Name: Defected Ibiza Week 4
Start: 2022-05-20T23:59:00.000+02:00
End: 2022-05-21T06:00:00.000+02:00

Mason Collective present MVSON WORLD 2023

For those of you unfamiliar, get to know the Mancunian DJ trifecta taking the underground scene by storm. 

Made up of talented trailblazers Adam Myles, Blair Suarez and Omar Guedar, these three names are the dynamic trio known as Mason Collective.

Hailing from the north of England, Mason Collective have been putting their own stamp on the increasingly popular tech-house genre over the last few years. 

Esteemed for their explosive, high-energy sets, sleek productions and infinite swagger, the boys from Manneh have very much carved their own path to success - from humble beginnings, to quite literally jet-setting around the globe playing top-rated gigs most days of the week.

The close-knit group have been pulled across continents by different promoters and event brands from Europe, and both South and North America, meaning that spending time at their homes in the UK is now somewhat of a rarity for the trendy moguls.

Wherever they may land in the world, the sought-after collective bring their sprightly, yet cool and collected idiosyncrasy to each and every one of their skilfully honed sets. 

Often packed with stylish remixes from coveted producers, sexy Latin vocals and groove-worthy 4x4 beats, their distinct sets are always sure to emit their unmistakable energy.

From packed out clubs and festivals, to warming up the stages for some of the best DJ’s in house and tech such as The Martinez Brothers, Loco Dice, Marco Carola and more, it won’t be long before they're throwing their own nights at venues like Space Miami and DC-10, Ibiza. You heard it here first.

Now label bosses of their very own Whippin Records imprint, as well as event runners themselves, the modish young-guns have ventured into new territories in recent years, with their innovative "MVSON" party brand concept and experience.

Shaped around their signature sound and first-hand knowledge of how to throw an epic party, MVSON has rapidly grown to become one of the most renowned underground parties in their hometown of Manchester. 

With an army of loyal followers, the brand is expanding across the UK and hosting various venues, takeovers and most importantly their very own festival MVSON WORLD.

Debuting in their city last summer, MVSON WORLD sold out in record time. This year, they go again, bigger and better than before - Saturday July 15, 2023.

With every little detail thought down to a T, MVSON WORLD doesn’t miss a dime. The chosen location for the exclusive event is Manchester’s Barton City Aerodrome. A unique space that lends itself perfectly to what is expected to be another sell-out festival for the gifted trio.

Comprising of three stages, Mason Collective have carefully curated a line-up bursting with the most sought after tech-house artists in the game right now - most of which the boys have close bonds with. It’s a family affair!

Combining international artists with home-grown talent, the likes of wAFF, Luuk Van Dijk, SOSA, Mason Maynard, Fleur Shore, Jean Pierre, Music On regular Calvin Clarke, Max Dean, AJ Christou, and more are all set to perform.

With two stages predominantly built for all of you house and techno lovers, the third will cater to alternate sounds of afro house and disco vibes. We cannot wait.

Something a little different to what you'd see here in the states, raving with Mancunians on their home turf will be quite the experience. If one thing's for sure, is that they know how to party. 

Saying this, whether you make it to the UK or not, you're bound to see Mason Collective on an array of epic line-ups throughout the summer, stateside. Keep your eyes peeled.

Keep on killin' the game boys. Watch this space.



Tickets available to buy here from 03.31.23.



With a history steeped in memories year after year on the beautiful Balearic island, Defected returns for its 22nd consecutive annum in Ibiza, claiming its rightful spot at San Antonio megaclub Eden, every Friday this summer.

Under their 2023 campaign, “It’s all about house!”, Defected announced an incredible lineup of DJ’s every week of the season, commencing April 28, through September 29.

Championing international house music stars from every corner of the genre, the OG event brand, label, community, and all-encompassing music organization have returned every summer since its first party in 2001, and have danced shoulder to shoulder with ravers from all over the world. 

This year, they go bigger and better than ever before, for what's set to be the brand's best summer yet. 

