A true Ibiza institution, Inkadelic is the most established and revered tattoo parlour on the island of Ibiza. The shop is widely regarded among aficionados who fly from all over Europe just to have work done by Neil Ahern and his colleagues, “spending serious money and serious time – we only do custom work.” To celebrate their 10 long years of artistry we’ve handed over control of El Salon on Sunday August 29th to Neil and his cohorts, they’ve invited DJs Luca C & Brigante, DJ Blue (Hunk Papa), Jon-Jak and Samir to man the decks for this night of festivities. Special guest DJ Blue aka Hunk Papa is a founding member of the UK B-Boy Championships, expect a specially prepared set of zulu-dub and liquid-reggae. There will also be live tattooing taking place in the room – let’s get inspired!
Let's make love and listen to death from above
Although our trusty booker (and Inkadelic patron) Mark says “it hurts when you go to see him”, Neil is a nice guy really. Check his email address on the flyer above for guest list enquiries or why not just visit Plaza del Mercado Viejo and experience the shop (below) for yourself. If you are thinking of getting a tattoo Neil has some good advice for you: “The people should be going in asking constructive intelligent questions and see what the tattooist is gonna do for them. It’s quite easy to see, go into a shop, see how the shop is. You can see if someone’s into something or not. You feel it, hear it. This place here is like a museum, a shrine to tattooing – it’s a big part of my life.”
Yes, that's Naomi Campbell
Also playing on the night are 2ManyDjs, Joris Voorn, Paul Woolford, James Holden, Ewan Pearson, The Mole, Paul Mogg and more. You can see more photos of Inkadelic and their crew on myspace. There’s a facebook event page thing, here. As Jack London said: “Show me man with a tattoo and I’ll show you a man with an interesting past.”
As part of their summer residency in Ibiza with We Love, Tirk and The Pool have pulled in their special August guests in the form of Stevie Kotey and Bottin for some interrogation. Thanks to The Loop blog for the Q & A.
Bottin, a producer, DJ and sound designer from Venice, Italy was raised on late 70s Italian disco and kitsch horror soundtracks which shines through in his imitative but always forward looking sound. His album Horror Disco goes down particularly well while cruising down the Autostrada from Milan to Turin on the way to listen to an 18 hour party of Berghain resident techno… as we did here. He shys away from the more soulful and retro elements of disco giving a warmer and less polished aesthetic than his Scandavian nu-disco contemporaries. More influenced by John Carpenter, Lucio Fulci and Goblin-esque robo-cult-disco than the sounds of late 70s NY or Philly.
Stevie Kotey was brought up in a time when definitions were looser and scenes and sounds more indistinguishable than today. As tea-boy for Audio One studios in Soho his belief in being part of the music industry was cemented – lucky us! Under guidance of his Bear Funk label a wide audience were exposed to the likes of Todd Terje, Prins Thomas and Lindstrom for the first time. When it comes to his own production, Stevie Kotey dips and delves into all things nice. Don’t miss his connection to the mighty Chicken Lips with their electro funk, dubby sounds and rocky disco. A true bear knows no hibernation.
So expect a reckless blend of retro-futuristic sounds and contemporary electronica set to light up the floor in El Salon at We Love on Sunday 22nd August. In conjunction with Resident Advisor, expect a special night all round with Carl Craig, Mathew Dear, Miss Kittin, Derrick May, 20:20Soundsystem Live, Steve Lawler, Motorcitydrumensemble and more… phew!
Click flyer for more info...
Is there one book that you have read that has been life-changing for you?
Stevie Kotey: I couldn’t choose just one, different books for different times, different moods all determine whether your reading something life changing, But I suppose John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and Pimp by Iceberg Slim have all had a lasting effect. Oh before I forget, though it’s not a book The Viz comic equally has had a great influence on my life.
Did your parents encourage you to work in music?
Bottin: No, there are no musicians in my family (apart for one of my uncle that plays flute). My parents did not specifically encourage me but they didn’t try dissuade me either and they bought me my first synthesizer when I was 12 (a Korg M1, the clerk at the shop told’em Pink Floyd used to so it must’ve been a good one).
Stevie Kotey: No not really, unless you’re a classically trained musician or top producer, working in music was always deemed a bit of laugh and not a real job, especially when you’re self employed. I’m sure they hoped for more.
How do you apply your past experiences to what you do today?
