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
Each month Wasteland will be letting you know our tunes of choice, there is always so many great tunes released each month, but some just stand out from the rest to our ears, below is a list of our November 2011 Choice tunes.
Tom Lue - Enjoy This (Remix by Gregory Esayan)
Release Date: 2011-11-07
Label: Morphosis Records
Catalog: MORPH067
After mating with a Proboscis monkey in Borneo, Boba is back on his journey into the progressive and melodic depths of worldwide breakbeat
This week we have a chat with VIM Breaks Records' (Very Important Music) very hard working boss man Pale Penguin, aka Grigoris Savidis. The Greek-based label is now on over 70 releases and doesn't look like it will be slowing down any time soon.
The output from VIM in breakbeat music has covered every style you could ever think of with release and remixes from some legends as well as a massive output from the new breed of breakbeat warriors. I'm always excited to hear what the next release is from VIM and I'm sure many of you feel the same. Check out the interview below for more information on Vim breaks and Pale Penguin's past, present and future.
Also below, you can check out the sounds of Vim Breaks' last three offerings to give you a taste of what to expect from the label. With Breakspoll approching I think Vim Breaks has earned a contender spot for best label, as well as remix with Kultur + Colombo's monster remix of DBF & Retroid's - Nightfall.
I know who you are but there are new people finding breakbeat music every day. Tell us about V.I.M Breaks and yourself as an artist?
V.I.M.breaks is the breaks division of V.I.M.Records. We’re based in Thessaloniki, Greece and we’re operating since March of 2007. We’ve managed to build a strong profile in the breaks scene releasing different styles of breaks by international artists. We’ve gained a lot of charts/sales success in almost all stores, presented in many magazines (IDJ, DJ, Mixmag), radio shows and stations (NSB radio, iBreaks radio, Nubreaks radio, Dance Radio, A breaks radio, Brap FM, Fnoob radio etc). We have released singles by artists like The Scientifics, Electric Soulside, Dom Almond, 2crush, Break the Box, WI:RE, Blatta and Inesha, Syncro 69, Halobeatz, Doctrashz, I:Lyke, Lady Packa, Macho, Digital Breaks Foundation, Claas Reimer, Toy Quantize, Triple Agent, Gelaz, Elastic Fish, Digibox, Home Alone, Cage Page, F-word, Beat Rangers, Audiotrucs, Ruido, Zipmix, Mike Golden, Steve Maccabe and remixes by a massive selection of top producers of the scene like Kultur and Columbo, Cosmonaut, Andrea Lai, Llupa, Somsay, Maelstrom, Yreane, Circuit Breaker, Quadrat Beat, Rektchordz, Runriot, Ben and Lex, Will White, Access Denied, System 2, Line of Sight, Helbot, EK, Breaking News, Blazer and more. Additionally we’ve released two CD sampler compilations with released and unreleased stuff.
As an artist I’m producing tech-breaks/techno stuff with The Scientifics, which have got releases in labels like Erase Records, Basstard Records, Yellow Finger Communications and V.I.M.Breaks. Additionally I’m producing strictly disco-breaks stuff as Pale the Kid (together with DJ Kid Stretch) for labels like Breakbeat Paradise, Warriorz Music, Erase Records, Dirty Drop Records, Timewarp Music and V.I.M.Breaks.
Tell us about the label and how it all started ...
Well, I was into breaks stuff many many years before (and of course I’m still now) as a DJ and radio producer in Greece. I loved the early darkish proggy-breaks stuff by PMT, Force Mass Motion, Electrofly Records, Meat Katie, some early Bedrock Breaks singles etc. And I have got a massive vinyl selection of breaks stuff, different styles of breaks. I have got many years now a really strong friendship with my mates, Echonomist and Mr.Lookman, DJing together, organising parties, travelling etc. So it was back in 2006 that we’ve decided to start a breaks/tech project called The Scientifics. I was more into breaks, they were more into tech sounds and we’ve combined our love and knowledge in order to do something different, a kind of different approach to breaks sound, let’s say a minimal tech-breaks style. A year later, I think it was March of 2007, we decided to start our own label. Mr.Lookman got the idea to name it Very Importnant Music and so V.I.M.Records was born. A label with the aim to cover quality breaks, tech-house and electronica/downtempo stuff.
Tell us a bit about yourself outside of producing music and running the label?
I’ve got my daily job as an expansion manager in a Greek/Belgian super-market chain many years now, got my family and my beloved six-year-old daughter (thank God she likes breaks stuff!). My passion was always music so I’m an active DJ for almost 20 years now: DJed in many clubs, festivals with big international artists, DJing all over Greece and Europe, used to have my own radio program for seven years in a Greek radio station. I’m also an active music reviewer as I’m writing reviews and music articles in three different Greek music magazines: Freeze (Electronic music mag), Soundmaker (Music equipment and electronic music mag) and Crawford (urban style mag).
