Interview with Gary from Ibiza Blog

Ibiza Blog is one of my favourite Ibiza sites and definitely one Love Ibiza regularly looks to for news, ideas and inspiration. Gary writes and maintains Ibiza Blog and has loads of first hand experience of the Ibiza club scene so I hassled him for this interview and I'm hoping to get him back here doing some guest posts in the future;-)

Tell us a bit about yourself...

Well im Gary and i run Ibizablog.co.uk! Im 27 and ive been going to Ibiza for 10 years, i first went in 1999 and loved it though looking back i didn't really appreciate Ibiza for what it is!

I live and work in Manchester as an SEO Developer (i get websites to the top of google) and this year i will be in Ibiza for only 8 days arriving on June 12th and heading straight to Tijuana for a long awaited reunion with the best Mexican on the island!!

Primarily i started up Ibiza Blog because of my job, I wanted to work on a website of my own and just to put in practice things i was learning to get my own website to the top of Google which i think i have done quite well with;  though there is still a lot more i can do with the site in terms of information.

I have always spent a lot of time reading forums and websites looking out for any line-ups or news, The idea of the site was to collect everything i had read and found interesting and place it on one site. I think this can easily be seen on my site as i don't feel it's a complete information site of every night and event; it tends to be more informative on the nights clubs and subjects i have more interest or knowledge of myself.

You've been going to Ibiza for 10 years, that makes you a veteran! What do you think are the most notable changes in that time?

There have been a lot of changes over the last 10 years, Nights have disappeared the trends in music have changed and the big players Dj wise on the island have changed massively. I couldn't see Sonique, Boy George and John Kelly playing the clubs and pulling the crowds every week anymore! The most important thing though is that when you get on the dance floor it's just as special as it ever has been and i think it's the constant changes in Ibiza with the clubs and the club nights on offer that keep it that way.

The biggest change is the end of morning parties, It's a big loss  but it's not the end. Ibiza's clubs have dealt with government forced changes since before most of us ever went there, The decision to make clubs cover up and put roofs on in the early 90's would have been a monumental change at the time and i expect people were predicting the end of Ibiza then and here we are blogging about it 19 years later.

What's your least favourite thing about Ibiza today?

I can't say i really have a least favourite thing about Ibiza, Clamping down on the parties is not good for us going there to party but it's not our island so i think we have to respect that.

I hate people who go to Ibiza and have the attitude that the places they go make them Uber cool and if you don't agree with them then you know nothing. I hate people looking down on other people if they like a club or a night they don't think is cool enough.

Apart from that i think it's just the constant predictions that people make every year that "Ibiza Is Dead" that gets on my nerves!

Can you remember the best night you've had in Ibiza or the best party you've been to out there?

Best night i have ever been to has to be in 2001 when i took a trip to GodsKitchen@Amnesia, I remember the atmosphere of them nights was immense, The line-up was just as special, The line-up was Tiesto, Picotto and Fergie, All these three names mean very different things today as all their careers and sounds have changed over the last 8 years and there not the dj's of he moment; but on that night it was perfect, Tiesto was the newbie warming up the night with trance and Picotto followed him with an amazing hard trance set which if he played that now would be classed as a ‘classics set'.  Fergie was on a high back then as the next big thing and he followed Picotto with a similar sounding set that hadn't finished or even slowed down when i left at around 9am.

There have been plenty of top nights since like when i first saw Felix Da Housecat at Space but that one stands out the most as being the best.

Any predictions for the 2009 season? Closures, successes, failures etc?

Ive never been good at predictions but when Hed Kandi move to Eden then i think that will be a popular night, they never fail to fill a venue in the UK and i think the larger UK crowd in San Antonio is the reason they are on the move.

I think the Terrace at Amnesia will gain more in popularity, there were a few calls last year that the Terrace could become the main attraction at Amnesia and with Roger Sanchez moving his night there i think that will be a hit.

I think the biggest hit however will be the Swedish House Mafia at Pacha, Over the last 12 months i saw them a couple of times and they could have been the best two sets for me in 2008. I think this night will be spoken about the most in 2009.

I think any night with Deadmau5 will be popular.

In terms of closures i commented on my blog a long time ago when trouble first started at DC10 that it would be shut down and i still don't think it will ever open properly again. Not because i don't like the place but because of licensing and its location. If you take away the hysteria and look at the facts it was inevitable, Week in week out they knowingly broke licensing laws and i think they kept at it for as long as possible, I don't believe it will open again as to gain the correct licence they need to provide more car parking spaces, this will never be allowed because the club is in a protected area so i cant see it ever re opening properly again.

Saying all this, i would predict a few one off Circo Loco parties through the year, they had a couple at the end of last year so i don't see why they wont do that this season.

Some quick fire questions to finish up...

• Favourite club?

• Favourite DJ?

• Beach or pool?

• Villa or apartment?

• Mambo or Caf√© Del Mar?

• San Antonio or Ibiza Town?

• Favourite Resturant?

Tijuana (closely followed by Curry Club!)

Thanks to Gary for agreeing to do this interview. If you have any questions for Gary, stick them in the comments and I'm sure he'll answer.

Oh and don't forget to check out www.ibizablog.co.uk!