​Paco Osuna’s NOW HERE residency runs rings around Ibiza’s mainstream club nights

Over on the White Isle, there’s nowhere quite like Hï Ibiza after dark. Famed for its heady selection of A-list artists raring to get a crowd moving and an onslaught of Hï faithfuls banging down the doors each and every week, Hï has quickly earned legendary status on the island, just a handful of years after it first opened. Now making a dent in the club’s history is Paco Osuna, the Spanish DJ and producer with a penchant for hot and heavy dancefloor antics.

Last summer, Paco announced his first residency at Hï - NOW HERE - alongside The Martinez Brothers. The 17-week stint was met with a stellar reaction from fans, concluding in October to mark the end of another spectacular Ibiza season. This year, Paco Osuna returns, and the NOW HERE residency has evolved with the shape of the club itself. “I’ve wanted to come back since I played last season’s final day,” Paco tells Mixmag. “I’ve missed it terribly.”

Now feeling more at home than ever before in Hï’s underground dancefloor, the Club Room, Paco Osuna can settle into his weekly residency each Tuesday night with ease. Considering his first time playing this club was just 12 months prior, Paco’s nerves are now settled, and he’s ready to take whatever this season throws at him. This year, he’s selected some of the best in the game to step up beside him on the decks, including Solardo, Chris Stussy, Nicole Moudaber and more than 20 others. But for the first gig of the season on June 13, NOW HERE welcomes a handful of Hï mainstays - including Agape Muzilk boss Melanie Ribbe and the White Isle’s own Manu Gonzalez.

It’s fair to say there’s raucous energy wherever you step foot inside Hï. The iconic Wild Corner inside a low-ceiling working bathroom is gearing up tonight for an enormous set from Skepta and Jammer, who recently started a tech-house project together. Meanwhile, The Theatre - where The Martinez Brothers are scheduled to play late into the night - boasts a much larger production with special FX and floor-to-ceiling LED screens inside an amphitheatre-style room. But tonight, The Club Room is where the main attraction is held, and it’s kicking off with a momentous cheer for Paco, who arrives behind the decks like he’s never left.

Paco has every corner of the room moving from the onset - crowds peep over the levelled railings to get a glimpse of the man behind the booth as he seamlessly blends through styles, from vocal house to his own productions and some darker tech cuts. The four-to-the-floor pulsates through the room, arms up in the air and a manic lighting display gleaming down from the ceiling on club-goers in true, pure ecstasy. Paco teases in a sultry edit of 20 Fingers’ 1995 classic ‘Short Dick Man’ and the crowd erupts. It’s not until 7:AM that the audience is met with the end of Paco’s ferocious first set of the season, to a roaring response.

“The Club Room for me today is the room where I feel most comfortable, where I play the music I want with complete freedom,” Paco tells Mixmag. “From the first moment I set foot in the Club Room, it doesn’t matter what my previous mood is - it changes and improves radically. I don’t think I’ve ever felt something like this before in any club in the world.”

The Club Room is perhaps Hï’s most memorable, and Paco knows just how to work with the audience in this space. Since the opening ceremony, the weeks have rolled by in a flurry - weaving through tempos and sounds, Paco expertly captures the essence of Ibiza a step away from the mainstream. Since the doors reopened for another spectacular season in June, he's welcomed on stage the likes of Kidoo, Blackchild, Wheats, and Dennis Cruz to play alongside him on his famed Tuesday night slot. Still to come, though, fans can expect to see some top-tier acts next Tuesday - Latmun and Danyelino - and plenty more over the coming weeks.

Of all the parties on the White Isle, Paco’s NOW HERE residency runs rings around most. “Hï’s Club Room has completely conquered me,” Paco tells Mixmag after his NOW HERE comeback. But Paco has also conquered that dancefloor himself, and this next season is bursting to show it. “Last year was an incredible year, a dreamy season, very difficult to beat… I worked hard so that we would have the same experiences and special moments as last year. The energy, the new decoration in the room and everything that happened in the opening was simply MAGICAL.”

NOW HERE takes place every Tuesday in Hï’s Club Room from June 13 to October 3 alongside The Martinez Brothers in The Theatre. Get tickets here.

Check out NOW HERE's Instagram page here

Gemma Ross is Mixmag’s Assistant Editor, follow her on Twitter