A New Star Rises As Destino Closes

It’s amazing. The thundering conclusion of Ibiza summer 2016 has eclipsed even previous years’ tumultuous finales. Every club and every promoter has sought to outdo the other with breathtaking line-ups that have left us exhausted, footsore, but still smiling from ear to ear. By the time Destino’s closing came around we feared we’d seen and heard it all. Could any party give us more than we’d already experienced in our joyful marathon of dance? Well, yes it could. The glamorous open-air clifftop club found one more breathtaking stop to pull out. And the way Destino did it was as unexpected as it was memorable. A new star, Shimza, was born. And that doesn’t often happen at a closing party.

We arrived early, well before the sun went down. Previous experience had taught us that this seasonal finale would be a real roadblock and a long trudge back to the car on aching feet, despite the well-organised parking. Later on, we knew we’d made the right decision. But for now, we had the chance to enjoy a mildly lethal cocktail and a surprisingly cheap, but equally delicious, proper Italian pizza. It was an opportunity to chill by the still uncrowded pool area and drink in the view across Talamanca Bay to Ibiza Town’s Dalt Vila. Later, that vista became even more romantic as the lights from the ancient city sparkled on the water accompanied by the glow of a perfect crescent moon. But, by then, we had been more than distracted by what was happening on Destino’s spectacular timber-arched stage.

Destino resident Asabai was already setting the tone for the party with a blend of laid back deep house, enough to get your feet going gently under the still warm Mediterranean sun. After Asabai, British DJ George Fitzgerald’s set gradually gathered pace. The dancefloor was now beginning to fill. Guests, fortunate enough to be staying at the glamorous Pacha-owned resort, began to appear on their balconies. Foot-tapping, gradually developed into gentle swaying then full fledged dancing. You couldn’t help it. The party was on.

By the point George Fitzgerald handed over control of the decks there was no turning back. And it was time for DJ Shimza. Now, I’m not ashamed to say that when I saw his name second only to Luciano on the bill for this massive closing party, I turned straight to Google. I’d never heard of him, and I’m sure I’m not alone. He’d never been to Spain, let alone Ibiza, although he has gigged around much of the rest of Europe. But, his base is in his home country of South Africa and especially the township of his birth Tembisa where he plays regularly to thousands of fans. But, here he is, making his first ever appearance in Ibiza at one of the biggest closing parties of the season just before the mighty Cadenza boss Luciano. The guy must be terrified.

It doesn’t show. At first the crowd is almost perplexed, for a moment or two not knowing quite how to react. This is something different. Like all the best sets, it’s a journey, ‘deep tech house’, I suppose, if you have to stick a label on it. It’s brave. Shimza isn’t afraid to let the music ebb, bringing the crowd down, before raising it up again. To use the ‘journey’ metaphor again, this was one where much of the musical landscape was almost familiar, but there were regular glimpses of something different, something brought from Shimza’s home in the townships of South Africa. We were entranced, lost in the music, at least we were until my phone vibrated in my pocket. (Work at Essential never ends.) It was only then that we realised just how full Destino had become as day turned to night.

We were particularly lucky to catch up with Shimza for a chat while he was at Destino. Chilling in one of the resort’s deep white sofas, he’s happy to talk about what makes South African dance music so distinctive and why he thinks the world is ready to hear it. ‘People are really warming to our sound,’ he says. ‘They like the groove, how the percussion is. To them it’s something different and they’re really opening up to it. We take what we’ve heard from around the world, so the music has a techie and a deep house side to it, but there’s a distinctively South African dimension, which comes from the townships. It’s the ghetto and that’s where all the music comes from.’

Shimza’s not a man to forget his roots, despite a career which seems set to follow the same meteoric trajectory as Black Coffee, the first South African DJ to really break through onto the world stage. Home for Shimza is the rugged township of Tembisa, in the centre of South Africa. There, he is already a star, pulling thousands to his stadium events. For the last eight years, his One Man Show has become the stuff of legend, playing 12 hours on Christmas Day, with occasional breaks so friends can perform. South Africa is a country of orphans, many because of the Aids crisis, and the event provides them with a festive lunch before the real party begins. Later, money raised from the show is used to buy them books and school uniforms. ‘My One Man Show is about giving something back to where I come from, because I feel I’m so blessed to be travelling the world and doing what I love. It’s where my support is and I really feel I owe them,’ he tells Essential.

Meanwhile, on Destino’s stage the end of his set is met with a huge hug from Luciano who salutes him by touching his heart to cheers from the dancefloor. (Luciano has actually been involved in supporting South African music since 2013 when he Richie Hawtin and Skrillex joined the programme ‘Bridges for Music’.) Tonight, we know we’ve experienced something as memorable as Black Coffee’s first DC10 set. Even the crowd seems to be momentarily lulled and it takes a short while before they move into Luciano’s groove, even though he’s the man who has made Destino his own over the four summers it’s been open. But, it’s not long before the Swiss-Chilean magician has the dancefloor in the palm of his hand in a three-hour set which seems over all-too-soon. But, it was the way he brought the crowd down that lives on in the memory. Going from the Spanish guitar of Timo Maas’s Subtellite, into Snoop Dogg’s No Guns Allowed, followed by Rufus and Chakha Khan’s Ain’t Nobody before finally releasing us with two glorious tracks from Michel Cleis, La Tortuga and Mira Nero.