Balearic Breakfast | Episode 176 | Meeting Chris Coco
- by The Lioncub
- May 21, 2024
- 24 min read
Updated: Sep 2, 2024
Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy broadcast the 176th episode of Balearic Breakfast on her Mixcloud on May 21st 2024.
About this episode. – While on tour, Colleen always tries her best to keep her Balearic Breakfast Family together and happy. Well, as you might have noticed, there was no show last week, sigh! Though that deeply saddened us, we were also absolutely supportive towards Colleen. It seemed obvious that streaming a 2-hour show was not the best thing to do when you just played a beautiful set in Athens and you're about to fly to... Boston! As Colleen put it, "After 3 hours sleep 2 nights in a row I’m now sat in Heathrow waiting for my flight to Boston and have realised that I actually am human and I do need rest and therefore I have to postpone tomorrow morning’s Balearic Breakfast stream until next week. I have finally admitted to myself that I will be unable to wake up at 4:30 am Boston time to get the stream ready. I hope you don’t mind but I need one weeks break."
So we all patiently waited for this week's show, for which Colleen woke up at... 5;09 am, sharing with us live on the chat "It's 5:09 am here in Boston. That's how much I love all of you"! Good news Colleen, we Love You Back!
This 175th episode of Balearic Breakfast was a special one for all of us, and I mean it. Firstly because of the Gorgeous interview Chris Coco, a kingpin of the sunset sound, did with Colleen (transcription availiable here), chatting about his new album ‘Daydream Utopia’, gifting us an exclusive mix. Secondly, Breakfast family member Constadino Folias shared with us a calm yet thoughtful mix and, strangely enough, both of these mixes perfectly blended with a somewhat sad mood we all felt as we shared concern about our beloved and ageing parents and family members. Life Circle never ends sadly, and there is nothing we can do except lend our heart and soul to the ones we so dearly love. And strangely enough, Constandino's mix gave us both a lightly sad feeling but, at the same time, a feeling of hope that really matched what was hapening on the chat while we were listening all together. So, without further a do, let's listen back to this beautiful episode!
Listen back to the 176th episode of Balearic Breakfast:
PLAYLIST
Chris Coco Mix
(2024) Chris Coco – 3BlueHidrotape
(1996) Durutti Column – Guitar For Mother
(2024) Chris Coco – Synesthesia
(1977) David Bowie – Art Decade
(2024) Chris Coco – Extraordinary Measures
(2023) Sonlife – Piecebypiece
(2015) Lost Horizons – Thunder Storm EFXS
(2024) Chris Coco – Tokyo Ame
(1981) Brian Briggs – AEO
(2016) Leon Vynehall – Midnight On Rainbow Road
(2023) Chris Coco – Leap Year
(2020) Tenderlonius – Kirwani
(1986) Colourbox – Philip Glass
(2021) Green House – Royal Fern
(2024) Chris Coco – Serenity Test
Constadinos Folias Mix
(2022) Agosta – Carricante
(2019) Ed Longo & The Applied Arts Ensemble – New life
(2020) Kenkou – Everlasting Dreams (Calm's Still Dreaming mix)
(1986) Paris Bis – Unis Dans La Nuit Unique
(2023) Canebrake – Bike Ride 6AM (Minus Yogis Remix)
(2023) Mike Salta & Mortale – Hey Moloko
(2021) Jesse Sizmo & Seb Hall – 45 Degrees
(2019) Max Essa – The Price You Pay (For Loving That Way)
(2015) Ilija Rudman – So Much (Kaleidoscope Mix)
(2019) Ed Longo & The Applied Arts Ensemble – Arcadian Dream
THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE
The General feeling of Chris Coco's mix. – It is quite interesting to see how Chris constructed his mix, his music meeting the music of other artists in one beautiful musical wave. I love the result, a worried yet somewhat "driving" mix, perfectly showcasing how you may feel when sad events occur in your life... After all, what are we if not unknow to ourselves diving creatures? Concentrating our lost attention on one point, whatever it is, wherever it may be, does, indeed, help us to move along, searching for that next stop where we'll find solace before meeting another hard morning, another heartache, another smiling deadly and hollow figure, or another friendly leading and helping hand...
