On the weekend I traveled to Frankfurt for Sven Vath's 50th birthday.

I first met Sven properly about four years ago when he was playing at the Future Festival in Sydney, Australia. I had briefly met the Cocoon family during the Kave parties in Ibiza before that, but here I was Sven's back-up dancer.
Literally.

I had been in the crowd with one of my best friends, dancing like we were back in high school. Electronic music still didn't demand a large stage at Australian music festivals back then, so Sam and I had almost a whole dance floor to craze around on. We were both plucked up and put on stage where we continued to dance for the remainder of the set.


As the world continued to prove smaller, when I moved to London the following year I was sharing the same apartment with Sarah Qaiser - head dancer at Cocoon, who is now sister and partner in crime. Later on, living in Ibiza Mondays were spent in Amnesia for Sven's Cocoon residency, then I would go on to work for Cocoon and thus a relationship with not just Sven but the whole Cocoon group would make them family.

So there was no question that the trip to Mannehim would not happen. It was also an opportunity to write a feature for Pulse Radio, detailing the night. Check it out below >>

http://pulseradio.net/articles/2014/10/time-warp-papa-sven-turns-50-in-review

To Cocoon or not to Cocoon ... what a silly question. Of course YES. Monday nights in Amnesia are just the cherry on the cupcake post a DC10 session. After mingling and having a wee boogie, I set off with some friends to Cocoon to dance away to the beats of what could only be a great back to back set between two greats and inspirations - Luciano and Ricardo Villalobos.


The club was well packed even at the early time of 2am.
Sure enough, those tribal beats and melodies that we have learned to associat

After settling in my usual corner near the DJ booth, I ran into a friend who would then be my partner in crime for the night - Ross Evans.

Ross apart from being Carl Craig's tour manager, has that other talent of music production -  which just quietly, he is killing at the moment. His records have been released on a host of respected labels including Cecile (one of my personal favs), Saved, Noir Music, Get Physical Music and of course, Cocoon.

After spending some time on the Terrace we moved to the Main Room to visit Papa Sven. There I ran into another surprise - Scott Roberston whom I met at Future Festival two years ago at the Cocoon Stage.

On the 10th of June, 2013, techno legend Sven Vaeth hosted a welcome dinner like no other.

To mark the beginning of the 14th season of  Cocoon at the super club Amnesia in Ibiza, the artist and friends dinner took place right on the dance floor. It was the first time ever such an event took place in Amnesia.

I was lucky enough to be invited, having worked for Cocoon Records and being a friend and supporter of the team before that.

Guests included the artists playing that night – Ricardo Villalobos, Dorian Paic, Julien Bracht. Guy Gerber was in the Main Room doing sound check. It will be interesting to see how the crowd reacts to the new Main Room. It received a renovation during winter with the DJ booth moved from high up above, down to the dance floor. This will change the whole dynamic, allowing greater DJ-audience interaction and give the illusion of a bigger space.

Cocoon as you should know, throws their weekly parties every Monday night till the 30th of September this year. Cocoon will also hold a residency in Tipic – a small club in Formentera on Thursday nights till the 12th of September.
I made a little video of the night ... it didn't go till the final hours, I was too busy dancing!