From house music originals to today’s club favorites and the hottest newcomers in the scene right now, they’ve covered it all.

Defected favorites Melé, Darius Syrossian, Eats Everything, Hannah Wants, Sam Divine, and Riva Starr will all return to the White Isle this summer, as well as other top-rated house music megastars Mike Dunn, Todd Terry, David Penn, Groove Armada, Shermanology, and more! 

Rising stars the Dunmore Brothers, Paige Tomlinson, and Rio Tashan are all set to grace the booth of the San Antonio hotspot. A great opportunity to see the next generation of talent perform in the home of house music.

It’s fast approaching and we cannot wait to be back on the dancefloor of Eden every Friday with the beloved Defected.

General release tickets and lineup breakdowns for all dates have been released and can be found here.





Defected Announce Full Ibiza 2023 Residency Lineup at Eden

The holiday season is officially in full swing. At a time when people the world over are gathering with friends and family sharing gifts and good times, we at Gray Area know that one of the best gifts any music lover can receive is a great song recommendation. They say the greatest joy comes from giving, and we wholeheartedly agree as we happily share another stellar Track of the Week. This week, our gift to you comes in the form of a crunchy new SOSA remix.





This new flip sees the UK young gun take aim at Cobrah and Chris Lorenzo’s carnal tech house cut, “MAMI.” The original was a fan favorite on the summer circuit with its deceivingly deep bass undulating under a cheeky vocal hook and a featherlight steel drum. This fall and winter have seen SOSA’s remix take center stage with plays from Chris Lake, Michael Bibi, and Cloonee. A major facelift for the drum kit gives this tune an injection of danceable energy from beat one. Change out the steel drum for a swath of gritty synths, and this track becomes one attitude-filled fire starter. Push play and try not to strut your stuff. We dare you.



We love seeing an artist flex their range. While this unstoppable rework is brimming with dynamic components, SOSA has often been a champion for the minimal techno sound. In 2020, the Liverpool native launched his record label, COCO, providing a launch pad for up-and-comers worldwide. He has since topped charts and gained recognition with releases on Catch and Release, Repopulate Mars, and Ministry of Sound. Chris Lake recently recruited the COCO label head for a remix of his 2022 smash hit, “A Drug From God.”



 We were lucky enough to snag SOSA for a mix on our monthly Sirius radio show, OCHO recently. Press play and get a taste of his sound below.





SOSA Gives Chris Lorenzo’s “MAMI” a Second Wind

Take this perfect combination of dynamic percussion, flourishing horns, and charismatic vocals for a spin.








It is near impossible to match the infectious energy of a top-shelf Afro-tribal house track. Arguably one of the more compositionally complex branches of dance music, the multitude of moving parts come together to create a spellbinding force that enraptures all within earshot. If you’re privy to this power or looking to familiarize yourself with the fun, you’ll undoubtedly want to press play on Mele’s “Talkin Drums.”



This tune has got it all. Thunderous kicks invigorate the heart while pattering bongos bounce between steady claps. Senegal’s dynamic duo, Touré Kunda, next begins a charismatic call and response with a collection of woodwinds, flutes, and saxophones breaking apart into rallying harmonies and furiously flying licks. Touré Kunda once again steps into the spotlight for their own high-speed exchange before the outfit rejoins in full to bring this exhilarating track to a clean-cut close.



Melé has made quite a name for himself in the last seven years. Hailing from the Wirral Peninsula of the United Kingdom, an early interest in DJing first saw the lad step behind the decks at the age of 13.




After five years of steady releases, fine-tuning his technique and sound, 2015 was punctuated by his breakout hit, “Ambience.” Since then, Melé hasn’t looked back. He’s gone on to tour the globe and play premiere events like elrow, EDC Las Vegas, Defected Ibiza, ANTS, and CRRSD. He also launched his multi-platform brand, Club Bad, in 2019. Encompassing fashion, events, and a label, it’s become a leading entity in the distribution of forward-thinking Afro and tribal house and all things worldly and tropical.



