Mark Barrott

Biography

Mark Barrott was born in 1968 in Sheffield, England, where his musical path was set at age thirteen when he witnessed Kraftwerk perform live at Sheffield City Hall in 1981. That concert ignited a passion for synthesizers and electronic music, further shaped by the innovations of fellow Sheffield natives The Human League, as well as the techno architects Juan Atkins and Derrick May, the experimental label Warp Records, and A Guy Called Gerald. Through the 1980s and early 1990s he honed his craft, eventually gravitating toward the burgeoning drum and bass scene emanating from London, led in his mind by the atmospheric vision of LTJ Bukem.

Throughout the 1990s Barrott operated primarily as Future Loop Foundation, producing ambient drum and bass that earned widespread acclaim and landed him the distinction of delivering the first live drum and bass session on BBC Radio 1. He also assembled a Future Loop Foundation live show that performed at Talvin Singh's influential Anokha club and toured with the Planet Dog Megadog package. In parallel he was commissioned to compose background music for the first MTV Europe Music Awards, establishing a secondary career in music for film, television, and commercial worlds. In 2008 a move to Uruguay prompted him to found International Feel Recordings, a vinyl-focused label that became a touchstone of the Balearic underground and by 2014 had sold more than 100,000 records. Early signings included DJ Harvey's Locussolus project, Quiet Village, Gatto Fritto, and Italian cosmic disco don Daniele Baldelli.

Relocating to Ibiza in 2012, Barrott began releasing music under his own name and launched the Sketches From An Island series — sun-drenched, melodic records recorded in Ibiza's northern hills using slide guitars, borrowed synths, and unconventional percussion, deeply inspired by the early Balearic mixtapes of José Padilla. The series became genre-defining statements for the modern Balearic movement. In November 2024 he released Everything Changes, Nothing Ends on Anjunadeep, his most personal work — a tender meditation on love and loss written in the wake of his wife Sara's passing after 25 years together between Berlin and rural Ibiza.

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Fun Facts

• Barrott delivered the first-ever live drum and bass session on BBC Radio 1 in the mid-1990s — a landmark moment for the genre.
• He was commissioned to compose background music for the very first MTV Europe Music Awards, quietly launching a parallel career in screen composition.
• International Feel Recordings, which he founded after moving to Uruguay in 2008, had sold over 100,000 vinyl records by July 2014 — a remarkable figure for an independent underground label.
• His 2024 album Everything Changes, Nothing Ends was written as a grief record after losing his wife Sara, with whom he had shared 25 years between Berlin and rural Ibiza.

Musical Connections

Mentors/Influences

• Kraftwerk - Seeing Kraftwerk live at Sheffield City Hall in 1981 at age 13 directly inspired Barrott to begin playing synthesizers
• LTJ Bukem - Creative force behind the London drum and bass sound that drew Barrott into the genre in the early 90s [Early 1990s]
• José Padilla - Iconic Balearic DJ whose early Café Del Mar-era mixtapes directly inspired the sonic palette of Sketches From An Island [2012-2014]

Key Collaborators

• DJ Harvey - Barrott's International Feel label coaxed DJ Harvey out of studio retirement for the Locussolus project [c. 2009-2011]
• Talvin Singh - Future Loop Foundation performed at Talvin Singh's Anokha club in London [Mid-1990s]
• Rob Da Bank - Contributed remixes to Future Loop Foundation releases [Late 1990s]
• Daniele Baldelli - Italian cosmic disco pioneer released new work on International Feel Recordings [2010s]
• Gatto Fritto - Released material on International Feel Recordings under Barrott's A&R [2010s]
• Quiet Village - Released material on International Feel Recordings [2010s]

External Links

• Spotify
• Wikipedia
• MusicBrainz