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Dave Howell interviews Colleen Cosmo Murphy about her life in music, from her high school radio show to headlining some of the biggest and best parties around the world. LISTEN BACK Listen back to the 190th episode of Music for beaches: INTERVIEW [Dave] Hello, and welcome along to another edition of Music for Beaches with me, Dave Howell. On tonight's show, it's with great pleasure that I welcome an extremely special guest to Music for Beaches. For the next hour, I'll be chatting with one of the most widely loved and respected DJs. She's also an accomplished radio show host, a producer, a remixer and a purveyor of beautiful music in all its forms. If you're listening to this show, there's a good chance that you've heard of the Balearic Breakfasts and Classic Album Sundays, and if you have, you'll know that I'm talking about none other than Colleen Cosmo Murphy. I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation and I hope that you do too, so let's get into it. Here's Colleen Cosmo Murphy on Music for Beaches. So Colleen Cosmo Murphy, welcome to Music for Beaches; it's a pleasure to have you on the show. I'd like to start by asking you how your trip to Australia and New Zealand was because you were here recently; we managed to meet up. We never got the chance to do this in person, but we're doing it again now. I'm really interested to find out, you know, how you found the place because it was your first trip here, wasn't it? [Colleen] Yeah, first trip. Now that we're something of empty nesters, we had the time to finally make it down under, and it was just wonderful. We're already planning to go back. I learned so much in terms of, you know, the history and the culture, but also met a lot of great people, including yourself, you know, hooked up with some old friends, and New Zealand was wonderful too. I think New Zealand may be the most beautiful place I've ever been. [Dave] Even more so than Australia? [Colleen] I think so, more so than America as well, you know, and I have to say it just blew me away and we didn't even go to the South Island. But it just whet our appetite to go back and we're working on that now because we just absolutely loved it. [Dave] Excellent. [Colleen] And the wine was fantastic! The wine was fantastic. I just have to say I didn't really, I wasn't much of a Chardonnay drinker before because in America it's very oaky so I just kind of stopped drinking it, and I fell in love with it especially in Melbourne and also in Adelaide as well. It was just wonderful vineyards. [Dave] So you're coming back just for the wine by the sound of it. [Colleen] Yeah, I know. It doesn't make me sound too good, does it?! (laughs!) [Dave] Did anything surprise you about the place down here? [Colleen] Yes. So the first thing when I learned that the Aboriginal people have lived there for 60,000 years, I honestly still can't get my head around that. It blows me away. And then, when you look at Australia, and it's so much of it is desert in the middle and people survived there for 60,000 years. [Dave] And they didn't mess it up. [Colleen] And they didn't mess it up and they worked with nature and how they, it's really interesting. They have a lot, I think, to teach us. And I also had a great time going to the... it was the art gallery, the museum in Sydney, the Art Gallery of New South Wales. [Dave] Yeah, yeah. My favourite place. Yeah. [Colleen] Oh, it was fantastic. And went to, excuse me, we went to check out some of the Aboriginal art and it was absolutely incredible. And it was just really interesting. And I really want to dig into that more when we do go back. Not just the vineyards, but actually the culture! (laughs) So that was really, you know, really interesting to me. And I'd just like to find out more. [Dave] Excellent. You're originally from the US and you started your career in radio at high school, I understand. And you eventually became programme director and DJ at WNYU, the college radio station at New York University. I was just wondering, you know, what inspired your initial love of music and then your decision to really go on that path? What's, you know, how did all that fall into place? [Colleen] I was pretty obsessed with the radio growing up. I grew up in a really small town in New England, and everybody basically listened to classic rock and Top 40. And luckily, because we were on the outskirts of Boston, we're one of the suburbs, we had great radio. We had incredible college radio stations because Boston has the most colleges and universities out of any other city in the United States, and we had pretty progressive commercial radio stations as well that covered a lot of different kinds of music. And I just always had a very, very open ear. So it was really the radio that first kind of intrigued me and drew me in. And the second thing was the record collections of my aunts and uncles. You know, growing up in an Irish Catholic family, you know, a lot of aunts and uncles, they were all teenagers when I was growing up. My dad was the eldest of six. And, you know, we all lived in the same town. And I would go raid their record collections and it was just, you know, I'd find out about Kate Bush or even if it's just, you know, more run-of-the-mill stuff like Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac and Beatles and Doors, Rolling Stones. But that was really what really kindled my interest. And luckily for me, our high school had a radio station. It was a 10-watt radio station. And in fact, one of my uncles was one of the students that helped found that station, maybe about 10 years before I started in the same high school. And another cousin of mine was doing a radio show and she asked me to come up and be a guest. And I did. I went that day. I was 14 years old. And I remember they turned the microphone on and I screamed and ran out of the studio and across the library (laughs)! But that kind of, I started playing, that time I was playing kind of 1960s music. And I just got the bug. Yeah, I just got the bug. I had been making mixtapes and things like that at home. And I just, I just fell in love with it. And then I started working in a record shop in 1984. So even throughout high school, I had a radio show for four years. I was working in a record shop. And, you know, I was also buying records too. I was going into Boston and going to the second-hand shops. And, you know, back then, it was pretty hard to get my hands on, you know, the NME or Melody Maker. But every now and then I'd flip through one at Newberry Comics because they had import magazines. And I would also listen to what other people were playing. There was a really great radio show called "Nocturnal Emissions" on Sunday nights, hosted by Oedipus, who I later worked with. You know, my adult life, I ended up working with him on syndicated radio shows. But he's the one that turned me on to a lot of different sounds like, you know, Brian Eno, and once I heard one song by an artist, if I was intrigued, then I would just go to second-hand record shops and you could listen to records. And I just started building up my collection that way. And it was the only way to really find out about music, where I was from. We didn't have the internet. And none of my friends were into this. Yeah. So it was a huge, huge kind of journey of discovering music. And then once you work in a record shop, you're working with music obsessives because nobody works there for the money! (laughs) [Dave] That's true. [Colleen] You know, no one works there for the money. It's because you're an obsessive. And everybody had their own kind of area that they had a lot of knowledge and expertise. And so that's another way that I learned before I even left and went to university. [Dave] You're listening to Music for Beaches. And on this show, I'm in conversation with Colleen Cosmo Murphy. "Music for Beaches" is produced at the studios of 2SER in Sydney and heard across Australia on the Community Radio Network. So you went to university in New York, and then, it sounds like this thing kind of grew arms and legs when you did that. You were telling me some interesting stories about the various people that you got to meet at that time and the interviews that you did. And it sounded like pretty much a hit list of, like, who's who, you know, all these sort of names that we know now. So, you know, I was kind of just wondering, you know, what are highlights from that period for you? [Colleen] Oh, there's so many. You know, I was basically, I was the program director at WNYU, which was one of the biggest college radio stations. And I started interviewing there. But right after that, I landed a job producing syndicated radio shows that went out to a couple hundred college radio stations in the country, and then later 50 commercial radio stations. Basically, Nirvana, NeverMind, changed everything. And Nirvana, you know, we played Bleach on college radio. And we all got these advanced cassettes of Nevermind before it came out. They had just signed to Geffen, Sonic Youth had. And of course, you know, the indie kids were like, oh, they're selling out, they're going to the majors. But hey, I can understand it as well. But then you listen to this album and it was just unreal how good it was. And you just kind of knew, we all knew this was going to change everything. And I saw them at the marquee, I want to say it was September, right the week that the album came out. And I had them over to the studio on the weekend to interview them. And, you know, that was quite an incredible interview in the sense that it just was a turning point. You know, the band were going to be completely different. You'll never see them in a small venue again. They'd be playing stadiums. And it will change the landscape of American radio. And that's really what it did. Because, all of a sudden, Nirvana and Sonic Youth and R.E.M. had already done it in the 80s and U2 had already done it in the 80s. They had left, you know, they were broken on college radio and then they went to commercial radio. But we still had album-oriented rock stations and top 40 stations, and this kind of music didn't really fall in. Something that was kind of a bit more like, you know, screechy guitars, like Soundgarden or Nirvana or even the more poppy stuff of Sonic Youth. So it was really Nirvana that changed that. And all of a sudden overnight, you know, some AOR stations became alternative music stations. And then I had another job, because then I was producing 50, you know, sending syndicated radio shows out to 50 commercial stations as well. So Nirvana was a really big one just because it was so culturally significant. It was just massive. And I had been a fan and seen their progress, we all played the sub-pop stuff on college radio. Personal favorites also included Brian Eno. I was a massive fan and I listened back to that interview a few years ago and it was really interesting. Urichi Sakamoto, Butthole Surfers. I was a big Butthole Surfers fan. And I just had a great like hour long conversation with Paul Leary. He just mainly had a monologue. I remember the meat puppets being really funny as well. But I also loved people like Guru from Gang Star. I thought he was such a great guy and such a gentleman as well. There were so many great artists. I remember hanging out with Noel Gallagher for Oasis. And he was so cool. I really enjoyed my conversation with him. So there's a lot of interesting people, but there's so many. Robert Fripp. And then there was the interviews that were really rare interviews, like Kevin Shields from My Bloody Valentine or Richard James from Apex Twin. So they were really interesting as well. But yeah, there's so many great bands. Oh, Mark E. Smith. That was a classic. He was actually really funny. He was so funny. And we just got on really well because he had just started DJing. He took over somebody's office. He's at this big desk up at 75 Rockefeller Plaza in New York. And he's sitting behind the desk. He was just really amusing and really charming, actually. I got a great interview out of him. [Dave] Is he as scary as he looked? [Colleen] Yeah. I think because we connected on the DJ world. He was into dance music. And I was already a DJ, even though I was doing this stuff as my main job. I was already DJing at that point, dance music. And plus I knew the Fall stuff. So I knew all the I Am Curious Orange and all these great records they had put out. And I always thought there was some kind of dance ability to some of the Fall stuff anyways. [Dave] You're listening to Music for Beaches and Dave Howe, and I'm chatting to Colleen Cosmo Murphy. So what's that transition then? If you did a lot of radio work, how did you transition into being a DJ? Was that just a natural progression? [Colleen] Well, yeah, it sort of was, because I had started going out to different clubs and also to David Mancuso's parties and started collecting that kind of music while I was still working more in indie and hip-hop. And my day job, I was going out on the weekends and hearing this kind of music and buying it and collecting it. So I started a different radio show in the 90s. I was asked back to WNYU because they actually needed DJs at the time. And I started a show called "Soul School". And then I became a resident on one of the anchor shows, "Club 89", which is more like a live house mix show. And then, through that, people started asking me to play. And it could be community-led things like parties in the park in Brooklyn. I remember doing an African street party and it could be little bars on the Lower East Side. And also being asked to either play with other people. David had asked me to play one-on-one with him, even though that was a private party, not a club. And I wouldn't say it was DJing. It was certainly part of my experience. And then I started working at Dance Tracks as well. So I was working there weekends during the syndicated radio shows during the week. And DJing at night, I was working seven days a week. And then I finally, once the radio shows finished, the syndicated shows, because eventually the sponsor pulled out. It was a record club that sponsored it and things were just changing. The musical landscape for physical formats was already starting to transition in the 1990s, especially from vinyl to CD and then to digital to Napster. But in any case, so I started working full-time at Dance Tracks and then also Spiritual Life Music. And I just started DJing a lot more around the East Coast. And then I was getting asked to play in Philly and then Boston and Atlanta and then Chicago and then different places around the US. And then I started playing internationally in the late 90s. And yeah, I think it was from the radio that that really happened. [Dave] Fascinating journey, because I was thinking about, I mean, you live in London now and you've had all of that stuff going on in the States, particularly in New York. And, you know, a lot of the things that you do are so well known, and have got fantastic reputations. And I was just, you know, the Balearic Breakfast stuff, Classic Album Sundays, all the Loft Parties, the remixes, the whole thing, right? I was going through this list and then I read somewhere that you didn't plan any of this? [Colleen] I didn't! What would happen if you actually had a plan?! (laughs!) I know. And sometimes I feel like, would it have been so much better if I had a plan? And, you know, I admire people. I mean, there have been short-term goals. I remember going into the radio station at WNYU and saying, I want to be program director here one day. I just knew I did in my head. So it was a short-term goal. And then I was the first woman to have that position in the history of the station. So there were some things, but they were kind of short-term, short-term goals. I never really had the long-term goal, except that, you know, I ended up just staying in music and radio and doing all the things that I do. But I think you have to be open to change as well in anything you do, but music is constantly changing and how music is kind of exposed and played and presented changes, the nature of radio has changed, the nature of consuming music, I hate that word, or selling physical products. It changes constantly, so much more than so many other kind of professions, I think. And especially in my lifetime, it's actually a relatively new profession, if you think about it, recorded music didn't, you know, it's just over a hundred years old. So, hum, yeah, it's something, I think you would have a hard time planning out. I never wanted to go the corporate way. I had been asked to work for major record labels. I said, no, that was never an interest of mine. I'm not great at working at, you know, for the most, since I've been 30, pretty much onwards, I've worked for myself, but you're always working for somebody. I work for the people, the people who follow me, that's who I work for, you know, that's, I mean, that's, that's, that's who that's, if they like what I do, then I, and I have an audience and I'm, I'm blessed because they're the ones that support me. So I do kind of work for them, but I don't have a boss. So, yeah. And I just also knew that I'd rather make my own way and remain as, you know, as independent as I can, to some degree, while still making a living, obviously. So, yeah, I feel quite lucky. I feel very lucky that I do, I am in this position, but I've also worked very hard to be in this position, and worked very long and worked, you know, a lot for free. And also, you know, it has to be said, I've worked in a male-dominated industry, you know, until the last few years, there hasn't been any affirmative action. And there's, you know, and it was, it was a very different landscape and very challenging, but also very, I had great support as well from the majority of men in my life, whether they have been