PEPE ROSELLÓ: MUSIC BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER MORE THAN ANY OTHER PHENOMENON IN THE WORLD Featured

pepe collage 2Space is celebrating nothing less than 24 years in the international music arena, what does this anniversary mean to you? 

Really it has been a year more on the path that's been leading Space since '89. Each year, anniversaries, openings and closings mean a before and after each season.

How was the celebration? 

This year we have had a great anniversary party with a superb innovation in production. It was a real blast. People were crowded, to say the least, in the DJ booth, which is where the public lives more for the work and expression of who plays the music. It was a more than a memorable night, mostly for public's attitude and the atmosphere of joy and happiness that was felt .

Knowing that there are people who come from different parts of the world to come to your party should be very rewarding.

Yeah, you meet people that maybe come from Australia and many other places and it's magical. I have always maintained that music brings people together more than any other phenomenon in the world. Music makes us feel the same, live the same emotions and all participate in it. Politicians should learn to unite people through music [ laughs ]. It would be the formula so that we won't fight so much.

Right now there are a lot of ' fights ' between the government and clubs? 

The fight has always been there, let's say it clearly. If we say that we have been in harmony through out life, is not true. Years ago they forced to close the clubs so that the noises wouldn't leak outside, and now they have outdoor parties ... There is a contradiction between what happened before and what's happening now. Same with the regime of schedules. I think it is no wonder that people catch on to what is happening.

He has always said he prefers dancing by day, that the night is make-up, do you think that, today, the beach clubs have a clear advantage over clubs? 

I believe that, what is happening, is that even filling Eivissa, the public is more diversified. We are all affected by the skills and, especially, for those that are coming out in a massive or indiscriminate form. What they do is divide the public, unless we play. In Space there are parties that have not suffered much, but it is true that we receive less public in the nightclub. It is impossible to fill up every day.

Have the proliferation of beach clubs, hotels and other leisure facilities caused changes in the clubs?

The clubs have followed the same line as always, which is our way of understanding what the night has to offer. We have not changed the parameters nor how to act. Yes it should be noted that this new phenomenon has led to a price increase in terms of recruitment: the same dj that before charged you five, now charges you twenty, to say it symbolically. The competition is not only from the public but also for what you pay for the performances. This has been a breakdown of parameters.

Unavoidable question in a time of such economic and social uncertainty: how the season is unfolding?

The season is, for us, the same as last year. The only thing I have to say is that the taxation has increased. In September we went from an 8 to 21%. We have a difference of 13 percent to take and pass to the public. So, you have to increase prices, which reduces consumption.

In Eivissa it seems that the success of the most expensive and luxurious is multiplied, while the average products plummet.

We had a social behavior that was a broadband, which has now taken off in two arrows: one ascending and one descending . This broadband a majority sector has lowered, and a minority sector has risen.

For a company like Space , this should not be positive.

Here we don't make music for a particular audience , we make music for everyone. And this is where the impact occurs significantly. Space has never been in favor of having VIP areas , we haven't been interested in this exclusive concept that the market has now imposed . In fact , we've passed by VIP until two years ago . I've always presumed that , when going to dance , everyone dances the same way : there are no spectators who are in the stands and others who tread the sand.

Not even the most famous?

Remember when Naomi Campbell came to Space. She drank a bottle of Dom Perignon with friends sitting on a staircase . But in a staircase walkway , not in a VIP . The same with musicians and singers who have passed through here , whose greatest pleasure was being mixed people without security guards and all the paraphernalia . For me the most beautiful thing is that they can come to have fun and feel one of the rest.

The DJs have become icons of certain clubs , do you think they are stealing the limelight from their own brands ?

The DJs are media products that appear like flowers in spring. I will not give names, but a DJ who had worked here three years ago , now earns more than ten times what was paid here .

How can it be , in such a short space of time , to increase in that way ? They are constructed media phenomena .

There is a public that conforms to the figures that practically impose the means, but another that is critical, that knows what it wants to see and where it wants to be .

This critical public that we had before in the broadband , we now have on the small side . There are people who have the request of music for music, no names or surnames .

For Space, carrying a banner with the insignia of Carl Cox is , more than anything else , a pride . You feel genuine devotion to him ... Carl Cox is the touristic musical ambassador of Ibiza. This is the title given to this man . He walks around the world and wherever he goes, defends Eivissa and his music. He is also a co-founder of the concept of the island. Music started playing here when the hippies arrived in the '60s , and from here we go to the '80s and a Carl Cox appears to us that has never left Eivissa . I have him as part of my family.

Do you still immerse yourself in Space nights , or do you get a little lazy every time ?

When I come to Space I enjoy myself as much as anyone else. But the next day I pay for it... 20 years ago I didn't pay for it much. I enjoy most getting into the midst of people , being with the public on the dance floor.

That's why you pay for it more the next day ...

Yeah [ laughs ] . This week I've been three times , so it's not bad.

You have planned to open two new franchises in Moscow and New York , is there another in the works ?

We have planned in 2013 the opening of Space Moscow and Space New York, in the next few weeks will make the officially announce of the opening date. Other projects such as the already announced Space Dubai or other others to come, will unravel in 2014.

What does the music continue bringing to Pepe Roselló?

Music is my life. And not only club music . I am a lover of the lyric and the opera, and always take the opportunity to remind my dear Renata Tebaldi , the soprano who inspired my musical life. I am vice president of the foundation that bears her name, and I had the honor of sharing 25 years of her life in the most beautiful way than I could have ever imagined.

Any future desire?

The bulb doesn't stop ... But my greatest desire is to be able to continue to enjoy the friendships that I have , my family , and maintain the health of which I can presume at this time. I give thanks to God and [ laughs ] to pills too.

 

Read 14305 times Last modified on Tuesday, 17 September 2013 07:09