Ibiza Virgins' Guide to… Tech House – Ibiza Spotlight

The sound of the island.
Ibiza is known for its dance music the world over, but that is an umbrella term for various different styles. Our series on the genres of music found on the island helps identify the parties, clubs and DJs best suited to your tastes.
Okay, so we’ve covered House and we’ve covered Techno. For those of you paying attention, it will come as no surprise that our next featured genre is the hybrid of the two: Tech House.
Finding the sweet spot between House and Techno, here are our Tech House essentials.

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Tech House parties on Ibiza in 2023:
elrow at Amnesia | Saturdays
Music On at Pacha | Fridays
Paradise at Amnesia | Wednesdays
ANTS at Ushuaïa | Saturdays
The Martinez Brothers at Hï Ibiza | Tuesdays
FISHER at Hï Ibiza | Wednesdays
ABODE at Eden | Sundays
Amnesia Presents at Amnesia | Mondays
Eric Prydz presents HOLO Ibiza at Hï Ibiza | Mondays (Club Room w/ Patrick Topping)
LoveJuice Playground at Ibiza Rocks | Sundays in June and July
You’re also going to hear plenty of Tech at Defected at Eden. If you’re still stumped after all that choice, then any night at Underground Ibiza pretty much guarantees Tech House.
To use an analogy that we’ll all be familiar with, if there was a dominant strain of House this past decade, then it would be Tech. This is as true on Ibiza, as it is in most cities around the world.
Tech House exploded here and doesn’t appear to be leaving anytime soon.
Fundamentally, Tech House is a sub-genre of House which borrows elements from Techno.
Uplifting components, such as piano riffs, are stripped away, leaving Tech House more steely, perhaps even moodier, than straight-up House music.

Cajmere’s seminal Percolator – one of the earliest examples of Tech House
Given its unwavering popularity, it’s a bit of a misnomer to call Tech House “underground” – that’s how prevalent it is. However, for the sake of making things easier for our readers, that’s the category we’re going to place it in. In truth, there many, many layers between the mainstream and the underground, but that’s a discussion for another day.
So while it may be “underground”, you’ll find that most Tech House parties are very well attended and a few of the most popular ones even sell-out.
Initially, Tech House wasn’t a genre, but rather a method of playing whereby the DJ would mix both House and Techno records together. Unbelievably, up until that point, DJs tended to stick rigidly within genre boundaries. Crazy, right?
Early champions of this innovative way to play were Terry Francis (long term fabric resident), Mr C (him of The Shamen) and Dave Angel.

Owned by Richard West & Layo Paskin, London nightclub The End was a Tech House hotbed
As this style grew in popularity, it became inevitable that producers would start making tracks that could be classified in either camp.
Today, the Tech House being produced is quite far removed from what the DJs mentioned above used to play. You will hear lots of recognisable Hip-Hop samples.
In recent years, Tech House has faced criticism for becoming too formulaic. The suggestion being, that the availability of production software and short shelf life of modern music, have created a glut of mediocrity.
But, of course, this is all subjective. When it comes to popularity, Tech House reigns.
Find here all our music guides:
Ibiza Virgins’ Guide to… House music
– Deep House
– Afro House
Ibiza Virgins’ Guide to… Minimal music
Ibiza Virgins’ Guide to… Techno
– Melodic Techno
Ibiza Virgins’ Guide to… Disco
Ibiza Virgins’ Guide to… EDM
Ibiza Virgins’ Guide to… Reggaeton
Ibiza Virgins’ Guide to… Garage
This article is part of our Ibiza Virgins’ Guides, packed full of information on how to get the most out of your stay on Ibiza. Check them out.
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