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"everyone has to like where a particular track is going or
we will just get stuck...we try to keep it fun and not forced like it's a
job...though deadlines can make it that way sometimes."
nubreed is danny, mike and jase, an australia-based
production trio with releases on mob, aka, zero tolerance, and boombox. we got
to talk to jase and get the lowdown...
ok, a little background info first. Since there’s three of
you, why don’t you give everyone a rundown on what each member contributes to
nubreed?
we have all known each other for over ten years and grew up listening to all
forms of music...hip hop, funk, r&b, drum n bass, jazz, etc. we all produce
and program all our tracks together and danny also sings and mike and myself mc
as well.
you all knew each other long before getting together. how exactly did nubreed
come about and what were your initial goals for the group?
nubreed came about through dan and mike experimenting with a few house tracks
for a live set they were putting together...we had lost contact for about a year
and in that time i was working on a lot of hip hop albums for local mc's. our
production levels had gotten better so we made a deal to come together and
produce at least one finished track by the end of the year...we finished four
and we have never stopped...more people started hearing our records and dj phil
k was one of the first to take us seriously and helped sign our first records on
the label zero tolerance. our live show also took shape from our long list of
productions and performing backgrounds also helped to make it easy to play live.
apart from all the aussie breaks records we were hearing at the night sunnyside
by the likes of andy page, hi fi bugs, ivan gough, etc., the first breaks record
i ever bought was beber's juvenile delinquent and from then we knew what
kind of records we wanted to make. from our first ever breaks/electro record
called rock da city it took us exactly 2 and a bit years to get signed to
mob records which funnily enough also has beber on the roster.
the past few years we’ve seen an emergence of breaks in australia and
several talented producers/groups garner international recognition. What’s
your take on breaks in australia? where do you see it heading?
i think a shitload of collabs are going to happen from now on between local
producers...everyone that has put out records in our circle has had enormous
overseas success individually so why not build on that and work together to make
this an even hotter spot for breaks? the breaks nights here have a lot of
support from the locals and it would be nice to create something closer to home
instead of everyone looking overseas to book dj's who charge big dollars and
play the same records that the dj's here are playing. australia has some very
talented dj's...i just wish there was more local records being made so that the
dj's can offer something different to the rest of the world since most breaks
are coming from london.
i was able to get my hands on a live set of yours at gcsss and within 60
minutes, you threw down breaks, hip-hop and some drum & bass. would you say
this is a fair representation of your influences? or are there other
inspirations lurking about?
this is a good representation but we listen to all kinds of music...everything
except maybe country music...in some way everything gets filtered back to the
music we make...we still try and keep an underlying production style or
technique so our stuff isn't too far removed from each other...but when it comes
to live anything goes! in a week you might catch us out at a d'n'b, house,
breaks or hip hop night!!! as long as there's bomb tunes being played, we are
there.
what’s the writing process like for you? do you find it easier having three
heads contributing to the track?
we work all kinds of ways...sometimes it can start from a drum break, sometimes
a bassline...sometimes one out of the three might come with an initial idea for
a track and we will finish it together...we all have pre pro studios running
either macs or pc so we get the best of both worlds which can make for a
different sounding track. everyone has to like where a particular track is going
or we will just get stuck. if that happens we put the song aside and get back to
it down the track. we try to keep it fun and not forced like its a job...though
deadlines can make it that way sometimes.
one thing i dig about your remixes is even though they have the nubreed
sound, you remain faithful to the original song. do you go into a remix with a
concerted effort to retain the ideas of the track? how does remixing a track
differ from writing your originals?
yeah...we do that on purpose as a reinterpretation because sometimes you get
real nice parts of a track and you don't want to leave them out. other times we
get different chord or bassline ideas and it can throw the tune into a whole new
dimension which can be challenging and fun to make.
you guys just released bushpig on the supercharged label with deekline, ransom,
and phil k. how did that project come together and what was it like writing with
that many people?
that came about through ransom...having deekline playing in Melbourne. he was
here for a couple of days so we just got everyone that knows how to make a
decent record into the studio and made it a party for 3 days ha ha...i believe
we are pretty chill and laidback to work with i guess 'cause there has always
been three heads to bounce ideas off...it was a good challenge...but everyone
contributed to that track in some form...it would not of sounded the same if one
of us wasn't there.
you’ve described your live shows as a “sound system”. what advantages
does playing your tracks live provide you as opposed to if you were spinning
them?
the freedom to flip the tracks up and roadtest new tunes...also the singing,
playing, tweaking and mc'ing adds more to the entertainment rather than one head
behind the decks.
recently you’ve been performing live with phil k. how is that working out?
phil k is like a fourth member of the group so it comes real easy...we all have
similar tastes so it makes organising the set fun and interesting...phil's box
is full of bombs and when it comes to the show we bounce fx off each other and
try different ideas so the set always comes off new and fresh every time. phil
has our mix running through his fx and he tweaks, rearranges and resamples us
like no one else over the top of what we are doing live. so a lot of organising
goes into each show so everyone doesn't play over each other to make a giant
mess!!!
the pqm remix we did together of babe i'm gonna leave was concieved from
our live set. it was done in two days because we had roadtested our arrangements
and changes live.
what new projects are you currently involved in?
we have just completed remixes for:
dj tiesto - obsession
way out west - stealth
hamish - forever
groove terminator - brand new day
nubreed vs skunk anansie (dirty fours records)
collab with luke chable - basstrap
and are currently working on our album while playing live around australia over
the summer.
anything left to plug?
hope you enjoy the set from hobart...a mash up of all kinds of breaks - original
and other...live fx, keys, accapellas thrown in all on the fly nothing is safe
from a fat break!!!
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