STBAN fuses flamenco and electronic music on his new single ‘LA PALMA’, out now via FLAMENCA Records. Rooted in tradition and driven by rhythm, the track brings timeless passion to the dancefloor.

STBAN channels centuries of flamenco tradition into the electronic age with his new single ‘LA PALMA’, out now on FLAMENCA Records. Steeped in culture, the track carries the raw heat, passion, and rhythm of this timeless art form.

Distributed via iconic imprint Toolroom Records, ‘LA PALMA’ homes in on the traditional hand clapping indicative of flamenco. The most ancient form of human percussion, ‘la palma’ sets the rhythm of the dance and drives the intensity of the performance. The rising passion and swirling emotion of flamenco dancing quite literally follows the dancer’s hand inside the physical space.

Co-produced with Bryan Colleta (Sparrow & Barbossa) and featuring Spanish singer G.Zamora on vocals, ‘LA PALMA’ simmers with Latin heat, sultry electric guitars taking over from acoustic guitars that gently undulate as the track rises. Brass trumpets bristle in from the lower ends like shimmering Mediterranean sunsets, percussion and syncopated hand claps nestling up against muted bass and synth lines. Weaving everything together is G.Zamora’s Balearic tone, STBAN and Coletta using his vocal as a thread to draw the entire production together.

Released alongside the single’s audio is a beautiful video shot on location across the vibrant North African city of Marrakech, a subtle nod to the Arabic roots of the dance form. Celebrating the instinctive human desire to move to music, the video sees Moroccans of all ages and demographics invited onto a simple rug placed on sidewalks, open parks, plazas, rooftops, then given a pair of headphones. With ‘LA PALMA’ in their ears, citizens young and old let the world around them fall away as they immerse themselves in the momentary freedom music allows. It’s a beautiful reminder that the joy of music connects us, no matter where we are in the world.

With a run of singles set to drop over the coming months, sets confirmed at major festivals this summer – including Montreux Jazz Festival and AirBeat One – and a special residency at iconic MAD Club in Lausanne, STBAN added further momentum to the FLAMENCA project by partnering with Toolroom at this year’s IMS in Ibiza. The deal sees Toolroom powering FLAMENCA Records through distribution and label services, bringing industry expertise and infrastructure to the next phase of the brand’s evolution.

With much more to come from STBAN and FLAMENCA, ‘LA PALMA’ serves as an early indication of what fans of house music – and flamenco – can expect. With that in mind, we thought it was about time to sit down with STBAN to find out more…

Tell us about LA PALMA, how did the track come together?

I’d had the track in my mind for some time, and then a couple of years ago I met Bryan Coletta. For me it was a perfect collaboration; we’re both living in Lausanne, in Switzerland, but Bryan was also living in Madrid and had a close connection to flamenco music. It meant he understood the genre and what we wanted, what our vision was. He came to our studios in Lausanne for two days and the energy was really good, it was really nice to work together with him on LA PALMA.

The title refers to the clapping that you get in traditional flamenco – how did you translate that into the song?

Clapping is one of the most important drums in flamenco music, along with the “tacones”, the heels of the feet, and also the cajon, the drum. They are the three essential rhythms of flamenco music, the primitive roots of the percussion, and for LA PALMA we wanted to really concentrate on and celebrate the clapping.

You have your own label, FLAMENCA Records. We’re guessing from the name that you’re heavily influenced by flamenco music – is that the only genre that we’ll hear from the label?

Of course the first thing for us is fusion of flamenco with electronic music but because of the nature of flamenco, which has always been influenced by different cultures and sounds, we’re open to other genres within the family, just always keeping in mind the Spanish or Latin influences. So it could be, for example, Latin House or Tech House, or even Afro or Tribal.

What music do you have coming next?

We have many tracks coming next, already cooked in the studio oven, from some very incredible artists. We have work from Jesus Fernandez, with also Qubiko, we also have some incredible remixes lined up from artists like PAUZA and Cruzy. We’re very happy to work with these kind of high level artists, DJs and producers.

We heard you struck a deal with none other than Toolroom Records at this year’s IMS – how crucial is it for you to have the support of the Toolroom team?

=Yes! I had the chance to meet Mark Knight at IMS and we spoke at length about the FLAMENCA project. He was very open minded about including us in his organisation, even though we’re relatively new. I think he liked the idea of the flamenco style fused with electronic music. We’re also along the same line of house music, the same beats, even if it’s more of a Latin style or Spanish style. For some of the tracks we’ve produced dub edits, or extended club edits, it gives a real depth to what is a pretty new genre.

Also personally, I really appreciate the values of Mark Knight. He really runs the business as a family and I feel this a lot, it really aligns with our values at FLAMENCA Records. So for me, I think it’s not only the music but the values that are putting everything together to work with a very nice energy. We’ve been working with them for one month now and I really appreciate the professionalism of all his team. It’s a great collaboration for us and one that we value.

Stream this single on all platforms here.