The Standard: You're well-known in Balearic and chill-out culture. What is your definition of Balearic in music?
Phil Mison: That's a difficult question! It can mean many things to different people, from the music played in Ibizan nightclubs from 1986 to 1989, an attitude, a name used to sell records, anything with a summery feel. I just like to play good music and if people perceive it as Balearic then that's ok with me!
Do you think it can describe a lifestyle?
In the late eighties, the blueprint was set with people dressing a certain way, listening to the music that was being played in Amnesia, and their lives really being influenced by it. That has carried on to a certain extent, just with new music and different clubs and countries, but I think the feeling of it all is still there with some people.
Sketches From An Island, Balearic interpretations by Phil Mison
What has been your best Balearic moment?
There's been quite a few! We did a party in London last Friday, which was half open air. Moonboots was the guest. At the peak of the night, he played Francois K's remix of Femi Kuti Sorry Sorry, and the whole place just really got into it. If you have the right people with the right attitude, you can play anything. The atmosphere last week was pretty incredible and the heavy rain half way through was quite something, too!
And the worst?
I'd rather not go there (laughs).
A perfect track for a New York sunset?
I'd say Pat Metheny The First Circle. I used to play a lot of Pat Metheny in Ibiza, and the first time I went to The Loft in New York, this was David Mancuso's opening track. So it's nice to connect the two places.
You played at DJ Harvey's 39 Hotel in Hawaii. How was it?
That was a while ago, in 2006. The night in the club was great, but the next day we took a sound system down to a barbecue area next to the ocean and had a private all day party there. I remember endless beer out of coolers, girls on roller skates, a submarine surfacing out to sea, the sunset, Harvey playing the whole of E2E4 and everyone trancing out to the singalong to TV scene at the end. Magic.
What is the most romantic thing to do in London this Summer?
Even on a hot day, I like going to Gordons in Charing Cross, an ancient wine bar, where you have a couple of bottles of red in the cellars by candlelight, with no internet connection.
If you have to live on an island and stay there forever, would you stay in UK, move to Ibiza, or pick somewhere else?
I've always loved the Greek Islands. A beach with a small bar at the end playing great music all day would do me just fine.
Friday August 1st, Le Bain presents Select Summer Fridays with special guest Phil Mison (London). Doors 2pm. The Standard, High Line.
