INTERVIEW: Chus + Ceballos Balearica 2015

‘Balearica’ is Stereo Productions’ benchmark for summer vibes, showcasing a signature selection of Chus + Ceballos approved grooves that perfectly encapsulate their sound for the Summer and Ibiza soul.

‘Balearica 2015‘ is an essential compilation for DJs with amazing tracks suitable for pool parties or club nights, but it’s also perfect for fans with the proudly selected tracklist perfect for any summer vibe.

Featuring ‘Abisinia,’ the first single from the upcoming debut artist album ‘Nómadas‘ out in September, this time receiving a powerful remix by Spanish DJ-producer UNER.

Soundcloud:  https://soundcloud.com/stereoproductions/sets/balearica-2015
Beatport:  https://pro.beatport.com/release/balearica-2015/1559067
Traxsource:  http://www.traxsource.com/title/490313/balearica-2015

Known for their trademark Iberican Sound – a hypnotic blend of warm and inviting tribal soundscapes laced with modern tech elements – Chus + Ceballos have figured out the formula that easily satisfies every punter within the clubbing collective. But it is not only the starry-eyed clubbers that worship at the altar of Chus + Ceballos; the world’s most celebrated DJs sing their praises and rely on this duo to fill their box with some of the most essential late-night grooves.

Chus + Ceballos Interview

We thought we’d look back at an interview we did with Chus + Ceballos last April in Tilllate Magazine. Here’s what was said…

Undoubtedly, Chus and Ceballos are the most solid, professional pair of Djs/Producers from Spain. Hailed worldwide for their excellent production works, including official remixes for world-renowned artists like Madonna, they display a remarkable versatility enabling them to play in small clubs to life-size festivals. Their marathon DJ sets capture their genuine Iberican character, while their blend of styles between House and Techno lie in perfect harmony, accentuating the unmistakable beat of the percussions.

Throughout the past decade, Chus and Ceballos have been the pioneers and creators of the underground movement known as ‘Iberican Sound’. This resulted in the prologue to an important saga for artists and producers, who have chosen Tribal as their way of life. Their evolution throughout the past years has led them to the pinnacle of the global music scene.

All these years of hard work, absolute dedication, undisputed professionalism and a constant evolution in sounds have led this infallible duo to the summit of success, bringing them to securing residencies at the best clubs around the globe; Pacha New York, Space Miami, Stereo Montreal, Ageha Tokyo, and many others. Chus and Ceballos represent an invaluable legacy of sound, where their blend of styles is their dogma and the quality their message. Wilf Ligbott asks the questions…
You guys are both Spanish. Can you describe the dance scene in Spain and the styles people are most into?

Madrid is where we both started, so we keep the Spanish dance scene in our heart. At first the underground scene there was pretty small but it is evolving everyday, actually we are attending the very first Industry Summit of the city, Madrid Music Days, from 7 to 9 May. This is a professional event with Tematic Panels, showcases, meetings etc

You are re-branding with a new website and management. Tell us more about these developments?

Yes, we have been building a new amazing team in order to be able to manage our activities without hurting our music. Our new website will be launched very soon, we are very excited to share it with everyone.

And another big project we are working on, our big baby, will be the release of our first artist album coming up at the end of next year, full of collaboration with other top DJs, singers and musicians. We are really excited about this big project!

What’s been happening tour-wise and what’s your diary like going forward?

March has been a very busy month, we have been pretty much all over the place, from Rio de Janeiro, to Montreal, and of course Winter Music Conference in Miami where we played at three different official events. We have an exciting tour of Japan coming up in May, stopping by Tokyo and Sapporo and summer is around the corner with Ibiza and all the summer festivals, so it is a very busy schedule.

Do you feel it is important to play older tracks in your sets or do you prefer to play new tracks mostly?

It is very important to keep a balance between new and old, people are always grateful when listening some classics in a DJ set. We really love to do it regularly.

Name an artist you love playing in your sets, but who is essentially everything but the style you are known for to play?

Is difficult to pick only one, every week there is a lot of new names bringing fantastic music, right now we are playing many tracks from great producers like Coyu, Adam Port, Technasia, Carlo Lio, Christian Smith, Rafa Barrios or Sergio Fernandez among others.

Do you prepare for DJ sets during the week, or are you a natural who comes to a party with a blank mind and just makes it happen on the spot?

