Hot ticket: the rise and rise of Michael Bibi
He’s the cool kid from South London who's just closed his first residency at DC-10. We step inside the high-octane world of Michael Bibi, Solid Grooves kingpin and the undisuputed king of summer.
Your Solid Grooves party at DC-10 was arguably the most hyped night of summer. Now you've closed the doors for the last time, how are you feeling?
It's been incredible. It's been everything we expected and a lot more to be honest. It’s blown us away. Every week the concept and the night have developed and got stronger. Musically I think we understand the room more. And all the residents have been incredible and they’ve understood the club and the crowd and they’ve tailored that to the terrace or the main room. So yeah, it's been great.
It must be nerve-wracking to set up a new night from scratch, especially in a club like DC-10 where people go knowing that they expect a good time. How have you handled the pressure of that?
Well I wouldn't call it pressure exactly, it’s more like we had duty to do right by the values of DC-10 itself. It’s about managing expectations and making sure that we stick to the underground values of the club. Because yes DC-10 is a superclub in its reputation but is very much still underground and the way everything's done there adheres to that. You know, there's no VIP so to speak. There’s no gloss. It's not like that. So we wanted to stick to that ethos. And of course, CircoLoco has been going there for such a long time and I have a huge amount of love and respect for the night. The clubs that impacted me the most over the years were DC-10 and Fabric. They were the two places that that really cemented in my mind that this is what I wanted to do. I used to just go there and just listen. Sometimes I'd go on my own. I’d just go there and just listen to all the DJs that wereplaying. Understand their techniques and that culture. So, DC-10 was always my goal. When I was building Solid Grooves in my mind, it was always going to be at DC-10.
Given that you come from a musical family, was there ever a chance that you would do anything else other than getting to music?
I always knew that I was gonna be doing music from a very young age. In fact, it was my parents who were really pushing for me to stay in school. Obviously, my dad's a musician. Right. So, he understands how difficult the music industry can be. He always said, ‘you can do music, but get an education first.’ And I was always pushing back and saying ‘well, you know, you’re doing it and it's working out fine.’ Living in Ibiza has made me see how important it is to be immersed in this world. Although I live out of a suitcase really, but I enjoy it and it's fun. I nice to be able - when I do have days off – to go and see other people playing. It's nice to be able to go and see my friends, like The Martinez Brothers at their closing this week. Just having that accessibility to some of the best clubs in the world on your doorstep is a really big deal. I can’t imagine doing anything but music.
You spent years in nightclubs before you became a DJ. Do you still get a kick out of seeing other people play and do you still learn from it?
I still love it. I still like going out. But I do it differently now. Unfortunately, I can't go on the dance floor as much because it's just a bit of a headache to be honest. It’s got harder for sure. I mean people are great and I’m so grateful for the love and the support but I think they don't understand that I am still just a raver. They want to talk and yeah, of course, I get it. They want to share their appreciation. But, you know, sometimes I don’t want to talk to anyone, just dance on a dance floor and enjoy it. So now I just go and just hang out. I like to listen. I love it. I’m I always learning. Music is always something that's developing and changing and it never stays static. I think the best place to learn and the best place to really keep understanding and keep my career is sharp is just by going out and listening.
Your theme this summer – the Grooves Motel - was really strong. Are you pleased you took the risk?
I learned a lot this summer. I was really happy with how the concept came out. It was important to me to be able to do something different and put our own stamp on it. The idea came about when I was playing in Las Vegas and after the show I ended up going out with these two guys from the UK. They were on holiday and I met just them randomly. We went on this mad bender; we went crazy around all over the Vegas strip somehow. And somehow, we ended up in this cheap, horrible motel room. We lost a whole day and a whole night there. But I came out of that motel like, my God, that was insane! But that's when it literally popped into my head. I was like, aha, okay! This is what we're gonna do, this is what I wanted to make the club about. I was liked the idea of like coming into the club and losing yourself for like 'X' amount of time and coming out, and thinking, what the hell just happened? That kind of vibe. It’s something we want to build on. So where do we go from here? Just build on what we’ve done and keep growing it. Try to make something iconic on the island.
You once said in an interview that you think that DJs often play their best sets at afterparties. Why is that?
A hundred percent. There’s no pressure at an afters. You do what you want. Because people haven't paid to come in and you’re not being paid to play there. There isn't that pressure where you have to perform. The previous night is done and that elevated sense of expectancy is gone and you can just experiment. You can really be free without the pressure of having to put on the big show. So you can take people on a journey and play for 5, 6, 7 hours. And you can take risks. You can take far more risks than you would in a club. And if it doesn't work, no one really cares. It's like, oh well, didn't work, let's move on. Whereas if you take a risk in the club and it doesn't work it's like, I ain't coming back
Can you share any of the highlights of your summer season?
I have to say I've done a lot of back-to-backs this summer at the club and those sessions have been amazing. Playing with Marco Carola was a big one because I never played with him before. So that felt like another achievement for me I guess. Because in my mind, you know, I used to always come to see Marco when he was playing at the height of Music On. He was someone I really looked up to. So being able to play with him and feeling accepted by him on some sort of equal level was amazing. The Martinez Brothers was another really good one. Because it was their only set they did at DC-10 this year and obviously that is their home. They came up in that club. So for them to come back and us to play together, that was really something. And also we did this villa party right at the very start of the summer in May. A good friend of mine had his birthday and he rented one of the most incredible villas I've ever been to in my life. Jamie Jones and I played it together and I'll always remember that. It was crazy. It was really crazy!
Finally, what’s been you tune of the summer? Anything that has really blown up?
I’d have to dedicate that to Beltran’s record, Smack Yo’. There are certain tracks that you listen to on headphones, and they sound okay, but you don't really understand until you play it in a club how it's gonna work. When I played this record at Solid Grooves the first time the whole place just erupted. I've been playing it all summer and every time it's worked for me. It’s coming out in two weeks on my label.
