Rohan Rakhit, a London-based DJ, started a series of in-depth, extended conversations, delving into every corner of the world of music. In this first edition, Rohan interviews Colleen "Cosmo" Murphy. CREDITS Broadcast from Shortlist Sound Radio on Rye Lane, Peckham. Production and Video by @ donut.dj Thank you to Worldwide FM , Rohan Rakhit & Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy Rohan Rakhit on Mixcloud This interview was initially published on Worldwide FM Listen to the episode in its entirety: COLLEEN'S INTERVIEW WITH ROHAN RAKHIT [Rohan] Yes, World Wide Family, you're locked into first light right now with myself, Rohan Rakhit, and I'm so excited to welcome the incredible Colleen Cosmo Murphy.   [Colleen] Oh my gosh, that's such an intro. Thank you.   [Rohan] Was it such an intro? [Colleen] Incredible. my Gosh! [Rohan] I mean, you're someone I've really, really, really looked up to in the industry and followed for a while. We were talking off mic about Love Dancing and what that did in my early 20s, regularly approaching that stage and being inspired by the music that you'd curate and you'd play as well when I've seen you DJ there. So yeah, it's wicked to connect properly.   [Colleen] Oh, thank you so much for inviting me.   [Rohan] Yeah. It's an absolute pleasure. And you're obviously for people, people don't know who you are, but the people that don't know who you are, obviously, DJ, radio host, presenter, founder of classic album Sundays, a former World Wide FM resident as well, we should add. And yeah, I guess the incredible as well to mention that you're a mentee of David Mancuso and like a pivotal part of the loft parties as well. Right. [Colleen] Yeah. [Rohan] I'm really intrigued to touch on all of that and get into that sort of work. How's it been for you since worldwide? Because you stopped broadcasting when the station went on a little hiatus.   [Colleen] Yes. Yeah. Well, I decided to continue because Balearic Breakfast was really or is still it's a community radio show.   [Rohan] Yeah.   [Colleen] And like I live streamed the show as I was doing it, it was happening in real time. It started during the pandemic when people like wanted to see other people as well. So we stream with video and had green screen and really made it into a thing. And people would tune in from all different corners of the world on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 12 noon, you know, British summertime or GMT. And because they got, you know, people have their own social habits and they get used to things. And when Worldwide took a pause, I thought, let's keep the show going. I've been streaming live on Mixcloud anyways, so I just kept it going because I wanted it to be the same time, same day, you know, every week. And it just took off, and it's still going strong. And, you know, I'm doing compilations out of it as well and parties. And it's just it's been great because I love Worldwide FM, as you know. But what's nice as well is that just to have the freedom to be able to even book like community members who aren't necessarily DJs, get them to do a mix. And I can play the kind of odd, weird, obscure 80s pop tune without feeling like, oh, does this really fit to the station's format? You know, because the music's all over the place, which I really like. I mean, there's no boundaries.   [Rohan] Yeah. Having your own platform as well and like you're not answering to anyone is that's that that's the pinnacle. Right.   [Colleen] And yeah, I mean, it's very David Mancuso as well. Kind of David's voice was in my head when I decided to do that. I thought, let's just just keep going. Do it yourself, you know, and see how it goes. And now now I wouldn't change it for the world.   [Rohan] Good for you. Yeah. Well, why does I used to listen to your worldwide shows all the time?   [Colleen] Oh, thank you.   [Rohan] Obviously holds a really special place in like, the culture and the history of radio and especially the past like 10, 15 years. Right. So it's cool to see, yeah, new presenters coming through on the station. Also, what you're doing, bringing newbies through on your platform, is I feel like, yeah, you're someone I really look up to in a real kindred spirit in that way. You know, it's just a shame that our shows clash every Tuesday morning. I'm like, yeah, it's such a shame, isn't it? But yeah, that's why. So, yeah, for context, for my listener base. And I know what you mean about consistency being king. Like people, the number of people that I walk around London now and people are like, oh, Tuesday morning, I put your show on my call. Sorted. It's in the office. It's in the gym, whatever. But yeah, what was I saying? I've lost my train of thought now.   [Colleen] Are you talking about Tuesdays, the consistency?   [Rohan] Tuesdays, consistency. Who knows? Anyway, let's move on to something a bit better. This is how it is. It's just rambly. Oh, my God. I know what I was going to say. I was going to say that. No, I don't. We'll edit this all out. I wanted to get you on. And we're airing this the week before We Out Here festival, a festival that is so, so important in the culture, especially inspiring young people, but also providing that space for that intergenerational conversation that sharing that shared love of music, but literally from infancy to heads, which is really beautiful. And a big part of We Out Here for the friendship that Dom and I have cultivated over the years and a lot of my friends and colleagues and peers, whatever you want to call them in the music industry, have been formed in the love dancing tent.   [Colleen] Oh, my gosh, it's really just such an honor to hear that.   [Rohan] Nice. It's wicked. And I wanted to hear more about the origin story of that, you know? Yeah.   [Colleen] Well, basically, Giles asked us to host a tent for the very first We Out Here festival. Yeah. And we brought in our own sound system, the sound system that we use at our London loft parties, actually the same sound system. And we invited people that do other types of sound systems from around the country to come and play as well. So there was Bonsai Hi-Fi in Liverpool, Rotation from Staffordshire, Cosmic Slot from Leeds, you may remember them and a few others as well. My friend Darren from Love Machine. So it was really, really nice. And that was the first year. Having said that, there were a few DJs that didn't really know how to play on three-way horn loaded speakers that were developed in 1946 and or on class A amplifiers. We had one amplifier that burst into flames.   [Rohan] Really? This was the first year?   [Colleen] This was the first year. And then we had another one of our drivers was, you know, blown in one of our Klipschorns. I think that happened a couple of times. Luckily, we had replacements, you know, we always had backup so we could just fix it. I should say Ian Mackey, our sound engineer, fixed it, not me. And thankfully. And we decided the following year to kind of make more amends and also to kind of up the scale in the terms of how the front end worked to make it easier for DJs to play that may not have the audiophile experience using turntables. So we got like really great kind of DACS digital to analog converters for the we use really high end ones, DCS ones for the CDJs. We have great turntables. We have an array of different types of cartridges from Audio Technica from the really high-end ones that I use, which are like the SL760s. But also the loudspeaker, the whole loudspeaker kind of brand change. We started using Danley as opposed to our old Klipschorns, which I think works better for this environment because now that tent has really grown. I mean, we used a bigger space last year.   [Rohan] Yeah.   [Colleen] And that's as big as we're going. Otherwise, it won't feel like a party. You know, we have that. We still have the sides on the tent. We have the wooden dance floor. And it does feel like a party. You know, you have to get in there.   [Rohan] Yeah.   [Colleen] As opposed to open sides, people drifting in and out. But I think with the Danley system, it's still it's still a horn system. I mean, it's just multiple drivers on a single horn. So it's like the Tom Danley was a big fan of Paul Klipsch. So where those loudspeakers, the Klipschorns came from. So it has just more modern technology. And it works, I think, for more modern DJs as well. So we're still retaining the audiophile ethos, but kind of fusing it with the club PA.   [Rohan] Yeah.   [Colleen] You know, and it's been great because we're inviting all different types of talent now as well. You know, Scruff has his day on Fridays. My husband Trojan Sound System has his day on Thursdays. I have Saturdays for Cosmodelica. And then it's Dingwalls on Sundays. All different types of people.   [Rohan] Yeah. And we'll get into the curation, the nitty gritty later on, I think. But what really strikes me and I won't pretend to be an audiophile, really. I obviously am such a deep appreciator of great sound in a dance and have seen firsthand from being behind the decks how you can change people's lives or literally you elevate a crowd to a different frequency. What I love is this inspiration and through line in your career as well. Right. And that influence of the lot and that influence of David Mancuso into that audiophile appreciation, and how that stood the test of time with you. And for the listeners, my listeners who aren't that way inclined, because a lot of people listen to the show from across the world that aren't necessarily tapped in. I have a lot of listeners in India, for example, that aren't necessarily tapped into that stuff. Do you want to talk to me about the history of or a brief history of the loft and David Mancuso? Of course. Yeah, I think it's really great.   [Colleen] Yeah, I think it'd be really good. Yeah. So my friend David Mancuso started these parties in his home, actually in 1968, the year I was born, but formerly in 1970 on Valentine's Day. And he started his party. He was invitation only. It was in his loft in downtown New York. And he had an audiophile sound system. And he would throw dance parties that were they were based on the Harlem rent parties where, you know, black Americans had moved, migrated from the South, went to Harlem. They weren't allowed in the white clubs, so they made their own and people's houses and people would pay money to come in. And that was contribute towards that person's rent. So it was based on the rent parties. So people made contributions, invitation only. And these parties grew and grew and grew. And they influenced so much of club culture in New York, which was really just starting at the time. There was one DJ, Francis Grasa, who had started mixing in like 1969.   [Rohan] Wow. [Colleen] But really, there weren't many places where you went, where you just went to dance unless it was some kind of society place. These were different. This is like, let your hair down. It's part of the whole drug generation, the LSD kind of psychedelic thing that's going on as well. And Dave was very involved in that and the whole Timothy Leary thing. And in fact, based his musical sets on the Tibetan Book of the Dead with the bardos, the different bardos, the different stages, which also related to an LSD trip.   [Rohan] Wow.   [Colleen] So kind of like the take off, you know, the the build up into the middle part, the big kind of peak time, the circus, and then kind of to a kind of reentry period at the end.   [Rohan] Fascinating.   [Colleen] Yeah. So but he was able to kind of really get people into the nuance and immerse them into the music because of his sound system. And he had started getting into audiophile sound in the mid 60s and he had already put together a system and he just kept building and building upon that system as time went on, even to his passing. I mean, my last voicemails from David were weeks before he died. And he's talking about the koetsus, you know, the moving coil cartridges that are handmade in Japan. And he was very worried that we wouldn't be able to get them repaired. And he was asking me to check in on people in Japan. So it was something he was always constantly thinking about and working. But the parties also didn't just come out of his love of sound and music. It came out of his... of social progress, because this is a time when he had the civil rights movement, gay liberation, women's liberation all happening. And it was a really revolutionary period in America. First, it's, you know, for it's at least in a social sense. Definitely, you know, anti-war demonstrations and all these things are happening. He really wanted a place where people could come together from all different walks of life. And for some of my friends like this one black American guy I've known forever, named David Feldman, he was at David's original parties, a black man who worked, I believe it was for the New York Post. And he worked with all these white co-workers. None of them were his friends. He didn't have friends who were white until he went to the loft. And then he actually made real friendships with, you know, people were just mingling together. It didn't matter if you were gay or hetero or bi or black, white, brown or a woman or a man, whatever. It didn't matter.   [Rohan] Yeah.   [Colleen] And that, I think, is one of the strongest lasting legacies. This is something we're still talking about today. And he was so ahead of his time. So he did a lot. And that his party, the loft, inspired a lot of other parties, many of which are well-known, I should say, clubs like Paradise Garage or the Warehouse, when Frankie Knuckles was playing in Chicago. Frankie and Larry Levan went to the loft. They were loft babies. David Morales went to the loft. I mean, all these kind of peoples, a lot of them started their own thing, even Studio 54, believe it or not, even though it's the antithesis of what David was doing. Yeah. The woman, Carmen D'Alessio, who is the original promoter for Studio 54 was a loft head. And she loved how David's parties were very mixed. And she wanted Studio 54 to be mixed. But what happened, obviously, is they became exclusive where people were choosing people. And it was much, much more commercial and flashy.   [Rohan] What was the ethos of the loft in terms of heads and getting people in?   [Colleen] Well, I mean, it was all friends of friends. So you had to know somebody who would let you in. And then whoever, say you brought somebody with you, you are responsible for them. And then maybe if they went a few times, they could sign up and become a member. And there was no membership fee. That was another thing he didn't like, something he didn't like about the Paradise Garage and other places. That they had membership fees.   [Rohan] How much would they be? I don't know.   [Colleen] I mean, I didn't go to the garage, so I don't know. But maybe I don't have no idea how much they were. But David didn't want that.   [Rohan] Yeah.   [Colleen] He wanted to be as egalitarian as possible, as he possibly could.   [Rohan] You know, that words was bringing out, particularly when you were talking about the influence of the 60s in America, actually, it feels I think it takes a special person to like take a step back, look at the times and be like, I know what we need. And it sounds like it was a real. Yeah, and obviously a really important thing for the culture, but also for a whole generation of people.   [Colleen] Exactly. I mean, I didn't start going until he went on a hiatus. He had moved several places in 1992. He was in the East Village and his parties weren't doing so well then. So I was helping him out. He came up on my radio show, and he and I became friends when I started helping him more with the parties. And then I suggested an idea for some compilations because his story wasn't really known.   [Rohan] Yeah.   [Colleen] You know, I mean, we didn't really there wasn't much online. I mean, the Internet had just really started. And just in a couple of books, he had been in not more passing. He had been in columns by Vince Aletti. But again, those columns were long out of print. They weren't collected into a book. So there was more like kind of mysterious whispers about who David Mancuso was. And I really wanted people, the world to know about what he did. And so I suggested the idea of some compilations. And he wanted to do them with me. We did them with NuPhonic in 1999 and 2000.   [Rohan] Of course.   [Colleen] And that's kind of how his story first got, you know, disseminated to the world. And then his party started in New York, started selling out again. And, you know, he was on his way again, which was great. But I met him at a time where it wasn't that popular. But I just loved what he was doing. And I was just really blown away. And I was I love being able to go there alone as a woman and not being kind of, you know, having to look over my shoulder all the time. Yeah, it's great. I felt completely free.   [Rohan] And he became a mentor to you.   [Colleen] Yeah, he did. I mean, I had studied sound. I went to New York University in the 80s. I had been on the radio for gosh, since 1982. I'd already lived in Japan before I met him. But I had studied sound and I did more the recording side. I was actually producing syndicated radio shows when I met David. And I was doing it all on tape. So I was you know, everything was spliced on quarter inch and half inch reel to reel tape. And so I was doing a lot of that kind of, you know, I know how to engineer, edit the old analog way and all that. But I didn't really know about playback audio, the playback audio file side. I, you know, grew. I had a terrible little sound system at home, you know, that what I could afford. So when he asked me to start playing records with him, I was so worried about the cartridges. There were two thousand dollars each and he only had two. And if I did something wrong, he would only have one. And he didn't have the money at the time to fix them. [Rohan] That's a big responsibility. [Colleen] It was a big responsibility. I was like less than 25 years old, you know. And but he taught me piece by piece. And when we started our parties here in London in 2003, he's a lucky. No, it's called the London Loft. I no longer associate with some of the lucky cloud members. Many of us left and David always wanted he knew it was the loft in London. Interesting. And there were some people who will just leave it there. Yeah, that's fine. Different visions and yeah, boys club scenarios. Yeah, I'll leave it at that.   [Rohan] Say no more. Yeah, exactly. And the music industry realness.   [Colleen] Yes, 100 percent. So you so yeah. So we started the loft in London in 2003 with a group of people and many of whom are still with us today. And it was great. It was wonderful to start that here in London. And then we bought our own sound system. And that, I think, was probably. The first starting point for audiophile parties in the UK, possibly Europe.   [Rohan] Wow.   [Colleen] Possibly. I can't say that exactly. Someone could say, oh, someone else did this then. But I don't know.   [Rohan] It's worldwide FM. Someone will.   [Colleen] Exactly. Somebody will. But I just thought, you know, it's also a classic album. Sundays also sort of came out of that as well. My my listening sessions that I started 15 years ago this year.   [Rohan] Wow. Yeah. The anniversary coming.   [Colleen] Yeah, exactly.   [Rohan] And yeah, I mean, that's a whole different conversation, isn't it? And the importance of those. And I'm listening to those back in the day. But yeah, a really useful context about the work and linking it to audiophile culture and sound particularly. And yeah, what I love is this, like, through line again to sound system culture. And we were talking off mic earlier about how many genres and scenes you've been an affiliate of. From being in the States and the house scene to being in the UK and flying the flag for like Broken Beat or House Here as well. But yeah, I think that through line of sound system culture to me and with the audiophile culture and letting songs play and like your style of DJing as well is like really, really inspiring and really unique as well. Oh, thank you.   [Colleen] Thank you. I go through phases to like sometimes I'll be in a more of a disco phase right now. Feeling like house music is really fresh to me again. And I was in a bit of a broken beat phase, but I think I play best when I'm doing all of it together, you know, because also rock is my background as well. So, you know, when we out here, I played a 20 minute version of Rare Earth, Get Ready. Oh, and it went crazy. It was so funny. It was my last song of the night before Ashley Beadle and Rob Mello took over.   [Rohan] Yeah.   [Colleen] And I just started playing it. And then the the generator went out and so it was just silence, no lights, nothing. And it was five minutes to get everything on again. And then when it came back on, I started again. And then the crowd went wild. And so many people thought, did you plan that moment? Did you plan for the generator to actually just turn off? It wasn't planned, but it was like such a moment, a real euphoria. And I'll never forget that. But yeah, I think, you know, when I can mix it up, that's my happy place.   [Rohan] Definitely. I love when you reach that moment in the DJ set where. Yeah, we all know it, when you reach a point where anything you drop, you're like, I've got them, I've got them, they're with me. And you've done that. But with the generator going off there, they're with you still.   [Colleen] Exactly, they were still with me, they didn't leave, you know, they didn't leave. I thought, oh, they're all going to leave the tent now. And they didn't. I was like, wow, I was really thankful.   [Rohan] I've got them.   [Colleen] Yeah.   [Rohan] We out here, we out here in the Love Dancing Tent. We were talking off mic earlier. But for all the listeners, obviously, we've got the Love Dancing Tent, which backs on to Lemon Loundridge. And right sandwich in the middle is Goodness Gracious Feast. Shout out Madhu Aunty's Goodness Gracious Feast. And all of us just hanging out back there, popping, popping in between each stage with a samosa and chai in one hand. I like that is my the pinnacle of happiness in my summer.   [Colleen] It's so great. I love how we back up to Lemon Lounge because I love what George is doing, too. I feel like it's our sibling tent.   [Rohan] Yes. You know, because there's so much sound.   [Colleen] Yeah. The younger sibling tent.   [Rohan] Yeah, I love it. It's really, really cool. I want to I want to touch upon this mentorship thing as well. And I mentioned briefly to you before about how how difficult it is to break into the industry right now as a new voice, as an emerging voice or DJ. And I've been so, so fortunate throughout my career to have some really amazing mentors helping me, namely Errol from Touching Base, Robert Louis from True Thoughts as well. And like, yeah, super inspiring. Yeah, of course. But yeah, how I want to understand this relationship of mentorship that you had. But more importantly, I think there's always there's always a thing I feel, especially that there's a lot of bitterness in this music industry, right? And people can really backstab me. Yeah, really look at and I know people looking at me being like, why you? Why? Why? Why this? Why radio? Why do you still have it today? Yeah.   [Colleen] But yeah, believe me, I still I still get it. You know, even people bullying me up to two weeks ago saying nasty stuff about me. On social media, really? Yeah, it still happens. Again, boys club stuff. Yeah, it's been really difficult.   [Rohan] I think as any sort of minority in the game, I think it really is. Oh, you're there because you're a minority.   [Colleen] Exactly.   [Rohan] As opposed to like.   [Colleen] But, you know, the funny thing is, I wasn't there 35 years ago because I was a minority back then. I mean, if you got one woman on a bill or on a roster.   [Rohan] Right.   [Colleen] That's it. There wouldn't be any others. And I remember even like, you know, trying to get a manager and I or an agent, I think at one point I had just had a daughter and, you know, things went kind of quiet because out of sight, out of mind.   [Rohan] Yeah.   [Colleen] And and it wasn't like today where people who have had children have been encouraged. Like I see Jam Supernova, which is amazing. Ash Loren, which is amazing. My friend, Barbie British. It's great. I'm so happy that they have this.   [Rohan] Yeah.   [Colleen] But for women like Marcia Carr or myself, you know, you had a child and it was like the tumbleweeds, you know, it's like, that's that, you know, there were still people that looked out for me. But like my mentors, Francois Kaye was one of them and David and. I think mentorship isn't it's not really about what to play. We talk about music, but it's how to handle things and also giving people breaks. And I also mentor people as well. Quite a few Tina Edwards, Barbie British, Pritpal Ajamal.   [Rohan] Yeah.   [Colleen] So a bunch of people and I just give advice and try to hook people up with things, whether it's, you know, trying to hook someone up with a label or whatever. I love being of service in that sense because I've had people help me and that's just the way it goes.   [Rohan] Yeah.   [Colleen] Now why people are chosen. I mean, I asked David this one of the last times he came over to the States, to the UK. I asked, why did you ask me to play records when I was only 24 years old? You know, I didn't know how to use a Koetsus. I didn't know about the sound system at that point in time. And, you know, I'd only trust me with that, but also with your crowd, you know, who are very discerning, very discerning crowd. I mean, that is a really discerning crowd.   [Rohan] That audiophile crowd?   [Colleen] Well, it's not the audiophile crowd, it's the loft crowd.   [Rohan] Got you.   [Colleen] Because they've been going on for so long, they knew their music.   [Rohan] Yeah.   [Colleen] And, you know, it wasn't you couldn't play one of these cheap house tracks that sampled every song, you know, the big disco hits. Just play the original.   [Rohan] You know what I mean?   [Colleen] And he said to me about me, he said, it starts with a vibe long before one hits the turntable. So it's established by a trust and a like minded spirit. And you can feel that with people when you're on the same wavelength, whether it's musical, personality wise, morality wise or whatever. And, yeah, there's just a you know, you feel something when you meet someone, there's something there. And, you know, that's that's what I felt with David and what he felt with me when we got to know each other, you know, shortly after I started going there. So I'm really lucky. I'm really lucky. But, you know, it's also brought a lot of resentment towards me as well, which is by a certain groups of people who maybe didn't have that David didn't, you know, choose to kind of yeah, to to to play records or to, you know, to manage his legacy or whatever. So that's that's been a lot of heartbreak, too, as well. So sometimes I think you look at people's lives, you think, oh, they have everything. They look like everything's going great. But, you know, you never really know what's going behind the scenes. And that's the truth for everybody.   [Rohan] Definitely. Thank you for being so honest as well. Yeah, I think a lot of I know a lot of my audience are emerging artists. And the beauty of having this weekly radio show for me and the conversations that I facilitate is like I don't really know what I know what I'm doing. I know where I'm going. I don't know how. So these conversations are so useful for all of us to learn together, you know, especially you like being like, do you know what? Let's talk about bitterness in the industry. Let's talk about imposter syndrome in the industry.   [Colleen] Imposter syndrome is massive. I mean, yeah, I think I held my own self back for quite a while, even though you look at my career and it looks like I did well. I think sometimes maybe I didn't have enough. Like I had to be asked into the studio to become a producer. I was asked in 1997 by Tommy Musto, who has had a label called Suburban. He produced a lot of great soulful house tunes that I played all the time. He came into dance tracks where I was working. I played all their records on my radio show. And when he asked me to produce a song, I actually had been writing songs. I just hadn't done anything with the lyrics, with verses and choruses and chords and all that. And so finally I had the opportunity. And really, I always kind of waited to be asked. And in fact, I'm still sort of like that. And I'm amazed when anybody, any gender comes up and they put themselves out there. I'm like, gosh, that's really cool of you. I I always waited to be asked, which is fun. I was asked to join World Wide FM. I was asked to host a tent. I was asked to do all these things. I was asked to play at Body and Souls, asked to play, you know, at The Loft. I never just put myself out there. Very rarely have I asked for things. There have been a few occasions where I felt comfortable enough where I thought I just got to do it. I was asked to do the radio shows. It was like everything I was asked to do. And I think like if I had. If I had been a guy. Would I have handled all that differently? I probably would have, whether or not I would have been more or less successful, I can't tell you. I don't have a you know, I have no idea, no means of knowing that. Yeah, but I definitely did have imposter syndrome and on many different angles, you know, like I never thought I'd be a touring DJ, I never thought I'd be producing. I never, you know.   [Rohan] Yeah, it's odd. You know, I feel like you're yeah, really talking to me right now as well. I am exactly the same as you. And yeah, like I'm now at the point where labels are asking me to remix things and I'm like, I don't know how to do that. But like one day I'll learn. And like it's cool. You sort of see the cogs turning or like this is the opportunity. This is the road map. OK, maybe I should do this one.   [Colleen] Just do it.   [Rohan] Yeah.   [Colleen] And, you know, it's the thing is everyone is a beginner at some point. And in fact, I think the best producers, DJs or artists are always beginners, is kind of like learning a martial art. You should always be a beginner. Right.   [Rohan] Yeah.   [Colleen] And have that attitude. Like I'm always open to learning new things. You know, I look back, I listen to some of my old productions. I can hear all the mistakes and everything I would change. But I'm so proud of them. I think they still have their own merit and I don't play them. I rarely listen to them, but I'm so proud of them.   [Rohan] Yeah.   [Colleen] And, you know, I'm happier now with my productions now. But still, even then, like I finished production, I played a few times and I'm on to the next thing. You know, it's like almost not looking back too much. You can't.   [Rohan] I feel that way about my radio shows. Oh, yeah, literally charting. God knows how many years I've been doing this sort of stuff. But listen back the other day when I was based in Nottingham. I was telling you I used to radio for a community station called City Beat Radio. And the room was probably probably the size of this sofa, actually. It was honestly a shoebox. There were so many amazing things came out of that. But I listened back the other day and I was like, wow, you did not know what you were doing, bro.   [Colleen] Oh, my. I started when I was 14.   [Rohan] Wow.   [Colleen] And I had I have one tape from my high school radio show. I literally have a Boston accent. And I'm like, WHHB, W, W, W. And I hardly spoke at all. And then when I moved to New York, I started it was like every kind of phase I went through had a different style. And then when I was doing live house shows in New York, it was like, this is Cosmo and ninety one, you know, eighty nine point one FM. And I was like, you know, just it was like the more of a New York accent. And yeah, it was really it's I look back now and sometimes some people have been posting up my old mixes, radio shows on SoundCloud, which has been a trip. Wow. This guy, MJ Tracks, has been posting them up recordings. Actually, I've been loving it. Actually, there's enough distance now. I almost look at that person as my daughter, like not even as myself. I can't even remember. It's me, you know.   [Rohan] Wow.   [Colleen] And yeah, it's really I'm very proud of the work I've done, even if I don't think it's the radio shows I do think are great. I would say my early productions, I did the best I could, you know, and I'd change things, but it's you have to start somewhere. And it's always a growing experience. I could listen to a radio show of mine two weeks ago and think I should have done this differently.   [Rohan] Yeah, I feel that all the time.   [Colleen] Yeah. And that's just the way it should be. You should always be evolving and, you know, pushing yourself forward, you know, and not getting too comfortable resting upon your laurels for real.   [Rohan] And another reason why I really wanted to talk to you. I think we're well, I know I don't know how much you know about my career. And if you know nothing, I love that even more, to be quite honest. But I do a lot of work in programming and curating and both as a freelancer. But the raves going back five, six years now to festival stages, to poetry nights, the Royal Albert Hall, all sorts of things. Which is we'll talk off mic. It's something I'm really, really passionate about and like putting people on and supporting artists as young as me, younger than me, older than me. You don't have haven't been celebrated. We're talking about Marsha Kyle, one of my favorite DJs.   [Colleen] She's fabulous.   [Rohan] Unbelievable.   [Colleen] She's unreal.   [Rohan] I shared a line up with her at Love Supreme Festival last year and just warmed up for her. And I was like completely blown away. I just sat behind her with a beer, just in complete awe and just learned so much.   [Colleen] She can do it all as well. She played for Love at Love Dancing for us. She was on my radio show a few weeks ago.   [Rohan] Brilliant.   [Colleen] And she can just do the whole thing. She can mix it up.   [Rohan] Yeah, completely. I wanted to talk to you about curating for Love Dancing and how that works, because you mentioned earlier in the show, but how you split the sort of days so everyone takes their own day. So what day are you doing this year?   [Colleen] I do Saturday. So it's a Cosmodelica takeover. And Cosmodelica is also the name of an old radio show I used to host on Ministry of Sound Radio, but it's also the name of my remixes and kind of like my remixes, which are all over the place from down tempo to psychedelic, to indie, to house, to broken beats, to soul, all that stuff, disco. I want the lineup to reflect that as well. So on the kind of more spacey side, we are opening up the show, the whole day with Pritpal Ajmal's way of the verses with Indian classical. So I think in the morning at 11 a.m., I think, what do people want? And I love to lay on the floor with some incense, listening to that, easing into the day. Then Sky Rager is from Psych Magic as well. Danny Sky Rager, he's doing more of a psychedelic, you know, not necessarily dance floor oriented. It might be some of it, but kind of building up from there. Then the balleric side is represented by Balleric London, who are a young group of people, which is great.   [Rohan] Out to them.   [Colleen] Yeah, out to them. Really great people. Then there's a great, I always try to feature a lot of women, obviously, because it's something that's really important to me. Usually about half my lineup is is women.   [Rohan] Right.   [Colleen] And Eavesdrop Collective are back. They did a great job last year. So they're back. Yeah. Then the next thing I'm trying to do, which has worked the last couple of years, is to get up and coming DJs from New York City because of my link with New York. So two years ago I had Love Injection. Last year I had Muscle Cars.   [Rohan] Memorable.   [Colleen] Yeah, that was great. And this this time I have Lovey, which is great.   [Rohan] Can't wait.   [Colleen] Then me. And then I always have a kind of more of like a heritage act, I'd like to say. So I had Greg Wilson last year. I've had Ashley Beedle before. And this year I have my mentor, Francois Kay. Crazy. So it's like a nice. And we're also, Francois is also doing a live stems set, which is really interesting. He gets the stems or he creates the stems for different tracks and he live produces a whole set by using stems for an hour. Wow. So that's happening, too. So there's a lot to do. But I try to reflect what Cosmodelica means and what it's like, all those different genres of music and getting up and coming talent to more established talent and really trying to keep it nice and diverse as well. So that's really what my headset is like for the Saturdays.   [Rohan] I'm so excited. But obviously the world does hate us both. You know, I would think we're clashing. I know exactly.   [Colleen] We've got the Tuesday radio class. We've got the reality class.   [Rohan] I'll come. I'll come after for Francois.   [Colleen] Yeah, exactly. Sounds good.   [Rohan] I'll see you with a samosa backstage. That would be amazing.   [Colleen] And some chai.   [Rohan] Yeah, I'll bring you some. I'll bring you some chai. But how does it work with the other people curating the days? Is it are you having conversation throughout?   [Colleen] It's just like, well, my husband does Thursday, so we're talking.   [Rohan] You are talking. That's good.   [Colleen] And we have the bright. He has got the brighter days crew in as well.   [Rohan] OK, cool.   [Colleen] He has Daddy G from Massive Attack because they've been friends for a long time. You know, Trojan style system has supported Massive Attack as well. They have the Fat Freddy's drop. Joey playing. He is playing trumpets, trombone, trumpet. I can't whatever. But yeah, there's a bunch there's a bunch of other people playing his day, too. I'm trying over everybody. But yes, we're in conversation. And yeah, usually Scruff and I, we're all kind of looped in sort of talking. And I'm asked, you know, there's certain people that we want to get in a tent that may not be available. We're always talking. His wife is part of eavesdrop as well. OK, although she's not playing on my day, she might be playing on his day. We're kind of like a family. I mean, I've known Andy since I moved over. Yeah, yeah. I think I stayed with them. I did a benefit of breast cancer awareness for his wife at one point. I mean, before before kids, I'd be like over 20 years ago. Well, yeah, so it is like a family affair. And then Ian Mackey, who is our sound engineer for the London Loft, is also the engineer. He's the prime guy for the sound system.   [Rohan] That's beautiful.   [Colleen] Touching bass are doing a takeover on Friday for Scruff.   [Rohan] Nice.   [Colleen] Absolutely. They were trying to get Lovey and like, no, I already got her. I already got her in December. Get your own New Yorkers.   [Rohan] They did.   [Colleen] It was just great. So the whole it's always, you know, I generally spend most of my time there. And then I start to feel guilty because everywhere is great stuff, isn't it? And, you know, I just on Sunday I tend to move around a bit more, you know, and there's so many things that are clashing that I want to see. I want to see Theo Parrish on Thursday. My husband is playing and it's like all these different clashes. But I am excited to to see Michael Kumanuka on Sunday. I've seen him perform a couple of times before. And I'm very excited.   [Rohan] Yeah, I'm Dom and I are performing on Sunday as well.   [Colleen] Really?   [Rohan] We're DJing together at Brawnswood.   [Colleen] OK, what time?   [Rohan] I can't remember right now.   [Colleen] OK, I'll have to come by.   [Rohan] Yeah, at two. OK, great.   [Colleen] That's my day off. You'll see me floating around with a very happy smile on my face. Hopefully, as long as I did well the night before. It's always like, you know, nerve wracking.   [Rohan] I'm sure it will go incredibly well.   [Colleen] I hope so.   [Rohan] Yeah. Looking back on on Love Dancing and we out here over the years, obviously there's such good problems to have of like the clashes. And what are your some of the like what are your seminal standout moments that like rain and stick in your brain about the tent and over the years?   [Colleen] Yeah, we've had so many. I mean, Dingwalls is great on a Sunday. And we had these dancers last year that just blew my mind. Proper jazz dancers. We have wooden platforms next to the DJ booth. And just watching and hearing Louie Vega, who I've known for a long time as a friend. And I was on my radio show in the 90s, but I always played all his productions and. Hearing him play more of his roots of Latin jazz. I mean, Hector Laveau was his uncle, you know, I mean, he has a real tie with Latin jazz, hearing him to the Latin jazz that was really interesting. This year we have Spina at Dingwalls. So he'll be doing something like something I haven't usually heard him do. I have to say Greg Wilson's set last year really blew me away. He was so sweet. Like, you know, this is the kind of the set that you're kind of dreading and looking forward to and thinking about all year. And he really did a stellar job having like young people like muscle cars. You know, that was such a moment. And I remember coming on the mic with barely any voice saying, this is the new sound of New York. [Rohan] I remember. I remember that moment.   [Colleen] Oh, yeah. Oh, I was just like, oh, my gosh, I really just love that. Eavesdrop had such an energy as well. Just they just it was off the hook. Have seen Trojan Sound System. I've loved Scruff and Charlie Dark's back to back sets as well. They've been really such a highlight. Yeah, there's always love. It's Sunday night, last set and always there for Patrick. Patrick Forge has been one of my favorite DJs. And, you know, understand. Yeah. I mean, I remember getting a modal jazz comp of his right when I moved over and it was in my car and it got broken into in Sheffield in the parking lot after a gig, all my CDs got taken. That was one of them. But I just love his musical sensibility. I listen to his shows as well. And he does all different types of sounds. But I mean, I love when he plays jazz.   [Rohan] Yeah, the dance floor jazz.   [Colleen] Oh, it's so good. It wasn't really a movement in the US. It was a movement here.   [Rohan] Interesting.   [Colleen] So even though there might be a lot of American artists that are being played, not necessarily all, but a lot. It wasn't a movement in the US. And so that's why I really love it and appreciate it, because it's kind of new or newish for me, I should say. And who was over? There was some American DJs over at Muscle Cars, in fact, when they were over last year and they were watching on Sunday, the dancers. I said, see, this scene is a very UK scene, you know. And Louis, Louis knows more about it because he's been coming here a lot longer. But yeah, they were just like, wow, jaws down. Like, wow, I can't believe this. It's a whole different thing that we don't really have.   [Rohan] Yeah, we've we're we're so lucky that we were just tapped into all these little pockets and scenes are just like bubbling up and something I love to rep in my DJ sets as well. That dance floor jazz into Brock.   [Colleen] Yeah, and that's definitely a UK influence. A hundred percent. I mean, there's some artists I played, you know, like Lonnie Liston Smith or whatever. But yeah, that whole going deep and finding all these kind of obscure tunes, it's definitely a UK thing and it's very addictive. I love it. And also I, you know, I noticed some of my sets sometimes I went through like more of a jazzy phase and didn't really want to play anything for to the floor. And. But I think I'm best when I do mix it up. Yeah, it's probably what I should try to do more of, you know.   [Rohan] Yeah, definitely. Colleen, yeah. Thank you so much for joining me.   [Colleen] Thank you. Such a good time chatting to you. Yeah, thank you. That's been great chatting to you as well.   [Rohan] We'll see what we out here.   [Colleen] See what we out here. Yeah. So excited. And I can't wait to listen to your show after the fact because I'll be DJing at the same time. Yeah, I know.   [Rohan] Oh, classic. I'll try. I'm going to try record my set. Are we out here?   [Colleen] Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Thank you. Thank you.   [Rohan] Really appreciate it.   [Colleen] Thank you.

Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy broadcast the 235th episode of Balearic Breakfast on her Mixcloud on August 12th 2025. ABOUT THIS EPISODE Just before embarking on her beloved WOH Journey – along with Adam and Ariana, who will be the very first to play at The Love Dancing Tent on Thursday (3-5), right when the site opens – Colleen presented the 235th episode of Balearic Breakfast, allowing the Family to discover the great talent that is Mixmaster Morris (our friend Trevor Levene saying "In my world, this Mix is So good... MixmasterMorris we thank you")! On the chat, the atmosphere was very joyous, with our friend Popdiscorules perfectly summing up today's vibe, saying, "Beautiful, dreamy show"! Ironically, as SwayoftheVerses shared with us on the chat, we had a double dose of Colleen as Worldwide FM was airing an interview our dear Captain did with Rohan Rakhit, laughs! Did we all lose our heads? Well, for sure we did, as Colleen also shared with us that we'll celebrate the 5th Anniversary of Balearic Breakfast on Tuesday, the 16th September, during one of our beloved Marathon shows! Also, last but not least, we will have a special mix by our pal, Sean-E, next Tuesday! As you already know, Balearic Breakfast is the show that keeps on giving... "Nowhere else will we enjoy stories of kimonos getting tangled in the decks! Top show as ever, Colleen" (CountofMonteChristo)... Listen back to the 235th episode of Balearic Breakfast: This morning’s Balearic Breakfast is now up on my Mixcloud (please give me a follow while you’re over there). Today’s show features some new music, requests and also an interview with and an exclusive mix from Mixmaster Morris, a pioneer of The Chill Out Room. I love his musical knowledge and breadth and I’m sure you will too. Heading off to We Out Here tomorrow and I’ll be hosting Balearic Breakfast on We Out Here Radio on Worldwide FM this Friday from 11am to 1pm. If you’re on site, please say hello! And please also join me for the Cosmodelica & Friends in our Love Dancin’ tent on Saturday. I’ll be back on the airwaves next Tuesday, streaming on my Mixcloud Live from the record room catching up on some new tunes and as I most likely won’t have a voice after We Out Here we will also have an exclusive mix from Balearic Breakfast Family Member Sean E from the Mel0maniacs collective. Thanks for listening. Thanks to Marijn Veraart for the pic taken at Houghton Festival. THE PLAYLIST (XX) The Grid – Floatation (Mark Barrott's Ibiza Sunrise 90's Re-Work) (2024) Sly5thAve – Exodus (2025) Hannah Cohen – Dusty Mixmaster Morris Mix (2004) Jon Hopkins – Luna Moth (1975) Chuck Mangione – Soft (2005) Massive Attack – Two Rocks and a Cup of Water (1991) Miranda Sex Garden – Gush Forth My Tears (1992) Deep Forest – Sweet Lullaby (ambient mix) (2025) Bill Callahan – Riding for the Feeling (2013) Kuniyuki Takahashi ft Joyce Bowden – Forest Song (1971) Les Crane – Nature (1998) Weldon Irvine – Morning Sunrise (1974) Chico Hamilton – Gengis (2016) Jacob Collier – In the Real Early Morning (1985) Wim Mertens – Struggle for Pleasure (2017) Leftfield – Melt (Quiet Village Remix) (1974) Prelude – After the Goldrush (1968) Harvey Mandel – Cristo Redentor (2009) Boozoo Bajou – Same Sun (2014) Moses Sumney – Plastic (1965) Nina Simone – Feeling Good (2025) Loredana Berte & Dimitri from Paris – In Alto Mare (Adriatique Remix) (2022) Ian Vale – Loft Music (Jezebel's DC Metro Mix) (2025) Daniel Monaco Band – Get Naked and Fly (2025) Phenomenal Handclap Band ft Morgan Phalen – We Are Worlds Away (2012) Eddie Palmieri – Mi Congo Te Llama (Sacred Rhythm Dub Mix) ANNOUNCEMENTS (From Colleen's presentation) This week it's all about We Out Here Festival. We are headed over tomorrow for the sound set-up on our Love Dance and tent and I'm really excited about this year's lineup on all of the days actually. Thursday's programmed by my husband Daddy Ad of Trojan Sound System and joining them on the bill are Don Letts and also Massive Attack's Daddy G. Friday is Mr. Scruff along with the Touching Bass Crew. Sunday is Dingwalls with Giles Peterson, Patrick Forge, Kev Beetle, Coco Maria and DJ Spina is also joining them. And of course, Saturday is the day I program and, for this year's Cosmodelica and friends, I have invited Sway of the Verses, who's been up on the show, Sky Rager, who is Danny from Psych Magic, Ballearic London, Eavesdrop Collective are coming back, my friend Lovey from New York City and also my dear friend Francois K, who's doing both a live stem set and he's also doing a DJ set. I'll be spinning from 10.30pm to 1.30am on Saturday night if you want to swing by. And I'm also hosting a Balleric Breakfast Show on We Out Here Radio on Friday, from 11am to 1pm. So I hope to see you there. [...] And I should just say our next London Loft Party is the 21st of September and it's in a new home on the River Lee in Hackney Wick. And if you want to join us and you're not on the mailing list, please DM me and we'll sort that out. ABOUT THE SONGS (Excerpts from Colleen's presentation) In today's episode, Colleen selected the following songs. Mark Barrott's Ibiza Sunrise 90s rework mix of the 1990 chill-out track Flotation by The Grid. Mark is the founder or was the founder of International Feel. He's an amazing producer and he's worn so many hats and monikers, but over the last few years he's recorded some amazing albums under his own name like Jōhatsu and Everything Changes, Nothing Ends, about the passing of his late wife and I interviewed him for Balearic Breakfast. I want to say it was a couple years ago and he talks about both of those albums. You can find it on my Mixcloud. Mark recently sent over a host of remixes of that Balearic Classic, so keep your eyes and ears peeled. This next one is by Texan multi-instrumentalist, producer, arranger and composer Sly Fifth Avenue or Sly5thAve, which is Sylvester Uzoma Onyejiaka II. He's released some great albums on the label Tru-Thoughts, and his third Liberation was released last year and features beautiful orchestral arrangements, jazz improv and hip hop beats. Following that is a track from San Francisco singer-songwriter musician Hannah Cohen from her latest album, Earthstar Mountain. This next one is a rework of a 1980 tune from Italian singer, songwriter and icon Loredana Berté. She has worked with some of the greats, including Pino Daniele and Ivano Fossati, and has released dozens of albums since 1974 in an array of musical styles. Dimitri from Paris remixed the opening song from her self-titled 1980 LP. And this is the Adria Dic remix of In Alto Mare. Jezebel's DC Metro mix of Loft music by Ian Vale. And yes, that was me sampled talking about the Loft. I remember, I think Ian did send me that way back and I kind of, I don't know, got lost in all the music. And so Jezebel just sent me that one or maybe John Boakum did. In any case, it's really interesting hearing yourself on a record and you didn't even know you're going to be on a record. So thank you for that. The Daniel Monaco Band, which is an international group led by Italian bassist Daniele Labbate. Blending jazz, funk, house and disco with live energy, their debut EP Get Naked and Fly really captures years of collaboration and experimentation. And we heard the title track, and that's coming out in September on Isle of Jura, and you can preorder that on Bandcamp. Phenomenal hand clap band featuring Morgan Phalen with We Are Worlds Away. And that was written and recorded in Stockholm Sweden's Pansamarangon studio with the help of longtime collaborators Fedrik Swan from Dungan and Melody's Echo Chamber and Morgan Phalen of Justice and Drakkar Nowhere. And that is coming out on New Blue Records in early October. So, yeah, that's quite an advanced exclusive there for you. Before I go, I want to pay tribute to a Latin jazz icon who passed to the next realm a few days ago. The late New Yorican pianist, composer and bandleader Eddie Palmieri. The New Yorker of Puerto Rican descent embarked upon a musical journey at a young age. He performed at Carnegie Hall at the age of 11. A few years later, in the 1950s, he played with Tito Rodriguez's Orchestra. And in 1961, he founded his own band, Conjunto, La Perfecta. He explored Latin jazz over the course of around 50 albums and sadly passed at the age of 88 last week. Joe Clausell's brother, Jose, played percussion for Palmieri. I remember hanging out with him at the back of Dance Tracks. And Joe had the chance to remix one of Palmieri's classic tracks for a Fania reissue 12 inch. Here is a Sacred rhythm dub of Mi Congo Te Llama. And may Eddie Palmieri rest in paradise. MIXMASTER MORRIS'S INTERVIEW WITH COLLEEN [Colleen] Okay, Balearicans, up next, we have a mix from somebody that I have wanted to get a mix from for ages, really, since I started Balearic Breakfast. And he's so obvious to have as a guest that it's taken this long to actually get it together. With me in the studio is Mix Master Morris. Hi, Morris. How are you? [Morris] Good morning. [Colleen] Good to see you. Thank you so much for joining us. [Morris] My pleasure. [Colleen] You know, I was talking about you recently, I was playing the Irresistible Force as a request on the show. And I was talking about your whole role as really an originator and an innovator of the chill-out room. And I mean, you've been doing this for gosh, over 35 years now. Is that correct? [Morris] Yeah, yeah, really started kind of 89. Because I have to say, I saw Alex Patson and Jimmy Courtney and Youth playing at Heaven. And immediately I thought, I would like to do that as well. I was making tapes already like that. But when I saw what they were doing, which was a which was a shambles, but it was a glorious shambles. And so I thought, okay, that was my inspiration. And I hadn't even been to Ibiza at that point. So I took it like some different places. Because I was on the techno scene for quite a while, because I was working for a Rising High label back then. So I was often, I was more often playing in Germany, and Holland, places like that. So kind of, I had a completely different growing up than a lot of other DJs, you know, who were at Ibiza at that time. [Colleen] Now, you were also part of the whole free party scene, correct? [Morris] A little bit. I played with Spiral Tribe a few times. And their very earliest parties were really, really good. But then it got a bit more, I didn't like it later on. But then next time, you can do what you like. And that's what I like, is doing what I like. You know, not having to go very fast all the time. And yes, we did free parties. I was the DJ for The Shaman for a couple of years. And they would put on free parties. And they were always a hoot. [Colleen] So you've really seen the development of this entire Acid House scene pretty much from day one until