The Plump DJs are quite possibly the biggest things in the breakbeat world. We had a drink with them when they were in Centro, Singapore, in January.

You played at Breaksfest in Perth, Australia, recently, what was that like?
LR: That was fantastic! It's an amphitheatre, a  natural amphitheatre on the grounds, so it was very hot that day and the sun came down just as we started, so it was brilliant.  It was just amazing.

Do you think big shows like that are an indicator that breaks is becoming bigger?
LR: Ooerr... I don't know, the world is such a big place, breakbeat is becoming popular in various parts of the world at different times... I mean in Australia at the moment, we're enjoying a lot of attention on breakbeat generally. Out there, we get a chance to play really big crowds and put our music where we always hoped it would be.

In the UK, there's a lot more to choose from, but we're still enjoying a lot of big events there as well, we played a lot of the festivals this year and
put on shows at some of the big clubs in the UK at the moment on a regular basis, so yeah, breakbeat is picking up, and we're enjoying it.

Will breakbeat become so popular that it will turn into something as commercial as trance?
AG: That's a really difficult question...

LR: I think the world's grown up a bit now, hasn't it?

AG: It hasn't grown in the same way that i thought it would. its gotten bigger, but in the last 4 years i thought it would be
quite a big thing now but its not as big as i thought it would be.. but then, who knows, it could easily take off and...

LR: Yeah, its a toughie... I think..

Would you say breakbeat is more intelligent, perhaps?
LR: I suppose trance and possibly progressive... you put those two in a category, since they are probably the biggest form of dance music in the world at the moment. There seems to be a backlash against that now, with some big clubs in the UK shutting down and some big events having problems, but there are still some parts of the world where trance and progressive are still massive, the big mainstay. I think the reason for that is because that sort of music lends itself to large audiences very well, it transposes well outside...  I don't know if breakbeat is more intelligent than those forms of msuic, but I think breakbeat and the people involved in breakbeat..

AG: I do know that what's simple is also what's popular, so intelligent or not...

AG: Well it almost (became commercially popular) when Fatboy Slim was considered breakbeat, but um... I don't think it's considered breakbeat anymore, obviously. He was into the top ten and started selling, but then people got bored of that because no one else was going into the top ten, but I don't know, I think it could cross over, because there's little bits of it crossing over, but it's usually because its on an advert or a commercial of some kind..

LR: I think (breakbeat) seems to be quite an innovative genre of music, as with drum n bass and a lot of the other underground genres that are
creeping up and becoming more popular, and the general attitude of the breakbeat scene is 'don't sell out', you know, and 'try to keep innovating'.  Everyone seems to be doing that, and as long as we keep doing that, I don't think I cant see (breakbeat) ever being as accessible as maybe some of the other scenes.

AG: I think there's a lot of good in  the fact that James Lavelle has just done Global Underground, there's a lot of different breakbeat compilations coming up, and that will definitely make a lot of people who would buy the Global Underground for house, hear breakbeat and think, 'lets give it a go'. So hopefully, that will expand, and hopefully there will be more of that kind of thing happening in the future, so it could get a lot bigger.

LR: And it would be great if it does, then we can go squander loads of money on airplanes and fast women and fast cars and... (sniggers)

AG: (chuckles quietly)

Have the Internet and websites like breaksworld.com (now defunct), nubreaks.com and Breaks FM played a role in that?
AG: The internet has definitely had a hand in it. I'm not sure if it's really gonna break breakbeat, that's got to be a cultural shift, but breakbeat is still a very small scene globally, even in London, it's not the biggest scene. There's a lot more going on there.

But it's got bigger in the last year, and that's certainly down to those sites you're going on about.  Word of mouth as well, poeple are just getting bored with the familiarity of what they already know. I think people just wanna branch out a little bit.

LR: I think breakbeat as well being an underground genre of music, the internet is really helping people share music and I think that's going to be good for breakbeat, 'cos people can share music over the Net and talk about music. I think being underground music, you can see why it lends itself to the Internet you know, it's a bit more hush-hush.

Are you worried about copyright and piracy issues at all?
AG: Well, people can go on about it, but we haven't had any sort of... well one set was on the internet wasn't it, some of our new stuff, without us knowing about it?

LR: Yea.

AG: That's the only thing that's happened so far.

