Ahead of his set at Pacha Ibiza, we met up with EDX at El Hotel Pacha for an insightful conversation with one of dance music’s true veterans. From his first Ibiza gigs in the late ’90s to the island’s ever-evolving club culture, EDX shared stories from a career spanning more than three decades. We also spoke about his latest release, the importance of staying balanced while living life on the road, and why young artists continue to inspire him. Thoughtful, grounded and refreshingly honest, the Swiss legend proved exactly why he remains a respected figure in electronic music today.
Interview With EDX:
We are here at Pacha Hotel and I’m next to EDX. Who just landed on this magical island. How are you?
It’s always an interesting flight into the island. It’s a beautiful view. And yes, I’m good. The weather is amazing. How are you?
I’m pretty well because the summer just started here. So perfect choice with your date at Pacha. You are actually sharing the stage tonight with Robin Schulz and Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano. What vibe and atmosphere can we expect?
Yeah, I’m popping into the lineup for a couple of years now, supporting Robin on his own night. It used to be Pure Pacha back in the days, but now it’s only under Robin and it’s cool. I’m happy to be back. I’m usually close, so I play straight after him. I’m sure it’s going to be a really good mix because Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano play very groovy. So it will be a good fit for Pacha. It depends on the vibe after Robin, how the night is going to go, and I’ll keep evolving with it.
Do you still have any good memories from Pacha from the previous years?
It’s always fun. I’ve already played the new setup with the new booth, which is cool, but I also remember good times when the stage was still on the right.
Well, we are in Ibiza. What’s your favourite spot here besides Pacha, of course?
You know, Ibiza is beautiful. I love to watch the sunset at Cafe Mambo.
They have a really amazing spot, but you can also watch the sunset from a lot of other spots on that side of the island. I like nature, so I usually like to be more towards the north, like everything above St. Eulalia. It’s interesting. I like the agricultural aspects, like the smaller spaces where you can just pop in and eat good food from the island. But it’s always good to be back. It’s such a big, big melting pot for electronic music for now 40 years. It’s good that it’s buzzing and people from all over the world are coming. That makes it as well like a magic and favourite spot.
A lot of people say that Ibiza is really changing. So what was the best in Ibiza when you were first playing here? And what’s actually good right now about Ibiza?
You know, we changed a lot. We did an interview last time, probably eight, nine years. We look much, much more…. vicer now. So we also like changing in a good way. And I think Ibiza has been a really good and important place for electronic music, for clubbing in general. I think it’s just part of how the world evolves.
People start to travel more. Like if you go back four years back when Ibiza was like… The Ibiza that everyone was like kind of believing was that great Ibiza. People were not able to fly. There was not a lot of flights. And it was a completely different culture. You were like travelling once a year. Now people are coming just for a weekend just to enjoy the vibe of the island. Because in general, like the Balearian islands are like amazing. The food is good. The weather is good. You know, you’re very close to the water. So that’s like one big thing. But then you have the combination of the music and the clubbing culture, which is very good and unique. And I think it has evolved. I played the first time like 27 years ago in 1999. So I was like a young kid, very inexperienced. And it’s difficult, just like to say it was better back then because it wasn’t. I think every year it’s getting better. The island is kind of growing. And it’s good to come back because you always see old friends. And I just would say to everyone, just come to the island for a few days. I’m not a fan of like these short trips. You should just really come, stay here like a week, explore a little bit the island, and go out two, three times, do a pool party, like a daytime thing, do a clubbing and additional days just enjoy Ibiza.
To experience all of it, what Ibiza offers actually.
You have like beautiful natures up in the north. You have, like the sea, the water, and then you have also the old town, which is also like UNESCO World Heritage Town. So there’s like really a lot of things that you can enjoy on this magic island.
Let’s get back to you because you just released your newest track, and it has kind of spiritual vibes. So what does that symbolise to you?
I was working on the edit for the video today. And you have, kind of a spiritual, like, in a castle, kind of a little bit esoteric. But that was not the idea. It’s just like me trying to bring back a little bit of the EDX vibe from probably 20, 30 years back, when I would say like 20 years from 2008, 2006, when I was kind of moving more into progressive away from the classic house. It was very popular before. And I’m just trying to make it a little bit more adult when you compare like the drops from back then to the drops today, from quite similar style, just a little bit slower, probably a little bit more mature. You will see that it’s not like high puts your hands up vibes. It’s more like deep, and I’ve been playing it out for a couple of months now, and it’s an important track to me. And I’m very excited that it’s finally out and people can give me like feedback, can tell me how they feel about it. But it’s also a record that probably a lot of DJs can play.
It’s a kind of symbolised, let’s say balance. So how is the balance important for you as an artist with so much travelling, so much events and parties and staying actually awake during the nights. So how do you balance yourself?
Well, you know, I’ve been doing this now for over 30 years. I’ve been like playing international shows like overseas, like I mean like a flight that is more than five, six, seven hours since like 1998. That’s when I started to travel further than just Europe. And I’ve been able to kind of train myself to make the breaks that my body needs, especially now that I’m like a visor. Over the years I’ve just learned to take care, let’s eat healthy, and try to sleep as much as you can. These are the two most important things. And another thing that is also important is to surround yourself with people who enjoy your energy and share the energy with you. This is very essential to keep like the balance in the right place. I’m not a fan of this work-life balance kind of new generational thing. You know, I think everyone is different. Someone needs three hours of sleep. Someone needs six hours of sleep. Everyone knows what’s right for him. But in my personal opinion, sleep is very important. I usually like to just sleep before my sets and just wake up like really tight, take a shower, go on stage because this is when I really feel happy and you will see me smile because I’m just like really fresh. The energy is there. If you’re like kind of going to a club, you already have to expose yourself to three hours of loud music, also people that sometimes had like a drink too much so they like talk to you and like no sense. You cannot like really enjoy the music. It’s not the same, you know. I really like to just have a break before my set, peace and then go into the booth and click start and then it starts, you know. And then you get into the mood again.
Well, from your position, as you said, you are a visor now. So who from the young generation is vibing with you at the moment?
I’m not just an artist. I’m also an artist manager. I have a record company. I have a whole ecosystem around electronic music. So we try to kind of build new talents and it’s interesting to see like how the approach to how young talents that are definitely less experienced approach it compared to people like me that have like a 30 years of experience in the market.
So we do things completely differently, and it’s good to have the young people around you because they kind of open up doors that you already had closed because, you open a door, you will not find anything. But sometimes it’s good to just open a door again and see what’s there, you know, because maybe something has changed in the meantime. So it’s good to have like younger people. So on the label side, we have a lot of talents and just like one guy that we are like supporting and trying to kind of help with his journey, an artist from Italy, it’s called Altera. And I would always say, just check him out. He’s also releasing under other aliases. One is Teo Mandrelli. He’s probably behind one of the biggest remixes of the season. He did a remix for Norman Cook. Everyone on the island plaing it!
He also used to release music on Alteboy, which was more of a tech-house project. He’s definitely an artist to keep an eye on; he’s on the rise and making serious waves in the scene.
