I knew Kay since the time I joined Classic Album Sundays a few years ago. I had to meet Colleen's Joyous friend and, let's say it out loud, a great person all around! 1) Hi Kay! I'm so happy to have you here on the Balearic Breakfast blog as you've met Colleen several time over the years, following her on her musical adventures, including Classic Album Sundays! But first, can you introduce yourself and tell us about how you got into music? Hey there Artur! I’ve known Colleen for about 15 years. We first met at a housewarming party and became friends the way people often do – through our kids and living near each other. I’m embarrassed to say I knew her for a couple of years before I actually heard her DJ. Our friendship evolved to include holidays, walks and competitive BBQing. Once we did an 11-hour drive and talked non-stop about everything from music to menopause – basically solved all of life’s mysteries and still had miles left to go. I moved to London in 1999 from New Zealand, the same year that Colleen arrived from NYC. I was already DJing back in Wellington, and that grew out of working in radio and collecting records, mostly chosen for any hilarious cover art as I was into lounge music and soundtracks, the kitschier the better. What got me into music initially was my dad, who was an avid collector of 7”s for his Wurlitzer jukebox. Pre internet this meant garage sales and buying job lots from the classifieds. He unearthed a few treasures and had briefed me to keep an eye out for a couple of elusive tracks that would probably be easy to find online nowadays. 2) How did you discover your passion for blending records together, what were the DJs that got you hooked? I was lucky in the 90s to be in Wellington, New Zealand – about as far from the rest of the world as you can get, but buzzing with good music. Despite the geography, locals knew how to throw a party, and thanks to a few die-hard promoters we had some touring DJs passing through. (NB New Zealand is three hours flying time from Australia, it takes a lot of effort and cost to bring DJs over from the US and Europe.) My first gig outside of radio came when a friend roped me into soundtracking a fashion show in about 1992. From there I found myself behind the decks in bars around town, probably because of my oddball mix of lounge, hip hop, and dance music. The DJs who left their mark on me back then were people like Tom Thump, Clint Smiley, Mark Farina and the Fonky Monks (A NZ collective made up from Mu from Fat Freddy’s plus Leon Surynt, Matt Morrell & Cian O’Donnell) – all of them weaving eclectic house and soul/funk sets that made me realise how wide the spectrum of “good music” could be. 3) You did a nice mix for Balearic Breakfast on the show's 233rd episode. How did you select the records you wanted to play? Can you tell us more about this whole experience and how it felt in the end? As ridiculous as it sounds, I never actually thought Colleen would ask me. When she comes over for a BBQ, I usually just stick on a random playlist, she’s only ever heard me play out once. So when she did ask, I was flattered. I knew I had to dig deep into my collection to find tracks I genuinely loved but that hadn’t already been played on the show. I pulled together more than two hours of music, ranked everything by BPM like the nerd I am, and then ruthlessly cut it down to an hour. I’ve got a bit of a reputation as a massive Depeche Mode fan (34 live shows so far), so of course I had to include a track of theirs. That Kruder & Dorfmeister edit of Useless is probably their most Balearic moment, so it felt right. I played it “live” style, which basically means “mistakes included at no extra cost.” I made one obvious f*ck-up when I got distracted, but that’s entirely on brand for me. I was chuffed to include House by Kindness and Get A Move On by Mr. Scruff – both total belters and both BB firsts. And while we’re on Mr. Scruff, is now the time to mention that 21 years ago I actually won a competition to find his biggest fan? They flew me to Sydney to see him play at a funk festival. Lovely chap. 4) Balearic Breakfast is celebrating its 5th anniversary this september. Time Flies! I know it's a hard question (laughs!), but if you had to pick up just a few memories from things that happened during the show, songs that were played that got you in an emotional state (both happy or sad), anything that hapenned thanks to the show, what would it be? The most emotional show for me was Hop Burns & Black on March 18 this year, just a week after our dear friend Justin had died. They put together a tribute set that completely undid me. Most of the time I catch the playback instead of the live stream. Rob Calcutt has even compiled this mammoth 252-hour playlist of just about every track that’s ever been broadcast, so I often just throw it on shuffle and let it surprise me. (He’s looking to migrate it soon since Spotify’s fallen out of favour – funding war drones while refusing to pay artists will do that.) When I do manage to join the live sessions, the sense of community is always gorgeous. Recently I met some of the BB family at We Out Here and they were exactly as warm and brilliant in real life as they are online. 5) Lastly, what are the last few artists you discovered in the "Balearic" realm that really impressed you? The most Balearic album in recent years, for me, has to be Jim / Love Makes Magic. It honestly sounds like someone fed AI the entire Laurel Canyon back catalogue and said, “Now give it a Balearic twist.” (For the record, JIM is an actual human – from Crazy P – there’s no algorithm involved.) And every remix? Sublime. These days I find myself tuning in more to producers and remixers than the original acts – especially when they bring an old track back to life or give a fresh spin to a new release. Ray Mang’s entire output, Late Nite Tuff Guy, Luxxury, Psychemagik, Greg Wilson, the Idjut Boys,Todd Terje, The Reflex, Crooked Man – all endlessly inventive. And of course, Colleen’s Cosmodelica remixes are just next-level. Take her rework of The Cure’s And Nothing Is Forever. I can’t say I loved the new album, but her remix transported me straight back to my teenage self, all moody and obsessed with layers and melancholy. The Cure were my band, I finally saw them live in 1992, but I’d seen Public Enemy live the same week and realised that I preferred the energy and aliveness of hip hop over guitar bands who stood virtually motionless. Btw, anyone’s welcome to come and find me on IG, my account is private because my kids cringe at my life but please request a follow: @kaybar007 Thank you so much Kay!

Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy broadcast this new episode of Balearic Breakfast on her Mixcloud on July 7th, 2026. ABOUT THIS EPISODE To our dear Friend, Barry... And to everyone in the Family facing tough times... Sometimes, we're lost for words. Life's reality hits us and leaves us bleeding, there, somewhere, on the ground. Without any more hope, we get up and wander along, hoping in our deepening and somehow never-ending despair, that something, somewhere will somehow show us a way out of the maze, out of the dark, out of grief... These new times will maybe arrive, one day, without us even noticing it, but even if they do, we'll carry the hurt, the loneliness and the doubts forever in our souls, and never again will we have the same smile, the same kind of hope, but resilience will be our new home... What else can be said... Sometimes, we're lost for words... AN AMERICAN PRAYER Do you know the warm progress under the stars? Do you know we exist? Have you forgotten the keys to the Kingdom? Have you been born yet and are you alive? Let's reinvent the gods, all the myths of the ages. Celebrate symbols from deep elder forests. [Have you forgotten the lessons of the ancient war?] We need great golden copulations. The fathers are cackling in trees of the forest And our mother is dead in the sea. Do you know we are being led to Slaughters by placid admirals, And that fat slow generals are getting Obscene on young blood? Do you know we are ruled by TV? The moon is a dry blood beast. Guerrilla bands are rolling numbers In the next block of green vine, Amassing for warfare on innocent Herdsman who are just dying. O great creator of being, Grant us one more hour to perform our art And perfect our lives. The moths and atheists Are doubly divine and dying. We live, we die And death not ends it. Journey we more into the Nightmare. Cling to life, our passion'd flower, Cling to cunts and cocks of despair. We got our final vision by clap. Columbus' groin got Filled with green death. (I touched her thigh and death smiled.) We have assembled inside this Ancient and insane theatre To propagate our lust for life And flee the swarming wisdom of the streets. The barns are stormed, The windows kept, And only one of all the rest To dance and save us With the divine mockery of words. Music inflames temperament. (When the true King's murderers Are allowed to roam free, A thousand Magicians arise in the land.) Where are the feasts we were promised? Where is the wine, The New Wine. (Dying on the vine.) After playing at the Love Supreme Festival, Colleen takes us on a new musical journey, starting with a very pictorial piece of music (close your eyes, you should be able to see a river...), announcing a reflective, always unexpected, and 'indirectly' soothing episode... And I really mean 'indirectly' soothing here, as a lot of the songs played in this episode clearly present the troubles life puts in our way, our doubts, and still, somehow, music soothes us... Of course, the Family gathered around our dear Barry when Colleen dedicated There's Much Love in the World to his late mother. We're a Family, and nothing will ever change that... We support one another during the show but also when there's no one else around but us, on our respective socials, sending messages of love, hope and gratitude... As always, the second part of the show is more relaxed and contains an incredibly powerful mix, blending balearic tunes with tracks that present a more "cosmic" touch. Without any doubt, Colleen was on fire today! Oh, Baltimore, ain't it hard just to live... Listen back to episode 26-26 of Balearic Breakfast: This morning’s Balearic Breakfast is now up on my Mixcloud for listening back. Today’s morning radio show features some new music including the latest from New Zealand’s Flamingo Pier a cut from Danny McLewin forthcoming compilation, Daisybelle new EP on Okay Nature , Gabriele Poso new album and new tunes on MB Disco and Afroterraneo Music - I hope you will enjoy. Although this year’s July 4th celebrations should have been monumental in celebrating 250 of independence from the British monarchy, it felt more subdued and reflective and even a bit sad due of the current socio-political situation and a president who behaves as if he is king. In ode to ‘Independence Day’ I played ‘An American Prayer’ by Jim Morrison with music by The Doors, my first favourite band. Morrison’s poem about sacrificing magic for materialism not only suits the current mood in The States but around the world. I hope this morning’s show brings a bit of magic into your life. Thanks for listening. THE PLAYLIST (2025) Nate Mercereau, Josh Johnson, Carlos Niño – Chimes in the Garden (2024) KéPA – Cavale (2025) Gwenifer Raymond – One Day You'll Lie Here but Everything Will Have Changed (1978) Jim Morrison with The Doors – An American Prayer (2026) Dominic Dawson ft Sandy Mill – Baltimore (TBR) Jonson, Jonson & Jonson – Trouble (2026) Joseph – Three O' Clock in the Morning (2026) Motor Mouth Drum Ensemble – Night-Mine (TBR) Jan Akkerman – Streetwalker (Pete Blaker Second Akkerman Rework) (2012) Boys from Patagonia – Rimini '80 (2026) Omar – There's Much Love in the World (Joe Claussell Remix) (2026) Los Yumitas – Baile Inolvidable (Kiko Navarro Latin Jam Remix) (TBR) Flamingo Pier – Cool Nights (TBR) Daisybelle – The Desirable (TBR) Melmont & Alex Esser – Garden of Eden (Martin Brodin Nordic Remix) (2026) Freeez – Mariposa (Mannix Disco Remix) (2026) Gabriele Poso – 01AM (2026) Michael Gray Ft Tania Foster – Shake (TBR) Jaegerossa & Divine Discos – Fame Freedom

This page summarises the Balearic Breakfast shows aired in 2026 on Mixcloud. Balearic Breakfast | Episode 26-01 (06/01/2026) | Meeting The Secret DJ & Family Gatherings (Pooky fm/ Bonsai HiFi) Balearic Breakfast | Episode 26-02 (13/01/2026) | Meeting Jkriv (fm/ Razor-n-Tape) & Family Gatherings (Gina Lapsley) Balearic Breakfast | Episode 26-03 (20/01/2026) | Unfolding Uncertainties... Balearic Breakfast | Episode 26-04 (27/01/2026) | Angel Mel Selector In The Mix & Meeting 'Another Taste' Balearic Breakfast | Episode 26-05 (10/02/2026) | Andrea Trout in The Mix & Meething Dom Servini (WahWah 45s) Balearic Breakfast | Episode 26-06 (17/02/2026) | Warm Memories (The 2026 Loft Special - 3 Hours) Balearic Breakfast | Episode 26-07 (24/02/2026) | The Balearic Slingers... Balearic Breakfast | Episode 26-08 (03/03/2026) | From Other Spaces... Balearic Breakfast | Episode 26-09 (10/03/2026) | At Peace With Women... (International Women’s Day 4h) Balearic Breakfast | Episode 26-10 (17/03/2026) | 七転び八起き (1991) Shinsuke Honda – Zanshou (1983) Om – Solar Wind (1976) Ryo Kawasaki – On the Dot (1976) Kimiko Kasai – This Masquerade (2025) Yukino Inamine & Akio Nagase – Tsuki Nu Kaisha (2025) Chito Kawachi – Heaven's Breath (2026) Antonio Ocasio ft Ed Ramsey – A Lover's Dream (2024) Reuben Vaun Smith – Lost in Space (2014) Temu – Robots (1980) Sunshine – If This is Free (I Don't Wanna Be) (xx) Ground – Language is Love (2026) Esa Williams ft Nonku Phiri – Nakupenda (2003) Jazzanova ft. Vikter Duplaix – That Night (Wahoo Remix) (2026) Kyoto Jazz Massive ft Echoes of a New Dawn Orchestra – Impulsive Procession (Opolopo Remix) (2026) Sunga ft Motoharu – Sunday (2026) DJ Emma – Joy (2026) DJ Fudge & Kiko Navarro ft Tia Collins – Show You the Way (1996) Ten City – All Loved Out (Serenade Mix) Balearic Breakfast | Episode 26-11 (24/03/2026) | Everything Moves, Nothing Rests... (2026) Coyote – Muted Beauty (1973) Intruders – Save the Children (1973) Jon Lucien – Love Everlasting (1974) The Main Ingredient – Euphrates (2020) Family of Swede – Set You Free (2025) Nightmares on Wax ft Green Tea Peng – I Remember (TBR) Statues – Sign It Off (TBR) From Beyond – On the Drums (2026) 40 Thieves – Déja Vu (Payfone Remix) (TBR) Björk – One Day (Field2Factory Two Suns and a Volcano Mix) (2025) Pete Blaker – Keem (1975) Black Blood – A.I.E. (A Mwana) (2026) Barrio B ft Ameh Fashi – Lagos 11 (2019) Doug Gomez & Conway Kasey – Ritmo Sagrado (2024) Joaquin Joe Claussell – New Africa (TBR) Airto – Toque de Cuica (Old Mervue Extended Edit) (1979) David Benoit – Life is like a Samba (2026) Daniel Monaco ft Manuel Rodriguez – Flamenca (1976) Donna Summer – Spring Affair Balearic Breakfast | Episode 26-12 (31/03/2026) | I Get Lifted... Balearic Breakfast | Episode 26-13 (07/04/2026) | Breaking the Chains... Balearic Breakfast | Episode 26-14 (14/04/2026) | Through the Ending Storm... Balearic Breakfast | Episode 26-15 (21/04/2026) | Freedom Layers... Balearic Breakfast | Episode 26-16 (28/04/2026) | Meeting Mattie Safer (w/ Ariane V) Balearic Breakfast | Episode 26-17 (05/05/2026) | Drifting Away... (W/ Love injection & Daisybelle) Balearic Breakfast | Episode 26-18 (12/05/2026) | Electro Wanderings... (1983) Jean-Luc Ponty – Computer incantations for world peace (2016) Song Sung – I’m not in love (2026) Jex Opolis – Beaver Hils (1992) Sisterlove – The Hypnotyst (2026) Puerto Montt City Orchestra – Hello Sunshine (2026) Horizontals – Wait for the evening (Leo Zero Mix) (1977) The Emotions – Flowers (2019) Resavoir ft Brandee Younger – Taking Flight (2026) Dream Baby Dream – Banana Trance (Calm’s mellow mellow acid mix) (2026) Pigeon – Mirror Test (Bandcamp) Shunt Voltage – Bass Train Level (2026) 40 thieves – Love is (uptempo dub mix) (2026) Midnight Magic – Choreography (2026) IchiSan – Midnight House (2026) Emanuele Cisi – Pharoha’s message (Joaquin Joe claussel sacred rhythm epic journey) (2026) Cee ElAssaad & QVLN – Ore Yeye O (Doug Gomez remix) (2025) Bahsonik ft Anna Cavazos – Free at Last Balearic Breakfast | Episode 26-19 (19/05/2026) | A Chance for Hope... (1974) Norman Connors – Welcome (2026) Queen – Cool Cat (Tell Hot Space Edit) (2025) Jonathan Kirby – This is Your Song (Devin Dare Dusk Mix) (TBR) Paul Schalda – Anything for your Love (Mudd Remix) (2015) Player – Baby Come Back (Tony Jacaloné & Tony Johns Re-edit) (1990) Fernanda Abreu – Speed Racer (1978) Robert Palmer – Every Kind of People (2019) The Bygraves ft Anif – Set Me Free (2026) DJ Disse ft Anders Ponsaing & Reinhard Vanbergen – El Campo (1982) The Live Band – A Chance for Hope (1978) Joe Thomas – Gotcha (1978) Angela Bofill – People make the World Go Round (1974) Weldon Irvine – Love Your Brother (2001) Jollymusic – Minimoog Dreaming (TBR) MDA Grooves – Brazuca Chic (2026) Dames Brown & Amp Fiddler – Take Me As I Am (Moodymann Remix) (2026) At Jazz, Fred Everything ft Clyde Beats – Water to Fire (TBR) West Coast Connection – Voodoo Rhythm (Abacus Remix) (2026) Ahu – Searchin Equinox (2019) Cesaria Evora – Carnaval de Sao Vicente (Francois K & Joe Claussell Body and Soul Mix) Balearic Breakfast | Episode 26-20 (26/05/2026) | Meeting Puerto Montt City Orchestra & Islandman Puerto Montt City Orchestra Mix: (1998) Terry Callier – Love theme from Spartacus (Zero 7 mix) PMCO – Hello Sunshine (acapella) (1970) Rotary Connection – Want You to Know (2019) The Knocks feat. Sofi Tucker – Brazilian Soul (2020) Boss Art Ensemble – When the World is Running Down PMCO – Red Guitar (BB re-edit) (1995) Superstars of Rock – Orange Sunshine acapella (2017) Psychemagik – Wake Up Everybody (2002) Metro Area – Pina Barbara Ann Teer – Black Theater (acapella) (2026) Kuzco – Be Loved PMCO – What Has Happened (acapella) PMCO – What Has Happened (Quitehouse remix) Wooden Tops – Dream On acapella (2024) Wooden Tops – Dream On (Balearic Ultras Brooking Bass Remix) (2022) Plus Two – Stop Fantasy (2014) Ray Mang – Free (2017) Stephane Sévérac – Hold On' (Johnny Hates Sax Edit) PMCO – What has happened acapella Islandman Mix: (2017) Hector Plimmer – Shiver (1979) Barış Manço – Çoban Yıldızı Sevda – Manzara (2022) Minami Deutsch – Still Foggy (2025) Jean Schwarz – Keeping Still (2025) Sarathy Korwar – We Take Things For Granted (2019) Ethnic Heritage Ensemble – N2 Deep (2021) Jamie Branch – Nuevo Roquero Estéreo (2019) Wildflower – Under The Night Sky (2025) Maya Ongaku – Maybe Psychic (2025) Phi Sonics – Healing Time (2025) Don Cherry & Latif Khan – Air Mail Balearic Breakfast | Episode 26-21 (02/06/2026) | Life on Mars (A tribute to Dexter Wansel) (2026) Dawn Again – Backyard Paradiso (Ambient Mix) (2026) Mark Barrott – Variation (III) (2017) Statues – River Darkness (2026) Visti's Vinyl Collective ft Vinnie Who – Up To You (2026) JIM ft Edie Baron – Love Over Gold (2019) Dexter Wansel – Theme from the Planets (Paul Simpson Remix) (1979) Dexter Wansel ft Jean Carn – The Sweetest Pain (1979) Dexter Wansel – New Beginning (1977) Jean Carn – I'm In Love Once Again (1977) Dexter Wansel – First Light of the Morning (1977) Dexter Wansel – Disco Lights (1981) The Jones Girls – Nights Over Egypt (1979) Dexter Wansel ft. The Jones Girls – I'll Never Forget my Favourite Disco (1976) Dexter Wansel – Life on Mars (1973) Yellow Sunshine – Yellow Sunshine (2002) Titanic – Sultana (Danny Krivit Edit) (2021) Arts & Crafts – I've Been Searching (Al Kent Edit) (2026) Mistura Pura – La Llegada (Jazz Dance Fusion Mix) (1978) Dexter Wansel – Voyager (1980) Teddy Pendergrass – Love T.K.O. Balearic Breakfast | Episode 26-22 (09/06/2026) | Just the Two of Us... (1994) T_Mo – Smokebelch II Din Daa Daa – Ocean (2026) Kutiman & Dekel – Hope (2024) Weyman Corporation – Kumbayero (1978) Pointer Sisters – Happiness (1985) Rene and Angela – I'll Be Good (1983) David Joseph – You Can't Hide Your Love (Larry Levan Remix) (1980) Stephanie Mills – Never Knew Love Like This Before (1983) Captain Rapp – Bad Times (I Can't Stand It) (1981) Klique – I Think You Know Russ Farelo – Sacame a Bailar (2026) Nicodemus & Gabriele Poso ft Flaco Navaja & Carlos Surduy – Conga Vieja (2026) Gledd – Itongo (2026) Voices of Life – Say the Word (Random House Project Dark Disco Rework) (1997) Roland Clark presents Urban Soul – Show Me (Original Mix) (2026) Cee EIAssaad – Set Me Free (Emmaculate SoulJazz Remix) (2026) Jihad Muhammad – Koro (Main Mix) (2025) Fabrizio Fattore – Magic Happens (2022) Lorna Fletcher – Just the Two of Us Balearic Breakfast | Episode 26-23 (16/06/2026) | On the Trade Winds of our Time... (2026) Kessoncoda – Greyscale (Sunrise Mix) (2026) Seu Jorge & Beck – River Man (2026) Your Brother's Keeper & Gary Bartz – Ground Loop (2026) Hideo Ichikawa – On the Trade Wind Bandidos del Ocio – En La Playa Blanca Sadeedo ft Dani Moham – Rmoosh Arabiya (2026) Kotoa – Love and Light (2019) Piper – Summer Breeze Kiss the Sky – Voodoo Chile (Robot 84 Voodoo Dub) (2026) The Illusions ft. Nathan Haines – Float () Woolfy vs Projections – Aliens (Turbotito Dub) (2025) Plastic Bamboo – Touki Bouki (2022) Summer Vee – Key to All Your Love (2026) Captain Ahoy Edits – Beefa (2026) John Silas ft Marquinn Mason – Nasty (2024) Doug Gomez – Get Down (2024) Lady M – Kali Raat (Edit) (2026) Tema Due – Shaman's Prophecy (2025) Coflo – Tsunami's Muse (2023) Herb Alpert – Rotation (Sly's Sunset Mix) Balearic Breakfast | Episode 26-24 (23/06/2026) | Meeting DJ Philippa & DJ Jeannie Hopper Philippa Guest Mix: Radic The Myth – Forest of White Trees Introbeatz – Its Been Good Henna Onna – Shibuya Oiran Milesun – Move Like This Plaisance – I'll Be There For You Groovecat – Live Your Life (Miguel Migs Piano Love Dub) Dany Ivy ft Biyi – Location Willie Rodriguez – Little Moonlight Leo Janeiro, Jhayam, Tuccillo – Time Goes (Tuccillo House Mix) Gledd – Its Not That Easy Mr G – That Special Place (G's Nagoya Underground Dub) Los Hermanos – Keep Hold Tight Detroit Rising – Don't Stop the Feeling (Jimpster Dub) Philippa – Hear Me Philippa ft Sena – Motion State Jeannie Hopper Guest Mix: Dennis Collins feat Ada Dyer – What Can I Do For You 2FTHER – Rise (Maurice Joshua extended mix) 808 BEACH, Belle Humble – Here's Where the Story Ends Groovecat – Live Your Life (Miguel Migs Piano Love Dub) Sal Negro – Tell the People (Trey Max mix) Groove Junkies, Munk Julious, Solara – Dialed In (GJs vs Moroder Afro Excursion) Dizzy K – Afrikan Djamboree (Lipelis Disco Dub) Peter Matson – Alien (Phenomenal Handclap Band remix) Addy Weitzman – No Man's Land (The Time & Space Machine remix) FSQ, Prins Thomas, Moniquea, XL Middleton – Feeling Wide (Prins Thomas mix) DJ Romain – Amazement Kai Alce – Boogie (House of EFUNK mix) Alan Russell – Piano Peace Balearic Breakfast | Episode 26-25 (30/06/2026) | Generations of Love Beverly Glenn-Copeland 'Ever New' (Kelsey Lu's Transportation) K.D. Lang 'Barefoot' Dusty Springfield 'The Look of Love' Luther Vandross 'Wait for Love' Billie Holiday 'You Got to My Head' (Henry Green Remix) Me'Shell Ndegeocello 'Fool of Me' George Michael 'Praying for Time' Peter Allen 'If You Were Wondering' Keith Barrow 'You Know You Want to Be Loved' Sylvester & The Hot Band 'On Your Way Down' Shy One ft Private Joy 'Moonlight' HiFi Sean ft David McAlmont 'Sorry I Made You Cry' Electric Fields Music 'Pukulpa' Placebo 'Pure Morning' (Les Rhythmes Digitales Remix) Tom Robinson 'Atmospherics: Listen to the Radio' (Extended Version) Coil 'Alternative Theme from Gay Man's Guide to Safer Sex' Soft Cell 'Seedy Films' Linda Tillery 'Freedom Time' Wham 'Blue (Armed with Love)' Boy George / Jesus Loves You 'Generations of Love' (Oakenfold Mix) Dead or Alive 'Far Too Hard' Grace Jones 'Love You To Life' (Dub) Patrick Cowley 'Surfside Sex' Arthur Russsell 'This Is How We Walk on the Moon' Pet Shop Boys 'Love Comes Quickly' (Shep Pettibone) Kinga 'Sexy Boy' (Late Night Dance Mix) Boys Shorts 'The Space Between Us' Horse Meat Disco ft Xavier Smith & Roy Inc 'Self Control' (Eagle Dub) Emilio Santiago 'Revelacao' (Joutro Mundo Remix) Wendy & Lisa 'Waterfall' (Nellee Hooper Remix) Man Parrish 'Hip Hop Be Bop (Don't Stop)' Change ft Luther Vandross 'The Glow of Love' James Wells 'My Claim to Fame' Patrick Cowley ft. Jeanie Tracy 'Spellbinding Lover' Sylvester 'I Need You' (Opolopo Remix) Freddy Bastone ft Danni Xtravaganza 'Love The Life You Live' (Marz Mix) RuPaul 'House of Love' Ghost Assembly & J.S. Zeiter 'Acid Elaine' (Strawberry Mix) Dee Dee Sharp Gamble 'Nobody Can Take Your Place' (Yoruba Soul Mix) Jessica 6 ft. Anohni 'Prisoner of Love' (Honey Dijon & Sebastian Manuel) Honey Dijon 'Satisfied' ft Jacob Lusk (Quentin Harris Remix) Giorgio Moroder 'From Here to Eternity' (Danny Tenaglia Radio Edit) Sylvester 'Stars' Sounds of Blackness 'The Pressure' (Frankie Knuckles Classic Mix)

Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy broadcast this new episode of Balearic Breakfast on her Mixcloud on June 30th, 2026. ABOUT THIS EPISODE Balearic Breakfast is a "radio show without a radio station", as Colleen once said in an interview. And yet, it is one of the most important shows streamed live on Mixcloud. Every year, Colleen prepares special episodes that celebrate Women, Black History Month, or, as it is the case for this last one, Pride Month. Right from the start, the members of the Family gathered around our Captain. We were all happy, in a good mood, ready to enjoy this 4:30 hours long musical journey: "My summer vacation starts right here, right now" (Aiko Kitagawa); "Beautiful sunny morning with beautiful soundtrack and an ice cold beer" (Graeme Cameron); "Late but locked in - looks like I missed an amazing first hour" (Sioban Murphy) were only a couple of the messages posted by the Fam on Colleen's mixcloud as she started the show. With the constant pressure that the members of the LGBTQ+ community are facing, including hate, rejection, and other homophobic reactions, it seems the freedom of love is in danger, and we all need to stand against these unacceptable behaviours. I wrote these few lines on the chat: "We need more love, more freedom, we need to love who we want to love and celebrate the ones we need to celebrate without any kind of limitations..." Musically speaking, today's show was eclectic, perfectly showcasing the raw talent of our beloved artists. Colleen's delicate musical soul shone throughout the almost 5-hour journey. Starting with a calm and Jazzy part (allowing the listener to picture an incredible vastness...), Colleen then drifts away into a pop section, leading us then to a disco party like no other (including songs by Change or even the great Patrick Cowley). Today's episode ends on an incredibly powerful note with Sounds of Blacknesse's 'The Pressure', one more that will forever stay in our hearts! Listen back to episode 26-25 of Balearic Breakfast: This morning’s Balearic Breakfast Pride Special is now up on my Mixcloud and is a 4 and a half hour celebration of the LGBTQ+ community’s creativity and musicianship. Every June, I look forward to this show as I discover new artists and tunes (this year @electricfields_music and Linda Hillery were my new discoveries). Each Pride special has its share of joy and fun but also poignancy and reflection and this show is no different. In an era in which we are seeing trans rights being denied and gay rights in danger of being overturned, I feel these LGBTQ+ community celebrations are incredibly important and I personally send my support and solidarity. Its an honour to host this show and I wish all of the LGBTQ+ members of our Balearic Breakfast family a very happy Pride. Listen for music from Honey Dijon @shyclart @softcell @hifisean @ghost_assembly_music @boysshorts_ Horse Meat Disco Dark Entries Records ANOHNI and more. THE PLAYLIST Beverly Glenn-Copeland 'Ever New' (Kelsey Lu's Transportation) K.D. Lang 'Barefoot' Dusty Springfield 'The Look of Love' Luther Vandross 'Wait for Love' Billie Holiday 'You Got to My Head' (Henry Green Remix) Me'Shell Ndegeocello 'Fool of Me' George Michael 'Praying for Time' Peter Allen 'If You Were Wondering' Keith Barrow 'You Know You Want to Be Loved' Sylvester & The Hot Band 'On Your Way Down' Shy One ft Private Joy 'Moonlight' HiFi Sean ft David McAlmont 'Sorry I Made You Cry' Electric Fields Music 'Pukulpa' Placebo 'Pure Morning' (Les Rhythmes Digitales Remix) Tom Robinson 'Atmospherics: Listen to the Radio' (Extended Version) Coil 'Alternative Theme from Gay Man's Guide to Safer Sex' Soft Cell 'Seedy Films' Linda Tillery 'Freedom Time' Wham 'Blue (Armed with Love)' Boy George / Jesus Loves You 'Generations of Love' (Oakenfold Mix) Dead or Alive 'Far Too Hard' Grace Jones 'Love You To Life' (Dub) Patrick Cowley 'Surfside Sex' Arthur Russsell 'This Is How We Walk on the Moon' Pet Shop Boys 'Love Comes Quickly' (Shep Pettibone) Kinga 'Sexy Boy' (Late Night Dance Mix) Boys Shorts 'The Space Between Us' Horse Meat Disco ft Xavier Smith & Roy Inc 'Self Control' (Eagle Dub) Emilio Santiago 'Revelacao' (Joutro Mundo Remix) Wendy & Lisa 'Waterfall' (Nellee Hooper Remix) Man Parrish 'Hip Hop Be Bop (Don't Stop)' Change ft Luther Vandross 'The Glow of Love' James Wells 'My Claim to Fame' Patrick Cowley ft. Jeanie Tracy 'Spellbinding Lover' Sylvester 'I Need You' (Opolopo Remix) Freddy Bastone ft Danni Xtravaganza 'Love The Life You Live' (Marz Mix) RuPaul 'House of Love' Ghost Assembly & J.S. Zeiter 'Acid Elaine' (Strawberry Mix) Dee Dee Sharp Gamble 'Nobody Can Take Your Place' (Yoruba Soul Mix) Jessica 6 ft. Anohni 'Prisoner of Love' (Honey Dijon & Sebastian Manuel) Honey Dijon 'Satisfied' ft Jacob Lusk (Quentin Harris Remix) Giorgio Moroder 'From Here to Eternity' (Danny Tenaglia Radio Edit) Sylvester 'Stars' Sounds of Blackness 'The Pressure' (Frankie Knuckles Classic Mix) OTHER SHOWS DEDICATED TO THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY Here is a list of some of the older editions of Balearic Breakfast dedicated to the LGBTQ+ community: 2025: Love is a rainbow 2024 : There's a rainbow in the sky

Ahead of their New Year’s Eve party, Heléna Star sat down with Colleen Cosmo Murphy for a fascinating chat in the Voices Studio. THE INTERVIEW [Heléna] Okay, Colleen, thank you so much for joining me. [Colleen] Oh, thank you. Thanks for having me. [Heléna] Um, I feel like we've just been having a little chat off air, but getting to know each other. This is actually our first time probably meeting. [Colleen] Absolutely. And we're playing together on New Year's Eve. So that'll be great. [Heléna] In the building that we're in right now! [Colleen] Which is great to do a site visit before I arrive, which is amazing. [Heléna] I know you were already plotting out where the speakers are going to go and how it's going to sound. We're looking at the carpet. I guess that's a really good place to start. I feel like your knowledge of audio and sound is rich. Deep. Can you tell us about, actually, do you know what? Tell us about the first rig that you remember learning about that really like caught your attention or that you were like, whoa, yeah, special. [Colleen] Well, the first sound system that really impressed me was my friend David Mancuso's sound system from the loft. And I had already studied sound in university. I was a radio and sound major, but it was on the recording side. So it was mixing techniques, microphone placement, editing. It was all tape back then in the 1980s. So it was editing tape, but it wasn't about reproducing music. It wasn't about playback. So it wasn't about speaker positions or amplifiers and the different types of amplifiers and/or cartridges, for instance, the different styli that you can use for turntables, moving magnet or moving coil. And it was really going to my friend David Mancuso's loft parties. And first of all, just experiencing the sound as a dancer and really thinking, gosh, it's just kind of washing over me. I don't hear the sound system. I hear the music. [Heléna] That's interesting. [Colleen] And it's because he was using these beautiful Klipschorn speakers, which are three-way, horn speakers. And horn speakers are really efficient, very natural sounding. And then class A amplifiers and these beautiful moving-coil cartridges made by Kuetsu, handcrafted in Japan. Thousands of dollars each. [Heléna] So this is back then. [Colleen] Yeah, this is back then. This is David's system. This is the system that this is the loft style sound system. It's the same type of system we have here in London for our London loft parties. And I didn't know what all of these things were. I just knew when I went in, wow, this sounds so different. Every song sounds incredible. Even really kind of basic house tracks. And this is like 1992. This is early house. And, you know, something that you didn't hear the nuance on a regular system or regular DJ cartridges, which are usually quite blunt and very heavy. Lots of bass. Everything sparkled. It had a lot of dynamic. And I wouldn't have learned any more about it unless he had asked me. Then a few couple of years later, or maybe a year later, I can't remember exactly. He asked me to play some one-on-ones with him. And all of a sudden, I knew that I had to use the Koetsu. And the Koetsu moving coil cartridge, he only had two. He was really down on money. He was really suffering. And if one broke, he was out of commission because he wouldn't be able to fix it. He wouldn't have the money to send it back to Japan, get it repaired. So and everyone talked about this. There is no backup cartridge. And so he taught, and it's all you can't back cue. [Heléna] Okay. [Colleen] And there's no headphones because it's on a DJ mixer. It's a preamp made by Mark Levinson, a classic preamp. It's actually a cult classic. It's called an ML1, but it has two phono stages. So it has one phono input and two phono inputs. You just click back and forth. You play the whole song and then click to phono back and forth. So there's no way to even preview the songs. So you had to use by eye. Luckily, in my early 20s, I have fabulous eyesight, which I no longer have. And I remember my first cut that I played was an inside cut. It wasn't even an outside cut. You had to know which speed it was because you can't preview it. So everything has to be marked. Number two, 33, cold fade, fade out, whatever, cold ending or whatever it is, which we used to do with radio as well, quite honestly, back in the day, because you'd sticker things up. Yeah. Because everything was going so fast. [Heléna] I quite like that. [Colleen] Yeah, it was all stickered up. Yeah. So that's what I had to do. You said, rest your hand, cue it like this. And so first it was just basic techniques of like how to just play records. But then when we started the parties here in London, he wanted me to handle the music and the sound with him. And so I just learned A to Z, you know, the whole loft setups for starting the turntables and amplifiers setup, speaker setup. So it's really through David that I learned a lot. But I've also learned a lot through my friend Ian Mackie, who's doing the sound with us on New Year's Eve. And we're using Danley speakers. And Danley is really interesting because Tom Danley, who's the founder, is a big fan of Paul Klipsch, who founded the Klipschhorn, who is the founder of Klipsch, the audio company. And they're horn speakers, but they're using modern technology as multi drivers and one horn. So I get very excited because I can hear the difference. But it's not just me. I know that people respond to it, even if they don't know why they're responding. And this is the thing that is so interesting to me. And even down to how a record is pressed, you know, because some records don't sound very good. They're not cut well, or they're not mixed well, or not pressed well, not good vinyl. Lots of things can go wrong. It's an imperfect format. You know, the most perfect format is tape. Here, you got me on audio, and I'm still going. I'll be going for 15 more minutes! I'm going to wrap it up in a minute. But, you know, it's like really interesting. I remember with David, I was playing an album cut. I think it was by BT Express, Peace Pipe. And he said, that album, that pressing is really bad. I'm like, no, I still want to play it. I still want to play it. Yeah, that's bad pressing, though. [Heléna] You hear it! [Colleen] So yeah, so he played his song. Sounded great, whatever it was. I played mine, and I just saw the energy level go down. And no one knew why. And it wasn't the song, because I since got that song on 12-inch with a great pressing. [Heléna] And it's different. [Colleen] And it just has life. It's elevated. Whereas this one, because if you're using a great sound system that doesn't just elevate the music, if it's all pressed well and brings it to a whole other amazing place. [Heléna] Nothing can hide. [Colleen] But nothing can hide. You can't hide the issues, the problems. [Heléna] That's so interesting. [Colleen] So yeah, so it's a whole different way of playing. And so our love dancing sound system for We Out here is very much like that. But we also do digital. So we use DCS DACs so that DJs can play both digital and vinyl. And they sound pretty much alike, because we got it pretty even-sounding. And then we have great DJ mixers and all that kind of stuff where you can actually preview the music and mix and have monitors and all that. You know, not lifestyle DJing, but it's for everybody, you know, which is great. [Heléna] Do you know what's so interesting? You said, even if you aren't aware of the sound and aware of what rig is being used, let's say you can feel it. People just know. And I was going to reference the love dancing tent, which is like going to We Out here every year is like going to Mecca. Do you know what I mean? It really is like I absolutely I go with my mum every year. [Colleen] Do you?! Our daughter comes along as well. She doesn't stay with us. She stays with her friends. [Heléna] Fair enough. But I go with my mum every year. And we always, and people always just gravitate to the love dancing tent. And I guess it's just that unspoken thing. There's something in there. Well, now we know it's the sound. It really is so special. It's the sound. It's the floors. It's the dancers. It's the people. But it's it's really very special. [Colleen] Oh, thank you. [Heléna] So thank you, first of all. [Colleen] It's been something we've developed over the years. And I do think this was the best year. I think we got the sound right. It was every single year we've tweaked it. And I think next year will be the same sound setup we had this year. [Heléna] It was really good. [Colleen] I can't even think of a way to improve it. So Ian didn't. We did an amazing job. Ian Mackie and our friend from Danley does it with us. And we have other audio partners as well. But he's the guy on the on the ground. And yeah, this year, I think we really got it right. And plus the thing that's so nice. It's a hangout spot. And this is we have a whole kind of community of friends and people. And everyone kind of gravitates towards their other DJs when they're not playing. If they just want to have a little hang. [Heléna] That's the spot. [Colleen] Yeah, that's the spot. It's really fun. So I'm really, really thankful to like Giles and Noah and Joe and Simon for continuing to bring us back year after year. [Heléna] You were there at the first edition. What year was that? Was that 2008? [Colleen] I want to say 2018. Yeah, it was the same year. Was it the same year as Houghton? Or it was around the same time. But we brought our own system in. We brought the Klipschorns in. From our loft parties. And we had an amplifier that went up in flames. Because we're sharing the generator with the food. Yeah, we were just so hot. We were on fire! And but, you know, we're sharing generators with the food trucks or whatever. I mean, we are using class A equipment. It pulls a lot of current. And so one went up in flames. Then an older DJ, you know, older DJ who I love. I don't want to say who he was. But, you know, he blew a driver, one of the Klipschorns. Because they're used to playing on DJ sound systems that have compressors. And we don't use compression. We don't use EQ. It's a very straight path. So that year we learned, OK, well, maybe the Klipschorns aren't best. And Danley are actually very rugged. They're made for PAs. They actually are the ones that they use at Disney World. And they do big outdoor stadiums and everything because they really project. Yeah. And they're very efficient. Well, they actually gain so much because it's the projection of a horn speaker. It's it really projects like no other. And it's very efficient. So you don't need as much kind of as a high powered like an amplifier. I mean, we can run our little Klipschorns on five watts. [Heléna] OK. [Colleen] You know. But, Danley, you need more. But because it is horn loaded, because it's a horn speaker, you don't need these kind of really, you know, amplifiers that have a huge wattage. [Heléna] Yeah. [Colleen] So it's very, very efficient. They're very easy to drive. And so, use less energy, better for the environment as well. [Heléna] Interesting. And also something I noticed that we out here this year, when I was at the back of Love Dancing, you used hay bales just around it. [Colleen] Yeah. They did that this year. We got there. I was like, what a great idea. [Heléna] Because you couldn't hear when I was great. There was like the place you could have like dinner on the other side. Yeah. Couldn't hear the tent. [Colleen] It was great. It was so good. I was so happy with that. [Heléna] Environmentally friendly. Environmentally friendly. [Colleen] Exactly. So, yeah, the festival did that. They have to take credit for that. It was fantastic. [Heléna] And curation-wise, which you have a knack for, let's say, a very, very great talent for curation. How do you go about that? How do you go about your curating? Do you do it individually? Or do you have a little team of people who you come together with? [Colleen] It's individual. So Adam, my husband, does Trojan sound system. So he does the Thursdays. Mr. Scruff does Fridays. I do Saturdays, Cosmodelica Takeover. And then Janine and Giles and Patrick Forge do Sundays for Dingwalls. [Heléna] I was there on Sunday at their party. [Colleen] I wish I could have gone, but I was in Thailand. But yeah, it was so, I, the way I've kind of figured out what I want to do now. And it took me a few years. But for Cosmodelica, I like it to reflect all the different kinds of music I'm into. So morning, quite spacey. And last year we had Sway of the Verses. My friend Pritpal Ajamal, who does Indian classical music. And we had impromptu yoga sessions. People just started doing yoga en masse. Like this was one guy doing it. And he was really good. Obviously, yoga instructor and people just started following him. [Heléna] I love it. [Colleen] And it was amazing. So that was great. And then I'm really into like psychedelic soul and psychedelic music. And I got Sky Rager to do a psychedelic soul folk set. And he had never done one out before. And it was amazing. And then I just kind of kept building it. So then it was kind of more balearic. It was Balleric London. And then we got into the more really downcy stuff, like Eavesdrop Collective. But another thing that's important to me is to reflect my DJ heritage from New York. Because New York is really where I came up as a DJ. You know, I started in radio in high school, like as a teenager. But it was when I moved to New York and became, you know, that developed then into DJing and clubs and parties. And so what I've been doing is I've been trying to represent that a little bit. So last this year, I had Francois K. I try to get someone who is really who's I feel is a legend who's inspired me. I've had Greg Wilson, Ashley Beedle. And then I try to get an up-and-comer from New York right before me. So I've had Love Injection. I've had Lovie. Lovie this year. [Heléna] I love her so much. [Colleen] Yeah, she's great muscle cars. Yeah. And I can't say who I'm working on this year, because nothing is confirmed. But you know, but I'm really thrilled because I want the whole day to have a great kind of, you know, vibe, like a real musical progression of what I would consider Cosmodelica to be. [Heléna] Yeah. [Colleen] And then, of course, I'm always ensuring there's women on that lineup, as I've done, you know, throughout many things that I've done. [Heléna] Yeah. No, I'm not surprised. I feel like, especially like in the early 90s, he was talking about New York. Like, what was it like then as a young woman, as a young DJ? [Colleen] It was like, you know, I didn't even think that. It never occurred to me I'd be able to support myself as a DJ. It just wasn't even like a goal. [Heléna] It wasn't a career option. [Colleen] It was not a career option. I really fell into it partially through David, but partially through my radio shows, because when I was doing these radio shows, I did