The Sunset that Created the “Chill-Out”
“I remember the first time I heard the famous Cafe del Mar mix, it was around 07’ and I felt the sunset in the music. It was a mind blowing moment because it showed me the genre ‘Chill Out’ for the first time, it gave me a warm and nostalgic feeling”
The place commercially took advantage of a simple idea: Enjoying the sunsets of Caló Des Moro Bay while listening to good music and having a drink.
It is impossible to talk about Ibiza’s Cafe del Mar musical history without mentioning José Padilla. Arriving on the island in the mid 1970s to work as a DJ, he became a true master of the ambient art form, captivating successive generations of clubbers with his epic and emotive sundown DJ sets.
Born in 1955 in Girona, Catalonia, but he grew up in between France and Barcelona. His childhood was in the south of France, Perpignan.
Escaping from the past, Jose came to Ibiza in the early 70’s looking for something new, looking for freedom like many people at the time. There he consolidated a DJ career that had started in Barcelona and in modern Lloret de Mar.
His first job as a DJ in ibiza was in a hotel called Bergantin around 1976 and in the late 70’s, and he had the chance to play in Es Paradis, Manhattan o Nightlife until the late 80’s.
Because of the many hours of some sets, Jose had to play with what he had, you couldn’t only specialize in techno or deep house. To make the sessions happen, he had to play different tracks and the selection was very wide and amazingly cohesive.
But in the early 90’s, he started to sell tapes at the Las Dalias market, doing the tapes by himself, at home with reggae, soul, and many different styles. He made 20 or 30 of them with a nice cover from a painter friend of his and the first day he sold all of them.
He was approached by the owners of Cafe del Mar, Pepe, Ramon and Carlos, he started to DJ there in the early 90’s and countinued to sell tapes. Selling 100 tapes a day.
In 1992 he made official his recompilations tapes with React Music and by 1994 he officially released his first album under the name “Cafe Del Mar: Volumen Uno” which sold 8,000, the second one 30,000. The fith one sold half a million. The Best of Café Del Mar did over a million.
Padilla was Cafe del Mar. During the golden era, its CD’s were on sale in all airports and record stores in the world. He has been the Julio Iglesias of chill out.
José was the inventor of a genre that influenced millions of people and music professionals, each DJ does their part with his style, and he did it in a big way. He has been a world reference. His work is respected because he created a unique genre at sunset.
From that first Café del Mar compilation came the fever of compilations, lounge and chill out.
But the selection of Jose in Cafe del Mar was more ambient and calm Balearic, a delicious soundtrack for the sunset. He really didn’t know then, but he created a new musical genre and the music industry welcomed it with open arms.
We thank you Jose Padilla, the DJ who put music to the sunset.
The dichotomy of Ruido.
A moment in the present.
Indulge in the music of culture.
A moment in the present.
Indulge in the music of culture.