8 Djs Tell Us About Their Very First Trip To Ibiza

The stories of some DJ about their first trip to Ibiza...

Sven Väth

"In 1980, I was 16 and I hitchhiked from Frankfurt to Barcelona. I tossed a coin to decide whether I'd stay in Barcelona or go to Ibiza. The coin flip sent me to Ibiza. I suppose the following three months fashioned the rest of my life.

Clubs without roofs, music I had not heard before from people like Pippi, Cesar and Alfredo, and a vibrant sense of colour, life, warmth and freedom everywhere I looked. It was the closest I ever came to becoming a fully paid-up hippy! For the next three months I slept in the pine forests on a deckchair I had liberated. I was inspired and in love with the place and the people."

Carl Cox

"The first time I went to Ibiza was in 1985. When my girlfriend at the time and my sister Pamela got to the island we got enough cash together to buy a Fiat Panda. It was very basic: no air-con, no tinted windows, nothing. But it did have a seat that turned into a bed! We took a dirt road from the airport to San Antonio – it was the first time I'd ever driven on the wrong side of the road. For the first two days my sister, my girlfriend and I slept in the car park opposite Eden, beside Es Paradis. The nights were cool, but when the sun came up the Fiat turned into a green-house! It was ridiculous, I couldn't even be with my girlfriend because my sister was with us in the car. So we scraped the last of our cash together and booked into a hostel in the West End above a karaoke pub. It was noisy, chaotic and nasty, but it was a luxury compared to the car!"

Andy Cato

"The first trip to Ibiza was done in a post office van. We'd shaken hands on a offer to do a residency playing live at Amnesia, but soon after getting off the ferry we realised the promoters weren't around. There was no residency; no money, credit cards or mobiles, either. We spent a couple of weeks in the garden of an Ostrich farmer making mixtapes in his caravan to try and get work. Then Interpol turned up, because it turned out there was more money being made from acid than ostriches. The only food option was bypassing the tills of supermarkets. Wandering the beaches, we found a friend of a distant friend. He gave us the diesel money to drive home. He wanted to be a DJ and so as a thank you, I said I'd do a few tunes for him back in London in whatever style he was into. Which is how I ended up doing some tracks under the name Qattara, and how, after shedding real tears at the Calais ferry terminal, we finally got back to Brixton."

Steve Lawler

"I can't remember if it was my first summer, but it was a good few years ago now, and we were at my villa one morning after a night out at Space. I had a bunch of friends over – Peace Division's Clive Henry and the crew, and Rocky from X-Press 2. I was outside chatting to Clive; Rocky was inside talking to friends of ours. All of a sudden, I heard a huge bang and turned around to see Rocky lying on the floor looking shocked – figuratively. Because my villa is Ibizan, the electrics are typically Ibizan! There was a wire sticking out of a socket, just oozing with electricity, and Rocky had leant on it. I remember thinking, 'Please, I can't be responsible for killing half of X-Press-2!'

It's a story we can all laugh about now, but at the time, Jesus, it was scary!"

Eddie Halliwell

"My first time on the island was for a gig. When I landed I had to head straight for an interview with Channel 4, so I had to remain disciplined and keep my sensible head on, which was very difficult as I was there with a couple of pals who were raring to go! At the end of the gig, little did I know the night had just begun. I remember getting bundled into the boot of Adam 'Trophy Twin' Ramsden's car – I was the smallest, so drew the short straw – and we headed off to DC10 singing along to Wham's 'Club Tropicana'. When we first stepped into the club I remember seeing 200 or so of the most weird and wonderful characters I have ever come across. My advice to anyone going to Ibiza for the first time is to keep plenty of energy stored in your tank, as you never know what's round the corner!"

Jamie Jones

"Being the only black kid in my village growing up in Wales, I fancied myself as a dancer. Until my first trip to Ibiza in 1997, my only competition had been drunk farmers. On my first night out in San Antonio, we went to Chaos — later Eden, and now Gatecrasher. They had podiums that people could take turns dancing on. Earlier that night we had indulged in a deal of 'buy four beers, get a free bottle of peach schnapps', so I was more than ready to show off my moves. I climbed up, in my shiny shoes and velvet shirt, and pulled my best 90s dance moves hoping to see someone in the crowd checking me out. Sadly, no-one was watching – and that was the end of my Ibiza podium dancing career!"

Nic Fanciulli

"The first time I went to Ibiza was in 1995 – almost twenty years ago! A large group of us from my home town of Maidstone had heard about Ibiza, and so we were all really keen to go. We set about booking the holiday through a British tour company who specialised in clubbing trips abroad for young people, but at the time I was only 16, so we had a bit of convincing to do at the travel agent's. In the end, my friends had to sign a consent form for me, saying that I was essentially under their supervision – not the best start to any trip, especially Ibiza. Of course, they reminded me about it every single day while we were away!"

Fatboy Slim

"My green period in Ibiza was my first exposure to Manumission. I thought I liked to party, but then we managed to find another level somewhere at the Carry On parties at Space. I remember leaving my record box somewhere – I didn't think I needed it any more. The concept of taking things home had vanished. Johnny Golden was involved… JOn Carter… a moped in Space car park… and I ended up face down in Bora Bora. I remember thinking: 'I'm playing with the big boys here, I'm out of my league'. Bless her, Sonique returned my records two days later."