now. And you're still involved, unlike, you know, others that haven't become as involved. And also, tellingly, you never sold out. Which gives you a lot of kudos points, you know, because I'm not going to mention names, but somehow have, you know, play music, which is fine. Anyway, play music that is still, you know, for the masses. And I get it. I understand that. But musically, you have always kept it real. Or as Mr. Scruff says, in a sense, you've kept it unreal, because it's quite surreal. [Morris] I'd rather say I love Mr. Scruff. He's one of my favorite DJs. And if I'm at a festival, I always go and see him. And if I see him walking somewhere at a festival, I always follow him because he knows where the good artists are playing. I was late for my own set at Houghton because I was watching him playing like Marleyan horror music, you know, to a huge crowd who'd never heard it before. [Colleen] Oh, wow. What's the kind of main difference that you see nowadays when you're going to festivals as in terms of the difference from the old days and the kind of the free party scene that you're doing with people, groups like Spiral Drive? [Morris] Everything when it starts is more fresh and exciting. And it really was exciting and fresh in the early days. And, you know, it got less fresh. And you just hear the same old records all the time. And I wish people would just dig a bit deeper and look a bit further. And, you know, not just play chart hits all the time, maybe. [Colleen] The thing is, is you still have such a great passion. I remember over the pandemic, some DJs like us, we had to keep doing mixes and doing things even though we weren't getting hired. You were doing it because it was almost a necessity. And you were doing all sorts of really niche kinds of mixes to really getting in there into a certain genre and really exploring it. What is it that keeps your passion aflame? Well, I always want to hear new music. [Morris] And, you know, there's always something out there you've not heard yet. And it's going to blow your mind. And if you don't look, you're not going to find it. And of course, I had this background that I was working at Mixmag and NME and reviewing for them. So I had to go out digging every week and then find tunes to write about. So for a long time, I only played new music. But actually going to Ibiza, one of the things I learned is you can play old music as well. [Colleen] I'm on a tip right now where I'm just trying, I'm actually just really into playing new music. I kind of go through phases. I'll go through phases, like a rock kind of phase, and then I'll go through a disco phase. And then now, now I'm kind of like on a new kind of house phase. And I still play a lot of different things like yourself, but there always seems to be something of the moment that I'm really just kind of feeling because I guess I get bored of doing the same stuff. Is that is that how you feel as well? Do you just get bored if you're doing the same old thing? [Morris] Yes. And I fall in love with an artist or label and I want to support them, you know, and somebody who's up and coming. Like, I've been supporting brain feeder label for a few years. And I've been following Thundercats 15 years and playing his music. And, you know, 10 years ago, people just did not know what it was. But pretty much now the world knows who Thundercats is. Yes, absolutely. Perhaps I could seize that one and move on to somebody else. And in the UK, I've always, at the moment I support labels like True Thoughts. And well, True Thoughts for years, I was going to say First Word is a really good label. And you know, whatever label is pushing the envelope a little bit. Those are the people you want to get behind, you know, people are taking a few risks and they need support. [Colleen] Totally agree with you. And I'm all for that. There's one label I really like, and they've been doing a lot of very interesting reissues. We release whatever the fuck we want records. Exactly. And I hear that Ollie is reissuing your Flying High and your Global Chillage albums. That is true. [Morris] And I have a test pressing of Flying High, so I think it's quite imminent. But I can't actually give you a date of when it's going to come out. But that, of course, was my first album. And that's kind of what put me on the map. And it was licensed in Japan and America. So it got me playing in those countries for the first time. So it was, you know, kind of a turning point in my life. And people still love that record. So, you know, it's so long ago. It's an entire new generation. They've been born since it came out. So I hope that they enjoy it as much as the older ones do. [Colleen] Yeah. Well, you know, it's interesting because my daughter, she's 20 years old. And, you know, I guess kind of like what disco was to me when I started DJing. It was like a generation before, you know, a decade before that I started really DJing. It's kind of like now for these younger DJs, this early 90s, both kind of housey, acid house, chill out sound is really, really doing it for them. How do you feel when you listen back to The Irresistible Force? I mean, this album came out in 1992. [Morris] I remember clearly making it. Of all people, Lenny D was sitting in the studio with me for a few days and his mind was like totally blank. It was a long way from what he was doing. He was a friend of Casper's. I mean, I'm nostalgic for it because it's a long time ago. I'm actually working on doing it as a live set now because I've still got the two inches and I've just had them digitally transferred. So I'm going to go and do some dates of doing that album live, which I haven't really done, or at least not for 20 years. [Colleen] Wow. That sounds amazing. And now you say two inch, you mean the two inch tape, which is a multi-track tape. They have to be baked. [Morris] As you know, certain tapes go in the oven 24 hours before you can play them. So we have to go through all of that. [Colleen] Yeah. So all those little iron oxide pieces are falling off. I used to be a tape editor at this time that this album came out. So I know all about that. I can edit with razor blade and tape, like, you know, and real hanging all over the studio. But that's great. I mean, and then the next one, Global Chillage, will be coming out after that, I assume. Yeah, I guess so. [Morris] And we've also just reissued Quiet Logic, which is the album I did with Hosono from YMO. [Colleen] Haruame Hosono. What a legend of the Japanese pop scene, starting from the late 1960s, before YMO. [Morris] Absolutely. We have bands like that. [Colleen] Yes. [Morris] Yeah. So it's very strange. How did I meet him? He came to one of my shows in Japan. And when he walked in, the entire crowd, like, knelt down. And so I knew who it was. And he was really into an ambient period in the mid-90s. [Colleen] Omni Sightseeing was the album that he did. I lived in Japan in 1989. And I think that album came out around that time. [Morris] Right. I went there first in 92, I think, about Yellow. There was a guy called DJ Muki invited me and The Orb and Brian Eno and Robert Fripp. Not all on the same night, but that was like some of the people he had. And also, I think, Terrence McKenna and a number of speakers. Because I used to do Megatripolis 30 years ago, and we would have one room was a chill out and one room was like speakers. We had Alan Ginsberg down there. So that was kind of exciting and new. And, you know, you didn't see that normally in clubs. [Colleen] No, absolutely. That's wonderful. Oh, my gosh, I wish I was there. I was interviewing people like Robert Fripp and Brian Eno around that time as well. Sakamoto and all that. And this is a massive fan. I think when you and I first met when I first moved over here, we played together in Italy. And we did talk a lot about deep music. Yeah, that was fun. [Morris] Yes, that's the one where I got hassled by Simon Le Bon. [Colleen] I thought he was making requests. [Morris] Well, he was asking for his own record. But I was too late, mate, because I have a plan and I'm doing it. I'm not going to be deflected by any celebrities. [Colleen] I know. I can't remember whether he requested, but I didn't. [Morris] He wanted his own record, of course. [Colleen] Oh, I remember him asking for something different, but I can't remember what it was. I didn't have it in any case. [Morris] I didn't recognize him, actually. But even if I had, I wouldn't have put Duran Duran on the middle of my ambience. [Colleen] No, I don't think you would have. I don't think you would have. [Morris] I would have had to have a large chick to do that. [Colleen] So you mentioned that you'll be doing some live Irresistible Forest Gigs and you have these reissues on the horizon. What else is going on? [Morris] I've just done a remix for Kong that came out in Japan that's done really well. He's a very good friend of mine and he met his wife at one of my gigs. Oh, my God. The two of them are big fans of mine. So he gave me a most beautiful kimono from his clan in Yamagata. Yeah, Yamagata. And it's a very interesting kimono. It's not like one I've ever seen before. Not the sort of thing you can buy in the shops, I think. I've been actually doing a lot of gigs in a kimono or a yukata. And as long as you don't get your sleeve caught. [Colleen] Yes, the sleeves are the thing getting caught on a turntable. I guess if you're doing digital, it's OK. But turntables, that could be painful. [Morris] Yeah, that's happened before. But if you get a Ryukyu kimono, it has short sleeves or no sleeves. And then your arms are more free. But yeah, I love wearing Japanese clothes. You see, I'm so Japanese, I sit on the floor. I've got it all over my head. [Colleen] On a tatami mat. [Morris] That's right. [Colleen] Well, you have a Calm remix coming out. Anything else you should know about? [Morris] That's already out. It's a cover of Holkazuka's third book. [Colleen] Oh, wow. That's amazing. [Morris] I'm always a big fan of Holkazuka. I got to play back to back with him at his first Sonar, which was wonderful. Then I got to play with Cam in Germany at the gig, which was fantastic. [Colleen] Oh, that's fabulous. I mean, I've only saw Domo Suzuki perform post-Cam. I got to see him twice, about 10 years apart, a few years apart, too. And what a dynamic performer and what a great band he had. I was just but I never got to see Cam. [Morris] I never got to see Cam. What this was, in fact, was the Cam solo tour. So each of the members had an hour to do their own thing. And then Domo Suzuki jumped up on stage out of the audience and did a song. He wasn't even on the bill. [Colleen] Oh, my gosh. Amazing. Well, Morris, thank you so much for this mix. We are loving it. And I really appreciate you coming up on the show. And good luck with the reissues. And I hope I get to see the Irresistible Force live as well. Thank you so much for joining us. [Morris] Yeah, and hopefully we can hang out in Ibiza sometime. Sounds great. Have a good one. [Colleen] Thank you. [Morris] Thank you very much. [Colleen] A massive thank you to Mix Master Morris for a wonderful, thoughtful, evocative mix and interview. He is just such an amazing DJ. Very eclectic. Has a great musical knowledge, a great breadth of musical knowledge, too. And you should follow him on Mixcloud. He does some great mixes.

Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy broadcast the 234th episode of Balearic Breakfast on her Mixcloud on August 5th 2025. About this episode. – With the Festival season in full swing, Colleen lined up a few prerecorded shows for the Balearic Breakfast Family, this new one including Abigail Ward and Family member Barry 'Bearknits' Zehr. Abigail's interview was very interesting to listen to as it drove the Family's attention to how everybody should pay attention, respect and nourrish their creative side, leading Abigail to share the reference of the book she was talking about on the chat "The Artist's Way". We all enjoyed her mix to the maximum and went even happier when hearing what our dear Barry had in store for us! Of course, we'll have both Barry and Kay on the blog in September, so keep it locked here! Also, Colleen will be live on the We Out Here Radio for a special show soon! Listen back to the 234th episode of Balearic Breakfast: This week’s Balearic Breakfast is now up on my Mixcloud and features an interview with and an exclusive mix from Abigail Ward of @ghost_assembly_music . I’ve been a huge fan of her mixes on Mixcloud (give her a follow over there!) and her Ghost Assembly releases. She’s also an amazing writer and I’m blessed to have her liner notes on the forthcoming Balearic Breakfast Volume 4 comp (coming out 29th August on Heavenly Recordings - preorder link in linktree). The second mix is from Balearic Breakfast family member Barry Zehr @bearknits in Washington DC. He’s been a regular contributor to the show for the last year or so and his requests are always on the mark. I’m sure you will love both mixes! Next week I’ll be streaming Balearic Breakfast live from the record room on Tuesday from 10am to 12noon BST. The first hour will be new tunes that I have been sifting through for your listening pleasure and the second hour we’ll have an interview with and exclusive mix from one of the originators and innovators of the chill out scene - @mixmaster.morris . Until then, enjoy today’s show and thanks for listening! THE PLAYLIST Abigail Ward Ghost Assembly Mix : (1974) Jerry Goldsmith – Love Theme from Chinatown (2011) Chrystabell – Swing With Me (1969) Julie London – And I Love Him (2012) Fats Gaines Band presents Zorina – For Your Love (Neil Diablo Edit) (2023) Sven Wunder – Harmonica And... (2024) Ali Dada – Federici (1992) Vegas – Walk Into The Wind (2020) Symptoms of Love – Foam (Seaside Mix) (2024) Bryan Ferry – Right Stuff (Dub Mix) (1981) Freddie Hubbard feat. Jeanie Tracy – You're Gonna Lose Me (2008) Crazy P – Lie Lost (Maurice Fulton Mix) (2013) Solange – Losing You (2015) Jacques Renault – A2 (Let's Get Lost Vol. 26) Barry Zehr Bearknits Mix: (xx) Stone Roses – Fools Gold (Balearic Edit) (2000) Rose Smith – Life Changes (2002) Crazy Penis – Mind Wide Open (2025) Flying Mojito Bros – Shakedown Street (2019) Izo Fitzroy – I Want Magic (Dimitri from Paris vs. Cotonete 12 inch version) (2022) Lady Blackbird – Lost and Looking (Cosmodelica Dub) (2002) Blue 6 – Pure (Remix) (2011) Julius Papp ft. Lisa Shaw – Way Back (Doruk Ozlen Vocal Mix) (2017) Tim Deluxe – Jas (Rhodes Mix) (2022) Crazy P – Kari (Hot Toddy Mix) (2021) Flying Mojito Bros. – Cosmic Rain AIBIGAIL WARD'S INTERVIEW WITH COLLEEN [Colleen] Good morning, Balearicans. I'm Colleen Cosmo Murphy, hosting a weekly Balearic Breakfast on my MixCloud Live until high noon. And greetings to all over there on the chat group. Thanks for joining me. As I'm away right now on today's show, I have some special guest mixes. First up is Abigail Ward. We have a chat about her ghost assembly project, and she also has contributed an exclusive mix. After that, we have a special guest mix from Balearic Breakfast family member Barry Zare, or Barry Berenitz. So stick around. Okay, Balearicans, I have Abigail Ward from Ghost Assembly here in the studio with me. And hey, Abs, how you doing? [Abigail] Hi. Yeah, I'm good. I am literally just opening my copy of Balearic Breakfast, volume four. Look at it. Isn't it stunning? Fabulous. [Colleen] I'm really happy with this one. And gosh, your liner notes are incredible. I read them and I kind of blushed. And then I thought, I wish I could write as well as that. You're a fabulous writer. You're a great writer, a fantastic writer, not only a great DJ and producer, but a great writer. And have you been writing for a long time? [Abigail] Yeah, I mean, I've always sort of loved writing, and words are incredibly important to me. And occasionally, you know, I get an offer and a challenge like that where I can do something professionally. And I really relish those opportunities. So thank you so much for giving that to me. [Colleen] Oh, no, thank you. I mean, honestly, I've always loved reading your posts. I love reading just anything you've written for the fanzine. It was fantastic. Your DJ mixes first came on my radar. I started checking them out on Mixcloud. And I was so into them. This is before I even got the Ghost December stuff. And they're so varied. They go, they stretch a lot to a lot of different musical kind of worlds, which is what we do on Balearic Breakfast, from soul to indie to dance music, you know, folk all over the place. And then I was speaking to Jeff at Heavenly, he said, I've just been checking out this person's Mixcloud. Have you heard of Abigail Ward? And I said, Yes, I have been listening to her stuff as well. And then of course, I know your partner, Catherine Dermott. So that's how you kind of landed on my radar as a DJ and musical selector. But how did you how did you get your start? [Abigail] Well, I was always really, really into music, right from being a toddler. And I started writing songs when I was a teenager using guitar and voice. And I was in various bands. And, you know, I found it quite tough being in bands for various reasons. And I gave it a break when I was about 30. And at that point, I started DJing. And I think it just felt a little bit more manageable for me to sort of present other people's music than to present my own. And, yeah, I really loved playing sort of lots of cinematic music. I got my first gig in a local cinema in Manchester called the Corner House. And I played there every Friday for seven years. Oh, wow. With this sort of cinematic bent. And I also really love doing DJ mixes. And I got into doing a little bit of production on them and maybe putting some snippets from films into my DJ mixes and edits and a few effects and things. And that's kind of how I got into production. [Colleen] Mm hmm. Well, it's fantastic. And I can now hear the kind of cinematic link when I listen to your mix on mixes just because they do have a really good kind of visual aspect to them, too, the way that they're built, how they go up and down. And, yeah, it's absolutely fantastic. Well, I was it was so great to see Ghost Assembly debut a couple of years ago. And, you know, I think you sent it to me and I was really surprised. I have to say not that it was good. I knew it was going to be great. Don't get me wrong. I was surprised because it was so damn sleazy, you know, and, you know, I missed your love as a great sleaze tune. So I have to ask you, Abs, have you spent a lot of time in sleazy clubs? [Abigail] I'm very sleazy. I'm a very sleazy person. And yeah, I mean, I I sort of I didn't set out to make it sound a particular way. I think the way it sounds is, you know, partly a result of of what was available to me at the time production wise. And also I worked with Bonar Bradberry from PBR Street Gang on on the mix of it. And and Bonner has a Bozak mixer, which is right, right, which he he tells me he he bought it in good faith from a key person on the disco scene in in the 70s. And he believes it was the front of house mixer at Paradise Garage. And he got that through Danny Krivit. And so he sort of mixed the whole tune through that. And I think that gives it some of its sort of hiss and age and sleaze and also a vibrational quality that's that's beyond any of those things that that that comes from that one particular mixer. [Colleen] Yeah, I'm sure it is from the front of house from the Paradise Garage, as Danny Krivit says. So it's got to be. And, you know, I've had the same mixer. Mine I bought from Joe Claussell just over 30 years ago when I was working at Dance Tracks, and I have the same one. And, you know, I just love the sound of it. And you're right, because the I Missed Your Love does have a classic sonic quality to it. And I do feel the old kind of analog equipment does lend itself, does give that kind of feeling, you know. In terms of the actual productions themselves, you've had three that have come out so far. The first one, I Missed Your Love, I Keep Making the Same Mistake, and the last right, which I can't pronounce in Dutch, I'll let you do it. How do you say it in Dutch? [Abigail] I don't know. I think it's called De Laatste Rit. But yeah, I looked it up. Yeah, I chose it. It's a tribute to my uncle who died last year. And he lived in Delft. And so that's why I chose a Dutch title. [Colleen] My condolences to you and your family for losing your uncle. He sounds like he was a special person. [Abigail] Yeah, he was. He was very playful and mischievous. Yeah. [Colleen] Sounds a bit like you. But yeah, they all have a real kind of sleaze feel to them, all of the songs. And I like how you are just going for the complete four on the floor all the time as well. Like one of them has a, in fact, the one I just played on the Pride Special, I Keep Making the Same Mistake has a real breakbeat feel to it, has more of an electro kind of beat to it, freestyle as well. You know, that kind of feel. And yeah, I was just kind of wondering how the whole Ghost Assembly project came about. [Abigail] Well, I've been dabbling in production and editing for a long time as a DJ. And I'd wanted to take it further. And in lockdown, I did a kind of spiritual artistic course called The Artist's Way, which is a book that anybody can buy by Julia Cameron. And I was invited. [Colleen] My life changed. Yeah. [Abigail] Wow. Yeah. I was invited to do this book with three of my friends who are artists in different disciplines, photography and jewellery making and film. And together we did this, we went through this book, which if you take it seriously, is quite a deep excavation of the things that may be blocking you from expressing your true self as an artist. And that's how Ghost Assembly came about. [Colleen] That's so interesting because I went through the same journey and I noticed a lot of the reasons why you may not be achieving what you'd like to do and achieve your goals as your own self and how you're blocking yourself. And I also think as women, sometimes, especially women who work in male dominated professions like DJing, for instance, we often get imposter syndrome and kind of talk ourselves down and don't aim as high. And because it's easier that way, you're not failing and you're not being rejected. Whereas with The Artist's Way, it really made me stick my neck out a bit more. And I have to say it really changed my life. I've recommended this book to so many people. I don't think I've recommended it on air before. But this goes for people who aren't just pursuing creative endeavors as a profession, but also as a hobby. It could be read by everybody because everybody is creative. Everyone is inherently creative. Whenever I hear somebody say, oh, I'm not a creative person, humans are creative. So I highly, highly recommend this book. And then maybe you too could be making sleazy tracks like Ghost Assembly. But I just absolutely love what you're doing. And the latest productions, are they on your own label? [Abigail] Yeah, I've got a label called Big Strings Attached, which is named after a night. That was my night that I did with the film scores and the cinematic soul. And I called it that because one of my great passions is string arrangements. And I just wanted to see what it would feel like to put things out myself. And so far, it's gone really well. Great. And what's on the pipeline? I've got another EP that's ready to go at the moment. And I'm talking to a couple of different labels about that, because I do want to carry on releasing with labels as well. I had a wonderful time with Rough Dog releasing on Rough Cuts. That's what I miss sort of came out on. So I'm just open to doing it in all sorts of different ways, really. And I'm also doing a project at the moment, which is kind of instrumental music in a bit of a talk talk vein with the producer, JS Saita. I'm supplying some spoken word stuff over some instrumentals that he's working on. So that will sound very different. Ed. Note: Visit Abigail's blog to find out more about her! [Colleen] I'm looking forward to hearing that. So is it more along a poetic kind of track? [Abigail] Yeah. Yeah, sort of dreamy, you know, kind of moody. Yeah. [Colleen] That sounds right up my street. I can't wait to hear it. And how about DJ Wise? What's going on? [Abigail] DJ Wise? I think I'm quite close to having a break from it, to be honest. I've been finding it a bit of a struggle in various ways lately. And I'm mainly knocking back most gigs apart from one, which is a gig I do every two months in a place called Yes in Manchester, which is where you've heard a lot of my DJ mixes. I record them from there. And I play there for six hours and I go all over the place with a real radio sensibility. And the people there know me and understand me. And that's where I feel most comfortable at the moment. But I find that high pressure DJ gigs really take my focus away from producing. And I just want to make music really at the moment. So, yeah, having a little break. [Colleen] That sounds like a good thing to do. And being, you know, self-aware enough to do that is just highly commendable because I had kind of more enforced breaks, which is still good, though. I mean, when after I had a baby, you know, I didn't really have any gigs, but I have to say it actually was really quite nice. It was nice raising a daughter, but it was also nice just kind of reconnecting with music without any purpose, which is, you know, just everything I do is based around music. So there's always something to do. But just having it just kind of as a hobby again for a little bit was really quite interesting and probably helped my career and my musical sensibility. So this could be what's happening to you. Do you find that the DJ gigs are becoming high pressure because of external demands? [Abigail] It's well, it's a complex one for me. I have some sensory difficulties with very, very loud environments. And I found that this is becoming more and more tricky for me to navigate. And I struggle with going to lots of different places and playing on gear that I can't necessarily sort of predict what exactly is going to be waiting for me, even if I've supplied a tech spec. And it's just it's difficult for me socially, you know, I'm a quiet person. And I think a lot of the DJ gigs I do, I'm very accessible to people. I'm not necessarily in a booth or people will come and, you know, they'll want to talk to me. And I find that I can't talk and DJ at the same time. And some, some male DJs I know have cultivated a kind of a look to deter people from speaking to them. But I haven't I haven't developed this look yet. I obviously I've got come and fucking tell me your problems. [Colleen] Written on my forehead. While I'm trying to mix a record. You could keep your headphones on. Yeah, that's the thing. [Abigail] They still, they still, they come. [Colleen] Well, are you considering doing any live ghost assembly performances? [Abigail] Yeah, it's a good question. I've been giving some thought to this and how it might work. And I've been working with a wonderful sound engineer and producer called Joni Newham. And her stage name is Outsider Sound. And what we've been looking at is she's been sort of dubbing out my productions on a mixing desk in a sort of live Dennis Bovell style. And that's been really promising. And that might be something that we look at doing together. But right now, life's been getting in the way. But that's something that's sort of sizzling away on the backbone. [Colleen] Well, I wish you all the best of luck with it. I look forward to every single ghost assembly release. And I will still continue to check out your mixes on Mixcloud. And thank you so much for joining us today and for providing this exclusive mix for us. [Abigail] Oh, thank you!

Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy broadcast the 233rd episode of Balearic Breakfast on her Mixcloud on July 29th 2025. About this episode. – After playing at the We are Love Festival, and while heading to the USA, Colleen streamed a pre-recorded episode of Balearic Breakfast, including an interview with DJ Ken Fan and a nice mix from our friend and Family Member Kay McMahon. Listen back to the 233rd episode of Balearic Breakfast: THE PLAYLIST Ken Fan Mix (2024) Tara Lily – Speak in The Dark (2025) Saint Etienne – Alone Together (Cosmodelica Remix) (2014) Germind – Pairing of Opposites (2022) Guts Ft. Assan KIF – Nunca Pierdo (2025) Brixton Underground – Don't Feel the Same (2025) Blank Jones Marc_George – Lullaby Rediscovered (2000) LTJ Bukem ft. Elliot Good – Sunrain (2018) Dale Anderson, Anil Chawla – Leftorium (Ambient Mix) (1999) Dido – Here With Me (Chillin with the Family Mix) (NOL) DJ Day – VQ (2023) Be.Lanuit ft. DJ Pippi, Melon Jimenez & Lara Wong – El Malagueño (2025) Pig & Dan – Keep My Thoughts Behind (2024) Ken Fan & Digby Jones – Starseed Kay McMahon (Special Kay) Mix (2012) Kindness – House (2014) Depeche Mode – Useless (K&D Session Remix) (2004) Atlantic Conveyor – Nasty Things (2011) Late Nite Tuff Guy – I Don't Like Acid (2024) Alex Kassian – E2-E4: A Reference to E2-E4 by Manuel Gottsching (2001) Cadillac Jones – B'Nai Brown (1978) The Doobie Brothers – What A Fool Believes (1999) Mr. Scruff – Get a Move On (2024) Joe Goddard – New World Flow (Ray Mang Remix) (1994) T-Power vs MK Ultra – Horny Mutant Jazz (2002) Prasie Cats ft Andrea Love – Shined on Me (E-Smoove Vocal Mix) KEN'S INTERVIEW WITH COLLEEN [Colleen] Good morning, Balearicans. I'm Colleen Cosmo Murphy, hosting your weekly Balearic Breakfast on my MixCloud Live until high noon. And greetings to all over there on the chat group. Thanks for joining me. Whilst I'm away, I have some special guest mixes for you on this week's program, starting off with an interview with and a mix from Café Del Mar resident and Ibiza resident Ken Fan. He gives us the lowdown on his musical background and what he's up to this summer on the White Isle. And that's followed by a mix from our Balearic Breakfast family member, Special K, K McMahon. So keep it locked. Good morning, Balearicans. I'm here in the studio with Ken Fan, who is the resident DJ and the music manager over at the legendary Café Del Mar in Ibiza. And he also plays at a lot of other spots on the island, including Pikes. Hi, Ken. How are you? [Ken] I'm super. Hello. Good morning. Yeah, full of energy. Happy. Couldn't be worse. Beautiful island. [Colleen] Great job. Well, you are so busy. I was taking a look at your schedule and oh, my goodness. I mean, you are playing several times a day, sometimes nearly every day. How do you handle this schedule when the summer season starts at Ibiza? [Ken] Control, balance, lead not into temptation, just hydrate, don't drink alcohol in the daytimes, do things like stretch, yoga, just have a clean mindset. It's a marathon, not a sprint. [Colleen] Absolutely. Absolutely. I totally agree with you. And, you know, that's what you have to do when you're working really hard. I mean, the thing is, is our work is almost like play. I mean, we say we're playing music. We don't say I'm working music. You just say I'm playing tonight, not usually I'm working tonight. But it is it is it is work. And it's great work and very rewarding work. But it still is work. You do have to take care of yourself, especially with these temptations, as you said, all around you. First, I just want to back up a little bit, rewind. Can you tell us a little bit about how you got into DJing and event management as well? [Ken] Wow. Okay, so I've been DJing for 34 years now. I started off interested in the hip hop scene, the old DMC type, mixing type stuff. Then I started going to raves, old raves and stuff. Then I was still at school at the time, I was like 14, 15 years old, doing school discos, the local clubs, then local radio shows, then a company called Miss Money Pennies, they picked me up. And they just brought me out to Ibiza every two weeks as a resident, out of, you know, then just escalated to Pasha, a funky room. Yeah, it just escalated from that, really. [Colleen] Wow. I mean, as I read in your bio, you were going to Ibiza for 18 years before you moved there in 2009. [Ken] I've lived here full time for about 18 years. My first year here was 1998. Then I started playing here in 2000. But I moved here full time, yeah, 18 years ago. [Colleen] And what's it like living on the island? I mean, the summer, of course, you're a busy boy, I can see. But how is it like during the winter months when there's not as many people on the island? Do you like it a bit more? [Ken] Yeah, I do love it. I mean, especially through quarantine and all that sort of stuff. I mean, especially for the producers, it's our time of year where we can just switch off and concentrate, just like make beats, make music, especially collaborating with all the other island residents when we actually meet each other. I mean, in the summer, this is work for us. We just work our asses off. And yeah, even though we do enjoy our job, we're just working. We don't actually get to see the island. We're just like, that sort of stuff. But yeah, the wintertime, we tend to make music, unless you're making music or you're going off touring or you just go on a vacation or something like that. I need to detox or I just need to get away, which sometimes I do as well. Well, most of the time. [Colleen] That's good. You need to do that. You need to take that kind of balance in your life. I'm trying to look for that myself. So if you have any tips, do let me know. Now, you do a lot of productions as well. You've done productions for Strictly Rhythm and things. Can you tell us a little bit about your productions and what you're working on? What we can expect in the near future from you? [Ken] I mean, with the house stuff, yeah, I don't really do that anymore. But obviously, these recent years, I've just been doing a lot of ballerics, a lot of chilled out stuff, which is picked up by Music for Dreams. I did a collaboration thing with George Salah. I know you've been playing him. Yeah, Music for Dreams, Disappear from Crisco Cove, New Northern Soul, Bit of Budapar. [Colleen] These are all great names and names that we featured on Balleric Breakfast. I know our listeners will love this and we'll be digging out your productions, which is great. Cafe Del Mar is such a legendary place. I mean, I worked at a record shop called Dash Track in the 90s and I bought the first compilation when it came in. I didn't really, I kind of even knew where Ibiza was, but barely. I was American, don't forget. So in any case, the compilations were just amazing. I bought every single one as they came out on import and was really amazed by the musical selections. I would bring them to all my gigs because I was DJing six hours as a working DJ. What did it feel like when you were asked to work there? Because, you know, Jose Padilla's shoes are quite big shoes to fill. [Ken] Yeah, I didn't expect it really, to be honest. A Hong Kong guy from Birmingham filling his shoes. Cafe Del Mar 1998 was the first bar I went to. I bought the CDs and stuff and put the music on after the clubs and chill out, winding down and stuff. I was like, wow, the universe has presented this to me. And I find it's like everything happens for a reason sort of thing. I think it's working a privilege at the time that went sour and then left there. Then I got off of this and I mean, I share the same. My birthday's on June 20th and the anniversary of Cafe Del Mar is also on June 20th. And there's a summer solstice day and I'm like a summer solstice, I'm a sunset DJ. So just everything's just like aligned and what happened. It's like I had no choice sort of thing. It's like automatically turned off or something like that. This is meant to be. [Colleen] That's great. And so, you know, since you're playing so much like every day, many hours, you have to go through a lot of music to curate your music and to get it all in order. And, you know, it's a lot of work behind the scenes DJing. I mean, DJing isn't just showing up and playing records. It's all the other stuff's the work. When you're actually out there playing, you're playing, you know, but it's all the other stuff. How do you, how long does it take you to go through music? Are you going through music all year? Are you listening to new things every day? [Ken] Every day, yeah, every day. I allocate like at least a couple of hours a day for it, if I can, if I feel up to it sort of thing. But yeah, I try and allocate that. And yeah, yeah, yeah. It's part of my job. I have to do it, keep it fresh. And like finding, I know, hearing other DJs playing a track, an old track that I might not have, I go, oh, I need to download that, or something like that. Yeah, yeah. So I play like between probably like 10 hours a day sometimes and sometimes like more. Yeah, I've got big playlists. Curating soundtracks is, for listeners, it's different to a club sort of thing. It's people, it's bums on seats, it's curating emotions and stuff like that. A club atmosphere when people, it's making people dance, it's a totally different thing. And yeah, building the atmosphere and the emotions for the sunset and people crying and stuff like that. It's this one thing we try to, yeah, curate for special moments. [Colleen] Are there certain songs that you really like to play during the actual sunset? I mean, the sunset in Ibiza is such a big thing. I remember being at El Toro once and it was like, wow, people are clapping and it's just really beautiful. [Ken] Yeah, it's mad. It's like, I don't know, if you're playing football and you're in the World Cup scoring a goal or something, you like a good sunset, you go, hey! [Colleen] Everyone's like... [Ken] It depends what we want to go for. An emotional one, want to get people crying or want to get that, yeah, cheer sort of thing. Or if it's a slightly cloudy and there's lots of colours, you can go for a lot like a mystical sort of thing, or you just go for a clean. So it's different criteria for different sunsets and different moods and stuff. [Colleen] Wow, I never thought of that. I mean, I had to curate, last year I played for the summer solstice here in the UK at the most eastern part of the UK. So the first place where the sun would rise at sunrise on a beach. And I really had to think this out. I mean, I really spent some time thinking of songs that had to do with the sun and the day beginning and having a good sense of energy and imbuing a positive spirit. Luckily, it was actually sunny and not cloudy, which is great here for the UK. But I didn't really think about the whole sunset side in terms of the different types of emotions that it may bring, depending upon the quality of the sunset. That's really interesting. [Ken] Yeah, there's a technique sort of thing. You sort of like, for probably like about 20 minutes, four tracks before the actual sunset track, you sort of wind it down and get them into sort of like where you want them sort of thing. You sort of like capture them so like, so they're fixed on, fixed on the sunset sort of thing. You're curating the lullaby, shall we say, then yeah, to bring out the emotion that you want. And yeah, there's technique to it. [Colleen] Yeah, there is. Absolutely. Well, this is all really wonderful. And I'm hoping that I get to hear you play at Cafe Del Mar sometime this summer, because, you know, I really would love to check that out. Before we go, do you have any tips for people that are visiting the island places that they may want to check out? I mean, I know you play at El Chiringuito and you play at Pikes and Cafe Del Mar, but even places like any good beaches or any good like off the beaten track fish restaurants that people should know about? [Ken] Those are new restaurants and stuff open. 528 Club, as I say, that's owned by Pikes. That looks like the most interesting as a club.I don't really go to nightclubs unless I'm working sort of thing to be honest these days. But that's probably the most interesting big thing for me. Obviously, there's that university that's open, but that's that sort of thing. [Colleen] Well, Ken, good luck with your crazy schedule this summer. I wish you all the best. I hope I can catch one of your sets when I'm over there this summer. [Ken] Talk you down, don't worry. [Colleen] Thank you so much for this wonderful mix. I really appreciate it. [Ken] Thank you. [Colleen] Thank you. [Ken] Take care. [Colleen] Bye, Bye!

The Polish duo Jazxing, formed by Jakub Sautycz and Mateusz Filipiuk, is, as we like to say in English, "Something else". I asked them a few questions; let's dive deep! Jazxin g songs have been featured on mixes crafted by The Balearic Ultras and played both on Balearic Breakfast and on Balearic brunch . When Colleen features an artist more than once, you'd better beware: this is a very good sign. Laughs! Being myself Polish, I could not resist the temptation. I asked Jazxing if they'd share their story with me here on the Balearic Breakfast Blog. And they accepted! I'm over the moon to have them here; turn the lights off and the sound as loud as you can; we're drifting away immediately. 1) Hello to you, Jazxing! Thank you so much for joining me here on the Balearic Breakfast blog! Can you tell us how your shared musical journey started? Hiya! Thank you for the invitation, Artur! Kuba and I met at the local club in Gdańsk – La Dolce Vita years back (circa 2010). We were playing as DJs on regular club nights at this small but legendary place and got along with each other straight away. Since day one, we noticed that we share a lot of similar influences and musical likings, so we knew that we should make music together. Luckily, it turned out that our intuition was right, and we started to develop our own sounds. 2) I read on your Bandcamp page that " Jazxing is part of a growing group of colourful Polish artists, clubs, and labels who want to share and inspire people with their passion for these sounds." Could you please share your musical plans with us? We are constantly writing new ideas for compositions and trying to put them in the right places - right now, we are starting two side projects along with working on the new Jazxing material. The first one – Nagar for more dark, EBM, new beat, post-punk, slowed down chugger grooves – it will be a live act mainly by just the two of us, more synthetic than organic. The second one is Fahrlust – a 5-piece band with some of the greatest local musicians, for more kraut, afro cosmic, Balearic vibes based on a pulsating trance. 3) Colleen featured Your music on Balearic Breakfast and on Balearic Brunch, clearly showing that you have a musical "Balearic Touch". According to you, is this peculiar style of music harder to work on? How do you approach the remix process? Making remixes for other artists is something that we both love to do. There is something special and fun about twisting somebody's material, transforming the compositions as you hear them in your mind or using specific parts of the song that bring new ideas. So I would say that for us, this is the first, most important step in doing remixes – to find the element that gives you a perspective of adding new sounds, thus creating a whole new picture. 4) Your brand new album, Pearls of the Baltic Sea , has been issued on "Higher Love Recordings". What was the most challenging part when working on the album? Could you share with us your fondest memories while working on it? I think that the best moments of working on the Pearls Of The Baltic Sea were each of the recording sessions with our brilliant guests. To name them – Tati Vaitovich with her unique timbre; Paweł Nowicki on vibraphone (Kobiety, Kwartludium); Michał Jan Ciesielski (Immortal Onion, ńoko, Quantum Trio) laying the spacious saxophone parts; Kamil Kozłowski – a voice of W Uścisku ; Krzysztof Filipiuk – Mateusz brother that was invited to record guitars on Vijnana and Vojto Monteur with his amazing ambient guitar work in Hyacinth! The release is called Pearls Of The Baltic Sea to honour the talent of these great musicians. The most challenging thing was mixing and combining the sounds in the way we wanted.  5) Which part of your musical journey brings you the most pleasure? Is playing live for an audience as great as working in the studio? We love both working in the studio and playing live, but not many things are as rewarding as having a chance to share emotions performing our compositions for an audience! It can be really moving when we see people reacting to our music the way we wanted it to affect them and hear the sound we wanted to achieve. These inspiring moments reward all the effort we put into the live band and motivate us to work further on evolving the sound and mastering the arrangements of the songs! Thank you so much, Jazxing!

Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy breathes new life into Crazy P’s Stop Space Return with a pair of cosmic, acid-tinged reworks. We spoke to her about the remix, her connection to acid house, and honouring the spirit of Danielle Moore. E. Note: This interview has been originally published on Knights Of The Turntable's website and is reproduced here with their permission. Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy is a true steward of the dancefloor. A lifelong music obsessive, her journey began as a teenage radio host in Massachusetts, before moving through the undercurrents of New York’s club scene and into the inner circle of Loft legend David Mancuso. Few selectors today carry the same gravitas, technical fidelity, and spiritual connection to sound. Now, in a powerful moment of alignment, she returns with a pair of extraordinary remixes for Crazy P’s ‘Stop Space Return’, a package that lands via 20/20 Vision as part of the label’s 30th anniversary celebrations. Originally released in 2008, ‘Stop Space Return’ has long been a centrepiece in Crazy P’s storied catalogue: a cosmic, rolling slice of UK nu-disco that still hits with emotional force. Yet, these latest versions arrive with added weight. Danielle Moore, the band’s radiant vocalist and magnetic heart, sadly passed away in 2024. Though this release was not designed as a tribute, Colleen’s remixes now feel like a deeply resonant offering, vibrant with life but dialled into a higher frequency. Her Cosmodelica Remix reimagines the track as a slow-burning acid house ritual. Built on trippy percussion, warped 303 lines and filtered disco euphoria, it brings Danielle’s vocal into a new light: ethereal, untethered, almost devotional. The accompanying dub takes things deeper, twisting the TB-303 into wilder shapes and letting the rhythm breathe and spasm in signature Cosmo fashion. It’s a bold, beautiful trip, part sonic séance, part dancefloor sermon. Colleen is no stranger to the deeper philosophies of sound. Through her long-standing radio work, Classic Album Sundays and years spent as Mancuso’s protégé, she’s been a fierce advocate for intentional listening and the transformative power of music. But she’s also remained grounded in the visceral joy of dancing, the pure, physical energy that makes acid house, disco and soulful grooves such enduring forces. With this remix, Colleen doesn’t just rework a classic. She reframes it, allowing both grief and celebration to coexist in a shimmering, slow-release dancefloor moment. It’s a reminder that the best DJs are not just technicians or tastemakers, but emotional translators. In her hands, ‘Stop Space Return’ becomes an ode to legacy, to love, and to the alchemy of sound. You can purchase the release here. We caught up with Colleen to talk early inspirations, the legacy of acid house, her remix process for ‘Stop Space Return’, and how she continues to navigate the intersection of fidelity, feeling and the fierce joy of dancing together. THE INTERVIEW Career & Early Influences 1. You began DJing and hosting radio shows at just 14 years old like “Punk, Funk and Junk”. What was your earliest memory of falling in love with music? I was in love with music from the get-go,but hearing David Essex’s ‘Rock On’ pulse from the transistor radio whilst sitting alone in a dark room with an illuminated ultraviolet ‘Easy Rider’ poster at the age of five is forever etched in my memory. That bassline! 2. How did your time in New York’s underground scene shape your outlook as a selector and curator? New York is one of the world’s greatest music cities and there is so much on offer all day every day after I moved there in 1986 partially because its many musical subcultures were beckoning. I was heavily into the indie and hip hop scenes and went to loads of live gigs including The Butthole Surfers, The Sugarcubes and Tackhead at the Ritz in the East Village, The Residents and Diamanda Galas at Lincoln Center, The Reverb Mutherfuckers at CBGB’s, Public Enemy at the Harlem Apollo and hundreds of others. I also partied with the Queens at The Pyramid in the East Village, discovered house music at clubs like Tracks (where I saw Adeva), got sweaty on the dancefloor at the Shelter and Louie Vega’s Underground Network Party, grooved to acid jazz with Groove Collective at Giant Steps, experienced the city’s undercurrent at murky afterhours spots like Save the Robots and of course, got into the psychedelic family vibe at The Loft parties held by my friend David Mancuso at his home on East 3rd Street. These bands, DJs and venues greatly inspired me but then nearly everything influences me and not just music but also art, film, books and nature. 3. You’ve worked in both radio and live club environments. How do you approach each format? Everything is about context – time, place, atmosphere and what is expected of you. Hosting a morning radio show (such as my Tuesday morning Balearic Breakfast) requires a completely different tone to a Cosmodelica dance programme hosted on a Friday night; broadcasting to 100,000 people in Japan (as I did in 1989) required a voice different to the one I used on the syndicated indie music magazine shows I hosted in the early 90’s. Similarly, playing an opening set in a club is different to doing a peak set, a closing set or playing from beginning to end. The type of space influences the selections as a big dancefloor and a festival set on the other side of the spectrum to a small intimate party. DJ-ing on a Saturday night is different to DJ-ing on a Sunday afternoon. The main thing is to take in your surroundings and know the audience: Who is listening to the radio and what are they doing right now? Who is on the dance floor and what’s their vibe? How one delivers is down to intuition and experience. 4. You’ve often spoken about your love for vinyl. How has that passion evolved over the years, especially in the face of digital culture? Digital culture gave me a greater appreciation for vinyl but that isn’t because I feel either format is ‘better’ quality than the other. Digital formats and hardware are getting better all the time. But many moons ago, when I embarked upon my radio & DJ journey, everything I played was on vinyl as there wasn’t another option. CDs then came in and were great as I could play unreleased tracks gifted from other DJs. USB sticks and hard drives have allowed me greater choice as I could never pack that many tunes into a record bag. But I think these formats have also further endeared me to vinyl as it’s become more ‘special’. I feel a tangible and visceral connection with a record I have played for decades; I’m not only in love with the music, but also the object held in my hand. I have never felt that way about a series of ones and zeros. Playing vinyl also requires more skill in terms of setup, optimum playback and mixing (which is much more fun on turntables as CDJs display the BPM). Vinyl requires investment and not only monetarily although that is a hefty consideration. It requires time and personal investment and practice and the skills that are well earnt are the ones that are most significant. Acid House & Underground Culture 1. Acid house rarely gets mentioned in your interviews. Can you tell us about your personal connection to it? When acid house culture exploded in the UK, I was living in New York but connected with it via osmosis. Between 1991 and 1994 I interviewed dozens of British artists for Music View, a weekly nationally syndicated radio show I produced and hosted at the time. I interviewed Aphex Twin, Orbital and The Orb, and also crossover bands like Primal Scream (for Screamadelica), New Fast Automatic Daffodils and The Shamen. Hearing these albums, reading NME and Melody Maker articles and chinwagging with the artists gave me a good insight into what was happening in fields, festivals and clubs in Britain. At the same time, I was going out to clubs in NYC, but the places I truly connected with were more populated by Black and Latin American DJs, dancers and music. There are many records that were big on the British acid house scene that didn’t really make it over onto those dancefloors. But there were a lot of crossovers and in fact, the first time I heard the still fresh sounding ‘Plastic Dreams’ by Jaydee was at the Shelter and Timmy Regisford played it twice! I spent all day Sunday locating a copy and got the last import pressing in the city at Eightball Records. Acid house resonated with me because it unified the indie rock world with the dance world and at that time, I had one foot firmly planted in each. 2. What were some of the first acid house tracks or nights that really made an impact on you? Mr Fingers Introduction is still one of my favourite albums of all time. In fact, all of Larry Heard’s work – ‘Can You Feel It’, ‘Moonglow’, ‘Washing Machine’ – hugely impacted me. The aforementioned ‘Plastic Dreams’ by Jaydee still rocks a floor and is so darn funky. David Mancuso turned me onto Psychotropic’s ‘Hipnosis’ and ‘Only for the Headstrong’ and I fell in love with its deep psychedelia. And the italo-house tunes that really resonated with me was Soft House Company’s ‘A Little Piano’ and K Tronics Ensemble ‘Calypso of House’. 3. How do you think acid house aligned or clashed with the ethos of The Loft and David Mancuso’s musical philosophy? They both align on social values. I read Dreaming In Yellow, The Story of the DiY Sound System and felt the free party early rave scene certainly matched with David’s ideal hippie values and its quest for egalitarianism. Probably best not to compare the sound systems 😉 4. What’s your take on the resurgence of interest in acid house sounds among newer DJs and producers? It’s kind of like the resurgence of disco when I started DJ-ing in clubs and the resurgence of 60’s acts like Velvet Underground when I was on college radio. I longingly looked back to those eras and wished I had been part of their blossoming music scenes. It’s funny because now younger audiences and my 20 year-old daughter are getting into 90’s house and I actually not only experienced it while it was in play, but was part of it as I was DJ-ing in New York and beyond, worked at the legendary record shop Dance Tracks and I also hosted a weekly two and a half hour live mix show called Club 89 on 89.1FM. Recently I started listening back to some of these shows including one in which my guest was Romanthony and our excitement about the unifying aspect of house music really shone through. I’m glad younger audiences are discovering it and am proud to have played a small part. 5. Your new remix & dub of “Stop Space Return” by Crazy P is a real Acid-tinged affair, can you talk us through your remix process for this release? It’s definitely acid-tinged but I was also inspired by electro, freestyle and broken beat. Crazy P are some of the best nu-disco producers out there. They are geniuses at crafting a slinky sexy 4-to-the-floor groove. My philosophy when doing a remix is to offer something different. Crazy P’s original version of ‘Stop Space Return’ is the definitive disco-house version (and their recorded live version is incendiary). It’s still one of my favourites so rather than reinvent the wheel, I just took it into another direction that would give the dancers a funky rhythm that’s different but fun. I also like to challenge myself and don’t have a cookie-cutter production style. In the last few months, I’ve remixed The Cure (indie-dance), The Street People for the Spring Revisited series (uptempo disco-house), Saint Etienne (downtempo samba vibes) and Santino Surfers (mid-tempo Balearic chugger). My Cosmodelica remixes are varied and reflect my multi-faceted musical styles. 6. The world lost an icon and a true visionary in Danielle’s passing, you’ve spoken before on your own grief, nearly a year later, how have you channelled or dealt with the loss of Danielle? I’ve lost a few more friends since Danielle’s tragic passing and it has taught me not to take anything or anyone for granted. Danielle was one of a small group of women from my generation who are still spinning and performing in the disco-house arena and she was an ally. We shared many festival stages, and I had enormous respect for her – she just wowed me with her presence. The last time I saw her perform live was at Gala Festival and she floored me with her cartwheels and the audience adored her! We also DJ-ed on the same bills and she was a great DJ, too. She was on top of her game, but you never know what somebody is dealing with internally and that goes for all of us. We lost a great one and I miss her talent, compassion, and humour. Sound, Legacy & Philosophy 1. As someone who prioritises high-fidelity audio, how do you approach more raw or lo-fi genres like acid house? Good question as once I got into high fidelity audio, some of my old records didn’t sound so great! In the 90’s, many dance 12-inches were cut very loud, often distorted and had too much bass. We only had vinyl and record labels and mastering engineers wanted the records to sound bigger and louder for the dance floor. However, once you have a great system and train your ears accordingly, very annoyingly you hear the sonic flaws. Sometimes I prefer playing an AIFF of an old house track if I feel it doesn’t sound great on vinyl. But I also try not to be snobby about high-fidelity as I know sometimes lo-fi is a sonic choice and I came up through the indie scene. 2. David Mancuso once said you were one of the only people he trusted with both the music and the equipment. What did that trust mean to you? It meant the world to me and still does. I started playing records back-to-back with David in my early twenties and not only did he trust me with the music and dancers but he also entrusted me with his incredibly fragile and expensive Koetsu moving coil cartridges which at the time, over 3 decades ago, were $2,000 each. If I broke one, he would have to do the party with one turntable. Decades later I asked him why he trusted me at such a young age to musically host at The Loft and he replied, ‘It starts with a vibe long before one hits the turntable.’ 3. How does your experience at The Loft influence the way you build a dancefloor journey, especially when playing something like acid house? I draw from all of my experiences when DJ-ing for a dance floor and although I may play songs I wouldn’t necessarily play at The Loft, the one thread that runs through everything I do is tapping into the healing force of music and how it can elevate people’s life energy and vibration. That’s what I endeavour to do with every club set, radio show and Classic Album Sundays event. I want to lift people’s spirits. 4. Do you think contemporary club culture has lost some of the values of intentional listening and sonic quality that pioneers like Mancuso and yourself championed? Honestly, I feel things are getting better as I feel David’s philosophy that ‘good sound is a human right’ is becoming more widespread. In 2003 when we started the Loft parties in London together, it was the only audiophile dance party in the UK and most likely Europe. It then inspired other sound systems like Rotation in Staffordshire, Bonsai Hi-Fi in Liverpool and Cosmic Slop in Leeds. Now there are travelling audiophile-club sound systems like our Love Dancin’ system we use at We Out Here and Floating Point’s new sound system. And British clubs of all sizes are focussing more on the sound, improving various elements and doing the best they can with whatever their budget and space allows. Good sound has become a goal and I’m very happy to see modern club culture evolve in this way. 5. Are there any modern artists or collectives who you feel are carrying the torch of acid house in a meaningful way? Acid house for me is an older term so I just say house as it encompasses more. I love what I call the new sound of New York: musclecars, Lovie and Toribio are all part of that gang and I like featuring up and coming DJs at our Love Dancin’ tent at We Out Here. In the UK we have fresh young collectives like Brighter Days and some of them come to my gigs, as well. These younger DJs inspire me with their fresh sounds and perspectives, and I try to champion them the way people like David and Francois K championed me when I was coming up. Classic Album Sundays & Broader Impact 1. Classic Album Sundays has become a global phenomenon. Did you ever imagine it would resonate so widely? I felt it was something that had to be done but I had no idea it would have the impact it has had. When I started the event and content platform 15 years ago, the vinyl renaissance and the listening bar trend hadn’t yet happened. Classic Album Sundays brought the threads of my entire musical vocation all together – music journalism, DJ-ing, event hosting and my knowledge of sound which I gained through my mentorship with David and my university studies. In 2010, I felt that listening habits had changed and not for the better as people were ‘consuming’ music via MP3s which reduces the original audio by 75-95%. Shuffle culture was in, and album listening was out. We also weren’t listening communally but isolated from others on our headphones. As I had a great audiophile sound system, an extensive record collection and the musical knowledge gained from over a quarter of a century working in music, I felt it was a duty. I wanted to allow people to fully immerse themselves in an entire album, gain a new experience and hear details in the recording they had never heard before. The BBC Arts Editor David Sillito came to the third Classic Album Sundays session at the Hanbury Arms and featured it on BBC Breakfast and loads of other platforms and then my phone didn’t stop ringing for two weeks. I then knew it had legs. 2. You’ve hosted some incredible sessions with artists like Nick Mason, Laura Mvula and John Grant. What have been some personal highlights? After every interview I feel that particular one has been the highlight, so it is difficult to answer. When I interviewed Nick Mason of Pink Floyd that was a real moment as for those of us who grew up in the 70’s, Dark Side of the Moon was ubiquitous – you heard it everywhere and it sounded amazing (it was engineered by Alan Parsons). Having the opportunity to explore the album with Nick Mason for a surround sound event at the V&A Museum as part of Pink Floyd’s ‘Their Mortal Remains’ exhibition was a true pinch-me moment. Nick enjoyed it so much he asked if we could do another session, so we went up to Suffolk and hosted a CAS session featuring his personal favourite Pink Floyd album, Saucerful of Secrets, at the John Peel Archive. It was so lovely as Nick hadn’t seen John’s wife Sheila in decades and they had been good friends. Another memorable CAS was also held at the JPA in which I interviewed Julian Cope about Teardrop Explodes – probably one of my most wild interviews as it was a real feat keeping up with his fast-moving and expansive mind. His wife said I handled him well. 3. You’ve worn many hats including DJ, producer, radio host and curator. Which role feels most “you” at this stage of your journey? Musical curator and educator ticks the box of everything I do whether it is Classic Album Sundays, my remixes, my radio shows and/or my club sets. I want to turn people onto music both from the past and the future. It’s what keeps me going.

Hearing Jona's edit of Peter Green's Proud Pinto during Balearic Breakfast brought a big Smile on my face. I decided to contact him to have a chat! 1) Hi Jona! Thank you so much for joining us here on the Balearic Breakfast blog! Can you present yourself to us and share the musical journey that led you to become a DJ? I was born in ’82 & emerged from the DIY skate & graffiti culture with punk & hiphop   but turned into electronics after hearing Ken Ishii’s “extra” in ’95 via my nephew Jo.  Around the same time, Natacha, who worked with my father, introduced me to nightlife. I was still a young kid but started working at the infamous Kozzmozz parties here &  got to hang out with living legends like Jeff Mills, Juan Atkins, Carl Craig, DJ Hell, Green Velvet... inspirational to say the least! My hometown, Ghent, has been quite influential for electronic music: the Boccacio club with new beat & house, R&S records (no introduction needed) and, with parties like I<3 Techno, 10 Days Off or even Kozzmozz & Eskimo I was spoiled and got a proper education. At the age of 18, I was living in the Kuiperskaai, and my neighbours on the left side were Stephen & David (soulxwax, 2manydjs) and on the right side there was Mo & Benoelie (aka the glimmers)! So yeah.. Nuff said i guess? 😂 Fun fact: it happened more than once that I would find some vinyl records just in the middle of the street early in the morning 😍 Crazy years Indeed! 2) How did you start editing songs, remixing them? What was the first song you ever worked on? Coming from the hiphop culture, I have a deep & profound love for both mixtapes & heavy beatmixing, and I always loved the extended 12” versions. So, around the end of the 2000s, with the downfall of vinyl sales due to the rise of serato & digital mixing, I’ve made my first edit. I remember doing it simply because I wanted to mix the song into my set, but the intro was too short… The track was “I’m so happy now” by Willy Wright from Mississippi, and I think it’s still somewhere on soundcloud! Around the same time I started The Eclectic Ladyland Liveshow overhere on local radio. It was an sunday afternoon 2-hour show and, as the name suggests, I would play just anything that i liked – which has always been my nr 1 rule as a dj:  i play it if i like it (and vice versa) – from jazz to techno, psychedelic rock to cumbia, via trip hop to greek Miroloi songs… In the past 15 years i had made tons of edits, solely for my own show and my sets, but I never did anything else with them, and had no other plans whatsoever. Then, this year, in February, I broke my 2 heels (don’t ask me about it) and I was stuck to my couch 24/7 for 3 months. During the first week I managed to create about 27 mixtapes but I just got bored, so I started flipping thru old boxes of photos & loveletters & hard drives which were full of music, and I decided to send the edits I dug up to some musical friends worldwide. One of them told me: “Why don’t you put them on bandcamp?” Honestly, I had no clue, but, like often, I answered “Sure, why not” and while doing that, I realised making some more edits would be a perfect way to kill the seas of time that I had ahead of me! Making edits is fun, of course, but it may also become very boring, repetitive & time consuming, depending on how you work. The first 2 edits I’ve made this year were actually more kinda mash-ups (Bicep’s ‘glue’ vs Sono ‘keep control’ (2 tracks that I loved to mix while dj’ing peak time) & Kelis ‘caught out there’ vocals over my all time fav song Quantic ‘cumbia sobre el mar’)! Another fun fact while we’re at it: I finished the last one after approx 200 hours of non-stop funking around, and had send it in all my enthousiasm to let’s say the A-list of funkateers: Gilles, Lefto, Questlove, etc just to find out, after sending, that I had sent the wrong file! I kid you not 😂 I had also posted the Bicep / Sono track to the Amazing facebook group Balearic Burger (Follow them if you don't already & thank me later). Then, A little later, the Balearic Burger headhoncho John C Bawcombe reached out to me (S/O JOHN! LOVE YOU LONGTIME!!) and told me: "Listen, you got something here, do something with it..." He really pushed me to next level... John will never acknowledge it, but without him we wouldn’t be talking right now!! He connected me with so many key players in the balearic world, and really pushed things further! 3) Speaking of edits, Colleen played your Proud Pinto edit from Peter Green. How did that remix happen? Why did you chose this track? What did you want to achieve with it? I was over the moon when I heard Colleen had played my track! When it comes to editing, my only purpose is to make it dj-friendly. Generaly speaking, I don’t overdo things, because the songs I pick are all favs of mine & I respect the artists so much that I simply extend the tunes, nothing more. As for the songs, well, again, they've been in my bags for 25 years & I would often say to myself ‘Why is this song so short?’ or ‘This could use a longer intro!’. With todays technical possibilities, I’m simply able to answer these two questions! So yeah, i just do it i guess 😉 By the way, my biggest inspiration has always been Greg Wilson, the don of edits! Since hearing Credit To The Edit vol.1, a milestone and true testimony of the art of editing & DIY culture in general, I knew I wanted to edit songs! Jona's Bandcamp:   https://telledits.bandcamp.com Jona's Mixcloud: https://www.mixcloud.com/eclectic-ladyland/ 4) What's next for you musicaly speaking? Both my imagination & songs "to do lists" are endless, so we’ll see where it ends! For now, I’ve got my first official remix coming up and I’m working with the legend Trevor Fung on some things, you’ll hear about those later! TELL#50 was released this week with edits from Jaqueline Taieb, Glass Beams, Venus Gang, Los Pekenikes, Scott Lavene & Pat Metheny & that’s what Tell Edits is all about: from Yé Yé to Outernational Sounds, via Psychedelica to Tropicalia over Rock to Jazz & back. No limits. No gods. No Masters! Make edits, Not war ✌🏻

Balearic Breakfast allows its listeners to discover brand new music. When I heard "Mud People" by Torn Sail, I simply fell off my chair. I had to meet Huw again... Order Torn Sail's New Album on Bandcamp More about the band 1- Far away from today’s musical trends, your new album puts music close to the lyrics, inviting it to tell its own part of the story. Was this a way to reflect Steady weather’s soul or would you rather say that it’s the band’s DNA? This album certainly has more time, space, and music surrounding the lyrics. I listen to a lot of instrumental music and it can say a lot just without words, just like a cry, a sigh, or a laugh. Also, I tend to write sparely so there is time for the undercurrents to unfold. Perhaps I am making space for myself in a fast life. 2- We also feel that sonically speaking, and compared to the other albums Torn Sail recorded previously, Steady Weather is more open, almost reaching to an ethereal nature, if that makes sense. How did you work on that aspect of the album? I like to make space for improvisation in our performances – whether live or recorded.  That way we can really express ourselves in the moment we are in and in the environment we are in. It's a way to commune with our audience and it's a magical, physical, mystical happening. I also like to bring the outside world into our music, the spaces let in the unplanned world-sounds – traffic, ice-machines, glasses, coughs. It feels like we hold the time for an indefinite tiny infinite moment.   3- Although a main positive journey, Steady Weather also has its dark, plunging and frightening moments, I’m thinking here about the incredible track that “Mud People” is… Can you take us through the song and tell us its story, how it evolved and maybe what it means? I imagine there are many songs that are for Alan Kurdi, the child washed up on the shore, when the boat he was on sunk during a desperate attempt to flee violence, and not just for Alan but the thousands of men, women and other children who've died or been brutally treated trying to escape war and poverty. It's shameful the way we treat people on the run from the hell we in the western world have done so much to create.  History shows our borders are ephemeral, that common people are pawns pit against each other in the interests of tyrants and psychopaths. It's becoming increasingly clear that as our capitalist society turns our natural world to concrete and gold there are less and less resources to fight over, and so the fighting is getting more desperate and the powerful build bigger and bigger ivory towers.  We need to lay down our borders and brace for a great levelling. Or maybe our leaders try and do good. 4- Steady Weather acts as an invitation to travel. From the title of the album to the songs, beautifully developed and showcasing a breathtaking mixture of sonic layers. Can you share a few memories from the studio with us? Steady Weather has come from more than a decade of recording. When I listen I feel nostalgia. I remember carrying my children through the Sherwood Forest as babies, I remember my Step-father dying in hospital, I remember losing my job and signing on, I remember being 40, then 50.  Friends and Nutshell were recorded live in concert at Peggy's Skylight – a Jazz club in Nottingham where we're based.  We were all incredibly nervous in the lead up to the show – for weeks – and we only shared the feeling back stage before the gig. It was just as clubs were allowed to open again in the UK after the Covid Pandemic, and I think there was a residual fear that came to the surface. We played such a beautiful set – John, Henry, Jim, Jeff & I – one of the highlights of my musical life – the relief of being amongst people and around music was tangible – the nerves turned to elation. It was a night I'll never forget and I'm so glad it was recorded.   Consider Your Position is from when the pubs first opened again, and my partner Caroline and I met up with John, Torn Sail's bass player, in the garden of the Lion. I think it was a sunny April day. I got very drunk and wrote the evening as it happened.  5- Will you take the album on tour? What can we expect from Torn Sail in the near future? The band would love to. I don't know if we can afford to. I'm starting to ask around... but we're very under the radar. We've started making another album! Thank you from the bottom of my heart Huw, and all the best on your musical journey to you and to the ones accompanying you!

Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy broadcast the 229th episode of Balearic Breakfast on her Mixcloud on July 01st 2025. About this episode. – After playing at Pikes in Ibiza, and despite what seems to be a sinus infection blocking her right ear, Colleen managed to air a brand new episode of our favourite show today! This episode was very refreshing knowing the curent state of the thermometers in Europe (we reached 38°C here in Paris while 34°C have been reached in London) as it had a viby, cool, slowly evolving rhythmic pace, letting the listener feel a "letting go' vibration for most of the songs played, of course enhanced by Colleen's incredibly perfect mixes! Without the shadow of a doubt, the first two songs of today's episode are a Wow Moment! Of couse, as often, today's show resonnated with me as I felt that if you're not being appreciated somewhere, and If all you could give was never enough to someone, be it at work or in your private life, one of the solution was to adapt your thinking mind and let things go. We should never force things, let alone allow anybody to pressure our personality to meet their expectations... Try listening to today's show with that in mind, and you should be able to meet me quite quickly somewhere along the musical and Balearic Way... Listen back to the 229th episode of Balearic Breakfast: This morning’s Balearic Breakfast is now up on my Mixcloud and for the most part is all new tunes, including several coming out later this summer by Soul 2 Soul, Ron Trent, Sven Wunder, Sons of Sevilla, Feel Fly, Turbotito, Lou Hayter, Black Science Orchestra, Hot Toddy, Space Grapes and much more. Each weeks leading up to the release of Balearic Breakfast Volume 4, I’m spinning one of the compilation’s tracks e and the choice for today’s show was by Claremont 56 outfit Paqua. You can pre-order the comp on the Heavenly Recordings bandcamp and independent record shops and thanks to all who have already done so. I’m also hosting another Balearic Breakfast party at NTs Loft in London this Friday – this time a soirée from 7pm to 2:30 am – maybe more like a Balearic Breakfast Supper. I’m joined by Virginia Tzioti from Athens and Daisybelle whose productions I have been spinning as of late. Tickets are available presale on Resident Advisor and on the door. I hope you can make it. And thank you to everyone who joined me at Freddy’s at Pike’s on Sunday night – that was an amazing party! I’ll be back one more time before the season’s end – celebrating the release of Balearic Breakfast Volume 4 on Sunday, the 28th September. It has been a real pleasure hanging with the Pike’s team too. Well aside from a raging sinus infection and blocked ear canals, that’s what’s happening in my musical world this week. If you see me on Friday with my heading hanging to the side, please know it’s the only way I can hear with both ears at the moment. Baffled. Thanks for listening. THE PLAYLIST (2024) Infradisco – Beyond the Caduca (Hear & Now Remix) (2025) Torn Sail – Mud People (2025) Sven Wunder – Scenic Byway (2025) Mama Terra – A Mind Supreme (Joel Hamilton Remix) (2025) Potatohead People & Slippery Elm ft Bahamadia – Up Close (TBR) Sons of Sevilla – Butterfly (2025) Paqua – Akaliko (from Balearic Breakfast Vol 4) (2025) Lou Hayter – Wish You Were Mine (Black Science Orchestra Vocal) (2025) Jéroboam – See The Light (Space Grapes Vocal) (2025) Francis Bebey – Sanza Tristesse (Josh Ludlow Remix) (2025) The Cool Notes – You're Never Too Young (Moplen Remix) (2025) Peter Green – Proud Pinto (Jona’s Mac Fleetwood Edit) (2025) Turbotito – Time Starts Moving Slow (2025) Fatback Band – Chillin Out (Kons Cool Out Remix) (2025) Jazxing – Memories (2025) Feel Fly – Sole (Radiomarc Remix) (2025) Lakeshouse – Renate’s Dans (Hot Toddy Remix) (2025) Tubbs & Burns – Drums Are Dangerous (Todd Modes Full Moon Mix) (2025) Soul 2 Soul – A Dream's A Dream (Ron Trent Mix) (2025) SHAF, Ahmed Saad & Ya Man – Hawah COLLEEN'S PRESENTATION Beyond the Kaduka by InfraDisco, a project by DJ Mark B and musician producer Alberto Benatti. And the original is from their debut album Aqua Capta, released last year on Archaeo Recordings. But we just heard the very chilled out remix by Perugia-Italy duo, Hear & Now. Good morning, Balearicans. I'm Colleen Cosmo Murphy, hosting your weekly Balearic Breakfast until high noon on my MixCloud Live, and streaming live from a very hot record room. It's beautiful out. It's very, very hot, but it's sunny here in London. I think it's one of the hottest days of the year so far. Greetings to the family gathered over on my MixCloud Live and thanks for joining me as always. I just got back from Ibiza where I played at Pikes and we had a great shindig in Freddie Mercury's bedroom on Sunday night. And thanks to all who joined us. And I'm back at Pikes on one more date this summer at the very, very end of summer, the 28th of September. And I'm really looking forward to it. I've had such a great time there, not only spinning, but also hanging out with the Pikes crew. They've been so lovely to me. Now, sadly, you can probably hear it. My sinus infection still hasn't improved. And because of the flights, my right ear is blocked. That's really irritating. Hopefully it will repair itself soon. I mean, if I tilt my head to the right, it seems to clear it up to look a bit strange. So thankfully, you can't see me, but I'm really hoping it clears up by Friday as I'm back at N.T.'s Loft in London, this time for an evening party with Balearic Breakfast family member Virginia Tsiotti and also guest DJ Daisy Bell, whose tracks I've been playing a lot as of late. N.T.'s is in East London and tickets are really cheap, which is really nice on the pocket. So you can head over to Resident Advisor to secure them. And I'm sure there'll be some on the door as well. I'm also playing at some festivals this summer, Homestead in Bristol and We Are Love Festival in Brighton in July. In August, I'm heading to Helsinki for Flow Festival and then I'm back for Houghton, this time playing on a Sunday for the first time in the Stallions tent. Of course, I'll be hosting the Love Dancing tent at We Out Here with the Cosmodelica takeover on Saturday. Then I'm back to Ireland for the second year in a row on the eve of my birthday, strangely, this time for the If You Know, You Know Festival. And then I'm heading to Italy for Jazz Refound at the end of August. So I have lots to look forward to and I hope to see some of you when I'm playing at those festivals. Please say hi. I'm also looking forward to sharing a load of new music with you on today's show. Nottingham producer, musician and songwriter Huw Costin has a band called Torn Sail and they've been releasing music for nearly 15 years. Their debut single was on Paul Mudd Murphy's Claremont 56 label. They also have released two studio albums and their third, Steady Weather, was released last week on Costin's label Delia Recordings. And it's an ambitious offering, a double album beautifully packaged with a booklet. And the whole album demands attentive listening as the songs reflect on how the positive nature of humanity has the power to transcend all kinds of borders. The connection between landscape, memory and family, the passage of time, aging and the beauty found in simple domestic moments. This is Torn Sail with Mud People. Butterfly by the Sons of Sevilla, who are actually two blood brothers from the north of England, Henry and Reuben Smith. They started making their double debut album Lullabies for a Wildcat during the pandemic and it was released on Ubiquity last year. It was a great album, great album. And they have a new one on the horizon called Street Light Moon and Butterfly is the third single. And also Sons of Sevilla will be touring in the U.S. throughout the autumn. I really love their debut. I hope they come over to the U.K. sometime soon. Ahead of that, Up Close by Potatohead People, which is Canadian hip hop electronic production duo Astrological and Nick Wisdom, along with MC and singer Slippery Elm. And that track also featured special guest, the Philadelphian ledge Bahamadia. It's from their forthcoming album Emerald Tablet, which will be released on the 11th of July on Mystery Box Records. And you can preorder it on Bandcamp. Ahead of that, we heard Mama Terra, the jazz soul ensemble led by Glaswegian pianist and composer Marco Cafola. And they've just released a remix of a track from their 2023 debut, The Summoned. We heard A Mind Supreme, given the remix treatment by the Grammy-nominated Brooklyn-based producer, engineer and musician Joel Hamilton, which came out just a few days ago on Acid Jazz. Before that, Swedish musician and composer Sven Vunder with Scenic Byway. It's the second single from Sven Vunder's upcoming fifth full-length album, Daybreak, which is coming out at the end of September. And Vunder is, I should say, it's his first, it's his fifth full-length album. Sorry, my ear is really bothering me. I feel so unbalanced. And that seamlessly continues the progression of his musical oeuvre. It takes the listener on a vivid maritime expedition, beginning the moment the first rays of light break the darkness of the night, and embarking on a lush journey through the early hours of the day and far beyond. And I'm really looking forward to that. And we started it all off with Torn Sail with Mud People. Now, as you probably know by now, the next release in the Balearic Breakfast compilation series, Volume 4, will be released on the 29th of August, alongside a double CD of both Volumes 3 and 4. And you can pre-order via the Heavenly Recordings Bandcamp. And pre-orders are also available at many independent record shops. You can find out more via my linktree on Instagram. And thanks to all those who have pre-ordered already. This comp features recent tunes from contemporary artists making a vinyl outing for the first time, along with some of my favorite classics that are quite pricey to get on vinyl. As is the custom, I'll feature a tune from the comp each week until it's released at the end of August. And this is the first one, an old favorite of mine from the Claremont 56 label by Paqua. This is the title track of their album Akaliko, which came out over a decade ago. And it's quite expensive to find secondhand on vinyl. So it's coming out on Balearic Breakfast, Volume 4. Danish Yugoslavian musician Turbotito with Time Starts Moving Slow from the forthcoming The Sunset Manifesto, Volume 2 by DJ Supermarkt. And Supermarkt's guiding logic for this second edition of contemporary mid-paced magic is a house blend of adult-orientated sunset beats with a little, we could all use a little joy right now on the side. And that's certainly true. And along with Turbo Tito, the compilation features some of my other favorite artists, Wolfie vs. Projections, Poolside, and Young Gun Silver Fox. So look out for that. Ahead of that, a lovely edit of Peter Green's Proud Pinto. And that original track is from the Fleetwood Mac founder's incredible solo album, 1979's In The Skies, a longtime favorite of mine. The edit is called Jona's Mac Fleetwood Edit, and it just arrived in my inbox this morning. So thank you, Jona. I'm not quite sure who it was. Ahead of that, Brit soul-funk outfit The Cool Notes with a Luca Moplin rework of their single, You're Never Too Young, from their 1985 LP, Have a Good Forever. The Cool Notes had a reggae number one back in 1978 with My Tune. And with this single, You're Never Too Young, they cracked the UK charts as well. I'm a big fan of Moplin's reworks and remixes. Great sense of arrangement. I've really also been getting into Josh Ludlow's remixes and productions more and more. Featured his mix of Pigeon on The Last Balearic Breakfast Vol. 3 comp. We heard a remix of Sansa Tristesse by the late Cameroonian singer, musician, composer, musicologist, sculptor, and writer, and all-around talent, Francis Bebe. Look him up. Africa 7 released a vinyl comp of remixes of Bebe's work. And along with Ludlow, there are reworks by Psych Magic, Turbo Tito, Voila!, and Red Axes. And you can order the vinyl. It's a vinyl-only release on Bandcamp. Ahead of that, See the Light, the forthcoming single by French live outfit Jéroboam, coming out on the 11th of July. A lot of records coming out on the 11th of July. This one on Space Grapes. And it's a loose-limbed, synth-splashed, boogie burner that builds on their Cult 2022 debut on the same label. We heard the Space Grapes vocal by label heads Danilo Pleso, a.k.a. Motor City Drum Ensemble, and Bobby Van Putten. And it's another analog transmission, beamed straight from the jam room. And you can pre-order that now. And starting it all off with Lou Hayter, the Black Science Orchestra vocal mix of Wish You Were Mine. Okay, I was really honored to be part of the Spring Revisited project with my remix of The Street People. The project was put together by Sweden's Cosmos Music and Acid Jazz and includes remixes from the 70s New York City label Spring Records by artists like Joe Clausell, Dave Lee, Dimitri from Paris, DJ Spina, The Reflex, Opolopo, of artists like Fatback Band, Garland Green, and Millie Jackson. This is a beautiful, jazzy, summer-sounding remix of Fatback Band's Chillin' Out by Boston native Khan on Balearic Breakfast. This sounded really good at Pike's on Sunday night. Soul to Soul, A Dream's a Dream, the Ron Trent remix. And the original features Victoria Wilson James. The original's from Soul to Soul's sophomore album, Volume 2, 1990, A New Decade. And Ron's remixes are coming out in August, and you can pre-order the vinyl on Soul to Soul's Bandcamp. I already have. And it was great seeing Ron Trent bust some moves to his own tune, Street Wave, at the London Loft Party a couple of weeks ago, too. So great to see him. I had to add a little something-something from yesterday's inbox from New Zealand duo Tubbs and Burns, my old friend Chris Tubbs and Eden Burns. You may remember the single I played of theirs, Where Were You in 92. Well, their forthcoming EP features a new remix of that by Colter Carson, which is great. And it also features the new tune that I played, the Todd Modes Full Moon mix of Tubbs and Burns, Drums Are Dangerous. Ahead of that, Scandinavian outfit Lakeshouse with their forthcoming single Renate's Dans out next week on paper recordings. And it was given the remix treatment by Hot Toddy, which is Chris Todd from Crazy P. Ahead of that, we had Feel Fly, who is the Italian DJ and producer Daniele Tomassini, also from Perugia, like here and now. And Manu from Archeo Recordings has just sent me that release, which is coming out in mid-July. The Radio Marc remix of Feel Fly's Sole, which means sun in Italian. And we had the forthcoming single from Jazxing on Higher Love called Memories. And it's a progression from the Polish duo's already great debut LP, Pearls of the Baltic Sea. And it's musicians, producers and DJs Jakub Sautycz and Mateusz Filipiuk. I hope I got that right. I probably didn't. They formed Jazxing in their hometown of Gdansk, Poland, and they integrated with the wider Balearic music scene. And they're part of a growing group of colorful Polish artists, clubs and labels who want to share and inspire music with their passion for these sounds. Well, I certainly love sharing my passion for sounds and songs with all of you people. And thanks for joining me again for Balearic Breakfast. I will be back next week streaming live and I think we should do another request line. So I'll aim to do that this weekend on my socials where you can request tunes for next Tuesday's show. I hope to see some of you at N.T.'s Loft this Friday where I'm DJing another Balearic Breakfast party. This time a night party, this time with Virginia Tsioti and Daisy Bell. I'm going to leave you with something very interesting that I also received yesterday. It's by Middle Eastern DJ and producer and Billboard hitmaker Hassan El-Shafei returning under a new alias, SHAF. And this is a collaboration with Egyptian singer and actor Ahmed Saad titled Ya Man Hawa, on which they joined the dots between North African and Middle Eastern sounds and Afro tech. And it's a love song that translates as my love for her elevates her while it humbles me. Thank you so much for listening. Have a great week and I'll see you next Tuesday.

When I heard Opolopo's take on Millie Jackson's "We got to hit it off", I knew I had to meet the man behind the music! Let's find out how Peter works his charms on Classics... 1) Hi Opolopo, and thank you so much for joining us here on the Balearic Breakfast Blog! Your remix of Millie Jackson's 'We got to hit it off' has been played during the 220th episode of the series and it took us all by storm. Can you tell us how you got involved in these remixes first of all? I was approached quite a while ago by the Swedish label Cosmos Music. Their subsidiary label, Ace Music, focuses on acquiring catalogues of older recordings. In this case, it was the catalogue of Spring Records, who released artists like Fatback and Millie Jackson. They asked me if I'd be interested in remixing one of Millie Jackson's tracks (and later also Fatback). I jumped at the opportunity as it's such a treat to get to do an official remix for a legendary artist, while also having access to the original multitrack recordings. At that point, I don't think the concept was fully formed but this turned into a wonderful remix project, "Spring Revisited", where a whole bunch of producers were invited to rework the Spring catalogue. 2) How was the song chosen for this project? Millie Jackson's original version is slower with a groovier approach. How do you approach the song's you're working on, what do you pay attention to, and, more importantly, how do you know if a song "fits" you? I got to choose the track I wanted to rework. In this case, I picked one I really like - but that’s not always necessary. The most important thing is that it has the potential to be turned into something interesting. I'm not that interested in merely re-editing a track, I want to get in there and reharmonize, add new musical parts and mess things up. So I listen for tracks that allow me to do those things. The challenge then is to do it while still being respectful of the original. 3) Were there any drawbacks or difficulties when working on this specific song, your remix seems so "easily done", it sounds just so natural and so assertive! I can't say there were any specific difficulties with this particular track. There are always some hurdles and obstacles but that is what makes it fun and creatively satisfying. In general, I'm striving for a remix to sound like it could be an original. So if it sounds "natural", my mission was hopefully accomplished. 4) You actually did two versions for this release, I must admit the Deeper remix has such a beautiful balance between the original light the song initially has and that attractive darker force you put it in! How do you work when putting songs in a new context? What is something you'd never do when making a song take a new path? So the second version, the "Deeper Mix",  was where I left the idea of making it sound like an original behind... Millie Jackson has such a powerful voice, so I thought, after having done a more soulful and boogie-tinged version, I'll aim for a slightly later slot in a DJ set: when the lights are dimmed and things are a bit darker and sweatier. I like contrasting the 70s flavors of the strings, guitars and vocal delivery with more modern elements, like a clubby and moody synth bass and chunkier drums. It's a fine balance, and it's of course subjective, but it still has to all gel together. And in the spirit of contrast, tension and release, I had the lighter and more uplifting chorus from the first version appear in a 16-bar bridge towards the end. Shifting the vibe from swinging hips to waving hands, reminding people where the track came from. Something I wouldn't do: auto tune the crap out of the vocals... 5) Can you share with us what's next for you in the Near future? Next up is a remix EP for Z Records. I had the pleasure of remixing three tracks from Dave Lee's  AC Soul Symphony album "Metamorphosis”. The 12" is coming out on July 28 ! Thank you so much Peter for this interview and of course for the music!

Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy broadcast the 228th episode of Balearic Breakfast on her Mixcloud on June 24th 2025. About this episode. – A friend recently asked me: "You spend so much time on the blog, why?" And I answered: "Because Colleen is a Friend, she's my Musical friend" And my friend went on "But you don't know her personally, you met her briefly only once, how can she be a Musical friend?" I answered "Some things can not be explained. They don't need to. Maybe I'm making things up in my mind, but I'd rather have a musical friendship with her than have a real friendship with other persons I know..." My friend looked at me and said "Yeah, I think I understand where you're going with that..." And if something was to be proven here, today's show is another great example... I initially requested Queen's "Innuendo" and my friend Ana said to me "Colleen is never going to play that, it's too harsh", and she was right as our dear Captain wrote me and asked if I had another request, suiting a morning show better. I answered, saying, "sadly no, I don't. But don't worry, it will be for the next time!". What hapenned was my initial request was perfectly hitting the chaos we see in the world today, it is a Grand Track but it did not meet the mood our dear Captain felt was the right one for today's episode. And it's totaly okay! Requesting songs is a Game, really, and the beauty of it is that Colleen is making the final decisions, letting her musical soul speak. So I wasn't expecting anything from my musical friend on today's episode... Yet, then came the live show and the second song... And when I heard what Colleen said, I simply burst into tears. Once again, Colleen took the Lioncub in her arms, and gave him a musical hug. These moments, and I know a lot of other members of the family experienced them too, these moments are absolutely Priceless and Wonderful because Colleen lets her Spirit meet everyone of us. And this kindness is the reason why we love her the way we do... Of course, the link with today's post title is absolutely easy to make... We're all about Love here at Balearic Breakfast, we're sharing the music, we're not sharing our egos, we're sharing our unity, with one another, without paying attention to race, color, sexual or political orientations... If you respect me, if you Love me, I'll always be your brother, and my heart and my arms will always be openned wide... Be You, Be Proud, Join the Family, we're waiting for you... Love is a Rainbow... (Click here for last year's celebration) Listen back to the 228th episode of Balearic Breakfast: Recycling an old photo from Wigstock in the early 90’s in New York’s Tompkins Square Park with my old friend Rich Renaldi for today’s Balearic Breakfast Pride Special! Thank you to all who contributed songs by the LGBTQ+ community for this morning’s 4.5 hour music marathon and thanks to all who kept me company on my Mixcloud Live during the stream. That was a true celebration and HAPPY PRIDE to our friends in the LGBTQ+ community. I also want to thank all of those who have pre-order the next instalment in my Balearic breakfast compilation series on HEAVENLY RECORDINGS. Last week we announced the Balearic Breakfast volume 4 is coming out on the 29th August and its another limited double vinyl album with gorgeous artwork from Ardneks. It features some older songs that are quite expensive to get on vinyl along with cuts from contemporary artists that have never before been released on vinyl and I’m really proud of it. Also being released on the same date is the double CD compiling both volumes 3 and 4 of the Balearic Breakfast series. You can order it via the links in the comments. Enjoy today’s Pride Celebration! THE PLAYLIST (2012) George Michael – Song to the Siren (1984) Queen – Is This the World We Created (2024) Ganavya – Forgive me my (2020) Pet Shop Boys – Love Comes Quickly' (Blank & Jones Remix) (1997) k.d. lang – The Air That I Breath (1973) Johnny Mathis – Foolish (2008) George Michael – Edith and the Kingpin (Live) (1972) Labi Siffre – Crying Laughing Loving Lying (1989) Dusty Springfield – Nothing Has Been Proved (1981) Sylvester & Jeanie Tracy – Here is My Love (2018) Sylvester – I Need Somebody to Love Tonight (Psychemagik Remix) (2020) Arca – Time (2016) Arthur Russell – Make 1, 2 (Gem Spa Dub) (2024) kitti – Everything You Wanted (2024) Reinel Bakole – God Complex (2024) Jessica Lauren – Alefela (2022) HANAH – Solo (2023) Janelle Monae – Only Have Eyes 42 (1989) Adeva – Beautiful Love (Frankie Knuckles Classic Club Mix) (1990) George Michael – Freedom 90 (Back to Reality Mix) (1986) George Michael – A Different Corner (A Tribute Mix by Dave Oren) (1978) Bionic Boogie ft Luther Vandross – Hot Butterfly (Disco Remix) (1976) Luther Vandross – Funky Music (Is a Part of Me) (1984) Frankie Goes to Hollywood – War (2000) Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Maximum Joy (1990) Kitchens of Distinction – Quick as Rainbows (2025) HAAI – Can't Stand to Lose (1981) Pete Shelley – Homosapien Dub (2022) Karen Nyame KG – Taboo (xx) Boy George / Jesus Loves You – Generations of Love (2025) Ghost Assembly – I Keep On Making the Same Mistake (2014) Kaytranada ft Shay Lia – Leave Me Alone (1981) Patrick Cowley – Sea Hunt (2024) Queen Latifah – Hard Times (Queen's Extended House ReTouch) (1989) Frankie Knuckles & Satoshi Tomiie ft Robert Owens – Tears (2019) Sylvester – I Need You (Opolopo Rework) (1993) The Look – Glammer Girl (Bochine Prelude/ Ballroom Mix/ Moog Reprise) (2024) Wallace ft. Love Letters – Cravings (2008) Hercules & Love Affair – Blind (Frankie Knuckles Mix) (1992) Erasure – Take a Chance on Me (Philip Kelsey Take a Trance on Me Mix) (2007) T-Empo ft Juliet Roberts – Saturday Night, Sunday Morning (T-Empo Mix) (NOL) Gloria Gaynor – Never Can Say Goodbye (Butch Le Butch Rework) COLLEEN'S PRENSENTATION The gorgeous, gorgeous voice of George Michael with a cover of Tim Buckley's Song to the Siren, the b-side to Michael's 2012 single White Light. And that was his last hit before his untimely passing four years later. Song to the Siren is such a gorgeous song. It first came onto my radar via the 4AD collective, This Mortal Coil, with vocals by Elizabeth Fraser. And I had never heard George Michael's own beautiful take on this song. And thank you to Baker's Hill for that request. Good morning, Balearicans. I'm Colleen Cosmo Murphy, hosting your weekly Balearic Breakfast. And today is our annual Pride special. So it's going to be a long show, I think coming up to about five hours, which is about the same as last year's Pride special. Hello to the Balearic Breakfast family over on my Mixcloud Live. I hope you could stick around as long as possible, as it really will be a marathon. Before we tuck in, I just want to thank all of those who have pre-ordered the next installment in my Balearic Breakfast compilation series on Heavenly Recordings. Last week, we announced the Balearic Breakfast Vol. 4. It's coming out on the 29th of August, and it's another limited double vinyl album with gorgeous artwork from Ardnyx. It features some older songs that are quite expensive to get on vinyl, along with cuts from contemporary artists that have never before been released on vinyl. And I'm very proud of it. Also being released on the same date is the double CD compiling both Volumes 3 and 4 of the Balearic Breakfast series. And you can order it via the Heavenly Bandcamp or from selected independent record stores. And I'll also host some record release parties in September at NT's Loft in London and Pike's in Ibiza. Okay, today is a special show as we are featuring music by artists from the LGBTQ plus community. And I really look forward to this one as I discover new artists, new tunes, and I always learn something new. Thank you to all who contributed to today's show. So many great tunes, and there were multiple requests for certain artists. But because they're so good, I've tried to get on as much as possible. From the legends to the newbies, from jazz to pop to dance to indie, today's show runs the gamut so there's something for everyone. We're going to stay on the more meditative tip for a bit. And this next song is appropriate on a few levels, not only because it's led by Freddie Mercury, but also because the lyrics seem especially poignant and apt right now. We're going to keep the show as positive a celebration as possible. But this next song does acknowledge what is going on around us. This one is going out to Artur in Paris, from their 1984 album, The Works. This is Queen with Is This the World We Created. We had two requests for British singer, songwriter and poet Labi Sifre. And thank you to Jen Ferguson and Rick Van Veen for that request. That was the title track to Sifre's third studio album, 1972's Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying. A fantastic album from beginning to end. And he has such an interesting story. There was a great doc on the BBC, which you may be able to find somewhere, called This Is My Song, and I urge you to watch it. Ahead of that, George Michael with a version of Joni Mitchell's Edith and the Kingpin, recorded live at Abbey Road and released as a b-side to Michael's 2008 Christmas single. And the original is from Mitchell's album, Hissing of the Summer Lawns. And yes, Baker still got two requests, as I couldn't choose between the two George Michael covers, as whatever he sings just has me absolutely melting. So I just had to pick myself up off the floor. Actually, also for Joni Mathis. I mean, what a voice. Bert Francois requested that song Foolish, which was produced and written by Tom Bell and Linda Creed. And it's from the Texan-born crooner's 1973 LP, I'm Coming Home. Ahead of that, a request from Thanos Katronis for Canadian singer-songwriter and activist and icon, Katie Lang. That's a cover of The Air That I Breathe. The Hollies had a big hit with it in the early 1970s. Lang's version of The Air That I Breathe is from her 1997 LP, Drag, which is a bit of a concept album, a cover album in which most of the songs are related to smoking or dependence and addiction. Ahead of that, a Blank and Jones ambient chill-out mix of the Pet Shop Boys' 1986 single, Love Comes Quickly. I absolutely love that song. That's from their album, Please. The song had a load of great remixes, including one by Shep Pettibone, but the one we heard came out much later, I think 2003, on Blank and Jones' Relax series. And thanks to Dominic Mesmer for putting that one on our radar. And ahead of that, we had the New York City-born and Tamil Nadu-raised vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and sonic shapeshifter, Ganavya with Forgive Me My from her 2024 LP, Like the Sky, I've Been Too Quiet. This song was produced by Chewbacca Hutchings, and Ganavya composed Forgive Me My from Nigerian writer Teju Coles' words, Forgive me my forgetfulness, no one can forget gentleness. And thanks to Rick Van Veen again in the Netherlands for that request. Okay, you're tuned into the Balearic Breakfast Pride marathon special. And this next one is from another icon whose life took many twists and turns and who often doesn't get credit for all that she achieved, Dusty Springfield. Karen Bartlett wrote a fascinating book about her, Dusty, an Intimate Portrait of a Musical Legend. And I interviewed the author for a podcast called What I'd Say, Woman of Atlantic, if you want to check it out. This is a request from Paul Fitz for a song written and produced by the Pet Shop Boys for the 1989 film Scandal, Dusty Springfield with Nothing Has Been Proved. Arthur Russell with Make One Two, the gem spa dub and sending that one out too. Herbie King and Terry Fincham. Russell was a fascinating musician who sadly passed away due to AIDS over 30 years ago ago. He crossed and melded so many different musical boundaries from folk to new music to avant-garde to dance. And he definitely made a splash in that arena under monikers like Loose Joints and Dinosaur L. And he was a singer, songwriter, producer, and cellist. And Richard King, the author, excuse me, you can hear I have a bad cold and sinus infection. Richard King wrote the book, put together I should say the book, Travels Over Feeling Arthur Russell, A Life, which was published last year on Faber. Beautiful book, best book on Arthur Russell, just incredible. And if you want to know what Gem Spa is or was, it was a newspaper stand, also a candy store that had the best egg creams on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's in the East Village in New York, a total institution. Okay, this next one, this next set I should say is from Queer Jazz, a group founded by award-winning jazz musician Aroah and my friend, DJ, curator, and presenter Tina Edwards. And their mission is to celebrate queer jazz artists. They host gigs around the UK, including a residency at the Vortex Jazz Club in London. And you can find out more at queerjazz.org. They suggested a few songs for today's Breakfast Pride special, and I thought, why not play all of them? We're doing a five-hour show. So here is the Queer Jazz segment, kicking off with Glaswegian artist Kitty with Everything You Wanted from her debut album, Something in the Water, released last year on Rebecca Vazmont's label, Rebecca Records. A beautiful song called Solo by Hannah, a singer, songwriter, and producer who rides the gap between experimental R&B, ambient, and folk, and who certainly has a unique sound. Solo is from her debut 2022 EP, Colors of Now and Then. Ahead of that, British keyboardist, extraordinaire, Jessica Lauren, with Alefela from her album, Film, released last year on Impressive Collective and BBE Music. Lauren has been a fixture on the jazz and soul scene in the UK for decades, and she's a true pioneer. She's also performed with loads of legends like Gene Karn, Tom Brown, Dexter Wanzel, and is a member of Nick Wimbenzy's Space Jazz Outfit, Eminitive. Ahead of that, Belgian singer, composer, dancer, and performer, Rainel Bacole, with God Complex. She's a rising star on the avant-garde soul scene and released her debut album, Healing Exhaustion, last year. We heard God Complex. Thank you to Queer Jazz for suggesting those four songs. You can check them out at queerjazz.org. You're tuned in to the Balearic Breakfast Annual Pride Special. We're about an hour and a half in, probably three more hours to go at least. This next one was suggested by Kieran McCann in Glasgow for one of the most exciting contemporary artists and actors, Janelle Monae. It's from her third studio album, The Age of Pleasure, which she dedicates to the pan-African diaspora. It blends Afrobeat, soul, and also reggae like this one, Only Have Eyes 42. Oh my gosh, I don't know if you're tearing up, but I certainly am. A Different Corner, a tribute mixed by Dave Oren. Of course, that's George Michael. We had a doubleheader that was requested by Barry Baranitz in Washington, D.C. who says, all of his music is incredibly important to me and I miss his voice and presence terribly. He also dedicates that to his husband, Kevin. I also want to wish them once again a very happy wedding. They got married a few months ago. There was a George doubleheaders before that. We heard the back to reality mix of Freedom 90, a soul to soul kind of remix. That's also a request from Barry. I know we've had quite a lot of George Michael in the first part of the show, but I just love his voice and he resonates with so many of us. I'm happy to feature him quite a bit. Ahead of that, we had a request from Konstantinos Folias in Athens for some classic Frankie Knuckles. We heard his classic club mix of another house pioneer, A Diva, her 1989 single Beautiful Love from her debut album, A Diva. We'll have more from the late dance music icon, Frankie Knuckles, later in the show. As I'm not feeling 100%, I forgot to back announce some of the other songs that we played earlier. There was another doubleheader from Sylvester. We had Sylvester and Jeannie Tracy with Here Is My Love requested by Eddie Sanchez. It's a 1981 single from Sylvester, singing in a very different register, not in his usual falsetto, which is what so many people recognize him by. I don't think one can overstate how talented Sylvester was. He could do it all, blues, funk, soul, rock, jazz, an incredibly talented singer and songwriter who was signed to the jazz label, Fantasy. He was openly gay and cross-dressing as a black man from the late 1960s. That's before Stonewall. He was a renegade and an iconoclast. We'll have more from Sylvester later in the show. We also played the psych magic remix of I Need Somebody to Love Tonight. Definitely a whole different flavor to Here Is My Love. That was requested by Virginia Ciotti, Andy Dyer, who said it's an absolute summer vibe, quite slinky and sexy, and Sylvester being way ahead of his time. And also to Susan Chan, who said she'd like to dedicate that song to all of the LGBTQ plus family, but most especially to my brother-in-law, Wilson. He's the best companion to parties and vacations. I can definitely attest to that. He's been at many of my parties and he's also an awesome roller skater. Yes, he definitely is. And the best uncle to both of our daughters, forever grateful for you and love you. And I have to say I've seen him in action with his nieces, teaching them how to roller skate at Rockefeller Plaza once when I was DJing there. And that was also requested by Eddie Sanchez, who also points out to the fact that it was produced by another gay icon who was sadly lost to AIDS like Sylvester, Patrick Cowley. Two unbelievably talented and forward-facing artists. We also heard from Venezuelan musician and producer Arca, born Alejandro Garcia Rodriguez with time from their fourth studio album, 2020's Kick One, as requested by DJ Corbian. And that album marked a departure from the artist's previous ambient work and is self-described as an anti-pop album and touches on themes of gender and cultural identity. And the following year, Arca released four more Kick albums, four in one year. Okay. This next artist is also getting a double header today, Luther Vandross. You may have seen the documentary Luther Never Too Much. And if you haven't, please make a point of doing so. I learned so much. He was on so many more records than I had initially thought. I also didn't know he identified as gay as he felt he had to keep it under wraps, which must have been incredibly difficult. He was on so many recordings on records by David Bowie, Roberta Flack, Diana Ross, Donny Hathaway, Bette Midler, Todd Rundgren of more. And of course, he had an illustrious solo career. Here he is with Greg Diamond's outfit, Bionic Boogie with Hot Butterfly as requested by Kevin Fleming. Maximum Joy from Frankie goes to Hollywood's second album, Liverpool and sadly the final album. And that was requested by Luca Ospitone in Sardinia. And we had a Frankie goes to Hollywood double header. Earlier, we just heard a cover of the Norman Whitfield, Edwin Starr classic War. And that was very pro pro for these challenging times. It's from the Liverpudlian band's debut album, Welcome to the Pleasure Dome, which came out in 1984 on ZTT. And I absolutely adore this album. I asked for it for Christmas that year and I got it for my grandfather. He probably wasn't aware of some of the LP's themes. Thank you to Siobhan Murphy for that request. Ahead of that, we heard a request from David Stoddard for another Luther Vandross song, Funky Music. And yes, it sounds like the song Fascination found on David Bowie's Young Americans. And that's because it sort of is. Vandross sang on that album and Bowie loved that song and refashioned it. And Vandross is rightly credited as co-writer as well. Funky Music was released on Vandross' solo debut, Luther, released a year after Young Americans. You are tuned into the Balearic Breakfast annual Pride celebration special going probably for another two hours, maybe more. I can't remember. I think it's another two hours at least because I'm trying to get to every request or nearly every request. And this we're going to go into a little bit of an indie thing here. And I love this one. British indie band Kitchens of Distinction. And it was a name that caught my eye and a sound that caught my ear when I was hosting shows on college radio in the 1980s. Then I had the chance to interview the band for their second album, Strange Free World, which came out in 1991 and was produced by Echo and the Bunnymen producer Hugh Jones. It's been regarded as one of the best shoegazing albums of all time. Carl Banitoff and Canada requested Quick as Rainbows. Former Buzzcock turned solo artist, the late Pete Shelley, with a great Martin Rushant dub of his classic single Homo Sapien. And I love Martin Rushant's dub mixes of Human League. So thank you to Phil Thornton and Paul Tarpey for landing that Homo Sapien dub on my radar. Ahead of that, a request from Steve Clark for Can't Stand to Love by Hai, an Australian electronic musician who moved to the UK as part of the duo Dark Bells. After their split, she started DJing and released her debut EP and then an album. And her sophomore effort is coming out later this year. It's called Humanize and Can't Stand to Lose is one of the singles. Okay, this next one is by London based DJ producer Karen Yame NG, who has released a few singles over the last few years. This is her second single called Taboo, and which DJ Corbian describes as Corbian describes as a blissful record talking about the taboo of female on female love. And DJ Corbian also says much respects for representing our community. This is from high energy, pioneer producer Patrick Cowley with Sea Hunt from his second album Megatron Man. The New York state native moved to San Francisco in 1971, where he studied music, especially synths. And his future changed when he met Sylvester in 1978. And the two collaborated on so much great music together as we heard earlier. And thank you to Eddie Sanchez for that song suggestion. Ahead of that Haitian Canadian producer Kay Trinata, part of the hip hop duo The Celestics and also Celestine, the first black producer and the first openly gay artist to win the award for Best Dance Electronic Album at the Grammy Awards in 2021 for his work on his sophomore album Bubba. We heard Leave Me Alone featuring Shea Leah and thanks to Bert Francois in Brooklyn for that request. Ahead of that Ghost Assembly, I keep on making the same mistake and Ghost Assembly is Abigail Ward, who wrote the liner notes for the next Balearic Breakfast compilation volume four plug in that right now you can preorder it. And Abigail is also a great DJ, producer and writer. Abby will be coming up, Abigail will be coming up on the show this summer for an interview and a mix. And thanks to Chris Morgan for requesting that. Ahead of that Boy George going under Jesus Loves You, Generations of Love and that's from the Martyr Mantras. The only studio album by Jesus Loves You and the fourth LP by Boy George released in 1990. And that song still holds so much meaning today. It was requested by both Michael Karm and Rina Lady Beige who says I can't stop listening to this. The lyrics feel especially powerful right now and big love to all the LGBTQ plus community. You're tuned into the Balearic Breakfast Pride special featuring artists from the LGBTQ plus community. And I was overjoyed when Sue Forrest suggested this next one. It's by Queen Latifah who wowed us when she debuted as a rapper in the 1980s and then as an actress. And she's just an incredible talent. She's won a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, two NAACP Image Awards, a nomination for an Academy Award. And she was the first hip hop artist to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Two decades ago she released the Dana Owens album in which she sings soul jazz and R&B covers including this song Hard Times originally performed by Dr. Buzzard's original Savannah band. Latifah's original version is sublime but then I found this extended house retouch by Midas Touch and just had to play it for you. An absolutely killer rework by Abolobo of Sylvester's I Need You. The original the title track to Sylvester's 1980 LP Sell My Soul originally produced by Sylvester and Harvey Fuqua. And I've been playing this rework out a lot of my sets. I actually have to stop myself. Thank you to Tomohiro Yamada and David Stoddard for that request. I had about one of my favorite house songs of all time and I'm not even joking. It's a winning combo of Frankie Knuckle, Satoshi Tomiye and Robert Owens. Tears released in 1989 on FFRR and thank you to Danny Broderick for that request. And starting it off with Queen Latifah, Hard Times, the Queen's extended house retouch and that was requested by Sue Forrest. Still going maybe another hour or just about an hour maybe just under on the Balearic Breakfast Pride special. Thank you all for joining me over on my Mixcod Live. It's a true marathon and I absolutely love, love, love this show. Okay, well, this next one is a true journey and thanks to Rob Calcut the Urban Healer or Bunker Sessions as he's known on the Mixcod Live for this request. It's by Danny Tenaglia. Here going under the moniker The Look along with his longtime collaborator Peter Dow. It came out over three decades ago and whatever time you're listening to this and wherever you may be, try to place yourself into a dark club at 5am right now. It will make even more sense. The Look with Glamour Girl, the Bochinche Prelude, Ballroom Mix and Moog Reprise. An eternal favorite, I never get sick of this one. The Frankie Knuckles mix of Hercules and Love Affair, Blind featuring Anoni on vocals and thanks to DJ Corbian, AJ Elliott and Sue Forrest for suggesting it. Ahead of that UK based DJ and producer Wallace with his Fantasy Sound debut featuring the evocative vocals of Love Letters. We heard Cravings, a celebration of desire, risk and release and it came out a few months ago and thank you to Matt Raistrick for that request. Okay, you probably know I'm not a DJ who is noted for playing high energy tracks or for remixes with the word trance in them. That is today is a pride celebration. I'm making an exception as all these sound great and are truly uplifting and high energy is a form of dance music that pervaded the gay clubs and should be recognized. Plus, I love Erasure and I love Andy Bell's voice. This is a request from David Lucas for a 1992 ABBA cover by Erasure, Take a Chance on Me, the Philip Kelsey Take a Trance on Me mix. For this Pride special, we just heard Tempo featuring Juliet Roberts. Saturday night, Sunday morning, the Tempo mix requested by Rachel Blackman, who is Robot Florian on the chat. She says it reminds me of finding a home at Paradise Factory, a gay club in Manchester around 1993 to 96. Three floors of great dance music. I used to go on a Friday night when the loft was women only, but I'd certainly explore the other floors to New Year's Eve. Ninety four was memorable that the whole club was taken over by the women's space. One thousand women dancing. Plus, I didn't know that track was based on Thelma Houston from 1978 until you played a lot of discotheque in Manchester. Happy Pride, everyone. And I want to say a happy pride to our LGBTQ Balearic Breakfast family members. Thank you so much. One last reminder that preorders for Balearic Breakfast Vol. 4 Double Vinyl and Balearic Breakfast Vol. 3 and 4 CD are now up. The release date is at the end of August. And if you aren't in Glastonbury this weekend but are in Ibiza, I'm playing at Pike's on Sunday night, all night long in Freddie Mercury's bedroom. And the following Friday, the 4th of July, Virginia C.O.T. and Daisy Bell are joining me at N.T.'s Loft in London for an evening party. Leaving you with one last song, the title track to Gloria Gaynor's 1975 album, Never Can Say Goodbye. This song was requested by Atul Joshi, who said this song was my husband and my send off music at our, still back then, illegal same-sex wedding. And we left through an archway of 200 arms raised as a gateway to a happy new life. Thanks to all for joining me on the Balearic Breakfast Annual Pride Special. Happy Pride to our LGBTQ plus family members. Wishing you a wonderful month, a wonderful year, a wonderful life. This is the Butchler Butch remix of Gloria Gaynor going out to Atul Joshi. Thanks for listening.

Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy broadcast the 227th episode of Balearic Breakfast on her Mixcloud on June 17th 2025. About this episode. – After celebrating the 22nd anniversary of the London Loft with all of her friends and members of the Loft Family (thank you so much dear Marcia for sharing your pictures and videos here with us!), Colleen, although ill and medicated, embarked on a new edition of our beloved show, joined by the Balearic Breakfast Family as usual 😊 And, as often, there were a lot of reasons to rejoice ourselves: of course sharing memories from the loft is always great because you feel the love on the chat, but, this time around, our time, the one we've waited for so long, had at last arrived: the Balearic Breakfast vol. 4 pre-order campaign had debuted! And, icing on the cake, we were going also to enjoy an interview with Payfone's Phil Passera, including a mix he crafted for us, not forgetting the one Colleen did for us in the first hour (nor her latest releases which are all off the hook)! Did someone here started singing monday, tuesday happy days? I believe we should change the lyrics of the songs, like: "Tuesdays tuesdays happy days"... Well, you know what I mean right? Wow! Thank you to The London Loft family for bringing boundless positive energy to our 22nd anniversary party yesterday. It was uplifting, poignant and cathartic - a beacon of joy much needed in these troubled times. We are privileged to be able to share these moments together. Thank you to David Mancuso for starting The Loft in London with us and for all those who have joined the friendship train in a spirit of love and inclusivity. Happy Anniversary and Happy Pride (Colleen, 16/06/25) Colleen, Marcia Carr with DJ Ron Trent and Jacqueline Thompson Listen back to the 227th episode of Balearic Breakfast: This morning’s Balearic Breakfast is now up on my Mixcloud and it features new tunes, new re-edits and reworks and an interview with and mix from Phil Passera of Payfone. They just released their new album ‘Lunch’ last week – it’s only available on vinyl and cassette and you can order it on their Bandcamp. And another album announcement: my next compilation ‘Balearic Breakfast Volume 4’ is coming out on the 29th August on @heavenlyrecordings . It features fresh tunes that haven’t been released on vinyl by artists like @santinosurfers @ilyasantana and @tar_blanche along with hard to find vinyl cuts by New Zealand’s Troy Kingi and @claremont56 outfit Paqua and a couple of classic cuts from spiritual jazz band Paz and soul singer Gloria Ann Taylor. ‘Balearic Breakfast Volume 4’ also includes the first vinyl outings of two of my Cosmodelica remixes of @saintetienneofficial ‘Alone Together’ and @bryonyjarmanpinto ‘Moving Forward’. Also coming out on that date is the second CD edition of the series this one featuring Balearic Breakfast Volumes 3 & 4. And once again, it has gorgeous artwork from @ardneks . It’s a limited release with no digital downloads (that’s why it says £999!) and is available to pre-order at 11am on the Heavenly Recordings Bandcamp and from record shops around the world. I’ll also be hosting record release parties at NTs Loft in London and Pike’s in Ibiza in September. Thanks for your support of the series so far – I just checked this morning and Volume 1 is going for £200 and up on Discogs which is crazy. You can pre-order via my linktree. Next week is the Balearic Breakfast Pride Special and the request line goes up on Saturday. I look forward to your requests for music by LGBT+ artists. You can listen back to last year’s Pride special on my Mixcloud and please give me a follow and consider subscribing monthly while you’re over there. Thanks for listening. THE PLAYLIST (1963) Beach Boys – In My Room (2025) Visions of Light – The Last Domino (2025) Taggy Matcher ft John Milk – Stayin' Alive (2020) Mark Farina & Homero Espinosa – The Story (TBR) Psychemagik Edit – Do It (2025) Loose Ends – Hangin on a String (Random House Rework) (TBR) Lou Rawls – You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine (The Reflex Revision) (2025) The Circling Sun – Constellation 7:30 Payfone Interview & Mix: (1979) Cherry Laine – I'm Hot *(1978) Le Pamplemousse – Sweet Magic (2023) Addmoro – Rock & Roll Skate (Sax Version) (1979) Sweet Clover – You're What I Need (1984) Fresh Band – Come Back Lover (Dub) (2005) Joe Mensah – Africa is Soul (1979) Taana Gardner – Work That Body * Thank you to David Stoddard for identifying the song! COLLEEN'S PRESENTATION The Beach Boys with In My Room, penned and sung by the late pop pioneer Brian Wilson, who sadly departed planet Earth last week. But what an illustrious life he led, helping weave the fabric of pop music with the groundbreaking album, Pet Sounds, one of the most classic albums of all time, and which inspired the Beatles to up the ante with their own game changer, Sgt. Pepper. And I wrote about the album on the Classic Album Sundays website, so you can find out more there. But I didn't start the show with the obvious God only knows, but with a single from the Beach Boys' third album, Surfer Girl, because this was the first Beach Boys song that truly floored me. My parents didn't have many records at all, but this was one of them. And I played that song over and over and over. And I think it really reflects Brian Wilson's personality and musicality. May Brian Wilson rest in paradise. Editor's note: Fun fact, although Brian Wilson described the song as about being “somewhere where you could lock out the world, go to a secret little place, think, be, do whatever you have to do”, Charles Manson claimed that the Beach Boys stole the song from him 😂 Good morning, Balearicans. I'm Colleen Cosmo Murphy, and welcome to another weekly Balearic Breakfast Showdown, taking you until high noon on my MixCloud Live. And greetings to the fam gathered in the chat. And thank you again for joining me. And thanks to all those who joined us at the London Loft Party this past Sunday, celebrating 22 years since we started the loft in London with Dave and Mancuso. Wonderful vibes all around. And also a huge heartfelt thank you to the London Loft team, who put so much effort into these parties. I deeply, deeply appreciate you. Colleen and her friend, Kay Now last week, I announced a couple of releases. The Cosmodelica Electric Eden remix of The Cure came out on Friday. And if you're a Cure fan, you can find out more on their website. I listened to the entire album, all four sides of the vinyl on Friday. And there's so many great remixes, Orbital, Daniel Avery, Paul Oakenfold, Ame, Mira, and many more. Profits are being donated to War Child UK. So ordering the physical copy will be helping one of the best charities in the world. And my Cosmodelica remix of The Street People came out on the Spring Revisited series by Cosmos Music and Acid Jazz. And that's also now available on vinyl. And a bit later in the show, I have another announcement for you. Also later in the show, we have an interview with and a mix from Phil Passera of Payfone. Their album Lunch came out last Friday, and it's a physical release only. It's not streaming anywhere. So if you want to hear it, you'll have to head on over to the Payfone Bandcamp and order it. Support the artists, support indie labels, and support independent record shops. Get it on. Get on it, fam. Okay, until then, you can hear I have a bit of a cold, so I'm going to keep talking to a minimum. Until then, I'm spending some new re-edits and new releases, such as this next one by Visions of Light, who is Simon Sheldon, who also produces Solaris, and then drum and bass outfit Spree. He also heads the Free Booter Lounge label, which houses his bandmates, Belfast DJ Musca, and Belfast producer and musician Dan, who got his start in rock bands, and then migrated to a more chill-out, ambient, down-tempo house feel. Visions of Light showcases the trio's spacey dub-infused sound, and this next one is from their forthcoming album, The Mandala Vortex, being released on New Northern Soul on the 11th of July. Here is Visions of Light with The Last Domino. Well, isn't that song resonating with us right now? A groove-heavy statement piece by Mark Farina of Mushroom Jazz fame, along with Homero Espinosa, with a song called The Story, released back in 2020, and sadly, still a reflection on what is happening in the United States right now. The man who stole America is not in jail. I'm truly horrified at what's happening in my native land. I mean, watching mothers being pulled out of cars in front of their children, a state senator being handcuffed on the ground, thrown to the ground for just wanting to ask a question. I mean, the list goes on and on and on, and I feel angry, depressed, and also helpless, you know, being over here. But one thing that's really inspired me is the 10 million people who protested across America this past weekend. No kings. And I want to thank Jeff Peltzner from Christchurch, New Zealand, for that request. And the fact that he's on the other side of the planet of America demonstrates that what happens in the USA has great influence on the rest of the world. The story is on San Francisco label Ohm, and you can get that on Bandcamp. Ahead of that, Taggy Mitch featuring John Milk with a different perspective of the Bee Gees classic, Stayin' Alive. Truly heard that in a different way this time. And that's from the Disco Reggae Vol. 6 compilation coming out on Favorite Recordings on the 11th of July, and it's a great comp. Taggy Mitch also does a great cover of The Seeds 1966 classic, Pushin' Too Hard. And there's also covers of songs by Ramsey Lewis and the Isley Brothers by Soul Sugar, Mystic Jungle, and Mato. Okay, Danny Skyrager sent me over some new psych magic edits, and he's also joining me in our love dancing tent on my Saturday Cosmodelica takeover at We Out Here. I'm looking forward to hearing his deep and obscure psychedelic offerings. It's going to be cosmodelic and deep. Here's the new Psychemagic rework of an artist whom I don't know despite multiple shazams, but it's a great cover of Do It by BT Express. His voice is just so spectacular. Lou Rawls, The Late Baritone, with You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine, written by Gamblin' Huff and given a revision by The Reflex. It's such an amazing song, and what a life he led, getting his start in the 1950s alongside Sam Cooke. Then he served in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper, and then he nearly passed away, nearly died in a car crash. He was in a coma for nearly a week. But then in the late 1950s, he launched his solo career with highlights, including winning Grammy Awards, performing at the Monterey Pop Festival, and then after siding with Philly International, he had this, his biggest hit, You'll Never Find, which topped the R&B, adult contemporary, and pop charts. And in 1980, Rawls started the Lou Rawls Parade of Stars telethon, which benefited the United Negro College Fund, and by the time of his passing in 2006, the charity had raised $250 million. Okay, I said there'd be a big announcement, and I'm supposed to announce this at 11 o'clock in the morning, so we're eight minutes off, but you'll hear it first. My next Balearic Breakfast compilation, Volume 4, is coming out on the 29th of August. It features newer tunes that haven't been released on vinyl by artists like Santino Surfers, Ilya Santana, and Tar Blanche, hard-to-find vinyl cuts by New Zealand's Troy Kingy and Claremont 56 outfit Pacwa, a couple of classic cuts from spiritual jazz band Paz and soul singer Gloria Ann Taylor, and the first vinyl outings of two Cosmodelica remixes, my remixes of Saint Etienne and Bryony Jarman Pinto. And also coming out on that date is the second CD edition of my Balearic Breakfast compilation series on Heavenly, this one compiling Volumes 3 and 4. And once again, it has gorgeous artwork from Ardnex. It's a limited release with no digital downloads. You'll see it on the bandcamp. It'll say £999. It's a joke, people. There's no digital download. You have to order the physical copy. It's going to be available to pre-order at 11am on the Heavenly Recordings Bandcamp and also pre-orders from record shops around the world. And I'll also be hosting record release parties at NT's Loft in London and Pike's in Ibiza in September. Thanks for your support of this series so far. I just checked this morning and Volume 1 is now going for £200 on Discogs and up, so that's a bit crazy. Also another announcement, next week is our Pride special on Balearic Breakfast, and the request line will go up on Saturday. So please suggest songs by LGBTQ artists. I'm really looking forward to your requests. Now, before we get to the interview with and mix by Phil of Payfone, I'm going to spin one more new tune. This one from New Zealand, Aotearoa. I always have a hard time saying that. Aotearoa's spiritual jazz outfit, The Circling Sun, a song from their forthcoming album, Orbit, coming out on the 11th of July. Lots of new releases on that day. The band's sophomore LP channels the cosmic energy of 1970s spiritual jazz filtered through synths, layered percussion, and ethereal choirs, and the collective expand their sonic universe with nods to Rahsaan, Roland Kirk, Azimuth, and ambient jazz. And you can pre-order it from their bandcamp, The Circling Sun with Constellation. PHIL PASSERA'S INTERVIEW WITH COLLEEN [Colleen] I am in the studio now with Phil Passera from Payphone, and their album Lunch just came out last Friday. Hey, Phil, how you doing? [Phil Passera] I'm doing well, thanks. Doing well, doing well. [Colleen] Good. Now, I hear you had an eventful weekend last weekend in Paris. Do you want to share any of the details? [Phil Passera] We did. I mean, we were playing in Paris. We were playing a live show on a Saturday, daytime at a festival called Prairie du Canal. And then I was DJing late at a club called Sacre from about 2 a.m. to 4, I think, in Paris. We flew to Paris in the taxi on the way to the festival. The festival was canceled due to bad weather. And then the evening kind of went into chaos. It's a pretty dangerous place where we were playing in the area. It was pretty rough. A few things happened, ending up with three police officers in our hotel room at 4 in the morning. We weren't guilty of anything, but we just got caught up in something. And also, I had to get on the mic and give the bouncers a real dressing down in the venue because they were being so aggressive with the young punters who were there. I'd been in the DJ booth for 10 minutes, and I'm seeing this big guy behind me just going around intimidating all the young crowd just because they were too close to the DJ booth. They weren't doing anything wrong. And I had to stop the music. I got on the microphone, and I said, I said, whoever's running this club, I said, get this bouncer out of my DJ booth now, otherwise there's going to be no more music. And the crowd gave a big cheer because, you know, it was the guy, I don't know who this guy was. I spoke to the venue, and they said, we're really sorry. We're going to make sure this guy never works there again. You know, it was awful, like, you know, watching this guy going just face to face, intimidating these young girls, who were simply trying to have a good time. They weren't doing anything wrong. You know, it's just outrageous behavior. Who does he think he was? Yeah. [Colleen] Yeah, well, sorry to hear that. But it sounds like a very interesting story for the hotel room at four in the morning, I have to say. But, you know, the party does start with, you know, the venue staff. And this is one of the things I've always said. There's one venue I just stopped working at because the staff were so aggressive here in London. And it wasn't a surprise that a few years after that, they closed down because there was a stabbing. And, you know, these are the stories of being on the road that, you know, sometimes it looks all great on Instagram. But, you know, honestly, sometimes it has some little bumps and challenges, you know. But there you go. Anyways, thank you for joining us here. I just wanted to kind of rewind back to the start of Payphone, just to kind of give a little encapsulated history for listeners who may be new to your music, because you started in 2013. You had a really cool single called International Smark, which came out. And it did really well. I mean, you did vinyl pressing, it sold out. You started this project with Jimmy Day. Can you tell us how the two of you hooked up? [Phil Passera] So it started with a previous project, a bit of a failure. And I had been asked to do a remix for Lowe Records, I think it was, for a song by a French, amazing French electronic pioneer called Bernard Ferveur from his album Black Devil Disco Club. And in Brighton, I've just met Jimmy, who he's like, he's a producer, musician based there, has a great studio. And I was like, oh, do you want to collaborate and maybe do this remix? Which we did. And then the remix never came out. And then I said to him, if you're not doing anything with it, we'll do something with it. And it was a track we did called Subconscious Lamentation, which has actually got about like 2% of the original song in it. And the rest of it, we made ourselves. And we were both really happy with it. So at that point, we were like, let's work together. Let's start a new project together. That was 13 years ago. And since then, I think we've had 12 releases. And then now the first album, which has taken us over a decade to make this record. But I think it's because we always said we wanted to make an album that was an album, not just a collection of songs, but like a listening experience from start to finish, how it was in the old days. So much so that we were actually just releasing it on vinyl and cassette only. It's not going to be streamed, maybe in a year's time, we'll put it online. But, you know, we want to do something that's a little bit unique, especially in the face of, I mean, we do quite well on Spotify numbers wise. But, you know, with everything these days being focused on, on this thing called the algorithm, which I hate when it comes up in conversation. You know, please don't bring up the algorithm. It's a bit like, you know, 20 years ago, people just wouldn't shut up talking about brands and branding, you know, now it's the algorithm. So, you know, we have good support from good record shops. And I thought, I think we could do this just on vinyl and now cassette, which has been a lot of fun. [Colleen] I mean, it's interesting with the vinyl thing as well, in terms of, you know, people like Joe Clossel, he releases most of his remixes and his stuff on vinyl only and doesn't stream it. And there's no digital download copy. And I think having that kind of a physical kind of analog manifestation of something, it really is for the uberfan because people are going to have to go and seek it out and, you know, look for it to find it. Does that worry you at all that you may not capture new fans just because they may not look into it? [Phil Passera] No, not at all. I mean, you know, we've got, you know, over a decade, we've got the Music Cup online. And that's enough to go around. I think people are finding it through, you know, their own channels. But I just think that you've got to create demand for a release. And this is I think from a few releases back, we started to do the same way. And it's quite common where you put it on vinyl three months ahead of it coming out digital. So it gives the disco beards and the tastemakers, you know, a kind of exclusive. I think that's a good idea. I think that's the way it eventually goes up online and people can access it. [Colleen] Reward the true music now. Well, it's a really great album. I've been like following your career now for the past, I guess it's been like 12 years. You've been doing a release every single year religiously on labels like your own label, Otis, Lang, Golf Channel. And this album has taken quite a while to make. From what I understand, you've been working on it for about a year and a half. What was your intention with the album in terms of you've had all these singles, you've progressed your sound, your sound has evolved. But did you have a different headspace going into saying, okay, we're actually making a record? I know you said you want to be, you know, great beginning to end. But in terms of the music itself, was there any kind of remit that you had in your head? [Phil Passera] I think it was just that it had to flow. It was going to be like a mid-tempo experience. It wasn't, you know, I don't think a collection of club tracks ever works as an album. So, and it was just about doing something. I think we've always tried to do something that's a bit different. It fits in the disco world, but it's a bit different. And I think from, like, San Selonio onwards, we started to write more or less real songs, as it were, you know. And that's something that we pushed more. And we're pushing more still, actually, because we have a new element who's a girl from Brooklyn who lives in Barcelona called April Pittman, who she's a singer, songwriter, she's very versatile, brilliant voice and good writer. And she came in about halfway through the project. She's the front of the live show now. And the stuff we've been writing in the last six months going forward for the next record is really exciting. So lots of great stuff to come from there. And yeah, I think it was, our remit was mid-tempo, had to be song-based. You know, you're making a record, you've got 45 minutes, really. How are you going to split it up? And, you know, our songs are long, they're always long. So we got three songs per side, you know, but it's 45 minutes of music. So that's the important thing, like, the old days. [Colleen] I think 44 or 45 minutes for an album is perfect. And I, you know, and the whole CD kind of revolution really took off in the 90s. People started making albums for the CD length of over 60 minutes. It's just too much, there's so much filler, you know, I mean, there's rarely any good, great double albums. In terms of the writing process, so you're writing with the vocalists, you know, April Pittman's on the song Paper Man, you have loads of other great artists, you have Willis Earl Beale, you have Zara Kian, Ludmilla Rodriguez, Colette Tibbetts, Carmella the Balls, Barbara Alcindor, who's also you've worked with before. Do they also, do you write the lyrics together? Or do they write the lyrics? [Phil Passera] I mean, I write the lyrics, but now with April, that's becoming more of a shared thing. Barbara Alcindor, who was originally sang on Sofyan, and the track Confession of a Queen, she now has a, she's now appearing on a new song on the album called Pamela. And her story is quite mad, because she used to be the voice and the face of an act called French Affair, which you probably might remember, like a 90s, noughties, sort of big Parisian house thing, ooh la la kind of thing. So this is very different for her, for what she's done in the past. But she's a character, and has a brilliant, deep French voice. And we always tend to try and find the right voice to suit the song. We might go through two or three or four singers per song to find the right one that suits that. And yeah, she's, they're all interesting characters, all of them, and all great voices. And working with Willis L. Beale was a joy, because me, both me and Jimmy were hooked on him. He appeared out of nowhere on the Jools Holland show. And it blew, you know, we were both like, wow, this guy's amazing. And then years, years later, Jimmy suggested that maybe we should try and contact him. And I was thinking, we're never going to get hold of him, never. He seems to fall under the radar in a sense, musically. But we did, we reached out to him and we got him. And he was incredible. We had these amazing phone calls. I wish I'd recorded them, because he's an extreme character. Real, really interesting guy, talks a lot. And we sent him the track, and he came back with it. And it was perfect. And actually, the first time we sent it back, I edited it a bit, rearranged it a bit, and he called me up and he was like, did I ever give you permission to rearrange my track? And I was like, okay, well, there's no problem. Let's keep your track as it was originally, and let's rearrange the track to suit your vocal, which we did. Because his vocal on that first song is one continuous take. It's amazing. It's really brilliant. You know, collaborations don't usually work out as well as this one has. In my opinion, I think it's worked really well. And that's why it starts the record. [Colleen] It sounds great. I mean, I like all the different voices on there, because especially I love hearing male voices and female voices, especially together, because the duet is a lost art. I mean, it was such a huge thing decades ago. And when you hear those two types of textures together, it sounds great, because you do have a song. [Phil Passera] I was a big fan. I mean, I've been to all sorts of music. Growing up, one of the biggest fans I had was a rock group out of Virginia called Royal Trucks. We never came across them. [Colleen] I remember them. Back in the 80s, I want to say? [Phil Passera] No, no, it was actually mid, early 90s, mid 90s, about 93, 92, 93, late 80s. And they are an amazing, crazy group. I saw them so many times. And I love the way that they offer on every song, it should be the two of them talking or singing at the same time, two voices, male and female. And then years later, I worked with a group called Joy Zipper, if you remember them, from New York, Long Island. And again, their harmonies are beautiful. It's always a male and female vocal together. And I always like that. [Colleen] Well, one of my favorite songs on the album is Pony Bar. Is that you singing? [Phil Passera] I can't say. I can't confirm. [Colleen] If it is, Phil, I think it's freaking great. [Phil Passera] Thank you. [Colleen] I have to say. I know you're not confirming or denying. I know, I know. We can't go out of spite, but I think that song is really great. I love the production on it as well. [Phil Passera] What's the song about? There's two bars that we frequent a lot. One is the Pony Bar, and the other is Van Van Bar. And sadly, Van Van Bar is gone already. The song is, before the song even comes out, the bar is gone. But yeah, you know, meet me at the Van Van, meet me at the Pony Bar with your hangout bar. I'm quite, at Wunderbar, quite happy with that. [Colleen] It's really good. It's really good. One thing I love about your music, it's so significant. It has a very kind of signature sound in that they're, the arrangements are quite minimal, quite restrained. Like you don't throw in too much to the mix. There's nothing there that shouldn't be there. You're focusing on the actual sounds. Reminds me of like Francois K's productions in a sense, where he just put in what was needed rather than embellishing. I think some of my own personal early productions I over embellished and I had to learn to take out, take out, take out. You know, and also the chord structures are quite minimal too. It doesn't, a lot of key changes. Are you a fan of minimal music? Is that something that inspires you? [Phil Passera] Yeah, very much. Really. I don't like stuff that's too overcooked or too many ideas. Me and Jimmy, we do kind of spend a long time, too long on these productions. You know, like going into this album, we thought it would take six months. It ended up taking a year and six months. And we've got, we have probably had like 20, 30 versions of a track before we settle. And things come in and we take them out, we replace them. It's a constant sort of patch up job. And yeah, I think we're both very strict. If one of us doesn't like something, it gets taken out, you know, no matter how much one of us might fight for it. You know, so it's kind of like a working process that we have. And our goal from the very start with Playphone was that it would all be original music, no samples at all. I think that was for me because I was previously in a, you know, that was all samples. We just were like two young guys with samplers and, you know, a stack of records. And, you know, I was originally a bass player and Jimmy is a keys player. And from the start, we were like, let's do something that has zero samples. [Colleen] I think that's so refreshing, because I mean, I've never really kind of understood the whole, you know, ripping off a sample or maybe even an entire record of putting a house kick drum underneath it and calling it your own. It always kind of really drove me up the wall. And I don't sample either. I just feel like it's a little bit cheating, a little bit in a way. Well, it is, especially when you rip off an entire song and put a kick drum underneath it, then it definitely is cheating. There's no line there. And this album is fantastic. And you said before that you have a live unit together. You have April Pittman doing vocals. Who else is joining you in the live unit? [Phil Passera] So we have a keys player called John Lander. We have a bass player called Joe Harris. And we were joined in Brighton, we were joined by Jimmy on keys and another guitar player called Jay Felix. I think we've got it down to a three piece now, because it's kind of easier to travel with. And yeah, the shows have been going really well, actually. We just played in Oslo, Norway, and then London. We performed at Manchester, Paris this weekend, where the live show didn't take place due to the cancellation. But next one up is Ibiza. We're playing in Bitter Box on the 29th of June. [Colleen] I'll be there. [Phil Passera] Oh, really? You're going to Ibiza? [Colleen] I'm playing at Pikes that night. [Phil Passera] Yeah, it's a Sunday. It's a Sunday. [Colleen] You should come by after. [Phil Passera] Absolutely. Yeah, and then we're doing, I think we're playing We Love Festival in Brighton in late July. [Colleen] Before we get to your mix, I just wanted to also ask you, aside from Payphone, what else are you up to? [Phil Passera] Well, to be honest, this takes up all of my time. I'm kind of wearing all the hats at the moment in this project. And apart from that, honestly, it's been a very busy week. We just had to move out of our studio in Barcelona. We're looking at a new place. All I'm thinking of at the moment is the next record. We're working on a song called Opera Singer, which I'm really happy about, and I'm trying to finish that off, put that out as another 12, following the album. The album has been taking up all of my focus and attention in the last six months or so. Yeah, I can't think of anything else outside of my life at the minute that I've got going on. I used to love playing football, but my legs don't move the way they used to. [Colleen] Well, I think the album is great. You could hear how much effort you put into it, and I'm sure doing the whole kind of live manifestation of this album is a huge challenge as well with one vocalist and keeping your hair down to three people in total. So good luck with that. I really hope that I get to see you perform live sometime this summer. I know what you also mean about thinking about the next project. Sometimes I'm over my own remixes or whatever before they even come out. You've been in the studio, then I don't listen to it, then it comes out on a white label, I play it a little bit, and then I'm kind of on to the next thing in my head. That's a good sign. I think that's a good sign as a creative person. [Phil Passera] We've been working. The process has been taking too long. For the next recording, we're going to try a different approach. If you can stand listening to a song you've read 1,000 times, it's a discipline because of course you go through the phase of initially you love it, and then you start to realize you're getting sick of it, and then you can't stand it anymore, but you have to push through that. Finishing songs is, I think most people think, that's the hardest thing. You get to a point where you can't stand it anymore, but you have to push through it. You believe that there's something good in it, and then one comes out. Personally, I don't listen to it for six months, and then I'll listen to it. Hopefully, you should be happy. It does sound good. I'm glad. [Colleen] Well, I can confirm it does, Phil, so thank you. [Phil Passera] Thank you. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. [Colleen] All right. Well, good luck. Good luck with everything. Good luck with the album. Good Thank you so much for joining us on Balearic Breakfast. [Phil Passera] Thanks a lot. It's a pleasure. [Colleen] Take care. [Phil Passera] Ciao. Ciao.