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Wednesday 2 June 2010

Music Is The Answer - "Two Peas In A Pod" - LGDF Special Post




MUSIC IS THE ANSWER
LONDON GLOBAL DANCE FESTIVAL
“TWO PEAS IN A POD”


With The London Global Dance Festival (LGDF) in full swing, what is officially billed as “the closing party”, but what we prefer as a more appropriate term, the afterparty, which will be hosted by Steven Sharp’s “Orange” mega club, has a host of resident stars who will be joined by four international D.J.’s, jetting into London especially for the LGDF, who will be flying the flag for Nightkomm & Spirit Of Star, but three who also have strong connections with record label & agency, Sorry Shoes, but two that have very close connections to each other, having set up their our recording labels & are based very close to each other in Spain. So, in the last of our special LGDF D.J. focuses we look at these two stars which are very much “two peas in a pod” and for good reason.

First up is Ivan Gomez, a native of Barcelona, who is a very much a Spaniard in heart & mind, having all the passion & drive of his fellow country folk and this is no better expressed than through his love of music. Having found himself behind the decks at the tender age of nineteen, mainly seeking opportunities to play at clubs in his home city, also circulating within the vibrant Barcelona scene to get him noticed and having played out at a whole host of small time Catalan clubs in the capital of this Eastern Spanish region, a big break came when he secured residencies at huge gay happenings Bear Factory & Arena and having played for a couple of seasons. Now the floodgate was opened on his D.J. career, not only as he played out at the massive summer festival, Loveball, but was also asked to be involved in the “Bears In Rome” gathering, which was just the exposure he needed, leading onto regular slots at the then new club, Gorgeous I Am, not to mention a whole host of others across the well known gay village in Rome & back in Spain. Ivan has been attracted to the draw of the big festivals as well as the smaller clubs, both Valencia’s summer week & Barcelona’s Bear Farm featuring highly, but whilst he is clearly an accomplished D.J., it is in the studio where Mr Gomez seems to be at his most prolific, the collaboration from 2003 between him & Flaix FM radio station increased his passion for house music, when he regularly presented news slots on the latest releases and then masterminded a slot allowing him to feature some of his home-grown remix & bootleg works.

So, the list of studio works from Ivan is extensive to say the least, having given his treatment to a number of Madonna records including “Give It To Me”, Celebrate” & “Secret”, as well as other big names in the pop scene including Justin Timberlake & The Black Eyed Peas. But it was his own track releases, first “Work My Beats” as well as “So Sexy”, “Turn Me Out” & remix works on a string of Jah Sound records that were getting the major airtime playing, not least on Roger Sanchez’s radio show “Release Me” and with Ivan having taken up production professionally in 2008, having landed a contract with Miami based Southside Recordings, it was that first track that was hailed as one of the most important issues in the Ibiza summer season of the same year, being played right across the white isle & also at all Matinee Group’s parties. More studio work was inevitable & shining examples are Jah Sound’s “La Bruja”, his own “D-Pressed” & the Luca G vocal inspired hit “Love To Survive”, Ivan often working with fellow peers on remixes & tracks, including Ben Manson, Mark Sanchez & both Fran Ramirez & Nacho Chapado who have become close friends of his and both feature in his latest track releases/remixes, many of which can be found at http://soundcloud.com/ivangomezmusic.

So being so active in the studio & producing some quality works, it comes as no surprise that Sorry Shoes creator Mike Kelly saw the potential of Ivan & wanted a piece of the Gomez action, asking him to join the increasing family of D.J’s & producers, to develop the labels depth & potential. Back to the D.J.’ing & Ivan shares his time mainly between Barcelona & Rome, still featuring big at both Gorgeous I Am & Bear Factory, his mixture of various house genres that include tech, progressive, deep, minimal & underground, tinged with uplifting vocals from time to time, go down an absolute treat wherever he plays. Naturally, Ivan will be representing Sorry Shoes at LGDF and brings a wealth of experience not least in the studio, but also from many years behind the D.J. booth. His depth within the genres of house he plays will add a definitive feel to the weekend and indeed his knowledge of playing at large festivals will be a definite plus and he will take to the main floor at Area as part of the Orange afterparty, his music style ideally suited to what looks like the THE party of the weekend.

