Ricardo Villalobos

The World Traveler

Ricardo Villalobos is one of the rulers in the Techno scene. His schedule is packed with gigs all over the world. Just in May this year, he could be admired in the documentary "Thinking of Germany at night". We introduce the native Chilean.

Villalobos was born in 1970 in Chile. Already in his early childhood years, the family moved from Santiago de Chile to a small town near Darmstadt due to a military coup in their homeland. Early on, he was enthusiastic about music, his father fostered his talent. Salsa and South American folklore as well as operas, rock and electronic music accompanied his entire childhood. His father let the young Ricardo in his early years attend a Samba school in Brazil, where he became an enthusiastic percussionist.

In 1988, Villalobos for the first time played in a club. In the early nineties, he applied himself to the burgeoning Acid House. In 1992, he organized illegal techno parties for the first time in the surroundings of Darmstadt and around Frankfurt's Techno legends Ata, Heiko M / S / O and Roman Flügel. The young Villalobos also moved back to his homeland, where he gained recognition through some festivals in Chile.

In Germany, the legendary clubs „Box“, „Omen“ and Kassel´s „Stammheim“ booked him. In the late 1990s, he joined the "Cocoon Clubbing Events", which were staged around techno grandeur Sven Väth, especially in Ibiza.

Ricardo Villalobos cannot be categorized to a specific techno genre. His mix of drifting bass, percussion elements and South American sounds is unique. His first album "Alcachofa" (2003, Playhouse) and his second album "Thé au Harem d'Archimède" (2005, Perlon) were celebrated by the press. Villalobos caused a sensation with the release of his 37 minutes long track "Fizheuer Zieheuer" in 2006.

Today, Ricardo Villalobos is at home all over the world. His home base is Berlin. He is now married and has two children. His selection of tracks thrilled the masses at the techno events around the world. In May 2017, the documentary "Thinking of Germany at night" by Romuald Karmakars entered the German cinemas. In this, he describes the power of techno, the magic of a club night and the emerging sense of togetherness of the clubbers in an impressive way.