my mentors, my colleagues or my supporters. So I've been quite blessed in that way. But yeah, I've had some challenges too along the way, but I feel I'm just really happy to be where I am. And I think, you know, if you just put your head down and work really hard at what you do, you have a better chance of getting more opportunities. [Dave] You make your own... luck. [Colleen] You make your own luck, yeah. To some degree. I mean, that might sound like, of course, here I am sitting in the UK. I'm not, you know, in a war-torn country right now. You know, so there's a lot of things that are just luck, this luck that I was born where I was born. It's luck, you know, and I take that, that's privilege. And that's, there is that, there's that as well. So as long as you can recognize it. [Dave] You're listening to Music for Beaches and I'm talking to Colleen Cosmo-Murphy. You touched on it a little bit, just, which was, I was wondering, you know, you're an extremely successful woman in this business and it's a very male-dominated industry like most places, right? I'm just wondering if you, you know, for the women that are listening, have you got any advice that, you know, for somebody trying to make their way in this game? [Colleen] Well, my advice would be kind of the same to everybody in terms of you have to put your head down, do something unique, try to do something. You have to find something that you've created that resonates with people. That's for anybody. There's no path to follow because everybody's is different. But I think with integrity and practice, whatever you're doing is like just be the best you can be. And for women, we've had to be, you know, from my generation and before, you did, actually, because you couldn't afford to mess up because you would have messed up because you were a woman. So you really couldn't. And, you know, don't let – I mean, there are still boys clubs, sadly. I'm still experiencing some of it now. And it's really hard to know that you'll, you know, never be part of that and that you're being excluded for certain reasons. But you just have to put your head down and turn off the noise, and just take a higher ground. Like, a friend of mine said to me, the higher ground always wins. And it can be really difficult to like bite your tongue. But sometimes that's what you have to do. As long as that's nothing horrific happening. I mean, I haven't had anything horrific like in terms of sexual assault. But that's a different story. That's a very different story. And so many women have, both DJs and punters. So I'm in a privileged position there that I haven't had that. And so there's been terrible emotional stuff. But, you know, suffering makes you stronger. It does. [Dave] It does. [Colleen] And it makes you learn. [Dave] Yeah. I've got to ask you about David Mancuso and The Loft. And couldn't not talk to you and not mention that. So I'm just wondering, because there's probably quite a few people listening that don't know who David is or was. And maybe haven't heard of The Loft. I'm just wondering what you could tell the good people of Australia and around the world, you know, who David was, like how you met and how that all came to be. And also a little bit about your friendship and how that shaped what you do now. [Colleen] Sure. I mean, David, I could speak about this for hours. So I'm going to really condense this. You know, otherwise we'll be here all day (laughs)! [Dave] There's the challenge for you (laughs)! [Colleen] Books have been written about this! So basically, David started doing parties in his own home, actually in the late 1960s in New York City. And they were just parties he'd put on for his friends. He collected records, had a great sound system. He was really into audio. And then on February 14, 1970, he started to formalize these private parties. He called them Love Saves the Day, and they were rent parties. That's how he paid his rent. So people would make a contribution. It was mailing list only, only invited people. That's how he got around the ways of, you know, that's how he challenged the legal authorities who tried to close him down. He said, it's a private party. I'm not selling alcohol. People are paying a contribution for a reservation at my house, you know, to put the party on. And he won a landmark case with the Department of Consumer Affairs in New York City and the New York Times and everything. And he set a precedent that became the – it's still in force! So that's why you can't have social clubs and members clubs in New York. In any case, his party became more and more popular. And the thing that was so great about it is that he welcomed people from all different backgrounds. And this was very different at this time. So he was really into civil rights, women's liberation, and gay liberation, as a gay man himself. And he invited people from all different backgrounds, economic backgrounds, races, sexual orientation, gender, to his home. And people started making friendships that kind of crossed a lot of these boundaries that were still very much in place at that time. And he helped dispel those boundaries and break down those boundaries, and people built these kind of lifelong friendships that they made on the dance floor. He also kind of forged a canon of music that became very popular with other New York club DJs as well because a lot of the DJs would come to David's party, whether it was Larry Levan, Frankie Knuckles, later David Morales. You know, that's where they would hear – get turned on to new tunes, because records – David had a great ear for music. He also had a great ear for sound. He could tell how well the record was mixed and mastered and pressed, and he taught me all about that. [Dave] It's quite an apprenticeship, isn't it? [Colleen] It's quite an apprenticeship, yes, yeah. In any case, he started like kind of the template of nightlife clubs as we know it, even though he had a private party and he was known as a musical selector, not a DJ. He did not call himself a DJ. He called himself a musical selector, musical host, party host. So he wasn't – he did try mixing at one point. He wasn't that into it. It wasn't his thing. It was all about the sonic purity of the system. So I can't – I'm not going to go on and on, but, you know, horn speakers, Koetsu moving coil cartridges (ed. which are no longer produced), Class A amplifiers rather than Class AB, great preamp, a Mark Levinson ML-1, which is known as still like a cult preamplifier, like an audiophile world. So, yeah, that was kind of the recipe, the formula, and then other people were inspired and followed suit. So Nicky Siano started The Gallery. Another thing was called The Tenth Floor. Larry Levan started The Paradise Garage. Frankie Knuckles, you know, It's the Warehouse, and all of these sprung from David's party, really. This is where people got the idea to really get a great sound system because it wasn't like that before. The systems were second – you know, not really thought of and the same kind of – the same attention to detail and putting that much money into it. David would make money and just put it back into the sound system, almost to a fault. At one point, he had too much stuff, and he ended up selling some of it off. You know, too many amplifiers, too many – he started paring down and making it more and more pure, took out the bass, the sub bass, and all different things. In any case, I'm digressing. It even inspired Studio 54, which you would say Studio 54 and The Loft are actually the polar opposites in terms of vibe. One's uptown, one's downtown, one's exclusive and elitist, one is not and is open. But Carmen D'Alessio was a regular Loftie, and she was the first big promoter, I believe. I think the first or the major one at Studio 54. And one thing she did take from David is even though they were choosing people to tour, which isn't very nice, what she did do is try to get an eclectic mix, and that was based on David's parties as well. So it influenced so much of nightlife culture and club culture. So that's where David fits in. When I met him in the early 90s, he was losing his building. Not many people were coming to the party. It was on East 3rd Street. And I started going 91, 92, right when he reopened because he had taken a little sabbatical. And he had lost a lot of his following, had gotten married and moved to the suburbs. And they didn't want to go to the space where he was then living, which was a big heroin neighborhood. I looked like a ragamuffin. No one bothered me. So no one cared. It was just like, body bag, body bag. That's what they would say to you. That wasn't the name of one of the heroines. Awful. Body bag. Can you believe that? Terrible. In any case, for the other people that are 20 years older than me, of course they probably looked a lot different than I did, and they didn't want to go to those neighborhoods. So he was really struggling. And I just kind of knew stories about the history. There was no Internet. I found a few articles of Vin Celletti trying to find old articles of his because he documented the scene in real-time. And I found a few things, but it was mainly word of mouth. But I was just into helping David, so I brought him up on the radio show and he selected the music, was too shy to talk. We started building up a friendship. [Dave] He didn't want to talk. [Colleen] And I would tell people, no, he was too shy. [Dave] Wow. [Colleen] Too shy. [Dave] You're listening to Music for Beaches, I'm Dave Howell, and I'm talking to Colleen Cosmo Murphy. Music for Beaches is produced at the studios of 2SER in Sydney and heard around Australia on the Community Radio Network. [Colleen] Yeah, this is also early 90s. So this is before we did the compilations and where he started to really do interviews and things like that. Things changed. But he wasn't a really, I mean, a lawyer. He had given a lawyer a power of attorney and this lawyer stole his entire building out from underneath him. And this is like right when gentrification is happening. And he had this beautiful theater space. And then he was popping around the East Village trying to rent places where he could throw a party. It was just becoming more and more difficult. We were doing fundraising parties. If it was my birthday, it would be a fundraising party. We were doing all sorts of things. I was trying to get the word out there to the community. David's still doing parties, so I would announce it on the radio. Hey, for all the lofties out there, David's still doing stuff. And there was a bunch of other people that helped as well. And we all did it for free because he really was struggling. And, so that was how our friendship was going. It was more like me helping him out. But it was really the big kind of eureka moment. I had been asked by Nervous Records to do a compilation. I did my first mixed CD in 1998, and it was called New York After Hours, A Later Shade of Deep. And whilst I didn't get paid very much for me to do it, it was quite an opportunity. I was happy to do it anyway, so it helped break me as a DJ. It was a good thing for my career. I thought someone like David should do a compilation because he's broken so many tunes. There's loft classics and staples, and plus there had been this whole bootleg series. And David was really anti-bootlegs. I mean, to his dying day. Hated them. He really didn't respect people that did them because he thought you were taking money away from the artist. And he had a lot of integrity on that side. So there's a bunch of bootlegs coming out of the UK. He wasn't into that. There's a bunch of bootlegs coming out in New York that were of old tunes. And there was a series called Loft Classics that he had nothing to do with. I even bought them in the early times. I didn't really understand that. And I've gotten rid of all of them now. But I didn't understand what bootlegs were. I didn't know. And it was really upsetting. So I said, you should do a compilation. You should go, a label I'm sure would sign to a compilation with you in an instant. He said, I only want to do it with you. [Dave] Right. [Colleen] And I didn't have the money to start my own label or the ambition to start my own label or even probably the confidence to start my own label. [Dave] It's quite an undertaking. [Colleen] It's quite. And also, just to give people an idea, this is 1998 that we talked about this. Really to get a compilation like that out there, it's about 20 grand right there. [Dave] Yeah, easy. [Colleen] Just for the manufacturing, licensing, everything you need to do. I did not have that. And plus, I was moving countries. I was moving from the US to the UK. So I thought, well, if you want to do it with me, we'll have to get another label. But we'll do it together. We'll co-produce it together. And I'll be the intermediary between the label as well. And I had a better commercial idea of what would be good for the dance music scene because I worked in record shops as well. So I had a lot of different angles that I could bring to it. I wasn't just a DJ. I've been on the sales point. I've been on that side of the record labels. Yeah, I'd worked in three record shops by then. I'd worked at a record label. I had done my own mixed CD. And I just had an idea of what the scenes were like in the US versus the UK and Europe and Japan. So I had traveled and DJed internationally by that time. So it was a good... I can now understand why he wanted me to be involved. It did surprise me at the time though. And that's how I got Newphonic involved because I had a relationship with them through "Spiritual Life Music" because we used to send a box of Spiritual Life promos to Nuphonic to send to the great DJs or like-minded DJs in the UK. And they would do the same, sending a box of stuff from Newphonic to the US. And we'd distribute it on that side. So we already had a relationship. And that's how the compilation started. And that was really when David's story first got out there. And then it changed his life. So he started playing in different places. He was going to Japan. He and I started playing different places in Europe. We did a party here at 93 Feet East for the compilations. And then that inspired starting a party here with David in 2003. So it was a lot. And then once we were here, we bought our own sound system. That's even when my mentorship became even more intense because then he taught me how to set up the whole sound system by myself. And we were listening to records at my house four times a year. Sometimes he'd stay with us, but he was always here for a full day. We would listen to all these new records and old records on the system because I had Klipshorns here. And yeah, so that's when it really intensified. And that's kind of also when he started talking about the board that he has wanted to put together. And that's in about 2009 is when he asked me to chair a board to first be his vice chair and then chair it in his absence. [Dave] You're listening to Music for Beaches and Dave Howell and I'm talking to Colleen Cosmo Murphy. What a journey! [Colleen] Yeah, so that was quite a journey! You know! But in the meantime, I had my own thing going on. That's the interesting thing. Even some of my colleagues in London had no idea I was involved with the compilations... [Dave] Wow... [Colleen] Because I just still was doing my DJ career. I started Bitches Brew. I was making my own productions. I was doing radio. So I always had my own thing going. And then it was like, you know, the stuff people didn't really know about my involvement with The Loft. Unless you lived in New York and went to The Loft, you wouldn't know. Or you heard me on the radio just trying to help David. But it was all the other things I had that were more public-facing. So I had all that going on as well. So The Loft has always been kind of... [Dave] You've been really busy! [Colleen] Yeah, well, you know, I love what I do. So I am driven, but I also love what I do. I feel like the Loft part of what I do is... I don't want to use the word charity, but it kind of is. Because I don't really make money from any musical hosting parties. It's kind of the thing that I feel needs to... Well, David wanted to continue, wanted me to help continue that. And he wanted these parties to go on after his passing. So it's important for me to uphold that. But also for many other reasons. Also spiritually, it's a big part of me. But yeah, it's kind of the thing that I feel is important to do and to keep and to uphold. But I also have all these other things going on too (laughs)! Which are just... I've built my own communities as well. Because Classic Album Sundays is its own community. And it's worldwide. And same as Balearic Breakfast. I think I would have built those communities whether or not I had ever heard of the Loft or when. Because it's just the nature of what I do. But I certainly could see the likeness with David creating a Loft community and the Balearic Breakfast community where people have a say. They're involved. It sparks them off to do their own thing as well, which is really great. Same with Classic Album Sundays. It has inspired a lot of people to start listening to bars or whatever, all sorts of stuff. So it's something that is really important to me. And then, David, even the way I listen to music, David has helped influence that. Especially what I choose for my DJ sets in my regular party settings. I think we all go through... I've listened to so much music, working in music my entire life. And my ear is probably better trained than it ever has been. And things that I find overly derivative. But it's an energy that I look for. And I can't give you the exact... [Dave] There's no formula. [Colleen] There's no formula. It's a feeling. And I do feel when I'm playing at a party situation, it's different. On the radio, it's a different setting. I always think of where the listener is, or