Ricardo Villalobos

Villalobos was born in Chile’s capital, Santiago, in 1970. However, at the age of three, he moved to Germany with his family after General Augusto Pinochet overthrew Salvador Allende’s socialist government in 1973.

Ricardo Villalobos is a Chilean electronic music producer and DJ. He is known for his work in the minimal and microhouse techno genres.

Villalobos was born in Chile’s capital, Santiago, in 1970. However, at the age of three, he moved to Germany with his family after General Augusto Pinochet overthrew Salvador Allende’s socialist government in 1973.

At the age of 10 or 11, Ricardo began playing the conga and bongos. Although he loved music, he never considered himself a musician. At the end of the 80s, he started making electronic music. From an early age he was a big fan of Depeche Mode, even following their tours across Europe to listen to them.

Villalobos is very inspired by Depeche Mode, as well as other artists such as Daniel Miller, Thomas Melchior, Baby Ford, Daniel Bell and Andrew Weatherall. He has also been inspired by rhythmic South American music.

Villalobos started playing his music at parties during his university studies, but it was only for his own enjoyment. He started a label, Placid Flavour, in 1993, but it was not a success. His first record was released on the German label Playhouse in 1994 and he started working as a professional DJ in 1998. Today he is considered one of the most important minimalist DJs in Europe, alongside other talented Chilean djs and producers such as Luciano Nicolet (a casual collaborator) and Dandy Jack.