Launching our new interview series, On The Road. We caught up with Daniel Orpi whilst we were over in Ibiza. We had a catch-up with Daniel before his performance at Amnesia for Do Not Sleep. The full interview will also be uploaded onto our new podcast series.

Where have you flown in from yesterday and where are you playing tonight?

I’ve flown in from Barcelona, where I’m living now. And playing tonight at Amnesia in Ibiza.

What set time are you playing tonight?

11 – 12:30

What sort of set are you going to be playing?

Well, you never know with these parties. Maybe it gets poppin’ in five minutes, or it takes one hour to get filled. So yeah I’m just going to see how it goes. I like to improvise and try to read the crowd.

So let’s go back to the start. How did you first get involved in music?

I remember when I was 10 or 11. I used to go to high school and listen to Eminem, Dr. Dre some American rap/ hip hop and some Spanish rap music too.

It was at this age when I was kind of just messing around with music. I think that’s why I’ve got hip-hop influences in my music today.

Then I met some other groups of people who introduced me to the raves. We used to go raving when I was 17/18, to this town near Barcelona. They used to do these parties on Saturday nights, and then we would go to the after-party until the next day. And yeah, that’s why I fell in love with electronic music.

And then well, from there, it’s how I started. I started to play around with a friend in his house with Virtual DJ. And then we got to take out the Virtual DJ and I bought a controller to play our music. And then my dad got me Pioneer CDJ 350s and the x122 mixer.

Okay. And then how did you get into music production?

I got into music production in 2016, at the time I was kind of lost and confused. I was introduced by my friend who was more involved in music production. He kind of showed me how to make music and I was getting more interested after every session we did together.

What are your top three musical influences? So who’s influenced you to become who you are today?

The first DJ who I used to listen to a lot when I was 12/13 was Tiesto. I used to love listening to his trance music and his DJ sets. But then more forward in time, it was the first time I came to Ibiza. That’s when I saw Carl Cox and his personality in the DJ booth was crazy. How he could interact with people and control the crowds. The vibe in Space Ibiza was amazing!

And then I would say for music. I would say The Martinez Brothers. That’s my favourite kind of style. It’s about the music that they make and the music they play. I really feel identified with them because their style has this kind of Latin influence. The percussion in the tracks I’m a big fan of, organic drums and this kind of fast groove, so musically I would say The Martinez Brothers.

What new music do you have coming up?

So I have this EP coming on Nothing Else Matters, which is going to be one housey track, which has a lot of potential and I think it’s gonna do really well. The B side of the EP is more of a rave tune. It’s called ‘Rave Tool‘. So basically, it’s a great tool. haha!

And then in July, I have an EP on Bandidos, which I also think is going to do really well too. The main track is crazy. It has this well-known Latin sample, so yeah, I’m excited to release this one.

And then I’m planning to do a release on my own record label Diggin in August. That’s still in the works. But yeah, I’m thinking to do a release on there. And yeah, Diggin is a label I launched last month and I’m just planning to release my own music.

What’s your music production setup?

Well, when I was starting, it was just my laptop and software. But then over the years, I got the Push from Ableton which I still do use now too. Then when I was in London, I bought my Korg Electribe MK II, which is a drum machine. Although I only use it sometimes now for some effects.

Now I have the Roland MC 505. Which I’m in love with, honestly, I really like it. I like to make my bass lines and some of my synths sounds using it too. And then recently I got the Machine from Native Instruments. My girlfriend got me this as a present when we were in Ibiza and I was like, oh my God, you have made me so happy!

What are your top three record labels that you’ve signed to?

I would say the main one would be Cuttin Headz with my track ‘Sientelo‘, that’s the one that I really felt took a major leap to grow my brand and my fan base. And it was a massive dream come true for me as I had wished to sign with them for three to four years prior.

Then I would say my release on Eats Everything label edible. We did so well with my track ‘So Hot‘ which was released in 2021. And that was a major step too for my career, which got support from the whole industry. Including Simon Dunmore, Pete Tong, John Summitt plus so many more.

And then I would say my track Touch Me‘ which I released with Kaluki. ‘Touch Me‘ was a special track as it was during the pandemic, but we really did well with this one and it got to number 1.

So I think those were the three main releases…

What was the process of your signing with The Martinez Brothers?

I released my track ‘Sientelo‘ with them last year. I originally sent the track to Stevie, and he was like, oh, man, I really love this track. The next Tuesday they were playing at Hi, Ibiza, so me and my girlfriend went and said could you imagine them playing my track. Then that’s what happened! I was recording, it was crazy and even better we were in the DJ booth with them!

So after a few weeks, the label managers contacted me and told me, yeah, they want this one for a VA.

What are your goals for the next two years? Where would you like to play? What labels?

I would like to have signed to Hot Creations and be on the Paradise shows as well as be a regular for elrow. Would love to play with The Martinez Brothers too. And, you know, of course, playing Circoloco is one of my main goals. I mean, that’s so many people’s goals, but I have faith. I’d also love to play at Space Miami and at CLOROPHILLA in Italy.

Your new label, what sort of sound that you’re going for?

Anything that sounds out of the box, but sounds cool. You know, like the groove has to be nice and I have to be able to play it. So if I feel it when I play, it’s definitely a good sign. But it needs to be out of the box. I won’t release like some normal tech house. It has to have something special.

Let’s do some quickfire questions.

House or techno? – House

Favourite sport? – Basketball

Favourite food? – Pizza

Summer holiday or winter holiday? – Summer holiday all day long

June 5, 2023