WIP

This awesome WIPCAST comes to us courtesy of the very talented Kenny Leaven. The German DJ/Producer has released on label’s like Tiefschwarz’s Souvenir and also runs Erfurt’s Bayou Festival and club. He came to our attention when he played at our Souvenir Music Off Sonar parties in Barcelona (a party that he has played for the past two years) and made a lasting impression with very well crafted and fun sets.

WIP’s very own DIA delivers a very special WIPCAST. One of our founders, and head resident of our WERK IT weekly, Dia has had an excellent year with hot releases on our WIP label, as well as Berlin’s WILDE compilation. Her track “Sights” (out on WIP) also got included in John Digweed’s “Live in Argentina” compilation, and upcoming projects include a brand new EP and a debut Album both WIP, and a smoking hot remix of a great James Teej track on Sasha’s Last Night On Earth label.

The new year is almost here, and it is a very special one for us as it marks the 5 year anniversary of WIP.
We started WIP 5 years ago after moving to Barcelona from our beloved San Francisco and realizing there was a void in the scene, and a demand for more “underground” music oriented events.

The WIP club was an invite-only event venue in an old typography we restored. The events and vibe were heavily influenced by our growing up in a community-based club scene in San Francisco, where people from all races, religion, sexual-orientation, nationality, etc, came together to dance to really good music and have a good time.

Our experiences at clubs like The Endup, Pink, DNA Lounge, Mighty, Mezzanine, and parties like Devotion, Remedy, Spundae, Second Sunday, The Sunset parties, so many afternoons at Golden Gate park hosted by the Dirtybird crew , and a long list of underground events at countless warehouses, lofts and odd spaces shaped our vision of what a club should be and what the focus of a club night should be on, the music and the people. Many of these venues and parties had amazing sound systems, and that influenced our obsession with sound and our love for Funktion One, something we have become known for and that is an extremely big part of all of our events.

We were blessed to accomplish more that we could ever have dreamed of at the WIP venue, thanks to an amazing diverse, fun, and very positive public that set the tone for the WIP events (our wippers), to all the labels and artists that participated in the 50+ label showcases we hosted, and to a wonderful city like Barcelona, difficult, and insane at times , but in the end very welcoming, loving, and inspiring; and a place we are proud to call home.

Sadly, a serious of unfortunate external factors led to the closure of the original WIP venue in 2010 after one year of great memories, but we continued on with various successful events around Barcelona and of course our OFF sonar events, which have become the most anticipated events during OFF Sonar week, thanks again to an amazing crowd of music lovers from around the world and incredible artists, labels, and agencies who lend their support to our events every year.

Two years ago we started a new project, our friday weekly WERK IT, as a way of continuing what was started at the WIP venue, and bringing new international talent to a Barcelona scene that was hungry for something new.
We weren’t sure if it was possible but once again, exceeding all our expectations, WERK IT has become the leading electronic music weekly event in Barcelona, and again most of the credit has to go to our public and the wonderful guest artists and residents who have brought in their “A” game to Barcelona, and have made Werk it known for quality House music around the world.

2013 was the year we joined our Funktion One event crew to start Purplesound, our Funktion One rental, install and sale agency for Spain, setting up more than 40 events during Off Sonar Week and more than 150 throughout the year.

Last but not least, this past year was also the year we launched our WIP label. The first 3 releases on the label as well as our CD compilation have done quite well, and we are extremely grateful for the support we’ve gotten from industry and public alike, which only fuels and strengthens our hopes and plans for the future.

2014 is going to be a big year for Barcelona and for WIP. We have many surprises planned as we celebrate our 5 year anniversary, including our WIP Urban Arts Center venue, (which God and City Government willing) will be ready very soon.
OFF Sonar week is going to be huge this year with a series of amazing events we have planned that will blow your mind. The label also has some very hot releases coming up that we are very proud of and we hope you will enjoy as much as we do.

This year we will not host a NYE event as we’ve decided to take some time off for the first time in 5 years (much needed) and to prepare for what looks like the busiest year ever coming up.

A VERY BIG THANK YOU to all the people who have come to our events over the past 5 years, to all our collaborators, staff, and friends, to our Purplesound crew, to our Antivition visual crew, to those few but good promoters and venues in Barcelona who do things right (you know who you are) and continue to try and make our local scene better with their hard work and dedication, and to all the artists who have performed for us over the years.

We hope we can continue to entertain you and put a smile on your faces.

Hope to see you all in Barcelona
Happy 2014!!!