Music : Funky House and Electro House
Oliver Lang hails from the musical hotbed that is Manchester, the son of one of Manchester’s great 60s group, The Mindbenders (his parents have a groovy kind of love). However, although firmly northern, his rather non-regional name can lead people to think otherwise, especially as Oliver made his name not in Manchester… but the island of Ibiza. Some 10 years ago, as a tender 18-year old, Oliver packed a suitcase and a record box and set off to make seek his fortune amongst the bright gobo lights of the greatest clubs on the planet.
“It was a real eye opener,” he recalls, with a smile. “It developed me as a person and it shaped me into a true Ibiza DJ.” Ibiza was the making of Oliver. His style evolved with the folding tides of musical taste on the island - from funky house, through tribal and now at the edgier, tech-ier end of things. Ibiza offers perhaps the greatest apprenticeship any DJ could wish for: “Over the years I’ve played in all the great places,” Oliver agrees, “like Space, Amnesia, Privilege, Café del Mar and Bora Bora” and this year will see Oliver’s tech sound evolve even further, taking his swelling crowds with him, as he spins the soundtrack to an Ibizan summer.
Of course having made his name in Ibiza, Oliver has stretched out his wings, with tours of Brazil and Australia and gigs everywhere from Miami to Beijing. But as the sun comes out over Europe, thoughts inevitably turn back to the White Isle: “There’s just something that happens in my head every time I fly into Ibiza,” he grins, giddy at the thought of the new season. “For me it’s paradise. I’ve been all around the world over the years and nowhere else compares.”
2008 marks Oliver’s 10-year anniversary in Ibiza – a decade of building his name on the island. He is back at his usual desk – the booth at Bora Bora – where he will play six days a week. But the summer will be no holiday for Oliver, with seven tracks slated for release, including his remix of an Ibiza classic, two on Whoop (Waterfall, with Whelan & Discala and another one called Siren), not to mention the massive Bomb The Terrace, just signed to Azuli, and sure to incinerate dancefloors across the world this summer. Also in June, Oliver will launch his own label, Dojo, with tracks from some of the best underground artists out on the contemporary circuit. And as if that wasn’t enough, gigs beckon, as far as Brazil and Asia.
In amidst all of that Oliver will return to Bora Bora, his disco home-from-home, opening on May 30th. And then, of course, his actual home, in Ibiza, as Oliver is one of the few DJs who has put his money where his mouth is and bought property on the island: “I see myself growing old in Ibiza,” he concludes. “I am from Manchester and Manchester is my base. But Ibiza is my home.”