Ibiza is king when it comes to unveiling underground talent and new and emerging sounds, but the venues tend to remain the same. Each year, the odd huge new (ad)venture pops up, but for the most part, we reside in a fixed landscape of nightlife culture. So with a man who has visited most Ibiza venues, played in many and crafted a new underground sound that would fit somewhere in between most, it was good to have Jonty Skrufff at the musical helm this week, who likes to keep things a little left of centre. Jonty is a DJ who I have listened to mostly on Pioneer DJ Radio, as one half of the presenting team Germany Calling. I fell in love with the chemistry he and his cohort, Fidelity Kastrow have on air, as if they are letting you into their private musical members club and giving you a Berlin backroom shakedown for your troubles. Living in the German city, he also has a residency at one of its most captivating new night hubs, Sisyphos. I asked him if he would give us a mix that showcased the essence of this venue…
As I expected, Mr Skrufff was only too happy to oblige and told me, “I did the mix with Sisyphos’ newly enlarged Hammehalle in mind. I’m playing there again in a couple of weeks and it’s a large, 1,000 capacity plus, warehouse style space with eight Function One speaker stacks and an amazing lighting rig. The mix is intense, with a tougher tech edge than I sometimes spin, but consists of mainly brand new tracks I love and play.” It was clear our little slice of midweek musical pie would have a new lid and some very different ingredients this week, which, having been on the island throughout the winter, was tickling my taste buds and making me salivate in anticipation of what was to come. A new venue with whole new labyrinth for us to explore. Not just any old venue either, as Sisyphos has a bit of a history to it, as I’m reliably informed by Jonty, it used to be a dog biscuit factory. A couple of miles east of Berlin’s inner ring, it is definitely on my hit list when I head there later this year. Parties run from Friday to Monday non-stop and attract a unique crowd of artists, freaks, ravers and alternative clubbers, most of whom are into energetic, quality underground house, tech-house, techno and lots more besides. My mind was beginning to boggle and my interest and curiosity piqued as memories of Mike and Claire’s Manumission’s debauched days ran amok in my mind.
It turns out Jonty is not short of a tale of those types of trips here to the white isle either, he revealed, “I’ve been many times (maybe 20 trips now) but almost all have been short sharp shocks, usually for DJ gigs. My best memories though have been the random adventures when I’ve stepped off the beaten track and ended up having some of the best nights of my life.” Obviously that was not going to cut the mustard as an answer and I probed him further, keen to get to the bottom of exactly what he’d been up to whilst here on our turf, it was obvious he had plenty of mischief up his sleeves, which I felt was being masked by his music, but not the glint I could see in his eyes or his ability to throw a serious curve ball into his mixes when you least expect it. In fact, with Jonty, it seems to be a musical mantra. Expect the unexpected and you won’t be disappointed. It was not so difficult to get a little more information out of him, “One (adventure) in particular involved missing my flight by 15 minutes,” he revealed. After partying a touch too hard and ending up strolling down Salinas beach in pink thongs (only) accompanied by two London friends similarly dressed, which led us to mansion parties, 5 star plus boutique hotel rooftops in Ibiza Town and all sorts of unmentionable action in the next 24 hours.” Missed flights are standard in Ibiza. We have all done it at least once before I actually decided a stronger message was on the line and I decided to move here and take heed. It sounds like Jonty also had his doubts. He continued, “I seriously considered quitting my (then EMI) job and staying for at least a month, but the higher power took me home.” Shame, as I would have loved to see him out in his Pink Flip Flops! It could be that he comes back to Ibiza this summer, if he gets a few gigs lined up and Sisyphos allow him to take a break. It would not be his first DJ adventure, as he explained that Pacha was an old stomping ground. “I used to play the Global Room quite a lot,” he tells me. “At one point I had a summer residency during David Guetta’s night, which was an interesting, if fairly tough gig. I also gigged at Eden, for the back room of Judgement Sunday for a few years.”
I was on the cusp of asking Jonty to stay for good as he dropped his final track; ‘It’s Tricky’ by the Beastie Boys, another unexpected gem in his set for essentialibiza with British Airways. He is not so sure he could do the longterm gig though. “I have mixed feelings about Ibiza,” he admits. “I usually have a moment of thinking ‘I HATE this place’ during every trip, then soon afterwards meet some lovely, truly magical people and immediately understand why it’s still so special. I’d love to come back and DJ there but very much to play the kind of music that’s included on this mix – powerful, energetic, engaging, underground tech-house and techno.” Let’s hope the booking big wigs are listening as I for one am keen to see him in action on Ibiza this summer, especially if those flip flops are in his suitcase! You may want to get your flip-flops pimped and ready for this weekend though, as Booom! Ibiza goes to Istanbul for Friday nights Suite 780 trip with Asun James, NOBE and Andres Ferndez as well as their resident Escribano. Saturday it is Mood Up and Sexy Chic’s turn to takeover Booom! Ibiza while across the road in Pacha PlayMovie presents Jose de Divina, Sine3, Jonathan Tena, Angel Linde and Thomas Gioia on the musical menu, while FUDE will be in the Pacha restaurant before hand. Saturday sees Sebastian Gamboa return with Vintage Winter in Pacha alongside Anna Tur, Angel Linde and B-Linda on Violin. Have a great weekend wherever you are and we will be back on Ibiza global radio next week, same time, same place. See you then.
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