Artist Spotlight
Croatian DJ and producer San Pacho is of no mystery to house music aficionados worldwide. His exemplary sound has resonated with a vast audience from every speck of the globe, and he’s become a prominent part of the ongoing tech house and Latin house revolution with his exotic and culturally-inspired soundscapes.
Growing up in Croatia, his life shaped his musical taste and style of artistic expression. Croatia’s breathtaking natural landscapes and refreshing Mediterranean Sea views always instilled inspiration in him no matter what he aspired to achieve at any point in time. Once his love for house music emerged, it was back-to-back summer beach parties on the water that influenced his desire to explore the electronic dance music scene even further.
His ongoing fascination with house music led him to pursue the monumental adventure of one day becoming an internationally recognized producer. Still, he didn’t really dive deep into the scene until 2014, when future house and bass house were exponentially on the rise. One of his early idols was future house pioneer Tchami, who ended up playing a tremendous role in shaping his career.
Before unveiling the San Pacho project to the world, he released music under his Pascal alias. Tchami supported one of those tracks during one of his older EDC sets, so San Pacho immediately reached out to thank him. After a few back-and-forth conversations, Tchami officially recruited him to be part of his renowned CONFESSION label roster. This was when the rebrand to the San Pacho name came to light.
“It’s really great seeing the idols that I listened to and looked up to when I was younger play my music now. Tchami is one idol that always pops up at the top of my head. When he released his Promises EP back in 2014, I was obsessed with his unique sound. I saw that he played my track with Malaa at a nightclub show recently, and I was in shock that someone I’ve always looked up to so much continues to play my tracks. It’s so humbling to witness.”
Deciding to drop everything, including his enrollment at university, was the best decision the self-taught musician could’ve made for himself. After spending numerous hours in the studio mastering the art of production and DJing, he was able to curate a standout artistic persona and sound to match his authentic self.
The San Pacho sound has proven to be one of a kind. He utilizes every whiff of inspiration to create, and he’s flawlessly transitioned his sound to reflect his artistic vision at any given point in time without fear of judgment or industry portrayal. As cliché as it sounds, his principal motto is to always stay true to oneself. By sticking to this mindset, he’s managed to stand out in a sea of like-minded producers by doing things his own way and on his own terms. For him, that’s the key to success.
“I noticed there were a lot of great house sounds out there but I wanted to implement my own take on the genre. I wanted to take inspiration from everyday soundscapes and sounds from all over the world including real instruments and real percussions and merge them into house music. This concept wasn’t as prominent when I first started this journey. This is actually how my idea for ‘La Pasion’ with Matroda came to be. Now I’m known for creating house tracks with Latin melodies, which wasn’t my original purpose but it sort of just happened, and I’m so glad it did.”
“La Pasion” still sits on the top charts a year following its release. This striking Latin house heater skyrocketed San Pacho’s career and tight-knit relationship with fellow Croatian producers. He and Matroda share a similar vision when it comes to dominating the scene, making it impossible for them to not cross paths and coexist in such a niche house music space.
“In 2019, Matroda and I made ‘The One’ but later realized we wanted to make a more tech house influenced song since we both left the bass house genre behind around the same time. After I produced my part, I sent him the demo and he did his thing and premiered it. The initial reactions were insane so we decided to officially release it on his Terminal Underground label and its still one of my top three tracks to this day. Tracks usually age after a while so its crazy that its still on the top charts. It’s a track that anyone in the world can dance to and I think that’s why its been such a popular hit.”
Following a successful summer touring season in 2022, taking him across Europe, the Croatian sensation is ready to embark on his first-ever journey across the Atlantic to perform in North America.
San Pacho is ecstatic to finally get the opportunity to showcase his mixing abilities at some of the nation’s most pristine live music venues, including Exchange in Los Angeles, Marquee in Las Vegas, The Roof at Superior Ingredients in Brooklyn, and more. He’s eager to finally conquer the USA in full force and witness what the crowd culture is all about on this side of the globe.
To tease his upcoming and highly-anticipated North American tour, he recently just unveiled the second edition of his booming The Vault mix series. The 31-minute mix is an enthralling blend of unreleased San Pacho tunes intertwined with some older tracks to get a feel of his listeners’ reactions before officially revealing any new releases. It’s a brilliant marketing tactic. With more new music on the horizon, this mix has gotten fans pumped for what’s to come from the flourishing producer.
In revamping his sound, San Pacho’s fundamental goal was to bring diverse cultures together at clubs and festivals around the world with his outlandish house escapades. And after only being in the scene for a few years, he rests comfortably on the top of the Beatport house charts alongside industry legends like FISHER, Chris Lake, Gorgon City, and more, which is still a surreal concept to him. He describes his sound as refreshing. His hypnotic beats are truly a breath of fresh air in a continuously evolving industry.
“I never had any idea or expectation that I would be standing side by side with artists like Chris Lake on the top Beatport charts. That’s just insane to me, even to this day. I can’t even comprehend that and put words together for how I feel about this. It’s crazy. I’m so thankful for this journey and I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
