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José Padilla.
Aus: Ibiza / ESP
Move's on: Defected.
Biographie: Each summer, a new raft of dance compilations stake claim to represent ‘the real Ibiza’. But, if anyone deserves that that accolade, it is José Padilla, who first arrived on the White Island in 1975 and who has been DJling there ever since. With the ‘Café del Mar’ series he is the spiritual father of Chill-out, a title that’ll be reaffirmed with the re-releases of the first three volumes this summer.
José’s celebrated ‘Café del Mar’ compilation series introduced eccentric English pastoral groups like Penguin Café Orchestra, maverick singer-songwriters like John Martyn, flamenco and bossa nova into a seamless sonic canvas of more modern ambient, dub and breaks. Madonna herself confessed to the renowned music magazine ‘Billboard’ that any of Café del Mar volumes mixed by José Padilla would be her choice of the perfect soundtrack to take to a desert island. In fact she is such a big fan that she signed Jose’s 2nd album to her Maverick label for release in the USA.
With his debut album ‘Souvenir’ and solo tracks like ‘One day in Paradise’ and ‘Agua’ he took those twilight chill-out tones a stage further. His follow-up album ‘Navigator’ represented a new creative peak and sold all over the world after being launched in an exquisite party at the Winter Music Conference 2002 in front of a VIP audience. Jose was nominated for the Latin Grammys in the ‘Best instrumental’ category and Billboard magazine commented ‘Spaniard José Padilla… has shaped a legend across much of the world as a maestro of chill-out/ ambient music.’ A special edition of Navigator was also released featuring remixes by some of the most important and respected artists of the electronic music scene like : Paul Daley of Leftfield, Alex Neri, a.k.a., Planet Funk, Francesco Farfa, Bent …
“It has to have something that I really feel, something emotional, a message in it,” explains José. “When you see a painting, if it’s a good painting, it sends you a message. It doesn’t have to be a Picasso. My music is the same.”
Now 53, José Padilla grew up the son of a construction worker, in a poor Southern Spanish family who had moved to Gerona, outside Barcelona. The teenage José and his friends used to bus it into Barcelona to go clubbing and soon José got a job as a waiter in the city’s bohemian centre, where he first fell in love with the simplicity and sophistication of bossa nova. He also fell in love with the idea of becoming a DJ and would hang around the DJ booth until whoever was on the deck would give him a chance take a few glorious minutes in charge. But it wasn’t enough to stave off a deeper dissatisfaction, ‘When you grow up in a barrio, a ghetto, like I did, there’s nothing to do. You sit all day in the park smoking joints, talking about your dreams.’ says José. His family wanted him to be an accountant, work in an office, wear a suit. ‘I didn’t want to be what they wanted me to be. I was a bit of rebel, I was always a dreamer. I knew I had to get out of that, go somewhere, so I did.’
José headed for Barcelona harbour and took the first boat out. It happened to be sailing to Ibiza. ‘I was escaping from many things,’ he says now,“I think I was escaping from myself.” Over the next 25 years, José established himself on the island, starting as a waiter, ending up in the high-profile position he holds today. He DJed in a hotel for tourists and in clubs like Es Paradis, Playboy 2, Privilege (then called Ku) Pacha and Space. ‘The crowd was fantastic. People would dance to anything.’ he says. ‘More communication, without so much chemicals. More wild, more spiritual.’ He built a bar called Museum in Cala Vadella, and developed his unique DJling style in his lush garden. He also had a stall in Ibiza’s famous hippie market where he sold his idiosyncratic mix tapes. In 1991, when Café del Mar realized how well those same mix tapes were going down with their clientele, they brought José in to DJ and the rest, as they say, is history.
‘Everything kicked off. It was the right moment, the right place, the right music,’ remembers José.
At Café del Mar, Jose Dj’d not to people sprawled out watching the view, but to the sunset itself. “That came naturally, You’ve got this big mother-fucking thing in front of you: King Ra. I paced my set around sunset time. It was great to experience different music and play around the colours. If it was grey, I’d play one way, if it was very bright, I’d play happy. I’d play with the mood.”
Those sunsets have become legendary – an essential part of the Ibiza experience, climaxing in warm applause as the sun finally disappears beneath the waves, and those famous mix tapes evolved into the much-loved Café del Mar compilation albums, conceived and compiled by José Padilla, which have now sold over 5 million copies around the world.
As well as his solo albums, in recent years he’s compiled the well-received Cafe Solo series and the beautiful Bella Musica CDs, with Volume 4 due for release this summer. Bella Musica is also the name of Jose’s new radio show which he hosts on Ibiza Sonica and is listened to worldwide on www.ibizasonica.com, Tuesdays at 1700 CET, and Sundays at 1600 CET.
New projects for 2009 include a special release for Ibiza’s other legendary sunset bar Cafe Mambo, which will celebrate it’s 15th anniversary this year with a CD compiled by Jose, plus work is underway on the next Padilla solo album.
He has gone from a poor barrio in Northern Spain, to a jet-set DJ lifestyle; guesting in London, Paris, Monte-Carlo, Amsterdam, Miami, Italy, Moscow, Australia… and serving as a musical ambassador for the island.
All Jose’s albums sound as great now as the day they were released, and new fans are still discovering the beauty of Jose Padilla’s exquisite taste as he continues to search out the finest music from around the world..
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