The Ibiza Paper
For people who love the spirit of Ibiza, even when they’re not there.
I missed out on the terrace at Space.
I never experienced that famous Café del Mar sunset, just as the sun very conveniently timed its dip below the horizon with the final beat of whatever was on Alfredo’s decks.
And I’d never even heard of Pikes until decades later.
But I have now been to Ibiza four times, just never “back in the day”, even though I was clubbing in London and elsewhere from 1989.
My first visit to the island, in 2008, was challenging, hardly the hedonistic holiday that’d get featured in Mixmag.
Already delayed by a week because my dad had just died, our trip involved a desperate dash to a local doctor’s surgery after our two-year-old daughter fell off a sunbed and on to the tiled balcony beneath, cutting her head and relieving it of more blood than I wanted to see.
And here we are. Ibiza still fascinates after all these years. Maybe more so now than ever.
Hence The Ibiza Paper.
Mischa’s balcony
Ibiza matters
I’ve always been curious about it and keen to understand why, to know more, to learn what went on, where those things happened, who the big players were – the real influencers – and how all those things and people continue to shape dance music and club culture today.
The Ibiza Paper explores and celebrates all of it.
I hope you’ll join me.
Cheers,
Paul
Promised Land
The aim is to produce a newspaper to help people experience Ibiza with more understanding, confidence and perspective, and get more out of a visit there.
The Ibiza Paper shares and celebrates stories about the island, dance music and club culture.
It’s for people who love the spirit of Ibiza, even when they’re not there.
So, yes, I might have missed out on some big moments, but I’ve loved dance music and club culture for nearly 40 years, since special nights in mainland Spain, Hastings and London gave me the bug.
I missed out on Bora Bora, but I did have Bagley’s.
I read about Space, Pacha, Privilege and Amnesia in Mixmag between visits to SW1, Club UK, Ministry of Sound and Leisure Lounge.
And the night that tops them all: Hastings Pier, August bank holiday, 1994. Sasha, Digweed, Justin Robertson. Amazing.
Those nights were formative and led me to help a friend put on a handful of parties in Cricklewood and Greenford.
There were no lasting sunsets inside the back room of the Pig & Whistle but we did create proper memories.
Not the Pig & Whistle, Greenford
What’s it for?
The Ibiza Paper is a collectible annual publication exploring the music, memories, people and places that make Ibiza unlike anywhere else in the world.
Through interviews, photography, personal stories and practical wisdom, we aim to document, preserve and celebrate the emotional and cultural significance of the island before those stories are forgotten.
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Not a club guide.
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Not a listings magazine.
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A cultural field guide to Ibiza.
Why?
Plenty of people document where to go in Ibiza. Far fewer explore why the island means so much to the people who return year after year.
In music, there are tracks that help to tell the story of Paul Oakenfold’s birthday party on the island in 1987.
And that changed everything, as you’ll read in The Ibiza Paper.
The Ibiza Paper preserves well-written stories about music, memory, community and the enduring spirit of the island.
Why does Ibiza stay with people?
Through interviews, personal stories, beautiful photography and practical wisdom from those who genuinely know the island, The Ibiza Paper explores why Ibiza stays with people long after they’ve gone home.
Issue 0.1 is below, and issue 0.2 is in production. We’ll upload it here when it’s ready.
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