Dj Balkanetic
About Dj Balkanetic from Auckland
DJ Balkanetic has been entertaining audiences at festivals, parties and weddings around New Zealand for the last couple of years with a highly infectious, uplifting blend of Balkan beats, Klezmer, Romani/Gypsy music and organic global grooves. Last summer he played at the Big Bay Out, Culturefest, AK07, Submarine, The Famous Spiegeltent and the Womad afterparty with Mr Scruff. He has also supported his good friends The Mamaku Project, The Benka Boradovsky Bordello Band and the Jews Brothers.
More recently he has played at Prana, Jambalaya, Splore and Cross St Carnival and has just finished a 20 date national ‘Gypsy Fever’ tour with the Benka Boradovsky Bordello Band.
Balkanetic aka Nigel Braddock came from a musical family and studied piano from the age of five. At the age of twenty he graduated from Otago University with a Bachelor of Music in Classical Piano. After several years travelling he started his DJ career as DJ Lotus in the late 90’s playing chillout music in the ambient zones at outdoor dance parties such as The Gathering and Visionz. He set up his own record label, Monkey Records, in the year 2000 and under the name of DJ Monkey began playing strictly NZ downbeat, chill and groove. Following a trip to Berlin in 2006 and a meeting with renowned producer Shantel (Bucovina Club), Nigel was inspired to invent another DJ persona, Balkanetic, aimed squarely at the dancefloor, and since then has been in constant demand as NZ’s first Balkan DJ.
Says Nigel, “I still play mellow stuff when appropriate but these days I get the biggest kick out of making people get up and dance and have a good time. East European music is so full of energy and joy and soul, unlike a lot of contemporary dance music, and once those big Balkan brass sections kick in you are powerless to resist…”
Nigel is currently learning accordion and looking at forming his own Balkan band in the not too distant future.
References:
With an upbeat eclectic mix of music from around the globe, DJ Balkanetic manages to span the music tastes of a wide audience while keeping his own unique style and gypsy flavours. Very uplifting and excellent dance music.
Heidi Hughes, Jambalaya Festival Director
"DJ Balkanetic has brought back the most danceable energy beats on the planet. We have hired Nigel to play alongside our shows since the beginning and it has been a sure-fire recipe for success and good times."
Monsieur Escargot (The Mamaku Project)
“DJ Balkanetic wove his magic at a special party in the Spiegeltent for the performers at the Auckland Arts Festival. The dance floor was buzzing with professional dancers, singer, musicians and actors , all able to express their creativity totally while dancing to his exuberant, Eastern-European mix. It was "roots" music that spoke to everyone and the joy of the playing, the wildness of the instruments, the sudden slow-downs and accelerations that are typical of the music from that part of the world, all these elements created a wonderful. lunatic atmosphere, where people became really inspired in their dancing, making other DJs seem tame and boring in comparison.”
Linn Lorkin (The Jews Brothers, French Toast)
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