LR: That's the thing you worry about, if you do a set on radio and it gets transposed to the Internet, then you've got music that you hope people will enjoy in a club environment, listening to it, you know, all over the world.

AG: I think if we bring out a record that everyone likes, but no one buys it, then we start smelling a rat... that there's something wrong, but hopefully... well, it hasn't happened yet, and I think people like to buy the product. They like to have the physical thing in their hand rather than just downloading it, so I don't think it's going to take over just like that.

AG: But certainly, we did a bootleg, awhile ago, and when it came out on the Internet, everyone was just going 'have you heard it', 'you
can download it on this site or that site', and I found it really funny, really.

LR: (grunts) Yea... it really helps spread the word doesn't it.
 

What's your view on breakbeats in Asia?
LR: Breakbeat in Asia?

AG: Don't know a lot about it to be honest.

LR: We haven't really been to...

AG: I've done one gig in Hong Kong, that's it.

LR: I did Zouk last year...

AG: What was that like?

LR: Really good!

AG: Well (breakbeat in Asia) seems to be really up and coming and really developing, but I haven't really heard of any breakbeat coming out of Asia
yet.

LR: In Hong Kong, we played a club called Skitz, and it was really the first time the Plumps have been to Asia, and the crowd was really responsive. They knew most of our tunes from CDs or whatever, and a lot of the crowd knew the breakbeat scene in the UK, probably because its a bit fresher over here than in other parts of Europe. There's a lot of enthusiasts here, you know, people who don't get a chance to listen to a lot of breakbeat, and if you get a lot of enthusiasts in one club together, and the music there to fuel them, they're going to go off, and they went off and had a really good party. But it's important that people make music rather than just play other people's records you know.

AG: Yeah, you know it's doing well when people start making records.

LR: Australia, a couple of years ago, breaks was really picking up, but there wasn't anyone making anything. Now, there's Nubreed making stuff and Kid Kenobi just remixed 'La La Land', and that really represents their passion for the scene out there and hopefully, that will make things grow for (the breaks scene) and in Asia.

Success And The Breakbeat DJ

You're obviously a successful pair now, but when did it hit you that you've made it?

AG: I don't think it has yet, (laughs)!

AG: I suppose being booked for a gig with 17,000 people...

LR: Yeah, in Sydney yeah, Field Day.

AG: It was probably the best gig we've done to date... so I think it sort of hits you in the face a little bit, when you see that many people all with their hands in the air all dancing to your music... that's quite good.

LR: I think as well, it's not an overnight thing, we've been working at it for like three, four years.

AG: Its been very gradual hasn't it.

LR: Its been a very gradual but steady... incline, is that right? (laughs)... and because of that, we've had more time to get used to what's going on and we try to step back and go 'wow, isn't this great', but it does help you take things in its stride you know.

The first time we saw a lot of press, I thought, it was good wasn't it, we started getting a bit of press, when we did 'A Plump Night Out', and suddenly it was 'featured album of the month', 'best album of the month', and suddenly everyone's going...

AG: And it wasn't magazines playing each other off... quite a few magazines were all saying good things about us. And I hope this means that people actually do quite like us!

LR: And its not been down to us being part of a multi-million pound organisation or bought, you know, shed-loads of advertising or any manufacturing in any way, it's been down to people enjoying music and I think that was the first time I started getting well excited, because pepole like Timo Maas and Sasha... you hear Sasha going on about you or even play one of your records, you think 'oh my God, this is amazing!', but that continues you know, we've just come all the way from Australia and we're saying this is amazing.

AG: This is great. Breakbeat forever! (laughs)

(turns to Lee) Have u got a lighter?

LR: Yea, I've got yours!

(lights cigarette)

Is there any sort of envy in the UK breakbeat scene over your success at all?
AG: Um, I hope not. Not that i've noticed. I think people are usually quite supportive, 'cos we're all trying to go for the same thing, which is make the scene bigger.

LR: I think most of the breaks supporters and DJs are really supportive of each other, you know, we try to for the right reasons, not just supporting for supporting's sake.

I think there is a tendency, especially in the UK, to pull people down as soon as they start doing well, rather than bringing them up. And we've not really noticed too much of that either, so maybe it'll start happening now, you know, who cares...

AG: Backlash!