where the dancer is. So what's the setting of the place that you're playing? If it's a club or a party or a festival, what's the setting of the radio station? What day is it on? What time? How long? Who else is around? Context is everything. Number one. And what I would normally... What I might play on the radio may not be what I'd play at peak time on a dance floor. So it's knowing the context is number one. But the actual music itself... You know, I want the music to uplift people. I'm not saying you can't play sad songs because some sad songs can uplift people because was that all it was, Gene Karn? We all sing it. It's tearing on our heartstrings. But we know that other people are feeling the same pain that we felt and that makes us feel good. So it's not just about, hey, everybody, I'm so happy. It's not like that's what I mean by uplifting songs. It doesn't mean the emotion. It has to always be about, I'm so happy. But there's a healing kind of force to music, like even an instrumental song. So it's... Yeah, so that's really the ear. And I think for a while, like many DJs, you get drawn into what's cool. Who are the cool DJs right now? Who are the cool producers? Oh, everybody's playing this record, so you should play it. And you feel like you have to play it because all the cool DJs are playing it. But I don't feel that way anymore. Sometimes, you know, there are those... I just spent like two hours this morning going through different DJ charts, seeing, trying to find music that I would like. And even though I like the DJs, does it mean I necessarily might like everything they're playing? And that's fine. And not that everyone likes everything I'm playing either. And that's totally fine. Everybody has their own personal taste. I'm happy that I have enough people that enjoy what I do, that I can do this, you know, as my vocation. And I understand not everybody does like the way I play, and that's fine too. You know, there's enough for everybody, you know. So, yeah. [Dave] You just touched on some of the things that you do, and I just kind of circle back to that stuff, really. And I'm thinking about, you know, there's the Balearic Breakfast, Classic Album Sundays, and some, you know, for want of a better term, some really big brands, right? I mean, these things are massively well-known and well-liked and loved by people. And you've got a particularly impressive list of all of these things, which is absolutely astounding! But I'm just wondering, out of them, you know, is there one that you're particularly proud of? [Colleen] Oh, gosh. I guess the two, there's two. I would say it's Balearic Breakfast and Classic Album Sundays. Because they were both kind of ideas that just started with no intention. [Dave] You're listening to Music for Beaches, I'm Dave Howell, and I'm talking to Colleen Cosmer Murphy. [Colleen] To even become a brand, or necessarily a community, or it almost had no object, except that I thought it should happen (laughs)! You know, it's like, everyone's like, how is this? I mean, Belliric Breakfast developed out of another radio show called Summer's Vacation on Worldwide FM, and then Giles came back in September. He said, keep the Tuesday morning. It was September. I couldn't call it Summer's Stacation anymore. And then I put the word out to the community for the name. But it was because I involved other people, because it became greater than myself. And it's the same with The Loft with David. So it becomes greater than yourself. Like there's a guy that took it upon himself to make a Balearic Breakfast blog, and he interviews people and members of the community and writes the whole write-up every week. Like, Wow. There's other friends who are part of the community who decided to start DJing or throwing a party because they didn't know they could before. You know, when I'm away, I'm getting members of the community to submit mixes, so they get heard as well, even if they're not a DJ. [Dave] It's often quite refreshing to do that as well, right? [Colleen] It is! Because there's so many people who are music lovers who don't do it for a profession. And they have great ears. It's very pure. [Dave] That's the thing, there's no tinge to it that's kind of, I don't know, infected by something else. [Colleen] Yeah, exactly! So I'm really proud of that, and I'm really proud of Classic Album Sundays, because when I started that, again, it was one of these things that I thought, this just needs to happen. It wasn't like I lost money. I had to hire a babysitter. My husband was sitting in a car with valve amplifiers, warm, sitting on our laps, because you can't pack them because they're too hot. We've got huge Klipshorn three-way horn speakers loading him in and bringing him upstairs to my friend's party (ed. Klipsch launched the AK6 in 2019). [Dave] It's a glamorous life. [Colleen] Exactly, people don't see all this stuff. And all these people, mainly guys in the audiophile world, you're never going to make... Why are you doing this? How are you going to make money? I'm like, I don't know. I just have to do it. [Dave] Yeah, right. [Colleen] And then all of a sudden, all the people... There were some people that were inspired by the idea, which is great. Then there were people that just copied. Right. And that was a little bit like, you know, same language. They might call it Classic Album Wednesdays, like really going and pitching what I was doing as if it was their idea to commercial brands to make money. And that was a bit disgusting. But hey, it's the way of the world as well. I mean, you know, whatever. At the end of the day, I'm still going. And, you know, it's like, you just have to go, OK. I mean, as long as it's not a copyright infringement, because I do have stuff trademarked, you know, it's just going to let it go. One thing is, it's like, you know, it did open up the world to more listening bars and things. And that's a great thing, because that means there's more people listening to music on a great sound system. And that is good for the world. So, you know, any little part that I may have helped play in that kind of revival. I mean, it started in Japan, but a lot of people didn't even know about the Japanese Kissa stuff (ed.: Kissa meaning Cafe in Japanese) until they heard about Classic Album Sundays or listening bars that had been inspired by it. So, you know, I'm happy. I'm proud of that as well. So I guess those two things are probably, because I can take more responsibility for that. You know, David was the one who built the loft. And I learned from him and I'm happy to help engineer and shepherd that. I say shepherd's a better word, be a caretaker. But these two things are things that I developed. I also would say is, the other thing maybe I am, you know, I've learned a lot as a recording artist and as a producer. And I feel like that's something that I just love doing because it's so creative and it uses a different part of my brain and different skills that I have that I don't always get to use. And yeah, that I'm having a lot of fun with too. I've been doing a lot more remixes in the last three or four years. [Dave] I noticed that you've, going back to Classic Album Sundays, that you've got something going on at the British Library coming up with Eddie Grant. Is that right? [Colleen] Yes! [Dave] I mean, that's to, you know, for those people who haven't been or know what the British Library is, that's kind of like a massive institution. That's quite something, isn't it? [Colleen] It is! I love working with them. I started working with them maybe 10 years ago. It was around 10 years ago. And I started, I've done so many sessions there with the Damned and the Buzzcocks to Jazzy. [Dave] The Damned were just in, by the way. [Colleen] Oh, Captain Sensibles. He's really into prog as well. He's so great! Dave Anion. [Dave] Went to see them the other night. [Colleen] Oh, really? That's great. And then also, you know, then like Jazzy B. I've had Dennis Baptiste, who's big on the jazz scene here. I've had Ken Scott doing, talking about David Bowie. I've had John Grant, Paloma Faith, a bunch of great artists. Roisin Murphy as well. Louis Vega, François K. And Eddie Grant has been on my list for a while. I met him 20 years ago. I was invited out to dinner with him and a bunch of people. It was an Indian restaurant in Soho called Red Fort. Great place. [Dave] I know the place. It has another name as well! [Colleen] Yeah, it's such a good place. And I went to, I was talking to him. His manager was there. And I was talking to him, I said, you know, I love all the Coach House Rhythm Section stuff. I've been playing it. And he turned to his manager and said, she knows more about my music than you do (laughs)! So it's a real joy to be able, like, you know, 20 years later. Actually, it's even longer, I think, since I met him. I was around, yeah, definitely over 20 years. He has so much history, starting with the Equals. About 60 years of history. Yeah. That's been genre-crossing. It's been; he's invented things. He's created new ideas. He's been a platform for other artists. And, he also seems like he's very astute. He owns his music. He's had his own recording studios. He understands the business side. And so many musicians at that time, in the 60s and 70s, just never got their heads around it. And he got his head around it real quick. So I respect him as an entrepreneur, as well as a musician, and an artist, and, you know, everything else. So I'm really looking forward to it. I don't know how we're going to do it in two hours. That's going to be difficult! [Dave] So we're just about sort of running out of time. But I do want to ask you, like, one more thing. What's kind of next for you? And what's happening? Is there anything that we should be aware of that's coming up? [Colleen] Yeah, well, I'm just working on more remixes. I'm working on a remix for Joe Goddard at the moment. And he and I are working in the studio together. [Dave] Nice. [Colleen] Something interesting. [Dave] Excellent. [Colleen] Which I'm getting excited about. You know, Balearic Breakfast, you have Balearic Breakfast 3 compilation is coming out on Heavenly. And I'm still doing my monthly streams every Tuesday on my MixCloud Live from 10 to 12 in the morning. [Dave] That's a nice time for us down here on the other side of the world. [Colleen] It is! You know, it's interesting because during the pandemic, I had a lot of people tuning in from Australia. And I said to my husband, what's this thing is? We've got to get to Australia. So I manifested it. I visualized it, manifested it. [Dave] And here we are! [Colleen] And here we are. And Classic Album Sundays, you know, I'm thinking of kind of expanding it again. It kind of, you know, we had a lot of different satellites before the pandemic and then pandemic happens. So it's just kind of getting that out there again. And yeah, there's just a lot of different things, you know, a lot of different things I'm involved in. But yeah, nothing that's too crazy changing everything, but things are just continuing. Yeah. Things are continuing and rolling along quite nicely at the moment. [Dave] So again, there's no plan... [Colleen] There's no plan... What I decide is like, you know, I hope I'm still working in 20 years, you know... We'll see. [Dave] It never ends. [Colleen] You know, I think as long as you, as I said, When you put your heart and soul and expertise into things for the right reasons with the right intentions, you know, that can go a long way. [Dave] Absolutely. [Colleen] Yeah. [Dave] Colleen Cosmo Murphy. Thank you for coming on the show. It's been a pleasure chatting. I could go on and on and on, but we've run out of time. So just thank you very much indeed. [Colleen] Thank you. Thanks for having me. [Dave] So that was my conversation with Colleen Cosmo Murphy earlier this week. Hope you enjoyed that as much as I did. What a fascinating journey through a musical life. Wonderful, wonderful stuff. So we've just got a few minutes left. I wanted to play out with this track. This is Jakub Gurevich. Elevation in minor. It's the Cosmodelica remix. Colleen Cosmo Murphy herself on the knobs on this one. One of my favorite records. And again, once again, a massive thanks to Colleen for coming on the show. And hopefully she comes back to these shores very, very soon. You're listening to Music for Beaches. I'm Dave Howell. As always, if you want to catch any of the shows again, you can find them at mixcloud.com slash Music for Beaches and at musicforbeaches.com as well. Thank you.

I met Steve Conry from "Ten Lovers Music" records for an interview. The great DJ and record producer tells us more about his vinyl-only record label! 1) Hello Steve! Thank you very much for joining me here on the Balearic Breakfast Blog! You launched the record Label "Ten Lovers Music" back in 1996. Can you tell us how that journey began? What triggered you to launch such a "Balearic" Label, full of funky, light, realistic and beautifully recorded music? Thanks for having me, Artur. Back in 1995, I was still DJing and started to produce music. My friend Barry May ran a record shop in Warrington called Hott Waxx. I took a couple of tracks into him, and he wanted them for the label he was setting up. I then went to the Miami Winter Music Conference in 1996 and met a guy called Cziz Hall, and we discussed setting up a label upon our return. Around 2002 we decided to close the label as sales were down because of the move to digital. Fast forward to 2019, and I was struggling to find music that I liked to buy on vinyl, so I thought it would be a good idea to resurrect Ten Lovers Music and release music that friends had made. That more recent journey introduced me to Mother Tongue in Italy and Patrick Gibin, who runs it. They have taken care of all our pressing since restarting the label. We were also introduced to Jose Rico (who masters all our releases) through Patrick too. It's a real kind of family feel to Mother Tongue as they are actually into the music they are pressing and distributing. 2) How do you choose the artists? What is "Ten Lovers Music's" editorial slant? Most of the music is from friends, but, occasionally, I'll get sent a demo or hear a snippet of something on Instagram and contact the artist. The artists are always sensible and down to earth and appreciate the struggles of putting out music on vinyl these days. I always like putting together the Best Of Various EPs and having a broad spectrum of music that fits within what Ten Lovers Music represents (link to back catalogue since 2019 available here: https://www.mothertonguerecords.com/record-label/record-label-ten-lovers-music/). 3) The song Memories by Caruso (with Paul David Gillman) was featured on "Balearic Breakfast". I found out that Paul David Gilman is affiliated with Joe Claussell's Sacred Rhythm Label! How did that peculiar collaboration happen? Paul contacted me in 2017 after playing his Red Earth track from the Colours Of The Earth EP (Sacred Rhythm) on my weekly radio show on MotionFM in New York. That led to him mixing the first release on Ten Lovers Music (TLM021) in 2019 and collaborating and remixing Memories later in 2019. We then discussed an album project (Secret Garden), which was released in 2020 (repressed in 2021), and he mixed Caruso - Souvenirs that came out in 2021. In 2022, we put out Secret Garden (Reprise), which was a version of the title track from the aforementioned album as part of yet another Best Of Various. 4) We exchanged a little bit when preparing for this interview, and you told me that you weren't a "Bandcamp" supporter. According to you, knowing that you don't sell digital files of the recordings you produce, what is the biggest challenge for a "vinyl-only" record label today? I think the biggest challenges these days are things like Bandcamp or pledge schemes. I think it is fine for digital, but for vinyl, it's not a good idea, and it is also putting record shops out of business. The main problem with it is that you can only buy an individual 12", so you are paying shipping on every individual purchase, whereas if you buy 5 records from a shop, you only pay one shipping price, which affects sales 100%, in my humble opinion. 5) Can you tell us more about your forthcoming vinyl release? What's next for "Ten Lovers Music"? The next release is a Best Of Various EP (TLM034-Link to preorder/Listen). It features Cumulative Collective (UK/Italy/Japan), Takahiro Fuchigami (Japan), Melchior Sultana (Malta), Fabio Santanna (Brazil), and The Robinson (Italy). As the name Best Of Various suggests, this is another mixed bag of music, which falls within our remit of music. Beyond that, we have a further Best Of Various release (TLM035) featuring Stefano De Santis (Italy), Batavia Collective (Indonesia) Cormac Fulton (UK) featuring Floor Polder (Brazil), Mike Perras (Canada), Future Jazz Ensemble (Italy) and Takahiro Fuchigami (Japan). Following that, a 7" from one of our favourite collaborators, TLM artist Takashi Nakazato (Japan), with his The Takashi Nakazato Set group. More is planned for later in the year/next year, too. Last but not least, for the readers who would be interested, please find our social links and also a link to the entire discography on Discogs. Most of the pre-2002 releases are still selling on there, which I find amazing! https://www.instagram.com/tenloversmusic/ https://www.facebook.com/TenLoversMusic/ https://soundcloud.com/user-426539363 https://www.discogs.com/label/8515-Ten-Lovers-Music

