The summer season of clubs and festival, in Ibiza and the rest of Europe, started last month, and one DJ who has been a regular performer there throughout the years is Angel Costa.
First a DJ spinning at local clubs in Mallorca and later a producer with his own label, Costa started in the early ‘90s, experimenting with multiple subgenres until settling on techno. While Costa’s primarily a club DJ even today, performing at Sonar – one of Europe’s larger dance music festivals and one further migrating over to North America in recent years – inspired him to start producing and eventually create his own label, REZ.
These days, when he’s not DJing at Mallorca club nights Gothic and Modular, Costa releases tracks on his own label, as well as internationally-distributed ones like Brood Audio, CLR, Electric Deluxe, Pong Music, Eklero Records, and several others.
As Costa gears up for the season and puts out a new single, titled “Alive,” Crossfadr caught up with him by email.
What drew you to DJing?
The main reason is, I like when people are dancing on the dance floor, and I like to share these moments. So, I can say that basically I became a DJ for this reason.
How did you start DJing in clubs?
First of all, as a resident of a club here in Mallorca, I started opening at the club, at the first hour, until I became the main artist of the night. The early 90’s music scene was not like now – you could have the residence of the place, with no closing time for clubs. You could create and enjoy more than now, where laws and restrictions limit the development of the musical scene.
Since the early ‘90s, how has your gear evolved?
Everything has evolved and is evolving every day. The technology, the way to play in a club, the public, how to understand music… and I evolved with everything. Many years ago, you were playing with vinyl, then with CD,
For me, the most important, and what helps me more, is the background that you get as a resident in a club, where you can learn how to connect and how to bring people and the dance floor to you. For me, it is essential to start as a DJ like this.
What’s your approach for finding new music?
As a DJ, [it’s] through thousands of promos that you receive every week. It’s hard work to listen and then select from all the promos you receive.
After DJing several genres, how did you decide to stick with techno?
After playing a lot, I realized that techno is the genre that I enjoy more. Even then, I still enjoy deep house, tech, [and other] genres that I still play in some clubs.
When it comes to production, how would you describe your style?
That’s difficult to describe yourself. I can say crude techno and dark. Lately, I’m [in a] more mental mode.
Tell me about your new track “Alive”: How did you approach creating it?
Like all my tracks. I start without knowing where I’ll finish, without knowing where I’ll go. I start, and then take some parts and develop them.
Now that the summer season has started, what are your plans?
Nothing really special or different: open air like every summer, and clubs where I used to go.
Where do you prefer to DJ – at clubs or festivals?
Absolutely clubs. For me, they are where you can connect more with people, and the atmosphere is better.
Now that you’ve been DJing for over 20 years, where would you like to see your career go?
I can say that now I’m more focused on production. I hope I can still enjoy music and playing around for several years more.