one called Club 89 and one called Soul School. On WNYU. And people started asking me to play. I think the first place I played was an African Street Festival in Brooklyn. [Heléna] Love it! [Colleen] Off of Fulton Street. You know, I don't even think the park exists anymore. It's just all these big buildings. But yeah, so that was like the, I just was getting asked to play. And then David was asking, and then I was playing little lounges around the Lower East Side. So, but it didn't occur to me. I didn't even really know that much about DJ culture as much. I was kind of in it. [Heléna] Just enjoying. [Colleen] And enjoying it. But, you know, as far as touring DJs and all that, I mean, it wasn't as big as it is now, especially in America, because everything's across the ocean. So it never occurred to me that I would be a full-time DJ. That was just not even a career option. And I didn't know at the time of any older women. I later found out about Sharon White. [Heléna] Right. [Colleen] And mainly they were always on the gay scene. And the scene that I was in was more of the soulful disco house scene. Which had already been going on for 20 years, you know, since the early 70s. And because there are also a lot of older people with more rigid, unexamined outlooks and biases, which still exist today. [Heléna] Of course. [Colleen] And so that was, it was interesting, you know, but I actually got a lot of support too. There was, of course, there were things that, it was very rare, you know, also the kind of music I was playing. I mean, people would call up the radio show. Is this, are you a blue-eyed soul sister? Or like, they'd say, tell the DJ he's doing a great job. And I'd say, actually, it's me. And they'd start laughing, you know, because anyone would assume that. [Heléna] They didn't know. Yeah. They hadn't seen it. [Colleen] And the thing that really, the best feeling though, is when I'd be DJing and a woman would come up to me and say, I never even thought of doing this. Thank you. [Heléna] I'm sure you still get that today though, you know. [Colleen] Well now female DJs, women DJs are on loads of lineups. There's loads of, especially younger people, which is great. And there are like, you know, the women like myself, Smokin' Jo, Paulette, Jeannie Hopper in New York and Jennifer, there are some of us that have been kicking around for three decades now, over three decades, three to four decades. But yeah, there's still some issues, obviously. But it's really come a long way as well. I mean, there have been a lot of people that have worked to ensure that lineups are more fair and more evenly distributed. And I think also the younger generations just have a whole different mindset anyways, which is great, you know, evolving as the human race, which is great. [Heléna] We hope so. [Colleen] We hope so. Seems like we take a few steps back, especially with American politics at the moment, but we won't go there right now. We'll stay in a good mood. [Heléna] But no, I feel like as a young woman myself, it's so important to see people like yourself. And you mentioned Paulette, who's someone who I've looked up to for a long time as well, and Smokin' Joe. It's just been so important to see those women who were there, who were doing an incredible job at the same time as all the big guys who you know. So yeah, I guess again, I'm saying thank you. [Colleen] Oh, yeah. Well, thank you. It's just interesting, you know, we all kind of watched all of our male peers get crowd surfed to big positions. And, you know, we had to work really hard to get any notice. I mean, of course, people will notice you because you're a woman, but they judge you more. For different reasons. [Heléna] Yeah. [Colleen] And you knew that you had to be better. [Heléna] Yeah. [Colleen] Because you couldn't afford to not be able to mix. And your mixing had to be on point. You couldn't say, oh, because then, oh, it's because she's a girl. [Heléna] Which I think still happens quite a lot. [Colleen] Yeah, it may actually. [Heléna] Which is really interesting. I've noticed, like, not so much recently, but I used to get a lot of people looking over the decks, you know, just checking that I was actually mixing. [Colleen] Oh, yeah. Not using beat sync. [Heléna] Yeah, yeah, yeah. Actually looking just to make sure that I'm actually doing my job properly, you know, like just checking. [Colleen] Well, maybe you should go to their office during the week and check that they're doing their job properly. Tell them what to do. Such a fantasy. [Heléna] It really is. It really, really is. I actually wanted to speak to you about your most recent travels, as in you got back last night from Thailand. [Colleen] Yes! [Heléna] Tell us about your journey. You curated a stage at Wonder Fruit Festival, somewhere you've been before. Is this your first time curating with them? [Colleen] It is. It's our first time curating. It was just one day, my husband and I curating. And it's a great festival. It's called Wonder Fruit. It's in Thailand. And it is run by Pete and Katsu. Katsu, she's from the Philippines. Also a great DJ. And Pete is from Thailand. And the first time I went was 2019, like December 2019, just before COVID. Before the world changed. And what I loved about it was... It's Asian. And they have, I mean, I know obviously Thailand's in Asia, but they represent Asian DJs. There's loads of DJs from the Philippines, from Thailand, from Japan. We brought a friend from Hong Kong. So this real Pacific kind of culture, which is very different for me. I'm an East Coaster from America. And then I'm on the other side of the Atlantic. Interestingly, Japan is the first country I DJed in outside of America in the early 90s. So I've always had a relationship with Japan. I've done Asian tours. But to be able to then bring in DJs that you love, that you've experienced, and who've played with you in different places, it's a real honor to be able to do that. So I brought Jimmy Mack, who is a friend of mine from Hong Kong, who owns some clubs as well. He's a great DJ, as well as a club owner. He's actually an obstetrician by trade. That's really what he does. [Heléna] That's so random. [Colleen] I know, exactly. But he has this great underground club that is basically for the kids. He calls his children. And then a friend of mine, DJ Nori from Japan. And he is one of the legendary DJs from Japan, along the same kind of level as Crush. But he is also from the 1980s. But he was more disco and house. And when Larry Levan from the Paradise Garage and Francois K did their tour in Japan, and I think it was 1990 or 91, it was called the Rainbow Tour, it was with DJ Nori. And the first time I played in Japan, I met him. So we've been friends for 30 years. So we did back-to-back for four hours. So that was really great. That was really great to have. And then we had a guy named Red Eye doing dub from Manila, who was fantastic. And then, yeah, my husband and I. And then Alex Bowen, who the festival had curated. He's a big, fun, kind of crowd-pleasing DJ, but really, really fun. [Heléna] That's amazing. [Colleen] Yeah, so it's a lot of fun. We just brought a front-end sound system to this one, you know, again, using DACS, a DCS DACS. So the digital sounded fantastic. And I ended up hauling all these records over and didn't play one because it was too much dust. It was so dusty. And only one turntable was working properly. And I thought, I'm gonna let Nori use that because he's my guest. So I will just play, you know, but the digital sounded fabulous. [Heléna] And how did you acquire the audio equipment? Was it already in Thailand? [Colleen] We did have some of it, and some of it was already in Thailand. So with DCS, they have distributors everywhere as well. [Heléna] That's good. I was gonna say, did you have to haul it over from the UK? [Colleen] Well, we did have one flight case. Yeah, with backup stuff, with backup DCS DACS. So we had two big record bags of stuff we didn't use. And a big backup DAC, which we didn't use because the other ones were working fine. So you travel with three extra cases that we didn't even need. [Heléna] And did you travel back with stuff? Because I know that when you do travel, if you have like an extended trip, I read that you like to bring records back from that place to play on your show. [Colleen] I didn't do it this time. Not this time. Yeah, I really took it easy. Yeah, we my husband's a real foodie. And he's gotten me really into it. And we just went to eight local places that only locals go to. Nice. And oh my gosh, I did have the hottest chili and I can take it too. I got this red curry soup. I literally had the napkin like on my tongue, like try to take out the heat. But it was fantastic. So I really just read. Swam and ate. [Heléna] Nice. [Colleen] And we got two Thai massages. So I had some downtime. I really needed it. [Heléna] I was gonna say after a busy year, actually quite nice to have a bit of a break. [Colleen] Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. [Heléna] How has this year been for you? [Colleen] It's been quite intense. I mean, work-wise, it's been amazing. I started off the year getting a commission from Robert Smith of The Cure to remix The Cure. Something I would have never even thought of. Something that would never even cross my mind. And yeah, so it started off like that. So that's pretty darn good. And I did a load of remixes this year, which was really nice. Started writing a memoir as well. A musical memoir, which I'm going to be working on. My goal is finishing that in 2026. I will finish it. Yes. Or at least the first draft. And yeah, I mean, love dancing. It's been great. DJing all over still and still enjoying it and still playing with great people. I did a residency at Pike's too in Ibiza, which was a lot of fun. And I had a really, really great time. [Heléna] The best place. [Colleen] Yeah, it's a lot of fun. And then, yeah, DJing. Radio, of course, Balearic Breakfast, the fourth compilation came out. The radio show is still, the listenership is still expanding. So it's been really good. It's been really good. And I'm, you know, Classic Album Sundays is going all along. [Heléna] Actually, I really wanted to speak to you about Classic Album Sundays. Because a lot of my friends, and actually, Lovie was speaking about this on one of her Resident Advisor posts recently, and talking about the idea of having a listening party for albums. And they're really, really rising at the moment. And it's so interesting because you started that, was that 2010 you started it? So, you know, you've been doing it for a really long time. [Colleen] It was the first. I mean, I don't mind saying it. It's not like I invented the wheel or anything. And also, there were hi-fi listening bars in Japan, I didn't know about. But that had been going on since post-war. [Heléna] That's also slightly different to what you had. [Colleen] But mine is more like the Japanese style where you don't talk. So when you're listening, you're not talking. And that's one thing that I have not experienced one place like that here in the UK. And I really would like to see that of a place that's really a proper listening bar. And where the acoustics are great. It's not just, you know, everyone's just kind of, there's a little bit of like the fooling the public. The phone is hooked up during the day or the room acoustics aren't great or, you know, everything seems compromised. I haven't experienced one here where it's just like fully like all the equipment. People are still using DJ cartridges, which I don't even use when I DJ. So there are some issues. And I think there's a lot of hype around things. A lot of what my friend David used to say, smoke and mirrors. People like the concept, but they don't necessarily deliver it. And you're not listening when you're talking. And so, you know, it's like, oh, we put this album on at five o'clock, but everyone's talking. It doesn't matter. That's I mean, we all listen to music in the background all day for some of us. But this is supposed to be a dedicated listening. And that's what it should be listening. So there has been a whole slew of listening bars, but people aren't listening. And that's something that kind of gets a little bit under my skin. But the good thing about all of this, the good thing about this trend is everybody has started taking audios like seriously with more respect. [Heléna] Yeah, absolutely. [Colleen] They're realizing this is something they need to improve at any situation you can improve and tweak even if you are using DJ cartridges. Maybe it's the turntable isolation, or maybe it's your speaker placement, or maybe you're treating the room acoustically. So there's a lot of things that you can do, and at least they're elevating that. Which is great. So this is the great side of the trend. So there's a smoke-and-mirrors side of people just hanging on and just dealing. But it's still probably a better setup than they would have had if they hadn't called themselves a listening bar. So yeah, it's interesting. But it's really, I think, a very great trend in many ways. And I hope that here in the UK, we start to see some places that are more aligned to the Japanese tradition. [Heléna] Yeah, definitely. There is one space which is opened in Peckham, but it's not open all the time. It's called Shy Space. [Colleen] Oh, okay. [Heléna] And they run sessions, specific sessions, which are hosted. It's not necessarily for an album, but it's hosted by DJs. And they will play a set which you, there's no talking. Everyone's lying down. [Colleen] That's great. [Heléna] Yeah, that's the only one I can think of. [Colleen] That's great. And also Devin Turnbull did the 180 ones. So I did a couple there. And that was great. And people did just sit and listen. So yeah, Classic Album Sunday is when I started it 15 years, over 15 years ago. You know, it was on BBC Breakfast and all these platforms. And some people were just outraged. [Heléna] Why were they outraged? [Colleen] I think the thing was NME. NME like to be outraged about everything. [Heléna] Oh, yeah, yeah. [Colleen] Because they're cooler than everyone else. But, you know, it's like, they're treating music as a museum piece. I'm like, no, it's not. [Heléna] But I also think... It sort of is. Yeah, exactly. It sort of is. [Colleen] It's art. Yeah, it is art. [Heléna] Yeah. [Colleen] So you're just giving it your full attention. That's all it is. It's not saying everyone needs to listen this way all the time. In fact, that's why Classic Album Sunday has existed is because we didn't have the opportunity to do that. You didn't have the opportunity to hear things on an audiophile sound system, or the story told about it or have communal listening. [Heléna] Dedicated listening. [Colleen] Yeah, exactly. So, but, you know, all press is good press. And it was only a few. And actually, I thought it was quite funny. [Heléna] And what was the first one? [Colleen] The first one that I did was Abbey Road. [Heléna] Oh, whoa. [Colleen] Then it was Kate Bush, Hounds of Love, then it was De La Soul, Three Feet High and Rising, and then David Bowie, Ziggy Stardust, and that's when the BBC came along. And that's when everything just changed, you know, and then it became, I had to trademark it and everything, then I started doing festivals and working with Royal Albert Hall and all these places. And you went to Tokyo with it as well. [Colleen] Tokyo, yeah, I did one with Crush there. I did one with Bowie's producers, Tony Visconti, Ken Scott, and Nile Rodgers for Red Bull Music Academy as well in New York, which was amazing, right down the street from Bowie's house. [Heléna] Oh my gosh. That's a lot. [Colleen] I couldn't believe it. I was like, maybe he'll show up. But he used to go, it was in this kind of museum, I think it was called the, it was a contemporary, it was on Lafayette in the Bowery, around the Bowery. And I heard he used to go in disguise. [Heléna] So maybe he was there. [Colleen] Maybe he was. Exactly. You never know. [Heléna] If he was wearing the glasses and fake nose. [Colleen] Yeah, exactly. I think he kind of dressed up like a midwestern tourist or something like something that was just not cool. [Heléna] That's very Bowie though, isn't it? [Colleen] Yeah, very Bowie. Very cool. [Heléna] And that's something I wanted to ask you as well. We mentioned before we started filming that you're used to interviewing people instead of being interviewed. How is it interviewing people, you know, that you really, really, truly love and respect and how do you approach that? How do you approach it? Yeah. [Colleen] Well, first, it's a lot of studying. So, you know, I used to do interviews before the internet. [Heléna] Yeah. [Colleen] So I was interviewing Nirvana, The Week Nevermind came out, Guru from Gangstar, Pete Rocksteel, Smoothie, I mean, all these people. And you just had to know the music. Or you read magazine articles. Now it's a lot easier. But I try to watch an interview or listen to one because people respond in different ways to being interviewed. Some people could be very chatty off mic, you turn the mic on and they seize up. So you need to do more of the work. Then you have some people who are like me who just chat, you ask a few questions and they just go off. So Nile Rodgers, you ask him three questions, hour done. When I had to interview Nick Mason from Pink Floyd, I listened to some of his interviews, and I realized he says two sentences. So you need to have more. [Heléna] You're going to be prepped. [Colleen] Yeah, exactly. You have to also understand people's cadence of speech. You know, some people pause a lot or other people pause and that means they're done. I don't like to talk over people. I learned that through radio because I used to have to edit all the interviews that I did and make them into a piece where I wasn't in it. So I really learned about that. And eye contact, obviously, there's making them feel comfortable. And I've always tried to come from a musical angle rather than, oh, let's get the dirt on this. I'm not a gossip. So, yeah, unless they want to bring something up, I generally steer away from personal issues unless it was something that was part of the music. Like, you know, someone, a loved one died, and that's why they made this album. I mean, that could be a reason why. But I try to keep it to the music. [Heléna] That's the best way to do it, I think. And then I think people will naturally respond to that because, you know, it's about the stuff that they love. It's about their baby. [Colleen] Absolutely. [Heléna] And actually, I was going to speak to you about your music and the music that you curate. And you have done some incredible remixes throughout the years. [Colleen] Thank you! [Heléna] And I guess I was going to talk about the approach with remixing, you know, some of the greats, like you said, with The Cure, with Chaka Khan, you know, how do you approach, how do you look at it with fresh eyes and ears? [Colleen] Well, I only accept a remix if there's something I think I can do. Yeah. And then sometimes it might be in my head, it might be, oh, I think that in my head, they didn't get to where I think they should have gotten. And this is how I think it should be produced. [Heléna] Yeah. [Colleen] Of course, that's not The Cure. These guys are making records for decades, right? But then you say, what can I do that this person, this artist hasn't done? Yeah. That will then bring it to a different crowd. So there's two ways of looking at one can be I'm trying to improve it. Generally, I mean, sometimes it is like that. It might be the producer doesn't have as much experience, and could be a lot of different things. But generally, it's about giving it a new vibe. So I feel like I'm doing something. I try to think of where it would be played. It's just like when I do the radio. [Heléna] Yeah! [Colleen] I think of who is listening or when I'm DJing in a club, who is there? Um, again, everything kind of surrounds that, you know, atmosphere, time, all these things. Similarly, with music, making music, I wouldn't say time is really a factor, unless it's like, do I have time to do this? But it's more about what can I do that either reinvents it? [Heléna] Yeah. [Colleen] Or improves it, elevates it in some way. And then there's sometimes I hear things I'm like, there's nothing I could do. I have no ideas. It sounds great. And a lot of things I get already do sound great, like The Cure, but I just had ideas of how to make it more for a certain kind of dance audience, you know. And I try to picture who the people are that might respond to it as well. [Heléna] So when you sent a track that they want you to remix, do you sit with it for a little while? [Colleen] Yes and no. Sometimes you don't have much of a chance. That's what I was wondering. Yeah. Sometimes I hear something like, oh, yeah. And then I've already accepted it. And then I have the studio dates in the next month. I'm like, what is that song again? You know? But to me, I have learned the hard way, like I've learned all my good lessons. I fought with a lot of remixes. I went in with no strong ideas, and then I'm just turning things over and like working in a studio. I mean, you can be spending an hour on a snare sound. It's not always it's not as exciting. [Heléna] Yeah. [Colleen] There are certain points that are really exciting. Like, oh, my God, the grooves there and you get goosebumps. Here it is. You know, but a lot of it's just graft. And so you want to stay excited. And I remember doing a few remixes that I just don't think are very good that I did. I really don't think they're very good. I think they're OK. I don't think I added anything to it. And then I thought, why did I do that? So I really have to hear an idea almost immediately. [Heléna] Yeah. [Colleen] Or know which direction I'm going. And then it's the graft. So it's listening to the stems first thing, listen to all the stems. What am I going to use? What am I not going to use? And then from there, also, I can start to formulate a plan. But, yeah, I don't always accept everything. Because it's like sometimes I don't think I can really do a very good job on it. I don't I don't have the creative spark. So and I just learned to say no. No, that's the case. [Heléna] That's the best lesson. [Colleen] Yeah, I know it is. But, you know, you have to go through all these other steps to get there. [Heléna] Yeah. [Colleen] So I'm not saying I regret doing those other