It seems like only yesterday when we met Hector, the Mexican producer who banged our ears out with his fresh techno sets at Music On parties last season. We've been following his musical trajectory since then and the guy has returned to the island with heavy luggage full of new and interesting projects: the Music On residency, an upcoming label called Vatos Locos, a clubbing clothes brand and a strong desire to share his music passion with the public. So we met him to have a talk in the beautiful Santos Hotel in an attempt to discover the secrets of his success: hard work, talent and humility.
“When I started to play music at the age of seventeen I couldn't even afford a turntable. For many years I bought records without having anything to play them on, so I'd always drag my new collections to someone's house to practice,” he remembered with a big smile on his face. Things turned our positively after a residency in some of the most important of Guadalajara's clubs and a move to London to develop his sounds, where Hector lived for the next eleven years. That's long enough that we can call him a proper Londoner; not only a party-goer of famous venues like Fabric but also on the line-up there many times, garnering him acclaim from the musically well-educated UK crowd. Thanks to his perseverance and dedication Hector knew how make a name for himself in the UK electronic music scene, gaining the attention of such royalties as Loco Dice, who became his mentor. “He taught me how to do a warm up, how to go into a club and have the same attitude you always have had, and several things about music and technical stuff for DJing.” But he has not only been welcomed into Dice's spotlight, the Mexican has been taken under the wings of other music capos like Dubfire, Carl Cox and Marco Carola.
Speak of the devil, this last techno titan enlisted him again for his Friday nights at Amnesia where Hector could prove that his strengths in the booth are even better than last year, playing before the boss during the Music On opening party with an energetic set which kept the bass line hard and steady. “I enjoy playing warm ups because I have to think more about it. I can't just go and play whatever I feel. It is a little bit more of an elaborate issue and I need to be more selective about what I play and think about respect the DJ that is playing after me. Marco needs to come and play comfortably so the warm up is really important for that.” Warm up sets are not the only thing in which he is a genius; Hector has in his veins the essential Music On mentality: it is all about the music. “I've known Marco for 15 years ago and he has always been very selective with the quality of the music he plays. He invites artist to join his Ibiza party so he is expecting that kind of quality. Artists like Bill Patrick, Ryan Crosson, Shaun Reeves or Capriati are new talents and he trusted them to play in the party and they mix really well with his idea about music.” For all those who missed his last two dates at Carola's party, don't worry, you will have the opportunity to see what I am talking about the next August 14th and September 25th (Music On closing party).
Besides Hector's appearances at these Friday nights, the producer has a lot more on his plate. Vatos Locos is the name of his new project, a project that started as a silly joke regarding the movie Blod In Blob Out (where an East L.A. gang is known by this name), but is now skyrocketing into a fully fledged record label. In fact, Hector played at BPM festival last January under the name of Vatos Locos inviting Chad Andrew, Randall M, Javier Carballo and David Gtronic to join him. “We didn't need another techno party; there are a lot of them. So what we wanted to do was give back to the people our music, our sets and the way we party… Everyone was having fun so after that, we started to plan to do it in other places.” Hector will host a Vatos Locos party on the island the following 20th of September in line with his birthday - a good opportunity to check his own productions, his democratic line-ups and his passionate way of celebrating music. “The way we are going to do it is a question mark because we're not going to tell anyone who is playing. I can tell you big DJs will come to join us but not as a big part of the line-up, just to come, have fun and play their music.”
"WHEN I STARTED TO PLAY MUSIC AT THE AGE OF SEVENTEEN I COULDN'T EVEN AFFORD A TURNTABLE. FOR MANY YEARS I BOUGHT RECORDS WITHOUT HAVING ANYTHING TO PLAY THEM ON..."
Hector has a lot of music coming out on different labels like Londoner Decade Records and Moon Records from Italy, and he also has an album on his mind… But we'll have to wait a little bit more for that as he is a proper all-rounder, leaving him little time to develop his ideas for the moment. He also has his mind busy with a new clothing brand, Stone Raiders, that we'll be able to check out online really soon. In collaboration with one of his best friends the DJ is creating a brand with quality products going for clothes designed for clubbing and trying to avoid the typical black long shirt, exploiting his creativity and good taste. “It is going to be online but limited edition and we will have some merchandising for Vatos Locos too.”
We told you last season that Hector was securing himself a place as part of the next generation of big DJs and it seems that we were right. The producer has grown professionally in this past year and he is back on Ibiza with a lot of new projects and ideas, bringing fresh air to our beautiful island and reserving chair at the table of techno royalty. Congrats!
WORDS | Natalia Gutiérrez PHOTOGRAPHY | James Chapman