Bottin: I often learn my mistake and I’ve done quite a few mistakes. Like trying do music that I don’t actually feel or producing for people I don’t share a similar taste with. Now I know the only way is to develop your own trademark sound and that’s what I’ve been doing in the recent years and I do not intend to stop.
Stevie Kotey: Every minute of everyday past experiences help me to judge new situations, how to judge people you meet, when to be nice and when to be an asshole. Different strokes for different folks. There’s nothing like experience especially in music.
How did you begin to work professionally in music?
Bottin: My first record deal was for a track on Irma Records Italy, in a compilation called Sister Bossa. It had a sort of Brazilian rhythm, acoustic guitar and vocoder. Quite a strange arrangement now that I recall it. Shortly after that I started making music and sounds for commercials and websites.
Stevie Kotey: Lucked out completely, I had a good careers teacher; I studied a bit and just applied myself. You can work in music without the help of anyone, but it usually doesn’t pay well. If you want something hard enough you make it happen, but essentially I invested everything I could both mentally and financially into releasing music.
Where is your current studio and what is it like?
Bottin: It’s in Venice, I have all the gear in my apartment. I’m lucky since my neighbors work till late at night and they never complain about the screaming synthesizers. I have 8-9 synths, most of them cheap Italian machines from the late 70s and early 80s (Farfisa, Siel) among the non-Italians I have a Roland SH09 and a Moog MG-1 Concertmate. Although I believe the most important piece of equipment in any studio are the speakers.
Stevie Kotey: Well I don’t really have one, I couldn’t afford to have a bespoke studio anymore, I have a little set up at home Mac G4 (old skool) some outboard synths and sound modules. If you know what you’re doing you don’t need much.
How much have you had to consider marketing issues since embarking on your career and how has that affected your creativity?
Bottin: No marketing issues at all. I’ve been doing this type of music since a while, then when Lindstrom and all the so-called “nu disco” came out I was sort of lucky since label started wanted to sign my stuff, the same stuff nobody seems to want before. I’m very active promoting my stuff on the internet though: twitter, facebook, soundcloud… I only use those for promotion, I very rarely write about personal stuff.
Stevie Kotey: Well yes you need to promote your own shit these days but, I’ve never been one for self promotion, nothing makes me cringe more than receiving weekly emails from DJs about what they are doing and where they playing etc, surely your music and your DJ sets should do the talking for you? I’m only on facebook five months ago so I’m trying to do more, as for affecting my creativity I say less profile updating and more music making.
How would you describe your work?
Bottin: Artisan-like and restless.
Stevie Kotey: A&R, production, remixer, a thinker, bringing people together and hopefully something that will be remembered when I’m no longer here.
Who were your teachers?
Bottin: My teachers were the records of Steely Dan, Earth Wind & Fire, Claudio Simonetti, Celso Valli. I took piano lessons when I was a kid, but that was the only proper music education I got – though later (at 18) I took some jazz and orchestration lessons and I also learned a lot by playing piano and hammond organ in a big bang.
Stevie Kotey: Well my teachers are my record collection, everything I want to know about music or life can usually be found in a record I own or want.
Your home is burgled but fortunately the culprits are caught and your possessions returned to you. What would you deem a suitable punishment for the burglars?
Bottin: They will have to buy me an extremely sultry dinner at a very expansive restaurant of my choice.
Stevie Kotey: I say we get medieval with that shit, flogging in the town square. naked embarrassment of the highest order, then a t-shirt that’s say’s I’m a fucking scumbag thief that has to be worn for a couple of years.
You have to make one species of animal extinct. Excluding insects, which species would that be?
Bottin: Pigeons and people who feed them.
Stevie Kotey: I can’t wish that on any animal no matter how naughty they have been; only the big man upstairs decides who stays or who goes.
If you could spend one week in any period of history, which period would you choose?
Bottin: I would love to see Venice when it was at its prime, before the plague, Napoleon and all…
Stevie Kotey: Easy April 26th 1977 at Studio 54 Bianca’s birthday party
Thanks to Ben Terry and Matty J at The Pool London / Tirk for the original article at their blog The Loop. More 11 Questions here. For a little taste of something to expect from Bottin and his horror disco roadshow, check the video below…
Although first best known for their steady stream of re-issues and edits of what can loosely be described as disco, Tirk Records is a home for a range of styles and methodologies of modern dance music. In collaboration with critically acclaimed Hackney based DJ agency The Pool we are proud to announce a monthly residency with which The Pool and Tirk will host El Salon within Space for We Love this summer season.
