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In 2007 after pioneering a series of events across the capital, DJ Jose Luis & the La Bomba promoters were invited to stage their cross-over Latin rave at a large scale venue, starting in what was then the Hammersmith Palais. La Bomba helped break the now global phenomenon of reggaetón in the UK, being the first club night to play and host artists such as Daddy Yankee, Don Omar and Pitbull. Ten years later reggaetón has established itself as a mainstream force within the music industry. To give us the lowdown on how it all started is London's pioneering reggaeton DJ and club promoter Jose Luis. 2017 / ISSUE 103 REGGAE 51 Originally from Venezuela, you've been in London for sev- enteen years now, what inspired you to base yourself in London? It was kinda fate and I wouldn't change the London vibe for any other city. I just found more reasons to stay but then I've been here longer than anywhere else so I feel like it's my city. It is a wonderful city for music despite the fact it's super hard in terms of living and making money. Can you tell us about your path to running La Bomba, and how has the club helped develop the scene in London? We ran smaller parties before La Bomba, at clubs like Fire in Vaux- hall and places that at the time were really underground. I am talking 12-13 years ago. Then we had the chance to do Ministry Of Sound and there was a real buzz about what we were doing. At one point we were the big- gest urban party in London, at a time where hip-hop was not really played in any mainstream club but because we were playing the Latino angle of urban music we were able to get away with it. Then the club crisis hit and we were still hosting events at Minis- try Of Sound and Pacha and then we slowed down for a couple of years. Now we're back on it and it's great because there's a very healthy 'reggaeton' scene now with big events, smaller weekday events, concerts...everything and 4 reggaeton tunes in the Top 20 charts across the world. That's not just because of us but we are happy to have played our part in pioneering the reggaeton move- ment in the UK. With 'Despacito' the major crossover hit of the summer, how do you see Latin music at the moment? We've been here for a long time now and Latino music is just be- coming more popular and that's good for everyone who loves and makes it. In terms of changes...well when we first started sending press releases about our events, no British journalist knew what reggaeton was! Now people see the whole Latino music thing as a serious thing and realise it's become quite mainstream with many A-List music artists using the sound or having featured reg- gaeton artists on their songs. The reggaeton scene is ever evolving so where do you see the scene going in the next couple of years? I think there will be more collabo- rations between non-Latinos and Latinos. Hopefully, we will have a big urban UK artist jumping on some reggaeton track with a big Latino name, that would be dope! What are some of the highlights of your career to date? Putting on Daddy Yankee at La Bomba the first time he came to London was pretty cool. We also worked with Lucenzo, the guy who created 'Danza Kuduro' and actually brought him over the year that 'Danza Kuduro' was the most played song globally. So it was kind of a big deal. But to be honest I'm not the groupie type so I focus on what I do despite working with some pretty heavy and very talented artists and DJs. What is your favourite format - equipment when DJing? I love Pioneer CDJs but for the last year, I've been using the Trak- tor S4 or the Pioneer SX2. Playing with software has really devel- oped my sets and I like doing a lot of live mashups. I can play around 30-40 songs per hour in a set and doing that with CDs was pretty impossible! I love DJ tech- nology so I'm open to whatever new comes out that's good! You're also branching out into production I hear, how's that going? That's been a long road but I'm getting there. I actually studied to be an electronic music producer at college and there is a certain standard that you have to meet so it's taken a while for me to get things out. At the moment I have about 25 tunes in the last stages of production so in the next few months I will get all that out! What have been your 3 most outstanding moments through your many years of DJing? The first time I played at Min- istry of Sound with DJ Buddha headlining La Bomba. It was a roadblock and Ministry weren't expecting that to happen - they had to chain the doors shut! That was an incredible feeling for me and for everyone involved. It was the first time a Latino party was held at Ministry and everyone turned up. That was the start of many great things for La Bomba. The first time I played at SEONE, at that time the biggest club in London, and according to some of the clubbers, one of my best sets ever! My Friday residency at Gabeto (formerly The Cuban) in Camden. It's a great gig with a good mix of people every week including tour- ists, regulars and Londoners so I have to be on top form to deliver a good set! Any tips for budding DJs? For DJs - don't sleep on the job, the new kids are coming with a lot of new ideas and they're hungry! The new DJs - focus on your craft before trying to go out there and trying to sell yourself as the next big thing. It's very hard to find a good DJ today as it was 15-20 years ago. " WE ARE HAPPY TO HAVE PLAYED OUR PART IN PIONEERING THE REGGAETON MOVEMENT IN THE UK'' Nicky Trax | Guestlist INTERVIEW: JOSE LUIS