Ariane V is joined by Colleen Cosmo Murphy for The Balamii Club Show. The two DJs discuss Colleen's career and play recent finds and timeless favourites! PLAYLIST (2023) Discotecas – Smooth & Groove (2018) Gemini – Take a Chance (2022) Dobao – Goce (1988) Turntable Orchestra – You're gonna miss me (2019) Lou Rawls – You'll never find another love like mine (kenny summit, frankie knuckles & eric kupper's all unreleased anthem) (2009) Horace Andy & Ashley Beedle – When the rain falls (Cosmodelica mix) (2020) Troy Kingi – Chronophobic disco (2014) Fat Freddy's Drop – Mother Mother (Cosmodelica remix) (2024) Ada Morghe – We are one (Cosmodelica reprise mix) (1992) Danny Tenaglia – Equinox (heavenly club mix) (2015) HF Frequency – I can't go for that (no can do) (2023) Jacob Gurevitsch – Elevation in Minor (Cosmodelica remix) (1984) Gigi Flag – Nymphomaniac (Instrumental) THE INTERVIEW [Ariane V] Hello, hello. You're listening to the Bellamy Club show. I'm your host Ariane V and I'm going to be live for the next two hours. I have another very, very, very special show for you today because I'm joined by one of my very favourite DJs. She is an incredible DJ, selector, producer under her moniker Cosmodelica. She's a radio host on NTS, she used to be on Worldwide FM, now she does weekly shows on Twitch, which is very interesting, which I definitely want to ask her about as well. She runs the London Loft Parties. She's the curator of the love dancing tent that we out here, which is undoubtedly the best stage at any festival ever. Again, also something I will definitely ask her about. I may have missed things, but if I did, we'll have plenty of time to chat about them. So yeah, if you hadn't guessed it yet, I'm joined by Colleen Cosmore Murphy. We'll be live for the next two hours and I hope you enjoy. (...) Colleen and I are just saying how amazing this track is. It's Goce, spelled G-O-C-E, by Dabao on their Dobaismo album. Honestly, their entire album, the entire Dabaizma album is incredible. Every single track is a banger. Amazing kind of 80s tinged balleric, extremely dancey records, extremely dancey tunes. Yeah, do recommend, do check it out. (...) This track that has just finished playing is actually one of Colleen's. Well, it's one of her remixes. It's Andy Horace and Ashley Beedle, "When the Rain Falls", the Cosmodelica remix. It's one of my absolute favourite. Although she just told me that she almost forgot that she's had it. It was one of her very first remixes and apparently someone reminded her recently of the track when they requested it on a radio show. That's an absolutely beautiful tune. I will actually use this as an opportunity to finally get Colleen on the mic and officially introduce her to the show and welcome her here. Because I am so, so, so grateful that you made your way down here. [Colleen] Thank you. Thanks for having me. [Ariane V] I hope it wasn't too far away. For some people, Peckham, at least when I moved to London, Peckham was, I would never go south of the river. And now this is home and I love it here. But for some reason, for some people, it's like a faraway land! [Colleen] It is a faraway land. But I have DJ'd over at that, what's it called? The Bussey building? [Ariane V] Oh yeah, the Bussey building. Yeah, the Bussey building, it's right next door. [Colleen] And it's, you know, it's fun because one thing I love about cities is that, I still, I love this about New York and I love it about London. You know, I've been in London for 25 years and I still discover new places. That's one of the things I really love about big cities. It's like, it's just, I never get sick of it, you know? [Ariane V] It is kind of more like a collection of villages, isn't it? Absolutely. As opposed to one big homogenous thing. It's loads of small pockets of different cultures and different scenes. [Colleen] It's really cool. I absolutely, I mean, I've been here 25 years last month and it's, you know, people say... [Ariane V] 25 years? [Colleen] 25 years now, yeah. Some people say, don't you want to move back to New York? No, I love it here actually. I really do. I mean, actually London has the most green space out of any major city in the world. And that's really important to me. When I was in my 20s, when I moved, I moved to New York when I was 18. I didn't really care about green space. I just come from a small town, you know? I would go to Central Park and I loved it, you know? But, you know, I was fine with that for like over a decade. But then now, as I get older, I need more and more green space. I need to go hiking and upping forests and things like that. [Ariane V] Definitely. I do think that when I moved to London, I've always been right next to a park as well without realizing. And it's, especially during lockdown, it's such a treat! [Colleen] Absolutely. I can't imagine during lockdown in New York. [Ariane V] How long have you lived in New York? [Colleen] I lived in New York. I moved there the week I turned 18, and I left when I was 30. So I was there just about 13 years. Yeah. [Ariane V] So you're more of a Londoner than New Yorker at this point? [Colleen] I'm more of a Londoner. Yeah, exactly. [Ariane V] Exactly. [Colleen] London's the place I've lived the longest. [Ariane V] We were just saying that I'm going to New York at the end of May. [Colleen] And I'll be there as well, DJing. Yeah, I'll be over at The Good Room in Brooklyn, which is a great club. On the 24th of May, I'm doing a party with my friends from Love Injection. We do like a Cosmodelica Love Injection party like once a year there. And it's a fun club, a really fun club. You'll love it. [Ariane V] I've heard amazing. I mean, I'll definitely be there. I'm sure I'll love it if you're playing! [Colleen] Thank you! [Ariane V] If you, I'm just putting you on the spot, but if you just for someone who's never been to New York properly, if you were to name your three favorite record shops. [Colleen] Oh, I can't do that. I haven't lived there in 25 years. But A1, Academy Records, and trying to think of names of the other ones. I can't think of another one that's still open. I worked in record shops when I was there. So I worked in Dance Tracks when I lived there. And it's just places have closed since the pandemic and other places have opened. But I would always go to A1 and Academy, and they've been around for a while. [Ariane V] I'm going to add that to my Google Maps. [Colleen] Absolutely, absolutely! [Ariane V] Is that the first place where you worked in a record shop? [Colleen] No, I worked in a record shop in 1984, hum, in just like in the suburbs of Boston. In fact, I started just in late 1984. I was hired for Christmas help. And then they kept me saying, you know a lot about music. And yeah, "Do they know it's Christmas" was the big single. And they were selling bucket loads of those. But I worked there. And I became an assistant manager, even though I was only 17. And right before I moved to New York, my manager lied and said, oh, she's 18. And I wasn't. And then I also worked at Newberry Comics, which was another shop in the suburbs of Boston. But I had a big one in Boston as well that obviously had comics. But they had a lot of import records at Newberry Comics. It was kind of the hipper record store. And then I started at Dance Tracks in the 90s. I worked there for a few years. And I did work a little bit at Mr. Bongo Records here in the UK. [Ariane V] That's a great label and a great shop as well. [Colleen] Great label. Dave Buttle is a fantastic guy. And I learned a lot about Latin and Brazilian music when I worked there. But I was just kind of doing my own thing, like helping reorganize the shop and everything. So it was a lot of fun. But it was like the only sort of job I've had since I moved here. Other than that, I've just been working for myself. [Ariane V] So you said that you worked in New York in a record shop when you were 18. But that's after you already worked in a record shop. [Colleen] No, I worked at a record shop in my 20s there. So I moved to New York when I was 18 in 1986. And I went to school. And I was also around the college radio station. It was the biggest college radio station, one of the biggest in the country, because we were in New York City. I became the first women program director there. I did many different radio shows. [Ariane V] At what age again? [Colleen] I started when I was 18. And then I left school. Yeah, and then I lived in Japan in 1989 as a radio DJ when I was like 20, 21. And then I produced syndicated radio shows after that. And that's when I started getting into house music and club music and dance music pretty heavily. [Ariane V] We were also just talking about your trip to New Zealand. You said that you've been invited to Australia and New Zealand several times in the past 20 years, and you could never go. [Colleen] I could never go. And that was the first time you went? Yeah, because we had our daughter Ariana back in 2004. And going to the other side of the world for a weekend to play just doesn't make any sense. And it's just too far away to go for less than three weeks. And we didn't have the school holiday time to do that. I didn't really want to go in our summer and their winter. That's like the wrong time to go. Why do that? Why have two winters when you can have two summers (laughs)?! And we have loads of friends from New Zealand and friends from Australia as well. So it's just wonderful to go down there. We spent just over six weeks in Australia, New Zealand, and then we swung up to Hong Kong for Chinese New Year. And I played every weekend. It was just so much fun, discovered a lot of great music, met a lot of great people, and just absolutely loved it. Drank a lot of wine because the wine down there is fantastic. I ate a lot of food. And especially, you know, they have such great... And Sydney has some of the best, I mean, some great Chinese food. And then Melbourne as well. And we had Sri Lankan food. So Polynesian. It was just wonderful. Really wonderful. [Ariane V] It sounds like an incredible place. I've always wanted to go. [Colleen] Yeah. And then New Zealand is just absolutely beautiful. And, you know, the whole South Pacific culture, I didn't really think of New Zealand in that way. But Auckland is the largest Polynesian city in the world. And I didn't think of it in that way. I always kind of thought of it, sorry, New Zealand, and this is how Canadians feel with Americans, too! It's like, you know, that country, the other country, the quieter one, the one that's not as brash (laughs)! [Ariane V] It feels like a little extension of Australia, although they're completely different countries, look completely different, have completely different cultures. [Colleen] Exactly. Exactly. So that became very apparent. And I just absolutely loved it. But I discovered a lot of great music when I was there. And should we play one of those songs? [Ariane V] Absolutely. I'd love to hear it. [Colleen] Yeah, this is an artist named Troy Kingi, and he apparently is making one album a year for 10 years in a row. And he's a really interesting artist because he doesn't seem like he really cares that much about fame, which I love. He makes an album. Maybe he plays some gigs in New Zealand. And from what I understand, he just then goes fishing. So he's really soulful. OK, so this one is called Chronophobic Disco by Troy Kingi. (...) [Ariane V] Would you like to do us the honor in telling us what it was? [Colleen] Another New Zealand band, Fat Freddy's Drop, who are the most popular and successful independent band in New Zealand. And they're friends of ours as well. So the horn players, Scott Towers and Joe are mates of ours. We were hanging out with them in New Zealand. And they asked me about 10 years ago, pick a song from this album and just tell us which song you want to remix. I didn't even know them that well at the time, to be honest. And we have mutual friends, Kay and Rob. And I listened to the album. And as soon as I heard that song, Mother, Mother, I knew that was the one. I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I think the remix took me two days. I knew exactly what I was playing. I was playing the stuff. I was like, I know exactly what I want to do with this. And it was my favorite remix. And it was one that I really started playing out of my favorite remix of mine. Up to that point, I was really, yeah, I don't know. I was just not very self-conscious playing my own work. And I never thought it was good enough. You know, I always could hear something I would change or whatever, you know. And that was the first one I was completely happy with. And then I didn't do a remix for six years because classic album Sundays was taking off and a bunch of other things were taking precedence. And I was doing stuff for six music. And I was just doing a lot of different things. And I wasn't really that inspired by the studio. And it was just the beginning of lockdown, actually. Actually, it was like right before lockdown. It was March 2020. And I was thinking, I really do want to start to remix again. But just when the song's right and I want to do a vocal. And I heard Roisin's song, Murphy's Law. And I was like, that's the one. That's the one I want to remix! And we asked her and she said, yes. So that was kind of started it again for me. Because I took about six years off doing that. [Ariane V] Have you ever asked someone if you could do the remix and they said no? [Colleen] No, actually, that hasn't happened. Generally, I think I've only asked a few. I think Roisin was the only one I think that I've asked. Now that I think about it, I've never asked. That's the first one. [Ariane V] Everyone's always just reached out to you. Please remix anything or like. [Colleen] Or the song. Yeah, they'll give me the song. And sometimes I'll say, can I do that song instead? Like, that's what I do with Lady Blackbird. And that's probably one of my favorite remixes of mine. That one did very well. But again, they asked Ross Allen, who does the A&R. And he was her manager. And he's an old friend of mine. He's a legendary A&R guy here. And radio personality, radio broadcaster. And he asked me to remix a different song from that album. And I listened to the album. I said, that's the one, Lost and Looking. That's the one I want to remix. It's a Sam Cook song. And I love Sam Cook. And yeah, so sometimes I have artistic license. And sometimes it's just, this is the one. Do you want to do it or do you not? [Ariane V] I will be completely honest. Because I've been listening to you for ages and ages and ages. But I only knew you as a DJ. And it was genuinely maybe just a year or two ago that I found out that you actually produce as well. I had no idea. Right, yeah. And yeah, I feel like nowadays, loads of DJs feel like they have to produce in order to get out there. And with you, at least from my perspective, it doesn't feel like that's ever been that way. It didn't need to be that way. Because you don't need production to get ahead. You're so ingrained in the entire music industry. You do so many different things. And you're such an eclectic, incredible DJ. There's absolutely no reason for you to do that in order to get ahead. Yeah, it just feels like a natural extension of what you do. [Colleen] It is actually. And thank you for saying that. That's really nice of you. I mean, the first record I ever did, there was this soulful house label called Suburban Records. And it was owned by Tommy Musto, who put out loads of the productions himself. He was really great. And very soulful. And he still is a great guy. And very soulful, well-produced, great vocals, like Sable Jeffries, and all these great singers they would get. And he came with the dance tracks in the late 90s. And he said, I want to put out your first record. And he had a great recording studio. And I went down there. I had already written a song. I had written a song. [Ariane V] So you haven't sent out any demos or anything? [Colleen] No, no, no, no, no, no, no. [Ariane V] Were you actively producing at that time? [Colleen] No, not at all. Tommy, just because he was a customer of mine at dance tracks. I sold a lot of records of his. And I was on the radio. And he just probably thought, well, she works at a record shop. She probably has a good ear. But I had just started writing lyrics at that time. I just, I wasn't singing them. But I just started writing lyrics and songs. And I had a notebook. And I was writing songs and, you know, full lyrics, everything. And the first one I did was with, I had written myself. It was called She, featuring Alison Crockett. And she was on the Silk 130 album. My friend King Britt had an album called Silk 130. And she was one of the singers. Her, Ursula Rucker, was also on it. And I loved her voice. She had a proper jazz voice. She still does. She's a great singer, Alison Crockett. And I got her to sing. And I learned a lot. And Tommy sat next to me and just taught me all these different things. And yeah, I was really lucky. You know, I worked with a lot of great producers and engineers who've taught me a lot. And musicians who have taught me a lot, you know. So I was really fortunate. But yeah, I don't feel it. I never use it as a way of getting ahead. It was just what kind of came naturally. And plus, it really wouldn't work for me as a way to get ahead. Because I don't have a signature sound. I always feel like I serve the song. So every song is just so different, you know. And I do different styles. [Ariane V] Your sound in terms of your production. [Colleen] Yeah, I don't have a trademark sound, I don't think. And some DJs do. And that works for them, especially for their DJ career. [Ariane V] But I feel like then you kind of get stuck in this, yeah, you get stuck in this pigeonhole where suddenly what you produce has to also be what you DJ, which... [Colleen] For some people that works. It can really work. And I have certain friends that it really does work. And they do great productions. And their sets are filled with them. And it's great. [Ariane V] I feel like if you're an eclectic DJ or like if you, you know, if there are so many... I keep saying eclectic DJ. But if there's so many different genres, so many different things, atmospheres, energies, vibes, clubs that