Curl & Dean's Boba continues his journey into the progressive and melodic depths of worldwide breakbeat.
This week we talk and check out the amazing talents of Canadian electronic wunderkind Phrakture. At only 16 he is already made a huge impact on the progressive breakbeat scene, with releases and remixes on Flextone, Polytechnic, DSUK and Morphosis to name but a few.
Phrakture, aka Nafeu Nasir, has just let loose his brand new album Initiate Dream Sequence, which is available only at Bandcamp. This LP is a gargantuan journey in sound, made up of organic, glitchy breakbeats, some liquid drum 'n' bass and a sprinkle of atmospheric four to the floor and downtempo "prog-step".
Below we speak to Phrakture and give you a taster of what to expect from the album.
Phrakture feat. Clandestine - Parasomnia (Preview) by Phrakture
For the people who don’t know who you are: who is Phrakture, and what is your sound?
Phrakture is a 16 year old kid from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, who has grown up with electronic music. I first started producing music at the age of nine, when I was introduced to some simple freeware midi studio software. After messing around, having no clue how to structure a song, or even create a simple melody I was hooked, and really by luck, I made the big shift to better software a couple months later. Seven years later and I’m proud to rightfully say that my sound consists of epic glitch stutter interludes, sine lead melodies, organic atmospheres and some heavy breakbeat rhythms. However I don’t stop myself from the occasional four on the floor. I’m also a skilled beatboxer and so that has helped me with my general knowledge and grasp of rhythm.
So your new album is about to drop. Why are you releasing it yourself on Band Camp?
There are two reasons. Number one, is obviously because I don’t want a record label going in between my music, releasing it a year after it gets signed, and keeping 50 percent of the royalties. Number two is, well, I enjoy controlling every aspect of the art I create. With Bandcamp I feel I have total control of my artistic expression. From every pixel of artwork to every 16th note of audio being played. To me you are known for your far out glitchy melodic breakbeat. I have heard the three breakbeat tracks from the album and must say they are superb.
How come you did not just do a full on breakbeat album as I hear there are some drum 'n' bass and downtempo tunes on it?
I feel that producers who produce a lot of different kinds of genres really make a statement about how skilled they are. Having the ability to fuse genres and types of music is what I believe allows some producers to become revolutionaries. With this album I wanted to show that I wasn’t just a breakbeat producer, I wanted to show that I was also a house producer, and a D 'n' B producer, and a downtempo producer. Some people might hear that and think: “a 16-year-old producer? What a joke!” But when I produce music in multiple genres to show that I have an understanding of varying styles of music and rhythm, I don’t want them to believe that I’m a teenager. Also, producing breaks tracks can feel very mundane sometimes, especially when you’ve just produced SO many of them. It’s always fun to switch up genres every now and then.
Your style reminds me of BT - who are your influences in music?
Haha, you hit the target my friend. BT is one of my BIGGEST influences. I first discovered his music when I first played Need for Speed Underground back in 2003 and heard his track Kimosabe. I became so obsessed with his earlier work like ESCM and Movement in Still Life. There are three other main influences in my musical style. A soundtrack producer named Michiel Van Den Bos, who did a lot of the soundtrack production for the original Unreal Tournament 99 game, Stefan Anion, whose breakbeat glitch segments I used to hear in my sleep, and Trifonic, with their signature acoustic/atmospheric dubstep fusion style. I honestly actually could not sum up my influences in one paragraph, but think artists/groups like Dousk, Sasha, Pendulum, Beta, Benz & MD, KiloWatts and Electrosoul System.
Is there a big breakbeat scene in Canada?
Hahaha, I would not know to be honest. I’ve never stepped foot in a club or ever even seen a live electronic music performance. The majority of the people I know here listen to mainstream, a small portion are into indie music and maybe a handful of people are interested in my kind of music but not completely into it. As I was growing up, some of the most common phrases I would have to use were “it's not techno - it's breakbeat” or “it's not techno, it's electronica”. If there is a breakbeat scene, I hope to discover it after I enter adulthood. I've watched your video on glitching techniques.
Tells us a bit about your set up - what are you using to craft these gems?
My setup is good old Cubase SX3 with a moderate to fairly small collection of VSTi and FX. I also have a CASIO keyboard, an acoustic guitar, a condenser microphone, and a soon to arrive Akai APC40 along with Ableton Live 8. From an outside look, my studio is just my den. It is nothing special at all. I don’t have any giant mixers, I don’t have a soundproof room for recording, and I don’t really have anything MTV Cribs-worthy.
What can we expect in the future from you?
You can expect a lot more three track EP packages, a lot more live guitar implemented into my tracks, a lot more basslines and definitely a lot more glitching. I’m probably going to be exploring the chillout and drum and bass genres quite a bit more but don’t worry, breaks will never die for me. After my ACP40 arrives, I do plan on practicing live performance techniques - you will definitely see that from me in the future. I hope to be able to do live performances after I’m 18.
Final words from you?
I’m just a kid trying to live his dream, and producing music is my ultimate vent of expression. This album is really just the start. Everything prior to the album was sort of me working my way up as a producer. If you listen to my tracks produced in 2009, compared to my tracks produced now, it is quite the drastic increase in production quality. In the end I just want to be known for my talents. I want to be up there with the heavy hitters and I want the fans to have some music to connect their lives and memories with. To sum it up, I want to be famous, but not mainstream famous. I want to be known throughout the electronic music community, because the community means so much to me, and becoming a hard hitting and popular artist within the electronic music community would be a solid dream come true. There is just so much more music from me to come! BUY MY ALBUM and cheers from Toronto Ontario Canada! Check out my Facebook artist page to stay updated!
A massive thanks to Phrakture for taking some time out to let us know about his world. For more information on Phrakture check out his Soundcloud or MySpace, and to purchase his new album go to Bandcamp.
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