Electronic dance music is, no doubt, an international phenomenon. Last year’s Electric Zoo festival at Randall’s Island Park, for example, brought in 85,000 attendees including visitors from all 50 states and more than 100 countries.
But it’s the jet-setting DJs themselves — hitting a different city night after night, bouncing from club to club and festival to festival — who globe-trot like no others. Electric Zoo, back for its fourth year on Labor Day Weekend (August 31-Sept. 2), put us in touch with some of the biggest names on its 2012 lineup to talk about a life where the beats and plane rides never end.
TIESTO
What’s been your favorite spot to travel for work?
I’d have to say Miami, of course. That’s why I’ve named my new compilation “Club Life: Volume Two Miami” after the city. It has my favorite club to play in — LIV — as well as incredible restaurants, amazing architecture and so much glamour.
What’s been your favorite spot to travel for leisure?
Ibiza is a pretty special place for me to go. I’ve been going there every summer since the ’90s, and the island is a perfect place for relaxation and of course a lot of fun. More than any place I go to, it embodies the spirit of “Club Life.” I can’t wait to get out there for the start of the season at the end of May when I start my new residency at Pacha.
Where are you most excited about going in the future?
I’m pretty excited about going to Seoul for UMF Korea in August. It will be amazing to play there, particularly in the Olympic Stadium. After that, it’s back to New York to close out the summer at Electric Zoo.
TONY MCGUINNESS OF ABOVE & BEYOND
What’s been your favorite spot to travel for work?
Buenos Aires is perhaps the most surprising, entertaining, beautiful and rewarding city I’ve been to. Maybe it stems from over-familiarity with London, New York and even Barcelona, all of which are amazing places as any traveler will know, but Buenos Aires is special. It almost feels like a major European city in a parallel universe with gorgeous, crumbly Spanish Colonial architecture, incredible food and bewilderingly attractive people with a deep-rooted musical appreciation.
What’s been your favorite spot to travel for leisure?
That’s easy — Palau, in Micronesia. A collection of hundreds of crumbly rock islands perched like broccoli atop a bright blue sea. It is one of the best diving destinations in the world. The bountiful sea is wild and populated with all the big pelagics (you see sharks on every dive), and the one-hour boat journey to the dive sites through the rock islands is always exhilarating and awe-inspiring. I made a video of my last trip there, which you can see on YouTube (youtube.com/watch?v=zEKzP4TVvDU).
Where are you most excited about going in the future?
We’ve been pretty much everywhere on tour over the last 12 years. I think we’re all over 70 countries now, but we haven’t really done much stuff in the middle section of Africa. So I’d love to go there, to see where we all came from.
Do you have any favorite hotels, restaurants, bars or clubs?
So many. The best hotel I’ve stayed at (on holiday) is Hayman Island off the east coast of Australia. It’s actually an island, with two big yachts with uniformed crews and even a seaplane to ferry people from the mainland. The hotel itself backs into rainforest, and out front are the two concentric swimming pools, one of which is salt-water. These pools adorned the cover of the “Leading Hotels of the World” book for a few years, and they should know.
Work-wise, I’m quite boring when it comes to hotels, something quiet, with good blackout curtains and a comfy bed is all I need — all the fancy stuff you can get at tourist places is no good when you want to sleep at the odd hours we keep.
Restaurant-wise, there are so many, but my favorite is Sudestada in Buenos Aires. It’s an Asian fusion restaurant in Palermo: the food is amazing, the neighborhood is stunning and it pipped my other favorite restaurant (Green Bamboo, also in Buenos Aires) into second place by a nose. My favorite club is Space in Ibiza on a Sunday and my favorite bar is any of the coconut stalls on the beach in Rio de Janeiro.
What’s been the craziest day/week/or month of travel you can remember?
Years ago, our agent had a brain fart and booked us to play in Kuala Lumpur on Friday and Seoul on Saturday. I guess when you’re sitting in your office in London, the fact they are both in Asia seems to add up to a sensible routing. But in reality, they are not only very far from London but as far apart as London and New York. We did over 36 hours flying in four days. When we weren’t flying or waiting to board the next plane, we did two gigs, a three-hour after-party, slept very little, ate a lot of airplane food and vowed to buy our agent a world map.
STEVE AOKI
What’s been your favorite spot to travel for work?
Tokyo. It’s one of the best cities to explore day and night. Crazy fashion styles. You get inspired easily.
What’s been your favorite spot to travel for leisure?
Malta. Beautiful island country. Great food and the best wreck scuba-diving spots.
Where are you most excited about going in the future?
India.
12TH PLANET
What’s been your favorite spot to travel for work?
I think my favorite spot to travel to is going home. I am on the road so much that I miss my friends and favorite places to hang out in Los Angeles.
What’s been your favorite spot to travel for leisure?
I love going to Coachella during April. It’s all about hanging out by the pool all day, hanging at the festival all night.
Where are you most excited about going in the future?
Shameless plug . . . I cannot wait to go back to NYC for Electric Zoo this year.
For more info on Electric Zoo, also including Skrillex, David Guetta, Diplo, Axwell, Rusko, Dada Life, Benny Benassi, Knife Party and Porter Robinson in its lineup of more than 90 DJs, visit http://www.madeevent.com/ElectricZoo.