Meet Bala Club, the young collective who refuse to play by the rules

Bala Club is the emergent London collective that’s sending jolts of raw power through the city’s electronic music underground.

Founded by brothers Kamixlo and Uli K and best friend Endgame, the collective has captured the imagination of the capital's club kids and has been busy claiming 2016 as its own.

They threw their first party on New Year’s Day, beginning a campaign that also includes a record label, NTS radio show, merchandise and, of course, more turn-ups in dark, sticky-floored basements.

In six months Bala Club has become this year’s most crucial new movement. Here’s how it happened.

January 1. Start the year as you mean to go on.

200 people in the dark beneath Shoreditch High Street. Some still going from the night before, others newly risen and fresh faced for it. All here to salute Bala Club, the crew who are sparking something different.

In the deep blue dusk of this basement, the congregation moves and melts to sets by the Bala luchadors (the collective’s name a play on Japanese wrestling outfit Bullet Club, their logo a bootleg of its skull ’n machine guns) as well as squad member Yaoyanoh and special guests (read: friends) Evian Christ, MssingNo, Dark0 and Visionist, who put out Kamixlo's debut EP on his Codes imprint.

The music suits the mix of comedowns and come-ups: a whirlpool of low-end warmth, throwback rave euphoria and skin-pricking machinations. Lyrics are rapped in American or sung in Spanish. It’s a blessed brew that you won’t find anywhere else in LDN; the reason why we’re all here.

As one comment left on the event’s Facebook page reads: “The line-up of the year might be on its first day!” But the opening of the Bala Club account was never meant to get so out of hand.

Kamixlo: “That party was literally just for us but it turned into something so much bigger, out of nowhere. It started off as us doing a cosy party…”

Uli-K “…We wanted to do something on New Year’s.”

Kamixlo: “We were initially going to book Dark0. It was friends and family. It wasn’t some thought-out thing. Legit, all of the guests were friends.”

Uli-K: “They wanted to do the party…”

Kamixlo: “There was literally no business shit. It was fucking crazy. I don’t remember much, but I see pictures back and there’s loads of bottles of champagne behind the decks, pictures of me on top of the booth, drinking.”

Uli-K: “There were multiple stage dives.”

The very definition of a turn up. Reason why? Bala Club is a wild break from London dancefloor tradition and people are revelling in the shockwaves. Kamixlo constructs industrial reggaeton (a product of his and Uli’s Chilean heritage) and his DJ sets often begin at 100bpm before switching suddenly to tempos of up to 150bpm; Endgame has been releasing a crystalline meld of kizomba, the Angolan music that’s also popular in Portugal (his debut EP dropped on Lisbon’s Golden Mist, before a second on New York's Purple Tape Pedigree) and grime, while his sets are a collision of frenetic club tracks, UK/US rap and noisy convulsions and Uli-K has perfected a heart-wrenching form of auto-tuned lyricism that sits gracefully on sensuous beats made by an international set of producers (his latest self-released mixtape has raked in over 100,000 plays).

This otherness is what made the trio start Bala Club in the first place. The label and parties are intended to carve out a space in which they feel comfortable. “When we’ve tried to work with people in the industry, it’s been hard for them to grasp what we’re trying to do,” Uli-K says. “We’re not about playing along with this scene or system that’s already going on right now. It’s about going against it and creating change. Why not? If you have the chance to make things better for people, then do it.”

Banana splits and waffles topped with fat swirls of vanilla ice cream at Creams parlour in Brixton. It's one of the Club's de facto hangouts and today there's cause for celebration. Earlier, Kamixlo joined Annex, the booking agency that represents Helena Hauff and Demdike Stare, while Endgame signed an EP to one of the most influential record labels in underground dance music, Hyperdub. And Uli-K has arrived fresh from Bala HQ, having completed the tracklist and running order of their first compilation (which goes on to drop on June 10).

The three talk about how ‘Bala Club Vol. 1’ is the statement of intent that opens the label’s account, as well as a primer to the artists involved (some of who will go on to drop solo releases). They’ve assembled an international cast, with relationships forged in the blur of nights out, during trips abroad and, of course, in SoundCloud DMs. Some contributors they’ve known for years, others just a matter of months. All are misfits, doing their own thing, pushing and pulling at the edges of what’s possible.

Uli-K: “The only unifying thing is that everyone is trying to do something new and different; no one’s trying to abide by a genre or scene. That’s what brings us together.”

Endgame: “That’s why Bala Club is its own thing; a scene for people who don’t want to be part of a scene.”

