James Zabiela

Space, the final frontier. As the smartest club in Ibiza opens its doors to welcome in their shiny new resident, James Zabiela just smiles and blinks a little. See, the ride here has been kinda fast. And while its been a relatively bump-free trip to acceptance and ubiquity, it’s still blinkin’ quick. Two years ago, James Zabiela popped his Balearic cherry by warming up for Sasha at the place the island calls Inside At Space. Wowing the crowd – and We Love boss Darren Hughes – with two hours of snappy, synth-fixated, breakbeat action – it was a defining moment in his DJ career. Two years later, he’s now the club’s new bi-weekly resident. It’s official. Now “that’s” what I call progression.

Knowing what a great track should sound like – and the place it can be taken by warping and twisting it – is James Zabiela’s forte. Layering different sounds with the aid of two Pioneer CDJ1000s, a Pioneer DJM600 and a pair of trusty Technics 1210s, his hands and ears don’t let up for a second, leaving any punters feet a-moving and mouth a-gap. And his demands for such kit wherever he spins is a reminder that he’s one of the scant few DJs who’s pushing things forward in 03.

As with everything in JZ’s career, the upward arc has been gradual and organic. Having performed at We Love for a decade, it’s understandable that James would want to try something different in 2012 (his twelfth season!) so in tandem with promoter Mark Broadbent (who spend autumn and winter sending each other new music), the two came up with a new concept that allowed him to help curate four nights at the party, as well as inviting people whose music he admired. James hosted Born Electric nights 4 times during summer 2012, with guests from Modeselektor and Shackleton playing live and producers like Midland and Scuba joining James in outer Space.