From working at Phonica Records to now swaying thousands of people with his solid style of well rounded selections of techno and house, Hector is part of the next generation of DJs and producers who are steadily padding into the scene, taking their spots amongst the greats who already rule the landscape. 1trax did well to take precedent by inviting Hector to reign over the fourth installment of their compilation series. Taking a rather uncommon approach, Hector was determined to do it live by using one of his sets from the ENTER. Tokyo show at Womb. We can only imagine what a pleasure it must have been to get down on the dance floor in this dark cavernous hall to this extremely well executed mix. Like he says later in the interview, he keeps the tracks it all true to his style, allowing for a smooth continuous journey that gradually picks up the pace, as the club fills up. With tracks that feature eerie vocals paired with the sound of rain to deep sub-ridden basslines that vibrate through to our bones, the compilation is an inward exploration of the mind and an outward journey of our body's movements. As with all music, words do little justice for what is meant to be heard and felt. After Hector tells us what it takes to put together the mix for 1trax, be sure to preview it in the Beatport player.
How were you approached to do the 1trax’s mix compilation? How did that come about? Dave Elquevez, who runs 1trax’s label, used to come to a party I used to play in London a long time ago called Cubicle at a public toilet converted into a bar. You could only fit 120 people there and it was kind of like an illegal after party on a Sunday. He used to come there all the time and listen to my sets and just kind of followed my career. One day I just got an email that he wanted to talk to me about a few projects. First thing I did was a remix for his label and the second thing was the offer to do the compilation. I was really happy to do the compilation. The two done before mine were by Huxley and Subb-an. They are really good compilations so I wanted to do something a bit different and I came up with the idea of recording it live because I haven’t seen a compilation recorded live in the last few years.
How did you decide which gig to make your live recording from? I had a few gigs coming up. I had the Desolat Experience at Fabric, ENTER. in Tokyo, and the BPM Festival in Playa del Carmen. I had three opportunities to do the compilation and but first I needed to collect the music. I thought what can I give that is extra to the compilation. I asked a few of my friends to give me exclusive tracks for the compilation. Then I went to tINI, Anthea, John Dimas, and Fernando Costantini so they gave me four amazing tracks that were kind of like underground, old school, and new stuff. I used a little bit of everything but kept it all my style.
The other idea I had was to have a vinyl sampler of all the exclusive tracks to push the compilation a little bit more. It was a really interesting project. All the little things started to come up like the vinyl exclusive tracks, what to include, and where to record it. Then I thought that the ENTER. gig in Tokyo was probably going to be the best. Tokyo is my favorite city in the world, Womb club is my favorite club in the world and I thought, you know what, let’s just try it there.
Doing it this way was a big risk. I was really nervous. A little problem on the mix and then that’s it - it could get ruined. I went to Tokyo, I went to the sound check and all the Japanese people were so professional. I didn’t have any problems, whatsoever. We tried it and the compilation came out amazing. I didn’t have any mistakes. The flow of the mixes was really good. I changed a couple of them on the go. I kind of improvised. It’s not like I had been practicing the mix. If it was going to come out that way, it needed to be natural.
Would you mind setting up how that club night was? How did it feel? What was the ambiance like for people who haven’t been there and didn’t experience it? Well the place was for about 15,000 people, so the room was super big and I was the second one to play. I had about thirty to forty tracks to choose from depending on the crowd and on the vibe. That’s how I needed to do the mix. I couldn’t have planned my mix at the beginning of the night. When I started playing, it was like half full with about 8,000 people so I had to start playing really deep. The Japanese people are an amazing crowd. They know the music. They know why they’re going to this event, because they know the DJs they're seeing. They’re really geeks. I started playing and I started to follow the direction of the people. I started to do the mixes and it all worked.
You have those bonus tracks on the vinyl sampler. Why only vinyl? I used to work at Phonica Records for almost seven years so I have a very big collection. Every week, I still buy everything on vinyl. I also play digital but all my EPs and releases are on vinyl. Every single one. The last one I did for Siesta is on vinyl. Remixes are a little bit different. Sometimes, I support people that have small labels with really cool music. But you know, these days, to produce vinyl is really expensive. But still, everyone’s playing vinyl now. I could do remixes for a digital label, but I’m more focused on vinyl and I’m still a big supporter of it. That was my main concern, to support vinyl.
Have you got anything cooking in the studio? I’m working on an album right now. I don’t know how long that’s going to take because I’m trying completely new stuff, different stuff. I’m recording musicians and vocalists. It’s a little bit like a puzzle. It’s something new but I’m just trying something a little bit different than my usual stuff. That’s the fun part at the moment because I have one idea but the musicians have completely different ideas. We try something new together. We mix things together and it becomes something super special. That’s the really interesting party of doing it live with live musicians.
I’m looking forward to it coming out. Hopefully not too long. I’m hoping the same but it’s difficult with the touring and right now the summer so whenever I have the chance to record someone, I just do it. Like next week, I’m going to record for two days, and then again on the road for three weeks, and again another two days. Whenever I have the chance, I record. I’m coming back again to the States in July and I’m planning to record then while I’m there. Basically, I’m putting parts together. Once I have a lot of stuff, then I will start to finalize the projects and see how it comes out.
Speaking of summer, are you playing a lot on Ibiza? Don’t you wish you could just stay there the entire time? No, because then it’s trouble. I’ll be here a lot in August I’m playing almost every week for Dice’s new party Used + Abused and then I’ll play in July for ENTER., which is Richie Hawtin, Dice, and me. I’m doing a lot in September for the closing parties. As I said, in July I’m back in the States and I’m doing another three weeks there. It’s a bit of a crazy summer.
Sounds like you’re very busy. As an artist, is there someone who currently inspires you? Someone you look up to? Yeah, there’s people like Loco Dice, Richie Hawtin, Dubfire, Adam Beyer. It’s people I’ve been spending a lot of time with recently, not only musically but everything that involves their gigs, their labels, their shows, and their team. Everything is really inspiring and it’s really interesting to be part of what they’re doing because I get to learn a lot and improve my sets, my music, my work, and my lifestyle. Everything is really interesting at the moment.
Dice’s and Rich’s teams are definitely very inspirational. Yeah, and I’ve been spending a lot of time with them. I did pretty much every single international ENTER. We did Madrid, Romania, Tokyo, a few other ones with Dice. We’ve been working for two years. We did the Desolat Experience and now Used + Abused. Richie and Dice work a lot together so it’s super cool for me to be hanging out with both of them.
Is there a piece of gear or equipment that is high on your wish list that you’d like to get your hands on? I need a 909. I have an 808 but I need a 909. That’s the last thing on my wish list. Take note. I need a 909. My birthday’s September 23rd. If you don’t want to wait until Christmas you can get it for me earlier.
We’ll see if anybody bites the hook. You also played a great, fun set at Movement this year. How did you like it? Detroit Movement was amazing. I think it was one of my favorite gigs this year. I have no words. Just that it was amazing. The people, the place, everything was amazing. It's my favorite gig so far this year.
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