Polly Paulusma + Balloon
Ian from Balloon was born in Birmingham, England, and grew up one of three brothers. The family did not own a record player. Instead, his mother, an opera singer, would entertain with show tunes in the front room, accompanying herself on the piano. As a kid, he was terrified of Doctor Who. He attended nine schools as the family moved from Birmingham to Manchester to Australia then back, beset by the health problems and money worries of his father, a travelling salesman.
Aged 12 Ian was introduced to ‘pop’ music by his older brother. For Christmas he was given the Velvet Underground’s White Light/White Heat, a Dansette record player, and a cheap electric guitar. Unable to master anyone else’s songs, he started writing his own, spurred initially by Buddy Holly, and later Television and Subway Sect. His first band, Grey, included drummer Jim Walker, late of PiL.
Ian and David Sheppard formed Balloon in the late 1980s. The pair hung out in bedrooms, cafes, and parks in the suburbs south of London, writing poetry and songs. They started performing, initially as an acoustic trio with a violinist. In 1990, they signed to BMG/RCA subsidiary Dedicated (label-mates included Spiritualized) after a five-track cassette demo found its way to the label via a journalist friend David had met at a fancy-dress party when dressed as Dracula.
In 1991 Balloon recorded its debut LP, Gravity, with producer Michael Brook (Mary Margaret O’Hara, Youssou N’Dour, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan) at Daniel Lanois’ Kingsway studio in New Orleans, with local musicians who had played with Peter Gabriel, Little Richard, Bob Dylan, Willy de Ville, and the Neville Brothers. It featured Canadian singer Sarah McLachlan.
Balloon toured the US twice, before returning home to tour the UK and Ireland with the late Bill Hicks, the legendary US comedian. In the mid-1990s the band parted ways with Dedicated after an aborted attempt to record a second LP with Mark ‘Spike’ Stent (Madonna, Massive Attack, Beyoncé). Balloon released a single, Straight to the One, on the short-lived Embryo label, toured as an eight-piece including future Black Box Recorders Luke Haines (Auteurs), Sarah Nixey, and John Moore, then vanished.
More than 30 years later came low-key rumblings of a return. Ian, now living in the Netherlands, performed solo as Balloon at the Social, in London, and Leaf, in Liverpool. Balloon’s new LP Gas ‘n’ Air was recorded in Mexico City by Phil Vinall (Pulp, Radiohead), and mixed in London by Sean Read (Dexys, Edwin Collins). Balloon is on tour in the UK in March 2026.