We all know the feeling: that bittersweet wave of golden memories, a sudden rush of nostalgia and unforgotten moments. It might sting a little, but it always brings back that comforting sense of warmth. Chus & Ceballos bring that energy straight to the dancefloor with “Closer To You” — a great new version of Toni Rios’ 2018 track feat. Niveska. “Sometimes you hear a melody, and suddenly you are back in a particular place, with particular people, remembering exactly how you felt.”
After five years apart, Chus & Ceballos reunited in 2026 and started a new chapter together. With almost three decades of history behind them, the Spanish duo have created their own sound over the years and are now back on the road and in the studio together. “Closer To You” also marks the 50th release of AXEPT.
And somehow, the whole idea of nostalgia also follows them beyond music. When they were recently in Tokyo, they went back to a place where they had put up a sticker 18 years ago. And it was still there. I loved that little story so much — maybe because in a world where everything seems to change so fast, it feels special when something small from another time is still there.
In our interview we talk about the new release, coming back together, getting older in nightlife, what success means to them today, and of course that little piece of the past they unexpectedly found again in Tokyo.
Photos courtesy of the artists
First of all, how are you both doing right now — where are you answering these questions from? (smiles)
Chus: I’m fine, thank you. Right now, I’m in Madrid, sitting at my computer in my studio, ready to answer these questions with a cup of tea!
Pablo: I just got back home to Costa Rica from the Asian tour. It was great! I’m tired and jet-lagged, but very happy with how it went. The whole Reunion Tour has been an amazing experience so far (smiles)
After five years apart, what feels different now that you are in the studio together?
Chus: What feels different is that we don’t need to force anything. After so many years working together, our musical language never really disappeared. The five years apart gave us both time to grow individually, to explore different directions, and to understand what we really wanted from music. Coming back together, there is a new level of maturity and freedom. We can challenge each other again, but we also trust the process more deeply.
Pablo: Experience is one of the most important skills in music production. After that time apart, it was great to feel that we had both matured, personally and professionally, and that shows in the new music. We argue less about details and agree faster on what a track needs. We both know when something is working, and we trust each other’s instinct. There’s also a sense that, coming back after this long pause, we owe something to our audience, so we’re putting everything into tracks that feel true and special to us.
“Closer To You” already has a history of its own. Why did this feel like the right moment to give it a new life?
Chus: Closer To You has always had a special place in our hearts. When we proposed to Toni Rios to work on it, we didn’t want to recreate something from the past. We wanted to look at it from where we are today. After our reunion, it felt almost natural to revisit tracks that carry so much emotion and transform them with the experience and perspective we have gained over the years.
Pablo: We always loved the original version! To us, it has always sounded timeless and classic. It just felt like the right moment to give it a fresh approach, so we built a completely new track around it. In this era of fast media consumption, we wanted to make something that could stand the test of time, with the right balance of groove, drive, and soul.
The new version still carries that feeling of nostalgia so beautifully. What does that feeling mean to you personally?
Chus: For us, nostalgia isn’t about wanting to go backward. It is about recognizing where you came from and understanding how those experiences shaped who you are today. Music has an incredible ability to preserve emotions. Sometimes you hear a melody, and suddenly you are back in a particular place, with particular people, remembering exactly how you felt. We think Closer To You carries that kind of emotional memory.
Pablo: A good DJ set should be a musical journey through different feelings, and nostalgia is one you can’t leave out. It connects with the crowd in an intimate way. For me personally, this vocal belongs to a time when music was pure emotion, when a record could change the whole night, and you would go home still humming the melody. That’s the feeling that made me fall in love with this song in the first place, and bringing it back after all these years, with Chus by my side again, is like reconnecting with that younger version of myself. Sometimes it’s hard to put into words why a track touches you, but this one definitely does.
Was there a moment during the rework when you felt, “Yes, now it has become something new”?
Chus: Absolutely. There is always a moment in the studio when you stop analyzing and listen. With this track, it happened when the new groove and piano riff I programmed matched the synth melody and the atmosphere Pablo brought; it finally locked together. We realized that we were no longer trying to recreate the original feeling — we were having a new conversation with it. That was the moment we knew the track had found its new identity.
Pablo: Honestly, from the first moment we started working on it, it already felt like something new. Every element — the bass, the melody, and the drums — is a completely new approach, but the soul of the track is still in that vocal hook. I think the real moment was the first time we dropped the vocal on top of the new groove. It just sat there perfectly, as it had always belonged to that bass line. That’s when we looked at each other and knew we had something: a track that respects where it comes from but lives completely in the present.
“Our journey is made not only of records and performances, but also of these tiny human moments that somehow survive.”
This release also marks AXEPT’s 50th release. Does being part of such a milestone change the way you look at the track?
