Written by Marko Jakob

Pix666: Hello Rene, thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions. You are a well known DJ on Malta. But as DJ Hades you also had a great gig this year at the Amphi Festival in Cologne/Germany. In November you will make people dance and sweat at the Schattenwelt Festival in Austria. For how long have you been a DJ and can you now envisage yourself spinning the discs at even more events abroad?

Renè: Welcome Guys. I’ve been djing over 20 years now. Yes playing at Amphi was a great experience and really looking for Schattenwelt. Yes hopefully in 2020 I’ll be playing more gigs abroad, infact already have some dates which we will announce begining of 2020.

Pix666: You are also co-owner of the alternative club ‘The Garage’ on Malta. What kind of events take place there?

Renè: At the Garage we host Alternative Music Events mainly Metal, Gothic and Industrial but this year we also had alternative 80’s, punk and other genres.

Pix666: But your biggest ‘baby’ is the Dark Malta Festival. It will take place for the third time next year. Were you satisfied with the first two Dark Malta Festivals? I can imagine that it is difficult to lure a band to a relatively distant island, but bringing a whole dozen bands to a festival is an impressive achievement. How have you managed that so far and where do you get these good connections from?

Renè: Yes Dark Malta is a dream coming true. The Gothic /Industrial Scene in Malta is quite small. This idea was born together with my fiancee Sabrina (Aleera de Lune) which with me is the other organizer of Dark Malta. It started with a one day festival last year and this year we doubled the bands and changed venue. Malta can be a great destination for a holiday and a gothic festival. The venue itself is spectacular and the island’s history and old towns make it a unique country. For most of the bands, they never imagined something similar would happen in Malta, and they all look forward to the festival. The connections started as many other promoters do, by email but today I’m happy to say that most of the bands and agents are good friends and it’s more easy to book the bands we desire. Also the festival is also now recocgnised all around Europe and this is also thanks to the artsists, media and people who attended and believed in us. In 2020 we will have 16 Live bands and 2 International DJ’s plus Shelly d’Inferno entertaining and official announcer of the Festival.

Pix666: What about the Gothic and Metal scene in Malta in general? How big is your ‘scene’ and what is the favourite scene-music on Malta?

Renè: The Gothic Scene in Malta is very small. The Metal Scene is stronger and we have Metal events all year round.

Pix666: Considering the size of the local scene you are of course also ‘dependent’ on foreign fans at a festival of the size of the Dark Malta Festival. Since I know that you have a degree in tourism, you will find it easy to attract fans from mainland Europe to your beautiful island. What awaits the fans next to the wonderful festival on Malta and how would you persuade people to go on holiday afterwards?

Renè: Even if small in size Malta vasts a very rich history. We have the oldest standing temples in the world (Even older then the pyramids and Stonehenge), and remains from all the biggest empires that conquered Europe all over the years. Because of the old history we have we also have our dark history too. Infact this year we will also be offering tours with an alternatie twist – A pirate tour (Malta has a rich history in piracy) and also a Ghost Tour. Our food is great and the wine and beer are fantastic. Montekristo Estate (The Venue of the Festival) is a beautiful venue and Malta combined with the festival is a great experience. Also the weather is awesome during that period. We are very happy that we have people that will be coming for the festival for their 3rd time. Also as last year we have partnered with a Hotel (more information on our event page) for preferred rates for all the people that will visit Dark Malta 2020.

Pix666 says thank you and wishes you every success for the future. See you at Dark Malta 2020!

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