Chris' mix is an inner journey, it is one of these mixes that brings out the feelings you may want to keep deep down inside for they may hurt you should you let them surface... But, remember, we must keep on diving... As I like to say, "I keep my sadness alive so my joy won't die..." and Chris' mix, and his music also actually, is exactly that... Something driving you somewhere through a light nothingness, that nothingness you always try to ignore when the sun is shining, apparently...
More about the songs. – For your musical knowledge, here are some informations I found about some of the tracks played by Chris during the mix:
Durutti Column's Guitar For Mother is taken from the 1996 “Fidelity” studio album (remastered and reissued in 2020), the track perfectly showcasing the album’s dream-like atmosphere, the band’s exclusive guitar sound being here expanded with the use of synthesisers while keeping a resolutely balearic musical approach;
taken from the 1977 "Low" studio album, recorded between the "Chateau d'Hérouville" in France and Berlin, "Art Decade" showcases the "non-commercial" approach Bowie wanted to give the album (the first one of the "Berlin Thrilogy" sounding, interestingly enough, both dated and very modern), and really is about West Berlin "a city cut off from its world, art and culture, dying with no hope of retribution";
being the second digital single from SONLIFE’s self-titled 2023 debut album, Piecebypiece keeps the "lost feeling" of Chris' mix intact. A lot of the tracks were created in the middle of the night when SONLIFE started working on the album, this explaining that...;
beginning of the 90s, Stan Hatzakis, boss of the Dance Tracks (rings a bell 😉) record store in New York, Tony Confusione DJ and Keyboard player, as well as Joaquin Joe Claussell, DJ and young store salesman, came together to release music under the "Instant House" moniker (Thunder Storm EFXS being a great example of the musical fusion these three crafted). This double CD compilation brings together the best of their first release between 1988 & 1993;
a classic often played by David Mancuso, both at the Loft and during the radio show he hosted, Brian Briggs' AEO is another great example of Chris' mix sonic and musical unity!
an extremely cathartic piece of music, Leon Vynehall's Midnight On Rainbow Road has been issued on vinyl (2016) and is part of the second Musik For Autobahns compilation (2015) by the revered DJ Gerd Janson;
Tenderlonius' (here joined by the instrumental quartet JAUBI from Lahore, Pakistan) Kirwani takes us to other musical horizons, letting us discover a specific Musical Indian scale used to portray emotions of longing, love and devotion (more about this here);
a lot of people might get confused on that one, but this track is Not a piece of music by the great Philip Glass (the renowned musician composed, among other stunning pieces of music, the incredible Opera "Satyagraha" dedicated to Gandhi), it is, on the contrary, a well-deserved tribute to the musician by the English electronic musical group Colourbox signed on the 4AD label, who released between 1982 and 1987 several records ;
taken from the debut LP Music For Living Spaces, “Royal Fern” ripples with optimism, like sonic skipping stones toward the sun: “I’m trying to hit that part of the brain that’s affected by the emotional state that you’re in when you perceive something as cute,” Ardizoni says. “Cuteness and joy are gateways to compassion. It’s the gateway to empathy and activating the network in your brain that boosts moral concern for other people in the world around you”, explains the Los Angeles-based non-binary artist Olive Ardizoni.
The General feeling of Constadinos Folia's mix. – As always, musically speaking, Colleen never misses the show's unity. Whenever you listen to Balearic Breakfast, you always feel Home, music simply leads you elsewhere, where you know nothing, showing you its true force, its true power. We feel that very strongly when hearing the first few tracks Constandinos selected for his own mix, they really shine in response to Chris' own selections...
Though I feel Constadinos' mix is more open, having more positivity to it, being more "open", it still has that uncertainty, just like a light cloud lingering there, at the heart of the nowhere you did not understand yet... Both mixes are incredibly precise in their respective flows, thus perfectly reflecting Colleen's own musical approach... As Family member Siobhan Murphy so rightly wrote on the chat: "A massage for the mind thank you". While we were all enjoying the mix, it seems the sun went out simultaneously in several corners of the world as many of us, including yours truly, shared that the sun was coming out!
As often, while we were enjoying Constadinos' mix, we also took the time to talk about other artists we truly love. Family member Kieran Mac Can reminded us that "Today would have been Arthur Russell's 73rd birthday. Just in case anyone needs a reason to listen to his music later. I went for a morning walk listening to "Love is Overtaking Me" earlier." to what our dear Captain answered, "Wow I didn't realise that Kieran - I just read Richard King's amazing new book on Arthur and I'm hosting a talk with him at Rough Trade on the 3rd June. It's an incredible book. Very intimate".
