JOSE PADILLA
June 15th, 2006 by rui
Jose Padilla was born in southern Spain but grew up in a poor barrio in Gerona, near Barcelona. His grandfather played guitar and music was always in his veins “Southern Spanish people are very musical, singing all the time” he says. As a teenager Jose and his friends used to take a bus to Barcelona where Jose found work as a waiter in a bar that played bossa nova music and Jose used to assist the DJ by covering for him during breaks. Realising that the DJ was not about to let him get involved Jose took a trip to Barcelona harbour one evening where he took the first boat out which just happened to be going to Ibiza and spent the next 25 years establishing the reputation he holds today.
He built a bar called Museum in Cala Vadella and developed his unique DJ style playing in its lush garden which led to bookings in Pacha, Space, Es Paradis and Ku (now Privilege) as well as tourist hotels! Jose says back in the day “The crowd was fantastic. People would dance to anything. More communication without so many chemicals”. But when his Museum partner and friend shot himself the tragedy threw Jose off course and he now readily admits “Two or three years were actually lost”. However it was at this time that he sold his infamous idiosyncratic mix tapes in Ibiza’s famous hippie market, their popularity leading to his Café Del Mar residency. In the early days he used to serve drinks between mixes although this was ceased by the time he performed the Essential Mix on Radio 1’s first Ibiza week in 1995! Since then Jose has become an in-demand international DJ dropping his blissful science in most of the World’s key venues.
