Name: Wally Lopez
Occupation: DJ, producer, label owner at The Factoria
Nationality: Spanish
Recent release: Wally Lopez's Arabic Nights is out via Adesso.
Recommendations: Book Recommendation: Maquiavelo’s The Prince; Painting Recommendation: Picasso’s Guernica.

If you enjoyed this interview with Wally Lopez and would like to stay up to date with his music and current live dates, visit him on Instagram, Facebook, Soundcloud, and twitter.



What made it appealing to you to DJ yourself? What was it that you wanted to express and what, did you feel, did you have to add artistically?

I have always loved music since my early years, loving bands such as Soft Cell, New Order and Depeche Mode.

Once I stole some records from my aunt and went to a small local radio station (inside a supermarket) with those records and told them I wanted to show the world this music. And that was the moment I knew I wanted to be a DJ.

From there, I went to a local club in the afternoons (under 18 years crowd) to play music and then I wanted to produce the music I played. I didn't add anything artistically, I just wanted to play and talk about music.

Which other DJs were important for your development and what did you learn from them?

In Spain, my inspiration as a kid was Oscar Mulero. He was the first superstar resident DJ here. At that time, he played underground trance which really opened my mind and made me realise that was my music.

Then DJs such as Tenaglia, Morillo and Darren Emerson gave me some amazing lessons too.

What does a great DJ add to the clubbing experience?

The best way to make people have a great night with your music is by surprising them.

Most people just listen to what Spotify wants nowadays. So our job is always focusing on the dancing and partying but with all the other stuff.

Do you think that DJing creates a new form that can take on the qualities of a composition in its own right? Is this something you strive for?

I'm not sure if it is a way of composition, but I'm sure it is a trip. A DJ can get you from one point to another through the music and mixes.

I love to make people dance and have a night to remember.

When digging for music to play at your sets, what do you listen for?

Just quality music, groovy tracks or music that makes me click with something different.

How would you describe the experience of DJing, physically and mentally? Do you listen – and DJ - with your eyes open or closed?

Physically sometimes it is hard, the standing position (I'm always asking to have the players and mixer a little higher than normal), or waking up at 3am to go straight to a club, then sleeping at 7am and waking up again at 9am to go to the airport is also very hard.

Mentally I'm always homesick so that is the hardest part for me as you spend so much time away from your family.

When DJing, I always play and listen with my eyes open. :)

How does the decision making process work during a gig with regards to the inclusion of key records, the next transition and where you want the set to go? How far do you tend to plan ahead during a set?

It is all about feelings and being sensitive to your surroundings.

I never ever plan a set or a night. I get there one hour before and get a feeling from the crowd ... From there on, I just go with the flow.

Describe how the presence of audiences/dancers influences your mixing. How do you engage with them?

A lot! I need the crowd to make my job as good as possible. Without that engagement, playing in a club would be the worst experience.

Online DJ mixes, created in the studio as a solitary event, have become ubiquitous. From your experience with the format, how does the experience and the way you DJ when you subtract the audience?

Well, I've been a radio DJ since my early years (I'm still a radio DJ) so I don't always have an in-person audience. But I always imagine a night that I like or think of a party that I love when I'm alone recording.

I don't see the walls I see people dancing to the music.

Technology has continually taken on more steps of DJing, producing and other "creative" tasks. From your point of view, where does "technology" end and "creativity" begin? Especially in the light of advances in AI, where do you see the role of humans in DJing versus that of technology?

Human touch will always make the difference over AI. You can use AI as another weapon that DJs or producers have and use it in your own way; that is when the creativity begins.

The best thing about a human DJ is that we can still surprise the crowd. Where AI or any robot technology will use maths to play what you like, a DJ must play what you don't know that you like :)

Collaboration is a key part of almost every aspect of music making, but it is still rare in DJing. Do you have an idea why this is? Tell me about your own views on back-to-back DJing, interactions with live musicians or other forms of turning DJing into a more collective process.

If I'm being honest, I don't think a back-to-back set gives too much to the people. For me, they are boring because one guy is mixing music while the other is just dancing, and then that guy mixes and the other dances hahaha.

I also don't like live musicians in a DJ set as they usually want to be heard and play the whole time. In my opinion, the tracks we play are already complete and don't need more music on top. I love to see DJs as golf players or tennis players. Just you.

However, in the studio it is amazing to collaborate because you can learn a lot and make different things from what you would normally do.

DJing requires empathy, focus, time management, patience, and vision, among others. Are you finding that the way you play influences the way your life your life and vice versa?

Of course, being a DJ is a way of life and also your hobby. So I'm not a different person when I'm in a club or at home ... it is just me ... with the good and the bad.

Do you feel as though DJing is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

I've always had an opinion on this which is quite different maybe, but I'm not a romantic about DJing at all. Playing music is fun, but we are not surgeons or doctors. Playing music is the same "mundane" task as the rest of the world. Maybe God is a DJ. But DJs are not God.

What I always ask myself is to make the best that I can, whether producing, mixing or if I was making a cup of coffee. If making coffee is your passion and you do it well, it will never be "mundane".

Let's imagine you lost all your music for one night and all there is left at the venue is a crate of records containing a random selection of music. How would you approach this set?

That would be my worst nightmare! Hopefully I would know some of the random music! If not ... I would try my best but it could turn out terrible hahaha.