The new chapter of his label and event Ànims, upcoming releases, new alias, next gigs and much more.
Alright, party people! Get ready for a new interview on Xceed – We’ve got the one and only Squire in the house! Jaime is both a former Formula 1 driver and one of the most prominent DJ’s in Barcelona and all over Spain. He has been on the decks of some of the hottest events in the scene and has some exciting projects on the way which we’re willing to know all about. So buckle up, turn up the volume, and let’s get started!
Art is a competition against yourself. It is all about being a better professional and not really comparing yourself with anyone.
Let’s begin with the basics…What’s the story behind the name Squire? Was it a wild stroke of inspiration, or does it have a deeper meaning?
Squire is connected to my real name, Jaime Alguersuari Escudero, which is not a very common name in Spain. But my second surname means “Squire” in English. When I discovered this connection, it became clear to me that I didn’t want to use my real name. I liked the combination of words in “Squire”, and that’s why I decided to adopt it as my artistic name.
The speed, the energy, the adrenaline, the fear before the madness… Electronic music and car racing sometimes share the same vibes, but is there something that you miss about your life as a driver? What made you shift gears and start a career as a DJ?
These two activities have a lot of things in common, but also have nothing to do with each other because for me, racing is a competition and art isn’t.
Art is a competition against yourself. You are the only one really who you are competing with. It is all about being a better professional every day and improving your skills, but also your adaptability to the moment and not comparing yourself with anyone.
The world where I was involved in had very different values. It was an individual sport in which you depend on the team, the technology, the science. You’re always thinking about yourself, on winning, on performing better than your teammate. Always under pressure from sponsors. It’s a huge commercial world. Formula 1 now has become quite different from what it was in the past. I do remember those days of big fun, of course, but I think music for me represents something different.
You have mentioned the pressure of sponsors, of the team. But what pressures you the most in the music world, be it gigs or be it the music production?
There is pressure, for sure, on DJs. Whoever doesn’t feel it is not telling the truth. At the end of the day, you have a crowd and a fan base who is expecting a certain sound and expecting you to deliver. You have to kill it. This is what the promoter, your manager and the crowd are expecting.
You have to always be at your 120% to deliver your best, no matter what. Whenever you have so many gigs, you start touring and traveling a lot and being tired it affects you, but you have to be ready. Not just physically, but also mentally. You have to connect with the people.
DJing is all about a transfer of energy that you don’t know how to explain. People have to see that you’re motivated, that you’re into it and that you take risks. I feel like some DJs nowadays just run through a playlist and there’s no connection. And when you see people and DJs taking risks and they’re going out of their comfort zone, it’s amazing. They are pushing themselves forward and beyond.
Also nowadays, social media marketing is super important as well. DJs have to deliver great music. You have a crowd and labels which are expecting you to have amazing records. Every single release, you expect that it goes better than the last one. And this is all relying on yourself because you are the one who makes the music and who is behind social media. You always have to give a smile to people and sometimes you don’t want to, you just want to go to sleep. But this is your job and it’s part of it. So, absolutely, there is pressure and you have to deal with it the best way you can.
This 2023 you’ve produced a lot of music with the releases of ‘Run Run Run’ and ‘Virtual Modernity’! Can we expect more fire tracks dropping as the year unfolds? Perhaps an album on the way?
I don’t think an album is going to come this year because it requires a lot of time and dedication. I released my first album last year on Mobilee Records, and it was really a hard, difficult time for me. The album was called ‘Stop’ and it was produced during the pandemic.. I had plenty of time to do it and to make it different, not really focused on dance floor music. And now I focus much more on making people dance.
I really pushed myself to make music for bigger stages and outdoor festivals, which I was really looking forward to. I played a couple of gigs with Carl Cox last year, which was amazing. And that helped me a lot to reset myself and how I wanted to update my new sounds.
But I’m really happy so far. I’ve released on my label, as you said, ‘Run Run Run’. I had the fortune of having these great remixes by Magit Cacoon and James Harcourt, which work really well. And now ‘Virtual Modernity’ on Sincopat is also a record that I’ve been playing a lot.And also I’m releasing another track on Adana Twins label, on TAU, and also on the new label called BAU_HAUS from Renaissance. For music, you have to work hard. And this winter has been tough for me and it has been full of dedication to my music in the studio.
