With the exponential rise of the Future Scope events, the name Shipe popped out as the main association. Anđelko Šipušić is a program manager of the capital’s famous Boogaloo Club, which hosted various artists for almost 40 years, and has actively been a resident DJ (aka his well-known alias Shipe) of Future Scope, a clubbing and festival series that rapidly expanded throughout Croatia this summer, including Cave Romane, Lazareti Dubrovnik and Aurora Primošten.
Future Scope emphasizes the electronic music underground scene and cooperates with the most known names of the electronic scene, including Carl Cox, Jeff Mills, Amelie Lens, Boris Brejcha, Fatboy Slim, Sven Vath, Joseph Capriati, Chris Liebing, Charlotte de Witte, who shared the stage with Shipe.
As Zagreb’s clubbing season is just around the corner, we had a chat about his career, Future Scope, Boogaloo’s upcoming program, and the Croatian electronic music scene.
You have been on the scene since the early 2000s and discovered your love for electronic music in your teenage years. Who were your first role models and how did you start DJing?
My first contact with electronic music happened in the early 2000s, in high school. Thanks to satellite TV, I discovered MTV and VIVA, which broadcast timeless pop and dance music. I was particularly fascinated by DSF’s Friday night program, where I watched DJ Mike’s performances and saw people dancing in clubs for the first time. I couldn’t wait to grow up and become a part of that scene.
I didn’t have a computer at the time, so I recorded music from the TV onto a mini disc I got in my first year of high school. I remember my first “performance” on New Year’s Eve in 2000, when I played music from DVDs and mini-discs for more than 50 people, without a mixer or serious equipment. It’s hard to describe to today’s generation the euphoria I felt when I heard a favorite song, for which I had no other source than going to a rave and hoping the DJ would play it.
As a high school student, I often went out to the club “Orinoco” in Koprivnica, where my cousin DJ Kico performed on weekends. I believe that my love of music came from my mother’s side of the family.
The turning point was marked by the CD with the legendary Umek set – “I Love Techno 2001“, which was heard from every car before the parties. I was also inspired by the sets of Dave Clark, Peter Dundov, and DJ Rush. When I first heard that kind of music, I knew it was what I wanted to do in life.
My biggest role models were Umek and Rush, whom I never missed live. Umek, whom I consider one of the best techno DJs in the world, will be hosted at the new season’s Future Scope edition at the Boogaloo Club on September 28. The best set I remember is Joel Mulla’s from Boogaloo in 2006, and the first video compilation I got my hands on was the one-hour “I Love Techno 2003” compilation, which I watched probably several thousand times with my friends.
You are the program manager at the club Boogaloo, which has raised the local techno scene in the last few years, especially with the Future Scope events. How did the idea for Future Scope come about and what are you trying to promote with your events and festivals?
My first serious clubbing event series started in 2010 in Koprivnica, and since 2011 I have organized parties in Zagreb, at Aquarius, and Pogon Jedinstvo. Future Scope is a series of parties that I regularly visited as a raver, I rarely missed an event in the very beginning. By chance, in 2013 I met my current business partner Marijan Kiš – Mrx, who had successfully completed 10 years with the Future Scope program, but 2013 was a year of crisis for the electronic scene in Zagreb, andat that moment Marijan had not organized any events for a year. We combined my enthusiasm and his experience. Our first joint Future Scope party with Cristiano Varela attracted over 700 attendees, and the second one with Dave Clark was sold out. And so the whole story began, which continues to this day.
In the last 10 years, there was a total reset on the electronic music scene that went from the underground to the mainstream, so according to the law of the market, the prices skyrocketed overnight and it was really difficult to follow the rhythm of the quarterly price increases of DJs, but we always found some system to stay alive and a way to host the most sought-after names in the world of electronic music on our event series. In the beginning, we stuck to the formula that the techno sound must be in the big hall, and we used the smaller hall for softer tech house rhythms.
We recently hosted Boris Brejcha and Paul Kalkbrenner, two of the hottest bookings in the world. For the new club season and the whole next year, we are preparing even bigger surprises!
Future Scope received the Ambasador award for the best festival from a Croatian promoter, and this summer you started organizing your events all over the coast. What is the difference between Zagreb’s, Istrian, and Dalmatian audiences? How did you switch from the local area and what are your plans for the future?
After many years of focus on the parent club Boogaloo in Zagreb, the pandemic encouraged us to turn to an outdoor organization. First, we organized open-air parties on the Jarun (in the first year of the pandemic, we held three open-air events on the Jarun, and in the second as many as six), and then we expanded to the coast. The Istrian audience prefers lighter tech and melodic sound. In Dalmatia, depending on the area, the emphasis is still more on a harder techno sound.
We are currently collaborating with our longtime friend Lemon from the Balance team on events at the magical Cave Romane location in Vinkuran, Istria. After the successful first edition in 2023, when Guy J, Oxia, and Christian Craken performed, this year we hosted the world’s leading live artist Paul Kalkbrenner, and we expect confirmation of the next big artist for next year soon.
With our longtime friend DJ Jock, we hosted Christian Craken this month, the biggest surprise of 2023! We spent a week with him on the Adriatic, with performances in Lazareti in Dubrovnik and Aurora in Primošten.
Last season, you had various challenges that threatened to close Boogaloo – from the initial announcement by the city of Zagreb that they wanted to give space to associations last fall, and to the public tender in which KSET offered the highest amount. You have successfully managed to stay in the club, and congratulations on that! Have recent events influenced the tailoring of the program for the upcoming season? What will fall look like in Boogaloo?
Due to the uncertainty surrounding the status of the club, we were forced to plan the program quarterly. We couldn’t agree on long-term programs because we didn’t know what kind of status awaited us. Some weekends were left empty because there was simply no time for organization, and the bands had arranged performances in other clubs in Zagreb in the meantime.
The whole contract situation for the club was absurd from the start. Despite the challenges, we did not lose faith. We stuck to the legal facts and publicly presented information about attempts to take over the space politically. The worst thing was that we were just recovering from a two-year fight with the pandemic.
At the moment, the large hall schedule is full until the end of the year, with dates booked even into 2025. We are focusing on filling the weekdays, mainly on Thursdays and Sundays. We are preparing the strongest season in the club’s 40-year history, with the most exclusive names so far!
Where are you performing this summer and how are you preparing for the fall season in Zagreb?
Due to my recovery from eardrum surgery, I chose my performances carefully. I focused on events that I myself would visit as a guest. In August, I performed in Lazareti in Dubrovnik (August 10) and Aurora in Primošten (August 14). Moreover, this week was my debut on Sonus, where I opened the stage in Aquarius (August 20) with DJ Jock and Papaya on the final day, featuring NTO live, Vintage Culture, and Adam Beyer. In September, I have four weeks of corticosteroid therapy, so I hope to get the green light from the doctor for the planned performances.
What would you advise young DJs and collectives just starting their careers? How to break into the scene and how to charge Boogaloo?
I advise young DJs and collectives not to rush to the big stages right away. Instead, have them start in smaller spaces where it’s easier to create a more intimate atmosphere and build community. It is important to listen to the wishes of the audience about potential guests at your events. The audience is the one who pays for the tickets and for whom we do all this. The most important thing is to work with your heart and not give up on your ideas and desires. Persist in your vision and the universe will eventually reward you with its natural course.
After a successful summer season on the coast, Shipe’s fall gigs are still to be announced, but in most cases, you can catch him in his residential club, Boogaloo, spinning solid modern techno tracks with massive bass lines and unavoidable funky rhythm.
