In Ibiza, Jaymo and Andy George are just two young guys with a residency in the Sunset Terrace for We Love Space. They come, they play, they party, and they seem pretty happy to keep it that way for now. They like Ibiza to feel like a holiday for them, because back home in England– they are building an empire.
While the rest of us were paying for beer in coppers and wondering how to avoid an office job, Jaymo and Andy George were changing their lives. It started in 2008 with their club night called Moda, from which a Radio 1 Essential Mix was recorded, leading to a radio slot filling in for Pete Tong and Radio 1's affectionate adoption of the then fledgling duo. In the space of four years the Moda project has also flourished into a doubled-branched label (Moda and Moda Black) releasing a quality selection of dance acts, DJ residencies at Fabric London and Space Ibiza (just to name the heavyweights), original productions, compilation CDs and, of course, the Moda parties – bigger and better than before.
The immense Moda network they and a small but supportive behind the scenes team have created is at once incredibly solid in its scope and quality, and yet fragile in that it relies on the unremitting passion and, equally importantly, hard work of two cheeky twenty-something-year-olds. “I mean this is all we do,” explains Jaymo, “sometimes I feel like we need to put it down for a little while. As soon as we're finished talking or making our own music, we're onto something else music related . . . it consumes pretty much every hour of our waking lives.” Burning the candle at both ends would be the understatement of the century, but if the pair can keep it up at this rate for another four years they'll probably be running the Commonwealth by 2016.
“I think in today's day and age the more strings you have to your bow is preferential” muses Andy. I ask if it's a prerequisite to do so much, but he doesn't assent. “No, I don't think you have to. There are people that make a big record and it breaks through, and it may not be good but it certainly captures a moment and it sells well, so they suddenly have 10 000 fans on Facebook and that's that. But it's not where we're coming from, you know, we started as promoters and DJs and producers, and that's how we'll end things.”
The lads certainly know what they like and what they don't when it comes to music (for example, I have it on record they would rather sniff glue than watch Avicii play and, as Jaymo diplomatically put it, “if you don't like disco, you're not fucking human”). What is interesting, however, is that the amount of energy they put into promoting other people's music would be a lot even for a well established artist, let alone such new faces in the industry, who you'd expect to just be concentrating on their own brand. I ask them to explain their obsessive compulsion to share all the music they like…
“We had a lot of help as we were breaking through and I think we just want to give it back,” says Andy. “A lot of people that are making records, especially that we've released on Moda Black, are people that a) are our friends b) that we really want to work with or that we really believe in. We wouldn't just sign a record cause it's a big dance floor hit. We always try to get to know everyone that we sign and vice versa.”
“Arguably it's one of our downfalls that we don't do that,” Jaymo adds. “That we're not necessarily really self-promoting all the time when perhaps we should be putting more effort into that . . . but it feels self absorbed to be talking about your own music all the time and playing loads of your own records . . . so we end up talking about loads of different people's.” No doubt the pair must also recognize that promoting others is an important aspect of their own brand – their radio stints and Moda website is increasingly considered an excellent go-to spot for new music.
The conversation weaves its way around to responsibilities, and I ask which of them is usually the one to call the cabs. Simultaneously, they answer:
Andy: Me.
Jaymo: Our girlfriends.
>An awkward pause<
Andy: No I'm probably the mummy
Jaymo: This is weird.
>laughs<
Jaymo: Do you want me to call you mummy, is that how it is?
Andy: Don't pretend you haven't done it before.
Err… ok boys. A couple of tumbleweeds trot past while I think of how to move the conversation on to something less creepy, finally settling on their relationship with We Love – which proves to be characterised by an almost Disney-like level of idealism. “We spent a lot of time at We Love Space before we played there,” explains Andy. “We feel we know the room quite well and how We Love in general feels. Although we've continued to come all the way through our career, things change and your expectations change and what you think about the music changes. It almost means more now because we understand everything that's gone into it. But we've always appreciated We Love Space - it's been kind of a stalwart that we'd always go to on Sunday nights. [When we play] we choose music very specific to Space, because of the way that room works.”
“It's partly because we're playing from 10 ‘til 12,” Jaymo adds. “It's an earlier set and it's not like we're compromising at all – if anything it's releasing certain boundaries. You know, we're playing Prince records and stuff like that that we would never play from 2 ‘til 4.”
“Also there's something special about the Sunset Terrace,” Andy continues. “It's quite different to a lot of the rooms in Ibiza, so we definitely pick records that are just for that space.”
Catch them in their ‘special' place this Sunday September 9th for We Love Space.
