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Pulse, We Love…and Boutique Hostal Salinas are offering you the chance to come party at the We Love…closing fiesta with an all expenses paid trip to Ibiza, where you’ll be staying at the beautiful Hostal Salinas for two nights, along with tons of great other prizes with our We Love Pulse photo competition!
Earlier this week, we talked with Hostal Salinas owners Duesi Wolfmeir and David Phillips about why their incredible hotel is one of the most special places to stay on the island, along with friend and We Love…Director, Darren Hughes. In the interview, we not only got to discover much more about the history and serenity of Hostal Salinas, but wound up having a candid conversation on why We Love…remains one of the top nights of the island, DJ swapping, the VIP crowd, market oversaturation, and the uncertain future of Space. Read on for all the details, and at the end, find out more about how to enter and and all the great prizes you could win.
Pulse: You guys recently had one of the biggest bookings of the summer come through with Underworld. How did the night end up going? Did it meet or beat your expectations? Dave: It was a peak for everybody. We had a friend who has celebrating her birthday, and so it brought an extra push for our room so it was packed. We were happy with that. I actually booked myself on at the same time as Underworld! (Laughs).
Duesi: I went in for the last half hour and it was fucking brilliant.
Darren: It was a great show. And they were absolutely delightful. I worked with them once before for a festival maybe 10 years ago but never got to meet them. It was a difficult party in terms of floor numbers, I won’t lie to you. But they were so delightful; it spread this nice feeling around what would have been a very difficult party. So yeah, they were beautiful people to deal with, the whole team.
P: There’s more competition on the island than ever this year, yet We Love…seems impervious. Why do think that is?Darren: Hmmm. I don’t think it is. As with many other things on the island, you have your center, you core. Right now, what Ibiza’s known for is that high end thing. Blue Marlin, Ushuaia, not just them, but that’s the culture. Where as 12 or 13 years ago, it was at the opposite end of the spectrum. It had this reputation of being a San Antonio, beer drinking, Northern England, male dominated island. Both of which don’t do any good for us. What happens somewhere in between, is it changes. It’s a cyclic thing. It has it’s own way of moving on, you know? So I think we’re doing okay. Things aren’t easy, but if they were, everyone would be doing them. Which means it’s even more important to work with people that are your friends, that’s where the collaboration lies from with Lo Cura.
P: That being said, do you think things will eventually swing back in the other direction away from the VIP? Darren: I don’t know in terms of when or how, but it always does. It just does.
Dave: It takes a few years though. I arrived here in 1992, and it was kind of a quiet time on the island, though I don’t remember like that. But it built and built and built through the ‘90s. You had parties like Manumission, promoters come in, guys like Darren with Cream, and TV came…then it would level off, and another phase comes, internet comes, things like that come and change it. So this bubble of VIP, I don’t know if it will burst, because these people are rich, they’ve got loads of money, and that’s probably not going to change massively.
Darren: No, I don’t see that changing.
Dave: But what I think might happen here is that there are a lot of businesses here – restaurants and huge complexes – and they need a lot of people and a lot of money to work, and that could go a bit wrong.
Darren: The thing is, the expensive Champaign-drinking crowd, at the moment with EDM in America, Guetta and the Swedish House Mafia and Avicii – whatever – has given that Champaign crowd access in to dance music. But they don’t really like it. It’s just where they think they should be. And that’s what will change.
Dave: They could get bored of it. I think they’ll get bored of the hangovers and the headaches and the loud music, the lifestyle…the scene. And they might go back to what they know, go somewhere else. It might take a few years, but it probably will go in a cycle.
Darren: Well there are only two types of people: Nice people and not nice people. It’s like, if they’re rich, are they all not nice? No, probably not. For me, I remember when this VIP thing first started – this type of VIP thing – it was Puff Daddy. There was no one like him on the island, no people like him. I just remember he’d bounce up with his crew and take over the booth, I’d be so angry. But it’s happened, you can’t close the door.
Deusi: Paris Hilton is now a DJ of her own party! (Imitating Paris Hilton’s Pulse Radio interview), ‘What are you going to do tonight?’ ‘Yeah, I will play some records, make some mixes.’ (Everyone laughs).
P:In the same sort of regard, the ‘underground’ seems to be dominating the island this summer.
Dave: I don’t think it’s underground though. The underground is now the general fodder.
P:Exactly.
Dave: DC-10 and that kind of thing is partly responsible, but there’s a lot of artists over here that are not that deep house DC-10 thing (or) the trendy German Berlin stuff. It’s stuff that you guys (We Love…) have booked, Claude Von Stroke and the big bass line stuff, lots of new techno. I think there’s a lot of confusion with nights now with people who aren’t really versed in it, they don’t really know which to go to. There’s been a lot of cherry picking with ‘let’s have a little bit of that, let’s have a little bit of Cadenza, a little bit of Steve Lawler, let’s get a little bit of this, and just throw things out and see what sticks.’ There are nights that don’t really have a concept; it’s just a bunch of agent’s rosters, with no real concept to it.