LR: Yea, it's really annoying that as soon as something starts , you know we were talking about trance earlier on, and there's a backlash, and everyone says its commercial and all that you know, its become that big for a reason, and that's because of quality and the concept - it's enjoyable, so people love trance. I like certain trance records, yeah, I like certain classical records, we all like various things, so I hope we don't fall prey to any sort of backlash.

How do you work in the studio and when DJing?
LR: I make the tea, he does all the real work!

AG: (laughs for quite awhile) Um, well, I do all the kind of finishing off the record, or the technical kind of thing, we kinda share the programming in the studio and then when it comes to DJing, it's completely as we wanna do it. If someone's on a roll and they fill up a few records, then they do, then someone takes over -  there's no real, set routine. And usually, it works
out to maybe three or four records each, but we don't really follow a set plan.

LR: It's good to have two people playing instead of one.

AG: Yeah, if one's not on form, then he can just relax for a bit and then take over.

What's your secret to producing that vital funk ingredient?
AG: This is the one thing that people always tell us, but we just do what we do. People go 'yea, you've got a real sound' and to me, they sound really different. I don't know, but we stick to the drums more than anything else. The tunes are about drums and if you get the drums right, then the rest seems to fall into place.

LR: We try to utilise space quite a lot as well, and heavy noises, that sort of technique, and on a lot of old funk, you'll hear a lot of that sort of thing going on.

AG: We don't really plan on the sound that much, we just go in, and if we like it, hopefully everyone else does, and it seems to have worked so far.

LR: I suppose as well, the environment we make music in has stayed the same for the last three years, which is quite important. A lot of people, when they start doing well, buy a bigger studio and move somewhere else, and the sound changes because of it. The referencing and where you are, the inspiration is still the same for what you're doing.

What do you mean by using space in your production?
AG: The gaps between notes are used as notes. Listen to some old funk. the less you put in the mix the better it sounds, if you put loads in and it's really busy, then it's actually quite difficult to hear anything, 'cos there's so much going on. So, space between the notes, that's what he means.

The UK Dance Press - Too Powerful?

How do you feel about tags like 'nu skool breaks'?
AG: I think tags are always going to exist 'cos people need to try and put things in boxes just to understand them, just as you always generalise about whatever you're doing where ever you are in the world, you always generalise, and there's nothing wrong with that, so no, I think it's great that people just came up with that label, 'nu skool breaks'. I think it's funny that if you just branch out a little bit, then there's another new box develpped, and a new genre comes out... that's funny, we just laugh.

LR: People talk about funky breakbeat or... trance and bass (laughs).

AG: What's that we had recently... thrash house?

LR: Animal house.

AG: (laughs). Animal house. No there was a really good one, something house...

LR: I think genre defining is essential , but can be really restrictive especially if you're producing music.

AG: It's more of a press thing, it's more when people are talking about the music, you talk about the genres, but obviously in the press these names come up a lot but I think when people are playing it, they don't think so much about what they're hearing or what they should be called.

Is the UK dance music press too powerful in terms of dictating tastes? Are they unfair?
LR: I was talking to someone from one of the bigger British mags last week in an interview, they wanted to find out what we were up to abroad, but they wanted to talk about the Fabric compilation. I said to them at the end of the interview, you've got to know about the sort of stuff that's going on abroad, 'cos it'd be really nice if someone did an article on Field Day or
Breaksfest 'cos they've been to Australia. British magazines seem to be still talking about the same old DJs sneezing or falling off the stairs, and on the other side of the world, you've got a big festival going on, loads of people really getting down.  I think Britain has a lot of influence (globally), 'cos its a very creative country, but I don't know if it's fair or not...

AG: It's just the way things change, the way they develop, I mean, it's lucky for us, 'cos we live there, (laughs) but we don't really read that many magazines, to be honest.

LR: I think the dance scene is so established in the UK that they can support magazines. In a lot of other parts of the world, the dance scene isn't that established, so there's no way a magazine can financially exist unless you hand out free magazines.

But is it a case of journalists deciding things rather than letting the music do its job?

AG: Fashion is exactly the same way.

LR: same way with paintings...

AG: I think the press has an important role to play, but the main way (certain things in the club world get hot) is word of mouth. If someone recommends something to u, then its going to be more of a big thing than if you read it in a magazine. The magazine of course helps...

LR: The record we've sold the most of to date, the single record, is the one we actually received least press on. 'Big Groovy Fucker'. So it's not directly proportional and (the UK dance press) might not have as much power as you think. But by the same account it can make or break a record.

