“In 1999 I started my own party, Delicatessen, at Amnesia. We did six parties over the summer and they went really well. One week, I invited a DJ called Sven Väth to come and play. We did four parties with Sven and they were awesome. I spoke to him about the idea of doing at it again the following year and he was like, “No! I want my own party!”

Did we ever think Cocoon would be such a success? I don’t know. People thought I was mad. Techno? On a Monday? With Manumission directly over the road at Privilege? The first couple of years were good and then year four – BOOM! Now we can look back and say that with Cocoon we really changed the sound of the island. Nobody was expecting it. Ibiza was house! Then a little more electronic, but not underground. Amnesia really opened a lot of doors. Now we have three techno parties a week – Cocoon, Music On, and HYTE, which is our newest party with Loco Dice, Maceo Plex, Chris Liebing – some great guys.

But Amnesia has always been about all types of music. Since 1991 we’ve had the Foam Party, where you can hear Y.M.C.A, Depeche Mode… it’s always packed, so we have a lot of respect for the Foam Party. And now we have something even more mainstream – Paris Hilton – and it’s doing really well. She works her ass off and she’s really professional. So Amnesia isn’t just underground, it’s a place where all styles have always been welcome. But the mother of the current sound of Amnesia? That’s the underground. That’s techno.

Our parties are huge – our capacity is 5000 – but we’re lucky because 30 percent of our crowd is always locals, residents, workers from Ibiza. They are the heart of our parties, absolutely. They come three times a week! I don’t know how much work they’re doing, but they’re managing to get here. And in terms of our relationship with the luxury side of Ibiza, the 5-star visitors, you only have to look at the VIP section during at Music On to realise that money has joined hands with the underground. The VIP is almost busier than downstairs! But of course the VIP will never come if there’s no party on the dancefloor. It works both ways.

The influx of money is certainly changing the island. Ibiza used to be much more relaxed in terms of infrastructure – look at where we are now [Calma, Marina Ibiza]! Five years ago this was a shitty bar! Now it’s super posh and beautiful. The island is always changing and adapting, and it never goes out of fashion. I think it’s getting better. Of course, there are areas where we have to be careful – Ibiza is small and fragile – but I like the changes. The only problem nowadays is that people don’t come to experience Ibiza. They want to have exactly what they usually have at home, but transplanted here. That’s not so cool.

 I remember at the beginning, when Amnesia was open air, and you played whatever you wanted. There was no pressure. Whatever you played, the crowd was happy just to hear a DJ from Ibiza, to learn from your music. Now they come with expectations, or to listen to EDM, which for me has nothing to do with Ibiza. It’s too strong, too hard. It has no soul and it’s not sexy. There are places to listen to EDM, but I don’t think Ibiza should be that place.

Text by Maya Boyd