Ibiza 2008: Pacha People

Ibiza 2008: Pacha People

25 June, 2008 | 7.46AM

• Section: Music News Topics: Ibiza
• Written by: The Last Real DJ Alive

Couldn’t make it to Defected In The House at Pacha in Ibiza last night?

Well, here are seven people you would have met if you did…

NAME: Shovel

OCCUPATION: Percussionist

AGE: Ageless

”I’m in Ibiza playing at Defected in the House at Pacha every Tuesday and I play percussion. In this scenario - in clubs - I could take the whole kit but it would take an hour to set up and it would be ridiculous, so I bring two congas, a set of bongos (for those that don’t know congas are the big, big drums, bongos are the small ones), timbale (which you play with sticks), cymbals and a couple of bells.

Tonight the DJs are Sandy Riviera and Quentin Harris and I’ll play over the top of them, fit in nicely and underline them. I’ve been very fortunate. I’ve been doing this professionally for 20 years now.

I used to play in 1988 with Danny Rampling and I was in M-People for 10 years. It’s my 20th anniversary performing today.

I originally come from South East London and I live in North London now, and my heritage is half Jamaican.

Brother - I love it, you know? I love playing drums. I LOVE it. It’s the African motherland calling people, man! It’s tribal!

The beats the guys are going to be playing tonight will be fantastic. It’s going to be exciting. Uplifting. I’m going to get the crowd vibing like mad people. It’s elevating. It takes me to another place and we all get there together. It’s like a musical orgasm!”

NAME: Mark

OCCUPATION: Pacha talent booker

AGE: 33

”I do all the events, book talent and promote Pacha in Ibiza and on our world tours. It’s very intense. I started off just like everyone else giving out flyers.

I came to Pacha in 2000 thinking I was going to be running a bar. They needed someone English-speaking to book Gatecrasher so I started doing it, then it snowballed, and now I book every night. I think what makes Pacha different to a lot of other clubs is A) It will always reman privy to a house policy and B) It’s probably one of the few clubs in the world that will have 18-year-old clubbers under the same roof as a 15-year-old Saudi Prince. That mix is quite unique.

It caters for a wide cross-spectrum of people that just want to come out and have a good time. Obviously, it’s always been perceived to be a bit more stylish and glamourous, where people make that little bit more effort.

There are so many wild stories I could tell you. Shit! How much time have you got? One that springs to mind is probably the time I ... no I can’t say that.

Well, chasing P. Diddy down the street to get him to pay his bill is one. Twice! He eventually settled.

When you have a big group I can see how it happens because you expect everyone to take care of it. He was barred for a few days until he settled his bill, then he performed and neglected to pay his bill for a second night so, I had to chase him in the street.

One more story: we had some wealthy Arabs. A sultan or a prince. He realised his waitress’ birthday was on the same day as his, so he asks one of his assistants to go back to the yacht and fetch a gift from the “gift cupboard”.

He came back and gave her a matching watch and earring set valued at 14,000 Euros. Not bad for a pre-packed gift?

The most famous person I think we had in the club is Prince William - he loved it, and could be seen dancing on a table. Afterwards he went up to Erick Morillo who was DJing and told him that he was his favourite DJ.

Ok, one last story. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlosconi comes to the club quite often and one time he was in Pacha at the same time as the Sultan of Brunei.

Berlosconi’s table bill was about 12,000 Euros, whilst the Sultan’s was about 15,000 Euros. The Sultan shook Berlosconi’s hand and said he would take care of his bill.”

NAME: Abbey, Ellie

OCCUPATION: Clubber

AGE: 20, 20

”We’re best friends. We wanted to come for a while and we finally got the cash together. Last year we went to Barcelona and Pacha and Space. It was great so we said we would definitely come to Ibiza next year, so here we are!

We’ve been here since Friday, so only four days. It’s broken all expectations, definitely. It’s amazing. The atmosphere: you’ve got the weather, everyone is up for it, you have the costumes ... all sorts. Our plans for the rest of our holiday are to carry on as we started - partying!

Abbey, tonight, is wearing a leapord-style minidress with a belt and a shoulder bag going on and some hells. I’m wearing a lime-green fitted dress. We’re kind of tribal this evening, trying to dress it up a bit as we usually do for Pacha.”

NAME: Paul, Roo

OCCUPATION: Clubber

AGE: 25, 27

”This is our 7th time in Ibiza. We come here every year. This is a very good year indeed.

For the first time in a while we’ve actually managed to get all of our best mates out. We’ve got a really cool apartment in a nice place. It took a lot of organising, we have to say. We really put our necks on the line but we think that everybody is having a good time.

For a week I think we’re looking to write off £500 on going out, after paying for anything else. To be honest if you go to English clubs, you’re looking to write off the same amount of money as in Ibiza.

The lion’s share of our drinking isn’t done in the superclubs, it’s done in the clubs on the corner. You can get a demi there for a Euro. That’s pretty cheap! When you come here you know you’re going to spend a lot of money, but you really don’t care. You only have a few drinks when you’re in the club, buying a few bottles of water for crazy money.”

Sandy Rivera

OCCUPATION: Superstar DJ

AGE: Unknown

“I’m an American record producer, house music DJ and label owner, born in NY, living in New Jersey, and have been making music for nearly 18 years now. I’m headlining tonight’s event at Pacha, and right now we’re on the outside terrace where you can have a few drinks and relax to funk and funky house.

Sometimes people who like my music come up and dance and want to play around and stuff which is cool. The staff at Pacha are really professional, friendly and efficient, so if things ever get too hectic they step in and sort everything out, so that I don’t feel claustrophobic or anything.

I’ve had a bit to drink [like everyone else in Pacha!] and would tell you many DJ tales if I didn’t have to play in five minutes!”

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