you would want to play in, then just pigeonhole. Suddenly, if you start producing and that is what new people get to know you as. And then they see your DJ and it's something completely different, it might be a bit counterproductive. And it just doesn't feel like... [Colleen] That's true. Yeah, you're right. You're right about that. I mean, with production, I didn't do it for a while, as I mentioned, because I didn't feel inspired to do it. And then I did a book called The Artist's Way. And it's a lot of creative people use this book. [Ariane V] I think I've heard of it. [Colleen] Yeah, a lot of people. I've even seen like Georgia Smith talk about it. You know, I mean, from old, younger artists to older artists and filmmakers and all sorts of people. And what came out is that I wanted to get back in the studio. That's what came out of it for me. And because, you know, my DJ career was going fine and da-da-da-da, but I wanted to be creative making music. But I didn't want to sit down and do an album. I didn't want to sit down and just do a whole tracks from like, you know, nothing, you know, originals. I thought remixes are the great way to go because I can, you know, do them in a few days. It's the... There's a kernel of an idea already there. I get that creative energy and that creative kind of input with songwriting, you know, writing different parts and the sounds and all that. So yeah, so I've enjoyed it. I'm only doing like four remixes a year, maybe, which is just enough for me. It's perfect. [Ariane V] Do you have any exciting remixes coming out? [Colleen] I have a new one I'm really in love with. I can't play it for you because it's not mastered and it's still not coming out. I don't know when it's coming out, but it's been accepted. It's by Bryony Jarman Pinto and she is on True Thoughts and she's a fabulous artist and she's a great singer, songwriter and has a beautiful album coming out. It might be out already, actually. And I remixed a song and it's quite down tempo. Again, it's not house tempo, which is really fun. It's very jazzy. It reminds me kind of like the jazzy boogie records of the 1980s. And that was kind of what was in my head. And I'm really happy with it. And there was a lot of great parts in there and the song. So there was live harps, strings, a horn, a trumpet. [Ariane V] Sounds like a lot to work with! [Colleen] Yeah, I love having some great musical parts in there. So that was really fun to bring those out. And she has great lyrics, really positive and really enjoyed that one. And now I'm working on a remix for Joe Goddard from Hot Chip at the moment. [Ariane V] Incredible. [Colleen] Yeah. And I finished another one the end of last year for a German woman named Ada Moore, who's more like a jazz bluesy singer. And she's also an actress and a writer as well. And it was kind of a gospel tune. And she had heard my Iso Fitzroy remix and asked me to remix this song. And she has this great backing vocal choir. And I can play it for you if you like. [Ariane V] Please do! [Colleen] OK, I'll start to cue it up if you want to keep talking? [Ariane V] I might just put the track underneath us up for a little bit. [Colleen] OK, that sounds great. Yeah, this is quite a fun one. It's quite an uptempo one. Want me to play it? [Ariane V] Yeah, sure. Go for it. [Colleen] OK. [Ariane V] Absolutely go for it. [Colleen] This is Ada Moore. I'm not going to play the full vocal. This is the vocal reprise, which is a lot of fun. But it's kind of like a gospel-y house stomper. And I hope you like it. (...) [Ariane V] Another absolutely beautiful track. [Colleen] Oh, I love this one. This one brings me back to David's Loft on East 3rd Street. And he used to play this. I think it came out in 1991. It's called Code 718 Equinox. And of course, we just had the Vernal Equinox on Wednesday. So it's one of the reasons I'm playing this. It's also a great production from Danny Tenaglia. And he samples E2, E4 here. The Italians, of course, had already done it with Suena Latino. So this is like the Americans sampling E2, E4. And he just does it so well. It's just such a beautiful, beautiful record. And of course, that's Peter Dow on keys. He did a lot of work with him. And he just did some beautiful. The thing with Danny's work is it had a really punchy bottom. It's solid rhythm and drum and bass track. [Ariane V] I love him so much. [Colleen] Yeah. Then you have just this beautiful stuff on the top. Absolutely gorgeous! [Ariane V] Everything he's done is absolutely timeless. And yeah, just really driving and really punchy. And you can play it at any set. I feel like his tracks are so easy to fit into anything. Yeah. [Colleen] And he's a lovely guy, too. So I got to meet him. First, I interviewed him, I was writing for Project X magazine, which was kind of like a club magazine in the early 90s in New York. And I did a big feature on his album. And then I was... I don't know if I was working at Dance tracks at that time. I think I started working at Dance tracks right after that. And he became one of my customers, so it was really cute because he would work all weekend. And I also worked on Mondays. And Mondays was a quiet day in the shop. I mean, Friday is the busy day. Everyone's getting ready, getting their records for the weekend. Monday was a quiet day, which was quite nice. And he would come in when there was nobody else there, like an hour before I would close. And I'd be stashing some records on the side, like some weird stuff from Detroit or like the basic channel stuff, like all that kind of stuff. I'd be storing on the side for him, you know, things that he wouldn't get as a promo, basically. And yeah, he was such a great guy. And he used to say, you're my favorite record shop person. [Ariane V] I thought he wasn't the only one who said that. [Colleen] Oh, I don't know. But you know, he was just... It was great! It was just... I met so many cool people there. You know, that's where I met François, really. And yeah, I met a lot of people there. But he was my special customer. That sounds a bit weird (laughs)!! [Ariane V] I might just... I might record this a little bit and send that to him and say, Colleen says you're a special little customer. You're my special customer (laughs)! You just mentioned the Loft Parties and David Mancuso and also François K, which I saw you mentioned a few times that they were two of your biggest mentors. [Colleen] Yeah, yeah, they were. [Ariane V] That to me is absolutely mind-blowing. You know, I'm incredibly lucky that with this radio show, I just wrote down a list of 10 of my favorite DJs and producers and people I really look up to. And most of them said yes, which is why you're here! [Colleen] Aaaw thank you! [Ariane V] But thinking that, you know... So I'm sort of using these... I'm very selfishly using these shows to just have a chat with these people and get to hear everything from them. [Colleen] That's what I did too! I had a radio show in the 90s called Club 89 and I had all these people up there. So usually, I would be mixing myself and DJs like the two-and-a-half-hour show or three-and-a-half-hour show. I think it was two and a half hours, 10.30 to one on Tuesday nights. But then I had up people like Rome Anthony, Little Louis, Dimitri from Paris, Danny Krivich, Joe Clausell, François Kaye, David Mancuso came up for one. And I had singers like Sable Jeffries, Kenny Bobian, Joy Cardwell. That was like the big Soulful House kind of singers. And it was great! I really, really enjoyed it. I loved interviewing people and also watching them mix and having a chat with them off mic. It's a great thing to be able to do! [Ariane V] And then, sorry, just back to David and François. So it's mind-blowing that they're your close friends and mentors. Because right now they're legends and they're undeniably enormous icons and legends in dance music. What was it like having them as mentors? When you met them, were they that huge or did they sort of become that as you were friends and as you knew them or? [Colleen] I mean, François had a very big career outside of New York City dance music in the 1980s. And he had done records that I had played as a teenager. His mix of Yazoo's Situation. He worked on, he worked with Craftwork. He worked with Erasure. He did a lot of kind of new wavy remixes. He remixed Jimmy Cliff. And then he also worked on Violator, Depeche Mode. So he did all that before 1990. And then it was around... [Ariane V] Before you met him. [Colleen] Yeah, I didn't meet him till like mid-90s. And then in the early 90s, he resurrected his DJ career because he had stopped DJing. He was doing these huge productions at a massive studio. He was doing really well. And he went to, I think the first time back, he went with Lara Levine to Japan. And then he started playing and he was playing to small places. Actually, I'd go see him at Reggae Lounge. I didn't know him. A friend of mine knew him well. And it really wasn't... So he was already a producer icon. And so I knew he was great. And so I knew his work that way. He would come into dance tracks. He was kind of intimidating. I told him that later. He has such a dry sense of humor. I was like, is he making fun of me? Is he serious or is he making a joke? I mean, very dry French and Americans aren't as dry. In any case, the way I met him properly was one day I was gonna go to Body and Soul. It must've been like maybe 1996. And I was in my apartment in Lower East Side and the phone rang because we still had landlines. And the phone rang and luckily I was there and I picked up and it's François. I'm like, how do you know how he got my number? And he said, word has it, you have a really good record collection and a great disco collection. I said, yeah, yeah, I do, I guess. Well, would you mind playing with us at Body and Soul today? Because I believe one of them, either Danny and Joe couldn't make it or one of them was gonna be late. One of them I think had injured themselves and the other one had a late flight coming back from somewhere. So I was just like, oh my gosh, yeah. That's how I met, yeah. So that's how I really met François. Then it came up on my radio show, our friendship started. But he was already a name that I knew. David was very underground and David was really suffering. And there was word on the street, oh yeah, David was a guy that inspired Larry LeVan. But it was all word on the street, stories being told, some stories were correct, some stories were not. It's like Chinese whispers are playing telephone. The truth gets distorted each time it gets told. But I just went to his parties. I didn't know anything about him. I knew nothing about the Loft. I knew nothing about any of this stuff. And I just landed at his party once with my friend Adam. [Ariane V] At one of the Loft parties? [Colleen] Yeah, one of his Loft parties in his house on East 3rd Street. [Ariane V] How did you, sorry, so how did you end up there? How did you find Adam? [Colleen] My friend Adam was a clubber. He ended up being the timeout clubs editor in New York. He went out every single night and he's the one that brought me to all the clubs. So I was like going to live shows. [Ariane V] So you had a guide. [Colleen] Yeah, so I was going to live shows and I was still working in music. But he was the one that where I'd go, I got dancing, you know. Oh, I'm going to bring you to a club tonight. Let's go to this place. You know, it was around the corner. And I had lived in that neighborhood and, you know, I had never seen this place because there's nothing on the outside. It's his house, it's a private party. And it just blew me away when I went in and it just really kind of changed me, you know. And I've wanted to go again and again and again and again, but no one knew who he, I mean, people did, but it was a failing party. David had a huge following in the 1970s and early 80s. And then he moved, he moved from Soho, and he moved to the Lower East Side where no one wanted to go except for ragamuffins like me, you know. They sold heroin all over the streets, heroin and crack, you know, mainly heroin. It was a really dicey neighborhood. That's where I lived. I lived in those neighborhoods because that's all I could afford. And I didn't look like much. So it was like, I didn't really get bothered, you know. But people who had gone to his parties in the 80s, they had grown up, had kids. They're just in a different place in life and they're not going to this neighborhood, you know. So that was hard. And then his building was stolen from right underneath his nose. He had given his power of attorney to a really shady attorney who sold his building. And he was absolutely screwed. I mean, he had no money, hardly anything, there weren't a lot of people coming to the parties. And so there was just, aside from my own career that I was developing, you know, on the radio and doing dance tracks. And I started DJing around New York City. Then I started travelling around the States. And then I started going to Japan and, you know, I was doing my own thing. On the side, I was helping him as a few others were as well. And we all helped for free. And because he needed the help. And so he was then, he was just like bouncing from spot to spot. Hum. And we were doing fundraiser parties and he'd have me play sometimes. Or if he went away, we do one-on-ones. And yeah, it was just a really rough time. And what happened was, is in 1998, I was asked by Nervous Records to do a mix CD. I was like, great, you know, I'll do a mix CD. And this is the time I literally mixed the whole CD from vinyl with the A&R guy sitting there watching me. And I did it in one take. Like literally just had to mix it. Two turntables on records. There was no computer, no sync, nothing. It was all done as a DJ mix on vinyl. Just kind of crazy when I think about that now! [Ariane V] As they were staring at you. [Colleen] As he was staring at me. He was a nice guy though. It was this guy, Stuart Upchurch, who was a lovely guy. He had worked at Vinyl Mania before that. So anyways, I thought, I didn't really get paid that much. But I thought, you know, someone like David, I'm sure if he did a compilation, he'd get paid much better. Plus it would help get his story out there. Because there was no, I mean, the internet had started. But you know, it wasn't like all this information was there. There were no, there were some older books. Vince Aletti, who was one of the major music and club dance music writers at the time, would write about him. He wrote about everything. So he is like the historian. But if you didn't have those, if you didn't go to the New York Public Library and look it up on microfiche. You wouldn't see those. There was no place to see these old articles. These books weren't published. And so yeah, so David's story wasn't known to the world.And the people in Japan knew about him because the Japanese always had their finger on the pulse. But everywhere else, they didn't. Even in New York City at the time. Like when I would talk about the radio, I'd talk about The Loft on my radio show. People would call it, The Loft is still happening. Like that's how it was. So that's when we started the compilations. When we did those for New Phonic. And that's what really got his story out there. And it made me very, very happy. And very proud that it kind of got his story out there. And he started traveling. And he started, he was able to fix his teeth and pay his rent and do all the things he needed to do. So I guess the long-winded answer to your question is, he was a somebody, but nobody knew it (laughs)! [Ariane V] Yeah. [Colleen] You know, and he's also a very humble man. He was just a regular guy. I mean, people give him this God-like status. And yeah, he was an extraordinary person. And he was a spiritual person. We connected him that way as well. But you know, this whole like, I see words like Bible and gospel and Jesus and all these words that, a disciple that come out next to his name. And I go, oh my gosh, he would just hate that. You know, it's like Bible, gospel, disciple. And oh, please, you know, it's like, no, that wasn't David, you know. [Ariane V] Do you, with them two as your mentors, what do you think is, for each of them, what do you think is like the main thing that they taught you? [Colleen] Yeah, it's interesting. Okay, well, François and then, they both taught me life lessons as well. And they're both alike and different. And I should say, I had other radio mentors. They weren't my radio mentors. I had two great radio mentors. And I've had other mentors in other areas, like in production and stuff. For David, David, the life energy of music is probably the biggest one. [Ariane V] The what energy? [Colleen] The life energy of music. He was giving this book to a lot of people called The Life Energy of Music by John Diamond (ed: in three volumes). By the time he met me, he had no copies left, but he would Xerox them. Xerox chapters, especially ones about women, because he was very, very, very pro-women. And François, you know, this is at a time and they're of a generation where there really is a true boys club. And, you know, we didn't have this kind of, the kind of affirmative action we have now with women DJs. That definitely was not happening over 30 years ago. And both François and David have had a lot of women around them that they trust, that they work with. And not everybody did that. So that was really incredible. David, the life energy of music, it's hard to describe because it's a feeling. It's a feeling you get when you listen to a tune. And I just listened to so many records with David, you know, for four times a year when I lived in London, you know, when he was coming over for our parties, we were joined together for eight years. You know, he was, we listened to music, you know, in our house and listening to records to possibly play for the party and