Production powerhouses Broken Note join us for our Tranz-mission Braindrop arena on Saturday 3 April. Comprised of the combined creative forces of a couple of chaps named Tommy and Eddie, Broken Note have honed a name for themselves as a massively respected production team. Their productions and live sets hop predominantly between tearing dubstep and D&B, with techno-breakcore-hardcore-gabba inspired glitches and fills.
Their sound has built them a massive following, seeing them signed to the legendary Peace Off label (sometime home to Le Jad, Cardopusher, Rotator, Society Suckers, Sickboy, Krumble, Dr Bastardo and Monster X), Ad Noiseum (home to End:user, Bong Ra, DJ Hidden etc etc) and establishing themselves as international performers. As if this wasn’t enough, Eddie Broken Note is also one half of dubstep upstarts 16 Bit – you may well have heard of them by now.
We caught up with Tommy from Broken Note to talk about production, Spor and other important stuff.
BD – Hello mate – how are you and what are you doing at the moment?
BN – Not bad, had a pretty hectic last few months. Got back from the west coast of the US, had a few shows out there just before Xmas. Since New Year, apart from rolling around in the snow, been catching up with stuff from being away.
BD – How would you describe Broken Note? What are your main influences?
BN – Broken Note is an amalgamation of everything that Eddie and I listen to, some influences shine threw more than others. Musically I grew up listening to a lot of punk, metal and dub while also playing in various bands of similar genre. Since then my musical taste has expanded a lot; I went to a lot of squat parties in London when I was growing up which definitely continues to have a lot of influence on the music I make today. Eddie has been into a broad spectrum of hip hop for a long time which has influenced his style substantially. Between us we share a wide range of musical tastes. London in itself has been a large influence: the people, the parties and feeling of being stuck in a rat’s cage under the rule and watchful eye of a tyrannical state.
BD – Where did you get the name from?
BN – I thought Broken Note Records would be a good name for a record label with an output that wasn’t fit for a commercial audience. We couldn’t come up with a name when we were going to have our first record released so we used Broken Note. To be honest, we didn’t give it a whole lot of thought – we weren’t sure about it for quite a while…it’s only in the last year or so that it has grown on us.
BD – Any exciting news? Releases / remixes / collaborations / festival appearances etc etc?
BN – Got a new 12′ single Channel Zero out in Feb on Prspct Recordings, that’s a kind of half step/DnB banger with a Cooh Remix of Pyrotek on the flip. Been working on and off with MachineCode aka Current Value & Dean Rodell last few months - got some devastating stuff brewing up there!! SPL has been working on a remix of War In The Making as well as a remix of a tune we started when I was over in Portand last year. Starting a collab with Dj Hidden next week and another with Reso over the next month or so.
BD – Can you give us a quick run through of the mix you’ve given us for download on braindrop.co.uk?
BN – Yeah, its a promo mix i did a month or two ago for the release of our album Terminal Static. Its got bunch of stuff from the album in there along with some other recent stuff of ours and some great tracks by other artists.
BD – What equipment / software do you use to make your music? And what do you use to play out live?
BN – It really varies from tune to tune. I find myself trying to use new bits of software and equipment each time to try and keep the creative process as fresh possible. Some of my favorite bits are Virus, Audio Damage stuff and the Massive synth. I’ve got a few bits of outboard but we use all sorts of software really. We’ve been producing all our stuff in Ableton Live for about 4 years now. I fell in love with it the first day I started using Live 5 – the simplicity of doing edits and automation is dream compared to using something like Pro Tools or Logic, but that’s just my preference. I like to draw more of a live feel when and where I can by recording live guitars, drums, vocals and organic sounds then processing them with effects. Live performances are based around Ableton Live also – using various loops, sounds, and blending it all together with FX and filters – i feel it really allows the blending together of tunes and sets together seamlessly on the fly. For me I used to play in bands so its much more of a nature progression to work like this.
BD – Top production tip?
BN – First and foremost- Take your time! Also, there is no lack of music out there by any stretch of the imagination!! Its much better to get one tune that sounds like next level shit than to bang out 6 half baked ones.
BD – Which artists are you really rating at the moment and why?
BN – There are a lot of good artists out there at the moment and it really changes for me on a day to day basis depending on my mood. In the last week I’ve been rockin’ Spor, Dj Hidden, Reso, Tool, Various Production, Pantera and some of the tracks from the new Gallows album (shame they had to sell-out so hard!!). Still a massive fan of punk and metal although that there has been much originally in the genres for a while.
I have a lot of respect for Spor’s production style–
1. Because he gets some insane reeeses!! [not the cupcakes]
2.Because his mix downs are always really clean and punchy
3.Because it’s one fukin’ guy!!
What can we expect from your Tranz-mission set?
I cant really tell people what to expect, but it ain’t blue peter. Really though, everyone draws something different from our gigs (and music), people hear different things… I suppose a person can expect an amalgamation of everything from dubstep to tekno to drum bass to glitch hop to hardcore and everything else in-between.
BD – All time 3 top tunes (anything at all!)?
BN -
BD – All time 3 animals
BN -
BD – Favorite Youtube video?
BN – No sure if its my fav video of all time, but pretty funny 
Sampled it in a tune a little while ago – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UafGCm9Mk_o
Big ups Tommy! Download the new Broken Note mix for FREE below:
Broken Note Terminal Static Live Set
You can catch Broken Note LIVE at Braindrop @ Tranz-mission, Alexandra Palace on Sat April 3rd April alongside what is quite frankly a silly line up – Congo Natty aka Rebel MC LIVE, Loefah (Digital Mystikz), Doorly, The McMash Clan, DJ Disowned & MC Cutter, Skinny & Clarkie and Silly Pundit. We’ve got some discounted tickets, so please get in contact if you want to save a few quid 
More info at www.slamminvinyl.com/
Bo! X
Posted by chris in Interviews, Mixes.
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