Interview: Layo & Bushwacka!

The evergreen Layo & Bushwacka! take 5 to chat Ibiza dates, London scene and how to shake it!

Spotlight: Starting with Ibiza, you're mainly playing at Space for We Love dates and one this week for Carl Cox. Does it feel like home there?

Layo: It's where we have played the most so it is definitely our home in Ibiza, we like playing the other clubs too but Space is very special. We have seen it change a lot, I really like the way they did the terrace but I loved it when it was open air...but whether you play on the inside or outside terrace, the setup is incredible, it's a great great club to play.

What other Ibiza gigs have you got?

We are playing for Pete Tong and also the Brazilian club Warung.

What's your opinion on the strength of the Ibiza scene at the moment? What do and don't you like particularly?

It's difficult for me to say as when we play it always looks full and rocking but sometimes in the past couple of years people say the island is down this year and this year I heard it's very busy, so I don't have a strong opinion...I think it a shame that the laws became so strict, no daytime, no open air...those freedoms were amazing, I also am not so sure about the celebrity influx, it may make the island seem glamourous but I was always into it being a bohemian mix, it's very expensive for most people...it's hard because I also like it being chic, I guess everything that is so popular can have these issues...

You've obviously always played in Ibiza, but Layo & Bushwacka as a brand doesn't really have any particular strong Ibiza connection to me.....

No we love to play but we were never weekly residents nor did we ever do our own night, both things that would make the connection.

Tell us about shake it, the idea, the venues, the parties......you just had Richie Hawtin right?

Shake It began as The End closed. We had played there for 13 years and so whilst we could have set up a residency in another club, it never felt that was going to be the right thing, both for us and the people who loved the End, which was the best crowd in the city. So we thought let's get back to what we love, we just started doing warehouse parties, it's been amazing, we have done ten parties with us and Omri as residents and guests such as Richie, Carl and Laurent Garnier... the feeling is unique, very special and has helped a lot with our creative process in the studio.

There is lot's of doom and gloom about the scene in London at the minute, big closures like matter, turnmills, the end of course in recent years. You guys are well placed to assess how it is at the moment. Enlighten us?

Well it isn't the same after The End, this was the best club in London. And now with all the others closing, though Matter was barely here, it looks a little boring, but all is not what it seems, there is a great scene but it is in warehouses, small bars, all mostly in East London, which is really buzzing, if you go out just in the area it feels very alive, very creative. New things are growing...

The End's Closing Party 2009

On a global scale then, which places and parts of the world are really thriving?

Well there are good parties everywhere, I couldn't say where I think is hot apart from all the obvious places, for me, the places I love is where it's at...Brazil, Japan, New York, Ibiza, London, we don't play much in Germany so it would be false for me to say but the impression I have from there is that it's somewhere very happening...

What do you regret doing or not doing in the last year.....and don't say "no regrets" because that's never true.

I can regret many things, the way I played, maybe the way I spoke to someone, something I didn't do, but they are all personal and in the scheme of my life pretty small, the kind of regrets we all have if we reflect on our lives...

Time to plug me about productions, releases, collaborations, gigs, etc?

Lots and lots of new music, remixes of The Noisettes and Spektrum, and some new original music but for some people and labels we really love and respect... 

More information and DJ listings for Carl Cox, Ibiza 2010