You’ve got that firsthand Barcelona experience, but now that you’re deep in the DJ game, do you see the city’s nightlife and music industry from a whole new perspective? Where do you reckon the scene is heading?
We don’t have the most underground or strong scene in Europe or worldwide. We have never been pioneers of the origins of techno or house , but it’s getting much better. Of course, with festivals like Sonar or Primavera Sound, which are helping massively. And local DJs have been rising since Aleix Vergés – DJ Sideral, who initiated a movement of the electronic music scene in Barcelona.
But it’s not easy with the licenses, the whole culture…The sound systems, the clubs, are improving, but we are not really where we would like. We always wish for more, but so far so good.
We have good festivals and we have Brunch in Barcelona which is taking place almost every Sunday and bringing amazing artists and new talents and I believe it will still grow for the next ten years. I wish the best and I hope we can also help with the understanding that music is part of the culture and is bringing tourism and fun to people. This is what many people and the politicians should understand.
The Ibiza season is underway and with it a huge wave of events. What’s your bond with the white isle? Will we be catching you there this year, just like in the past?
I have a strong relation to Ibiza because this is the first holiday place I had as it is next door from Barcelona. My parents started going there in 1975 and I started going when I was like two, three years old. I met all my friends every summer and we started playing records there.
They have this basement with turntables, and we used to play around. By that time, internet platforms were not so great and you had to buy records and you didn’t find them just in one place. You had to tour around the world to find the best or the latest ones. Since then, my love for music started. That’s the reason why I started thinking about producing my own music. And this relation to the island became super strong.
This year I will be playing twice in Amnesia at Pyramid. One of them is in August which I’m really looking forward because I’m playing with Bonobo from Ninja Tune and he’s one of my idols. Last year DC-10 was amazing, of course. But the terrace of Amnesia it’s a classic.
You have played at many different places, venues and festivals. But we want to know the real deal. Like, is there any particular experience that has left a big memory on you, either good or bad?
For sure there are many stories. Ibiza is always a great place. It’s magic. Last year, I played three times with Carl Cox at DC-10 including the closing party and the terrace with John Digweed and Carl. When you see all this energy coming from the people, they are so close to you and every record you play just works.
But also here in Barcelona, we have Input. I had a great event last year and I enjoyed it so much. I remember it was just after the lockdown and people went insane.
One of the classics for me is The Terrace at Amnesia. It’s incredible because you have all this huge dance floor and the booth is really well designed. I’m looking forward to clubs rather than festivals because you have this connection with the crowd which is, in a way, a little bit more familiar and cozy and people get to see you.
I don’t feel like a DJ should play in festivals, even though if you are a big DJ you have to go to festivals, of course. But I think our kind of music is designed for familiar spaces and closer people.
Versatility is definitely something that defines you, because you even have another alias, Pole Position, together with Loic from Brunch. How did this collab come about and what can we expect from it?
I have known Loic for a couple of years now and I admire him. What he has done with his festival, it’s amazing how he has grown. He came from another country to Barcelona, And he’s now one of the leading promoters in the world of electronic music. Absolutely all my respects for what he did here.
At some point he came to me and told me about his love for music. He’s actually a very skilled DJ and I was very impressed because I didn’t know he was DJing. He suggested that we do this collaboration and see how we feel. So we played a couple of gigs and I really felt very comfortable with him. We have very similar styles, he loves Formula 1 and he is super passionate about motorsport much more than me.. I was super impressed because he really knows all the teams from all the seasons.
Actually, I did one race when he was in Montreal. it was one of my best ones in Formula 1. He was there as part of the crowd and, long story short, we came up with this name called Pole Position, which is when you qualify first. So the name was catchy, good, fun and we started making music together. Hopefully we can release some music at the end of the year. But we are enjoying it together very much and we are already playing a few festivals already. The idea came very organically.
Ànims is a party from and to Barcelona.
Finally we want to dive into Ànims, your label and now upcoming Sunday event at Bestial. What would you say is the true essence of your concept?
Ànims is a record label and is a word in Catalan that means “cheer up”. So whenever you feel negative or that something is not working out, you just go to your friend and tell him: “Come on, cheer up. Everything is going to go fine!”.
