The road to the current success Andrea Oliva experiences today is not fruit of luck. The journey began long time ago when, at the age of 12 old, when he started teaching himself the art of DJing.
Soon after, he started working in a record store, which helped him to build his extensive collection of promos and white labels from Europe and beyond.
That move, underrated for many, ended up helping him achieve bookings at some of Switzerland’s best clubs and later residencies at Terminus and Pravda.
With his status in his home country growing, Andrea teamed up with the owner of Nordstern in Basel, Agi Isaku, and the duo were soon throwing sold out ‘Banditz’ parties across Switzerland.
His reputation took him across the continent and all the way to Ibiza, where in 2004 he was first invited to DJ at Space.
In 2013 he landed regular headline slots at ANTS in Ibiza – Ushuaia’s premiere underground party – still running today.
Indeed the ANTS brand has itself gone on to tour the world, and Andrea’s sets, which are synonymous with the ethos of the party, have rocked stages from Miami to Dubai, from Mexico to Argentina and from Croatia to the UK.
By 2016, Andrea had cemented himself at the heart of Ibiza culture; becoming one of seven all-night guests to regularly take over the Space Terrace for Elrow, made his Music On debut at Amnesia, all whilst maintaining his ANTS headliner commitments.
His skill for crafting stand out sets attracted Pete Tong’s attention, who helped Andrea to make his Essential Mix debut with a set recorded live from Ushuaia.
After an incendiary back-to-back between the two DJs at the All Gone Pete Tong Miami Music Week pool party earlier that year, Andrea was also a natural choice to mix the All Gone Pete Tong Ibiza 2016 compilation alongside the influential broadcaster.
Meanwhile, his underground credentials were further bolstered with a debut EP on Desolat, ‘Get Down’. Displaying a skill for creating tougher-edged tech to full effect, tracks from the EP were regularly heard being played out by DJs far and wide, with label boss Loco Dice hammering ‘Elephant’ in particular.
This was followed by a killer release on Hot Since 82’s “Knee Deep” imprint entitled “Scream”, a track that became a summer anthem and was credited as one of Pete Tong’s Essential new tunes as well as one of his top 10 tunes of the year.
Shortly after Andrea unleashed ‘Vermona’ on Cuttin Headz, another Ibiza anthem with label heads, the Martinez Brothers, keeping it on constant rotation at DC-10 and virtually every DJ on the circuit hammering it far and wide.
Needless to say, Andrea’s dedication to the underground scene has garnered him widespread support and his music is appreciated by a range of dance music luminaries.
His incredible sustained work ethic and love of the ever evolving scene means there’s no sign of this trajectory slowing down any time soon.
We spoke to him to learn more and help spread even further about his music, label and story. Read on!