Music and sounds of Balearic Mike

Although loved and respected within a fifty-mile radius of the record storage depot he calls a home, Baleariic Mike is one of the world’s unsung DJ heroes. His doggedly independent eclecticism, a restless archaeological thirst for lost treasure, and a keen desire to mine new music that suits his broadminded genre surfing post modern Balearic brief, put him up there with a lonely few- those who are not scared to cross reference, off road and experiment with the crucial narrative that is at the core of any musical journey worth paying attention to.

There is an intuitive intelligence in the choosing of the component parts of his sets and an empathetic logic to the way he puts things together. It’s these qualities that make his selections significant and ensure that his sets / mixes / compilations are something more than the usual showing off the humble spectator has come to expect.

Mike is the son a humble Grampian haggis farmer who came to Manchester with nothing more than the rights to the family tartan and a few unwelcome Scottish pound notes in his sporran (they are for the record legal tender). His flowing locks attracted the interest of local ladies but the life of a mere lover and part time gigolo would never have been enough for Mike. He settled down to work at the local Vinyl Exchange record shop. It soon became clear to the counter hawks, collectors and local know it alls that here was someone with a musical mind of his own. He secured guest spots at several significant local club nights. In a town where the level of skill and knowledge is such that it is hard to make any kind of musical mark, Mike became known for his individuality and fell in with a gang of fully bearded Balearic buccaneers who encouraged him to explore further. While others have been swayed by fashion and the desire to be popular, Mike has stuck to his principles. Elegant, playful, future-facing and open-minded mixes have been made freely available online. It’s these that have started to secure Mike the international reputation he so rightly deserves. His bank balance, telephone bill, email archive and air miles show he leaves no stone unturned in his pursuit of new music. He shows no signs of becoming cynical or jaded as most DJs inevitably do. There’s a wonderful innocence to the way in which he talks about and absorbs music. Mike has come along long way from that haggis farm but this is surely just the start of what will be along and significant journey.

Balearic Mike has played at some of the finest clubs and festivals in the UK and around the world, including The Electric Chair, Horse Meat Disco, Festival Number 6, Ministry Of Sound (UK), Electric Elephant (Croatia), Pacha & Space (Ibiza), Slow Blow (Stockholm), Tape (Berlin), Chillits & The Plunge (California), The Do-Over (LA), Apt. (New York), and many others. In 2013 Mike was very proud to be asked to join Ashley Beedle and Dave Jarvis’ Heavy Disco collective.

Mike was given the great honour of kicking off the now highly respected ‘Original’ series of compilations on Claremont 56, alongside his friend and fellow DJ Richard Moonboots. Mike is also the co-host of the Down To The Sea & Back series of compilations and parties with Kelvin Andrews, and the founder and director of Fascinating Rhythms, an occasional vinyl only Balearic record label.

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