Hector

What impact did it have on you as a DJ, working at Phonica? Wasn’t it easy to get swayed by what you were selling to these guys?

It never crossed my mind to copy their style. Even if I had their records I would play them differently. What the shop taught me is about all sorts of music, so I play some deep house, some minimal, some techno… I’m able to do it all because I experienced it all there.

I imagine it was rather different to working as a PR for Privileged in Ibiza, which is where you met Simon Rigg and eventually that led to the Phonica job.

Yeah, we became close friends and that’s how it all started. I was working for Manumission, then for Music Box. You gave out flyers with your initials on and whoever had more people turn up with the flyers with their names on, that’s how they decided the commission. I had so much fun; it was my first time in Ibiza. I was young, so any job would have been good – I met people every day on the beach and stuff. It was different then – you gave flyers out on the beach, got to know cool people, hung out with them and stuff. This year I felt much more harassed by the PRs. It’s not the same. I was free to go where I wanted before, now all that is forbidden. Flyering in the street and port is banned by the police and if you get caught, you get fined.

And what about the clubs inside, how have they changed in the last ten years?

Every day I enjoy it. I still get to see DJs that are my heroes and that I respect. To go and see them and enjoy their music – I still get butterflies, I still get nervous!

How did things change when DJing and production went from being a thing on the side (next to working in Phonica) to your full-time job?

Yeah, it became a job of course, but now I can also make more of a business out of it. I’ll be starting a clothing label, warehouse parties in America and a record label, all next year.

I still get to see DJs that are my heroes and that I respect. To go and see them and enjoy their music - I still get butterflies, I still get nervous!

Is this to establish yourself more and give yourself longevity?

It’s me being more creative with stuff. I’m not going to be DJing in 50 years. I never thought about it before but it’s time to look for new options. You never know what could happen – I’ve seen many DJs coming up with a big hit then disappearing six weeks later. You need to be in the game for a long time.

So is that also what your new project, Los Vatos, is for?

It started with Loco Dice and Dubfire as a joke. Because of the movie Vatos Locos, they called me ‘los vatos’, which means ‘mate’ or ‘dude’. It comes from the film and Mexican gang that are all tattooed, then moved to LA. Now people come to the club to see me with tattoos and t-shirts with Los Vatos on, so it makes sense to start it as a project because people seem to relate to it.

I wanted to ask about your residencies. You’ve had them at Kubicle and T-Bar in London. How did you like them?

At Kubicle being resident was the best. Coming every week to do that party was amazing – you get to know the crowd and DJs and share it with them but you have more responsibility because people come and expect. At T-Bar we did Dig Your Own Rave and it was amazing. Dice, Ricardo and Jamie all used to come and play there.

Do you miss being a resident?

I guess with my own events I will be resident, but yeah, I miss them. I miss playing regularly in one place, but it’s good I get the chance to go somewhere else every week. It works you harder.

One place you have played a lot is Fabric, where you return this month.

For me that was the first major place I went as a clubber and played as a DJ. It was a privilege. The first time Dice ever played there was with me, so every time he plays there I play, I see it as my home, as I used to play there so many times. I love everyone who works there from Judy to the bar staff to the sound guys to the security. They are all nice guys, and I love the sound system there and play stuff I would never play in other clubs. I don’t know how to describe it, but I feel disconnected from everything there and just focus on playing.

I still get to see DJs that are my heroes and that I respect. To go and see them and enjoy their music - I still get butterflies, I still get nervous!

Catch Hector at Fabric for the Desolat showcase on Saturday November 15th. The HPIC EP is out now on Serkal. Find him on Facebook, Twitter and SoundCloud.