Expect a showcase of carefully selected names. Legendary titans of the scene and fresh talent will be exhibited in the chic but loose backroom at We Love over four Sundays this summer. Artists appearing include; Steve Kotey (owner of Bear Funk from Chicken Lips (compilation about to drop on Tirk), Matthew Burgess – DJ History’s finest secret weapon, Richard Sen of Padded Cell – fresh out of the studio with Bryan Ferry, mysterious Brighton meets Brooklyn collective Soft Rocks, geordie nu-beat genius Phoreski. Italian horror-disco maestro (and office listening favourite) Bottin and most highly anticipated a live show from Tirk’s most recent discovery, one part King Tubby, two parts Carl Craig… Architeq. Tirk residents Matty J and Ben Terry will be on hand across the four dates to add a sprinkle of their own balearic fairy dust.
Rising like a disco driven phoenix from the ashes of the legendary Nuphonic (who led from the front in the recent disco resurgence with a pioneering output from 1995 to 2002) stable, which was revered across the world in its reputation for quality and diversity in sound, Tirk follows in that tradition of releasing cutting edge music from all corners of the dance spectrum. From the kraut-pop of Fujiya & Miyagi, to the punk-funk of New Young Pony Club and electro pioneer Greg Wilson along with other genre busting artists such as Idjut Boys and Time & Space Machine we hope by coming to Ibiza with We Love they can continue to throw their message far and wide.
Pencil in these dates for a taste of true-new-balearica at We Love… Space; June 27th, July 25th, August 22nd and September 26th. They’re all Sundays, as if you needed to ask!
Below you can watch a video directed by Steven Crichton at Duncan of Jordanstone art college in the delightful seaside “city of discovery” Dundee. The track is from Arqiteq’s album Gold and Green available on Tirk Recordings.
The Black Rabbit gang are descending on the White Isle for a summer residency with us at We Love. The idea behind the move is for all their guests to play alternative and unconventional sets in El Salon throughout the summer. Expect the likes of Shaun Reeves, Pete Herbert, Thomas Gandey (Cagedbaby), Luca C, Ali Love and a slew of other established and upcoming producers and DJs to be gracing the decks. El Salon (by day, an unassuming white lounge bar / back room, but the minute the sun starts to fade, it turns into a retro-inspired groove-tastic rave space for the Black Rabbit crew) will be swaying to the sounds of leftfield disco, analogue house and live vocals once a month starting on our opening party and ending fortuitously at our closing. In rabbiting style, expect the odd bit of 80’s party pop thrown in for good measure.
Bones and Guy, balearic bunnies
Formed in 2006, the Black Rabbit contingent of Chris Bones, Kelly Love, Justin Robertson and Guy Williams quickly gained appeal by their renowned residents Bones and Guy playing a refreshing, uplifting mishmash of musical styles. Highlights of the summer look to be Luca C and Ali Love live on the 13th of June, there’s sure to be a few unreleased licks from Chemical Brothers collaborator Ali Love’s anticipated new album. The 4th of July aptly brings Detroit native Shaun Reeves of Wolf + Lamb out to play his distinctive mix of American and Kraut House, both classic and contemporary. On Sunday the 1st of August be advised to expect the unexpected with Paradise 45, brainchild of Thomas Gandey (Cagedbaby) and Guy Williams dropping everything from italo, dub, funk and beyond. Also out that day will be disco king Pete Herbert – a constant force in dance for the past 15 years. The Rabbit’s final date, 5th September brings fellow Londoners DDD Simon Morell and Ryan Shaw, as Kelly says it’s going to be “fun, messy and Balearic all the way!”
Guy Williams has kindly provided a mix to give a taste of things to come this summer. You can download it here. Thump thump thump.
By luring the likes of Pilooski, Toby Tobias and Retro/Grade to deepest darkest Dalston, the Disco Bloodbath gang have built by word-of-mouth their monthly fixture which has helped to shape the phenomenal global renaissance of disco music within underground club culture. You would be hard pushed these days to find a club which does not have some kind of disco tinged offering on at least one night of the week. This is true not only in London, but in Sydney, Barcelona and now thanks to We Love, Ibiza too. However, it’s well known that the Bloodbath crew are responsible for bringing disco back from it’s trainspotter status to the hip, young and gender bending hordes of East London.