how he would critique them. And it made me a much harsher critic. And he really didn't care if the tune was cool. And this is what's happening now. It was really about, is this music that can heal you? Is this something that's going to truly uplift your spirit? Or is it negative? Or is it just bringing you down? You don't even realize it. That is one thing I really learned from him. And music is a healing force. And that's how he played music. You know, there's certain records that I would never, I can't tell you what they are. And I wouldn't anyways. But there's certain records I would never play at the loft, just because it just wouldn't work for whatever reasons. You know, I might play, it's not like every song has to be happy clappy. It's just more about, even if it's a sad song, it still gives you an emotive feeling, like a warm hug, I suppose. He didn't like Kraftwerk, for instance. You know, I love Kraftwerk. There's some differences too. And also, I think he and I, we connected on a kind of a spiritual level. I had already been traveling, studied Zen Buddhism in Japan. I had already been in Japan. I had been doing yoga. And one of my majors was comparative religions, but all the mystics and things. I was heavily into that stuff anyways. And so was he. So we would talk about kind of deeper, deeper things. And, you know, François is my pragmatic side, and also the production. So David didn't produce. All he did was his party. He did his party and that was it, you know. That's his life's work. You know, he did play out. I'm just saying that was his life's work. Whereas François is a bit more, you know, we're alike in the sense he does a lot of different things. And François' production style is a massive inspiration. But also as a human being, you know, he's managed to have a career in music. He's 70 years old, and he's still future-forward-facing, you know. And so he really inspires me in that way. And he's just there for me as well. They were both there for me as people. They're good, dear friends. I mean, David used to call me his daughter, you know. [Ariane V] Aaaw... [Colleen] Yeah. And I always say François is like my uncle because he's only 15 years older than me, but my uncles really were teenagers when I was born. So, yeah, I'm lucky to have him in my life. Yeah, I'm lucky to have had David in my life for sure. (silence) [Ariane V] I'm just thinking about what you said and I have nothing to add! [Colleen] Well, should we play a song then? [Ariane V] I have one I'd like to play. [Colleen] Okay, let's play it. [Ariane V] It's one that I stole from you. [Colleen] Ooh, which one is this one?! [Ariane V] It's I can go for that no can do by H.F. Frequency. [Colleen] That's on my second Balearic Breakfast compilation and you didn't even know that there was one! [Ariane V] Well, I heard you play it at We Out Here, not last year, the year before that, when you did one of your Balearic Breakfast sets at the Love Dancing Tent. It was one of my favourite sets because we all started just laying down on the beanbags and it was very relaxing and you played beautiful music and then very, very, very, very, very slowly, I was there with my group of friends, and me and my friend Kian just had our shoes off and we just were like, you know, because you were ever so slowly bringing it up. We were like, I think it's time. I think it's time for us to stand up and get going. I think nobody else was dancing and we stood up and we just started to like bop around with our shoes off and then as the music progressed, more and more people were standing up we were just dancing around with our shoes off and it was absolutely amazing and I think we did go up to you to ask you what this was and I do think you did mention that it was coming up on your compilation but then I somehow completely missed that (laughs)! [Colleen] You were at a festival. I think you had other things on your mind or you didn't. [Ariane V] Well, I remembered the important thing, which was this track. [Colleen] That's all you need to know, exactly! [Ariane V] So this is HF Frequency. I can't go for that (No can do). (...) [Ariane V] So this one is coming out on the next compilation. [Colleen] Yeah, the remix came out digitally. It's Jacob Gurevich Elevation in Minor. It's my Cosmodelica remix and it was such a wonderful one to do because it's so different. It's not house tempo. It is beautiful, gorgeous guitar work. He did another part for me because I wanted to do a key change. Got a live percussionist in so I really enjoyed doing this one and it's just very dreamy and floaty but I want to play it on vinyl. So luckily, because I did my third Balearic Breakfast comp for Heavenly. I was like, oh, let's put that on. So that's going to, it's two remixes of mine coming on that, which will be the other, the Cosmodelica instrumental of the David Holmes remix that you really like, yeah. And then it's a double album. There's a bunch of other great stuff coming out. I probably don't want to advance too much of what's coming. We're going to be announcing it in a few weeks, but it's coming out the first week of May. So I'm looking forward to that. [Ariane V] How do you come about finding, you know, obviously if they're new tracks and they're new tracks, and it's easy to license them and sign them, but how do you come about, how do you go about, you know, old tracks that you really love, kind of signing them again to re-release them on your compilation? How does that work? [Colleen] It's really difficult because the stuff, you know, there's so, there's been so many compilations since the 90s, really, you know, so many things have been dug up and put out and, you know, even with the Loft compilations, we couldn't do that now because everyone knows those songs now, but at the time they didn't and you couldn't get a lot of them and people didn't know them, but, you know, there's been so many. So it's hard to find things that haven't already been out. So the few rare things that are older things, I have a couple incredible "coups" on this record, I'm so happy. And it was down to Jeff Barrett at Heavenly that got these couple classics that are really hard to find, are very expensive, one that never came out actually. So it's really digging a bit, trying to think what do I love in my collection that is very rare and can we license it is the next thing. That's the big part, can we actually license it? So I think there's like three or four songs on the new comp that are older tunes that were just very rare on vinyl or never on vinyl. And the rest of it is a lot of newer artists or newer releases on Bandcamp where people can't afford to press vinyl because it's so freaking expensive. You know, it's expensive, the whole production's expensive and, hum, so it's nice to be able to do that. So it could be all different artists, you know, young, old, whatever, it doesn't make a difference but they are putting stuff out themselves, it's independent. We're not dealing with any majors, this is a third comp, not one single major label license. So it feels really good. And yeah, I have so much respect for Jeff Barrett of Heavenly Records because he's been running an independent record label for over 30 years. He was one of Andrew Weatherall's managers and he's a legend in the music business and he's still so passionate about music. He has a great team around him, people who love music and I just love working with them, they're just great. I just absolutely love it. Plus they take us out for nice lunches (laughs)! [Ariane V] With the tracks that you picked for the compilation, are they just songs that you've just been playing out and so naturally, organically, you found them or do you go, right, I've got maybe half a compilation ready and now I need to find the other half and I just go digging? [Colleen] It's all from the show. So basically the radio show, so it's the radio show without a radio station. I started this show called Blurred Breakfast during the pandemic on Worldwide FM and then a year later Worldwide FM went on pause or was it, no, it was two years later, I'm sorry. So I started the show, I started the show as Summer Staycation in the summer of 2020 then had to change the name because it was autumn, and that was September 2020 and then two years later Worldwide FM went on pause, and I had built up this community because it's a live stream with the chat group and plus a lot of it is a request show. [Ariane V] Was it always a request show? [Colleen] I always made a request show because it started during the pandemic and I have so many thousands of records. I thought, wouldn't it be fun to have a request show and I'll rediscover my record collection this way. [Ariane V] Just assuming that people are going to request things that you are bound to have. [Colleen] Some of it was. In fact, I didn't even have a CD player, a Pioneer CD player for months into the show so everything had to be on vinyl that I would have but then I was like, I got to get at least one of these CDJs. So I did. But the community is great. We have people that request songs week after week that have great ears. Sometimes I'm getting them now to do guest mixes for the show when I go away. It's great. So I'm still streaming live when I'm away but the work's already done. So yeah, some of it's from the community as well. Some are things I get sent. You know, I get sent quite this one thing coming out on the next compilation. Never heard of this guy. He sent me a bunch of tunes. Never heard anyone else playing them. It was only digital. And I was like, I must have that. And I started playing it out a lot. So there's a lot of some discoveries that I get people sending me stuff. Older stuff that I already know that I would love to have on vinyl or I don't have on vinyl or other people don't have on vinyl. And then, yeah, newer stuff that people have requested. So it's, yeah, it's a really, it's fun. And it's all different kinds of music too. So like there'll be this kind of folky stuff to house, to psychedelic, to jazzy. So it kind of ticks a lot of boxes. [Ariane V] Exactly what Balearic means, isn't it? [Colleen] Yeah, it means anything (laughs)! [Ariane V] I think it's so special that, you know, your radio show without a radio station (laughs)! It's, well, but it's, I think it just, it just highlights the best thing about community radio. It doesn't, it doesn't need to be a physical space. It's all about the community. It isn't, it isn't even about the radio show. It isn't about the mix. It isn't about the, like, I mean, obviously the tracks should be good, but it isn't, yeah, it isn't just about the mixes. It's all about the listeners and all about the community and all about the people actually actively, you know, talking to each other during the show as well. It's, yeah, it's all about the community. [Colleen] I started on the radio in 1982 when I was 14 and I'm 55. So I've been on, I've basically almost always had a radio show, whether it's community radio or whatever it is. I've been on lots of different radio stations, online stations, terrestrial stations, but I've almost always had a radio show for over 40 years. So when Worldwide FM said we're pausing, I'm like, I think I'm going to still go (laughs)! Because that's the beauty now. I mean, you can go on Mixcloud and stream live and have it archived there and have your own platform. You can put out your own music through Bandcamp. So there's some great ways that you can remain independent. You know, I mean, maybe one day it will move somewhere else. I don't know. But right now I'm happy. So I'm happy with it now. [Ariane V] We're coming to the end of the show. We only have three minutes left, apparently (laughs)! Is there anything that you would like to, any final words? Is there anything you would like to highlight that we didn't manage to cover? [Colleen] Yeah, well, we still have the London Loft parties here in London. It is a private party, but you can probably find a way to reach out to me. I'm sure you can figure it out if you're really interested. As we're doing those parties three times a year, I'll be the Bitches Brew compilation. Oh, Bitches Brew, that's my old label. The Balearic Breakfast compilation is coming out in May. Next remix will be Bryony Jarman Pinto. I always get the hyphenated last name mixed up. I hope that was the right way. And, yeah, just we have Love Dancing. I hope people will come along to that. We out here, I'll be at Houghton, bunch of festivals, Gala Festival. [Ariane V] Love Dancing is one of the main reasons why I go back to be out here every single year. [Colleen] Really?! [Ariane V] It's the best stage. [Colleen] It's just so much fun. [Ariane V] It makes me out here to me. [Colleen] Yeah, it's a party. It's a party. It's not a performance. It's a party. And that's what I love about it. And everyone's just hanging out, having a good time. Yeah. Well, thank you for having me! [Ariane V] Thank you so much for joining me! [Colleen] Oh, pleasure. It was amazing to meet you. It was really, really lovely to meet you. In stereo (laughs)!! [Ariane] Thank you to everyone who tuned in. That was two hours of The Bellamy Club show with Ariane V and Colleen Cosmo Murphy. I hope you enjoyed that. And I'll see you again next week!

NTS Radio broadcast the 6th episode of Balearic Brunch on March 24th 2024. About this episode. – Colleen takes us to the heart of spring musically, intellectually, and visually for her sixth show on NTS! Proudly standing in front of a beautifully taken care of Renault 4L (the French car was produced in France between 1966 and 1992 and is to this day a beloved model amongst car collectors), in the heat of a renewed sun, our Balearic DJ seem to be ready to drop musical flowers all around her! And this is precisely what she does here, as we'll see! So put your sunglasses on; we're in for another musical treat! Listen back to the 6th episode of Balearic Brunch: PS: If you want to support DJ Alfredo, you can do so right here! THE PLAYLIST (2024) Finn Rees – Looking Up (2020) The Ibrahim Khalil Shibab Quintet – Spring (2024) New Visionaries – Summer Rain (Feat. Hannah Williams) (2024) Papa Romeo – World Of Paint (2022) Derya Yildirim, Grup Şimşek – Bal (2023) Yuksek – O Gato (Acid Arab Minawi Mizmar Remix) (1975) The Drive – Africa Bossa (2024) Gee W – Still In Love (2021) Flamingo Pier – Cosmic Sunset (1980) The Coach House Rhythm Section – No Such Thing (Instrumental) THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE Every show Colleen does has its secret image, its secret message; it only takes a full listen and a small bit of concentration to grab it! Here, Finn Ree's blossoming opening track – which also starts his forthcoming album "Dawn is a Melody", Looking up, paves the intellectual trip we're going to have by showing us how beautiful nature can be when Spring arrives! (What I did here is beautiful, right? 😉) Speaking about the second track, there is no mistake in the presentation of the tracklist (which now is in the right order, too 😉) because, as you can read on Discogs, the original 1969 album was reissued in 2020, and by that time, Chris Schilder had changed his name to Ibrahim Khalil Shihab had upon converting to Islam, hence the covers differences! This Jazzy Masterpiece is beautifully followed (note Colleen's punchy and perfect mix right there!) by Summer Rain, a track that, thanks to its groovy rhythm, keeps on opening up our Spirits (just as this show does, hence the title of this post)! In an interview, New Visionnary's band members Phil Martin, and Joel Sarakula shared: "We had no plan. And we still don’t have a plan [...] We can work without words. Music is our language. [...] We didn’t have any expectations, we just did it for fun. We throw ideas at each other and most of the time we agree." If that start is not as fresh as spring! Keeping the rhythm steady, Colleen plays the very "kaleidoscopic" (hence this post's picture I chose 😉) World of Paint. Derya Yildirim, Grup Şimşek's Bal then takes us to India, and you already know both the band and their record because, yes, they've been featured in Balearic Breakfast previously! For the second hour of the show, while keeping the travelling effect intact with O Gato's Acid Arab Minawi Mizmar Remix, Colleen does indeed speed things up! In an interview, the French musician and composer Yuksek shared: "Today, I can't see myself doing music any differently. On this album, there are only two instrumental tracks that I did on my own—really hard-hitting club stuff. Since my third album, I've gotten a bit fed up with Yuksek and locking myself away for hours on end making music on my own. This happened at the same time as other projects, such as making music for films, so I was focused on other things. Then there were two sessions that were really important. I met Bertrand Burgalat. We didn't know each other very well, but we thought it would be interesting to work together. I'd just finished my contract with Universal, so I really enjoyed those 2 days in the studio. We made a track that I love, mixed it the next day and released it on my label 3 weeks later, with a cover designed by a friend, without any promotion. And when you look it up on Spotify, it's one of the most listened-to tracks (editor's note: we're talking about the track "Icare"). The whole process reconciled me with music." We're now dancing as the Jazzy Africa Bossa takes us to spring's heart (to find out more about The Drive, click here), perfectly followed by the incredible Geew's Carnavalian number, Still In Love! Colleen ends this sixth edition of Balearic Brunch by playing Flamingo Pier's Carnavalian track, Cosmic Sunset, followed by the rhythmically trippy and The Coach House Rhythm Section's No such Thing, a track driven by Eddy Grant whom Colleen will meet on April 26th (more about this event here). Tell me, what's there not to love about Balearic Brunch?!