“Talkin Drums” marks Melé’s fourth release of the year, including the party-starting collab with Diplo and Busta Rhymes, “Right 2 Left.”

Melé’s 'Talkin Drums' is the Tribal House Anthem We Can’t Turn Off

This year tech house extraordinaire Sosa fired up the swathes of international ravers at the lakeside stage of Verknipt Festival, Amsterdam. Jay Bradford – aka Sosa – hails from Liverpool, a city that boasts an ever-expanding musical legacy. From CamelPhat to Yousef and beyond, Bradford is one of many exciting artists to emerge from the Liverpudlian scene.

With releases through established imprints like Nervous Records, Relief, Repopulate Mars, and Under No Illusion, Bradford’s hypnotic grooves have caught the attention of tastemakers like Eli Brown, Solardo, CamelPhat, Michael Bibi, Skream, Latmun, Darius Syrossian, Nathan Barato, Alan Fitzpatrick, Eats Everything, Green Velvet, Lee Foss, and many more.



Known for club anthems like “DFCW,” Bradford has become a regular on the Ibiza and UK festival circuit with appearances at Forbidden Forest, Mint Festival Warm Up, We Are Halloween Fest, Bonanza, and Fear Fest under his belt. A pivotal moment in Bradford’s career arrived in 2019 when CamelPhat invited him to join them on the decks at their Bodyworks night at Hi, Ibiza. Bradford also counts playing at Yousef’s iconic Liverpool venue, Circus, for a crowd of 3,000 people as one of his most memorable moments.




UK festival mainstay Creamfields sparked Bradford’s love for dance music. Taking place just minutes away from his family home, he decided he wanted to be a DJ and producer after attending the event for the first time.




Founded in 2012, Verknipt has expanded to encompass a series of renowned indoor and outdoor events throughout the year, including Verknipt ADE, Verknipt Festival, Verknipt anniversaries, Hard Techno Specials, the NYE/NYD editions, and many more.




The Verknipt team focus on crafting each of its events with a fresh approach. A staple organization in the electronic music industry, the excitement behind the festival’s motto - “Nothing is mandatory, everything is possible” – helps to explain its ongoing appeal to leading and upcoming DJs worldwide.




Sosa will play at Academy LA, Spybar in Chicago, Somewhere Nowhere NYC, and many more clubs and festivals worldwide.










Follow Sosa on Twitter | Instagram | Soundcloud














































































Sosa Graces the Decks at the Ever-Expanding Verknipt Festival in Amsterdam 

Canada

Heidi

Every participant in the UK rave scene (and beyond) has benefitted from the unending passion and fiery effervescence of Heidi, who is known simply as Heidi when she’s holding down the decks at venues around the globe.



For over 20 years, Heidi’s cultural contributions have spread across her work as a DJ, event producer, label head, radio host, and record shop owner. Despite that list of activities being simplified to DJing, for the time being, her musical fingerprints have left an indelible mark on dance music.




In editorial features like these, it is commonplace to list off the subject’s achievements as world-shifting and groundbreaking, but in the case of Heidi, it is actually true, and a lot of it happened at random.




Just like how it was random that Richie Hawtin happened to walk into a bar in Windsor, Ontario, where Heidi was bartending back in the mid-90s and asked her out on a date, during which they educated each other on their respective musical backgrounds.




Hawtin’s taste was as expected. He was into esoteric experimental electronic stuff. He was producing Consumed at the time, after all. She learned all about the music that would carry her through her career (he also eventually gifted her a bunch of CDs from the likes of Plastikman, Carl Craig, and more). Hawtin was the catalyst for her education in dance music.





At the time, Heidi wasn’t into house or techno. She was into rock and roll. She grew up in Windsor, Canada, just across the border from Detroit, in a house with parents who loved to rock out.




