Family members: Sparky (Backyardbalearic)

The Balearic Breakfast blog is the home of Colleen's musical friends! When I discovered Sparky's instagram, I knew I had to meet him! Let's talk about that Balearic thing...

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1) Hi Marc! Thank you so much for joining us here on the blog! With Musica Balearica you're one of the few accounts I know which actually propose posts on instagram about new Balearic Releases. I feel it's such a great idea since this musical movement is not always well represented outside of its "niche". How did you start that account and how do you manage it?

Thanks for having me Artur! I wasn't very social media minded (I had a twitter account to follow football, politics, music and friends). I never had Facebook, but when lockdown happened I was given 5 months off work and thought I'll get into painting again.... So I downloaded Instagram on my phone to connect with other artists and to get inspiration and also to discover what other DJs were digging and promoting. I think I did also want to use Instagram as a means of reaching a wider audience of who would be interested in listening to my mixes and, in addition, to being able to get better gigs once we were out of lockdown.

I started doing posts which started with the title..."Recommended Balearic listening" whereby, I would try to promote a new release on a Balearic tip I was digging, or I had recently discovered. I always have intentions to post more (as I feel compelled to promote independent labels and projects which resonate with me), but more and more I try to spend less time on devices (and have gotten so very sidetracked and overwhelmed with the constant flow of quality new releases and reissues!).

I also don't post everything I pick up on my Instagram as I want listeners of my mixes (on Mixcloud) to be surprised and have that "What on earth is this?" reaction when hearing a killer Balearic melter for the first time on one of my mixes. That's part of being a DJ I suppose! You want to please the crowd with familiarity but you also want your audience to be  mystified and excited from hearing an oddball cover version or a balearic bomb they have never stumbled across.

2) You're also a DJ and you have your own Mixcloud page where you share your shows. Of course, this activity helps you to keep the instagram page up to date! Can you tell us how you got involved in music in the first place and how you started your DJ carreer?

I was taken round record shops and vinyl fairs when I was in primary school during the late 80s early 90s by my dad who was focused on collecting certain bands such as Queen, Uriah Heep and Wishbone Ash... Proggy type tackle.

I think I kind of fell in love with flicking through records and calling my dad over to say "I found one here which I don't think you have!", my dad would be saying "It's Japanese that one, far too expensive". Haha, even then I was a sucker for an Obi strip!

When I went to secondary school I was opened up to a lot of Rave and Indie music and started following in my dad's footsteps of visiting record shops and fairs, still with a completest type mindset way of digging, but this time for Prodigy and Blur records. Later on, when I was about 12-13 I was really into The Doors, Portishead (I had a Portishead long sleeved T-Shirt when I was 13 which gained me a bit of credibility with the older crew at school), The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Chemical Brothers, Massive Attack, Daft Punk. The band that really sticks out to me during those days was The Beta Band. All my mates were proper into them too. I suppose we loved their sound and image which was a proper mish-mash of styles such as Indie, hip-hop, chill out, Experimental and library music. Maybe, it was the Beta Band who pushed that eclectic melting pot of sounds onto me, and motivated me to incorporate so many styles into my DJ sets!

By the time I arrived at college, I'd met a few people on my Arts course who were into techno, house and that big beat sound which was big back in the late 90s. They were going to Bugged Out at Cream, Voodoo at La' bateau's and various breaks, chill out and garage events above Hannah's on Hardman street (Liverpool). They would come in on a Monday, still on a buzz, telling me about their weekends and being into that type of sound as well. I started dragging my mates to join the cool arty kids at Bugged Out and Voodoo. I absolutely loved the back room in Cream. It was the smallest room, but it had this incredible sound system with a very eclectic mix of music, nu-school breaks, techno, house, disco, weird Latin and soulful stuff. I loved it there, and very rarely ventured out to the courtyard which stuck to techno or the main room which was predominantly house orientated.

Jon Carter was the resident in the annex (who was incredible), but I was introduced to all sorts in there. I soon bought a pair of belt-driven decks and started getting into trying to pick up and mixing the type of breakbeat records I was hearing on that system. In those early days I saw Moonboots, James Holroyd, DJ Shadow and James Lavell in the Annex, but it was the first time I saw Gilles Peterson which really blew my socks off. I remember him playing this really floaty mellow jazz record which I think was Michael Garrick and then dropping Aaliyah's Try again right afterwards, which sent the room nuts (which is when I thought I wanna do that)...

