Paco Osuna: Techno and the Americas

In the midst of his 2011 “Tour of the Americas,” Paco Osuna spoke with Alex Fish to discuss Ibiza, his music, the labels he works with and more. 

Your bio says you’re based in Barcelona, which many DJ’s have taken to calling “Berlin with a beach.” How do you feel the scene is in Barcelona these days for electronic music, and why do you think many perceive it to be much more receptive than Madrid?  First of all Barcelona has his own personality and Berlin too, are 2 very different scenes. The scene here in Barcelona has been always very underground, we always like to have our own sound and our own personality, the crowd here doesn't care about the name of the dj, they like the good music and no just follow the name; few years ago I was part of a night in Barcelona where we didn't announced the dj, people knew that in that place was good music didn´t matter who played; even sometimes I saw nights when djs with big names weren’t playing good and the crowd started to whistle.

About the difference between Madrid and Barcelona, I think Barcelona was more receptive than Madrid because we had a port, we are closer to the border of France and from many years we had people from all over the world coming to the city and giving us his musical influence, but since internet started to be in our lives, both cities are very similar, I love to play in Madrid and I love the crowd there.

How would you differentiate the sounds you’ve released through your two labels Shake and Mindshake?  Shake it was Techno label, all the tracks released was focus on that direction. Mindshake its more open, you can find a ep with techno tracks, techouse, minimal, it is focused on music for the dancefloor without tags.

What artists have you “discovered” through the process of releasing music on your own labels?  I have discovered a few and still I am discovering, people as John Lagora, Lorenzo Bartolleti, etc. are amazing producers and better persons, I love to work with all of them.

Your bio says you’re “intimately linked” with Plus 8. Can you describe how you came to work so closely with them?  On the period I founded Mindshake I was sending the promos to Richie Hawtin, we know each other from few years ago, but we never talk about the possibility of working together; one day after Richie listen some of my new tracks, he told me that he really liked my new productions and asked me if I wanted to be released on plus 8, of course I said yes and since then we've been working really well and we feel like a family.

As someone who became involved with Ibiza, and Amnesia specifically over a decade ago, can you speak to what positive and negative changes the island has witnessed over the last few years?  Positive: if you, as an artist, have a good summer in ibiza it opens you a lot of markets and can make you bigger and help your career.  Negative: the island is getting busy and busy every year and now the quality of the crowd is not the same as it used to be years ago.

How did your Mindshake tour come about? Are there any new venues you’re excited to play or promoters you’re excited to work with again?  Of course, recently I was playing in Vancouver, a city where I never been before, and it was amazing, also 80% of the dates on that tour are in USA and always is a big pleasure for me be there and enjoy the crowd, for me one of the best in the world.

What are you using to play your DJ sets these days equipment wise?  I use Traktor with vinyls, Ableton live for the effects, 2 different midi controllers and one sampler :)

As with all DJs, their sound is often changing and morphing to reflect new influences and sounds, how would you classify your music today beyond simply “Tech House” or “Techno?”  Just music for dance, I can play techouse, techno, minimal, house... I like all those styles, I have a predominance Techno vibe, but on my sets you can listen any of those styles :)

Listen to Paco Osuna on Pulse Radio.