Uli-K: “It becomes one by itself. The objective is to do something new and different every time.”

Kamixlo: “It’s natural. Who wants to join a scene or stick to a genre? That’s so dry. There’s so many people who do that but I legit can’t get my head around the way they’re thinking.”

Uli-K: “We’re trying to create an alternative. Everyone we work with, we never dictate what they’re doing. The fact that we’re working with them, there’s an unspoken trust or connection. Everyone does someone different, everyone has their own speciality.”

Endgame: “But it all makes sense together.”

That’s because, as Uli-K mentions, there’s an overarching feeling of the new. And passion. Artists giving themselves up, no questions asked. Rage. Pain. Lust. Euphoria. ‘Bala Club Vol. 1’ bares all.

Rules, a producer and lyricist from Washington, sends wailing vocals through an electrical storm riddled with heavy bass on ‘Take Me Hate Me’ before switching to lights-low mode on ‘DI4U’ with Endgame, where intense yearning is on full display across a libidinal rhythm. Fellow American Lunarios provides an equally intense turn on 'Red Lagrimas'. London’s Palmistry tees up colourful dancehall for downbeat Swedish rappers Bladee and Thaiboy. Malibu, from France paints a warm, ethereal backdrop to the softest of Uli-K lyrics on ‘Mi Luz’ (as well as adding her own soft-sung words). The pair also feature on ‘Besitos’ by London singer/producer Organ Tapes, who's known for intimate, off-kilter bedroom pop. Belgium’s Sky H1 distills trance right down to its essence – the warm ripple of ecstasy – on ‘All I Ever’. Wavy Chicago rappers Adamn Killa and Killavesi serve a Henny ’n Coke moment on the glorious ‘Ballin Like Messi’. Another Londoner, Yayoyanoh is equally mischievous during Uli-K produced ‘4 ME’. Kamixlo and Endgame provide great solo efforts, which is a given due to the rep earned off the back of their solo releases. And Uli-K makes his biggest statement yet, putting his name to five out of 15 tracks. There’s the aforementioned as well as joints with Rules, Berlin’s Mechatok and the comp’s most high profile contributor, Swedish sadboy Yung Lean. Uli-K fans will know his talent thanks to umpteen SoundCloud uploads, but here it is, crystalised.

The whole thing ebbs and flows, is obviously so much more than the backing track to inner city hedonism.

Uli-K: “What we’re trying to push is vocal music; more emphasis on songwriting. Too many people are under the assumption that we’re writing songs for the club. Whether it’s abstract or intricate, our intention is never, ‘We want to hear this banger in the club.’ People started playing our music in the club because it’s very danceable but we were never conscious of…”

Endgame: “…Club music.”

Uli-K: “Yeah.”

Endgame: “We want people to have some real kind of emotional connection to the compilation, to listen to it a thousand times, for it to become a part of them in some way. If it’s just a bunch of club tracks, you half listen 10 times…”

Uli-K: “…Songs become too disposable when they’re just made for that purpose. You don't even get to hear the whole song because most times it’s going to be blended as part of a DJ set. That’s why ‘Bala Club Vol. 1’ is not necessarily for the club; it’s not supposed to be taken in for just one moment. It’s a statement forever, so people can always go back to it.”

Although Bala Club is not a vehicle for functional dance music, the most obvious (and easily acquired) space for the crew to present their work IRL at the moment is indeed ‘the club’. But they don’t take programming a night lightly and approach eight hours in a dark room from a subversive angle. They think parties that stick to one tempo and rely solely on DJs all night are dull, reckoning that more promoters should take greater risks and be more creative in their bookings. They’re also averse to ‘bro’ culture in the dance and in the booth. Bala Club parties emphasise live performances as much as DJ sets and represent the whole spectrum of the crew. It’s not just out and out turn up – although everyone always has a fucking good time.

A few days after we meet at Creams, Bala Club presents a showcase at London’s Corsica Studios. They’re in the venue’s hallowed second room, which is where you’ll often see ascending DJs play career-defining sets before they blow up (or graduate to the club’s main room, at least). It’s a tinderbox and the atmosphere inside is always palpable.

Endgame opens with a short, sharp set that consists of mostly his own productions. His signature rhythmic lope sounds satisfyingly full and seductive on the room’s fat soundsystem. Sky H1 steps up afterward and summons what sounds like one long, rippling trance breakdown. It’s dark but you can make out her ponytail and hooped earrings, illuminated by the light from her laptop screen, as if she’s looking into a whole other world and allowing us to hear the soundtrack. When drumbeats arrive, about three quarters of the way through her performance, they drop like heavy eyelids on the way to a blissful sleep.

