Defected’s Anna Wharton reports on what keeps the (small) crowds flocking back to Croatia, and catches up with legendary jock and Garden Festival regular Greg Wilson.
The Garden Festival Croatia is now in its 7th year and each year to date it’s been a sell–out event. And once you’ve been there, it’s easy to understand why. This festival ‘s main stages and Tiki bars are all set beach side, so as well as sipping on cocktails, sunbathing and dancing on the sand, you can also pop in the sea for a dip when you start getting a bit too hot because it’s well over 30 degrees…every day! And I haven’t even mentioned the legendary twice-daily Argonaughty boat parties yet. Ahhhh… take me back!
In a nutshell, Garden Festival is where endless party meets mega-chilled, lazy days, and this is why it keeps bringing back the crowds. With this year’s capacity capped at 2,500, the intimate and friendly Garden Festival Croatia kind of has the vibe of early Ibiza. Over the course of the week that you are there, you end up hanging out with a community of fun, like-minded party peps. And it’s safe to say you can leave your wellies at home for this one!
One of the Garden Festival’s longest standing resident DJs is turntable and remixing legend Greg Wilson. Plucked from a small town in Merseyside, Greg Wilson started life as a DJ at 15, after accumulating a collection of vinyl he just had to share with as many music lovers as he could!
Greg set about gigging at small venues in his local area, spinning a floor filling collection of Funk, Soul and Disco tracks. It wasn’t long before the most forward thinking clubs in the north west snapped this chappie up and he gained residencies in the early 80s at key music venues that include Wigan Pier plus Legends and The Hacienda (both in Manchester). He has since grown to enjoy international acclaim, and these days he barely has time to sit down as he trots the globe from America to Japan setting many a dance floor on fire.
After climbing aboard my second daytime boat party of the Garden Festival, I was lucky enough to chat to Greg, who was headlining this 200 strong boat party for a few minutes before we set sail, and Greg started his DJ-ing magic!
What influenced you to first become a DJ and producer?
I was basically a lover of records. When I was growing up, my older brother and sister would listen to Motown tunes, especially Stacks Atlantic Records, and I inherited some of their records and began buying my own, so by the time I was 15 I had a really large collection! I started DJing in the clubs in my local area of New Brighton in Merseyside, before later gaining residencies at clubs like the Hacienda, Legends and Wigan Pier. Wigan Pier was amazing back then – they had everything just right – the lighting, sound and position of the dance floor and DJ box. It was a great venue to DJ at. I stopped DJing in 1984 as I wanted to get into remixing. I was keen to emulate what the remixers in the US were doing – particularly guys like Larry Levan, Francois K and Jellybean Benitez. It was difficult to persuade record companies to let me do this, because up until then, it was a known fact that this is what the Americans did. I ended up hooking up with a couple of musicians and producing an album on UK Street Sounds which contained a collection of remixes and was relatively successful.
Did you move to London?
No, I was living in Wigan as I was a resident DJ at Wigan Pier on Tuesday nights. Also did Legends in Manchester on Wednesday, which is what I am most well-known for, plus I also had my residency at the Hacienda at this time too.
How was your set at the open air stage set last night at Garden Festival?
It was really good actually. The new location is amazing – the main stage is set near the beach and it is huge. There is more space this year at the new site than we had in previous years in the festival’s original location in Petrcane. I think moving the festival to Tisno has been an excellent development, it’s a great new site and is seems to be working really well. Last night’s crowd were great, there was plenty of dancing and a fantastic response to the music.
What makes this festival special?
I like the intimacy of it – it’s not too big. The first year I did Garden Festival I bumped into some old Ibiza heads from the late 80s that said to me it’s like Ibiza before it became commercialised and before it became the destination of British club land. And I know exactly what they mean. It just feels much more communal here, you get to know people which means you are always bump into those same people again and again, which is really nice. Ibiza is so huge these days so you really don’t get that intimacy as much over there anymore.
What releases do you have coming up?
I’ve only just found time to work on producing tracks this year, finally I’ve has a chance to do my own stuff as it has been so busy on the DJing side. I’ve just managed to clear a bit of space especially to do this!
Can we expect a sneak preview of the tracks you’ve been working on in your set today?
Unfortunately not just yet. The thing is, my tracks are still in the making, so they are not quite ready to play out, they just need some tweaking. Firstly I’ll need to listen to them myself and kind of road test them, then tweak it until they I have them how I want them, and then I’ll take it from there.
What songs do you think will rock the boat today?
The big tracks will always repeat themselves especially as I do two different spots at this festival , as it’s hard not to play the big ones. Although saying that, on the whole I really do keep things very varied. I’ll definitely play the new edit of ‘Change’ Lovers Holiday by Late Night Tough Guy. He is based out in Australia, in Adelaide, and he’s been releasing some amazing tracks lately.
What do you need in your festival survival kit?
Mosquito repellent is a must – I forgot mine this year and I am already covered in bites! They are so itchy they actually woke me up this morning. Another thing you need to be really careful of in Croatia when you are going in the sea is Sea Urchins. The first year I played here I ended up at the hospital after standing on a standing on a Sea Urchin. I’ve seen people falling in the water after they’ve had too much to drink and coming out covered in them! My advice is, if you are going in the water, its best to do what the Croatians do and wear these thin plastic shoes to protect your feet, they are pretty cheap and sold everywhere. You have to get some, as you just don’t know what is down there!
Music wise, do you have any guilty pleasures?
I don’t believe in guilty pleasures really, I think if you like something you just like it and you shouldn’t feel guilty about that. For example I just love Karen Carpenter’s voice, and some might say that is a guilty pleasure, but I just think she has an amazing voice and her voice is one that you don’t come across very often.
What was the first festival you ever played at?
The first one I ever played at was the Isle of White festival in 2005. I also play at Bestival every year and I’ve done Big Chill a few times too. I also play in Ibiza a fair bit. One festival I’ve been particularly impressed with is the Detroit Music festival in America, which I played for the first time this year. It’s a really special location there and Detroit has a great music history, not just for house and techno, but for Motown too - artists like MC5 and Iggy and the Stooges. America has taken dance music festivals to the next level – they take their influence from the European ones, but they are larger over there and seem to be really taking off too.
What current residencies do you have?
I don’t actually hold any residencies as such I am all over the place not only doing gigs up and down the UK but travelling to Australia, Japan and the States a fair bit now too. I seem to keep getting lots of long haul ones these days!
How does the crowd differ in the different destinations you visit?
It’s not actually that different these days you know, compared to say, 15 years ago. I think this is because of their internet and sites like soundcloud it’s all become more global. Crowds are clued up wherever you go because of the net – they all know what they like.
And finally, the last time you laughed out loud?
The last time I laughed out loud? (laughs) Ah it was probably at some point over the weekend here… Actually it might’ve been when I was reading a famous comic sketch by Alan Moore called Killing Joke. I think that was probably it.
Words: Anna Wharton, photo credits: Sheri Selby
Garden Festival has released its dates for next year. The 2013 dates will be Weds 3rd - Weds 10th July. Also keep an eye out for news of The Tropical Garden 2013, by the same organisers, which will take place in the Philippines next year! Check www.thegardenfestival.eu/ for more info.
For more on Greg Wilson, head to www.gregwilson.co.uk
