Colombo has been doing massive things to Breakbeat over the last couple of years, whether it's as part of Kultur & Colombo, BSD and now out on his own. His album is a culmination of all this with 21 tracks of quality breakbeat spanning a number of vibes, but all with the solid production values and phat grooves that has become synonymous with his sound. This exclusive mix shows cases some of the the tracks album and is not to be missed.
Interview
What is is his background in music and how does he seem to know the formula for making such dancefloor friendly music.
I´ve been writing music since 12 years ago, which has given me my current experience and background. Regarding the formula is quite easy, i just write the music i would like to hear as a party head
The album is really diverse in it's vibes - when you sit down to write a tune, do you know what it'll sound like at the end, or do you just go with whatever comes out at the time?
I normally have recurrent inspirational moments. Either if I’m watching TV, having a beer with my mates, or in pretty much any random moment I can get an idea which I normally develop in my mind, imagining a beginning, middle and end of the track, then I try to apply this idea in my studio as soon as i can jump in there, so yeah I guess you can say most of the times I know what I want of every track before I start writing it.
You are incredibly prolific - what is your secret?
I’m not entirely sure why this is. I think it could be related to how much love I have for music, and how fast my ideas flow. If you like doing something a LOT, you can get very effective in how you utilize every minute in your studio. I manage to get things done pretty quickly, hence why I can come up with loads of material in a not very long time.
Now the album is done - what's next for you?
I guess I’ll just become a pensioner… (jokes). You’ll be able to hear much more material from Colombo very soon.
Why did you choose to keep your identities in BSD a secret?
This was just an experiment where we wanted to check the reaction of public to a masked act with unknown identities. To be honest I wasn’t fully convinced about this strategy at the beginning, but it became pretty obvious that people like this kind of mysteries a lot, so it wasn’t a very bad idea after all…
What is the most random thing ever to happen to him behind the decks?
I haven’t had many nightmares behind decks, but for example, last Halloween I was playing in an event in Spain. That same night the time was moving one hour back and I was running a bit late. Long story short, I ended up in the booth 3 minutes before my dj set. When I reached to my cd case, this wasn’t with me, as I forgot it in the car. I had to ask the dj to carry on playing, as I ran over the whole festival to get to the parking, pick up the case, and marathon back to the stage… It was a pretty good set, but a bit sweaty though..!
Where is the most random place he's ever dj'd
No random places to comment I’m afraid, as they all have been clubs or festivals…
Do you write any other genres of music?
Yeah apart from breaks I write some House, Electro House, Tech House or Chill Out tunes.
What instruments do you play if any?
Yeah I know how to play piano, so every keyboard based instrument applies too.
Does he know much aussie made breaks? and what does he think of it?
All i’ve Heard is that there has always been a good scene there. Sometimes is not so easy to keep track with the distance, but I would love to get a tour going to see it first hand.
Can I please have his Kickdrums?
LOL, Yeah i’ll give them to you as soon as i figure out a new music style without kicks, but with the same punch than breaks music… ☺
What does he think of the current state of breaks worldwide compared to its past, and where does he see the future?
I think breaks producers should start making more “commercial” breaks, and stop focusing so much in weird sounding styles, which sounds more orientated to other producers than to the public itself. Producers should look ONLY to what the public wants to make music, and the wide public wants easy listening, catchy music that makes you move, this is a fact. Regarding the future, is very difficult to predict, but my wishes are that loads of extremely good breaks music comes up to the market, making this style occupy the status which should have within the electronic music industry.
What is the real truth behind the BSD split?
As you can imagine, this is a pretty long story, but the main reasons were, that I didn’t want to keep hiding my identity. Also by the way we were operating I considered that another person was getting merits for things he wasn’t doing, cause I was the group producer and the music writer, so I saw myself in a quite unfair situation. The whole thing had a bit of sweet-sour flavor, but this belongs to the past now…
Any plans to come to Australia? if so when?
I ‘ve had some interest by a few promoters already, but so far nothing have consolidated. I’m sure I’ll end up visiting Australia for a tour sooner or later.
Does he write under any other names?
Yes, Alexic Rod, but only for Houre or Tech-House tracks
Does he have children and if so would he want them to be Dj's or involved in the music industry?
Nope I don’t have children, and I don’t have short terms plans for this, so I haven’t thought a lot about if I would want to see them involved in the music industry …
Has he seen Glee and does he secretly like it?
Is this a tv program…? Havent seen it …
What is his favourite bit of studio kit?
Some good monitors with a powerfull computer, is the main thing. I have a couple of synths like the Virus TI also, but the main element is getting your mindset right to make the music.
What does he do in his down time when hes not breaking?
When I’m not produce music I’m normally thinking about music… It really takes a lot of space in my mind…
What does he listen to that isn't breaks?
Yeah I listen to loads of electronic music styles, like House, Electro, Deep House, Chill Out, Indie Dance and many many others, but mainly all electronic music based.
Who are his biggest influences?
My biggest influence is the music by The Cristal Method. I think you can hear a lot of this influence in my music.
What does he make tunes with? software/hardware wise
This is a top secret….
To hear Colombo's guest mix on Llupa's Disc Breaks show follow the link below.
Colombo has been doing massive things to Breakbeat over the last couple of years, whether it's as part of Kultur & Colombo, BSD and now out on his own. His album is a culmination of all this with 21 tracks of quality breakbeat spanning a number of vibes, but all with the solid production values and phat grooves that has become synonymous with his sound. This exclusive mix shows cases some of the the tracks album and is not to be missed.
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