Fresh off the release of Part-Time Summer Lover, Ballast is leaning into the slower side of things — the kind of artist who’s traded chaos for clarity, at least for now.
The Sydney-based producer’s latest feels like a conscious exhale, shaped by small rituals, warm days, and a growing appreciation for everything outside the grind.
There’s still that self-taught instinct running underneath it all – the kid tapping rhythms on anything within reach – but these days, it’s paired with a quieter perspective – which is less about chasing the moment, and more about actually being in it.
We caught up with Ballast to talk slow mornings, balcony plane-watching, and why sometimes the most important shift is just learning to look up.
HAPPY: What’d you get up to today?
BALLAST: I really just took my time getting out of bed. I’ve never been a morning person anyway but today I just felt like I needed a slow rise, so I’ll allow it.
I made my way to the gym for a leg day that wasn’t as crippling as usual, then finished up with a sauna which is a relatively new thing I’ve been doing lately.
Aside from that, the sun was warm and the birds were chirping louder than usual, I have no complaints.
HAPPY: Tell us a little about where you’re from, and what you love about it!
BALLAST: I’m Sydney based, but I actually grew up mostly on the Central Coast, a little spot not far from the beach.
I still visit every once in a while to see my parents, but since moving to the city, it really dawned on me how serene it is up there, and my appreciation for that way of life goes way deeper now that I don’t have that constant access to it.
When I visit, I would go and sit by the beach and imagine that I’m seeing it for the first time like a tourist. Now I see how I really did take it for granted.
HAPPY: ‘Part-Time Summer Lover’ feels like a deep breath in song form. What was the specific moment or feeling that made you realize you needed to write about slowing down?
BALLAST: I think it really just came from a bunch of really good consecutive days, rather than one specific moment.
I think it reflects quite clearly in how the song came out, but it really did just inspire me to read into those little everyday moments and pull from the tranquility it brought me.
Let’s say you ask a friend “want to get a coffee?” – on paper it doesn’t seem like much – but when you really lean into the whole experience of getting a coffee, you’re having real human connection, getting some vitamin D and moving, you’re treating yourself.
That’s the kind of mentality I was in when I wrote this.
HAPPY: You mention it’s a reminder to appreciate the “whole ass world” outside your Sydney pocket. What’s a specific quiet pleasure in your life that you’ve recently started noticing?
BALLAST: Planes for sure. Not that I’ve never noticed a plane before, but my partner and I moved into a new place last year and specifically wanted a balcony and were fortunate enough to find one that is fairly high up, not far from the airport.
We must be in the firing line of the runways because we usually have a few flying around.
I’ll be eating my breakfast on the balcony some days and watch them jet past and I’ll always wonder what stories those people have.
Some of them onboard are probably excited about starting a new life somewhere, some are maybe travelling for a funeral or wedding.
I think for me it’s more just a nice reminder that free will exists, because it can be easy to forget sometimes when you’re stuck in a routine you might not like.
HAPPY: Your journey started with tapping rhythms on objects and pirated production software. How does that self-taught, resourceful beginning still influence the way you make music today?
BALLAST: I really think because I figured everything out on my own by experimenting, I never had any rules.
I spent my 10,000 hours just locked in, pushing all the buttons, seeing what they did, until I knew enough to develop my own flavour for sound, then let my emotions steer the ship from there.
I still carry this approach with me on every new song I create, never stop learning.
Of course there is best practice with certain technical things, but Youtube has all the answers and is a free resource, so I never had any desire to pay thousands for a course at some academy to learn from a textbook that teaches you how to make music “correctly”.
HAPPY: You’ve been open about themes of self-loss and rediscovery. Did writing a more laid-back, present-moment song like this require a different kind of emotional vulnerability than your previous work?
BALLAST: 100%. A lot of my previous work was written about certain struggles, which I used as a form of therapy I suppose, just to get it off my chest, acknowledge it and move on.
This ‘living in the moment’ type approach is more just me trying to balance that contrast to what I would consider is a fulfilling life.
I have my sad songs, I’ve dealt with those feelings and the ships have sailed.
I feel like it’s equally as important that I shine a bit of light on what makes life worth sticking around for, almost like a reminder that we always hold the power to turn things around for ourselves.
HAPPY: How has your definition of “success” changed from when you first started producing to now, especially with a track that celebrates slowing down?
BALLAST: Reflecting on this is funny, I used to watch videos of artists like Skrillex playing to a whole ocean of people, and in my young and ambitious mind I thought wow, I want that, that’s what success looks like.
I’ve been chasing this crazy music dream for a bit longer now, and along the way I’ve had strangers on the internet be vulnerable with me about their experiences with my music.
Whether it helped them get through a rough patch or just enhance an experience, it really warms my soul like no vanity metrics ever could.
HAPPY: The song is about being young and transitional. What’s one piece of advice your 7-year-old self, tapping on things, would give to you now about navigating city life?
BALLAST: To be honest, I think he would just point to the moon and say “look” out of total fascination.
I did that to my parents all the time when I was younger which is kind of ironic now that I think about it.
City life is mental, I know that now, but that little kid would always be reminding me to look up.
HAPPY: With ‘Part-Time Summer Lover’ out on March 25th, what’s the main feeling you hope listeners take away from this track after they hit play?
BALLAST: Honestly, if people hear it and think to themselves “maybe everything’s not so bad after all”, I’ve done my job.
HAPPY: Lastly, what makes you happy?
BALLAST: Sunny winter days, playing vinyls, Sunday afternoon skating around the city, DJing for people that genuinely love music, Milo scoop shake ice cream, hitting a speakeasy bar with m’lady, just to name a few.
