Jockey Club.

Jockey Club is one of the most peculiar places I have ever played, and I mean that as the highest compliment. It sits right on Las Salinas beach, in the south of Ibiza, in the municipality of Sant Jordi, with the Torre de ses Portes on the horizon. It is a beach bar and club that has been part of the island since the early 90s, with Mediterranean food, sun loungers and music from morning to early evening.

The setting is magical. Salt flats behind, the sea in front, the light of the island over everything. It is not a polished, predictable venue. It has character, it has history and it has a soul, and you feel that from the moment you arrive. Nothing about it feels forced. Everything is simple, warm and a little wild, exactly as Ibiza was meant to be.

I was the weekly resident for five years. Once a week, every week, I came to this place to set the mood for the afternoon. For me it became a ritual: the drive to the beach, the first check of the sound, the first track while people were still finding a table and a place in the sun.

The music was always Downtempo and Deep House. That was the rule, and it suited the place perfectly. Slow and warm at the beginning, then deeper and more hypnotic as the day moved toward the evening. It is music for sitting with friends, for watching the sea, for talking and for moving just a little. It is also music that makes a place feel like itself, and Jockey Club always felt like itself.

Of course, there were exceptions. On special occasions, the place turned into a proper party. Those days the tempo went up, the drums got bigger and the dance floor filled with people who had been waiting for a reason to let go. A beach bar that can sit quietly one week and explode the next is a rare thing, and I loved being part of both moods.

The audience was a true mix of Ibiza. Locals who came every week, residents of the island, travelers on holiday, people from every corner of Europe and beyond. Some came for lunch and stayed until sunset. Some discovered the place by accident and came back the next week. What they all had in common was a relaxed spirit and an appetite for good music.

Five years of weekly sessions create a bond with a place. I got to know the team, the regulars and the rhythm of the seasons. I learned how the light changes through the afternoon and how the music has to follow it. That lesson stayed with me in every room I have played since, from rooftops in Bangkok to beach clubs in Zanzibar.

Today I look back at those years with real gratitude. Jockey Club gave me a home on the island, a loyal audience and a place where I could play exactly the music I love. If you are ever on Las Salinas, go for the sea and stay for the sound.