We believe that you have to work hard during the week in order to have fun at the club. Every time we are back to a place we have to bring something new to our crowd so the research for new music is essential. Preparing special edits, deep listening and labeling the new tracks is crucial. This is the only way to find the right track at the right time. Every place and every city is different so we adapt our playlist every single time we perform.

Can you share a production trick that is native to your sound?

We created our Iberican Sound, which perfectly represents our Latin roots with a mix or warmth, sensuality and fast pace. We would say rhythm is our distinctive element, with a sound full of groove, focused on the dance floor and mixed with soul elements like vocals or melodic lines, and organic at the same time. So our tip is to bring some real percussion recorded live to your music to make your body move

Did someone from the dance scene ever insult you in a bad way?

We got pretty lucky and have always been getting good feedbacks from our fans and from others DJs and industry people; we are making our best to make it stay that way! We are friendly people and this is our karma. Being positive makes people happy and it is the best to enjoy our life!

What’s your favorite past time to take your mind off of music?

Music is our passion and therefore our lives. So we spend a huge amount of hours working on that. The best way to take our minds off of music is to spend time with the people we love the most, being our family and our friends. Playing some sport, playing games, watching movies, we are not different!!

What is the best treatment you ever got from a promoter?

The best treatment we ever got was a few weeks ago when we were playing in two different cities the same night. One gig at the Guvernment in Toronto, and the other at Webster Hallo in New York City. The promoter from NYC rented us a private jet in order for us to leave Toronto in the middle of the night and to be able to play in NYC for the after party. This was the first time we had special treatment like that. It will stay an amazing memory.

If you look at your list of productions you have done so far. Which of those stands out the most to you and why?

We had great memories of our first productions that broke through and helped us start our career, Strong Rythm with that representative dark Iberican grooves and our Bagio Track – Chus & Ceballos remix with that emotive harmonies are some of favorite classics.

What is the longest time you consecutively spent working in the studio on a track?

Hours of work and results sometimes don’t come together, sometime we spend a couple of days and we come up with something great and sometime we spend weeks and nothing great happens. We believe that the faster the better, keep it fresh. The longest time? We remember spending more than 3 weeks on a single remix; it can become a little nightmare because you lose the sense of what you are doing after that long.

Do you have a radio show or podcast?

We have a weekly podcast released every Friday: Chus & Ceballos presents Stereo Podcast. Each week we provide a 1-hour mixtape to our fans. Everyone should check it out!

Is there a final thing you would like to say to our readers?

We want to thank our fans, they are the reason why we are working so hard as they inspire us. Our main goal is to keep working to bring them as much music as we can!
Balearica 2015 Track List
1.     Sean Miller – The Good Life (Balearic Mix)
2.     Ruben Mandolini – Fire Nut (Balearic Mix)
3.     Paul Jays – Spiritual Batter (Chus + Ceballos Balearic Mix)
4.    Ibitaly – My Love (Deep Vocal Mix)
5.     David Herrero – You Elevate Me
6.     Vidaloca, Piem – Sunshine (Balearic Mix)
7.     Pablo Fierro – Banguere (Balearic Mix)
8.     Simone Gigante, Maurizio Ruggiero, Art Division – Grooving (Feat. Brinsley) (Balearic Mix)
9.     Mat Coast, Guillaume Delarge – Marimba (Chus+Ceballos Balearic Mix)
10.   Mirco Caruso – Santiago De Cuba (Original Mix)
11.   Five Knives – Savages (Chus+Ceballos Balearic Mix)
12.   Chus+Ceballos, Leonardo Piva – Albisinia (Feat. Gigi) Uner Balearic Mix
13.   Vidaloca + Piem – Run to my Dreams (Balearic Mix)
14.   Ruben Mandolini – Deeper (Balearic Mix)
15.   De Loren + Colors – Don’t Go (Original Mix)
16.   Stephane Pompougnac – Cala Bassa (Chus+Ceballos Balearic Mix)
17.   Marco Solforetti, Leonardo Piva – Sunday Morning (Balearic Mix)
18.   Rulers of the Deep – Track Four (Balearic Mix)
19.   Iban Mendoza – Intravenous (Original Mix)
20.   Sacha Sonido – Loose Control (Balearic Mix)
21.   Optimuss – Tear Off (Original Mix)
22.   Mano Tiro – Vibrations (Original Mix)
23.   Joe Brunning – From Another Time (Original Mix)