1>> Tell us how you first got into breaks and then progressed onto being a producer in the form of databass and finally onto running your own label?
I got into Breaks thru the West Coast US stuff from the mid-90's. Peeps like Bassbin Twins, Kelly Reverb, Electroliners, etc. There was also some of the early UK producers like Chemical Brothers, Propellorheads and Rennie Pilgrem. The DJ's I was seeing at the time were playing a lot of funky US house and would often drop some of these tracks through their sets. I wanted to hear whole sets of this stuff though so I eventually started making my own.

As Breaks was the first electronic/dance music I'd ever made it took a long time for me to develop my sound, learn the equipment and get it sussed. At that stage though there wasn't many labels signing breaks. Even in the UK then there was only a handful - TCR, Botchit + Scarper, Boombox. I was offered a deal with a small distributor who paid for the first couple of pressings and things went from there - again, I'd never run a label before and years later I'm still learning, but then if you're not learning things generally start getting boring. Now the label is considered to be one of the key underground Breaks imprints. We've developed a lot of new artists over the past few years and some of those peeps are now some of the top players in the scene. Freakaboom continues to grow and expand.

2>>As a label manager, what criteria do you use to judge potential signings, and how do you go about scouting out new talent?
A tune has to grab me. It's hard to describe. I don't look for particular styles or sounds and I don't chase big names just to get their name on the label. I'd much rather have a solid tune that I love from an unknown than a guaranteed seller from a big name that I'm not into. I like all different styles of Breaks and over the past couple of years we've released pretty much every style from funky to progressive to dark to just plain off the wall. Variety is the spice of life. 

As the label grows I get sent lots more demos, I love getting new tunes and will always try to provide some sort of feedback to people, I think this is very important and I know what it's like to be sending demos to a label that never has any contact with the outside world - not good. In the early days I used to spend lots of time on the web listening to Mp3's and I still do it from time to time just to keep in touch with what's out there, but if someone is really serious about getting their tunes out there they should be sending them to labels directly.

3>>who have been your most successful artists and which releases are most  proud of?
Like I said, I sign tunes, not names so every release has a ceratin amount of risk attached to it but when it works, that's always a good feeling. Working with Koma + Bones and 2Sinners at a point before they got so damn big is something I'm quite proud of, I still have regular contact with both of them, they're all top lads and I do hope that we could work together in the future some time.

Junk Magnet was my first 'signing' to the label and Rory has since gone on to record for me as Bomb Jack and Galaxians - he's a champ and it's been very rewarding to hear his development as a producer.

4>>Will 'Boomtronics' be available globally?
Yes, although different areas will get it at different times - that's just the way it goes. We're also looking at selling them directly to places that have trouble getting ahold of it. This is a compilation that, if you're into Breaks - you need to hear!

5>>As a producer, take us through your creative process in making a track.. What gets your creative juices flowing, and who are some of your influences?
Hmmm, this changes all the time! If I'm writing one of my own tracks from scratch I generally start with a bunch of fresh loops and samples. It could be beats, might be a bassline or just a couple of noises that I like. From there I'lll get them synced and looped and running together and try to hear/feel where the track wants to go. I think it's better to let the track let you know what it want's to do rather than try to push it in a particular direction.

I try to do the basic arrangement pretty quickly, it's very easy to spend so much time listening to individual loops that you're tired of the tune by the time you come to arranging it. From there I'll go back and work on the Beats and fills and little tricky bits. I try not to add to many sounds on top, but I do like quite busy tracks so this is something that I have taken a long time to get a balance on - less is sometimes more in Dance music.

On a remix though I generally find that people want a particular sound or style - from me it's generally the more progressive thing, which is cool because I love working with this style, but then you generally have a slightly more detailed idea of what you're going to do which sometimes makes it easier, other times it makes it tougher.

6>>How would you describe your musical style?
Breakbeat.

7>>What do you think of the state of dance music at the moment? where does breakbeat fit into all of this?
I haven't been moved by a style of dance music like I have by Breaks. I've had all the right moments on Dance floors over the years where for one reason or another you feel all sorts of enlightenment, elevation or whatever but Breaks gets to me on so many levels. I've pretty much ignored most other styles of Dance music since getting in to Breaks!

At the moment it's still very much early days for Breakbeat. There are no rules, the playing field changes regularly, there's always new styles being developed and people come into it from so many different styles, angles and backgrounds that the style will always continue to develop and change. That's a good thing for us on the underground but I think it makes it hard for people outside of Breaks to understand what it is we're doing and this in turn keeps us underground. 

I really like some of the Tech influences that are coming through from people like Mark Pember and Rennie Pilgrem at the
moment but I love what so many other people are doing with Breaks at the moment. If I got a demo tomorrow that completely changed the way we think about Breaks then I'd be fine with that.

8>>which artists and labels do you think are making the most exciting music at the moment?
Whoa! Too many to mention! Like I said, I've really enjoyed the past few W9Y releases, TCR, for me, has always been a label to aspire too, like where Euka Breaks are coming from, dig the past few 10Kilo things, rate Disuye from Hong Kong very highly, have much respect for the lads at Plastic Raygun yeah, too many good people out there doing good things. I've always rated Koma + Bones and 2Sinners, Rate Stef Stabilizer very highly, General MIDI and Danny McMillan are two faves and I've recently been having a very big Elite Force revival! sHack's rocking some mad shit at the moment but again,
that's jut the few I can think of right now.

9>>what direction do you see breaks moving in in the next year or so?
Everywhere! Upward and outward. One of the things I love about Breaks is that it isn't a 'UK thing' or a 'somewhere thing' it spreads slowly but surely across the globe into all sorts of places - that's why you have top quality labels coming out of places as far apart as Holland, Hong Kong and Australia.

I think that the styles will continue to diversify, develop and take on more influences. I think you'll see alot more cross-over between breaks and other styles like Tech-House, Drum + Bass, 2Step/Garage and more.

Also think that over the next year you're going to see a lot more top producers come out of the US...

10>>Be honest, what are the chances of Freakaboom touring South East Asia?
I'm aiming to be in Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia in September - so any one reading this that wants to book me for more dates just yell!

11>>Freakaboom charts.
In no particular order...
1) Boomtronics Samplers 1,2 and 3: Various Artists (Freakaboom)
2) Lobster Boy: Objects (Badaboom)
3) Dark Side: Databass Remix (Source Of Gravity)
4) Vapour Trail: Elite Force (W9Y)
5) Personal Space: Dark Globe Remix (Moving Target)
6) E.K.: Watch Dis! (Sound Not Scene)
7) Mercury: Deep Impact Remix (Plastic Raygun)
8) Neptune: Kraymon Remix (En:Vision)
9) Number One: (Sky Recordings)
10) Rockit: Coldcut Remix (Transparent Music)

-May, 2002

-thanks to Juz for the interview! 

>back