“[My parents] had the best taste in music,” she tells Gray Area over Zoom from her home in London. In view through her screen, there are readily visible pictures of Prince (who is her absolute favorite artist of time) and David Bowie hanging on her walls.




“There was always music on in the house. Rock music mostly. They were rock and roll peeps and I loved it. We even had music on during dinner. There was no quiet time in my house.”




This great taste in music from her parents came along with their love to party as well. Heidi recalls being woken at 4 AM in the middle of the week to Black Sabbath and putting on childhood concerts in her home with family friends.




“We’d put on concerts and sing our little hearts away and make music videos,” Heidi says. “I’ve always been a performer in my mind.”




So when Heidi moved to England back in 2000, she wanted to work with rock bands as an A&R, but life led her towards being a DJ. However,as she tells us, “I never wanted to be a DJ. This happened by accident. This happened organically. This is not something I strived to be in my life.” 




But even before she had built a career as a DJ in the UK, Heidi made her first indelible mark on the country by helping to open Phonica Records in London in 2003.




Phonica is far more than just a record shop almost twenty years later. It’s an institution in the London music community. Phonica curates stages at festivals like Junction 2 and hosts in-store sessions like their recent launch of Tiraquon Recordings with a DJ set from label head Space Dimension Controller.




Before opening Phonica, Heidi worked at another famed record store, Kubla, with Simon Rigg, who continues to run Phonica today, and the late Tom Relleen, the other manager who unfortunately passed away during the pandemic. Then, in what she again describes as random, the property developers who invested in Phonica asked the trio to run their new shop.




“I’m so happy that it’s still open. I have nothing to do with it anymore, but yes I did open it and I did work there, and ran that shit for quite a long time,” Heidi enthusiastically states.




Working at the shop over the years, she would run into numerous figures in London’s dance music community, including her future colleague, the celebrated BBC Radio 1 broadcaster, Annie Mac.




Shortly after Heidi departed from Phonica in 2007, she acquired a residency at BBC Radio 1 from 2008-to 2016. She started on the now-defunct program In New DJs We Trust from 12 AM to 2 AM on one Thursday a month with the focus of bringing very underground music to larger audiences.









Then Heidi moved on to the residency slot every Thursday night from 10 PM to 12 AM.




“That was better because more people were awake,” says Heidi. “I was only supposed to be on it for six months but I was on it for nine years. I was the longest resident on Radio 1.”




With her veteran status in radio, Heidi would influence other prominent shows as well. She filled in for Pete Tong and Mary Anne Hobbs on occasion. Soon after Prince passed away, she even joined Annie Mac on her show to share her super fandom (apparently, Mac’s expert interview skills saved her from crying live on the air).




But overall, Heidi's time on the radio was dedicated to pushing exciting new music and exciting new artists.




“It was never about me. It was always more about everybody else. I was always a music pusher. I used to make mixtapes for people. I was always getting the imports from England. It had to be stuff that nobody knew. I was the one that people always came to for good music,” Heidi says. “That’s what the Jackathon parties were about.”




Jackathon was the party series she started in 2009 to create an environment for her jacking sound (a sound she describes as inducing a scrunched-up bass face and raucous pelvic movement).




By that time, she was well known from her time on the radio and DJing. However, her high-energy sound wasn’t ideal for the opening slots she was offered. So she threw a party where she played her music nonstop for eight hours. It was a Jackathon.




“I took them to town for eight hours. I was relentless. I would not let up,” Heidi says.




Eventually, the energy of the Jackathon became known within the scene, and Heidi was able to start a label arm, Jackathon Jams, that welcomed dozens of impressive artists, including Jimmy Edgar, Maya Jane Coles, Marc Houle, and more.




Heidi no longer works at Phonica. She is off BBC Radio 1, and the Jackathon parties are no more (though they are coming back under a new name she will soon reveal). And yet, her influence and reputation persist. The DJ sets are still full of energy, and most of all, she still maintains her unending passion and fiery effervescence for dance music culture.



Defected Ibiza Week 4

Location