I really like the word. It was catchy, optimistic, positive, and something that all artists need in music, because many times you work on music, you send it to labels, they’re not happy, or they don’t answer, or don’t want to release it, or which is even worse, it’s going to take one year to release it.
I thought about creating a label. But a label that represents my music. I feel my music is colorful and alive. And when I am in Barcelona, I feel alive because I see the colors of the Mediterranean, the blue sky, the sea, the sun.
There are four alive colors. And for me, this represents the painting of Joan Miró. If you see his art, it’s very personal, exclusive and unique. And on the label, all the artworks are represented by this definition of four or five colors: green, yellow, red, and blue. It plays with the creativity of Joan Miró, Antonio Gaudi, Salvador Dalí, all Catalan artists who were massively educated and influenced by surrealism. But that has to be related to an alive feeling. This is what Ànims is trying to do, talking to the world and connecting to the world through music. But music that you feel has an essence, that is alive and full of color.
The other part came when the label deserved to have its own showcase, a party related to Barcelona and in Barcelona, but I didn’t really find the right place for it. I don’t feel Ànims has a super underground Berlin, London based feeling. But I thought we needed a place where you see all these colors, maybe during the day. So I found Bestial through some friends and I actually felt like this was a unique place to host a party for Ànims because it’s during Sundays, everybody is able to come and enjoy the party.
We have our opening party on the 28th, and I hope you all come and then you decide if you want to repeat for the second round!
Where do you envision to take Ànims in the next few years?
I have no idea of what’s going to happen with the label. I hope we can continue on releasing the best music. But one of my dreams would be to design a TV show that is inviting guests who have been successful in life.
We are not going to talk about their success but about their toughest moments. I feel like people, in general, have a huge connection when you talk about successful people, especially when you make them part of their most difficult times. For many, successful people are an example and a model to follow. So it is a motivation for them when these people open up and tell them: “Hey, guys, I’m also human. I’ve done my job the best way I can, but I’ve also suffered. I really want to make this TV show happen sometime. We have already partnered with a huge production company, but it takes its time.
It’s important for Ànims that everybody feels like we don’t invite just friends. We respect people’s art. What’s very clear for Ànims is that it’s a party from and to Barcelona. That’s why we have decided to invite local artists for the opening party. But we are an international record label so we have booked Kadosh and Emanuel Satie already for the following parties and their musical direction is very clear.
It’s difficult to tag, because generally nowadays it is a bit difficult to say what is this or that. But we’re somewhere between melodic and indie dance, understandable music, that make people enjoy and dance from all ages. We have no cliches, limits or obstacles to understand who should come or who shouldn’t.
Short questions
- Describe your sound in three words. Organic, colorful, and melancholic.
- Who was your childhood inspiration? I listened to many artists when I was a kid, but I would say my biggest one is Moby. I have huge respect for these guys, his voice is very particular and the way he composes music and he touches the feelings and emotions of people is just insane. The 1998 album is the number one album I’ve heard in my life.
- Vinyl or digital? Both. I have had many records since I was a kid. I don’t buy records anymore because unfortunately, the way it is set up now, it is much easier to travel with your USB stick. But I love vinyl and analog hardware. I have some machines in the studio to make music: synthesizers, valves, mixers… It doesn’t mean it’s more efficient or better, it’s different and cool. But I will always support vinyl.
- Name one of your favorite hobbies. Golf. I play very often and try to go at least once a week. It’s not just a sport, it’s meditation because you’re in connection with nature. For 4 hours you have to be focused on this ball that is waiting for you and you have all the time to hit it. You have many options to choose what iron to take and how you’re going to hit the ball. I have many professional friends who play it as well, so it’s easier for me to get the motivation to play.
- What is the most weird place that you have played at? Burning Man. It is one of those places where you don’t really plan anything because you can be playing in a nice environment and all of a sudden there is a dust storm and you cannot see. “Should I stop? Should I keep on going?” Burning Man has been one of those places that I will never ever forget. You just go and improvise every single moment.
- What is your favorite club in Europe? Amnesia Ibiza.
- Pineapple on pizza. Yes or no? No. Never. I hate that. This is a no. Disgusting. No way.
