Spanish duo Los Suruba have had a pretty momentous year so far in 2024, with a strong run of shows and multiple productions coming from both themselves and their own Nazca imprint.
Their latest studio offering will arrive next month, in the form of their ‘+33 Vinyl’ EP – which boasts two original tracks alongside remix work from Cristina Lazic and BRYZ.
We caught up with the pair for our latest Let’s Talk feature, where we spoke about their newest releases, their Nazca label, and what else they might have coming in the near future. Read the full interview below.
How has 2024 been for Los Suruba so far?
It’s been really good! We planned this year by balancing production and work at home, with tours and residencies. When you’re creating your own music, managing labels, and handling designs, you need to take time to pause, breathe, and reset – that’s when inspiration strikes.
After Christmas, we took seven weeks to focus on studio work and spend time with family on the island. By late February, we were back to playing weekly gigs, and in March, we did our annual Argentinian tour with seven shows. Argentina is one of our favourite places to play – the energy there is unreal!
Since we live in Ibiza, our season kicks off with IMS. In the past few years, we’ve had residencies at cool spots across Spain (Madrid, Barcelona, and Gran Canaria), this year we added a weekly residency at an amazing beach club in Marbella every Thursday from late June to September: “Los Suruba at La Plage”. So summer was super good with gigs.
On the production side, we started the year with a release on Nazca, plus a cool t-shirt collab with Strap, a streetwear shop from Valencia – which was special for us. In June, we dropped a remix for Cristina Lazic on vinyl through her own label. In September, we released an edit we had been playing all summer as part of our “Los Suruba Edits” series, which you can check out on our SoundCloud.
This month, we dropped our remix of Enzo Leep’s track on Dreams on Wax, a label that’s really killing it right now, one of the freshest for us. And finally, our next Nazca release is coming out on vinyl on November 15th.
We’re also stoked about our label, we’ve been able to release music from artists we admire, like Christian Burkhardt, Nima Gorji, Enzo Leep, Cristina Lazic, BRYZ, Funky Trip, and Octave.
You’re about to return to your own Nazca imprint for the release of ‘+33 Vinyl’ – how would you describe the two original tracks on this one?
Yes! When we started our label in 2016, our first 6 releases were on vinyl. But after 32 vinyl releases across our four labels (Suruba X, Nazca, Suruba, and Playa), our vinyl distributor (who we worked with from 2006) shut down. It was tough finding a new distributor that matched our style, and due to that and other circumstances, we decided to stop releasing vinyl. But now that we’re back to spinning vinyl (something we believe in and want to do more of), and found a solid distributor, we decided to jump back into it.
For our comeback, we chose our own ‘+33 EP’ which includes the tracks ‘Dial Banger’ and ‘Elegancia la de Francia’. Both tracks reflect the house and deeper sounds we’re vibing with right now, the kind of tracks we used to spin on vinyl 20 years ago.
‘Dial Banger’ is a punchy, wonky house track, perfect for the dancefloor with a clean, powerful sound. ‘Elegancia La de Francia’ is more experimental, with eerie synths and freaky filtered vocals over a warm groove. It reminds us of the early releases from labels like Cecille or Oslo.
And it also includes remix work from Cristina Lazic and BRYZ. What’s your opinion on those edits?
We always try to bring in remixes from artists whose music we play or whose sound fits ours. Cristina is on fire right now! She’s killing it with her gigs and her productions. She reached out to us about a year ago when she was launching her label and asked us to remix one of her most important releases, the one she wanted to release on vinyl. After hearing the track, we were all in, and that’s how that remix came about.
We’ve stayed in touch, and she’s been playing ‘Elegancia la de Francia’ since it dropped, so we asked her to remix it. She loved the idea and absolutely smashed it, we’ve been playing it all summer and it always hits.
BRYZ is a Romanian artist we’ve been following for a few years. His refined minimal sound has solidified his place in the European scene, with artists like Barac and Funky Trip playing his tracks. His remix of ‘Elegancia la de Francia’ is smooth and delicate, with lush pads that pull you in, and gurgling basslines and trippy melodies that add depth to the rolling minimal grooves. His latest release on Nazca (which just dropped last week) is an amazing two-track EP.
In the past, you’ve released music with labels like Crosstown Rebels, Sol Selectas, and Get Physical. What’s your typical approach to getting music signed to a label?
Every situation is different. Sometimes you send a track and wait months for a positive response. Other times, the label owner reaches out because they’re feeling your sound. You never really know how it’s going to play out! We’re slow to finish tracks we’re happy with, but because we love what we do, we’ll always keep making music.
And which other labels might we see you on soon?
Nazca is our main platform for releases, but Dreams on Wax which we mentioned earlier is doing really well, and we’re thrilled to have released a remix for Enzo Leep and have another release lined up for next year.
We’ve also got a great relationship with Enzo, he released on Suruba X almost 10 years ago and has done two remixes for us on Nazca. Last winter, we started collaborating in the studio, and our first track together will drop next year on his label.
What’s been one of your favourite tracks of 2024?
Calabasa’s ‘Pulse Majeur’ is such a fresh track. We’ve also been really into Alexander Sckanke’s latest productions and what he’s been releasing on his label Quirk. We’ve been playing Trent Voyage & Elena Moroder’s ‘Aquamarine’ a lot too.
Our upcoming 2025 release ‘Las Bestias de Xarraca’, featuring Inkrustart, is another favorite. We’re usually pretty critical of our work, but we really love this one. Since the beginning, we’ve always done edits of tracks we love.
As we mentioned, we’ve got our “Los Suruba Edits” for tracks that resonate with us, and we rework them to fit into our sets. This year, we did an edit of DJ T’s classic ‘Funk on You’, which has been one of our secret weapons this summer.
And one way this year exceeded your expectations?
Our focus and motivation. The last three years have had it tough with personal and family issues, and they left us feeling a bit down and tired. But it’s in those tough moments that you learn the most. We’ve been doing this since we were kids, and now we’re back on track and stronger than ever. We’ve got some exciting projects and goals we’re determined to achieve from now until next summer.
Anything else you want to mention before we go?
We want to give a shoutout and raise a toast to everyone who’s spent their lives dedicated to electronic music – the true artists, engineers, producers, and the new generation that’s supporting real talent.
Also to the promoters of new clubs and festivals, who are booking artists that are really putting in the work, keeping the underground spirit alive, the authentic, beautiful vibe that so many of us fight to preserve, and what this whole scene was built on.
We also wanted to say thank you to everyone who’s been there through the ups and downs, to those who’ve supported us and shown us love. After 25 years of working together, we still feel fresh and love each other like it’s day one. We’re still enjoying this because it’s our life.
Los Suruba – +33 Vinyl EP is out November 15th on Nazca.