For readers that have never heard of you please can you introduce yourself and tell us something we don’t know about you?
Balatron:
My name is Bjarki. Born and raised in Iceland. Former Mancunian. Professional pisstaker. I’ve been making music since i was born i think, banging on everything that made a sound. Im an omnivore of music, i like lots of different music and because of that I have made lots of music in different styles, pop, Eurovision, hip-hop, trance, techno, house, Not country tho…. cause, well, fuck country music.
2. When did you start making halftime drum and bass beats? Have you always been a junglist?
Balatron:
The Balatron project is only a little over 1 years old really…. I took a break from producing and writing for a long time, I wasn‘t inspired to make any music. I got back into drum and bass after a long break and I fell in love with it again so I started making beats. I kept it to myself for some time just sitting on a bunch of tracks. I wasn‘t sure that people would like my style. But when Ivy Lab really started making these dope halftime tracks I was finally ready to send it out.
But yes, deffo been a junglist/basshead since my early teens, mostly listening to Goldie and Metalheadz.
3.You come from Iceland, a country known for the northern lights and beautiful nature and sensible politics? What are the best and worse things about living where you do?
Balatron:
Lol I wouldn‘t call Iceland‘s politics sensible at all. People are pissed off in Iceland…if you are referring to the jailing of the bankers – well they are free now, and the jail was basically a vacation home for the rich. They are back in their range rovers fucking people over. The best thing about Iceland I would say is the people, we are a friendly bunch and the creativity on this island is amazing and versatile. Worst thing I would say is that it is pricey, cold in the winter and commuting to the rest of the world is expensive as faakkk
4. You got a tune forthcoming on Ivy Labs new V/A – how did that come about?
Balatron:
I sent them a demo last Spring and I never heard from them about it. Funny thing is it got played on Noisia Radio as a listener submission track.. which was amazing to me… Bigups Noisia! The day after I‘m browsing on Soundcloud and I find Ivy Labs mix for Sonar and my tune was on it. I finally got in touch with Halogenix and he said “Yeah we have been playing it out for a couple of weeks now” haha. After that I kept sending them beats and they asked me to be on the 20/20 Vol 2. out next week! Bigups Ivy Lab!
Balatron ‘Poseidon’
5. We recently watched your DJ set on Hauser FM, do you enjoy DJing? Talk us through your set-up…
Balatron:
My live set on Hausar was the first time I did Balatron live, all original tracks. It was great fun and I hope I can do it again. I would love to tour as a live performer. But yes, I‘ve been DJing since I was 17, I will allways love it.
My live setup is Ableton Live running stems of my tracks the a couple of controllers ,novation launchpad for triggering parts, novation midimix for mixer controls filters and send FX and a akai mpd 24 for playing one shot drums and stuff. I try to keep the set active and spontaneous.
6. Your debut EP is forthcoming on Flexout Audio – how long did i take to write it and why did you chose Flexout Audio to release your music on?
Balatron:
The tracks on my EP took about 4-6 months to finish and I am very happy with this EP. I really love the ‘Waves’ series, really really dope stuff and when Flexout asked me if I wanted to be a part of it I said yes straight away, proud to be a part of it. Big up Flexout!