How long have you been making music, and what made you start releasing breakbeat?My first attempt in production was back in 2002 with a project called Scopitone Consiracy and then the Pozitronic Ray, a kind of downtempo/lounge-beat project. We have released some stuff for Greek compilations, been active for two to three years, then a short break and then working with The Scientifics and Pale the Kid. I was always into breakbeat stuff ... started with big beat, all Wall of Sound beatz, Bolshi, Dust 2 Dust, Fused and Bruised, Fatboy Slim, Chemical Brothers, some liquid drum 'n’ bass stuff like Good Looking, All Good Vinyl, Creative Wax, Creative Source, Peshay, Fabio, Bukem, old-skool breakbeat like Prodigy, SL2, Liquid, T99, Unique 3, 808 State, funky breaks of course from Catskills, Freskanova, Marble Bar and then moved to pure breaks stuff ... Meat Katie, Lee Coombs, PMT, Marine Parade, 10Kilo, Mantra Breaks, MOB all those gorgeous stuff! So to have a label releasing breaks (the music that I love) was always my dream and it becomes reality!
What monster tunes can we look forward to from you as a artist and from the label in 2011?
2011 started with a massive single for the label! The collaboration of Digital Breaks Foundation with Retroid called NightFall, backed with an awesome remix by Kultur and Colombo. Then we’ve got great singles by Beat Rangers, Citizens of the Empire, Adam Faz. But … we have a lot more to come! A killer single by T.R.O., one by Gelaz, a couple by Digibox, one by Digital Breaks Foundation, Lady Packa, Macho, Parallax Breakz and many more, all of them supported by some really great remixes by hot names of the scene. The Scientifics are going to release some forward-thinking breaks/tech remixes for Lady Packa, Lee Bass and more. Pale the Kid are working on a nu massive disco-breaks EP and they’re going to release some remixes for different labels.
What's your studio set up and what is your weapon of choice when making tunes?
Our studio set up is a Midas Venise 160, AKAI MPC2500, Korg Kaos Pad, Proteus 2000, Octava MK012, Motu Ultra Lite, monitors Adam A7X. Finally our weapon of choice is Logic with Waves plug ins.
It's been a great year (2010) for new artists coming up and I can not wait to see what everyone throws at us in 2011. Which producers are getting your groin area moving at the moment and why?
I think that Beat Rangers are on their way to the top because their music is melodic, epic, powerful and beautiful at the same time, Blazer with his incredible production abilities and his “dirty” sound, Refracture for his unique rocky-breaks quality sound, Home Alone 'cause he’s a “productive machine”, he loves music and he’s got a unique powerful style, Latvian project Under This which have got top production qualities, Aussie Xen Ochren for his superb proggy-breaks approach, Ire from Austria, she will surprise a lot with her dirty massive tech/funky-breaks sound (watch out for her debut on V.I.M.Breaks), Spanish wizards Geon and Blitz both of them for their quality breaks stuff and their open-mind approach to the scene, Digibox for his rollin darkish proggy-breaks sound, Big Mistake the hottest psy-breaks producer, Sketi for his powerful and energetic sound, Spanish Deenk for the same reason and Hunter Vaughan from USA … tech-funk at its best!
Five breakbeat tunes that have blown your head off in 2010?
1. Kultur and Colombo - Everything!!! (Metamorph Muzik, Logico Beatz, V.I.M.Breaks, Ibreaks, Big Square, Dead Famous) 2. Hedflux - MindCell (Broken Robot) 3. Beatman and Ludmilla - Moldova (Blazer Remix) (AYRA) 4. Elastic Fish - Drak Shade (Access Denied Remix) (V.I.M.Breaks) 5. Beatman and Ludmilla - Leeroy Jenkins (Triple Agent Remix) (AYRA)
Is breakbeat reaching the people of Greece?
Not so much. There’s been some party nights organised mainly by me and Stama from Erase records but people in Greece supported more tech and house stuff. I think that there are people that listen to breaks stuff but not a lot….
Ok now I have got the serious music shizz out the way, time for some fun questions. If you could be a muppet from the muppet show, which one would you be and why?
Oooohh ok now! I’ve to share with you one of my best kept secrets. In my other life I’m a crazy percussionist ... I like three styles of music-loud, louder and deafening! Beat drums! Beat drums! Sometimes I’m capable of coherent conversation but these instances are infrequent. Animal man … Animal for sure!!
I'm a massive Star Wars geek. What Star Wars character is most like you and why?
I’m a massive Star Wars fan also so this is a difficult one! Sometimes I feel like Darth Vader because I like things deeply in the dark side, sometimes like Luke Skywalker on a mission to bring quality breaks music to people and sometimes like Chewbacca … So angry about so many things in our society that want to shout loudly!
You are stranded on a desert island. What three tunes would you take with you (any genre)?
The Orb - Little Fluffy Clouds The Times - Crushed On You PMT - Gyromancer
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.
