José Padilla
Ibiza DJ who pioneered soothing ‘chill-out’ dance music
JOSÉ PADILLA, who has died aged 64, was the resident disc jockey at the Café del Mar bar and nightclub on Ibiza in its heyday in the 1990s and was credited with popularising the more tranquil form of electronic dance music known as “chill-out”; the eponymous albums which he compiled for the club have sold more than 5 million copies worldwide.
Having quarrelled with his parents, Padilla arrived on the island in 1975, as Franco’s grip on Spain and the mores of its younger generations began to loosen. He worked as a waiter and builder before becoming a DJ at the Es Paradis in San Antonio on Ibiza’s western coast.
When he began deejaying in the late 1970s there were few contemporary international dance records available to buy. As his hours were from 10pm until 6am, this meant he had the freedom to play long sets which drew on a wide variety of sounds.
After a spell at the Manhattan club, Padilla opened his own bar in 1986 at Cala Vadella. But his failed when his business partner shot himself dead on the premises, leaving Padilla with the debts.
These he began to clear by selling compilations on cassette – mixtapes – of the sets he played in the local marketplace. Proving much sought-after, they featured quirky selections perhaps unexpected on the dance floor, such as the folk-influenced John Martyn or the harmonium of the Penguin Café Orchestra.
What became known as chill-out or ambient music is said to have begun in the late 1980s at Heaven nightclub in London in a room set aside for clubbers to relax in a less fervid atmosphere. The music played had a slower beat and was often instrumental.
When it migrated to Ibiza in the early 1990s, as the prevalence of ecstasy and cheap air travel fuelled the island’s rise as the clubber’s nirvana, it began to draw on Hispanic sources such as bossa nova and flamenco.
In 1991 Padilla took up residency at Café del Mar. Going there to hear his set, which usually coincided with one of San Antonio’s celebrated sunsets, became a rite for many hedonistic young holidaymakers.
His popularity with British clubbers encouraged Padilla to approach the major record labels in London, but they turned him down. In 1994 a small label, React, issued the first Café del Mar anthology. It sold 8,000 copies; the fifth, 500,000.
Padilla subsequently did a deal with Universal and his “Best of ” compilation in 2003 would sell more than 1 million copies. He himself thought the quintessential track of the era was Moments in Love by The Art of Noise, originally recorded in the early 1980s.
José Maria Padilla Requena was born in Girona on December 4 1955. He grew up at first in Perpignan in France, where his father was a farm manager, and later in Barcelona, listening to bands such as Genesis.
After making half a dozen compilations for Café del Mar – the series now stretches to 25 – the “Emperor of Chill” released an LP of his own, Souvenir (1998). A second, Navigator (2001), was nominated for a Latin Grammy.
By then, however, his relationship with Café del Mar had become troubled, while that with React led to legal problems. He continued to perform at other clubs and to release LPS, but in 2015 retired because of ill health.
In July, Padilla announced that he had colon cancer and appealed for money as the coronavirus crisis had left him without work and unable to pay his rent. More than 36,000 euros were donated to his online fundraising page.
José Padilla, born December 4 1955, died October 18 2020