We all said goodbye as Constadinos' mix was ending, our dear DJ sharing "My inspiration to do the mix is all of you guys the BB gang... Thank you Colleen for giving me the opportunity xo"... By the way, did you hear how much Constadinos' mix unfolds itself towards the end? I'm sure you noticed the global musical progression of today's episode! 😉
More about the songs. – Here are a few stories about some of the songs played by DJ Constadinos during his mix:
for the first 2 tracks, Constadinos takes us to Italy as both Agosta and Ed Longo are from the sunny Country, the feeling of openness being also very well translated through the third track thanks to Calm's rework of Kenkou's Everlasting Dreams, giving to the sunny musical piece a sentiment of eternity we already felt in Chris Coco's mix;
Paris Bis were a Swedish duo (Tom Wolgers on keyboards and Irma Schultz doing the vocals) that issued a few records on the also Swedish Record Label. Unis Dans La Nuit Unique, the down-tempo sexy Balearic tune, is a nice love song very representative of their style, sadly Tom Wolgers passed away in 2020;
keeping the ethereal/cloudy/open/worried feeling alive, there comes Bike Ride 6AM by Canebrake (a thicket of any of a variety of Arundinaria grasses - AKA Palms & Charms Tokyo-based record label co-founder Samuel Bruce) with a track celebrating the joys of cycling at dawn here remixed by Minus Yogis;
already featured during Balearic Breakfast, Mike Salta & Mortale's Hey Moloko was picked up by Hot Chip for their splendid Late Night Tales compilation (more about the track here);
should you need to learn more about that "Balearic Music" genre, Jesse Sizmo & Seb Hall may have some interesting information to share as 45 Degrees greatly fits into their musical visions...;
the Japan-based DJ Max Essa (here with The Price You Pay (For Loving That Way)) released this Balearic gem back in 2019 on the Jansen Jardin label;
Constadinos Folia ends his mix with two beautiful tracks, enhancing the sunnier times we all experienced live, blending Llija Rudman's track So Much with Ed Longo & The Applied Arts Ensemble's Arcadian Dream.
CHRIS COCO INTERVIEW WITH COLLEEN
[Colleen]
Good morning, Balearicans. This is Colleen Cosmo Murphy on Balearic Breakfast, hosting it until 12 p.m. on my MixCloud Live. And greetings to everybody over there joining in the live chat and video.
Well, today I have something very special for you. Today we have an interview and an exclusive mix from Chris Coco. And many of you probably know who Chris Coco is because he's one of the major names on the Balearic chill-out scene.
But for those of you that don't know, we'll tell you all about him. And he also has a new album out called Daydream Utopia. Welcome, Chris.
[Chris Coco]
Hi, nice to be here.
[Colleen]
Well, it's funny because we've known each other, I think pretty much since I moved over 25 years ago. But there's things about you that I just didn't know. And I was looking through your biography today.
I didn't realize that you were an editor of DJ Magazine.
[Chris Coco]
Yeah, I mean, it was a long time ago, but yes, that's true. It used to be called Jocks at one point. I don't know if you remember that, which is like the worst name for a magazine ever.
[Colleen]
It does seem a little unsavory, a little stinky.
[Chris Coco]
Yeah, it does, especially in the U.S. sense of it (ed. : In the United States and Canada, a jock is a stereotype of an athlete, or someone primarily interested in sports and sports culture, and does not take much interest in intellectual activity. It is generally applied mostly to high school and college athletics participants who form a distinct youth subculture).
[Colleen]
Yes, exactly.
[Chris Coco]
But yeah, and we changed that.
I kind of fell into that role and then changed the name to DJ, which seemed a bit more appropriate. And that was kind of around the very exciting time of the evolution of house music in the U.K. from Acid House onwards. So it was kind of a lot of fun for quite a few years because everything was very fluid and a bit mad.
And then it turned into more of a business and I kind of got bored with it and stopped doing it, basically.
[Colleen]
Well, it was a really fresh time. It's like the DJ scene is just, you know, taking a whole new turn, it's a whole new vista. And you were very involved in the Acid House scene.
But then at some point, you really got into this kind of whole chill-out side of things. I mean, before you had Coco Steel & Love Bomb, it was more, you know, house-oriented music. What was your eureka moment for getting more into the sounds, the sunset sounds, let's say?
