OPTIMO (ESPACIO)
Optimo (Espacio) was founded by JD Twitch and JG Wilkes who in a partnership forged over 28 years, have become globally renowned for their memorable and ecstatic deejay sets - exhibiting a unique disregard for genres and musical restrictions within their craft. Optimo strikes out into territories far beyond the accepted boundaries of club music.
The duo were responsible for the weekly Glasgow party "Optimo (Espacio)" which ran from November 1997 until April 2010. Optimo sat at the very epicentre of the Scottish Clubbing consciousness in its weekly residency in the Sub Club and is widely regarded as one of the most important and ground-breaking clubs of the past two decades (at one point earning them the prestigious title of Mixmag “Club of the Year”).
Optimo first came to international recognition with the release of How to Kill The Dj (part 2) in 2004. This mix, and the critical acclaim that followed, would catapult the duo onto the international touring circuit. The next few years would see them travel across the world taking the Optimo party aesthetic to over 50 countries across Europe, North & South America, Africa, Australia & Asia.
Subsequent mix releases illustrated their exceptional maverick determination, raising the benchmark for what is expected from a DJ mix and what musical ingredients could be used to create it. These titles include - Psyche-Out (Eskimo Recordings), 20 Years Underground (Soma), Walkabout (Endless Flight), In Order To Edit (R&S), Sleepwalk (Domino Recordings) and culminated with a tour-de-force mix for the Fabric Series with Fabric 52 – Optimo (Espacio).
Their mixes and live DJ sets underline Optimo’s reputation as taste-makers, achieved through an enduring passion for seeking out music from the past and present to create a club or festival experience that is definitively futuristic in spirit.
Optimo (Now, JG Wilkes) tours extensively in Europe, UK, North & South America and worldwide. Optimo currently holds residencies at Phonox (London), Nitsa (Apollo) Barcelona as well as at home in Glasgow, at Berkeley Suite.
Further opportunities to hear the Optimo sound can be found on the highly respected NTS Live where Optimo take to the internet radio waves monthly, providing a topical and up to the minute glimpse into the head-messing Optimo universe. In 2022 they created Watching Trees Festival along with their allies at Ransom Note. The small festival was nominated by DJ Magazine as ‘best boutique festival’that year. Optimo (Espacio) remains active in its local Glasgow community raising awareness and funds for local foodbanks, refugee and anti-racist organisations. So far they have raised over a quarter of a million pounds for various organisations in Glasgow, and beyond.
The final essential ingredient to the Optimo success is of course the people. Each Optimo set is different, teased out of the dynamics of a singular group of people - whether it be a tiny basement sweat-box, the main room of a super club, the main stage of a festival or a thousand people in a field. Everything springs from the spirit of the gathering and the rhythm of the moment. It is the unique enthusiasm of each crowd, where ever Optimo goes , that gives inspiration – and feeds the joy in what Optimo has become. “We Love Your Ears!”