GET TO KNOW: JOSEPH CARTWRIGHT
...being the one who was like supplying the poolside tunes for everyone on their holiday was always so much fun...
Meet the man who is literally watching his dreams rise-up around him, from being listed onto an Elrow line-up, to hosting his own night in Ibiza. Introducing Joseph Cartwright, who is switching from Southampton to the White Island for the Summer.
JC told me how important music has always been to him, even from an early age: “When I was younger I used to go through all my parent’s old CDs and records. I bought my first DJ set when I was about 15 I think, and I started collecting music from there.
“When I first started teaching myself I used to mix basically any genre and see how it sounded. But then I gradually got into the first kind of music [that] I really enjoyed playing: bass house - like a bass-orientated house; artists like Low Steppa, Redlight, Hannah Wants.”
The young DJ then got landed with a serious opportunity which put his future into focus: “I won a competition that I won to play at Ministry of Sound which was crazy, and obviously once I played that gig I was hooked from that moment. The buzz you get from playing in front of a crowd, I knew that’s what I wanted to do.”
In just a few (long) weeks, Joseph will be flying out to Ibiza for his second season. I asked him what 2018 holds for him over there and why he’s chosen to spend another summer on the island: “There’s such a sick vibe out there. You’ve got like all the best parties in the world and all the best music in the world, and it’s all on one small island.
“This year I’ve got a few things lined up, already in the books kind of thing. Ibiza Rocks bar have asked me to come back and host my own night each week, so that should be pretty mad. I’ll be hosting on Thursdays and Fridays (I think), but Friday will be the main night.
“They’ve asked me to think of a theme, with my own name and everything. And what I’m gonna be doing is inviting other DJs, mates of mine and people who are on the island doing a season or are out there on holiday or something. I’m gonna ask them to come and play with me whenever they can. Hopefully this will give my friends and other DJs a chance to play somewhere like Ibiza Rocks and help them get their name out there a little bit - which is kind of what I needed last year.”
Joseph told me how he spent last summer, for a season of what started as PR work, and eventually turned into a DJ residency in San Antonio: “It was pretty evident quickly that I was not cut out for [PR] at all because I was just so shit at it. Luckily at the time there was a few DJing slots that were open, and I got asked to do a couple of sets here and there.
“I remember one night I played with Patrick Nazemi and it was one of the busiest nights I’ve ever had. That night they offered to keep me on, where I’d play like 3 or 4 times a week, which was pretty much perfect for me. I then got asked to play at Ibiza Rocks Hotel (poolside) a couple of times each month. It was such a sick experience because it’s such a cool little place down there. Being the one who was like supplying the poolside tunes for everyone out there on their holidays was always so much fun. Everyone was always so up for it.”
Midway through the 2017 season, Joseph was approached by a promoter from Sankeys with an opportunity to stand-in for another DJ who had become unavailable: “Obviously I was so buzzing for that because it was easily the biggest club I’ve played in, and I’d been there so many times before at this point on nights out. It was obviously one of my favourite places to go.
“I was closing the basement and the atmosphere down there was so, so sick. I’ve never seen anything like that it was so much fun. Literally when I left I was buzzing for days. They must have really liked me because I literally got a call the [next] day and I was booked for another 3 or 4 dates over the following weeks, so I was over the moon at that. It was so sick.”
As well as the familiarity of Ibiza, Joseph is venturing into the unknown and putting work in on the production side of things: “It’s kind of slow progress but I do have a few tracks I’m working on which [I am] planning on releasing hopefully in the next few months.”
He told me how he expects balancing the two elements will come as a challenge: “I think there’s pros and cons; I won’t have any equipment from home which will make it much harder, and I’ll be less tempted to be sat inside with no a/c when its boiling outside.
“But, at the same time I should have a fair bit of free time when I’m out to sit down and work on some music. “
If you’re in Ibiza this summer you will most definitely be able to find Joseph Cartwright at Sankeys, or one of the Ibiza Rocks venues, whether it's playing or partying: “Fingers crossed I’m gonna be back in that dark, dingy basement as soon as possible. I’m absolutely buzzing to get out there again. I can’t wait to be DJing poolside, with the sun beaming down, have some grooves on: basically carefree!”
I think I may have to re-evaluate my summer…
Charlotte Brown
May 15th 2018