I n the midst of Miami Music Week earlier this year, Loco Dice appears zen at the East Hotel in Brickell. He looks well-rested and crisp, clad in sweatpants, a white T-shirt, and a snapback. But in about 48 hours, he’ll face a seemingly impossible task: a 24-hour back-to-back set between him and his Italian counterpart Marco Carola on Club Space’s terrace. Dice’s two decades behind the decks should help, but there’s no blueprint to prepare for a marathon set. Never- theless, the Düsseldorf-based producer is ready for the task. But before the Space gig, several meetings and a muay thai session await him. Luckily for Dice, he only booked two shows during the MMW mayhem. In addition to the extended set at Space, he’ll spin at the downtown club’s outdoor venue, Space Park, in Little Haiti. The fact that he’s only performing at Space’s venues this week isn’t a coincidence. Since opening in 2000, the Eleventh Street nightclub bestowed upon countless dance-music legends the title of “resident,” i.e., a DJ employed by a venue to spin regularly for a finite duration. Miami’s Os- car G has spun a residency at Space, as did New York City’s marathon king, Danny Tenaglia. But choosing a Club Space resident isn’t an easy task. First, there must be rapport between the club’s management, the headliner, and the seven local resident DJs. Second, the DJ needs to be of the garden variety to sway any crowd but refined enough to appease the diehards. Third, and most important, the DJ must keep the audi- ence going. Dice’s résumé checks all the boxes. “I see Space as my home,” he tells New Times. “I called it a residency way back, but now it’s official. “I had a hard time in Germany with the acceptance coming and looking like hip-hop,” he goes on. “So I had to play my way up and con- vince them that what I was playing was good music while being more open-minded and not so stiff. Back then, it was progressive music, and I came from a completely different style.” Loco Dice has held numerous residencies at clubs that have invited him to bring his rough-around-the-edges track selection to the fore, in- cluding Ibiza hot spots DC-10, Ushuaïa, and Amnesia, as well as Tribe- house in Düsseldorf. “His sound is perfect for the terrace,” says Club Space co-owner Da- vid Sinopoli. “We have our locals, and now we’re going to have interna- tional talents like Dice and up-and-coming acts from all ranges of sound and size. I think Dice was the start of where we are going. It just shows the club’s size and that it’s become a home. I think the cosign furthers the momentum.” While many residency gigs require a set amount of gigs during a specified period, Dice’s agreement with Space is a bit less stringent. The artist’s appearances aren’t hamstrung to fixed dates — Dice will be gracing the club’s terrace throughout the year, with his next appearance scheduled for Sun- day, July 3. “I don’t want to be trapped. I would have a residency in Ibiza if it were the financial side,” he admits. “I want to have fun now. I want to go to people who understand me and make new op- portunities and think more forwardly. Club Space knows how to do it — I feel like family.” >> p8 N A Loco Dice Spins Eternal at Club Space. GRANT ALBERT R LL BY Photo courtesy of the artist/Listen Up 7 1 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NEWS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC |MIAMI NEW TIMES miaminewtimes.com | CONTENTS | LETTERS | RIPTIDE | METRO | NIGHT+DAY | STAGE | ART | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | NEW TIMES MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 JUNE 30-JULY 6, 2022 O O
