The vintage specs and razor-sharp fashion sense of Jim Breese scream bohemian hip. He’s a DJ-producer-label with a progressive and musical vision, one that is eternally evolving, maintaining a sharp focus on what’s aurally ‘happening’.

Recently, he established his own achingly tasteful imprint, Balearic, handling all it’s output whilst mixing and dubbing the productions. After high praise, ‘Balearic 2’, released mid 2016, was named ‘Summers Best Compilation’ by Thump/Vice and the timeless direction has scoured fans globally with it’s purist, analogue mind-set.

We had the chance to talk with Breese ahead of the fourth release of his ‘Balearic’ compilation.

Electronic Groove: Hey Jim, thanks for your time to chat with us. You have been involved with Ibiza nightlife since a long time ago. What are your memories from your early years at the island?

Breese: It’s gotta be the buzz of spinning daily, doing long expansive sets at Cafe Mambo. 8 hourr stints for the season every day, from the fuzzy afternoon session building towards sunset and then on into the night sharing the booth with the big guns. I would spin nightly with the likes of Carl Cox, Sasha, & Tong, which was mental.

EG: Following the first three episodes ‘Balearic 4’ will be out very soon. What’s the compilation’s inspiration?

Breese: The underlying theme of all the Balearic compilations is to capture that sunset moment, a unique time to play music where it’s not about the Dj or the club or the party, but simple realness. I think you can hear it in the selections and hopefully see it in our earthy-looking packaging.

EG: Can you mention a few highlights in terms of the tracks included?

Breese: I really work towards a special track listing, so for me, it’s about the volume as a whole. It’s twelve tracks that I think really represent what’s been happening recently on the mellower Balearic downtempo tip.

Sitting in on an On-Sound studio session is always special, and Adrian’s Dub of Los Twangueros ‘Entre Dos Aguas’ is cosmically awesome. I also got busy with my own remix of Robot 84, which is sun-drenched Spanish day-party in full effect.

EG: Who’s in charge of the compilation’s art?

Breese: I’m glad this has been asked as the visuals & packaging are an integral aspect of the label. Art Direction is from Peter Chadwick’s studio ‘A Popular Space,’ combined with photographer David Ryle who shoots our incredibly colorful floral images.

Peter has done so many seminal dance music projects and we’ve worked together for donkey’s years on a few things, but his work on Balearic is the collaboration I’m most proud of.

EG: Are you preparing some special events linked to ‘Balearic 4’ release? How’s your summer agenda looking like?

Breese: I now live on the coast in the UK. The summer here has been a scorcher, so we’ve been doing open-air word of mouth parties in Margate. They’ve been going off, catching people off guard and making a name for themselves. This weekend I’m doing the Orbital after the show for those two legends and the summer biggie is Balearic at the Sun Deck, Sunday 26 August.

EG: What’s your advice for any aspiring Djs?

Breese: Follow the dancers and play what you see. Relentlessly keep this up until you see a complete out of control frenzy in front of you!

“The underlying theme of all the Balearic compilations is to capture that sunset moment, a unique time to play music where it’s not about the Dj or the club or the party, but simple realness”

EG: You have seen many outstanding sunsets around the world. What’s the most beautiful one you remember?

Breese: Sunset is a special time wherever you catch a glimpse, but probably my first few in Ibiza. I was new to the idea of the sun slipping away is such a poignant moment of our day, and, teamed with the right tunes, it’s perfection.

EG: Can you mention a special song for you to finish the interview?

Breese: As I’ve touched on sunset quite a bit, my current chilled favorite is Gallo ‘Faron’ with Fabrizio Mammarella on an Ambient remix. It is solid gold from beginning to end and something that I’ll be playing in those final sundown minutes for a long, long time.

‘Balearic 4’ will be available August 10th. Grab your copy here.

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