Marco Bassi Interview

One of this year’s Ibiza success stories, Unusual Suspects’ founder Marco Bassi chats to Egg London ahead of their Takeover with Janina, Frank Storm, Federico Grazzini and Guido Schneider on Saturday September 17th 2016. Here he talks about his crazy successful Winter parties, gives an insight into running a successful weekly party on the island, the Romanian sound and what makes a good party rock. See you on the dance floor on the 17th.

How did the name Unusual Suspects come about?

We were looking for a name that represented ‘us’ and at the same time something that was really cool. One night we were all together and after few drinks the name Unusual Suspects came out and in that one second I knew that was the perfect name. I love it. :-)

Ibiza is swamped with hundreds of events every week over the summer - what is your secret to keeping ahead of the game?

I think Ibiza is one of most competitive scenes in the entire world, so it’s normal that you’re competing with hundreds of events, but I think that’s the nice part of the job. You have to try understand new trends, what people like and what they don’t like, and deliver a great night. I think that to be successful in Ibiza you have to care about quite a few different things including your line ups, marketing and PR. You have to develop everything at the top level and moreover have a team supporting you all the way all year round. Definitely the most difficult thing is to find really reliable people. 

The scene is forever evolving in Ibiza and what are the major changes you have seen and are they for the good for the dance music scene?

I think that all change is good, imagine how boring it would be if every year was always the same! I see different types of parties doing it really well and presenting a completely new concept in Ibiza. Heart and Cova Santa are the clubs that first believed in these type of projects and they were right

What made you chose Sankeys as your home for Unusual Suspects?

To be honest, everything happened really naturally. We started during the winter and from the first party it was a massive success. Sankey’s David Vincent came to me and said he thought it was a good idea to carry on the party with a summer residency for 23 shows. I thought that he was crazy, but he wasn’t! David is famous for being ‘eccentric’ and he actually has a fun page called ‘THE ECCENTRIC ‘. He’s also a clubbing visionary who’s five-ten years ahead everybody.  For me and my team it’s a pleasure to work in club like this and I hope to stay here for many years to come.

Tell us a bit about your musical taste and who are your favourite artists and tracks? And even albums ?

Mmmm .... I like music in general. Concerning techno though, Ricardo and Sven for me are on a different level, but there are also so many young talented DJs that I really like such as Frank Storm, Janina, and Federico Grazzini for example. I also love to listen to different types of things, especially when I need to concentrate and find some new ideas or just for chilling. Coldplay and Radiohead are my favourites. 

You are one of the first promoters to crack doing a regular party in Winter in Ibiza. What made your party such a success?

A love for what we are doing, a great team, a bit of insanity and not listening to what people say! Believe in and really want your goals

You seem to be a great fan of the Romanian scene. What made you champion this sound?

It’s not for everybody as it’s a really difficult sound but I think it’s great guys like Barac Binh, Rhadoo, Petre Inspirescu etc are simply amazing and I love working with them. They are great artists, really humble guys and really easy to work with.

What are your plans for the Winter season in Ibiza this year?

Winter will be the bomb! We’ll do one party a month starting on November 17th, then December 7th, February 28th, March 23rd and April 13th. We’ll have some really big guests and I can't wait to announce them.

Marco Bassi’s Unusual Suspects Takeover hits Egg London with residents Janina, Frank Storm, Federico Grazzini and Guido Schneider on Saturday September 17th. For all info click here