Chus: Definitely, fifty releases is a beautiful milestone, especially for a label with such a clear identity. Yulia is one of our biggest supporters; we have great respect for what she has built with AXEPT. As an artist, she is one of a kind! And being part of this chapter makes the release even more meaningful. Ultimately, the music has to stand on its own, and we are confident we’ve found the right home for this project, grateful for the love and support that Yulia gave us since day one!
Pablo: Yulia Niko has done an amazing job with the label; she’s been a powerhouse in the scene. Being part of the 50th release is an honor, and it does add a sense of responsibility; you want the track to live up to the milestone. Congratulations to the whole AXEPT team.
In general, what does success mean to you today?
Chus: Success has changed enormously for us. When we were younger, success was closely tied to achievements — records, clubs, charts, traveling, recognition. Today, it is much more about having the freedom to make the music we believe in, staying relevant without losing our identity, and still being able to share a dancefloor after so many years. And perhaps most importantly, being able to look at each other after a set and still feel that we did something real.
Pablo: When it comes to music production, I think success is putting 100% of yourself into a piece and being truthful with it. Regardless of external validation, or even whether it gets released commercially, that’s already a success for me. As a DJ, the crowd can only feel your music if you feel it first. Everything starts with you being happy with it. This track definitely carries that feeling.
After such a long career, what still excites you enough to make you lose track of time in the studio?
Chus: The possibility of discovering something we haven’t heard before or being able to reinterpret a classic masterpiece — that is still the magic. It can be a drum pattern, a strange sound, a melody, or simply the way two elements suddenly work together. You can have almost forty years of experience and still find yourself completely obsessed with a sound at four in the morning. That is when you know the passion is still alive.
Pablo: That magical moment in the creative process when you’re adding layers, and you feel the elements working together, saying what you want to express, is one of the best feelings as a producer. It’s a happy place. I remember that same feeling as a teenager, writing my first pieces of music, and I don’t think it has changed at all over the years of my career.
“Being closer means dropping all the masks, judgments, and preconceptions about a person and connecting with them in a pure way, on a deep level.”
How has getting older changed the way you experience nightlife and music?
Chus: We appreciate it differently. When you are a new kid on the block, you often experience nightlife from the inside — you want to be everywhere, play everything, experience everything. With time, you become much more selective. We listen more deeply, we appreciate the small details, the journey, the energy of a room, the people, the sound system, the atmosphere, the hospitality. We also understand that a great night is not necessarily about how many hours you play or how big the room is. Sometimes one particular moment on a dancefloor can stay with you forever.
Pablo: It’s funny, because when we started, the scene was still new and nobody knew what would happen to DJs as they got older. Most of the successful DJs in the late ’90s and early 2000s were young guys. Would they still be relevant decades later? Would the crowd move on to younger DJs? Those were the questions, and time has given a firm answer: experience is one of the most important parts of being a DJ. The older you get, the better you become. More musical background, more stories to tell, and more experience reading a dance floor and taking people on a journey.
I saw on Instagram that you were recently back in Tokyo and visited a place where you put up a sticker 18 years ago — and it was still there. Amazing! In a world where things disappear and change so quickly, that must have been quite a special moment. What went through your mind when you saw it again?
Chus: Honestly, we couldn’t believe it. Eighteen years is a long time, and Tokyo has changed so much, as has the world around it. Seeing that little sticker still there felt like finding a message from our younger selves. It made us think about how many people, places, and moments have passed through our lives because of music. You leave something behind without knowing whether anybody will remember it, and suddenly, almost two decades later, there it is. It was a very emotional reminder that our journey is made not only of records and performances, but also of these tiny human moments that somehow survive.
Pablo: I honestly didn’t expect it to still be there, I had to look twice. Two things came to mind. First, the respect Japanese culture has for everything. The fact that a sticker survived there for 18 years says a lot about the beauty of that society. And second, the recognition of longevity. In a world of fast consumption, where trends come and go so quickly, still being there after all these years is something beautiful.
And finally, what does being “closer” to someone mean to you? (smiles)
Chus: It means understanding each other without needing too many words. Trust, connection, honesty, and knowing that you can share both the beautiful moments and the difficult ones.
After five years apart, perhaps we understand that more than ever.
And yes… sometimes being Closer To You is simply about finding your way back to the people who have always been part of your story. (smiles)
Pablo: Being closer means dropping all the masks, judgments, and preconceptions about a person and connecting with them in a pure way, on a deep level. We humans are made to do things together, to create as a team, and getting closer is so necessary in these days of digital, not real, connections. Something gets lost when the connection isn’t physical, when you’re not looking each other in the eyes. Let’s get back to getting closer. (smiles)
