Elio Riso has been a regular visitor to Ibiza for over a decade, playing
wherever he could at the beginning and ending up with a prestigious
residency at Space.
What is it about Ibiza that makes it so special?
There’s not any other place in the world that can be compared to Ibiza.
For the ones who love electronic music, Ibiza brings the best
international DJs, and it’s in the vanguard of music, it has all new
trends. The clubs are excellent, thinking of everything from sound and
artistic presentation to the shows. For the ones that enjoy having a great
time with their families, Ibiza is also special, the beaches are paradise,
the restaurants, the people living there… all in all, Ibiza joins your
likes of being alive and being free.
Does Ibiza still play a role in breaking a new tune?
Ibiza is avant-garde in music; all that is launched throughout the season
is played throughout the world for the rest of the year. This shows the
music trends continuously.
How important is Ibiza to the building of a global club brand?
Ibiza has the greatest parties and this gives place for each club to have
its own musical style.
Describe your first Ibiza experience?
It was 12 years ago when I played at Space Ibiza for the first time, when
it opened during the morning. It was for a party called ‘Angel of Love’, I
was with a great friend Jose de Divina, invited by Andy Spinelli. Later,
being introduced by Oscar Colorado, I started to play, giving short but
firm steps. Finally I’ve finished working as resident at Space Ibiza – one
of the experiences that I’ll always be grateful and I will never forget
about it – thanks to everyone that in any way helped me to be here. I had
several very good nights full of nice memories, one of which was Groove
Armada playing one of my tracks ‘To Be Or Not To Be’ at the opening of We
Love Sundays in 2005. After that ‘To Be Or Not To Be’ was played to close
all his sets during that season.
Away from the club how do you relax on the island?
I use to go to the beach every day, I run through Marina Botafoch and I go
swimming twice a week. I love sports or doing activities outside.
Which is your favourite beach?
There are lots of very nice beaches, it’s difficult to choose one, but
Salinas, Cala Jondal or Aguas Blancas are my favourites.
What are you listening too chilling on the beach?
I try to enjoy the beach with some friends. I leave the music for the
studio or my sets.
You’ve got a night off, where do you head for food?
I love Sushi and a good wine.
Name three essential items needed to survive your Ibiza trip?
Good behaviour, respect and music.
What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen/experienced on the island?
In Ibiza I’ve seen lots of weird things, but I think that the funniest
thing that happened to me was one evening that we were preparing an
Argentine ‘asado Argentino’ (similar to a barbecue) at Steve Lawler’s
house, when we went to look for the meat, the neighbour’s dog had already
eaten our ‘asado’! Another funny thing happened when I gave Carl Cox a
bootleg of Green Velvet and there he was: Green Velvet in the flesh! He
was really surprised and we burst into laughter!