If you're a dedicated listener of the show, you must have heard Tomohiro's name pop up occasionally. In this interview, he answered a few questions I had! 1) Hello Tomohiro! I am thrilled to have you on the blog, as you're another long-time listener of Balearic Breakfast and a great requester, too! How did your musical passion start as a child? Hi Artur, Thank you very much for having me! As a teen, I discovered hip-hop. Then, I started listening to Deep House and Garage, and I went to Yakko's party in Osaka. Yakko is from a precious hall in Sappollo. The beautiful dance floor resembled the loft and Paradise Garage. I have very fond memories of these parties! A few days ago, I went to Joe Claussell`s party in Kyoto. This was also another beautiful dance floor moment to experience! Both Yakko and Joe span great deep house and garage. These two DJs inspired me to play vinyl, spinning Deep-House, Garage, and any music I love, too! 2) How important is "Spirituality" in your life? In your opinion, is there only a philosophical and meditative path to reach superior grounds, or are there also small and easy steps one can take to become a better and wiser person? Listening to music is a kind of meditation, and it does help you to be spiritual, I think. In order to become a better person, I feel we should stay close to nature and behave as naturally as possible. After all, it's also a part of our human condition, and it should stay a way of being. We need to get back to the basics... 3) As a music lover, and a DJ, you reach quite deep in the musical ocean (Garage, Deep House, Balearic Music...). When working on a mix, do you try to convey messages or stories through the music you select, or do you try, on the contrary, to create a musical unity beyond philosophical interpretation? I approach music very "organically", if I can put it that way! I do a lot of freestyling, and my style depends on my feelings and thoughts. Communicating with music is important to me. Whenever I share music, during a party or even during a radio show, I always have pictures of The Loft in my mind... Yeah, I truly feel that a beautiful space is important for a party, and it's all about losing ourselves in the musical moment beyond any intellectual interpretation... 4) What does Balearic Breakfast mean to you? Balearic Breakfast brings me back to the Loft. That party was so important! It's about the Feeling, the Musical Spirit, and the Musical unity through gathering! Same rules but used differently, don't you think?! 5) If you had to mention four/five DJs who had an important influence on you musically, which one would you choose and why? That's a tough question, indeed! I would start with DJ Krush. He is so dope and creates a spiritual vibe! Then, I would say Yakko from Precious Hall, whom I already mentioned. He is the teacher of the great love vibe of dance music and is like a Japanese David Mancuso to me. Of course, I need to mention Joe Claussell. He is connecting the universe. He makes people beautiful and really brings spiritual vibes to the dance floor! Of course, I need to end with two of the greatest to me: David Mancuso, creator of the loft and a true inspiration of the night-clubbing lifestyle whose legacy touched so many people around the world, and, last but not least, Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy, whose playing and mixing style really showcases that playing music can be done with an "intention". To me, Colleen equals "Music with Love"... Thank you so much, Tomohiro!

On September 12th 2022, Worldwide FM announced in a communique that it would be “pausing” new broadcasts. Sad times ahead... On September 12th 2022, Worldwide FM announced in a communique that it would be “pausing” new broadcasts. The radio Station, based in East London, went on air in 2016 – closely tied to Gilles Peterson and the Brownswood community, it became a globally respected redoubt for cutting-edge jazz, and underground club music. Of course, the first reaction the Balearic Breakfast Family had, alongside being sad about this totally unexpected turn of events, was to turn to its Musical Captain, waiting in fear for further announcements... Luckily, these were not as bad as we initially feared them to be, as Colleen shared on her socials the following post : "Some of you may have seen this news about the changes being made to our beloved radio station Worldwide FM. It’s very sad news for all of us. On a personal note, Worldwide FM has been one of my anchors for the last seven years - especially during the days of the pandemic when my entire events-based livelihood dissipated in an instant. Worldwide FM, it's staff and listeners emotionally sustained me during that difficult time when I was broadcasting live from my record room each and every week. It gave me a sense of purpose and connection. I’m eternally grateful. This year marks my 40th year in broadcasting and Worldwide FM has been one of the biggest highlights of my entire radio career. I feel blessed and honoured to have been asked by Gilles Peterson to join the radio station from its earliest days in 2016. It has been an incredible musical journey. For my Balearic Breakfast fans - I plan on keeping the show going in some capacity so please follow me on my Mixcloud (linktree in bio) and please follow me on my socials for updates. In the meantime, I look forward to hosting my remaining Balearic Breakfast shows each and every Tuesday morning from 10am to 12 noon and my monthly Cosmodelica show on the third Friday of each month from 4 to 6 pm on Worldwide FM. I thank each and every one of you for all of the support you have given me. 🙏"

The Father of the Balearic Beat, DJ Alfredo, needs our help. A GoFundMe campaign has been set up by "The Secret DJ". The Father of the Balearic Beat @alfredoenibiza needs our help so please head over to the Go Fund Me campaign set up by @the_secret_dj (link in this post). It will help with ongoing healthcare costs so that the Ibiza icon is well looked after and the campaign is now over two thirds of the way to the total goal. Funds will go to Alfredo’s son, Jaime Fiorito, who will use it predominantly paying the private Old Folk’s home to continue to house and monitor Alfredo’s health and so that he can live more comfortably. The Argentinian born DJ made his way to Ibiza in 1976 where he began DJ-ing at the Be Bop bar in 1982 and soon after became the resident at Amnesia where he made his name with his eclectic mix. He is a true legend and I was honoured to play back to back with him at @beat_hotel a few years ago - we kept each other on our toes that’s for sure! The DJ world, the Ibiza music scene and of course, Balearic Breakfast owe a huge debt to Alfredo and if there was ever a time to show our gratitude, it’s now. So please head over to the GoFundMe campaign in his honour and show your appreciation. Listen to Colleen's back to back session with DJ Alfredo: Photos by @danmedhurst courtesy of Beat Hotel

Simon Peter's "You Don't Send Slow Waves Anymore" was featured in Balearic Breakfast's 161st episode. I met Simon for a chat about his Music! 1) When listening to several of your tracks, we're surprised by how many variations you include: sonic, structural, and pictural variations. These changes make your tracks living pictures in which the listener can lose himself, yet you always pick him up at the right time. How did that specific way of putting music together come to you? This is an interesting and very pleasing analysis of my music; thank you, Artur! Overall, I take an explorative approach to my compositions – I never have a clear vision of a track at the outset. In terms of structure, I don’t worry at all about following any particular rules. It's probably true that my tracks tend to have extended passages in which listeners can immerse themselves (perhaps a feature of much ‘Balearic’ music?), introducing a new element, variation, or section before the track starts to feel too repetitive or drawn out. When producing a track, I largely avoid using loops, and I like to include a lot of variations throughout to help the tracks feel organic and somewhat live-sounding. 2) « You Don’t Send Slow Waves Anymore » was played during the 161st episode of Balearic Breakfast, and it perfectly showcases the plurality of your music, where sound effects reproduce nature’s sounds (when you don’t use real nature sound to enhance your musical visions...). I feel this sonic picturality is nicely translated in the track’s titles, too… How do you choose them, and when does that occur in the creative process? I tend to settle on a title once a track is completed or nearly completed. I prefer abstract over descriptive titles as this leaves more to the imagination, and it's not always easy to come up with a track name that I am satisfied with. I remember that I was struggling for the title for ‘You Don’t Send Slow Waves Anymore’. I ended up using an online song name generator, which, with some prompts, came up with ‘You Don’t Send Slow Waves’. I added ‘...Anymore’ to it to make it feel a bit more emotive and wistful. I really like this title – it fits the track but is slightly odd. 3) According to you, what is the hardest step when working on a song? What are you avoiding to do as a producer at all costs when producing music joining the “Balearic realm”? The hardest part for me is turning a musical idea into a complete track. It is one thing to come up with one nice chord sequence or musical phrase but quite another to develop that into a fully formed composition. When it comes to producing Balearic tracks, I suppose I am just trying to ensure the Simon Peter tracks have character and some level of musical intricacy. I try hard to avoid my tracks sounding generic or cliché. 4) Colleen’s show, Balearic Breakfast, is all about sharing the music we love, and members of the Family proposed their own sets when Collen went on tour. You also love to share your musical influences, be it through playlists on Spotify or through mixes you craft. One of these musical influences can be found in Japanese Music (Shu Suzuki even did a wonderful remix of « You Don’t Send Slow Waves Anymore»). What is it in the “Japanese touch” that makes it so Balearic? Perhaps it’s more the case that in recent years, Balearic DJs have found Japanese music to be a treasure trove for Balearic nuggets. Certainly, a range of Japanese music can be considered Balearic – from City Pop to new age/ambient, minimal electronic stuff, or the (sometimes good, often dodgy) Japanese reggae versions of pop songs. I’ve been listening to certain Japanese artists for a long time (Cornelius and Susumu Yokota spring to mind), and, in fact, this Cornelius track (Point of View Point (Yann Tomita Mix)) was a key inspiration for ‘You Don’t Send Slow Waves Anymore’. I absolutely love it. And yes, I would also like to thank Shu Suzuki again for his wonderfully creative re-interpretation of ‘You Don’t Send Slow Waves Anymore’. It's quite a ride! Thank you, Shu! 5) Looking back at what you crafted and the recognition and support you received over the years, do you ask yourself the question, “What hasn’t yet been done in the Balearic Musical genre?” If so, could you share with us a tiny bit of the “musical dreams” you have for the future? I would not say that I am necessarily trying to break any new ground within the Balearic genre; I only aspire to develop my own voice with the Simon Peter tracks. Increasingly, I do try to push myself musically with each track I work on. My musical ambitions are not lofty – I simply hope to be able to continue to find the time to finish tracks and to work with friendly labels to get them released. In terms of future releases, I do have one track finished (a collaboration with a singer/songwriter), which should be released on a compilation record next year, and I have another couple of tracks in the works – including another collaboration – so there should be new Simon Peter tracks appearing over the horizon in their own laid-back time! Thank you So Much, Simon! Simon put together a Spotify Balearic Playlist, including both his own works and his Musical Influences. It's a musical trip for sure! Be sure to check that one out! 😉

NTS Radio broadcast the 1st episode of Balearic Brunch live on November 5th 2023. About this show. – Slowly opening your eyes, you find yourself in an unknown place... As you wake up from the somewhere you were lost in, you can't disguise what's surrounding you; nothing seems to truly present itself to you, silence everywhere, a calm and reassuring silence; sometimes, a light wind caresses your face... Not knowing what to expect, you try to put a step ahead; what's there left to do, after all... There must be a way out, somewhere, right there... A step, followed by another one... "Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most"... As you go by, some kind of ghostly visions seem to visit you in their white permeable reality, going through you, penetrating you, forcing you to walk away from them, yet they're not frightening, they're like spirits coming by and saying hello... Where will this journey lead you? There is only one way to know... Going straight ahead... Through the unknown... For her first show on NTS Radio, Colleen takes us on a wild musical journey. Dreamy, light, trippy, uncertain musical landscapes take the listener to another ground... Let's dive into this wonderful first Balearic Brunch show together; maybe we'll find an answer, there, somewhere?... Listen back to the first episode of Balearic Brunch: PLAYLIST Haruomi Hosono – Ambient Meditation # 3 Saint Malo – Le Pont Roulant Philamore Lincoln – The Plains of Delight Twelve Caesars – Ride the American Wave The Senior Allstars – Slipping into Darkness Pigeons – Infinity (Josh's Extended Disco Mix) Jazxing – W Uscisku (Polotronic Remix) Sanctuary's – I am Going to Love Him (Pete Blaker Rework - NYR THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE When listening to the show, and hearing Colleen's voice opening this first edition of the "Balearic Brunch", you can't believe that you just heard two songs. But you actually did. Using her "savoir-faire", Colleen just showed you how far music can take you when it's treated with respect, care and Knowledge... Starting with Haruomi Hosono's "Ambient Meditation # 3", she keeps the trip going by mixing this astounding dreamy track with another one sharing a very close sonic structure, Saint Malo's "Le Pont Roulant" (The Crane Bridge) [2023]. For your information, Haruomi Hosono's "Ambien Meditation first appeared on the 1993 album "Medicine Compilation From The Quiet Lodge". Read a nice interview here. Colleen keeps up the pace with the next three tracks, among which are Philamore Lincoln's "The Plains of Delight", Twelve Caesars' "Ride the American Wave" [2023], and The Senior Allstars' "Slipping into Darkness" presenting, with these 5 tracks, the first part of the show: a dreamy but somewhat worried journey through the unknown... Find out more about Philamore Lincoln's 1970 album, "The North Wind Blew South" here. Starting the second part of the show with Pigeons' "Infinity" (Josh's Extended Disco Mix) [2023], you might think that the trip through the unknown would take a more positive turn. Well, I'm sad to say that we're going to dive deep for the next three tracks... Infinity is not your friendly type of song; it takes you away, and away, in a never-ending trip through space... Is this space composed of clouds, maybe of a darker blue ocean or a trippy dark cosmos with blinding flashes of light attacking you? Only you will discover that reality by closing your eyes as the track develops inside of your lost mind... It is with a shocked surprise (yes, you read that well, no mistakes here, all is intentional...) that you hear the start of the next song, Jazxing's "W Uscisku (Polotronic Remix)" [2023]. Your trip did not reach its end; you are still as lost as you were at the beginning of the show. Who are you holding to? Who is holding you? Is it all only in your mind? The only answer may presently lay in your troubled mind... Undoubtedly the Wow effect of this Balearic Brunch! There is a nice interview of our friends, Balearic Ultras, just here. But, but, wait, wait, there is a light right there, somewhere. Can you see it? Can you grab it? Can you hold it close to you? Can it enter your soul and make you whole? Just when you thought everything was over and that you would be locked in here for eternity, something, somewhere, Sanctuary's "I am Going to Love Him" (Pete Blaker Rework - NYR) changed, inviting you to an everlasting and never-ending... ending...

