TheBasement, by Borja Soler
by Isabel A
The pantry in the hallway hid the collection of my father’s records, a place I visited from time to time to contemplate the covers of the records that were played at home. From the Rolling Stones to Joe Cocker…. I have always been attracted to vinyl especially because of the adrenaline rush I get when putting the needle on the record, the crackle and adjustment of the high, medium and low sounds. But, let’s not kid ourselves -my parent’s hi-fi was much cooler than the gramophone. This immense sound system had space for four CD’s and a cassette player: where my first mix-tapes began.
Rewind, play, pause, play, pause.
One cassette would hold six songs on each side and that was the soundtrack of my mornings on the bus to school. On occasion I would give the cassette away because people would ask me for it and I had other blank tapes at home – dozens and dozens of them. Other friends also had Walkman and therefore there was a certain scene at school.
This was followed by the age of the internet and Napster and downloading 128 kilobytes per second. Tonnes of CDs and burning them on Nero, as though it were the final judgment day. Mixes of punk rock, hip-hop and bangers the likes of Antonio Flores and Chemical Brothers…all on the same cassette.
My first official gig was on my birthday, which coincides with Halloween. It was at a house located in Huerta Sur in Valencia and nearly one hundred friends came. The stereo system was the one that my best friend’s cousin used for weddings and the subwoofer was the size of a fridge. That was the most magical night. A couple of parties held by my competition were cancelled and we all met under the same roof. Mixes of electro, techno and rock and roll were played all night with the aim of keep everybody happy.
After several attempts to conquer the Valencian scene, my partner Carlos Alandí called me to join forces. Tino and Manu also came to the meeting and that’s where Swag Nites was created. It’s an integrated concept of partying, visuals, aesthetics and first-rate music. The club Rich in Valencia was the first to see the fruits of this and they were a total success.
New year’s eve celebrations, residences, Jaggermeister and lots of ambition to be at the level of the UK led us to founding the concept of TheBasement. With this project we sought to create an updated concept almost in real time: Music that came out yesterday was heard today.
Meanwhile, when I finished university, I went to live in London where I learned almost everything I now know about music, genres, production, and how to stir up a scene with small projects.
With TheBasement and new partners like Electronicall, AAPAES, Vic… new concepts came about such as Día De Campo, Noche de Campo, Voramar, a Radio Programme on Ibiza Global and lots of original and motivating ideas… It’s a source of pride to see how far we’ve come now after outdoor, day parties outside Valencia, meet-ups in streaming and an edit here and there. The family continues to grow and our projects are more ambitious, involving national and international DJs.
Advertising and particularly an advertising strategy have accompanied my projects from even before I knew what planning was. The only maxim was: Construct a brand from the guts, with instinct and humility….
Everyone knows that memory has special storage spaces for music, and melodies that permeate the skin. In fact, in a scene in the movie Inside Out, we see how Joy and Sadness play with songs and jingles from Riley’s childhood …
With this podcast I’ve tried to represent the best season of the year: Summer. I dedicate it to Palma and I hope everyone likes it.
You can find more information at:
thebasementxxx.com
www.facebook.com/TheBasementOfMusic
www.mixcloud.com/TheBasement