[Chris Coco]
I think it was actually the cliché of Café Del Mar listening to José Padilla play. And that was when I was doing the DJ Mag job. So I was kind of sitting there thinking that I was getting bored with playing in clubs because it was becoming more formulaic.
I mean, you know, things have changed again now. There was a point then where it was being broken down into all these sub-genres of house. You had to play, you know, two, three hours of a specific sub-genre and if you didn't, people thought you were weird or something, which, and I always liked the mixing stuff up, you know, bits of old stuff, new stuff, this go house, whatever it is, breaks, whatever.
So this was like this revelatory moment of, oh, you can play whatever you want, any tempo, any genre, as long as it fits together for the feeling, which is kind of what you do now, in fact, isn't it?
[Colleen]
Yeah, yeah.
[Chris Coco]
So that was really that. But if you look back to that, the Coco Steel & Love Bomb album that came out on Warp, it's not all house music. There is some ambient and down-tempo stuff as well.
So I've always been a little bit, because I'm quite a mellow, people always tell me you're quite a mellow person. You're quite laid back. I've always had this like different sides, the party side of it and the more meditative, spacey side of it.
And I think even at the height of when I was club DJing, I was still considered quite relatively mellow compared to what other people were doing.
[Colleen]
Yeah, exactly. And you're not doing the big drum rolls and your fist pumps into the air, are you?
[Chris Coco]
Well, no.
[Colleen]
Are you doing that?
[Chris Coco]
Occasionally, but not every three minutes for four hours.
[Colleen]
Well, there's a really interesting part of your story as well that you toured with Robbie Williams. Yeah. And I just think that is so interesting.
I'm fascinated by him, actually. Because I didn't grow up with the boy bands, I can't even name a Take That song, believe it or not. I can't even name one.
[Chris Coco]
That's probably a good thing.
[Colleen]
It's probably a good thing, exactly. But there's something I like about his personality. I don't know, there's something about him that seems just kind of wild.
He seems a bit genuine to me. I could be wrong, that's just what I see. But I would love just to know, gosh, it would have been great to be a fly on the wall for that tour.
But it was, I don't know, 10 years ago or so with that tour. And I just wanted to, just two quick questions about it. What was your favorite memory and what was your worst memory of that tour?
Because touring with a major superstar is a very different thing. And I'm sure you were aware of things and seeing things that maybe things you can't talk about anyways. I'm not asking for gossip, but just more about what it felt like for you to be on a whole kind of different journey.
[Chris Coco]
I think, I mean, I think the best thing about it was probably just the kind of adrenaline rush of being involved in something like that and playing in front of so many people. I can feel my heart beating faster now. And there was, because I was in, I was the DJ of the band.
But when we did the encore, I had to play stuff off of CDJs to kind of build the crowd up before the band came back out. And that bit was like madly kind of exciting. The best DJ experience, because I DJed before as well.
This was before, it was actually 2006, if you don't think that's a long time. But so it was before DJs were, the DJ show was a thing like it is now. So I used to, I was just playing off CDs, two decks, no lights, no nothing.
But the most brilliant DJ experience was playing at the San Siro in Italy. And I got, I did an hour set in front of his crowd as the only warmup before he came on. And that was insane.
That was, you know, one of my best DJ experiences ever, if not the best. And it was just, it was in the year that Italy had won the World Cup as well. So everyone was kind of slightly excited, shall we say.
[Colleen]
Very excited. I mean, football's also a religion there like it is here as well.
[Chris Coco]
Yeah, but that was pretty amazing. The worst part was, I don't know. I mean, there's, as you alluded to, like hanging out with a massive superstar and that year that was the biggest tour in the world.
It's just like this constant, you're under constant pressure and there's a stress because you don't know what's going to happen because you don't know what the guy at the top of the pyramid is going to do next. So you're kind of constantly like aware that something might happen or that you might get kicked off or something might kick off or whatever. And that's kind of the draining part of it.
But obviously compared to working in Tesco on minimum wage, it's not really a problem, you know.
[Colleen]
Exactly, exactly. You're privileged in that sense. And I'm sure the cortisol levels run high for everybody that's involved in a tour like that.
I don't know how they do it. It's kind of crazy. The amount of pressure they have as well, quite honestly.
