The story of the DJ who started volleyball in Paris

Five Olympics, between summer and winter, have already been added by Tony Rojas (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 1975), the Canarian DJ who composes the original soundtrack of the beach volleyball tournament at the Paris 2024 Games, which began on Friday and continue until August 11.

Considered one of the best DJs in the world of sports, with experience events of the magnitude of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics or the Final 8 Basketball Champions League Athens 2020has a three-decade career behind him, from his roots in beach volleyball, as the creator of the system currently used in all world competitions of this disciplinethen made a leap to other sports disciplines such as football, basketball or beach handball among others, becoming a benchmark in the organization of large sporting events.

Tony Rojas became a refferent when it comes to music in major competitions, with “work” that constitutes the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, world championships of various disciplines, Formula 1 events, Pan American Games or marathons around the planet. Something that made him “full of pride” because they always remember him for this type of tournament, as he said in a conversation with Efe from the French capital.

A show that, he recalled, began in the archipelago: “The beach volleyball show was created by us in the Canary Islands in the early nineties and since then we have been exporting it all over the world.

In a short time, beach volleyball has not only become an Olympic sport, but also It has gained a mass of followers who compete head to head in athletics events in the most important quadrennial event in sport. Little by little, it is gaining followers thanks to a cocktail that mixes the adrenaline of the show discipline that surrounds it.

“We have achieved that in addition to the sport itself, music is a very important factor, I would say essential, for a discipline like this. And all this is mixed is related to beach volleyball with sun, beach, happy people and good atmospherehas made this sport one of the first in the world,” explained Rojas, glad to have contributed his part to make it happen.

And the Gran Canarian DJ, who debuted in the world of music at the beginning of the nineties when a nightclub on Las Canteras promenadecompares his work to that of a composer: he creates soundtracks to accompany his particular film, the game he sets.

“When there are leading moments, the music is too. When there are moments of uncertainty, the sound also gives that feeling… TWe need to have music in every momentfrom the moment the ball stops, so that people continue to be excited, dance, sing, move their feet,” he details.

Continuous preparation. To do this kind of shows, he does the previous work of “hours, hours and hours in front of a computer to listen, listen again and translate songs“. All this is with the aim of being aware of new trends in music, the traditional chords of each country and making sure that they do not have political messages or may offend some groups.

“During the year, I work all over the world, which helps me collect music from every country, and I am also always in touch with the sport. As the creator of this format, it’s easier for me because I’m always thinking about what else can be done, so when I get it at an event, it ends up being copied by others,” Tony Rojas said.

And thanks to that work, he remembered two anecdotes of that They drew his attention to his more than three decades of experience. One of them was in the handball world cup in Barcelona, ​​​​​​​​and the other in a test in the Maldives.

Naa Barcelona, an old man came up to him after the contest and asked him if he was in charge of the music, shocking Rojas, who thought he was going to say something bad to him for using Manolo Escobar and his “What Long live Spain!” But no, he told her that he had been attending sporting events for many years and wanted to congratulate him because that World Cup was the best he had been to thanks to its atmosphere.

On his part, in the archipelago of the Indian Ocean, a promoter whom everyone described as a serious one, who does not talk to anyone and always sends his men to take care of everyone, approached him, He knelt before him on the sand and thanked him for his musical work.: “He treated me like I was the son of the big boss, everyone was amazed to see him like that.”

Paris: a stunning setting and a desire. The stage where beach volleyball matches are played in these Olympics, the Torre stadium eiffel in the middle of the Champ de Mars (Field of Mars), it is undoubtedly one of the most spectacular Olympic events in the French capital, with mythical monument as a backdrop and in the heart of Paris.

“yeah the best location of all sports, and that’s why all the spotlights are on there. There were about 15,000 seats, it was outrageous,” said Rojas, who added that he was very impressed when he saw it live for the first time when he arrived in Paris.

Since he set foot in the French capital, he was “at full capacity, because you come and the framework is formed, but then you have to fill everything in.” And there is carried out the last few days to check if everything is fine to offer the best show possible.

Regarding what he expects from Paris 2024, Rojas is clear: “Being present in athletics or losing it (in terms of audience presence and spectacle), This will be a historic event for the sport of beach volleyball“.

And as for himself, he’s just hoping to clear it up.”quality made in the Canary Islands” in this tournament, and that he has a part of the responsibility for beach volleyball to be loved as he loves himself.