With over 20 million listeners and 27 million Instagram followers, as well as countless platinum and diamond records, along with huge collaborations across his back catalog, Brazil’s biggest artist and world-renowned DJ Alok is heading to Hï Ibiza for 9 exclusive Monday sets from July through to September, including 3 performances on 15 August, 5 September and 12 September. We had the pleasure of speaking with Alok about this and a number of other topics.
Hello Alok, let’s kick things off with your recent announcement, a residency at Hï Ibiza. How does it feel to be bringing your sound to Ibiza this summer?
It feels amazing, and I´m so excited! As the first Brazilian to be headlining for 3 months at the main room of this super-club on the island, it feels like the perfect time to celebrate and bring the amazing “future-tech” party to Ibiza.
It has been over 2 years since we partied in Ibiza. What do you miss the most about the island?
Ibiza has a unique festive atmosphere and is one of the main destinations for people during the Summer season in Europe. It also always has that vibe of novelty and vitality, as well as is a place where music industry professionals, music enthusiasts and friends from around the globe can meet. I’m very excited to be back on the island.
This residency is accompanied by tons of shows all over the globe. How does it feel to be back on tour?
Contact with the public is essential. Although, I never stopped talking to my audience through social media and with showing them my lifestyle. However, physical presence and the exchange of energy during shows is a driving force to maintain creativity and seek excellence in each aspect. With the advancement of vaccines and the drop in COVID cases, people have felt safer returning to events. In addition to this, humans need to be together, and the moments of relief from everyday life are important too, also in the light of sustaining the economy. At each show, there are always significant amounts of people hired who work behind the scenes to make everything possible.
What did you miss the most about being on tour?
Certainly, the exchange of energy with the public. I’m very attentive to the vibe of the track I’m playing, and having that immediate response coming from the crowd, especially if they react to my music, is something that provides a positive experience for the audience and for myself. This is something I missed the most.
Over the past 2 years you stepped it up in the studio and released so many amazing tracks. Do you have a secret for such a high output of music while also keeping the high quality?
I have a great team that shares my vision and supports my artistic direction. They support me across the board and help me properly manage my career. Everything I do, whether it’s music or my private life, needs to have a purpose. This is the secret: to seek meaning and truth in everything we do. There’s no song that is just a song. Everything carries a story or importance that justifies me releasing a track the right way and at the right moment
With so many releases you’ve kept yourself fresh by experimenting in many styles and genres, how important is it for you to incorporate new sounds and styles into your music?
I’m always curious, and my desire to discover new sounds is reflected in my productions. Music shows us many paths and accompanies us in various moments of life. It is also able to provide revealing experiences. That’s what interests me the most, bringing unforgettable experiences to my audience.
My work with Brazilian indigenous is a perfect example of what I’m talking about: it has a purpose to keep their traditions alive and the wisdom of native people. There is also this restless side of me that motivates me to constantly search for new sounds and, for example, mix sounds that are at least 500 years old into modern productions. Of course, It’s also important to have an objective that goes beyond the sounds and focuses on the social causes.
Is there a certain style or genre that you’ve not attempted but you’d like to do so in the future?
I’ve been performing since I was 12 years old, and during that time, I have been going through different sound styles and solidified my signature sound. But the world is vast, and certainly, in the near future, I will come across something unusual that will spark my interest and desire to develop something fresh sound- or performance-wise. For example: in Brazil, I performed on a top of a truck full of speakers which moved around the city, and everything happened in the birthplace of the street carnival. What usually interests me is things that don’t seem to match at first sight. I like to put some thoughts into them and make them work together.
Thanks so much for taking the time to speak with us, do you have anything to announce with our readers?
I am very grateful for all the opportunities that life has given me. I’m preparing very energetic shows for this festival season in Ibiza. It’s a unique moment in my career, and I want to make sure that people visiting Ibiza and attending my shows will remember the summer of 2022 forever.