Anyways, let's get back to you. Enough about Robbie Williams. But I just have always been curious about that.
The other things that you do, I just want to let our listeners know if they don't know already, you have your own label called DSPRR, Disappear. And aside from putting out your own album releases, which you've done quite a few, I mean, you have the new one, as I said, Daydream Utopia. You put out one last year with George Solar.
You also put out these balearic compilation series too of some of your other works to kind of compiling them all together. And it's a really great thing that you're doing there because it seems like you're kind of running it all yourself. Everything is, you run your own radio show like I do on Mixcloud, Melodica, your weekly Melodica show.
And both of us have a radio show without a radio station. So congratulations on that! Of course, it used to be on Radio 1 with The Blue Room with Rob DeBank, which was a great show, a great chill-out show.
Can you just tell me a little bit more about your record label, Disappear?
[Chris Coco]
As you said, it kind of started as being a way to release my own stuff. And then in the pandemic, because it was something that I could carry on doing from home, as you say, on my own, I kind of started working, connecting with more artists online and having conversations and ending up saying, oh, why don't you make some tracks for me, for my label? And it kind of, it's evolved into this little community, balearic community kind of label.
Well, actually, I mean, this year I've decided to call it Beyond Balearic because balearic can be a bit of a cage sometimes. So I'm now working with quite a lot of new producers, which is really interesting because it keeps me on my toes, like when I'm making stuff, because you're listening to, I made another, I put out another album last year by a producer called Sunday, which is kind of ambient breaks in that area. I've spent a lot of time thinking about how do you make these sounds, you know?
And I actually, I've remixed a couple of his tracks and learned a lot about his production techniques from talking to him and sneakily looking at what he does when I'm remixing. So it's turned into this kind of, quite a nice kind of community thing. And there's one part of it is releasing stuff on vinyl, which is, you've got to make a big commitment to, which is an interesting process in itself.
And part of it is doing digitally piece with newer artists, just to see where it goes. So giving people the chance to start that process and having someone to be involved who's been doing it for quite a long time, because obviously it's easy to put out a record if you want on your own, but it's really difficult to make any kind of impact with the digital release. It's about trying to build new artists as well.
[Colleen]
I think that's really good. I mean, you and I probably have a similar age. We both started in the 1980s and I'm also mentoring up and coming DJs and presenters.
It's great to be able to kind of pass on the knowledge because for me, for instance, I had mentors that helped me. Did you have any mentors that helped you?
[Chris Coco]
Not directly, I don't think. I mean, I think my hero when I was growing up was John Peel and his radio show on Radio One, because it was the only place to listen to alternative music at the time. If you want to do psychology, rather than talking about music, he was almost like a father figure in some weird way, from a distant father figure who was like going, hey, listen, have a look at this, have a look at this, listen to this.
And all the thoughts that come along with that and the kind of feeling of liberation that comes with discovering new music and a world outside of suburban England at that time, which was pretty dull, shall we say. But not like a massive mentor exactly in person, no. I don't think so.
More these kind of like virtual figures.
[Colleen]
Well, it's interesting, because that's what you said. I grew up in the suburbs as well outside of Boston and I had a similar thing. I was turned on to artists like Brian Eno from a radio DJ named Oedipus.
I had a show called Nocturnal Emissions. So there you go. I don't even know if you could do that anymore.
In any case, it was a great show. And yeah, the radio is kind of what really kind of wrote me in and got me started as well. Well, let's get back to this wonderful mix that you've provided here for us, which is also featuring some of the songs on your new album, Daydream Utopia.
And we'll come back with Kris Coco in a few minutes and talk about this latest album.
[Music]
[Colleen]
And we're back. I'm Colleen Cosmo Murphy, and I'm here with Kris Koko, who has a new album out called Daydream Utopia on his own record label, DSPPR, or Disappear.
And you can find that on his bandcamp. And I have to say, Kris, it's another beautiful, beautiful album. This record, it says it's made to be played in two sessions on a vinyl record.
So you have one side, side one, then you have to physically flip it over and play side two. First of all, why did he want to do it that way? And then second of all, how are the two sides different?
[Chris Coco]
At this point in time, you don't need to make a physical release of music. You can do it digitally and it's very efficient and it works. So you're making an artistic choice if you decide to make a record, especially on the ancient technology of ancient vinyl technology.
