Music centers can break out in the must unlikely places. Take the small Balearic Island of Ibiza, for example. When people think of island vacations, they likely picture sandy beaches, rolling waves, and drinking cool beverages under the hot sun. In other words, they dream about enjoying the great outdoors.

However, it’s the great indoors, instead, that makes Ibiza a coveted destination for dance music aficionados all over the world.

Much like latter day world explorers, hippies arrived in Ibiza in the ’60s, bringing with them musical styles not yet heard in Spain. And in 1973, Pacha Ibiza, the island’s first pivotal club, began to attract music-loving night owls. Soon after, rising musicians from around the globe were flocking to this sonic melting pot, and eventually many other popular night spots took root, including Es Paradis and Amnesia.

In the ’90s, dance music began to evolve at a rapid rate, similar to the way the internet and personal computers started fast-forwarding our culture into its brave new future. And when the electronic dance movement started to take shape via house, trance, techno and other keyboard and computerized styles, DJs in the Ibiza club scene took on the role of turntablest agents of change. There’s even a genre named after the island, called Balearic Beat, and this indigenous Ibiza music is notable for its strong grooves, which are mixed in with distinctly Spanish influences.

One of Ibiza’s best known performers is Jens Gad, who was featured prominently on Enigma’s recordings. Tiësto, another Ibiza regular, was the first DJ to perform at the Athens Summer Olympic Games in 2004. Paul van Dyk may be from East Berlin, but his electronic dance music always goes over extremely in Ibiza. John Digweed regularly performs at hot spots, such as Space, and hosts his own radio show, Transitions. Other notable DJs include Above and Beyond, who are appreciated for their uplifting trance sounds, also host the radio show Trance Around the World and have had residencies at Cream, A&B, and others. Markus Schulz is also from Germany, and like many of his DJ contemporaries, hosts his own radio show, which is called Global DJ Broadcast.

Ibiza is more than just a DJs paradise, however, as nearly any and all musical varieties are now openly welcomed there. It’s so eclectic in fact many clubs designate rooms solely for certain musical styles, which range from Latin and garage, to R&B and hip-hop. Live music is also alive and well in the Ibiza calendar, as Kaiser Chiefs, The Arctic Monkeys, and Kasabian have all made notable island ventures, brandishing electric guitars, instead of turntables and various electronic wizardry. Much like major creative cities, such as New York, London, and Los Angeles, Ibiza attracts visitors from around the world. These other major metropolises may dwarf the island, size-wise, but Ibiza’s adventurous sense of experimentation makes it just as important as any other music capital. Those with ears to hear that want to explore the great indoors must put Ibiza on their travel itinerary.

This article was written by John McElborough. Find out more about Ibiza and book your room at the Ibiza Rocks Hotel – Ibiza’s number one music hotel for clubbers on loveibiza.net.

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The DJ pair of Sasha and Digweed is synonymous with dance music the world over. Together they have engineered the evolution of house music, trance music and even basic techno styles. How they joined forces is one story, but their individual tales and accomplishments are just as significant.

A Little about Sasha
Sasha was born as Alexander Coe in Bangor, Wales England in 1969. He spent most of his youth in a town called Penarlag. At 17, Sasha began classes at Epsom College, but left early and moved back to Bangor with his dad and stepmom. While living there, his stepmother forced him to take piano lessons, which he hated. Later, however, this would prove extremely relevant to his music career.

Through his early years, his main musical influence was surprisingly top forty and pop music. In 1988 at the age of 19, he discovered a genre known as acid house music and fell in love with it. He purchased dozens of acid house records and began to teach himself to mix. He ran close to broke and started working raves.

Sasha then began learning new techniques like beat matching and key mixing. He mastered these in short order.

A Little about Digweed
The fellow we all know as Digweed was born Thomas John Digweed on New Year’s Day 1967 in Hastings England.

Not a whole lot is recorded on Digweed’s history, but we do know that he began DJing at the young age of thirteen. After many years of mixing, DJing and playing at raves and parties, he took a gig at the Renaissance Club in 1993. Sasha heard his demo and the duo was born.

Sasha & Digweed
Now that these two powerhouses were together, what would they do? Each had a select set of skills to add to their music. They focused on developing their selection of tracks and mixing techniques that whole first year. Then, in 1994, the duo released their first mix CD called Renaissance: the Mix Collection. They had gotten themselves signed to Renaissance Records, an all trance label.

Two years later, in 1996, the release of Northern Exposure skyrocketed the dynamic DJ duo to super stardom. This album was produced by the world renowned record label, Ministry of Lights. The following year was a big one for Sasha & Digweed as their ’96 album Northern Exposure was released in the United States AND they released Northern Exposure 2 in the UK and Europe.

The international tour that ensued was amazing. Throughout the middle and late 90′s, Sasha & Digweed’s powerful mix style and DJ techniques helped to shape the techno, trance and progressive house genres. In essence, this movement brought the rave music of Europe to North America for the first time ever and it was received with welcome, open arms.

In 1998, both DJs released solo works on the Boxed label’s notorious Global Underground series. Around this same time, Sasha & Digweed began a regular stint at the Twilo club in New York City. They also toured the United States heavily and released another mix album, Communicate, in 2000.

The Delta Heavy tour in 2002 was the last collaborative effort as a pair for six years. They have appeared together on occasion, but no new releases have been in the works. In 2008, Sasha & Digweed announced a second North American tour as a duo. The remastered version of their original Renaissance: The Mix Collection was released in 2004, though.

As a pair, Sasha and John Digweed have been as instrumental to the development of their genre(s) as Metallica has been to heavy metal or Cat Stevens was to folk music. Their complete devotion to trance music, techno, and progressive house has been unflinching. The pair continues to wow crowds everywhere they go and fans of their style of mixing and beat matching and beat management clamber to see these two perform live.

So when you hear anything about trance or rave music, you can bet that these two blokes from England had a hand in it somewhere. Sasha and Digweed’s influence is widespread and has been seen in bands like Linkin Park who blended mix style, DJ beat management and rock music very successfully. Also, a few years back, Christian band DC Talk did the same in their genre with Sasha & Digweed to thank for the idea.

Check out ChinaShop magazine – the written word on music, culture, interviews, bars, clubs and bands. You’ll see pics and video of exclusive events and interviews from the music scene, including free music by Sasha and Digweed

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