909originals chats to Anna Tur about Ibiza Global Radio, working with Carl Cox, and embracing new projects

While Ibiza’s reputation as a clubbing mecca is founded on the myriad of clubs that dot the White Isle, a debt of gratitude is also due to those that keep the beats pumping even after the last tourists have gone home.

As the longstanding managing director of Ibiza Global Radio, DJ and producer Anna Tur has played a key role in soundtracking many a summer, while also beaming positive vibes from the island all year round.

As well as running the radio station, Ibiza native Tur began her production career in 2010, launching the Illusion Music label in 2016, and, more recently, the Low Lita imprint. In July of this year, she had the opportunity to remix none other than Carl Cox (for his track Sand, Moon & Stars, which you can download/stream here), and is currently unveiling what she describes as a new ‘sensory music’ project, Balearica Music.

OUT NOW via BMG the remix for @Carl_Cox “Sand, moon and Stars” https://t.co/K7dfyLzi4a pic.twitter.com/Njn1d9KzAS

— Anna Tur (@annaturdj) August 20, 2021

909originals caught up with her.

Let’s start by talking about your recent remix of Carl Cox’s Sand, Moon & Stars. How did you come to work with Carl?

It was a real surprise. I was recording with the sports channel DAZN during the summer 2019 and 2020, as they were producing a series for the football team UD Ibiza. I collaborated with tracks that came out during the series, accompanying the images.

What I didn’t know was that Carl did the header music for the series. That’s where the first surprise came from. The second was the request to do a remix of Sand, Moon & Stars, which will be used, if I’m not mistaken, in the second season of the series, which is being recorded at the moment and in which I have participated again.

Your label, Illusion Music, turned five years old this year. How has the label developed in that time?

Illusion Music goes hand in hand with a particular moment in my life. It was born to act as an umbrella and support emerging artists. Also, to launch some of my productions. 

At the present moment, I wanted to leave Illusion as part of my past, which is reflected in music, but I have turned the page in many aspects of my life. I think it’s time to move forward with new projects. I feel like a new Anna.

Happier and more self-realised; I want my projects or projects in which I am involved to be at the same level. I have just launched a new label called Low Lita, together with my DJ-producer friends Gonçalo and Hosse. 

It’s a fusion of arts, with collaborations for our graphic and artistic direction. The launch couldn’t be better, with the well-known Portuguese painter Luiooo involved, and the launch EP is composed of two originals signed by Gonçalo and myself, together with pure techno remixes by Spartaque.

You were part of the startup team of Ibiza Global Radio, back in 2004, when you were still very young – that must have been an eye opening for you?

Yes, at Ibiza Global Radio I have grown up, I have gone from being a girl to a woman; biologically and professionally.

My father founded this station and brand 17 years ago. With a lot of conviction, love, passion, experience, and tenacity. It was like his last baby. I had a very good and a very bad time there. I suffered as one who suffers raising a child. It has given me the most wonderful moments and some disappointments. I have worked ‘like an animal’ without having dedicated time to myself and my family and friends. Work, work and more work!

The fact that we later partnered with third parties to grow the company was the beginning of my problems there. My father left the company due to illness and retired. I stayed on as partner and CEO, but the lack of understanding on both sides became untenable for a moment and we both decided that the best thing to do was to take a new path.

I am very clear about the values of this brand, because I gave birth to it, but the current plan is far removed from the values it needs to transmit in order to grow. The truth is that I’ve been having trouble listening to it for a few months now, I no longer feel represented as a listener.

With the station, you helped to soundtrack countless summers, while also working with some of the biggest DJs and club nights on the island. In what ways did you seek to evolve it during the time you were there?

From the fifth year, the station grew upwards and progressively a lot. The number of listeners doubled every month. We managed to find the balance between representing Ibiza and being an international format; we went to and covered the best festivals, we had practically all the most representative artists in the history of electronic music, we made dream billings, we won prizes.

We created, we invented, we enjoyed… but we couldn’t go much further. Every day my human and economic resources were cut more and more. I found myself going through difficult times when I became just a general manager and not part of the ownership.

I may have helped to dig my grave, but I am proud of what I have achieved, until the last day. Now I have to continue to take care of all that, but it’s no longer my business… 😉

In your role at both the radio station, and also with your label and DJing, have you made a conscious effort to promote local artists?

Absolutely. It was one of the commandments of the radio, and also of my label. Of course, I was always ready to help any of my colleagues who need it.

You left the radio station last year, to join the IMA Agency as a business partner. What does your role involve?

IMA describes Ibiza Music Artists. A small agency that we set up precisely to support local talent. We also outsourced the Ibiza Global Showcase, as they didn’t want to use the radio station’s human resources for it, but as we believed in this product, we proposed to the radio station to manage it externally. And it went well.

First, because we positioned that brand and it was running strongly for three years, and second, because some members of the Global staff did not work full time at the station and that was a bet that if it worked, it was a plus, both for the radio station and for those workers who could also have a workload in winter.

Now, it has led to the development of a new project that is going to be born in a very short time and that is going to be a total revolution. It’s a new sensory music experience – Balearica Music.

As an Ibiza native, the past year and a half must have seemed a bit strange – the island was a lot quieter, for one thing. How was it for you?

With a lot of patience. We don’t understand anything, it’s a political issue. While in many European countries, events are taking place, here in Ibiza it is still forbidden to dance and the discos are closed. The thing is, Spain has almost 80% of the population vaccinated. Obviously, it is a political issue against leisure and music on our beautiful island.

Post-pandemic, do you think anything will change about the Ibiza scene, or is there anything that you would like to see change?

I wish they would let us work and trust more in this industry that has given so much to Ibiza.

[Thanks Anna for talking to us. You can download Anna Tur’s Sand, Moon & Stars remix here]

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