. I very much play for the moment, it's all about crowd reaction.
We still don't know that much about Steve Toombs... Have you DJ'd a lot recently?
No, to be honest, I haven't. I actually stopped playing out live for a couple of years and I've just recently re-found my love for it. I have done some small gigs in bars around London and stuff like that, but...
That leads us to the next question - What has been your biggest gig so far?
The biggest gig that I've ever played was around ten years ago when I went on holiday to Florida. At the time I used to play trance and someone I know who's based there asked me if I'd like to play at a party there. There were about 700 people and the people there, who back then still didn't know much about the electronic music scene, went bonkers. It was fantastic! But still, I'm sure that's going to be nothing compared to the gig I'm about to play now!
One last question and then it's off to the DJ booth for you, how did you find out about our DJ competition?
Well, I was simply doing a search online because I was about to book my Ibiza holiday and because I was also doing a search which involved Space your competition popped up! I have know your website for years already and a few years ago I joined the forums. So, when I saw that competition I thought let's give it a go... kind of lucky I guess. I am of course super stoked you and Space liked my set so let's go!
The time had now come to party... Making the way for the likes of Sister Bliss and Mark Knight, Steve began his hour long set on the strike of midnight and as he blended from track to track the Terrace filled up with a crowd of hungry music lovers all ready to feel his beats.
Playing Funky Fat & Digitaria's track 'You bring me down' Steve enticed the early evening clubbers into la Terraza from the Sunset terrace and soon had the room bouncing and it was far busier than I had expected. Playing a strong set of mainly tech house he worked in lots of upbeat tracks featuring vocals, stomping basslines, groovy melodies and tribal synths; together creating the perfect warm up set. A warm up set - although not always considered as one of the most important slots of the night, focuses on setting the party's vibe and ensuring that mood is right so it doesn't get much bigger than that and Steve did a great job at getting the party started.
Playing through a great selection of tracks such as; 'Trojan' - Mark Henning, 'All that matters' - Kölsch ft. Troels Abrahamsen, 'After the after' - Joris Voorn Vs. Moby, 'Sunshine' - Tomaz Vs, Filterheadz and finally finishing on deep and soulful track 'The Same thing' by Baunz which beautifully combines harmonic vocals with those gripping basslines we all know and love. The crowd and I could literally feel Steve's excitement and he delivered his set in a knowledgeable and precise manner and by the end of his hour I have to say it was a shame to see him wrapping up his headphones. but big thumbs up to our competition for a blinding set... bravo!
Now with Steve enjoying a well deserved drink the party continued with the fire bomb known as Sister Bliss. Never in my life have I seen someone flick switches, select tracks and bounce so fiercely behind the decks as this woman but her passion and style was most definitely infectious if not the tiniest bit scary. Continuing the tech house sound she dropped Noir & Haze's sexy record 'Around' which flirted its way over the dance-floor as did The Oliverwho Factory's track 'I can see' which oozes a certain old school charisma. Sister Bliss showed her passion for tech house which held its own groove whilst working with rolling basslines and strong percussion.
So, after a fantastic warm up set from our man of the night, Steve Toombs and a sexy performance from the lady in leather, Sister Bliss the terrace was more than ready to welcome Mark Knight and although it would have been great to see Steve play on until the early hours Sister Bliss's silver fox of a Father-in-law now had my attention with his equally as fierce dance-moves... Christmas at the Bliss household would be fun for sure!
Check out our video of Steve Toombs in action...