NTS Radio broadcast the 2nd episode of Balearic Brunch live on December 3rd 2023. About this show. – There is a change in the air; can you hear it in the Music? It took me two listening sessions to get the picture and the lingering message of the show. Of course, the whole vibe is relaxed, but, nonetheless, it holds in it some concern about tomorrow, about the future; nothing is everlastingly Joyous here, though the sun does get out a little bit; there is still a balance here, between now, what has been and what will be, hence the title of this post which precisely reflects that. And it makes me think about The Little Prince; in fact, I just found that quote that I forgot, and it perfectly fits this show's soul: "Of course, I’ll hurt you. Of course, you’ll hurt me. Of course, we will hurt each other. But this is the very condition of existence. To become spring means accepting the risk of winter. To become presence means accepting the risk of absence." This second edition of Balearic Brunch is all about that Joy that should be there, that can be there, but that is often if not always, slightly shadowed by the struggles, the changing, Life's instability and decorated with our own subjective fears. It's all in the Music and the lyrics, so, without further due, let's dive into this beautiful show! Listen back to the 2nd edition of Balearic Brunch: PLAYLIST Calm Presents Moonage Electric Ensemble – Noon at the Moon Camelle Hinds – Sausalito Calling Maze ft Frankie Beverley – Golden Time of Day Cecilio & Kapono – Someday Seawind – Free Ned Doheny – To prove my love Xavier – Love is on the one Leonidas & Hobbes – Web of Intrigue (extended mix) Blue night – Turn me loose THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE Starting with two Gorgeous tracks that perfectly blend together, Calm Presents Moonage Electric Ensemble – Noon at the Moon [1999 - Discogs] & Camelle Hinds – Sausalito Calling [1996 - Discogs], Colleen sets the leading tone of this episode, which is one of relaxation, calm but with that icy spicy taste on the top of the cake, somewhere! For your information, Calm Presents Moonage Electric Ensemble was reissued a few days ago both on vinyl and on CD; a special CD version includes beautiful remixes by talented artists, including Davide Lovato whom we interviewed here on the blog. This light uneasiness gets its confirmation in the following songs. Please look at the next five tracks; you'll see the equilibrium point I discussed at the start of this post. Maze ft Frankie Beverley – Golden Time of Day [1978 - Discogs] perfectly fits Sausalito Calling's rhythm, bringing a free moment of pure happiness. It is about enjoying the moment and considering what Life is all about when you change your point of view. Though we keep the Musical Balearic Spirit on the next song, Cecilio & Kapono – Someday [1975 - Discogs], we can't help but feel this song's message is much stronger; there is a need for change here, obviously. This need for a change is still present in the following song by the jazz fusion group from Hawaii, fronted by the vocals of Grammy-winning singer Pauline Wilson which is Seawind – Free [1979 - Discogs]. Keeping the pulse absolutely alive, Colleen then takes us to the next number, the absolutely Balearic but nonetheless a little bit weary track that is Ned Doheny – To Prove My Love [1978 - Discogs] – There is a wonderful page about Ned just here. Ending the show, the following three songs, Xavier – Love is on the one [1982 - Discogs], Leonidas & Hobbes – Web of Intrigue (extended mix) [2019 - Discogs] & Blue night – turn me loose [1983 - Discogs & Bandcamp for the 2022 reissue] keep a worried musical touch with almost invocative lyrics, letting winter slowly enter your soul...

NTS Radio published the 3rd episode of Balearic Brunch on December 31st 2023. About this show. – Musically summing up 2023 is a challenging task indeed! With Christmas already behind us and the new year approaching (with a lot of travelling ahead of our Musical Captain), we were eagerly waiting for Balearic Brunch to be in our ears! With her delicate and musical touch, Colleen proposed, in this already 3rd episode of the series, a Year End Round Up of her Favourite Tunes from 2023. And my my my, if this isn't a way out, I don't know what it is (laughs)! But we'll come back to the analysis in the Detailed Playlist section; let's first have a listen to the show! Listen back to the 3rd episode of Balearic Brunch: PLAYLIST Matthew Halsall – Calder Shapes Hifi Sean & David McAlmont – Happy Ending Pigeon – Infinity (Josh's Extended Disco Mix) LTJ Xperience featuring Anduze – Best Life More Amour – Solar Flair Django Django ft Yuuko Sings – Don't Touch That Dial Manabu Nagayama – Light and Shadow (Masalo Version) THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE Finding the right words to describe a show is not always easy, especially for a show like this one where our Captain already determined the musical journey as being a "Best of". Yet, when listening to it, I felt that this third Balearic Brunch was all about relaxation and waving goodbyes. The musical unity is supported here by a strong feeling of departure. You can feel it in every song, even those with a more affirmed rhythm! Let's dive into the tracks selected by Colleen. The show opener, Matthew Halsall – Calder Shapes [Bandcamp - Bal. Brkfst, ep. 147], is a track that shows a way, a route to a new destination, a march; even though you might feel it's raining somewhere, it's a light rain cleansing the earth rather than submerging it. Everything here is full of hope and peace, even time ticking your heart's rhythm out... It's interesting to put Matthew's music in retrospect with some of the interviews he did; it gives his music a new light. Recently, he explained: "I find being creative super relaxing and therapeutic. It allows me to focus on one thing that I enjoy for hours on end. I'm often at my happiest when I put my headphones on and create things in my own little world, the sounds can transport you to all types of magical fun places." This feeling of "Calmness" is also present in the second track, which is a trip in itself; the engaging moment is over; we're flying right now, flying away with Hifi Sean & David McAlmont – Happy Ending [Bandcamp - Greene Room mix]. Happy Ending has received a lot of love from critics and music lovers alike, and the flying effect has been felt by many listeners of this gorgeous album! Colleen must also be praised for her delicate touch when it comes to blending tracks, and she knows how to take you by the hand and take you higher. This is precisely what she does with the stunning track that is Pigeon – Infinity (Josh's Extended Disco Mix) [Bandcamp - Bal. Brunch, ep. 01]. The new album, entitled Backslide EP, by the 5-piece group, is an astounding sonic experience, not limiting itself to mental escapism but also including a beautiful soundstage and realistic-sounding instruments and effects. A whole trip, at every level for sure and Highly recommended. Hearing Colleen say that Infinity will be included in the third Balearic Breakfast compilation made me jump out of my sofa from happiness! That's the first non-musical Wow effect I've ever experienced; laughs! Colleen keeps up the rhythm by playing LTJ Xperience featuring Anduze – Best Life [Discogs - Bal. Brkfst, ep. 135] whose cover could easily join those crafted by the Blue Note Label, you see what I mean, right? Followed by the synth-driven track that is More Amour – Solar Flair [Discogs - Bal. Brkfst ep. 148], Best Life, thanks to Colleen's light mix, takes its whole funkiness to another level. There lies Colleen's magic: in her ability to choose songs that go so well together, enhancing your feeling of belonging to another universe! At this show's point, you're either dancing unconsciously or lying calmly on your sofa, dreaming to the music... In any case, you're not touching Earth, that's for sure! To me, the last two tracks also belong together, ending the show with a dreamy opening. I felt that because of their rhythm, which is quicker than the one of the previous tracks played during this third episode, but also because of their "calmer" musical approach. These two songs are ecstatic in their own ways. Let's discover more about them together. The first one, Django Django ft Yuuko Sings – Don't Touch That Dial [Bandcamp - Bal. Brkfst, ep. 144], a futuristic, percussion-driven club track, saw producer Dave MacLean and Japanese rapper Yuuko join forces in a song describing a typical day in life where there's only one rule… Don't Touch That Dial. Sharing his memories about the song [the producer stumbled across the Japanese rapper online], Mac Lean said: "This was a weird instrumental track that came out of looping some little chopped-up bits of a studio jam. I liked the odd groove of the track, and I wanted a vocalist on there, but I wanted something quite different, so I reached out to Yuuko, and she totally got it, and delivered this outstanding top line." This track, to me is a trip in action, the lack of an actual melody helps to drive the emotions down, allowing the listener to "stabilize". The second one, Manabu Nagayama – Light and Shadow (Masalo Version) [Discogs - Bal. Brkfst, ep. 150], with its vast skyish landscapes, is a perfect closer as there is no expectation here, no eagerness to achieve anything or to attain a certain place; you've arrived at your destination, you're there, enjoying the moment you've been longing for and this moment of ecstasy will follow you through the next phase of your journey... What did we say? Oh yes, we were easing 2023 out of our way...

NTS Radio published the 4th episode of Balearic Brunch on January 28th 2024. About this show. – We all can travel thanks to Music. I was fortunate because I was raised in a way that allowed my mental representation to fully express itself, as, from a very young age (3/4), my father said to me, "When you listen to music, lay on the bed, close your eyes and imagine when listening to that Symphony (it was Beethoven's 9th) a beautiful forest and see the animals while you walk discovering it"... There you go, that's the way we should raise our children I believe. Anyway, when listening to this 4th episode of the series, and the first of 2024, I quickly felt that it was all about that "Balearic Togetherness". We shall discover why in a few minutes! I hope Colleen does not read everything I write down here because I don't want the Magic to end; I really don't want it to end! This fourth show of the series is another great example of musical and intellectual unity, and as always, I'm not forcing anything here; Music does the Intellectual Talking! Let's go! Listen back to the 4th episode of Balearic Brunch: PLAYLIST Devadip Carlos Santana – Love theme from "Spartacus" J.J. Cale – The woman that got away Per-Erik Hallin – Gospel train John Forde – Stardance Dennis Parker – Like an eagle Ashford & Simpson – Count Your Blessings (François Kevorkian, Ron St. Germain mix) Amr Diab – Wala Ala Baloh (from film: Intervention Divine) Fat Freddy’s Drop – Mother Mother (Cosmodelica remix) THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE I never wrote these analyses thinking they were the absolute truth. They are just one possible interpretation. And, of course, you may have your own visuals coming down the road! What I try to achieve here is to wake up your ability to imagine and your capability to Listen actively to Music: of course, Music takes us to another world, but only if we Let her do the talking, so it takes both a relaxed mind but also some indirect concentration, I would say. Then, when you reach that slightly transcendental state of mind, almost asleep or freed from your direct mind, only then can the pictures arise, the Music finally taking you elsewhere... So why did I feel that this 4th edition of Balearic Brunch was all about that "Balearic Togetherness"? Well, when I heard Devadip Carlos Santana – Love theme from "Spartacus" [1980 - Discogs], I felt it depicted a lonely woman, somewhat desperate, joined by a handsome man, helping her to get up on her feet and inviting her to a dance. Listen Closely to this first song; there are three distinctive parts. The first one is a lonely complaint, very dreamy, relaxed, very Balearic; you could almost start the written story by writing: "Once upon a time, there was a Lady. Once upon a time, there was a Beautiful young Lady. She was alone, desperately alone..." Then, after these first minutes, there is a change in tonality; the melodic structure is almost kept intact, though, but there is a change: the guitar disappears, and we're only left with the organs. Then, the third part comes in slowly and gently, and new instruments enter the soundstage. It's a Samba, if I'm not mistaken. If you want to discover more about what Colleen said about this peculiar song, head over here! For those of you interested in Jazz, I can only Highly recommend that you listen to Wayne Shorter's "Wayning moments" album issued in 1962; what a beauty this one is! After such an introduction, you don't need more words to let your imagination run wild! Following with J.J. Cale – The Woman That Got Away [1976 - Discogs], which presents a similar invitation to dance and a somewhat worried approach too, Colleen clearly wants you to join here somewhere for a Balearic Dance! Listen to how Colleen underlines the next track, one about a train taking its passengers towards heaven, Per-Erik Hallin – Gospel Train [1982 - Discogs], while keeping the flow intact. Pure Bliss, right? This is also an element that explains the "Togetherness" I used in the title. Being a DJ is not always about beatmatching to perfection but it's about letting the tracks have their own life together, being a DJ is all about letting the musical dance Happen. With its open soundstage, the dynamics and the rhythmical structure allowing the track to breathe and its groove to shine, Gospel Train is also an invitation to dance, allowing you to picture a young couple swaying to the music! Colleen keeps up a nice steady rhythmical approach to this show by selecting John Forde – Stardance [1979 - Discogs], as for the previous numbers, the soundstage is wide and the dynamics are alive and well, letting the sound breathe, not attacking us and, furthermore, beautifully followed both by Dennis Parker – Like an eagle [1979 - Discogs] and the incredible Ashford & Simpson – Count Your Blessings (François Kevorkian, Ron St. Germain mix) [1986 - Discogs]. Now, there you have it, the Pinnacle of this 4th "Balearic Brunch" is that little mix; what a Treasure this one is! An absolute Wow moment of the show if you ask me! And that's why this blog was born: because of Colleen's magic! An absolutely ecstatic moment you'll find hard to forget! By the way, if you want to keep on dreaming, why wouldn't you go and have a listen to the Worldwide FM's special show dedicated to François? The link is here. The last two tracks selected by Colleen, namely Amr Diab – Wala Ala Baloh (from the film: Intervention Divine) [2002 - Discogs] and Fat Freddy’s Drop – Mother Mother (Cosmodelica remix) [2014 - Discogs], for which I wrote an analysis (here), fit the show as a glove; both on the musical and on the philosophical side! Did you find why? (laughs!)…