A Quick Chat With... Break

With Ram Records’ celebration of their 100th release just around the corner, well, a week on Friday to be precise, we thought a regular guest, and a superlative producer could potentially provide an insight into what one could hope to expect from next Friday’s anticipated Ram milestone. For us there was only one target, a legend in his own right whose tight, complicated and bass heavy productions have rocked our venue’s soundsystem. We’re speaking of course of drum & bass don, Break.

Hailing from Bristol, Break has always found himself at the forefront of the drum and bass scene. With early releases on A Side’s Eastside label, putting out many a track with local counterpart DJ Die, Break’s long hours in the studio have rewarded him with releases on some of the scene’s most prolific labels, imprints like Metalheadz, Critical, Commercial Suicide and Shogun Audio. He started his own label, Symmetry, in 2006, using it as a vehicle to deliver his debut album of the same name and followed it up last year with the diverse collection of work that is ‘Resistance.’

RAM boss man, Andy C’s Nightlife mix series has highlighted a large amount of Break material, and as the man himself reveals in our interview, one of the forthcoming three digit bearing Ram releases will be a Break single....

So Break, in your own opinion, are you DJ/Producer or Producer/DJ? Which gives you more enjoyment?
It’s hard to say, I started them both at the same time at about 16, so I haves always loved doing both. I like the chilled vibes and creativity in the studio, but the raw energy and loudness in a club is unbeatable.

What would you say your main influences are when producing the high pace, raw energy, music we know and love?
I love artists such as Konflict and Dillinja amongst many others from the 90’s; I listen to a lot of dub and funk, which gives me inspiration for the musical flavours.

Can you tell us more about the rumours of a forthcoming ‘Break’ EP on RAM Records?
It looks like it will be a 12" single on Ram, with the A-side track being ‘Hot Love.’



As a RAM@fabric regular, is there a particular one that stands out? And do you think RAM100 can trump it?
It’s always busy and the system in fabric always sounds fat, so it’s hard to better it - but the lineup does look really cool for this night. If I wasn't playing I would definitely come down for a rave.

Other than yourself & ‘The Executioner’ which sets are the ones to look out for?
For me I'm keen to see Marcus Intalex and Calyx and TeeBee. MistaJam could be interesting too and Red One always rolls out nice...

Also what is going to be in your record bag for the night? Any cheeky Promo’s we are yet to hear?
I have some tracks forthcoming on Critical, Shogun, Metalheadz and Utopia which I'll be testing out. Also got quite a few new symmetry dubs from some other artists and myself.

Finally, what has been your Track of 2011 so far, one you just can’t stop yourself listening to?
Its really hard to say with club tunes, but at home or in the studio I love listening to Naibu, Ena & Key’s ‘Into the Distance.’ It’s definitely one of the most high quality tracks I’ve heard in a good few years.

Catch Break in Room One at RAM100 a week on Friday.