things because I don't. They weren't bad. It's just something I would never play again. I don't think they're great, you know, or or whatever. And, you know, I get sick of my own stuff, too. So I think there is something. Oh, I know it happened. Mild Life, I did this remix for Mild Life called Vapour. And I haven't played it. It was done during the pandemic, so it's at least five years old. I haven't played it in years. And DJ Nori played it. And we were doing back to back and the crowd went off. I couldn't believe it. Like, I rarely... I don't play my own remixes a lot. There's many years I didn't play them at all. Now I'm really thinking of the downpour. Will I play this? But because I play a lot of different styles as well on the radio, fine. But at a gig, like at a party or a festival set. It's not I don't really play a lot of my stuff. It's, you know, I guess it's my own issues. In any case, he played it. It went off. And then a DJ from Manila came up and said, this is a really big track in Manila. Every time DJs play in Manila, it goes off. [Heléna] Wow. [Colleen] Like, really? Because I've hardly played it. Maybe twice out. Like, literally. [Heléna] Do you think that's because you did it in lockdown? So there wasn't an opportunity to play out that much? [Colleen] Maybe that could be it. That could be partially it. But I think it's just my own perfectionism. [Heléna] OK, you can hear the bits that you like. I wish I changed that. [Colleen] Yeah, exactly. And actually, there's nothing I heard on that that I wish I had to change, which is good. But I just I just move on to the next thing. [Heléna] Yeah, that's a good one. [Colleen] I really am always looking to the next radio show, the next party, the next gig, the next remix. And, you know, I don't want to rest on laurels too much. I don't think anyone really can if you want to be... contemporary and relevant. And also, that's what creativity is, that's what a creative life is. It's not resting upon laurels and doing the same, you know, color by numbers... [Heléna] Yeah. [Colleen] Situation. You know, you really the whole point is to have that creative spark and to have that use your imagination. [Heléna] Constant evolution. [Colleen] And constant evolution to keep it exciting, you know. [Heléna] And how do you do that with production now? I feel like that's actually I'm going to go I'm going to go back. Actually, we are going to go back a little bit. Your introduction to producing music, as someone who I don't produce music, but I would one day love to have a go. And I feel like I love asking the question of how artists that I love and respect have gotten into it and where they started. So how did it look for you? [Colleen] Right. Well, that's a good question. It was in the 90s. There weren't many women producers. So, again, it wasn't really on my radar. But what I had started doing was just randomly writing songs. I started writing songs with melodies. I was really inspired by R&B, actually, and writing songs, you know, with lyrics and melodies and all that. And I didn't know what I was going to do with it. I had no idea. But there was a producer named Tommy. There is a producer named Tommy Mostow. And he has a record label called Suburban that did a lot of great vocal house stuff. Beautiful arrangements in that East Coast style, you know, based on that whole Philly soul kind of production sound and south soul, which is what you hear with Masters at Work and what you hear orchestrated proper musicianship, and songs that are arranged very well. So not experimental. Very, very kind of beautiful vocals. Great. You know, I don't like to use formulaic, but it's arranged in a certain way. [Heléna] It's a full song. Yeah. [Colleen] And Tommy, I always played his productions. And I was on the radio. I was working at Dance Tracks, the record shop for Joe Claussell. And Tommy would come in every now and then. And he came and he said, I want to produce your first record with you. Why don't you just come into the studio? [Heléna] Wow. [Colleen] And it was 1998. And I went into his proper studio. And he had a keyboard player. And I had written one of the songs I had written. And I was solely on Friends with King Brit. And he had just done his Silk 130 album. And there's this great singer named Alison Crockett. And I got her to sing. But she also then helped me rewrite a few things, like a middle eight. I learned a lot from her. So I was sitting next to Tommy in the seat. I was, you know, watching the engineering, figuring out the song, working with the keyboard player, working with the vocalist, readjusting my lyrics, readjusting things that Alison was teaching me. A lot of things. So it's really through there. And then I think the next person that asked me was Danny Wang. And that was more of a kind of electro-y thing we did for Playhouse, a German label. So very different sound. But when I moved over here, I started a label called Bitches Brew with a friend, Nikki Lucas. And we did a bunch of productions together and then on our own and separately. And that's really when I started producing a lot more. And and then I kind of stopped for a while and got back into it during the pandemic. [Heléna] Good time to be sitting, listening and experimenting. [Colleen] Yeah, I thought about doing that just before the pandemic started. [Heléna] Oh, wow. [Colleen] So I had been doing this book called The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. [Heléna] I know it very well. I haven't done it yet. But I will! [Colleen] That's what came out that I just needed to make music. I was playing it, DJing it, talking about it, but I just needed to make it again. [Heléna] Yeah, that's amazing. OK, I'm going to take that information with me. And let's look forward to 2026. We're going to be bringing in the new year together. [Colleen] I know. Exactly. [Heléna] Very exciting. [Colleen] Yes, yes. [Heléna] 2026, you mentioned your memoir, which I will be reading whenever it's out. [Colleen] Thank you. [Heléna] What else is on the what else is happening for you? What else is happening? [Colleen] Well, you know, Balearic Breakfast is still going along. I'm still getting booked for a lot of festivals and things. The memoir is my big 2026 project. I started it in this last year. I've already written 23,000 words. [Heléna] Oh, my goodness. [Colleen] I know. And I'm still only 21 in the book. So it's like, oh, my gosh, kind of like how I'm talking now. [Heléna] Yeah. [Colleen] But there's a lot to to get through. And it's been interesting taking a step back and looking at my life. [Heléna] Yeah, I can imagine [Colleen] My musical journey, you know, and and how it started and why, especially because I wasn't born into it at all. [Heléna] Do you know what? That was a question on my list. If you don't mind me asking, like, what was the what the sounds in your house like? What were there? [Colleen] There weren't many. [Heléna] Really? Oh, yeah. [Colleen] I think my parents had four, eight tracks. OK, they were music wasn't on in the house unless I was playing it. The only place it was on was in the car. That that's it. And the radio is always on in the car, but never at home unless I was playing it. Or we all my dad also encouraged me to play music. So he got an organ secondhand. I think someone was moving and then someone was he found a piano and redid it. I would play the piano, because he never had lessons. And I grew up in a big family, Irish Catholic family. And, you know, they didn't know one had private music lessons, you know. So I was very privileged in that way. I sang a lot, too, and I could read music. I could do all that kind of stuff. Yeah, fairly well. But once I got into records, I got into records. And I stopped playing the organ. And my dad said, you're a quitter. I think you should. And I'm like, no, this is not my future. I'm not going to be a professional musician. I'm just not that good. And I am also not I don't have the patience for that. I've perfected other techniques. So just it was just something was always fun. I was glad I could do it. And I don't know... [Heléna] But a different way of sharing music. [Colleen] Different way. Yeah, I just it wasn't my calling. Yeah. And, you know, I I know so many great musicians and they have that right from the start. They've got something. [Heléna] Yeah. [Colleen] And I respect it a lot. So I, you know, I honor them. But, yeah, I didn't really have any of that. But I did grow up in a large family in terms of aunts and uncles. So my dad was the eldest of six. They had me when they were twenty twenty one. [Heléna] Yeah. [Colleen] We lived in the same town as my grandparents and all my aunts and uncles. [Heléna] Oh, that's special. [Colleen] So they all had record collections because they were teenagers. So they were teenagers. Some were like eighteen, nine. I think the oldest was nineteen when I was born. So I raided their record collections, basically. And my dad got me a second hand. Someone was moving. I got a second-hand turntable, a portable one that went into my bedroom when I was twelve. And I got my first transistor radio when I was seven. [Heléna] What was your first record? Sorry. [Colleen] Oh, my first record. Well, the first records I borrowed. So the ones I borrow were like Crosby, Stills and Nash. Got Live If You Wanted, The Stones, Moody Blues, Days of Future Past. I would borrow all sorts of records. [Heléna] That's a great introduction. [Colleen] Yeah. Yeah. So then I started buying, but I started really collecting when I was 15. That's when I really got quite serious. And it wasn't about collecting because I'm not a record collector. I still don't consider myself that. I mean, yes, I might have seven pressings of Pet Sounds, but it's only because of Classic Album Sundays, and I was trying to get the best, you know, best sonic version of it. It wasn't because, oh, I need to have all these pressings. It wasn't the object. It's never been the object for me, unless, of course, it's a box set and has all these things with it or a gatefold that has a booklet. I mean, there are things about the object itself that can be appealing. But it's not about how many records do I have. I've gotten rid of 10,000 in my life. [Heléna] Yeah. That's a lot. [Colleen] And I've worked in music since I was 16 years old, so I've got a lot of free stuff as well. Um, but yeah, it's not about the object. It's more about the music itself, you know, and that's so I wouldn't say I collected it. But basically, when I was growing up with, you know, the only time you could hear a song that you liked was either on the radio, someone else had to play it. [Heléna] Yeah. [Colleen] And you had to be by the radio when they did or you had to own it. There was no other way. So I would buy records. I would just and then you would just buy things you didn't know because there's no other way of discovering music. [Heléna] That's it. That was music discovery. [Colleen] That's it. So I'd hear Brian Eno on the radio. Who's this guy? I'd go to Nuggets in Boston, go to the Brian Eno section, look at the back of the Roxy music album. Oh, he was in there, too. Oh, there he is on low, you know, with David Bowie. And I started making all these kind of musical maps myself. [Heléna] That's really special. I feel like that's something we're kind of lacking in today is that, you know, buying a record and having to really listen to it and really take it in before you, I guess, decided if you liked it or not. Instead of being able to kind of like flick through and go, yeah, I don't like it, you know. [Colleen] Oh, I just took chances. And there's some things I didn't like either. I mean, I remember thinking, oh, I love this band's name. It's called the Peanut Butter Conspiracy. I didn't, it was not my music, but you know, I had to buy it because of the name, you know, but I would hear things playing in shops like, you know, Roland Kirk was playing in a shop when I was 15. And I was like, what is this? I'm like, yeah, it's this Rip Reagan Panic. I'm like, I want to buy it. They're like, really? There's like this 15-year-old girl from the suburbs, you know, like, really? You want to buy this? I'm like, yeah, I still have it. [Heléna] I love it. You've still got it. [Colleen] Oh, yeah, of course. Yeah, I still have that. [Heléna] That's brilliant. So that's where it all began. And we will be reading about this in your memoirs. [Colleen] It is about how I discovered music. [Heléna] Yeah. [Colleen] And how music has really kind of been the framework of my life. [Heléna] It's amazing. [Colleen] You know, it really has. Relationships. So many things. Friendships. [Heléna] And passing it now through to your daughter. [Colleen] Yes, exactly. [Heléna] Does she share your love of records? [Colleen] Oh, she does. Yeah, she just loves music in general. She has some vinyl, but she's DJing digitally at the moment. She DJs too? A little bit. Yeah, but you know, not like she's really putting herself out there. Some people have asked. [Heléna] Yeah. [Colleen] She does a show on the boat pod for Sophie. Amazing. And I think she's a great radio presenter. I think she's very relaxed and chatty. Yeah. And says interesting things about the music and her own relationship with it. Of course, I think she has a great ear. Of course. [Heléna] I'm sure she does. [Colleen] She does, actually. I'm not. She does. [Heléna] She's in a pretty good household for it. [Colleen] She has a great ear, yeah. And her thing is very different. I mean, she's been exposed. Also, everybody that has a phone has almost, you know, I don't know what percentage of the world's music catalog, but it's right there. [Heléna] Yeah, it's different. [Colleen] Everything is accessible. So if you want to discover an artist, oh, I wonder what Roland Kirk sounds like. Boom, straight in. You didn't have to go to a record shop, be there on that particular day, and you're inside because it's raining and they're playing that. Like all the different situations that would have to happen, all the circumstances for you to discover that song. It's very different. [Heléna] It's very different. It's really interesting. [Colleen] Yeah, no internet. You can't research. [Heléna] Yeah. Yeah. [Colleen] You had to read books. I've read hundreds. Hundreds of music books. [Heléna] That's something which I'm starting to do now, which has been really nice. I've always been a bit of a science fiction fan, but I'm now starting to read a lot more music biographies, which has been really lovely and really special. And yeah, like I said, I'm excited to read your one when it comes out. [Colleen] I'm excited already. [Heléna] No rush. [Colleen] It won't be a rush, believe me. [Heléna] And let's talk about your next release that you have coming out. [Colleen] Yes, I just did a remix from my good friends, Paul and Barbie from Love Injection for a group. I think it's a new band called Chanda and the Passengers. I believe they're from Toronto. And when I heard the song, I thought, I think I'd like to do a real kind of gospel soulful house. You know, a real proper soulful house. I'm not reinventing the wheel on this one. I thought the song was so good that you want the song to shine. I didn't need to... I'm not a DJ or a remix that comes over like, I'm just going to change everything so the original is not recognizable and put my own imprint on it. That's not what I do. Other DJs do that and they do it well, like people like Carl Craig. He always put his own thing on it. And like, it's almost indistinguishable from the original. And I do appreciate that. It's just not who I am. You know, it's not what I do. So, yeah, I just, Paul and Barbie said they played it out and they said it really went off, which is great. I haven't had a mastered version. If I get a mastered version before New Year's Eve, maybe I'll play it. [Heléna] Yes, let's do it! [Colleen] You know, I need a mastered version. They said it's okay for me to play. Yeah. [Heléna] And I think that's coming out in the springtime. So that's, I'm sure there'll be more remixes and things as well.

Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy broadcast this new episode of Balearic Breakfast on her Mixcloud on June 23rd, 2026. ABOUT THIS EPISODE After playing an intense set at the Sonar Festival (the weather was very hot, and, speaking of that, France has been hit by a heatwave with temperatures rising above 40°C!), where she met our Friend Ana, Colleen came back and presented a prerecorded show, with two great guests, and musical friends two, in the name of DJ Philippa and DJ Jeannie Hopper. Both sets contained incredible songs that the Balearic Breakfast Family enjoyed to bits, of course, see the playlist below, should you need to buy some of these infectious tunes! On the chat, happiness was all over the place as I came back online after a few months away from the Balearic Gang (thank you all for the warm welcome!). Listen back to episode 26-24 of Balearic Breakfast: Groovy housey vibes on this week’s Balearic Breakfast - now up on my Mixcloud for your listening pleasure. This week’s radio show features two guest interviews and mixes. First up is New Zealand born & raised and Berlin based DJ and producer Philippa. She’s been crafting some great deep house tunes for labels like Freerange Records and SlothBoogie and now has a fabulous series called Panther Cuts on her bandcamp. In our chat she relayed how the Kiwi music scene & its caretakers set her on her musical journey. Next up is my dear friend and long term colleague radio host & DJ Jeannie Hopper of Liquid Sound Lounge ltd. Jeannie and I came up as young DJs and broadcasters on the early 90s in New York - she was on WBAI and I was on WNYU and she worked at Eightball Records and I worked at Dance Tracks and so on and so on. She was also the first one to host boat dance parties on nyc and the photo above is from one of those special parties nearly a decade ago. I think you’ll find her story that starts as a political journalist and leads her to dance music fascinating. There is also a gofundme campaign for Jeannie is she is facing high medical costs due to an accident - find out more on her socials. A massive thank you to both of my special guests. I’m back hosting Balearic Breakfast live this Tuesday from 10am on my Mixcloud Live and this one is a biggie - the annual BB Pride marathon. I hope you can join me and thanks for listening. THE PLAYLIST Philippa Guest Mix: Radic The Myth – Forest of White Trees Introbeatz – Its Been Good Henna Onna – Shibuya Oiran Milesun – Move Like This Plaisance – I'll Be There For You Groovecat – Live Your Life (Miguel Migs Piano Love Dub) Dany Ivy ft Biyi – Location Willie Rodriguez – Little Moonlight Leo Janeiro, Jhayam, Tuccillo – Time Goes (Tuccillo House Mix) Gledd – Its Not That Easy Mr G – That Special Place (G's Nagoya Underground Dub) Los Hermanos – Keep Hold Tight Detroit Rising – Don't Stop the Feeling (Jimpster Dub) Philippa – Hear Me Philippa ft Sena – Motion State Jeannie Hopper Guest Mix: Dennis Collins feat Ada Dyer – What Can I Do For You 2FTHER – Rise (Maurice Joshua extended mix) 808 BEACH, Belle Humble – Here's Where the Story Ends Groovecat – Live Your Life (Miguel Migs Piano Love Dub) Sal Negro – Tell the People (Trey Max mix) Groove Junkies, Munk Julious, Solara – Dialed In (GJs vs Moroder Afro Excursion) Dizzy K – Afrikan Djamboree (Lipelis Disco Dub) Peter Matson – Alien (Phenomenal Handclap Band remix) Addy Weitzman – No Man's Land (The Time & Space Machine remix) FSQ, Prins Thomas, Moniquea, XL Middleton – Feeling Wide (Prins Thomas mix) DJ Romain – Amazement Kai Alce – Boogie (House of EFUNK mix) Alan Russell – Piano Peace

Following the absolutely gorgeous, and delicate, set that Gina did for Balearic Breakfast, I had to know more about her views on Music... Join us for a nice chinwag! 1) Hello, Gina, thank you so much for joining us here! You did quite an astounding mix for the show recently. Can you share with us how you worked on it and what you wanted to convey through the songs you chose? It was December and cold. I felt like hibernating and wanted something very gentle and soothing, but connected to where I live and who I am. I had heard Anna Phoebe in Margate shortly before, and as she lives in Deal, I thought it would be a personal choice. The track by Public Service Broadcasting felt to me also to have a Kentish link – It is from The Last Flight and is the story of Amelia Earhart's last flight before she disappeared. There is a statue in Herne Bay, near where I live, for another famous aviator, who also disappeared over water – Amy Johnson. Somehow, the sea united those pioneering women in my head. It's how I join those musical dots. I have been soothed by Bill Laswell's version of The Heathen a lot this past year, so I wanted to include that one too. The rest was just stuff I have enjoyed listening to and felt right. 2) Generally speaking, what is your relationship to music? How do you listen to it? How do you engage with it? I hear lyrics all the time – songs tell my life story better than anything. I listen to the radio as soon as I get up. I listen to music on my phone, on earbuds, on the way to work. I dance to it at weekends, and I go to live events during the week. It is a big part of my life. I'm off to listen to Wolfgang Flur at the Jazz Cafe as I write this, while listening to Wooden Shjips on my earbuds on the train up to London! 3) If you were left on a lonely island, and if you were to pick up 3 albums to listen to, which ones would you choose and why? Duh! George Harrison – All Things Must Pass, James Murphy and Pat Mahoney –Fabriclive 36 (for dancing), Pink Floyd – DSOM (obviously played on a top-end desert island hifi 😉). 4) Some people say that "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture" What is your take on that? Music is very personal – the same piece can evoke different feelings in different people at different times. I think reviews are also subjective. They're a good starting point, but never the full answer. Feelings go beyond words – listen to Sofia Kourtesis, 'How Music Makes You Feel Better'. 5) I know it's a hard question, but could you share with us two/three memories associated with Balearic Breakfast? What does Balearic Breakfast mean to you? I like the inclusive nature of the show, and the fact that people from so many different parts of the world tune in at the same time. It has kept me sane and connected through some turbulent times. Love the show and the compilations!

Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy broadcast this new episode of Balearic Breakfast on her Mixcloud on June 16th, 2026. ABOUT THIS EPISODE Once again, in this new episode, Colleen demonstrates how great she is at crafting coherent mixes, not just musically speaking, but also intellectually. The first hour is an absolute masterpiece; the selected songs share an intimate message. Colleen's mix, flawless as usual, intensifies the initial musical intent by allowing the listener's spirit to form mental images as he drifts away... Let’s dive deeper… The show starts with the airy, forward-looking instrumental Greyscale. It perfectly allows the listener to feel, for the first time, the windy feeling. Then, the second song, River Man, originally sung by Nick Drake, reinforces that first feeling, on an intellectual level: take the time to listen carefully, you will clearly understand that this song is about “the passage of time, the Seasons of life, and of loss”, quite windy, don’t you think? How do you feel when you have to make changes in your life? It isn’t always a “peaceful” time, and the song's structure and depth allow you to picture the dreams lying somewhere… Gonna see the river man, Gonna tell him all I can, about the plan, for lilac time… This beautiful musical and intellectual unity will keep on evolving through the first hour of the show, and both Ground Loop (with its somewhat worried and jazzy feel allowing you to picture palm trees being bent by a fierce wind…) and of course Trade Winds (despite its lighter musical domain, it is a tense musical moment where you can feel a certain tension), keep on carrying the initial message at arm’s length. Colleen’s delicate mix enhances the message. It does not try to keep the music flowing in an automated way. You can clearly feel the groove there too, and the musical selections she made are clearly linked together perfectly, aren’t they?! En La Playa Blanca (listen to the depth of this track, the use of the effects and how they allow you to lose your mind), followed by the perfect and funky number Rmoosh Arabiya, opening the second half of the show’s first hour, keeps the vibrant wind alive and well. Clearly, Colleen had something in mind here… Kotoa’s Love and Light also has that jazzy and windy touch, and it lands perfectly besides that! Our Windy trip keeps on taking us to higher grounds with Piper’s Summer breeze... Mmmh, do you start to feel me now? Laughs! Colleen is the Only One who's able to craft such wonderful sets, with so much imagery! Here is another great example, right? Robot 84’s remix brings us back to the 90s, and his version of Voodoo Chile is another example of how windy this episode is! We’re almost reaching the end of the first hour, and as always, time flies! Of course, The Illusions’ Float has an interesting beginning if you see what I mean, laughs! I could go on and on, but I think you got the message by now. The rest of the show keeps the message alive, and Colleen's mix is clearly perfect there! But, by the way, do you know where these trade winds will take us? … Listen back to episode 26-23 of Balearic Breakfast: This morning’s Balearic Breakfast is now up on my Mixcloud for your listening back pleasure. Today’s show has a lot of new tunes on the jazzy tip along with some classic cuts and has a real international feel. I played a lot of vinyl on this morning’s radio show as.I’ve been going through a big stack of promos and also bought some new records for our London Loft party this past Sunday. We had another wonderful party celebrating 23 years since we started with David Mancuso so it was a combo of our anniversary and our Pride celebrations. Sending huge gratitude and love to our London Loft team - shifting sound equipment, blowing up balloons, hanging up the decor, preparing the food and everything else that goes into the party before a single record is played. And once we take off, its the dancers who fuel the party and thanks to all who brought their generous spirit and positive vibes and great moves - seeing more and more fabulous dancing at our parties so thank you! Our next party is the 20th September and if you would like to receive an invitation you must be on our mailing list. You can join the Friendship Train at loftparty.org Thanks for listening. Love saves the day. THE PLAYLIST (2026) Kessoncoda – Greyscale (Sunrise Mix) (2026) Seu Jorge & Beck – River Man (2026) Your Brother's Keeper & Gary Bartz – Ground Loop (2026) Hideo Ichikawa – On the Trade Wind Bandidos del Ocio – En La Playa Blanca Sadeedo ft Dani Moham – Rmoosh Arabiya (2026) Kotoa – Love and Light (2019) Piper – Summer Breeze Kiss the Sky – Voodoo Chile (Robot 84 Voodoo Dub) (2026) The Illusions ft. Nathan Haines – Float () Woolfy vs Projections – Aliens (Turbotito Dub) (2025) Plastic Bamboo – Touki Bouki (2022) Summer Vee – Key to All Your Love (2026) Captain Ahoy Edits – Beefa (2026) John Silas ft Marquinn Mason – Nasty (2024) Doug Gomez – Get Down (2024) Lady M – Kali Raat (Edit) (2026) Tema Due – Shaman's Prophecy (2025) Coflo – Tsunami's Muse (2023) Herb Alpert – Rotation (Sly's Sunset Mix)

Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy broadcast this new episode of Balearic Breakfast on her Mixcloud on January 06th, 2026. ABOUT THIS EPISODE Amidst a few streaming problems, and to start this new year on the right foot (or maybe the left, who knows?), Colleen broadcast Balearic Breakfast's 253rd episode almost in the middle of nowhere, saying, "Even on my end - it's not a strong wifi signal - I'm out in the middle of nowhere in Northern Lanzarote". Keeping her interactions with the Balearic Breakfast to a minimum to allow for a stronger signal and a better streaming quality, Colleen still took part to the chat with the fam, directly participating in a new successful streaming party of our beloved show! This episode is one of the most important and interesting we've ever had, due to the historical and musical aspects The Secret DJ (follow him on Facebook / Instagram) shares in the interview he did with Colleen. It's an absolute must-listen. There's a transcription of the interview below as well. Lastly, and of course, both mixes were absolutely great, and won our hearts for obvious reasons shared here (follow Pooky & The Bonsai Hifi Sound System on Instagram). Enjoy! Listen back to episode 26-01 of Balearic Breakfast: This morning’s Balearic Breakfast is now up on my Mixcloud and features two guest mixes. First up is an interview with and a mix from The Secret DJ. He has written three books the reveal both hilarious stories and also dire accounts of mental and physical health issues delivered from the perspective of a touring DJ. He’s a natural raconteur with a quick wit and I’m sure you will love our interview about aspects of Ibiza’s history and his life as a foreign resident on the White Isle. You should check out his Facebook for his personal story with the late and lovely DJ Alfredo, as well. The Secret DJ is also an intrepid journalist who has uncovered some of the more unsavoury aspects of our beloved dance music world - namely emotional, physical and sexual abuse of women. For that, I truly applaud him. Thank you Secret DJ. He’s also a great DJ and I think you’ll love his exclusive Balearic Breakfast mix. Up next is my dear friend Pooky who hosts the Bonsai Hi Fi Sound System parties up in Liverpool. I had the pleasure of joining him a few years ago and he was also one of our DJs in our Love Dancin’ tent at the inaugural We Out Here. He’s also a top human. Thanks to both of these guys for filling in whilst I take a break. NB: My intro and links were recorded in a very echo-y room so apologies for that. I’m on holiday and decided not to spend too much time being my usual Virgo self and perfecting everything. After all, my 2026 resolution is all about ‘letting go and moving on’. Enjoy the show and I’ll be back next week with a Balearic Breakfast show featuring two more special guest mixes from J Kriv of Razor n Tape and a Balearic Breakfast Family mix from Gina Lapsley. Thanks for listening. THE PLAYLIST The Secret DJ Tracklist: (1987) Man Parrish – Water Sports (2018) Mildlife – Im Blau (2019) Caroline Polachek – Hey Big Eyes (NOL) Sum Such – Don't Go (2017) Kid Francescoli and Julia Minkin – Moon (and it went like...) (2024) Glass Beams – Mahal (1991) Kwanzaa Posse – Wicked Funk (2018) Charlotte Gainsbourg – Bombs Away (2024) Bedford Falls Players – Beautiful Chaos (1990) Blow Monkeys – La Passionara (1990) The Fall – Bill is Dead (2021) Floating Points and Pharoah Sanders – Movement 7 (2025) Young Gun Silver Fox – Curious (2025) Doobie Brothers – Learn to Let Go (2025) Everyone Says Hi – On the Same Side Pooky of Bonsai Hi Fi Tracklist: (2023) A Vision of Panorama & Sykes – Let Me (Poolboy Mix) (2024) Steve Cobby & Third Attempt – Language of the Heart (2014) Payfone – Subconscious Lamentation (NOL) Andy Ash – Castles in the Sky (2017) Session Victim – Over & Over (2014) Onyricon – Sweet Dream (Balearic Militant Dub) (2019) Space Echo – Distratto (NOL) Heatwave – Star of the Story (Smoove's Multitrack Mix) (NOL) Rudy Norman – Back to the Streets (Pookash Exclusive Mix) (2017) Caserta – Ricky (Jeep Mix) (NOL) D'Angelo – D'Angela (Jim Sharp Mix) (1979) Randy Crawford – Endlessly THE SECRET DJ'S INTERVIEW WITH COLLEEN Good morning, Balearicans. I'm Colleen Cosmo Murphy, hosting your weekly Balearic Breakfast until 12 noon GMT on my MixCloud Live. And greetings to the family over there joining me right now. Thank you as always for your support. Happy New Year, everyone. I hope you had a great holiday. I'm still taking a little bit of a break, and I am away. But in my place, I have two special guest mixes for you. And I also have an interview with the secret DJ, who resides in Ibiza. And he tells us a little bit about the history of Ibiza, and why it's been invaded by so many different groups of people. And he's also provided a special guest mix. And up after him, we have my friend Pookie, a Balearic Breakfast family member who also hosts a regular party called Bonsai Hi-Fi, up in Liverpool. But first, it's over to the secret DJ. Ed. Note: The Secret DJ Issued two books, which you can purchase here and there. He also gave a great interview to Test Pressing a few years ago. There's also a Mixcloud stream he did back then. [Colleen] Here in the studio with me is the secret DJ. [TSDJ] Hey, buddy, how you doing? [Colleen] I'm good. How are you doing? [TSDJ] Good, thanks. It was great to see you in Ibiza recently. At least, you know, it was great that you actually came. A lot of the Balearians actually never even been to Ibiza. So it was fantastic to host you there, and show you some of the sights. We had a good time, right?! [Colleen] This is the reason why I wanted to interview you for the show, because you know so much about the history of Ibiza. [TSDJ] Actually, I've lived in Ibiza for 40 years. [Colleen] Yes, exactly, exactly. So you've been there for, like, decades now. And, you know, I love what you're writing on Facebook when you're talking about your own experiences, and how you started to kind of get immersed into the culture, and the kind of faux pas that you would say, like, asking people for Ibiza, what do you do for a living? [TSDJ] Oh, yeah, very, yeah. [Colleen] So you've really kind of tried to understand the culture. You speak Spanish to the best of your ability, no matter what DJ Alfredo used to say about you. And... [TSDJ] Well, ironically, I sound like a reverse Manuel from Fawlty Towers, you know! I learned it from a book. I talk myself, so I do. I've never got a Spanish person to laugh with me, but they will laugh at me! I mean, for instance, if you say that, like, we say, in Spanish, you say that you have 47 years. You don't say you're 47 years old, you say, I have 47 years. And I once introduced my dad, who at the time was 80. And I said, I thought I said, this is my 80-year-old dad. But what I actually said was, because papa and papa, potato and father, are almost exactly the same. And año and ano is anus and years. So I said, this is my potato, he's got 80 anuses. And I said, this is my potato, he's got 80 years! And I said, this is my potato, he's got 40 years. And I said, this is my potato, he's got 40 years! Oh, so I used to live near the McDonald's roundabout, and I'd say to the taxi driver, rotundo, which actually means chubby. Rotunda is roundabout, and rotundo means chubby. So I'd get into the taxi and go, rotunda like chubby, and they'd be like "Dude, I know I've got a sit-down job, but you know, give me a break man"! Laughs [Colleen] Well, what I loved, one thing you wrote about Ibiza, that I wanted to kind of start with, is that Ibiza is a place where people have always gone to escape. And it's really, it's a refuge, and it's not even, not only like Spain, but it's also not even like the other Balearic islands… [TSDJ] Dude, I woke up from a coma in Mallorca, and first of all, they've got completely different accent, you know. And and also their, their version of catalan is medellín, is not like ibizan, it's a different language. And they think that we're like satan, he was like "there's a dj in there he's from ibiza!" you know. And, they they kind of come, they would file in to have a look at you, you know like, you're like a monkey in a in a cage, you know because they think that the mayorkans are is where the government is, and that's who we pay our taxes to. And, and that's the center of the balearic government, so they hate Ibiza, and Ibiza hates Mallorca, so it's, and it's... It's hilarious really, so don't even get started with the main! Laughs [Colleen] You know, I didn't realize there was that sense of isolation, but also a sense of always being invaded, if you could talk maybe, before the british invasion! [TSDJ] It's still being invaded, it's a constant, it's a constant invader, constant slow invasion, but it's been the most invaded piece of real estate possibly in, in the world because it's right in the middle of, you know, classicism. It's right in the middle of the the greeks, and the phoenicians, and the romans, and, and, and right in the middle, because obviously they would use, uh you know the peninsula and Gibraltar, which would then, they would go around to the Atlantic. So you know there was all that other western bit of um... of the ancient empires, obviously the moors, and the barbary pirates, and you know... And right in the middle is this tiny little island that produces salt, and you can't do shit without salt, because salt preserves food before... before refrigeration was even a crazy sci-fi concept, so you couldn't travel, you couldn't trade, you couldn't go to war if you didn't have salt. And that's why the romans invented the word salary, it's because legionnaires used to get paid in salt because it was worth more than gold at one point you know. So salt was everything, salt was the, the engine that drove empire. So to have a salt they also had salt flats in sicily and sardinia as well, and uh... It was, you know, the perfect place. So it's almost like a gas station, you know, the gas station of history. So ibiza would, because it was so tiny, there was never enough ibyshenkos to fight anyone, so they just get steam, and that's one of the reasons why they're so tiny, they were very small people because all the big people got killed. And also like the national dress, it makes every, makes young pretty girls look like old ladies from a distance from the telescope, because there was, they would look on a telescope and say 'oh look a lady", and then they would just go and take that lady unless she dressed like an old hag! So the sort of traditional costume of loads of petticoats, and sort of scars on your head was like an old lady cosplay. And all the houses are painted white if they're facing inland, but they painted brown if the walls face the sea, as a form of camouflage. So the the era of the barbary pirates was particularly bad, you know, so that it's been invaded forever you know, since since the dawn of time because it had this precious resource. And of course, the spanish would invade. Then eventually it was King Philip who took, uh... put ibiza back into the stone age, because Ibiza became quite wealthy until until the, um... the, it's always the christians man, the christians just turn up and just kick the shit out of everything! So King Philip said, Mmh... Nice pile of salt you've got there Ibiza, I'm gonna have that, you know, but I... here look, and to this day there's a big mountain of salt which is a a sock, it's given to the islanders to say, do you know, what we're gonna take your entire economy and your history, and your future, but here's some salt! That pile of salt you can see, there's always a big pile, like a pyramid of salt you can literally just drive and fill your car up with salt. That's King Philip's gift to the people of Ibiza, we're going to take everything that you've got your riches, your your culture, your your, you know, your children's future, but you can have some salt! Laughs [Colleen] Thank you thank you King Philip! Now is Ibiza founded by the Phoenicians, though do they name… [TSDJ] Well, I mean, they were one of the first civilizations, the purple people. Phoenicians had that that purple dye that ended up in the, you know, in the cloaks of kings. It was a very rare uh, in form of indigo wasn't it? And the purple people were, you know, a seagoing empire from north africa really, from Carthage, they became the Carthaginians eventually. The Carthaginians and the Romans kicked the shit out of each other for a hundred years, you know, maybe more. The punic wars are the wars between the root, the Romans, and the Carthaginians. Funny enough there's not many books in english about this stuff, there's not many books of history about Ibiza, and about north africa that are in english because it's of little interest to english-speaking countries. But, um..., once you learn Spanish and start to read some of the many books in spanish about it, then it's... Then it's fascinating because it's a very rich part of the world. I mean, before they had compasses, I mean, The Vikings had a primitive form of navigation, using a sort of slightly translucent stone. But um... Most maps of the mediterranean used to be on the side, so um... Say for instance Gibraltar would be the northernmost point and when you look at, when you tilt the map of the mediterranean, until it's like a long a long um... uh if you like vertical line uh... It makes a lot more sense, you just kind of see it more, as more as a... As a world then, because it's, if you like, a very all the edges of the mediterranean, where all the great um... empires and cultures lived. Because obviously trade and sea travel and, you know uh..., you know, fertile land, and and jewels, and salt, and all these things were essential to survive, and obviously fresh water was essential. And uh..., if you like, everything that we know is, is around the lip of the mediterranean as it were, and then bang in the middle of the Balearics and Sardinia, and, and Sicily, who all, who all, who were equally invaded you might say, but because they were larger land areas, they had, you know, they had perhaps enough population to fight back a little bit. But ibiza was just so tiny it would just get completely razed. Oh you would just take a couple of ships full of nutcases to take a bit, you know, and they would leave with everything as they still do to this day in in different ways. I didn't... I didn't go there professionally until the mid 90s. And then I started to play at Space, and uh... I was... And then I became um... a resident for, for home, which was Darren Hughes's uh spinoff from Cream, and we started to do sundays every sunday at space. And that was when I started to do, you know, whole seasons, as it were, and then I... Actually to my, to my great shame, I didn't really get into Ibiza for a very long time, because I would arrive there, get absolutely hammered, everything was just like neon and vomit because it was either playa de bosa or san Antonio, and I used to think it was like you know like blackpool or margaret. It was just kind of gross, and touristy. And then, once, I missed... I completely, legitimately missed the flight. It was cheap to hire a car and get a hotel. So i ended up driving around ibiza for the first time with my buddy, and I was like... Am i a dickhead or what?! I had no idea this place was beautiful! I didn't have a clue! Because, you know, you'd arrive in the middle of the night, or in the morning, get on a coach, or, or if you're going to playa de bossa you wouldn't even see everybody, you'd go like, you know, it's a hop and a skip from the airport to bossa and just kind of, just do the dj gigs and then leave, and i'd be like how can it be hot at night?! What is wrong with this place?! You know why is it hot at night? Who can sleep? And i couldn't wait to get home! I used to find it like a bit oppressive, and sort of cheesy, and touristy. And then i just accidentally, sort of, drove around. I was like... Whoaa! Am I an idiot or what?! This place is amazing! And that's when I fell for it when i kind of realized what a fool i'd been! And also what a trick it is, because it's 90% uninhabited and 99% awesome. It's just these tiny little twat paddocks where we keep all the dickheads where we just keep them in san antonio, where and that's what the locals do. It's very clever, they just bust them out! It's like you're going to a safari park, you know, careful kid, wind up windows, these monkeys bite, you know, you... You can go, drive around, go drive around san antonio like it's with safari park, and go look at the tigers, and monkeys, and bears... you know, but the rest of it's completely empty! And, and that was... That was a great, that, that's the great beef illusion. That's the trick, that the locals call is, that they they put us into these little, little um... machines for extracting money! [Colleen] But how about now that you've been there for a while, are you still regarded as an outsider, or do you think you have a little bit more… [TSDJ] When i was in london there'd always be somebody in london, I mean... I remember once being told by somebody um... In london, who was about 17 years old, that I'll never be a londoner. And I was like, I've just realized I've actually spent more time in london than you being you know being like nearly 60, you know! And... But it doesn't matter because to them if you, you know, you know..., it's like the, the way the racism we're seeing at the moment. There's always somebody who's more local than you are. The thing is not... Is not to wear a false crown, so you know, it's like, I don't consider myself in a v chenco. I don't call myself an islander because that's basically wearing a t-shirt that says I'm a knobhead, you know. But it's, it's like, you know. But you've just got it, you've just got to be realistic about it. It's like you know. I'm a foreigner, I live there I've got an irish passport I'm a tax paying uh citizen, but I'm not a spanish citizen. I'm a... I'm what's called a full resident and it's a complex, it's a complex system. But I am those things. I don't have a quick... I think it's a bit of a lie to start saying yeah I'm from Ibiza or I'm gonna be, you see people who've got, you know, their, their social media handles is dave Ibiza... [Colleen] Well it's kind of hard for me to say because I have a show that says baleric breakfast! [TSDJ] Yeah but you're... You get it. You... You understand that balearicaring means anything goes... [Colleen] That's i'm using it as a anything goes, and it was also named during the pandemic when we all wanted to be outside of our homes, and it just seemed very enticing as well... [TSDJ] You get it, it's not difficult, you know you get it, it's not a difficult thing to get. You'd be amazed how few people get it, you know? Yeah? because there's nothing more scary to a straight white man than not giving him any rules... I need? Oh my god, I need rules... Give me rules! [Colleen] Well, speaking of no rules, let's talk about the mix you've done for us, because I didn't give you any rules, and it's really great to have a mix from you, thank you so much for doing it. Tell us a little bit about it... [TSDJ] I've been doing my mixcloud for so long, and, and I sometimes call things a balearic this and a balearic that, mocking me because the only reason it's called balearic it's because I did it in Ibiza. It's got absolutely nothing, nothing to do with what the british think balearic is. And, and so that's the first time I've done, an I can't remember, I mean, I think I did an hour once in 1997, so I was very confused by only having an hour, and I did my best, and I'm still scratching my arse after 45 minutes because, you know, for me for me, uh... You know, djing is a bit like the new thing rock and jazz, you know. A jazz solo is, you know, you're still finding your feet when the rock guy's uh, you know, sweating and needs to lie down! So you know, with a rock solo you just burn you know straight away, and like a jazz... A jazz solo it's like you're exploring, you know, you're still sort of wandering around, looking at the supermarket shelves, you know, what, you know, while the rock, while the rock guy's already at home eating the tin beans, you know! So it's it's one of those things where I had to get to the point really quickly in an hour, and I found it very confusing. I did my best; I put a few classics in there like um... Like the passionara. it's just funny enough um... That was made, that was basically just a flamenco guitarist they paid to come in with a sample, um you know, with the classic um batchy sample. But this is really um Marius de Vries who's now a huge hollywood soundtrack guy, you know, he did like la la land and he does like all these movies, and he comes to viva all the time, so it's a weird sort of, um uh... synchronicity going on there, and we often talk about what's balearic and what isn't. He's greatly amused that the passionara is a balearic classic because he just... They did, they did it for a laugh in about an hour you know. I had no idea that this... that this was gonna happen and so yeah, so I sent it to you and I called it a cod balearic mix because um... I don't really understand or participate in the British Balearic thing, because it's like something that the british do, and no other country does it. If you go to an italian in the beach and say hey do you want to go to a balearic night he's like what? Let's go to a balearic night, and he's like we're in Ibiza? I'm like no no no no you don't understand, it's like you know it's it's it's dj balearic Keith from Barnsley! And they just look at you like you're out, you're deranged! So it's like... So yeah, I don't really participate in that thing, but because I've been working from, and with and in ibiza for so long, I differentiate by balearic with, I spell proper balearic with a capital B and British balearic with a small b that's the way that I… [Colleen] Uh okay, I'll remember that distinction... [TSDJ] Or, sometimesn I do balearic with a small b in inverted commas you know, and it's and it's a sort of almost like... A sort of um... It's like a cosplay of balearic, is the british play thing. You know, like those guys who dress up as as roundheads and cavaliers at the weekend, and, and like fight each other with foam each other with shields and swords, yeah, or laughers you know... People who put spock ears on and go at each other with foam swords there's a some of these balearic guys with a small b a bit kind of like cosplaying djs you know. They sort of, they've got nice jobs, and they've got like a lovely record collection in the garage, you know it's sort of, you know, they're cosplaying the 90s. They had a great time in the 90s, and it's sort of um... They're imposing all these rules about you know what balearic is and what it isn't. And you know, exchanging chris records