So my view of it was, and it's been the same with the other records that I've released with other artists, is like, if you're going to do this, it's a big commitment and it's a big deal because we're choosing to put this thing out into the world that's going to hang around for a long time and that people are hopefully going to cherish. And you're really limited with what you can do because of the limits of the format. You've got about, you know, maximum 20 minutes, probably less per side.
With electronic music, obviously with digital, you can make, if you want to make a track that's four hours long, you can. It's not, may not be advisable, but it's possible. So you've really got to think about what you're doing.
From an artistic point of view, that's really good because it makes you start thinking like, do I need this eight bars? Do I need this 16 bars? Can I cut it down?
And then you're actually thinking about that. And a lot of the time you say, yes, I do, because it's supposed to be a long track. So if you start with the intention of making something for vinyl, it ends up completely different from if you start making something sprawling without a focus.
So it gives you this brilliant focus. And then you start thinking, okay, side A is different from side B. How's it going to be different?
Which was your next question? And with this one, it's kind of turned out that the A side's kind of lighter and the B side is darker. And that's also reflected because you can do that on vinyl because it's a piece of art, if you like.
The front of the record is a cloudy sky, which, you know, a cloudy sky with the words Daydream on it. The back of the record is the night sky. I'd actually, to be honest, I didn't plan all of this, but it kind of ended up being like this because that's what happens in the creative process.
You give yourself these parameters and then things happen. Then afterwards you go, wow, this looks like we planned it. And the same on the labels on the inside.
One side is daylight, the other side is nighttime. So I think that's how you would describe the two different sides. It ends up with a little coda, which is called Serenity Test, which kind of like leads you back to turn it over and start again, if you like.
[Colleen]
Oh, cool. I didn't get that. That's really interesting.
And that's also on your mix that we're listening to right now, if it's coming up. I think it's your last track on the mix. I guess we'll have to listen to the radio show again and then when this radio show finishes.
[Chris Coco]
Yeah, definitely.
[Colleen]
Now it seems like there's a bit of a Japanese connection here too. You have some guests, Japanese musicians, and also there is a song called Tokyo Ame. What's that all about?
Why is there this Japanese connection on the album?
[Chris Coco]
Mainly because I've been to Japan quite a few times DJing. So one of the Tokyo Ame track was a friend of mine called Mar, who also has a radio show in Tokyo. He was staying here.
It was actually just before the pandemic when everything was getting a bit weird and he wasn't sure if he was gonna be able to get back home. And he was finding out his girlfriend, who's now his wife, they were having a, I asked him to do it and I recorded their phone conversation. And they were just talking, as lovers do about ordinary things, mostly about the weather, in fact.
Because Tokyo Ame means it's raining in Tokyo, basically. I think you can feel that kind of their love and that they were missing each other in the conversation, even though it's about the weather. And it kind of feels really beautiful.
And I was making a track and we put their conversation into the track. He was kind of here in the studio and listening and helping me make decisions about the track. So that was kind of a beautiful, a lovely thing.
[Colleen]
That is a beautiful story.
[Chris Coco]
The other one is I've been inspired a lot by the Japanese way of looking at things. Again, this kind of attention to detail and precision, which I tried to put into this, the making of this record. The other collaborations with a guy called Yoshiharu Takeda, who I've never met, but again, long distance relationship, swapped files and ended up making something peculiar and strange, but rather fun.
[Colleen]
Who is he?
[Chris Coco]
He's a jazz musician who normally makes, I don't know what you call it, ambient jazz, abstract jazz. He came up with, used a hang drum and got his friend to sing and completely transformed one of the tracks into something lovely.
[Colleen]
The singing is beautiful. It's really beautiful. Feels kind of old fashioned, kind of Japanese singing.
[Chris Coco]
It does. Yeah, it does.
[Colleen]
For the most part, you play, programmed and mix this entire album. And it's quite a nice equipment list I like on your bandcamp page. Do you play bass and guitar and keys and all of these things?
[Chris Coco]
Yeah, I play bass on a couple of the tracks. Guitar is a friend of mine, Nick Cornu, who I've worked with for years. He's an amazing guitar player.
I play lots of things really not very well.
[Colleen]
Same with me!
[Chris Coco]
But there's a lot of people who do play really well. And if I need to, I get them to come and help me.
[Colleen]
Well, it sounds great. I absolutely love it. So it sounds fantastic.
