Born into the glamorous world of Saint Tropez, in the South of France, Stephane has DJ’ed all over the world, including Paris, London, Ibiza and Bali. He first came to Dubai 12 years ago as a guest DJ and, after working between the UAE and France for a while, he then found a permanent residency as part of the opening team of Media One Hotel. After this, he rotated between playing at some of Dubai’s hottest venues, doing bi-weekly sets at Sho Cho, VIP Room, Zuma, and also appearing at W Doha and Bali, twice a month.
Next, after starting with the newly opened COYA Dubai as a guest DJ in 2014, the team quickly recognized that he was a natural fit for the brand. It wasn’t long before he was persuaded to swap his freelance lifestyle for a permanent role as COYA Global Music Director. Stephane was soon travelling the world with COYA to oversee new openings and activations, play at major events for the brand and also to recruit new DJs and bands. Until the pandemic hit, he’d spent the last few years flitting between London, Monte Carlo, Mykonos, Paris, Doha, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and also the pop-up activations in New York, Porto Cervo, Gstaad and Jeddah, all the while making sure that every branch was fitting with the COYA musical DNA that he had created.
Not only does COYA play a different type of music according to the time of day, but each event and activation has its own distinct feel. For instance, Stephane ensures that the brunch soundtrack is more uplifting, colourful and easy to listen to, and that the Ritual party sets (which haven’t been able to happen since the pandemic began), have a more underground feel with a focus on deep and tribal house. He also adjusts the soundtracks so that holiday destinations like Mykonos have a more upbeat feel compared to somewhere more relaxed like Abu Dhabi, and that those who are part of the Members Clubs in Dubai and London can enjoy extra perks such as music from incredible live bands.
After a few years of successfully developing and maintaining the Peruvian hangout’s distinct musical feel, Stephane then channeled his energies into creating a way for COYA fans to bring the unique vibe of the hotspot to their homes. He launched independent music label COYA Music in 2019, which today boasts its own personalised logo, monthly podcast featuring hour-long sets from resident COYA DJs across the globe (available for free on Soundcloud), and two Spotify playlists that are updated every month. One of these playlists has been crafted to be down-tempo, whilst the other is livelier, and designed to get people in the party mood.
Finally, for Stephane, the most exciting stage of his career came when he launched the music production part of the label. Setting themselves apart from other famous night spots who simply remix music by other artists, COYA has started producing its own specially curated tracks and selling them on Beatport. Seven successful EPs have already been released with two more on the way very soon. Featuring big-name DJs such as DJ Megablast and Valeron from Scorpios Mykonos, Stephane now hopes to use the Rituals events to recruit new talents to feature on the EPs. His long-term goal is to grow the label to the point of being able to host their own COYA Music Festival, or COYA Music pop-up parties.