Our other & final LGDF devotion goes to Jose Ignacio Chapado, better known as Nacho Chapado, who was born in Barcelona, Spain and surrounded himself in music from an early age, not just working as a radio D.J. but also holding down various positions with a number of record companies and soon got the taste for not just D.J.’ing live, but also engrossing himself into the recording studio. As a D.J., his C.V. reads magnificently, the main focus being Italy and, of course, Spain, playing at a host of meets in his home country, including Fascination, Odarko Club, Into The Tank, StrongMatic, Bear Factory, & Ursus Planet, at nearly as many in Italy, places like Hub, The Block, Gorgeous I Am & Gay Village, as well as featuring large at many of the festivals in both countries, highlights being Long Vehicle Week in Italy & Loveball in Spain, although the crowning glory was his appearance at the massive Circuit Festival in Barcelona last year, when he represented not only beartastic brand Megawoof, but also played on behalf of uber club D-Boy. Other destinations in his D.J.’ing career have included Paris for Club Rapido, Zurich’s Selection Party and the Absolut event in Athens.

But like many of his compatriots in the industry, it is in the recording studio where Mr Chapado has been the most active, his first recording dating back to 1999, when he worked with the group, Soldiers Of Dance & with Micky Fortenza, an album that contained remixes of popular songs of the time, spring-boarding a virtual never-ending list of accomplishments, although a six year break meant that it was 2004 before he was back doing what he absolutely loves, producing & remixing records. Delving through the sheer volume of Jose ney Nacho work, is like stepping through a minefield of sensational sounds and outstanding achievements, purple patch years being, first, 2006, when he published his club & electro version of one of the great classics of the eighties: B-Movie’s “Nowhere Girl”, having great success with the first remix in Catalan language, which was an absolute revolution in the electronic music world, further remixes of Gossos & Beth “No Es Nou”, leading to a compilation of 11 remixes under his name with October & Christmas remix releases hitting high notes, then 2007, which was just as successful for him, as a whole plethora of releases came out of the Chapado production factory, including “Let It Fill Your Soul” in two versions: “Put Your Hands Up For Barcelona Mix” & “Electro Handbag Mix”, remix versions of themes by the Catalan group Lexu’s "Amazing & Gorgeous", "Don’t Show The Tears" and a remix made by Juanjo Martin of his record "Coming Up 2007 ". But the amount of releases he has been involved with is staggering, counting well over 60 in his career, recent collaborations with Enrico Arghentini and close friend Ivan Gomez attracting much attention in Spain & particularly on the Barcelona club circuit and already in 2010, he has produced no less than 14 remixes/recordings, nearly half with Mr Gomez and as many released on the Sorry Shoes label, for which Nacho is now part of, real gems in the collection being “Love To Survive” & Dark Beat”, these and a selection of others available to listen to at http://myspace.com/nachochapado as well as being available for download at leading worldwide online store beatport.com as well as D.J download.

Being involved with Sorry Shoes comes as no surprise given his pedigree in the studio and Mike Kelly short of bit his hand off to join, although balancing his work with this spurning record agency, he is also at the centre of a new tribal & progressive house music label, Guareber Recordings, which will see not just his, but close associations works released, which looks like making waves in Spain & beyond, Nacho explaining that “...the Spanish house mafia is here & we will hit the dancefloor with our tribal & progressive beats...” . But, Mr Chapado still loves to get behind the decks live, playing out to packed crowds at Martins Club & StrongMatic in Barcelona, plus zooming across to Italy & Belgium where his services are still in great demand and his style of full on euro style house beats, combining, electro tech & progressive, a hint of tribal, but nearly always with powerful vocals, sounds which are incredibly addictive and dance delirium tempting. There is little doubt, therefore, that his sound will go down an absolute storm at LGDF, the massive euro beats & noticeable records that have been given his remix treatment, very much in tune with striking resonance with the international & discerning crowd that the festival is sure to attract. And Mr Chapado will take his rightful place in the Orange Afterparty flying two flags, Sorry Shoes’ & Nightkomm’s and we cannot wait to sample some of his superb sounds.

So, that’s it, an exhaustive & most comprehensive look at 22 international D.J’s/producers that will have made an indelible impact on London across this massive dance & music festival, none of which would even be possible but were it for the amazing vision & passion of one man, Alex Erfan, who along with the support of Craig Elder and The Orange group, have ventured into the unknown to offer the capital gAylistig clubbing scene something truly different yet in familiar surroundings. What will be the verdict on all these international D.J’s performances? And did the festival meet all expectations? These are just two questions amongst many that we hope to answer in a series of special reviews coming up. (DISCO MATT)

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