Techno
Balthazar & JackRock
Balthazar & JackRock’s music comes straight from the heart of Bulgaria – Sofia City. They began their career in the mid 90s and they have since become one of the most popular DJs in the country. Balthazar & JackRock have performed in numerous clubs and venues all over Europe, North America and Africa. Their sound is diverse and charged with energy.Since 2004 Balthazar & JackRock have been producing music. Their official debut project was a 45- minutes set for a fashion show in Germany. They also composed the soundtrack for the DVD movie Clinique Noir #2.In January 2006 Balthazar & JackRock released their debut record Rockin' Dancefloor on TechHead Recordings. The single reached number 1 in sales charts and was played by many international DJs. A few weeks later Balthazar & JackRock released the top selling record Moonshine on the belgian label Magura, which was co-produced with the renowned artist Kobbe and was supported by star DJs like Carl Cox, Sander Van Doorn, Marcel Woods, Preach and others. Moonshine was included in the official Dance Valley 2006 CD compilation and was presented in Judge Jules’ BBC 1 radio show. Kobbe & Balthazar also released two remixes on the dutch label Patterns and norwegian Spilo. Later in 2006 followed a second Balthazar & JackRock EP on TechHead Recordings, Venus Delta EP on 8311 Music, 2 tracks for Primal Confusion + a few other CD compilations. In 2007, 2008 and 2009 Balthazar & JackRock released more than 30 original tracks and various remixes on different labels all over the world, including the single Tribalero on Muzik Xpress Uruguay, which reached top 20 in Beatport's house chart. Tribalero was also included in a few Tecktonik CD compilations, released by EMI and Universal Music.In 2007 Balthazar started a joint pop-house project with the dance band Deep Zone. Together they produced 2 smash hits: Welcome To The Loop + DJ, Take Me Away, which both topped many music charts in Bulgaria and its neighbour countries (Greece, Romania, Serbia, Turkey). The video of DJ, Take Me Away was also aired on MTV Europe. Only for 1 year Balthazar & Deep Zone managed to do 4 big club tours with 20 dates each and more than 80.000 visitors total, 2 of the tours were also by JackRock as well. In 2008 Balthazar & Deep Zone took part in the biggest musical contest in the world – Eurovision. They won the national final and represented their country at Eurovision 2008 in front of 150 million tv viewers worldwide! Balthazar & Deep Zone also won awards for 'Best South-East European Track' (SEEME) and 'Best Joint Project' (Fan TV). Their videoclip of DJ, Take Me Away had nominations for a few other music awards as well (Mad TV, BG Radio, MM TV).In 2008, JackRock received the “Best South Eastern European Producer” Award from SeeMe, the largest forum for electronic music in Eastern Europe.In November 2009 Balthazar & JackRock were invited in Egypt for the DJ Academy in Cairo. There they taught DJ workshop courses on mixing and production. Same year they became owners of one of the oldest places for electronic culture in Bulgaria - Comics club (established in 1997), keeping alive the old school underground traditions.Back in 1999 Balthazar & JackRock started Renesanz - an agency for electronic dance music. In the short time since their inception, the Renesanz dance parties have grown immensely popular and have become a national trademark for Bulgarian dance culture. During the last few years, Renesanz have organized parties and events with over 150 international artists and DJs. Renesanz is also managing exclusively in Bulgaria some of the finest international techno artists. In 2010, Renesanz Agency has grown also in an independent record label, with main purpose to represent Balthazar & JackRock's vision of sound.Last two years along with the Djing and event / artist / club management Balthazar & JackRock started to concentrate more on their music production. They released over 30 tracks and remixes for labels like 1605, Bosphorus Underground, Neurotraxx, Land Of Voodoo, Human Garden, Binary 404 and more. Balthazar & JackRock teamed up with italian top duo Dandi & Ugo for the dancefloor filler "Bulgaro Business". The record was heavy supported by Richie Hawtin, Dubfire, Umek, Mark Knight, Spartaque and many others, and Sisko Electrofanatik’s remix hit #3 in Beatport minimal chart. Their track "Dupka" also entered the minimal chart at #37, and the remix by the Istanbul top artist Ahmet Sendil charted great in Techno section. The track was also featured at many radio stations worldwide. Also notable was the huge success of their releases Puerto Rico and Nu Nu Zaietz Maietz, which both received massive dj support and radio play worldwide, including Paul Van Dyk’s Vonyc Sessions show, Umek’s Behind The Iron Curtain show and Spartaque’s Supreme show. Puerto Rico was released on Umek’s 1605 imprint.For 2 consecutive years - in 2010 and 2011 - Balthazar has been chosen for "Best Bulgarian Techno/Minimal DJ of the Year" @ AwardsBG, the only official DJ poll in Bulgaria. Renesanz also had a nomination for “Best Bulgarian DJ Booking Agency of 2010”.