Expect everything from screaming high-energy bangers to sleazy downtempo morning music, classic New York into Italo and deep, repetitive proto-techno-disco. Things should be as balearic as they come, a speakeasy feel with a tight-knit but large turnout and no grumpy collector types stroking their beards and demanding original French pressings. As Dan describes the party in London, “all of London’s tribes are there; There’s the fashion crowd, music heads, people that mainly go to gay clubs, or indie clubs or minimal clubs, there’s no one tribe that dominates our dance floor. I think a lot of people are fed up of what “club music” has turned into … the music policy does it’s own job of filtering out that dickhead element.”
As the flyer says, Disco Bloodbath will be taking over our neat little back room El Salon on the 20th of June alongside the likes of Hercules & Love Affair and the 11th of July, also appearing on that day are Hot Chip and The Juan MacClean. The Bloodbath lads have kindly provided us with a mix described by a wise man thus, “Gay vampire disco for the blood sucking hordes!” … download it here.
In 2008 theorists predicted the year of the Blevins was on the cards for 2009. Having placed a small wager on this, these theorists are now multi-millionaires. These same theorists are now banking on 2010 being a stellar year for Blevins, and in a boiler-room kind of way are advising you to do the same. Starting his 2009 in the sun soaked Australia, Ian’s gigs took a festival twist playing at one of Australia’s most talked about events, Playground Weekender. Alongside this Ian played at a host of Sydney’s top venues including Ladylux, Favella, and The Loft, including playing on the same bill as Norman Jay and the Unabombers for the Good Times weekend. On top of this Ian was responsible for warming up for Crazy Penis on their Australian tour. Not a bad start by anyone’s standards. Although a good start to the year, the bookies at which theorists had placed there bets would still not concede this to be a true “year of the Blevins”. With this in mind, after a string of hugely successful UK gigs, Ian headed to Ibiza, a place Ian knew he could prove the theorists correct. It didn’t take him long. A residency at We Love… taking in The Premier Etage, the main Terraza and a very special session in El Salon cemented his status as a fine purveyor of eclectic-electronica and earned his backers thousands of Pesetas. With 2009 in the bag Ian’s Ibiza summer was given a proverbial cherry on the top: one of the most coveted sets in Ibiza and hence the world – Space Closing Fiesta, La Terraza. With over 16000 people attending the party, Ian’s set to a capacity room remains a highlight of the event cited by everyone from Resident Advisor to his cat Nyron. With a tour of Asia and Australia about to commence Ian plans to follow the sun down under and we can only hope it brings him back round to us here in Ibiza next summer. The sensible money is on 2010 – Blevins for president of the world.
Ian has kindly provided a mix which he describes as: “I’ve condensed alot of my favourite tunes from this summer that hold special memories of me or more people dancing a little more like a maniac than usual, on beds in beach bars and other interesting locations.” Download it here.
Is there one book that you have read that has been life-changing for you?
I don’t think one book has totally changed my look at life although I do think that each book I’ve read leaves me a little more wiser than before. As far as music is concerned I recommend, “Love Saves The Day” by Tim Lawrence, or “Last Night a DJ Saved My Life” by Bill Brewster.
Blevasaurus
Did your parents encourage you to work in music?
No. Im still encouraged to get a “proper” job in fact.
How did you begin to work professionally in music?
I began by dishing out flyers.
How do you apply your past experiences to what you do today?
Learn and grow.
Where is your current studio and what is it like?
My current studio is my laptop, and is pretty basic. The aim is to expand.
How much have you had to consider marketing issues since embarking on your career and how has that affected your creativity?
I’ve had to consider marketing, which is one of the reasons I built my website and try to keep it updated. This acts a good point for anyone to find about myself, mixes, gigs, photo’s etc.
I don’t think I personally have had my creativity affected too much by it [marketing], though it does often take time away from learning further music related subjects etc.
How would you describe your work?
If by this you mean DJing in general. There is not a better job.
Who were your teachers?
Anyone I’ve met with something worth listening to.
Your home is burgled but fortunately the culprits are caught and your possessions returned to you. What would you deem a suitable punishment for the burglars?
Eaten alive by ants.
You have to make one species of animal extinct. Excluding insects, which species would you make extinct?
Leprechauns or left-handed badgers.
If you could spend one week in any period of history, which period would you choose?
The early seventies at the beginning of “disco” music or back in a decent dinosaur period. Jurassic or Cretaceous. Dinosaurs, plants, trees, huge land masses still joined together. That’s worth a week of anyones time. Nothing longer though.