I wanna play eclectic music which isn't one particular genre as I'm not into any particular genre. I'm into so much that I should express those inspirations in the music I play and take those willing to listen on a journey and introduce them to records they haven't heard before.

3) You took part in a lot of great events lately. Which event of 2024 stayed in your mind like the best moment you had in a long time? Can you tell us why and how you prepared for it? Generally speaking, how do you prepare your sets?

I loved my couple of gigs at the Kazimier Gardens in Liverpool last year as they were 6 hour sets which allowed me to bring 3 bags of records and build up the vibe slowly with chilled ambient downtempo records, whereby I can shift gears into a proper Balearic disco party as the space fills up and the crowd are up for dancing.

The Kazimier is a great gaff too, a really nice space which you can probably get up to 300 people in. It's kind of like something you'd expect to see at Glastonbury as in terms of the design. I think it's based on the ruin bar culture of Eastern Europe, it's got that bric-a-brac feel too it but also the guys who build it create all these art deco, but also sci-fi lighting decorations and hangings. Plus the disco ball is massive too. The crowd is always top, a proper mix of misfits, hip looking cats and subculture magpies. Also there is a diverse mix of ages willing to let loose and who are open to a plethora of styles and sounds from around the globe. I love that I can play an obscure gypsy disco pumper and segue into a Middle Eastern oddball synth bomb in there and the crowd stay on the floor whether they are familiar with that sound or not.

I don't do too many gigs, usually a couple a month which gives me plenty of time to think about what records I'm going to bring. I tend to bring the new records I've picked up over the last couple of months on my travels or from local stores and discogs and focus on them and think about bringing other records from my collection which will compliment the new additions. I try to play new music too, not just reissues and old records as there are plenty of top producers and artists out there making top Balearic orientated music. I also make sure I pack a small amount of Balearic, italo classics to please the crowd. I tend to think about my selections whilst walking or running and make a little Spotify playlist to remember what to take and as a reference.

4) Speaking of Balearic Music, we, of course, share a common love for Balearic Breakfast! Without coming back to the structure of Colleen's show, if you had to chose a part of it, which one would it be? Would it be the slow and reflective start or the groovy side with the splendid mini mixes Colleen crafts each time?

I'm into all different tempos, styles and feelings within music and therefore find it difficult to focus on any particular mood for a long periods and that's why I love Coleen's show as you get to hear a proper range of tempos and feelings.

The problem with being into music in this way is the bank balance and the desire to own a multitude of records. It's funny I was in Betino's record shop in Paris over the Autumn and I had a bunch of records saved to my Discogs wantlist which I was using as a reference when talking to the guy behind the counter. I asked "Do you reckon you have any of these ?" And he was like (with a Parisian accent) "My, my! man! You are into many styles, very eclectic but very taxing on the pocket!". I wouldn't have it any other way tho, I couldn't collect just house music or disco music. I try to pick up all sorts and it can be a nightmare but it also gives you variation of where you can play and many options for the ride.

5) What's ahead for you musicallly speaking?

This year I've got a vinyl release of edits coming out on my new label Melodies of Love in the spring, which have been put together by Silas (also known as Eclectic Journeys). Silas is an original Balearic spirit who now lives in Palma Mallorca and owns the best digging record shop there "Got Blues Listen to Jazz". These edits he has made are unbelievable, they absolutely blew me away, so much so that I've started a record label for the first time in my life to get them out there (also allowing me to have a copy on vinyl). They aren't your big standard edit with a filter in and a 4 to the 4 beat at the start and end. Silas has been very clever in his production on these and I know DJs are going the appreciate the magic of these killer tracks. Honestly, I can see Harvey digging these, hopefully Colleen will dig them too. Check the socials for when that will be dropping over the next month or so but hoping for an April release.

On a DJing tip, I'm hoping to do a couple of festivals in the summer (I was very close to doing We Out Here last year but it didn't happen due to my flight arriving back from a holiday in Vietnam too late, but hoping for a slot there this year), I am also looking into a residency in Liverpool over the summer, but, for the time being, I'll keep on doing the odd gig here and there sporadically (I like it that way sometimes), doing the mixcloud uploads more frequently and also starting my own radio show from my own studio. Of course I'll keep traveling with my lovely wife Lesley (Much love x) whether that be for leisure or accompanying her on her international work schedule, which is very fortunate for me as I'm able to keep searching and discovering the perfect Balearic beat!

Thank you once again Marc!