Ah Ibiza, it is a mystical little island filled with both charming free-spirited love and blackout drunken stupor. When combined these can form unforgettable magic. Everyone remembers his or her first experience on the White Isle, but often times it is not their most memorable, as that experience serves as just a taste of what the island has to offer. No one knows this better than some of the DJs here on the island who have spent a countless number of seasons absorbing Ibiza and all of its mystical energy.
Resistance, Ultra Music Festival's proper techno and house extension, has made its debut on the island this year, establishing its presence and contributing to some of that White Isle spirit. While Resistance may be the new kid on the block this season, its lineup is stacked with a number of Ibiza veterans who have seen and experienced it all. With a myriad of memories logged into their personal histories, we asked some of these DJs to relate their wildest Ibiza story.
Victor Calderone
"One of my craziest Ibiza moments that comes to mind is when I played with Richie Hawtin at ENTER. As usual, there were many after parties that followed. I had a flight to catch that day for my next gig and I kept saying I absolutely could not miss it as we went from party to party on the island. Everyone would just look at me and laugh.
Magically, I did make it to the airport, crispy and exhausted. I finally make it to my gate and it was packed with people waiting to board. I sat down and the next thing I remember is a woman shaking me and saying 'Señor Calderone - Señor Calderone!!' I jump up and look around not knowing where I am and the airport is completely empty. She begins to tell me that I missed my flight. I start to beg and plead for her to get me on but she tells me the gate is closed and the plane is not even at the gate.
I was relentless in pleading to her and finally convinced her to make a call. The next thing I remember is her pulling me by the hand, rushing me down a corridor leading to a back set of stairs. As we get down and out of this baggage dock, a car skids up right in front of us. It felt like a scene out of a movie. She pushed me in the car and it rushed off toward the runway to my waiting plane. As we arrived, they were reinstalling the mobile stairs in order for me to board the plane.
Only in Ibiza!! The magical Ibiza gods were with me that day."
Fabio Florido
“Loving this question! I have many wild memories after so many adventures on the island but... for the wildest of all I have to jump back to my first season in 2011. I was at one Cocoon after party in Es Cavallet with my girlfriend having loads of fun from the previous night. Around midnight we decided to walk back to Playa d'en Bossa because the night was so beautiful. I remember there was a full moon. That was a silly decision as the distance is about 4km and there are no lights at all for the first part! After some time walking and talking, within a second, my girlfriend fell inside the turbid water of the Salinas saltworks. Panic. I couldn't see her but I could hear her screams. I then put myself in the water trying to stay with half body on the grass. Finally, I reached her and got her back on the grass! Our smell was something between rotten fish and sulphur. We both lost our shoes and not even one taxi picked us up as we were completely wet and stinking. We walked for another 2km probably laughing loudly for what happened until a friend finally took us home. Definitely my wildest Ibiza memory!!”
Anja Schneider
“The good thing about the wildest memory is that you can't remember! That's the best thing and was probably the best party. The vibe of this will stay, but the details are not important.”
Hector
"At the time I was still a relatively young blood in Ibiza, and the events that led up to my wildest memory were totally surreal for me. It was probably 2003/2004. My friend Tim (now Dubfire's tour manager) was a driver at the time, and he asked me to keep him company on a pickup and drop off for Felix Da Housecat.
We drove all the way up to the north to this really interesting and crazy looking hotel. It felt like it was in the middle of the jungle or something, I was thinking 'Where the hell are we?!'
Felix gets in the car and we start driving along. He's passing around this bottle of vodka chugging away, and he suddenly says to Tim, 'Hey, can you do me a favour? I need to pass by a friend's house on the way to pick him up. I can't tell you who it is, but you have to be very quiet when we arrive. Don't make any noise, ok?'
It was all so mysterious, I remember feeling a little nervous but also excited. We got to this incredibly high-security villa where we got searched head to toe, and I remember thinking 'Who the hell's house are we in?!?'
All of a sudden we hear 'WHATS UP MOTHERFUCKERS?!', and Puffy Daddy appears.
He turns to me like - 'hey man what's your name? And where are you from Hector?',
'I'm from Mexico'
'Ohhhh, you're from Mexico? I have something for you'
He goes into his cabinet and pulls out a bottle of Tequila
'I paid $500 for this, you can have it'
So were all chilling and drinking in the villa. Tim and I just sat there frozen thinking how fucking surreal is this situation: I'm chilling at Puff Daddy's house drinking his $500 tequila that he gave me as a gift.
Then, all of a sudden world famous producer Jaques Lu Conte walks out of their studio. This guy is famous for working with everyone from Madonna to New Order, Missy Elliiot, Seal and more.
At this point I'm just thinking 'Woah, what else?!'
Eventually, we start getting ready to leave the villa and Puffy turns to me -'Hey Hector, grab all the bottles and put them in a bag; we're taking them to the club. Just make sure they get into the club, ok?'
I'm sweating thinking how the hell am I going to get all these bottles into Space!?
We finally get to the doors of Space, and everyone starts going crazy. This is the first time Puff Daddy had shown his face to a club in Ibiza, not like now where he is at DC10 all the time, so everyone was just in complete shock. I scuttle in after the guys like 'I'm with them, I'm with them' bottles clinking away in my bag and somehow I manage to get them through security. Now this is where the real pandemonium starts…….
'WHAT'S UP MOTHERFUCKERS?!' I look up, and Puffy is standing directly on the decks shouting down the mic to the crowd. I have never seen a club turn on its head like that before. The promoters were going crazy because it was pure chaos and he is standing on the clubs turntables.
I'm still standing there with this bag full of bottles and Puffy looks over 'Hey, Hector, come up!' All my friends are like “He knows you?!”
I was along for the ride, the ride that was meant to be picking Felix Da Housecat up and taking him to Space! My wildest Ibiza memory was the first time P.Diddy (Puff Daddy at the time) came to Ibiza and caused pandemonium at ‘We Love Space' Sundays during Felix Da Housecat's set.
You can attend Resistance on Tuesdays at Privilege. There are only two shows left so make sure to catch one if you have not already! Full details below.