AG: It can, yea. 
 

The Plump DJs At Home

Do you guys hang out much?
AG: Far too much.

LR: Go on holidays together...

AG: We've got like a circle of friends that we've always had before making music and we're still quite a close circle of friends, so yeah, basically. (laughs)

(silence)

LR: It's a bit weird, really.

AG: It is. Very weird.

(laughs)

What do you like about working together, and who are your musical influences?
AG: Um.

LR: It's crap working together.

AG: (laughs) Yea, we get quite bored working together, we have to have our space sometimes. (Our partnership) is good, it works really well.  Our
sound, well, it's based on energy. The drums are really important. We listen to a lot of techno, its full of energy, and funk 'cos  that's where we come from and it always makes people dance...

LR: A bit of disco flair.

AG: Disco... and house, we were into house a few years ago, we rediscovered hip hop and then got into breakbeat at the same time,
but before that we were listening to house, and a lot of influences come from that as well. It was the main kind of dance music I first got into.

LR: We enjoyed a lot of hip hop when we were very young.

AG: So it's all about lumping all that together.
 

Who would you like to collaborate with?
AG: Loads of people.

LR: Kate Bush. (laughs) I'm only joking.

AG: She'd be great!

LR: She would actually, on a slow tip. We've just finished working on a couple of collaborations on the new album ('Eargasm') that we're quite excited about.

Who?
LR: Ooerr.... well, we can't really say, but um there's plenty of people.

AG: We've done a track with a really classic singer, and we quite like to work with singers that are up and coming rather than really established, so you know, but you always want to work with your favourites from the past, I think.

No names then?
Both make a series of strange noises coming from the back of their throats. In an attempt to change the line of questioning.

LR: I think hopefully in the future we'll collaborate with lots of different people. Who knows what to expect.

Are they cross-genre or purely breakbeat collaborations?
AG: When it comes to the album, we've experimented a bit more, 'cos it's an album, for home listening you know, not just full of club music, it's all sort of got that kind of Plump signature, its a Plump production, sounds like a Plump track, I hope.

What's a good night out for you?
AG: Coming to Centro.

LR: Coming to dinner. Having a few interviews to boost our ego, a nice bottle of red wine, and then playing our records to lots and lots of people. And then going back to a nice hotel and having a good nice kip.

Do you still go out clubbing much?
AG: Yeah.

LR: We have our friends coming over to our gigs, do the clubbing thing seems to be part of our night out. We'll go out and DJ, then we'll go dance in the club, and then stand around 'til we finish. And then go back to party somewhere else.

AG: When we were in Australia, for like two weeks, we've been out, other than our gigs, to about five nights, so we're definitely going out. No, not in a row... over the two weeks.

LR: As soon as we stop partying, it will start becoming a job, in the old traditional sense, and that's one of the main reasons we're doing this, because we don't consider it a job.

AG: We consider it as us making music to hear when we're having a laugh, when we're out partying, so basically, we've got to go out and party to know what we want to hear.

What's the best part about being the Plump DJs compared to your old jobs (Andy used to work in a boxing factory, Lee was a waiter)?
(laughs all round)

AG: Well, it wasn't a full time job in the factory, I went to college at the same time, I was studying, I did a sound engineering course, and he worked in a restaurant, and then went to a record label, so it wasn't so bad... not a rags to riches sort of thing! But having seen the other side, its worth knowing what it's like.

LR: We were really lucky 'cos some DJs and producers who work really hard at what they do, don't get their due. You know, it doesn't mean just 'cos you're a DJ or a producer, you're going to be having a great life and loads of fun.

Finally, has Plumpers magazine (the source of the Lee and Andy's collective moniker) given you a lifetime subscription?
AG: (laughs) Actually it wasn't us who bought it, honestly! It was just a mate of ours, he bought it on the way to Glastonbury. He told us he bought it for a laugh, but it actually turns out, after five years, he's admitted that he's into large women! It's just obscene, some of the women in that magazine.

LR: We should do a photo shoot, really.

AG: We've still got a copy actually, in a drawer somewhere...

Is it autographed?
AG: No! (laughs)... what, by the models? Do you reckon it'll sell well on E-bay?

 

-Joon

-Thanx to the Plumps and all at Centro, especially Ramesh!

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