Why don't we get back to your mix, which is featuring some of the songs from this album. And you are listening to Chris Coco here on Balearic Breakfast.
[Music]
[Colleen]
And we are back.
We have been listening to Chris Coco's exclusive mix for Balearic Breakfast. And it's for his album, Daydream Utopia. And actually there's one more song I did want to talk to you about, Chris, that starts with synesthesia.
Do you have synesthesia?
[Chris Coco]
It's something that I'm interested in as an idea. Synesthesia being the phenomenon where when you listen to music, you see colours. So it's connecting the spectrum, the sonic spectrum with the visual spectrum, which I find a fascinating idea because I like, as you might have guessed from the title of the album, daydreaming quite a lot and drifting off listening to music. It's always been one of my favourite occupations. So, no, I don't, but I kind of, I'm fascinated by the idea of it.
[Colleen]
What else is going on in Chris Coco's world? You have the weekly radio show, Melodica, and you have your label, as you said, you're signing other artists as well. Are there more compilations coming out or are you touring at all?
[Chris Coco]
I do a thing called the Chill Out Tent with some friends, which again came out of not knowing what to do in the pandemic. It started off as an online thing, but it does have a physical presence sometimes.
[Colleen]
Oh, I didn't know that because I was invited as a guest of yours as well during the pandemic. So there's actually a physical spot for this.
[Chris Coco]
Well, we're doing a Chill Out Tent at a festival that's run by 1BTN, which is a radio station based in Brighton. They do a festival called We Are Love, which is the 26th to the 28th of July. So we're going to be there for the whole weekend.
With an actual physical iteration of the Chill Out Tent, which is really nice. Again, it's kind of, it's a family thing as in musical family. We've got Phil Meisens coming to do it.
[Colleen]
Oh, Phil's great.
[Chris Coco]
Paul Hillary is-
[Colleen]
Oh, Paul's great.
They've both been up on the show as well.
[Chris Coco]
And then it's kind of mostly our crew. It ends up on the Sunday with me and the Balearic Ultras guys here from Brighton as well.
[Colleen]
And they've been on the show as well.
[Chris Coco]
Oh, well, there you go!
[Colleen]
So we're all one big family, Chris!
[Chris Coco]
Exactly, yeah. But that's kind of, that's the sort of big deal thing that we're doing. We do, we also, there's also a Chill Out Tent iteration every Sunday at a pub called Simon the Tanner, which is in Bermondsey, which is, it's a little pub and it's playing records or vinyl, in fact.
[Colleen]
In terms of this album, I guess you don't really tour these albums, do you?
[Chris Coco]
I did a few, I did a few playing the record in listening bars thing. It's not a live project, it's more of a studio project.
[Colleen]
But you have had live acts like City Reverb as well.
[Chris Coco]
Yeah, yeah.
[Colleen]
Which you kindly asked me to remix for you many, many years ago when I just started remixing. Are you ever going to do any other bands?
[Chris Coco]
I don't know. I mean, I'm working with Sun Life, who I mentioned earlier, has a live version of what he does, which I'm not in the band, but it's really interesting trying to develop that. And there's a couple of other bands that I'm kind of involved with but aren't signed to the label yet, but let's see what happens kind of thing.
So I think I'd probably be more interested in that side of it. It's like trying to develop working with other people to make that happen. But, well, yeah, there's also, actually, there's so many different things.
There's also another album that I've made, which isn't quite finished yet, which is kind of ambient collaboration with a really good piano and keyboard player called Kevin Pollard, who worked with Smith & Mudd and those guys, Claremont 56. And that could -
[Colleen]
He's been on a show!
[Chris Coco]
Yeah! Fantastic! But that one could turn into a live thing possibly, but I don't know yet. I mean, that's more something for the end of the year, so.
[Colleen]
It sounds like you have your hands full and congratulations on the new release. You are definitely a Sunset Sound maestro. It's a great album.
It's called Daydream Utopia, and it's out on your Disappear label, and you can find it on your Chris Coco Bandcamp.
[Chris Coco]
Yeah.
[Colleen]
And you know what? I do want a vinyl copy. You did offer me one, and I definitely would like one. So I'm just gonna let you know that here!
[Chris Coco]
Okay. It's not, I can tell you that it's on its way!
[Colleen]
Okay, great. Thank you so much, Chris, and good luck with the album.
[Chris Coco]
My pleasure.
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