What’s essentially an ambient set is not what you’d normally hear between midnight and 1am at a major club in London but this is the alternate reality that Bala Club seeks to construct. Uli-K is next, stepping into the booth in a balaclava, mic plugged into an effects box so his voice retains the autotune heard on his recordings. He’s joined by Malibu, who runs each track and provides backing vocals and the pair roll out a beautiful, introspective blend of reggaeton, rap and r’n’b. This music is obviously cathartic for Uli-K, who sings lines like “Want to cut you off, be by myself” and “I’m falling into darkness”, and the emotional content as well as the beats themselves resonate with the crowd. Certified moments are the pair’s collab ‘Breathe’, with its soft horns and deep, oscillating bassline, and ‘Fix Up’, one of the highlights of Uli's 'Elusivo' mixtape. The move from Sky H1 to this feels like the essence of Bala Club and people are reacting accordingly – Endgame, for instance, is cutting around down the front, throwing up gun fingers in support.

The rest of the night is just as unpredictable, with special guests/affiliates coming to join the Bala crew: Chino Amobi sets light to a bonfire of sirens, NYC traffic noise, distortion, Rihanna and Gqom; Nkisi gets the whole room pogo-ing to hardstyle, middle fingers raised while pressing pedal to the metal and Why Be rolls out sub-loaded techno and club.

Kamixlo’s already had his room 2 ‘moment’ (he spun the place around and around and around as part of a PAN and Codes showcase last September) so appears relaxed at the controls, though the crowd are nonetheless fervent. He casually swigs from a bottle of Ciroc while punching in his own tracks and a barrage of dancehall, UK rap and baile funk. The heat rises as he plays and it’s noticeable that the industrial fans that hang from the walls aren’t actually turned on; when we say hello to a friend, we notice that his glasses are completely steamed up.

When asked where the perfect Bala Club event would take place, the trio chat about doing a juggernaut party at London’s 02 arena, Endgame gassing that Young Thug would headline and Kami giggling that it’d be sponsored by Ciroc. This highlights their cheeky, tongue-in-cheek humour and then Uli-K strikes a soulful chord, something that’s just as important to them as jokes: “Honestly? The party would be at someone’s house. Just being with friends. Someone dropping tunes. I feel like super family vibes, man. That’s what we’re doing at Bala Club anyway.”

There’s hints of that in the room when Uli drops a live set at Health Mate, a neo internet café in North London, on April 8. It houses a bespoke events space in its basement, all low neon light and wood paneling. It feels like the luxury chillzone of a millionaire’s mansion, but with cheap drinks served across a makeshift bar in the back and music to make your mind and heart melt played out across a modest but capable system. Malibu and Organ Tapes are also on the bill, with Kamixlo and Mechatok playing an impromptu, surprise back-to-back. Later in the month they’ll organise another official Bala Club rave at infamous East London rave den Bar 512, with a stellar line-up topped by a special guest from New York, Juliana Huxtable. And in May they'll head just up the road to Tipsy to host an afterparty for Yung Lean. They seem to move across London as a team at night, deploying their vision with precision.

It’s working. Their parties are helping to bolster a London club scene that’s slowly but surely coming out of a deep obsession with house and techno. Their love of reggaeton and kizomba has inspired an interest in slower tempos among dancers and producers who might not have been acquainted with those genres before (the influence of Kami’s 2015 smash ‘Paleta’ on certain areas of underground club music is undeniable). And they’re feeding into a slipstream of artists making out-there tracks that engage in a range of emotions and are meant to be played not just in the club, but across the whole of your life. Rage. Pain. Lust. Euphoria. Bala Club bares all.

“Be honest,” Uli-K says. “That’s the key. If you’re dishonest with your music, it’s not going to be valuable in a year.”

The compilation drops, six months solidified.

Today, Kamixlo's in Seoul, finishing off a tour of Asia at Cakeshop; Endgame's just dropped the first cut from his Hyperdub EP and is prepping for a string of North American shows and Uli K is fresh from premiering a new video with Yung Lean.

You can feel the momentum and it'll only continue. 2016, year of Bala Club.

The next Bala Club party is on July 15 in London

Endgame's 'Flesh' EP on Hyperdub arrives July 22

Seb Wheeler is Mixmag's Digital Editor, follow him on Twitter

Vicky Grout is a freelance photographer based in London, follow her on Instagram