Darren: There’s more than enough room for DC-10 and Circoloco, for us, and other good parties. A few years ago when DC-10 struggled with the whole licensing thing, I really was unhappy about it, because you really don’t want that place to go.
P: After doing what you’ve done for so long, are you still challenged by any aspects of your job? Dave: No, because of the people behind, the team. I mean Mark (Broadbent, musical director) is a huge music lover. He’s applied his trade now for quite a few years, and with his wife Sarah, his partner, it’s a family thing. I said it earlier, it’s especially important now, when things are difficult in a time of change, to feel confident in your friends.
P: Why do you think that helps so much? Darren: If you’ve got the right people around you, in good or bad times, it’s alright.
Dave: They’re the most organized promoters I’ve ever come across. They get things done when they say their going to do it, and you’re expected to do the same. It’s a red-hot organization behind the scenes.
P: There seem to be very few successful nights built directly around a big name DJ. In fact, this year DJs have more power than ever, playing for each other’s nights throughout the season. Do you see this as a good or bad thing? Darren: Bad thing. I saw Sven on at Ushuaia and I was like,’ what? Fuck that.’ I mean, there’s a bit of me as a promoter that’s a little jealous they’re that powerful now, truth be told, but the trendy techno based DJs, five or six of them, are all wiping each other’s asses.
Dave: I just find it odd. You would think that if you were aiming at people who are generally here for a week, who are going to spend this amount of money to see X guy, why does this guy play another day of the same week, in another club, for a fee? It might be a massive fee. But he’s just chipping away at his own audience. I don’t understand it.
Darren: What they’re doing is giving each other’s DJ bookings for free. So Richie will go to Jamie, Jamie will go to Richie, and there’s no money. Most of the swaps, that’s what goes down.
Dave: But they’re chipping away at their own base. I don’t get that.
Deusi: Bring somebody new in instead, maybe your friend from Chicago or Australia, not your friend from across the street.
Dave: I mean if the big guys have that much pull, they’ve got, I wouldn’t say a responsibility, but it would be nice if they could bring new people in.
Darren: And to be fair, that’s where Cocoon is failing, you know? They have not brought the next Dice or Ricardo through. They did it a little with Raresh, there’s a couple of things they’ve done, but not really. They used to do it. I mean early on, the first 5 or 6 years, they’d play around with shit. I guess things come to you so that you don’t really have to though. They got lazy. They just got lazy. They stopped looking. I understand Sven’s a DJ not a promoter, but Johannes (Goller), I’m surprised at in a way.
P: So what do you see for the future of We Love…? Darren: I just hope there’s a future and the club stays open. That Matutes, who runs everything in Ibiza, doesn’t somehow pull the wool over Pepe (Rosello)’s eyes and take it (Space) off him before 2016, and we can carry on.
Dave: Yeah, that would be a blow if that place goes.
Darren: Well it (Space) will go from Pepe to Matutes in 2016. There’s nothing we can do about it. I tell you what I was really happy about was Hard Rock. When I heard Matutas was going to turn Don Toni into Hard Rock (Hotel), I was happy about that, because I think this summer, they’ll realize they haven’t got it all their own way, and even with all the money they’re throwing at the DJs, the only one who’s really slamming it is Avicii. And who’d have guessed that Luciano would fall from the perch he was on to where he is now. So therefore, I’m now a bit more hopeful, really, about maybe doing something with him when he takes it, because it isn’t going to be all about Ushuaia, for him (Matutes) I mean. He just wants to build his portfolio. Build golf courses and the lot. (Read the first part of our interview with the guys here).
Ready to be a part of the action? Read below to find out exactly how to enter the competition and find out all the amazing prizes you'll be showering in once you're here!
The mammoth prize includes: 2 x Return Flights from any European Destination; 2 Nights Accommodation at Boutique Hostal Salinas; Return Airport - Hotel - Club transportation; Meet and Greet at Hotel; VIP entry to We Love... Space Closing Party 29.09; Goodie Bag (Contents: TShirt / Stickers / Badges / We Love Detroit CD)
We've made it super easy to enter, just pick one or more of your favorite social media sites and send in your best smiley face using the following platforms:
Facebook: Upload your photo to your wall, making sure to tag @pulse Radio @We Love @BOUTIQUE:H SALINAS #WeLovePulse
Twitter: Tweet your photo tagging @pulseradio @WeLove_Music @HostalSalinas #WeLovePulse -View here
Instagram. Post your pic tagging @pulse_radio @welove_music #WeLovePulse.
Check out a few of the latest entries:
Submitted by Brenna Rochelle.
Submitted by Ben Edinburgh.
The competition closing date is September 9th, so get posting! Good luck to all who enter!
Head here for the full list of Terms & Conditions.
Not quite up for submitting a photo, but still want to come to We Love…Space closing party? No problem! Grab your tickets here!
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