If you've ever found yourself lying on a beach trying to identify the ethnically tinged chill-out music drifting from a nearby hut, it's probably Buddha-Bar - or one of the successful compilation series' many imitations. The mix albums (now on the 11th volume) grew out of the Parisian restaurant and nightclub of the same name, which began in 1996. Today, Buddha-Bars can be found in many of the world's biggest cities, including Dubai and Beirut, and are known for their blissed-out atmosphere and new-age decor. But the phenomenon started with just one man: the DJ, entrepreneur and former hippy-commune dweller Claude Challe.
"When I began the Buddha-Bar in Paris, that kind of music was very new for everybody. With the mixture of the music, the space, the variety of Asian food and the atmosphere, it was a huge success," says Challe, 65, who was born in Tunisia but moved to Paris at the age of three. "It is still very popular, but in Paris now it is only a place for the tourists. In the first five years, Buddha-Bar was where all the beautiful people from everywhere went. Now the fashion has changed, but it's still a good place if you want to eat sushi at midnight."
Although Challe is one of the best-known figures of the Parisian nightlife circuit, he rose to fame in an entirely different profession: hairdressing. At age 19, he opened a hair salon in the French capital and became known as "the man with the golden scissors". "I liked girls and it seemed like a good way of meeting them," he says, "but after 10 years of fashion photography and things like that, I wanted a change."
Soon after, Challe fled to the Mediterranean island of Sardinia and took up residence in a hippy commune. He then began travelling throughout much of Asia and became influenced by the food and music that he discovered. After returning to Paris, he started managing nightclubs and eventually discovered DJing - which he now calls his greatest passion. Challe quickly made a name for himself mixing the ethnic music that he had discovered on his travels with the electronic sounds that were becoming popular at the time. But he says he has been interested in the sounds of different cultures since his youth.
"I was born in Tunisia, so I have oriental blood and my parents always listened to a lot of Arabic music," he says. "I also discovered African and Indian music very early and love rock 'n' roll and pop music too." Now that he works primarily as a DJ, Challe's life has begun to resemble an unending tour of the world's biggest party cities. But rather than spending his downtime in airports and hotel rooms, he uses the trips as an opportunity to add new sounds to his burgeoning record collection.
"I travel a lot and find music everywhere," he says. "I recently found some very good music in Lebanon and Turkey. Two weeks ago I found some in Moscow. It means that when I play there's always something a bit different." With hairdresser, club manager and globe-trotting DJ making up Challe's hefty CV, it may come as a surprise that he hopes to start a new career in the near future. Despite having reached an age that many would consider an ideal time for retirement, Challe says he now intends to become a filmmaker.
"My next thing is a movie," he says. "We are in production now and I think it will come out in two years' time. It's a movie about the story of a DJ." Claude Challe will play the Yacht Club at the Intercontinental Hotel in Abu Dhabi tomorrow and Friday. Challe's set will start around 10.30pm. To reserve call 02 666 6888.