How did a sleepy island off the coast of Spain, metamorphose from an artistic, countercultural haven into the global epicentre of electronic dance music, lighting the touch paper that caused the explosion of club culture?

 

Alexis Petridis, chief music writer for The Guardian, and Dean Chalkley, one of the UK’s leading photographers of British subculture (both seasoned ravers), witnessed this extraordinary rise from the underground at Mixmag, the clubbers’ bible, and have documented the subsequent transformations.

 

Alexis takes us on a trip through the island’s bohemian past and tells how its unique combination of natural beauty, 60s counterculture and 70s glamour set the scene for an extraordinary pop cultural explosion in the 80s and 90s that would resonate through the Western world.

 

The photographs in Dean’s new book ‘Back in Ibiza 1998 - 2003’ , taken in the heat of many magic moments, capture the golden age of happy, all-in-it-together, 24 hour party people, bacchanalian excess, and sunkissed beach life the island offered before the corporate monsters of superstar DJs, big brands and VIP lounges swallowed it whole.

 

For more on Dean

Alexis on music

Alexis on Club Culture