De Wachtkamer from Belarus is playing his first Jungle Experience on October 27th but he is no stranger to Koh Phangan. He has been visiting and playing sets on the island for three years now and says it is like a dream to be able to play here amongst some of the best artists, Djs and people.
The first time he visited he came all the way from Phuket, where he now lives, by motorbike and stayed in Haad Rin. He saw the famous Full Moon party but then discovered interesting places like Eden and private events with local people.
“Even at 7/11 you always meet interesting people, elsewhere in Thailand you have normal people that you can find in any shopping mall, but here it’s really special. In general I come here every two to three months for one or two weeks, maybe we will move here”.
How did you get into mixing?
It’s a long story. I first saw professional equipment in 2001 but before this when I was in school I would Dj with cassette tapes, I was just a child when I discovered music and didn’t see any borders.
After fifteen years of professional Djing and production I saw some separation but it is incorrect to put any borders between music styles. There was a time when I played just Deep House and felt that I shouldn’t play other styles but now it depends on the situation. It can be ambient chillout for ten people on the beach but for big crowds you can be more pumping.
For me, now I have only two choices, it is either good music for me or it is not. After fifteen years of work I have a modest community with a record label, lots of artists worldwide and it includes an event agency which make events in Phuket but also have experience in Dubai, Bali, Moscow and a little in Europe. I have a booking agency for artists to be signed and play etc but still trying to be modest, it is thankfully a big community.
Where have you played on Phangan before and what are your favourite parties?
I have played at Sandcastle, Lighthouse, Sunset Pearl and Wild wild Beach.
My favourite is Wild Wild beach, it is a place for true ravers, you have the sun, beach, dancing people and 40kw of sound. It’s a twenty four hour rave!
This is your first time playing at Jungle Experience, what have you heard and how do you feel about it?
I’m really looking forward to it because I have seen a lot of huge artists in their line ups and on posters and my taste of promoters is very similar, almost all of my favourtie artists play like Marc Romboy and Daniel Sanchez.
I have heard there is a lot of madness, performance dancers and that everyone is glowing.
What music do you play and why?
I don’t make a difference between music styles, for me music must be good and it depends on the situation whether you can play this or that track.
If people wanna chill, you don’t want to play Psy Trance or DnB. It’s the same when you play for two thousand people at 2am when all of them want more drive and more of a groovy sound.
You should feel people at first, that is the main thing for artists. Sometimes you have to find a balance between your taste and the taste of the crowd.
What is the music and club scene like on Phuket where you live in comparison to Phangan?
It’s 99% commercial music and I don’t see any difference between the places, they change the decor etc but in total it is still all the same.
Every Friday though on the South of the island we focus on music 100%.
It was my idea for people to meet and listen to music, in high season we get three to four hundred people. Before we set this up there was nothing on the island. I understand people are in business but with music, money is not important.
The event is called Bermudos, it’s a community, agency, record label, booking agency etc all in one. We have about forty releases that we sell everywhere.
There is a better quality of music on Koh Phangan. Everyday you can find two, three or four events and you can choose the music by your taste. In Phuket if you want a certain kind of music it’s harder to find. Our event is once a week and it is the only event of its kind on Phuket. People even call it a small part of Phangan in Phuket, but unfortunately music comes second there.
What are you doing in your free time on Koh Phangan?
Here in the daytime we travel across the beaches, jungle, waterfalls etc. We like to discover it in the daytime as it is really special. In the daytime you can feel all the things you want to find in Asia, you can relax and open your mind.
In the night time the island transforms to party madness, you can find everything you want from Psy Trance and Techno to House, Rock and Jazz - and high season gets even better as artists from Europe and Worldwide come over, it becomes even more interesting.
What is your life philosophy?
The main thing is not to make shit for the people. You must be open to them and don’t think any bad things, it’s all about karma, it all comes back! I believe in it.
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