King & Queen - Ruling Ibiza

Ever fancied getting in a proper production studio and making a track?  Well, King & Queen, aka Ibiza's Tom and Danni are now making that possible.  Having opened up their brand new studio on the White Isle as well as promoting their Colours parties this summer, the pair took five to tell us a bit about the project, what they've got planned and why taking Elton John to DC10 is on the to do list.

Pulse: Tom and Danni, Aka King & Queen. Tell us a bit about yourselves.   Tom: We are two halves of a whole.
Danni: We love hounds, and lots of other things too.
T. In general they have to look, smell, taste, feel or sound nice.
D.we´re also fond of vegetables.
T. Especially mushrooms.

What is King & Queen, how does it operate?  D. King and Queen is a sexy, young and up for it production company based in Ibiza.  Up to now we’ve worked with what we see as the most credible, strongest and most established brands in Ibiza. From Circoloco to Cadenza, Pacha, IMS and Ushuaia.
T. Specifically, we produce films, music and parties.
D. We are based mostly in our recording studio, which is inside the Ushuaia hotel.
T. We have two physical products released this year. A King and Queen/ Pacha DVD, entitled ‘7 days and 7 nights’ which also includes a 60 minute mix by moi.
D. It has interviews with all of the Pacha DJ´s and lots more fun things too.
T. We also have an original double, downbeat style album that we wrote and produced in our studio with our new band “The Kings and Queens” The album was commissioned by Ushuaia and it is entitled ¨Ushuaia, Ibiza Beach Music Vol 1¨. Check out one of the tracks on our soundcloud  and if you wanna hear more. BUY It!  For the moment it is available exclusively on the island or from the Ushuaia website.

D.This summer the studio is also home to music production courses and DJ workshops as well as the studio sessions concept which invites music lovers into the studio to work with our production team. The studio is also available to hire out professionally so if you're reading this and you need a studio in Ibiza in Ibiza then get in touch...
T. We are also going to be collaborating on a few exciting projects.. For example this summer we are inviting select artists into the studio to produce an original album inspired by the island. We opened the studio late last year but managed to make a success of it in the end. We finished the Ushuaia album. Sasha mixed his Mixmag cover mount CD in the studio. Visionquest came in to work on their Fabric mix and Mel Blatt recorded vocals for the new Soul Clap album. All in all, it was a cool, steady start.  If anyone is interested in using the studio or finding out more, email jay@kingandqueenproductions.com and ake a look at this video...

Q. So King and Queen is essentially a separate business running from inside Ushuaia?  Exactly, We don´t work for them. We just rent a studio from them.  Alongside that we were commissioned to create the album for them.  Ushuaia have been our clients for video production, in much the same way Pacha, EMI, Live Nation and IMS are our clients and we are available to work on any projects that tickle our fancy.  We used to promote their events when it was the old Ushuaia, when you had Tania Vulcano and tINI etc as residents, we´re going to be doing similar things this year along the same beach at Plastik and La Plage; watch this space.

How do you come up with concepts?  T. We go to bed and dream them.
D. Then we wake up and do them.

How do you divide the workload?
D. In the past we did all the fun and creative things first and put off the not so fun things for as long as we could, which usually meant we both forgot about them and then we just pretended they never even existed in the first place. Now we are responsible adults so we draw straws.
T. [laughs] Danni is more involved in the video production than me. I just chuck ideas at her and help script and direct on the day, I also get involved a bit with the final edit. I am mainly going to focus on the music and parties this year, but it depends on what´s needed.

You have previously been involved in a lot of interesting projects. Is there anyone in particular that you’re looking forward to working with?  D. OH YES! We’ve been commissioned to make a couple of documentaries. One for the IMS and another for Ibiza123 which is something we’re really looking forward too. I’ll be interviewing Elton John, Lenny Kravitz and Sting in Ibiza! We’re going to take Elton to DC10. Even if he just dips his toe in for half an hour.

What makes the King & Queen studio unique?  T. The fact there is 24 hour room service is pretty cool. And the fact we are a collective of producers, song writers, engineers etc is kind of unique.  Studio Sessions as a concept is also pretty boss. It gives the client a unique experience where they get to produce a track in the studio working with our team of in engineers and producers who between then have worked with everyone from Kylie Minogue to Chaka Khan to Cocoon.  We are then going to release the best of those tracks on a studio compilation.  Everyone would like to spend a day in a studio making a track right? Well now you can.

Your parties on the White Isle were pretty infamous. Can you disclose any plans for more this year?  D. I can disclose that we have a party called Colours (of Ibiza) that will be popping up.
T. Our first event was on May 29th at La Plage.  Here is a video of what went down....

 D. Musically our parties always kick ass but it’s also going to be about fun in the sun. Colourful music for colourful people.  You can check out this mix here if you want to get an idea of what to expect.

T. From Tuesday June 12th Colours are starting a weekly residency at the new Plastk Beach club, when you see the venue you will know why Colours had to set up camp there.
D. It´s like they chose the decor with us in mind.
T. We are also doing ¨Fancy That¨ a vintage styled fancy dress beach party... that is going to be fun! Serious music for silly people, every Friday on the beach.  On top of that we are going to be supporting our friends at Mulletover and we have a few other tricks up our sleeve too so it´s going to be a busy fun summer all round.

Who are you expecting to work with over the summer at King & Queen?  T. You have to expect the unexpected. We’ve got a lot of things secured, a few people that we´re still flirting with but we are purposefully keeping a bit of room in our diaries for surprises
D. We like surprises....

You’ve been out there for a few years now, how are you finding Ibiza as a home?  D. We could not imagine living anywhere else. It’s great. We went to the beach at 5:30 this morning with the dogs and yes we´d been to sleep. It’s a nice way to start the day. It’s perfect living for us.
T. By the time it gets to September you literally can’t wait for people to leave but right now we just can’t wait for the summer to kick in.

And what are you most looking forward to over the next few months?  T. New experiences, new people, new music, partying with the best of them.
D and Tequila, lots of.
T. Amen

Colours runs weekly at Plastik Beach Club every Tuesday.  

For more information on King & Queen, head here

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