and stuff, and it's kind of... Meanwhile in Ibiza not barsley you know! It's funny enough, I mean... I have what you might describe as alfredo's last mix, which is because when I looked after him when he was poorly in his last few years, last three years of his life, I was tech support, you know, get the phone calls, do sort his phone out, sort his laptop out, and he always, he's always thought he was gonna have this big comeback, which was really cool, you know, and sweet and and um... There's this mix and... And sort of when I look at it, and uh and it's basically any musicologist would call it afro beat, you know. It's very very north african, is the balearic sound, the real balearic sound, capital b. Uh... Not just culturally and historically, but I mean ibiza, ibeza, is the best, is that is a north african god, you know. That is its connection to north africa, I mean every every word in spanish with l on the front is pure arabian, you know. This is a very very north african culture, and in its roots and a lot of that original blare the original balearic djs all have this sort of afro beat kind of um... Strain running through everything that they do... [Colleen] And it's the italians too in the 1970s, I think they even used what was the word they used I think they did call it afro right? [TSDJ] Yeah. And it's very sort of world music kind of vibe. There's a lot of um... It's quite recognizably sort of a bit hippie, let's you know, let's, let's, let's not beat about the bush Alfredo was very much uh a totem for some of the hippie culture there, the hippies love Alfredo and and he's definitely saw himself in that milieu, you know. But it's pure afro, this, this, this kind of final mix, if you like, and it's got nothing at all to do with the British idea of what balearic is, nothing. It's quite dance, I mean, what you know. You'd go to alfredo dj when he was fit and well, and he'd be playing music to dance to, to, you know, and that dancing music was very afro in, in, in feel and, and in stance, and and historically it's just a big big strain the strata that runs through the whole thing, it's where it's north africa's a huge influence on everything to do with the food, you know, the moroccan kind of flavors, little sort of stone pots, it's lamb, olives, and it's very sort of north african. So it's a huge part of it, another thing that the british scene completely doesn't get no clue, you know, and this, this this, part of it's very overlooked, and I'd hate to say it's a little bit racist as well, you know, it's like, it's something that's dismissed in favor of the, you know, the great british white version of events you know... [Colleen] Well they've been fascinating to talk to and I just want to direct people. You wrote three chapters which are up on your facebook... [TSDJ] Well I wrote with Alfredo... [Colleen] Yeah is that coming out? [TSDJ] Yeah... I'm, I'm just... I'm not sure what to do about it. It doesn't feel right making money out of it, so I'm trying to think of a way of what to do about that. So i've got a book about the last three years I was alfredo's carer for want of a better word, and um... And he's been my friend since I, since I first came to ibiza, uh... you know, and a mentor if you like, you know I very much looked up to him and he very much looked down on me, (laughs) he thought I was, he thought I was equal parts annoying and hilarious, depending on what was going on, but um... Yeah, we we were buddies, and um... And then, when I found that, you know, as you tend to, you do tend to get cast aside when you get older, I ended up looking after him, yeah... So I wrote this book that was about, basically, a lifetime of friendship, really. I was going to call it Walking with Alfredo but of course that's a bit like walking with dinosaurs! (laughs) I knew that the british would mock that so I turned it to Dancing with Alfredo, and it's from the first moment I saw him at amnesia in the 80s to to pretty much when he died so... And those three years are a big part of it was sort of going to the old folk. So it's very slow, it's... I mean if my first book was like fair and loathing this is much more like um... you know, mortimer and whitehouse go fishing. It's like, it's it's two, two, two old grumpy old geezers kind of being grumpy old geezers, you know, like uh waldorf and stadler... [Colleen] I loved it, I read the three chapters, I guess. They're in you know, the three parts you put on facebook trying to talk a little bit try to squeeze some of the history in there as well... [TSDJ] Not trying not to make it too me me me, but you know, I couldn't help but be there, but you know, it's you know, it's a kind of, you know, a potted, a potted history built around the friendship... [Colleen] Around the friendship, yeah exactly... Ed. Note: Colleen paid tribute to DJ Alfredo during Balearic Breakfast, you can access the page of this poignant episode here. [TSDJ] Positive as well you know... [Colleen] Yeah. I did and it's it's really, really beautiful. And I had I had the opportunity just to meet him one time, and I was very, very thankful. But it was great reading what you, you know the just, just to get to know him a bit more through your writing, and... uh.... before we go and we just go back to your mix, I also want to just send a personal thank you for all that you do in our community, um... Kind of risking your own sometimes reputation and your own mental health uh... for exposing some of the really nasty things that have been happening in dance music, from you know far-right extremism, to sexual assault on women, and to many other things, and I don't want to get into naming names, but I just want to thank you because what you do is... [TSDJ] I name I name the name so you don't have to! [Colleen] Exactly you name the name so I don't have to, thank you secret dj... [TSDJ] Yeah, I mean I've been getting... I get credible death threats and I have to have security sweeps and things like that, but then again you know I do write for Private Eye and we've had, you know, we do things like deal with the saudis who do chop up journalists and put them in bins, so you know, dj dickhead from rotherham is not a huge problem... [Colleen] Well I still thank you! [TSDJ] You know, and a lot of these guys and they get quite tough with me, and they send me all these threats and stuff, and I'm like guys, you know, I literally, literally the other day, had to talk to mi5 about, about a Private Eye story. You're not that tough you know... [Colleen] I just wanted to thank you, I just wanted to thank you, because, you know, this stuff does need to come out. Yeah, you're very rare in that regard. Most people, well actually, I know a lot of people that really applaud what you do, and I want you to know that. So thank you so much, and thank you for this wonderful mix and for your take on... You know uh... Ibiza... thank you so much... [TSDJ] No, thank you. Thanks also for doing your thing man. You, you're a... You're a bright voice in a very dark place sometimes... I love it! THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE Both mixes greatly present how to build a set, I dare to say it, cleverly. Often, I listen to mixes that keep the same BPM throughout their entire lenght. It's not I don't like these, they can work out well occasionally, but, you know, it's like audio compression, too much of it and it gets tiring. So, and as I've learned with Colleen, and of course also thanks to David, and from my own feelings as a chkd watching rock concerts, I mean, it's great when you have a journey-like musical experience when listening to a mix. And here, both the Secret DJ and Pooky really perfectly showcase what a powerhorse a mix can be when it allows the listener to breathe, to enter an unknown world, to travel through it and get out of it, slowly, having surprises all along the way... One of the thing that stroke me is that both of the mixes we heard in this episode had that growing start, allowing you to enter the mix, then a solid middle musical part , a surprising Breaking point and then an outro, shorter or longer depending on the dj doing their thing. Without being too long, and just to explain my point, the breaking point in The Secret DJ's set happens when he plays the incredible track Movement 7 by Floating Points and Pharoah Sanders. Pooky, on the other side, did also propose a Splendid Break by Cleverly, and Beautifuly slowing down the rhythm of the track he played, namely Jim Sharp's Mix of D'Angelo's D'Angela, allowing him to land perfectly on Randy Crawford's Endlessly! That's a perfect move! By playing with Rhythm, both of our friends instilled a Soul to their set, creating a whole world of emotions... Really, if you want to bring your dancers on their knees, there's no other way round than to follow this way of building and conducting a set! Congratulations guys!!

Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy broadcast this new episode of Balearic Breakfast on her Mixcloud on January 13th, 2026. ABOUT THIS EPISODE One of the joys of Balearic Breakfast is that even when our Captain is away, she always leaves us with a little something so that our Tuesday are not filled with silence! Despite a few streaming problems, Colleen was able to broadcast today's episode which definitely was a soothing one, and something we all needed as this new year starts with a lot of political and economical turmoil... Just so you know, I'm presently working on a couple of interviews for the blog, so keep it locked, we're going to have some good times soon! I'll see you next week! Until then, remember, Just Be Balearic... Listen back to episode 26-02 of Balearic Breakfast: This morning’s Balearic Breakfast is now up on my Mixcloud and thank you to all who joined in on the live stream. I’m still away so today’s show features two guest mixes: a gorgeous downtempo Balearic Breakfast family mix from Gina Lapsley and a groovy mix from JKriv of Razor n Tape. We also had a short chat about his career and forthcoming projects and his drive and passion (and many talents) really shone through. A big thanks to both Gina and JKriv. I’ll be back in the record room, streaming live on Tuesday the 20th January from 10am to 12pm GMT. Thanks for listening. THE PLAYLIST Gina Lapsley Balearic Breakfast Family Mix: (2004) Susumu Yokota – Song of the Sleeping Forest (2021) Anna Phoebe – Horizons (2025) Celine Dessberg – Chintamani (1980) The Durutti Column – Sketch for Winter (2007) Ahmed Fakroun – Nisyan (Les edits du Golem edit) (1978) RAAW – Just a Little Different (1997) Bob Marley – The Heathen (Dreams of Freedom Mix) (2024) Hermanos Gutierrez – Low Sun (1984) Zenamon – Oh Nandu, What We've Done! (2016) Condor Gruppe – Frog Bog (1987) Robbie Robertson – Somewhere Down The Crazy River (2012) Blundetto feat. Courtney John – Warm My Soul (2024) Public Service Broadcasting – Howland JKriv of Razor-n-Tape Mix: (1982) Chaka Khan – So Not To Worry (NOL) Rene & Angela – I'll Be Good (JKriv's Deep&Disco Rework) (2025) Brochure – Back Off (Jex Opolis Good Timin' Dub) (2025) Takuya Matsumoto – Yamanashi (2003) Camiel – Sintra (Osunlade Main Mix) (2025) Deon Jamar x CTRLZora – Siren Song (Tall Black Guy Remix) (2025) Patrick Gibin ft Kaidi Tatham – Let It Go (Joaquin's Sacred Rhythm Music Dance Version) (2025) Tigerbalm feat. Andre Espeut – Pura Vida (JKriv Remix) (2026) Alistair Colling vs. Tortured Soul feat. Sabina – When You Find Your Love...Hold On (DJ Spinna Galactic Soul Remix) (2019) Shinichiro Yokota, Soichi Terada, Nami Shimada – Sunshower (2025) Tranquil Elephantizer – SFO THE LISTENING SESSION Gina's Mix Gina's mix is an open-minded, freely Balearic, both happy and reflective musical trip which takes the listener onto a continuous and wonderous journey. Starting with Song of the Sleeping Forest (which contains an excerpt of the Beautiful Melody of Ravel's "Pavane pour une infante défunte"), Gina then takes us to a reflective musical moment with Horizons. The third track Chintamani really synthesises what I just wrote in the beginning of this short analysis. Gina's mix is almost an ethereal experience, it's disconnected from reality, it has a freedom, it reaches out to a greater somewhere I should say. And Nature seems quite present too when you think about it, this aspect came to me while hearing Sketch for Winter. After this wonderous introduction, Gina takes us onto a more "solid" part of her mix, far less ethereal, but still open to that other place we're going to. And you can feel that in the echo that's used in the mix on the voices on Nisyan (Les edits du Golem edit). The unexpected element is always lurking in the dark and it surprises the listener one more time when Just a Little Different hits our ears! Gina does not try to hold the rhythm at all costs, her mix is very soulful in the end, when you think about it, that's why it sticks to your mind days after you've listened to it! And the wonderous aspect really holds the whole thing together! Followed by The Heathen (Dreams of Freedom Mix), this is the craziest part of the mix perfectly presenting you the fact that, as it always happened to me, you can identify the soul of a mix within its first minutes! This strange musical moment then sees an opening, a great one, with Hermanos Gutierrez's Low Sun (of course played by Colleen herself in 2024), to me, The Absolute WOW Moment of this splendid mix... Keeping the dream alive and well, I love how much Gina is able to keep a close musical DNA between the songs she selects and still allow for slow evolutions to internefer with the listener's brain, thus keeping the adventurous aspect present. This is the case here with Zenamon's Oh Nandu, What We've Done! which keeps a "Country Music" feel while introducing some electronics to the set! It also shows Gina's extensive musical Knowledge, which is something that must be applauded! With Condor Gruppe's Frog Bog, Gina keeps on taking us to Higher grounds, meeting the prairies that saw so much of Native Americans die, trying to protect their lands and their honor... The timing is perfect, Gina never mises a beat, creating a seamless musical moment, one the listener can enjoy to the fullest, and especially when a banger such as Robbie Robertson's Somewhere Down The Crazy River appears! It seems obvious that, as we're reaching the end of the mix, Gina keeps the slow pace alive and well, preparing our brains to a Grand Ending... And this is exactly what happens as Gina slightly plays with Rhythm as Warm my Soul enters the room, what a splendid mix right there! The last track, Howland, leaves us in a dreamy situation, acting as a reunification process, such a "natural" song to choose! All in all, Gina's mix is undoubtedly one of the most freeing we ever had to listen here on Balearic Breakfast! Congratulations Gina! Jkriv's Mix Jkriv's mix is more upfront, it has a rhythmic solidity that shines from Chaka Khan's So Not To Worry on. Sadly, because of the interview we can't do a full analysis of the mix, still, we clearly are on a stronger vibe when we hear a track like Takuya Matsumoto's Yamanashi! Of course, and as expected from real professionals, the timing and the mixes are absolutely top-notch here! Jkriv's mix is less adventurous rhythmically speaking, which does not mean it is not interesting as he also takes us to a floatation trip somewhere above the clouds, laughs with Camiel's Sintra (Osunlade Main Mix) & Siren Song! JKriv's musical proposition is a never-ending extatic musical momentum, this being proved by the way Let It Go is perfectly mixed after Siren Song, you can hear there's a shift in the frequency response of the two tracks, but the rest is absolute mixing genius, right there! Jkriv then drops the 4 last songs, keeping the happy Balearic Spirit alive and well with Pura Vida (JKriv Remix), followed by When You Find Your Love...Hold On (can you feel the house kick coming in stronger there?!) and ending the mix with the Absolute Classic that Sunshower is, not forgetting here the incredible SFO! All in all, a Happy, down-to-earth yet dreamy Balearic set that will make you dance for sure! Jkriv's interview with Colleen Visit https://www.jkriv.com/ [Colleen] Well, Balericans, I have Jkriv from Razor and Tape here in the studio with me. How you doing, Jason? [Jkriv] I'm good. A little cold, but hanging in there. [Colleen] Ah, New York, this time of year. It's pretty warm here in London, you know. [Jkriv] I'm sure, yeah. [Colleen] But they complain about it anyways. [Jkriv] Oh, of course. Yeah. [Colleen] But you do so many different things, and you really just amaze me. I just want to tell our listeners a few of the things that you do. Of course, you're a DJ. You're a producer. You're also a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, label owner. And, you just do so many things that are so prolific. And I just wanted to talk with you about a few of the projects you've been working on and what's coming up in the future. Razor and Tape, you started that about 12 years ago, was it? [Jkriv] Yeah, 13. We started in 2012. [Colleen] And you had 150 releases, which is quite something. I mean, this is like a release almost every single month. When you started the label, was that your idea? To be a very prolific label as opposed to just kind of a vanity label of just putting out projects when you do them as you go? [Jkriv] I mean, the label at its inception kind of had a very different focus than it does now. When we started, it was really an edits label. I had made a bunch of edits myself. My partner, Aaron Day, had collected a bunch from events that he had done. Artists had given them some of their personal edits given to him. And we had this sort of little cache of edits, and we were like, let's get these out there. And that was it. That was like the whole thing at the beginning. Just like, let's get some of this music out there. It's good. We're playing it. Be fun to have it on vinyl. Be fun for other people to play it. But as the label progressed over the years, you know we got a very nice response from the early couple of years of releases. So from our origins as an edits label, we then moved into original music. And that has been really our focus. And that has been really the most exciting thing about running a label, is being able to put out the music and uplift, and help support new artists who are making original music. [Colleen] Well, you're a multi-instrumentalist yourself. As I look at you and your studio, I see all these guitars and keyboards and a bass guitar. When did you get your start, and how did you get your start as a musician? [Jkriv] So I kind of entered into the world of club music probably from an unconventional avenue. I started as an instrumentalist. I was into rock when I was a kid. And from like interest in classic rock, that kind of moved. I mean, I started playing bass when I was 12 years old. Bass and guitar. But bass is really my primary instrument. And I moved from like 70s rock to like 70s soul music, funk and stuff like that. And that kind of led me into disco and dance music. But I studied jazz pretty... I was very focused on jazz for about five, six years of my life. I went to school for jazz at Oberlin, and studied it pretty hardcore. And thought that that's what my career was going to be. And then when I returned to New York, pretty quickly I pivoted. And I started playing like acid jazz. And then I began playing with Tortured Soul, which was a live house band. And I played with Tortured Soul through the 2000s until 2010. And in that range, somewhere around then I started doing some production as well. I wasn't DJing yet, but I started doing a bit of production. And, when I left Tortured Soul in 2010, that's kind of when my current music career, as it exists now, sort of began. I started DJing. I started being much more focused on production and writing and making original music and edits. Like the kind that came out on Razor-n-Tape originally. And yeah, from there, it's kind of just progressed to where it is now. [Colleen] You are so busy. I mean, also on top, Tortured Soul is amazing. I loved, loved, loved Tortured Soul. They were kind of to me like almost like a Blaze-esque kind of band. You know, the same kind of arrangements, classic arrangements. But you also have another live band, a disco band in Escort. Can you tell us about that? [Jkriv] Yeah. So I started playing with Escort after I left Tortured Soul. That wasn't my project originally, but I joined and kind of became more involved in the production and writing of the band as the years went on. That band is kind of dormant right now. I'm not exactly sure what's going on with that. But I do have another live project that I'm focused on right now, which is called Joyful Noise. We've been doing these residencies at Public Records for the past three years. It's a night that incorporates live music and DJs into a club dancing night. And we've recorded all of these nights. And I'm in the process right now. Actually, I was in the studio yesterday mixing down a live record for this band, which we're going to release in May next year. [Colleen] That's so fantastic. That's really great. I was just playing at Public Records. Such a great space. Great sound system. Great sounding room. It's fantastic. I love what they're doing over there. But you also have, I think you also do a summer residency in New York, which I think is worth mentioning. It's called Hot Honey or something. [Jkriv] Hot Honey Sundays. [Colleen] Hot Honey Sundays, yeah. [Jkriv] Yes. So that was an event that kind of grew out of post-lockdown New York. You know, when New York opened up again, we started this party. We had access to this big space on the Greenpoint waterfront. We would set up a sound system every Sunday. And it just built because it was like a free event open to the community. Everybody would come, old people, young people, kids, dogs, everything, you know. And it was a really exciting time. But that party has also kind of transitioned into something else. I'm not quite as involved anymore with that. [Colleen] Well, you also have a record shop as well. So I think you're keeping yourself pretty busy. [Jkriv] Yes, definitely busy. [Colleen] The most recent release I think that I have is a really great EP called Adaptation. It's a really beautiful record. And I wanted to ask you about how you feel your sound is evolving, because you had quite a big scare, a health scare recently. If you want to tell us a little bit about it... [Jkriv] Sure. So last year at this time, actually, I was in treatment for lymphoma. I was diagnosed at the end of September last year with stage 2 lymphoma. And I had to undergo chemotherapy. For... basically the last 3-4 months of the year into the beginning of last year. Fortunately, now I'm done with treatment and I'm all clear. And my doctor believes I'm cured. They can't officially say that until you've had a few years of clean scans. But I'm completely well and back to full health. But yeah, an experience like that where you're really forced to slow down. And take a look at different aspects of your life. It gives you a moment to reflect, uum for sure. And I think it was... At that time, I was in the process of finishing the EP that came out before Adaptation. It's called Intuition. Which is a kind of heavier, clubbier record than Adaptation is. I really wanted to get it done, you know. I didn't want to let what was going on with me just completely put everything in my life on hold. Fortunately, I was able to work a bit when I was in treatment. I wasn't able to DJ and travel, of course. But I was able to do work in my little studio where I'm sitting right now. I just wanted to try to not let this be a thing that just completely disconnected everything that I was doing. And I was able to finish that EP. But Adaptation is maybe a bit more reflective. A bit more melancholic, I guess, than Intuition is. And I think that's music that I had started a long time ago. And it just felt like now is the moment to finish it. And, it's amazing how sometimes things can sit unfinished. And you just don't have the thing that you need to complete it. And then one day you wake up and you're like, Ah, I know what it is. I know what needs to be done here. And that's kind of what happened with that EP. And with, in some ways, a lot of other things in my life as a result of going through the experience that I did. [Colleen] Well, I met you, I think, when you were in treatment because I was playing at Razor and Tape. And you look fantastic, by the way. But one thing that was really interesting is that your output didn't seem to slow down. You are incredibly prolific and driven with everything that you do, all the work that you do. You've done sessions for other people as well, like Dimitri and Kathy Sledge and Horsemeat. You have a whole thing with Brazilian music. So many things we're not even going to get to into this interview. So I wanted to ask, what keeps you going? What drives you? [Jkriv] You know, it's just I feel very fortunate to do what I do. And I just wake up every morning with energy for it. And some days, you know, one thing gets more attention than others. But I kind of just wake up and go. And it doesn't feel like work to me. I mean, sometimes it gets overwhelming and stressful, for sure, when you balance all these different things. But just in general, I just kind of feel very driven and motivated and excited about what I'm doing. So whether it's focusing on the shop, and even buying records for our small little curated section of new music, or production stuff, or label specific stuff, A&R or, you know, any of the different things that I do. I also am the kind of person that I'm not like just one thing, you know, stylistically or in my tastes. I sometimes I want to listen to rock music of my childhood. Some days I want to listen to jazz. Some days I want to listen to funk. You know, it's like it just be anything. So having a lot of different things is good. I think they might call that ADHD. I'm not sure. But... [Colleen] I think I think I'm the same. Exactly. I have a lot of friends with ADHD. I think you have it, Colleen. I think it's my superpower. I don't want to be diagnosed. [Jkriv] I feel the same. I'm a highly functioning ADHD, you know, but it's good for me. [Colleen] I get up before six. I'm like, yeah, I'm ready to go. You know, it's like, what can I do today? And people are like, gosh, do you play till this time in the morning and you could just get up like that? I'm like, I don't sleep that much. I just don't need them. I'm really into life, you know, so. Yeah, so I understand. Yeah, I understand. So what's coming up in the future in 2026 for you? [Jkriv] Yeah. So I have a remix that just came out in December. I have a new one that's about to come out for Anorak, a French producer. I have an edit that's coming out on a make a dance comp at the end of January and this month. And then I have some original music. I have an EP that I completed with my friend Jason Lindner, who's a really great keyboard player. That's some kind of like heavier, clubbier stuff with a lot of like synth elements in it. That's going to come out on Razor and Tape. And then I have the Joyful Noise band live album that I was talking about. What eslse?... I also have a track with The Illustrious Blacks that's going to come out on Seamus Hodgey's label. And a bunch of other remixes that I need to finish, but I haven't yet. [Colleen] Well, it sounds like you have a full calendar of releases already. And I'm sure Razor and Tape has Loads coming out as well. So this is great. And I'm so happy for you. And congratulations, you know, on conquering cancer... [Jkriv] Thank you... [Colleen] I'm really, really happy for you. And, you know, I wish you all the best with your future projects. And we'll still be listening to you here on Balearic Breakfast this whole year. So thanks for the mix as well. [Jkriv] My pleasure. Thanks so much for having me, Colleen.

Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy broadcast this new episode of Balearic Breakfast on her Mixcloud on January 20th, 2026. ABOUT THIS EPISODE Coming back from a few weeks of vacation, Colleen presented this new Balearic Breakfast episode live from the record room, for our utmost pleasure. As we shall see in the listening experience section of this post, today's episode was one of the strongest Colleen has done for quite some time (of course, as she stated, the first part of the show is introspective, but it is also much more than that!). Furthermore, the visuals that the music conveyed were also quite stunning and continuous, I should say. But more about that later on... Listen back to episode 26-03 of Balearic Breakfast: There’s only one radio show where you can hear Japanese ambient techno slide into the Grateful Dead . This morning’s Balearic Breakfast is now up on my Mixcloud and features loads of new releases including two new vinyl test pressings (thank you lovetempo and Mukatsuku), the radio premiere of Christopher Berg’s new Hird single & an advance promo from Test pressing and Alex Kassian. The first half of the show is quite introspective and includes a classic Brian Eno track that soundtracked our trip to Lanzarote (no prize for guessing correctly) and a song from my most played album of 2025 – ‘Whispers of Rain’ by Alina Bzhezhinka & Tulshi (kind of like spiritual jazz meets Basic Channel). Last night my daughter and I went to see/hear Tracy Thorn and Ben Watt at The Moth Club and it was absolutely sublime – an intimate performance in which they played some of their solo work, Everything But The Girl tunes, covers (like the Cole Porter one on the show) and a song from their son Blake’s Family Stereo. My first gig of the year and it was truly inspirational – loved every minute of it. Think I’m going to reread Bedsit Disco Queen on my flight to Japan. And finally, rest in paradise Bob Weir. Thanks for listening. ANNOUNCEMENTS Colleen heads back to one of her favourite countries in the world and to some of her favourite clubs in the world. See you in Japan! Matane! Saturday, 24 Jan: Precious Hall Sunday, 25 Jan: BOARS Friday, 30 Jan: @dj_bar_bridge_shinjuku Saturday, 31 Jan: @woal_music_life Gunma And I should also mention I'm doing two parties with and North America, Friday the 13th of February at Le Bain, and inside this time, not outside like in September. Great view over the Hudson. And we'll be at the Toronto Standard Time on Valentine's Day, so heading up to Canada. A reminder about the London Loft, our invitations have gone out for our next party on the 8th of March. And if you want to join the friendship train, head over to loftparty.org. Now, as I'll be away next week, I'll be streaming remotely. We have an interview with and a mix from Another Taste, the jazz-funk band from the Netherlands on the Space Grapes label. And we also have a mix from Angel Mel of Eavesdrop Collective, the collective of women DJs who play at our Love Dance and Tent at We Out Here, and who do so, so, so much more. THE PLAYLIST (1992) Brian Eno – Lanzarote (2025) Alina Bzhezhinska & Tulshi – Child's Play (1982) Everything But the Girl – Night and Day (2025) Alice Russell & Amanda Whiting – I Am (Acoustic Version) (1993) Peter Bardens – Sea of Dreams (2026) Léna C – Elle, Dani... (TBR) Opal Sunn – Liquid Phase II (1972) Arthur Verocai – Na Boca do Sol (2026) Joel Sarakula – Hands of Love (Monsieur van Prat Dub Remix) (2026) Bangs & Talbot – Keep Love Moving On (2025) Slowly ft. Mahina Apple – Turn Up the Night (TBR) Lovetempo – Thinking About You (2025) Chicco – Shigomase (Opolopo Tweak) (2025) Ayala – Melodia (Cee EIAssaad Remix) (2026) Coflo & Emmaculate – Salutations (TBR) Sade – War of the Hearts (Field2Factory Retouch Mix) (TBR) Hird – Moving Forward (2026) Nate08 ft. Benni Ola – Waiting (Dam Swindle Remix) (2025) Yasutaka Sato – New Era (1980) Grateful Dead – Lost Sailor THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE It took me a few minutes to feel today's show. I was surprised when this happened, although I am quite accustomed to it... Looking back, it's not the fact that emotions came through so quickly to me that stopped me in my tracks but the fact that, once again, Colleen's show came knocking on my life's doors... I always thought that when you love Someone, you have to stay on the side, no matter what happens, no matter what is said or done. Your role, as a lover, as a friend, as a supporter let's say, is to take the good times but also the bad ones, should they arrive... And you should always accept the hard times in Silence, with Resilience, with a light distance, for only distance will help you to get through the storm... Don't try to answer, do not justify yourself, these dark clouds are only here to test your strength and your devotion... The more you will try to fight them, the more you will try to counter them, the more they will keep on knocking you down to the ground... Stay on the side, watch the fury, the incomprehension, the mistakes unfold, try to understand, maybe you've been prepared for them to hit you, maybe, if you're the sensitive kind, you already were observing things from a distance, knowing this dark moment could become a reality... Brian Eno's Lanzarote perfectly depicts these dark moments, these infuriated rivers... You can almost hear the screams, visualise the lost mind yelling, trying to keep things somewhere in between the chaos... And Lanzarote is also an unfolding musical piece, one that keeps on revealing the horror that was waiting to explode... When the second track started, Alina Bzhezhinska & Tulshi's Child's Play, I already had found today's post title. I was just uncertain about the word's order... Unfolding Uncertainties or... Uncertainties Unfolding... As I try to keep Colleen's positive thinking in mind, I kept the first option, as I thought the second one was "passive/aggressive" and a desperate representation of the battles we all have to face one day or another... Listen carefully to Child's Play, there's also that same sense of discovery, there's the same battle somewhere, the same unfolding although it seems to be more open, but the magic is strained somehow as the dreamy sound of Alina's harp is confronted to the cold electronic waves... As Colleen said, the first hour of today's episode keeps these eerie feelings alive and well... A lot of other songs selected by our dear Captain have that same revealing sonical aspect (even in the second hour)... Of course, it's the case of Everything But the Girl's Night and Day, even if the feeling is lighter, the story of a love affair unfolding should remind you of something... Dreams are somehow dangerous in their uncertainties... And the sonics of that version aren't what I would call "free and happy", there's something more in there... A kind of darkness somewhere... Fear is never too far, it reaches out to you with Alice Russell & Amanda Whiting's acoustic version of I Am which is named after the titular and thematic track, and is a song that allowed Alice to articulate something that she had long felt but hadn’t fully understood: “I had started therapy soon after my first child was born, and it opened up a bigger understanding of myself and some relationships that had shaped my emotional landscape.” Dealing with themes of generational trauma, healing and life’s darker side, ‘I Am’ acts as a liberating beacon, showing that we can all be our biggest lovers and advocates, “finding our own power, clear boundaries, and doing the work on ourselves to love so much more deeply.” Do you Feel me now? Unfolding Uncertainties... As if we were watching a movie, Colleen then plays Peter Bardens' Sea of Dreams. There's a Constant tension in there; someone is freeing himself from a life he no longer wants. There's a battle... Also, did you notice how much Nature is present in these first few tracks? Léna C's Elle, Dani... acts as a transition, still keeping the unfolding element alive and well, and of course, as Colleen presented it during the show, the themes of grief and loss add to our reflections... Opal Sunn's Liquid Phase II is another example of the musical kaleidoscope we experience today. It's a revolving track, it turns round and round, but never stays with the same visuals... With Arthur Verocai's Na Boca do Sol you may think the skies will somehow become lighter... However, it's not entirely the case, as this stunning song boasts a soundstage that few songs of that era had. It is such a modern track, keeping the unfolding element incredibly present... The first hour of the show ends with Hands of Love (that keeps a light worried mind if you listen closely) and with Bangs & Talbot's shiny Keep Love Moving On. Usually, when you unfold uncertainties, they tend to disappear... MORE ABOUT THE SONGS Lanzarote from Brian Eno's 12th studio album, 1992's The Shutov Assembly, and that was named after the Russian artist Sergei Shutov, who had gifted Eno a painting, the artist telling Eno that he often listened to his music while he was working. So Eno put together some tracks he hadn't yet officially released, songs that were part of audio-visual installations from around the world in the previous decade, and he thought he would just give it to the artist, but he really liked the assembled works, so hence he released The Shutov Assembly. Now Eno also has a link with Lanzarote. In 2001, Eno performed an improvised concert with Peter Schwalm inside the crater of the Volcan del Cuervo as well, and this track for me is very evocative of the island. We just spent a couple of weeks there in Lanzarote, which is part of the Canary Islands off the west coast of Morocco and the Western Sahara. I've been there a few times now, I've just fallen in love with it, and the environment is really like no other. Black volcanic rock, very few trees, the only trees like palm trees or really big cactus-type trees. This time of year there's a little bit of rain, so back and forth between showers and bright suns, so lots of rainbows, and UNESCO also declared it a biosphere reserve, and it should be protected, it's so otherworldly. This one is from the London-based Ukrainian-Polish harpist Alina Bzhezhinska and Tulsi, who is an Ibiza-based Scottish producer and mastering engineer, real name John O'Rogers, and he's known for his dub techno ambient electronica sound. Now, last summer they released this album, Whispers of Rain on True Thoughts, which is the album I definitely played the most in 2025, over and over on my headphones, also at home, gifted it to a friend, so I'm kind of obsessed with it, and I realised I never really played a track from it on the show. It's kind of like spiritual jazz meets basic channel, and that can only be a good thing, right? So they describe the album as delving into the architecture of memory and human emotion, using rain as a central metaphor for life's cycles, the cleansing of loss, the blossoming of renewal, and the profound inner strength cultivated in moments of serene introspection. Alina Bzhezhinska and Tulsi with Child's Play on Balearic Breakfast. Last night, I got to see this act perform, Everything But The Girl before that with their 1992 cover of Night and Day. And that song was written by Cole Porter for the musical Gay Divorce. And it was originally performed by Fred Astaire. It's a standard part of the Great American Songbook as within three months of the show's opening, more than 30 artists had covered the song. Now, I just particularly love Tracy Thorne and Ben Watt's version. And they performed it last night as their opening song at an intimate show at the Moth Club in Hackney. They've played a of sold-out shows there. I think it's only like 150 cap. It's tiny, great sounding room. I think there's another one tonight. I'm sure it's sold out. Not sure if they're doing any more, but maybe sign up for their mailing list because it was stunning. It was a selection of their solo work, Everything But The Girl tunes, their son, Blake Watt, who has his own act called Family Stereo (Ed. Note: For an interview, see here). He was playing, beautiful voice, plays folk guitar. And it was really poignant because I went with our daughter, and she's the one that found out about it and got the tickets. And she said, I hope they play Night and Day. And voila, that was the opening song. So I really suggest that you try to catch them at the Moth Club. I'm hoping they'll do more. They did loads of different shows over the past few months in 2025. So you may get lucky. The acoustic version of I Am, and the original version is a title track from Alice Russell's 2024 album, but this acoustic version is stripped back and performed with harpist Amanda Whiting. Alice Russell, of course, is just a stellar soul singer. She has a string of solo albums and collabs with Basamba, Quantic, and more, and her 2024 album, I Am, she calls the most personal of her career. It was written after the passing of her father with a baby on the way. So life, loss, and grief are big themes on the album. And if you ever get a chance to see, hear her perform, make sure you do. Sea of Dreams by Peter Bardens, the English keyboardist who was one of the founding members of prog band Camel, and he also worked with Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, Van Morrison, along with recording 11 solo albums. And the song we just heard was Sea of Dreams, that's from his 1993 LP Further Than You Know, and thank you to Dominic Mesmer for that request, finally got to it. This next one is a new one from French producer and DJ Léna C. And it's from her forthcoming EP Stimuli. And this track was originally sent to Crazy P's Daniel Moore in 2023. After the Crazy P lead singer invited Lena to feature one of her tracks on an upcoming compilation curated by the band. And sadly, that never came to fruition as Daniel passed in September 2024. At the time, Daniel and Lena were both living in West Yorkshire, where they became friends and Daniel supported Lena's musical endeavors. And following Daniel's passing, Elle, Dani... this song was reworked to reflect a deeper sense of saudade, the untranslatable Portuguese term describing a mixture of loss, nostalgia, melancholy, and love. Celebrating the memory of a remarkable human while holding the grief of their loss. Liquid Phase II, a forthcoming three-part composition from Opal Sunn, which is Alex Kassian and Hiroaki Oba. And that's coming out on test pressing. And that's a follow-up to the three-part Elastic series released at the end of 2024. But they've been releasing music as Opal Sunn, you know, earlier releases were more beat-oriented, but I think going back to about 2017 or so. But I kind of like this more spacey, liquidy manifestation myself. And Rick Van Veen on the chat picked up it was Alex Kassian right away, even though the song isn't even out yet. Na Boca do Sol by Arthur Verocai from his 1972 eponymously titled debut album. And after releasing that samba solo record, the Brazilian singer, songwriter, and guitarist didn't release another album for 30 years, as his release didn't really make an impact at the time. So he started making jingles instead. But earlier this century, DJs and crate diggers started picking up on this album and it got a cult following. So it's a little bit like the Sugar Man story. Anyways, I had to play this as our daughter Ari has been playing the album over and over and she is excited that he is headlining We Out Here. So this album was on in the car in Lanzarote and at home over the holidays. She also played it on a radio show. Ari's pirate material, So that's a shameless plug from her mother. And of course, if you're going to We Out Here, be sure to see Arthur Verocai perform on the main stage. We're all looking forward to that. Too Slow to Disco are back with a new comp of Sunshine Grooves that will put a spring in your step and a smile on your face. We had label honcho DJ Supermarkt up on the show this past autumn, and he put together a great mix and told us the story of how he got into the Californian sound from his studio in Berlin. Anyways, he's put together the Sunset Manifesto volume two, and it's coming out in February, and you can pre-order on Bandcamp. And I love the whole thing, but especially this one, a Monsieur Von Pratt dub remix of Hands of Love by Australian soulful pop soft rock artist Joel Sarakula. Keep Your Love Moving On, a single from the forthcoming album Smoke and Aces by Bangs and Talbot, coming out on Acid Jazz this week. Chris Bangs is a DJ and producer, produced Galeano's debut, produced Paul Weller, and he really helped pioneer the Acid Jazz movement back in the late 1980s. In fact, I think he coined the term Acid Jazz. And that's his project with keyboardist Mick Talbot, the other half of the Style Council. And Talbot's also played with Dixie's Midnight Runners and Galeano and Candy Staton, amongst many others. So Bangs and Talbot's latest effort is a follow-up to 2022's Back to Business. And again, the album Smoke and Aces comes out this week. Turn Up the Night by Japan's Slowly, with Fukuo Kodiva, Mahina Apple, from the forthcoming third album Two Steps Ahead by Slowly. And this single's also on 7-inch on Flower Records. And Slowly is Masato Komatsu, who's been releasing records on Flower for the last two decades, including last year's Two Steps Ahead, which features a load of collaborators, including Apple. FYI, the B-side of the 7-inch features a beautiful remix by producer Takuya Matsumoto. Loving that one. It's a new one from Love Tempo, Thinking About You. And Love Tempo is a lonely hearts disco five-piece from Brooklyn. And band leader Mattie Safer sent me their forthcoming album on vinyl. Thank you, Maddie. The album is called There is a Light, and it's Love Tempo's debut album and will be released on the 17th of April. Safer was also in the Brooklyn band The Rapture, also in Poolside, currently leading Love Tempo. And he'll come up on to Balearic Breakfast for an interview and mix ahead of the release of There is a Light. This one is a forthcoming EP from Canopy Records, who officially licensed two 1980s African disco tunes, one by Nigeria's Spirit Koneksan, and this one that we're listening to by Chico. And the EP features remixes by Arup Roy and Opolopo, and it's coming out this week. This is Shigomase. The original is kind of like early South African house, and this has been given a tweak by Sweden's Opolopo. Southern Italy's Ayala with Cee ElAssad's remix of Melodia. And that's a remix of a cut on Ayala's six-track EP, Where Have You Been? The remix came out last month on Casablanca label and sold, and I'm just loving it, and can't wait to play that one out in Japan, bringing it with me for sure. The San Francisco DJ, producer, and movement artist, Coflo, with Illinois producer and DJ Emmaculate, who also runs Terry Hunter's T-Box record label. They're both doing a lot of great things, and they've come together on a new double-sided single coming out this week on the Swedish label Kataleja Musik, with the cut Infinite on the flip. Before that, Sade, a remix of War of the Hearts by Field2Factory. And that is Adrian Loving, the Washington, D.C. based DJ, music, and scholar, musician, I should say, and scholar, and a very lovely person as well. He also released Inner Temple's Travelscapes, Volume 1. And the original is from Sade's 1985 album, Promise. And Sade Adu's birthday was on the 16th of January. So happy birthday, Sade. Hird with Moving Forward. That's the forthcoming single by Hird, who is the illustrious Christopher Berg, producer, songwriter, musician, DJ, and friend. He's worked with so many Swedish pop royalty, including Robin, The Knife, Fever Raised, on programming for Depeche Mode and Massive Attack. And he's produced a lot of singles under Hird. He released the album Moving On over a decade ago, and it's been a while since he's released the music as Hird, keeping busy with his other activities, including helping us out as an audio obsessive with our London Loft Parties. Ahead of that, we have the Damn Swindle remix of Waiting by Nate08 and LA singer-rapper Benni Ola. And that's coming out this week on Need Want Records. And Nate08 is a Mumbai-based musician, producer, DJ, and bassist whose real name is Nathan Thomas. And he's released two albums on the Need Want label, including last year's 27. Yasutaka Sato with New Era. And actually, he's going under the name Virgo there. So that's New Era by Virgo from more ambient techno classics from Japan. And that's a follow-up to last year's System for Zodiac. And Virgo is Yasutaka Sato. He's released some records at the end of the 90s and loads of releases over the last couple of years. And New Era is out on Mukatsuku Records in April. Love that label too. That's Nick Weston from Juno. And thank you for sending that over to me, Nick. I love that one. Now, before I go, I want to pay tribute to a musician who had a significant impact upon my life with his band, The Grateful Dead. Singer, songwriter, guitarist, Bob Weir, who sadly passed the next realm earlier this month. And when he was 16, he met a 21-year-old Jerry Garcia, and they immediately started jamming, jammed together all night, and decided to form a band. First, Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions, then became The Warlocks, and eventually The Grateful Dead. And their impact upon music, it just cannot be overstated, especially upon American music. I did go to see them in the late 80s, 1987, March, opening of the Spring Show in Virginia Beach, just after, you know, Jerry Garcia nearly passed away in July of the previous year. So the anticipation and the vibe was just off the hook, and I was just completely, completely blown away. And if you want to find out more about Bob Weir, there's a fantastic documentary that was made just over a decade, decade ago. It's called The Other One, The Long Strange Trip of Bob Weir, and you can find that on Netflix. And also, we should also mention the other Dead, Grateful Dead members who've transitioned, Phil Lesch in 2024, Jerry Garcia, of course, over 30 years ago, and Pigpen. So if you're a Deadhead, leave me a comment on the socials when you listen to this. Deadheads unite. This is from the 1980 Grateful Dead album, Go to Heaven. And this is a song that was co-written by Bob Weir and features him on vocals. The Grateful Dead with Lost Sailor.

Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy broadcast this new episode of Balearic Breakfast on her Mixcloud on January 27th, 2026. ABOUT THIS EPISODE After hosting last week's Balearic Breakfast, our dear Captain met another one of our heroes during a Classic Album Sunday's event, namely Greg Wilson. Greg has a new book out, which you really should buy: James Hamilton's dance pages. This new book illuminates a crucial period in UK club culture – the role and prestige of the DJ changing as mixing came to the fore, with the technological advances of the electro era radically altering the dance landscape. It is a direct "continuation" of Greg's 2024 previous publication, James Hamilton's Disco pages (and you can read an interview about this one here). And then, a few days after that glorious meeting, Colleen flew off to Japan, where she still is as I write these lines! Adam streamed today's show (thank you, dear Adam!), during which we heard two very nice mixes, once more allowing us to expand our musical knowledge! This week’s Balearic Breakfast is now up on my Mixcloud and as I’m in Japan, features two special guest mixes. First up is with the gorgeous smile is Angel Mel Selector an eclectic selector who has graced our Love Dancin’ tent at We Out Here. She also hosts the radio show ‘Revive the Dancefloor’ on @bcfmradio. Her mix truly expresses the varied musical flavours of Balearic Breakfast. Next up is a soulful mix from Another Taste - the live Dutch jazz-funk-soul collective who have been releasing tasty dance floor treats on Space Grapes. We had a chat about their forthcoming sophomore album ‘Another Taste 2’ coming out in April and the story and ethos behind the record label which has released a lot of great records from Jambonne, Mad Honey, Jéroboam, Arp Frique, GALXTC and more. Thanks to my husband Adam for streaming the show in my absence while I was out catching Mark de Clive-Lowe live at Baroom in Tokyo - stunning show! Catching Incognito at Blue Note Tokyo tonight which makes three live shows in the past couple of weeks alone. Definitely starting 2026 on the right musical foot. Next week Balearic Breakfast is taking a break but will be back the following week. Thanks for listening! Listen back to episode 26-04 of Balearic Breakfast: THE PLAYLIST Angel Mel Mix: (2001) Royksopp – In Space (2001) Zero 7 – I Have Seen (1971) Jimi Hendrix – Angel (1979) Journey – Sweet and Simple (1967) Letta Mbula – What is Wrong with Groovin (1972) Lou Reed – Satellite of Love (1967) The Paragons – Black Birds (xx) Big City – Outside (2018) Cleo Sol – Why Don't You (2018) Ladi6 – Royal Blue (Silent Jay, Sensible J, Leigh Fisher Remix) (2000) Mos Def – Umi Says (2019) Hector Plimmer ft Alexa Harley – Joyfulness (2025) Ana Frango Eléctrico – Nao Tem Nada Nao (1969) Vampire Sounds Inc – The Lion and The Cucumber (2023) Parbleu – Elios Another Taste Mix: (1965) Pete La Roca – Lazy Afternoon (1972) Frank Zappa – Blessed Relief (1972) Timothy McNealy – Easy, Easy, Easy (1974) Cloe Martin – Life Race (1980) The Edge of Daybreak – Eyes of Love (1976) Dom Um Romao – Escravos de Jó (1984) Hot Salsa – Maldito Primitivo (1973) Leroy Hutson – As Long As There's Love Around (1972) Lalomie Washburn – My Love is Hot (Caliente) (1972) Ronald Mesquita – Papagayo (1975) Johnny Hammond – Shifting Gears (1984) Fresh Band – Come Back Lover (TBR) Another Taste – Into the Night (1977) Mad Cliff – It Takes a Little Time THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE Once again, this episode proved to have a beautiful musical "equilibrium", if I can put it that way. First, we had the oh so eclectic, open-minded and, in one word, refreshing mix by Angel Mel, picking songs from all corners of the world and all generations. I remember I told myself, that's a bold mix, that's freedom, it was obvious to me that she did not try to impress or to prove anyone, the flow was good, the flow was Right, the sound was astoundingly realistic at times too! Then, a few hours ago, I just read what Angel Mel wrote on her Instagram while sharing the link to the show, and it suddenly made perfect sense: "Happy Thursday Dears Ones. I hope you are feeling blessed. I was kindly invited by Colleen Murphy to provide a mix for her Balearic Breakfast show. Which goes out live Tuesday 10-12pm on Mixcloud. My selection was partially inspired by my mum Lorraine Wilson and Aunty Lorna Jane love of early 70s & 80s low slung rock. Combined with blissed out memories and adventures of my 6 year residency at the gorgeous La Escollera Ibiza. The selections represents all the feels I experienced during my times in Ibiza. Full track list is available. Listening to the Balearic Breakfast show is a joyful experience for me. Those who know, know! For the first timers welcome, you're in for a ride.🎧💯 Recommend checking out her interview with the Dutch outfit @anothertaste Heartfelt thanks to Colleen & Adam Dewhurst ✨🙏🏾🧡🎧" Also, I have warm memories from the few times I spent on the chat, as Angel graced us whith her presence on the chat. You could feel her kindness all around, such a powerful and beautiful soul to spend time with! When Jimi Hendrix's song was playing, Angel shared the following story with us "I was in Hither Green - London, this weekend. I saw the beautiful parakeets. There's an urban myth that Jimi Hendrix released them, and they've been there ever since. Love that story." When sharing her fear that her mix wasn't so much of a Balearic one, our friend Matt answered, "If there's one thing I've learned, it's almost everything is Balearic in the right moment. Lovely mix". And Matt was so right when saying that as Angel's mix was perfect, having freedom and a strong musical unity, with songs keeping a very close tonality between them (if mixing Journey's "Sweet and Simple" with Letta Mbula's "What is Wrong with Groovin" is not Balearic enough, I don't know what else can be ^^)... Yes, this mix was a Beautiful musical moment indeed! With an impeccable sense of rhythm, the second mix proposed to us by Another Taste was a great follow-up to Angel's body of work (even if it seems to have been quite a challenge for her to fi it in the one hour slot as she shared it on the chat, laughs!). It is a jazzy, of course!, and groovy mix, blending so much songs I never heard before of artists I didn't even knew existed that it almost made me think about the "ego trip" some folks may have while talking about music, you know these kind of "I know this and if you don't well that's soo bad", laughs! I mean, if you have an ego trip, if you feel like you're the "I Know Everything" type, please, spend at least one show by our side, we're all going to clean you up, I swear! Laughs!! Congratulations to Another Taste for that splendid musical trip, and Thank Yoo'z all around the place from the Balearic Breakfast Family! ANOTHER TASTE'S INTERVIEW [Colleen] Thank you, Angel Mel. Next up on Balearic Breakfast, we have an interview with Dutch collective Another Taste, who've been releasing records on the incredible jazz funk label Space Grapes. We had a chat about their upcoming sophomore album and other projects they have going on at Space Grapes HQ. Greetings, Balearicans. In the studio with me right now is Another Taste, and I have been loving their music and all the music on the Space Grapes label, actually. Another Taste released their debut album, Another Taste, in 2024, and now in 2026, they have a new album coming out, their second album, which is called Another Taste 2. And in the studio with me right now is Bobby, Serena, Bob, and Tern, and thank you so much for joining me. How are you guys doing? [Another Taste - Collectively] Great. / Thank you for the invitation. / Yeah, thank you. / Thanks for having us. [Colleen] Ah, my pleasure, my pleasure. I've been loving the Space Grapes label, so I just have a couple questions for Bobby before we get into Another Taste. Bobby, the label started in 2020, I believe, with a Mad Honey single? [Another Taste - Bobby] Yes, correct. And that's actually something we did together with Danilo, so that's Bob, Tern, Barend, and me with Danilo in his studio when he still was, he had a lot of analog recording gear in his parents' basement, basically, back then. And this way, we were already making music for like two years together, figuring out what we wanted to do, doing some kind of like house sample stuff. And together with Danilo, for the first time, we actually recorded live to tape, and we did it all like on the fly, so we didn't really have a plan beforehand. We had a couple of ideas written out, but like the best stuff that the first release we did was all recorded on the fly and mixed on the same day. And for us, that was kind of a revelation like, okay, this is what kind of sound we wanted to have. It was also the first time that we didn't work with computers at all, except for like recording like the master two track that was on a computer, but the rest was all multi-track tape. So, and for us, that was like the big revelation like, okay, this is a big difference in how it sounds, and how we work, and the kind of focus that you need to have to put down the take, you know, all this kind of stuff that just came together like that. [Colleen] Fantastic. Well, that sounds like it's kind of became the remit for the label as well, like live music performed by live musicians onto tape, which, I used to be a tape editor back in the late 80s and early 90s. So, very familiar with editing and all the different kind of pieces of tape around your neck going in the wrong directions. It's fun and it certainly sounds a lot better. It really is the best sounding format there is, better than vinyl, better than anything else. So, that's really great to hear. Really great to hear. Well, you released so many other records, Mad Honey. I always call the other one Galactic, but I think it's G-A-L-X-T-C, Life is a Mirror. I love that one. Jambone, Jerry and the Melange. And a lot of these people have you in the group, Bobby, but it's kind of a shifting group of musicians, I guess. [Another Taste] Well, actually, all the groups that you just mentioned are us all together. [Colleen] Okay, great. Fantastic. [Another Taste] Yeah, it's basically another taste. And Danilo was involved in the first few releases a little more heavily. And now with the last album, it's more down to us writing and recording. And I still go down to Paris, where he has a studio now. I bring the rolls of tape. I put it on the tape machine over there. And there's where I do the mix downs. We have one other group on the label at the present time. That's Jero Bomb. And that's a group from Paris that Danilo closely works with. So, that's more his project over there. [Colleen] Got you. Now it all starts to make sense. Because when the label first started, I was just buying these records. I couldn't really see who was on it. There wasn't a big social media presence at the time, which was nice. I know Giles was playing, maybe the first one as well. And so, there was a really good buzz that was going on around the label. But I think it's really to do with how much care you are all taking with the music. I mean, right now we're in a situation... where TikTok has really kind of lowered the attention spans of people. I'm getting remixes sent to me that are three and a half minutes long. I mean, shorter than a radio edit. And I can't even believe it. Of course, you can have great music that's short. Don't get me wrong. But a lot of music is just recycling and sampling old tracks, doing re-edits. So much of what you see in record shops now is just kind of a recycling of old tunes. And it reminds me of when I started something called Classic Album Sundays, which was kind of like a slow listening movement. And it was kind of in the face of everything going on. And I really feel that your music stands, and the way you present it, the way you record it, and what your ethos is, is really standing against what's kind of going on in the mainstream. [Another Taste] That's also the nice thing and the benefits to be able to do really what we want to do in our own way. Because we're so closely with the label. And also, you can create any tracks that you want in the way that you want to. Also, very heavily inspired by the music from back in the day, like the late 70s, the early 80s. I think it's also from the industry side more and more that they push, especially in the more pop scene, for example, towards like shorter tracks or tracks that would be maximum in three minutes, three and a half minutes like, radio edit. So it can be spent quickly and faster and faster. So yeah, it's nice to be just able to do what we want to do and the way we want to do it. Yeah. [Colleen] And Serena, was this, do you think, a conscious decision from all of you to just do something in a different way? [Another Taste] Well, I think we're all unique in our own way. And to have a blend of all of our interests in music is magical. [Colleen] Well, why don't we just talk about each of your backgrounds, just really kind of quickly. Give me a snapshot of your musical background, Serena, if you would. [Another Taste] Well, I'm the oldest of the band, so my musical background, it starts in the 80s. I grew up with a lot of soul music. My dad used to collect a lot of vinyls. So yeah, my background, I can name a few. It's Chaka Khan, it's Luther Vandross, Al Jarreau even. But I created another interest in rock music as well. I had a period when I wanted to be a rock singer, actually. And now I go back to my roots because my dad used to love the disco vibes, the grooves, funky music. And these guys, they, well, they invited me in. And I found that side of me again. So now it's disco and groove and funky music. And I'm loving it. Yeah. [Colleen] Fantastic. And how about you, Bob? What's your musical background? [Another Taste] Yeah, I'm a bass player. My background, I think I started playing when I was around 13 years old or something. I started at a high school in a school band. And I really caught up to the instrument. And since then, I was just practicing, playing a lot. And eventually ending up studying the instruments, of course. And now I'm actually a teacher myself. So I'm in school right now. And I see my kids on the outside of the classroom waving at me. So I'm on my break now to do this. But yeah, it's all music in my life. And it's growing strong, you know. [Colleen] And how about you, Turn? [Another Taste] For me, yeah, there was always music at home. Because my dad used to play drums when he was younger. My sister played drums, still does. My mom used to play clarinet and my other sister saxophone. So it was always lots of like making music. So I started lessons when I was around eight. And I always kept doing it, basically. Yeah, started to be actually the same as Bob. We were in the same middle school, second year school. I had my first band there. Yeah, basically played since that age. And I grew up with also more like the old school 70s rock and funk kind of stuff. And it was around the conservatory time. I went to the conservatory in Rotterdam, where I got closer to Bob as well. And via friends there, I got connected with Bobby. I got way more into like the whole disco and funk and soul, old school stuff. Since they're both collecting records a lot. So that's been a good inspiration. And yeah, it's been a couple of years of being a session musician for different pop artists, basically. Where I met Serena as well. But then since the last seven years, it's been more like, okay, let's focus on own music with this group. It's been a big pleasure. [Colleen] That's fantastic. I like how you all come from different backgrounds and you're all bringing something unique to the table. With the new album, Bobby, is there a kind of a different tweaked musical direction? I've only heard the first single, which, you know, is a great kind of mid-tempo, down-tempo, I would say down to mid-tempo boogie track, Run Into Love, which I absolutely love. What is the direction of this album? And please let us know if there's something different that you were trying to achieve. I haven't yet heard the album. It's coming out in April. So I have to ask you. [Another Taste] The direction was, I think we wanted to go for more of, like do a bit more songs. Make it a bit more polished. Also to be a bit more inside of the, like to be able to cross over a bit more, let's say. But not lose our core too much. So that's something we wanted to see how we could step out, like do a couple more tracks that are a bit more song-based. But at the same time, we have a few tunes on the album that still we do the lead vocals on. But those are like simple things. Like the first thing we did, Upward Bound, which is just like an eight bar loop of vocals. We have a couple of those on the record as well. We have two down-tempo tracks that are, yeah, like as we say in Dutch, more like like little songs of like three, three, three and a half minutes. But those I also really love to make. [Colleen] Is that for the TikTok generation? [Another Taste] No, no, no, no, no. I don't think so. I don't think so. Hell yeah. No, it was more about like discovering how we could make a short arrangement that also works really well. And instead of like doing long, stretched out workouts to condense it down a bit more. And I also really love that approach. I mean, some of my favorite music is 45s that are three minutes long. So yeah, I didn't see why we couldn't do that. And I'm really happy with the result of that as well. So yeah, I think overall it's just a bit more, a bit more poppy, but not losing our, not losing our core for sure. Yeah. [Another Taste] Let's not forget the second singles, up-tempo disco tune together with ARP Freak and The Perpetual Singers as well. [Colleen] I love ARP Freak and The Perpetual Singers. I just got a new single of theirs, Save Your Soul with a Joe Clossel remix. Oh my goodness. That's, that is absolutely fantastic. There's so much going on in the Netherlands. My goodness. It's incredible. Really great. Are you starting to write songs before you head into the studio now for this album? [Another Taste] Yeah. Yeah. I think most of it was written on forehand. Like it's a bit organic also the process because most of the time we're all together in the same room. And then sometimes I bring some ideas or sketches, sometimes Byron did. [Colleen] Serena for the third single as well. [Another Taste] Yes. Serena did The Night, which was like her vocal and main groove thingy. And then we also have different songs which we collaborated and it just happened in studio. So it's pretty organic, but it's not that we recorded the ideas direct to tape. Like first we had the ideas, created it, make an arrangement of everything and then eventually recorded when everything and all the parts, everybody were like super clear. [Another Taste] What is good to know as well, that with a lot of bands, you see that they write the music and they go into the studio and record everything. The thing is that we have our own studio where we gather at least two days a week. So every Monday, Tuesday, we're there. And then it's either the writing or recording or mixing or organizational stuff or jamming. So it's kind of also not that we have like one set period. Like, okay, this couple of weeks we're going to write and these days we're going to record. It's kind of like an ongoing process all the time. [Colleen] That's a really great idea. I mean, to have a schedule like that. I'm working on a project with a few other people and trying to schedule us because they're members of Hot Chip and LCD Sound System. And then I'm touring and doing my stuff and just trying to get like a studio day. It's really difficult. Doing that every Monday and Tuesday is brilliant. I have a question here for Serena. Serena, you wrote the next single, Into the Night. Could you tell us a little bit about it? You're going to preview it here on your mix. [Another Taste] Yeah. Well, it's a song I dreamt about, but it's not about me. The first single, it was. But I had this crazy thought about a young female who likes to be free, but she likes to play around with all the beautiful men around her. But there's this one guy in particular that couldn't take no for an answer. So yeah, she's kind of bashing. Telling him to just let go. He could have her for one night, but he couldn't have her heart. So this song is, yeah, this song is about that. Yes, she likes to be free. [Colleen] Well, thank you for that. [Another Taste] So it's not about me! [Colleen] Another Taste 2 comes out in late April. And will you be performing this album? Will you be touring this summer, coming to the UK? What's your plan? [Another Taste] Absolutely. We have one gig currently set for the UK in London, Brick Lane Jazz Festival. For the rest, we are still waiting on a lot of things to fall in place. [Colleen] I wish you all the best of luck with it. I hope I get to catch you at the Brick Lane Jazz Festival in April. And I really look forward to the album. And I just want to say thank you for creating this music and doing something that really has a lot of TLC, a lot of tender, loving care, more so than a lot of other music that's coming out today. So, you know, thank you so much. [Another Taste] Thanks for having us!