If you like your drum and bass in a minimal configuration with a deep, dark, wholly consuming bass line Bredren are unlikely to have escaped your radar. The Belgian trio have an unfathomable talent for pushing forward-thinking, well-crafted beats. With releases on prolific labels, including Dispatch, Proximity and Demand Records, and a summer schedule that’s been jammed with sets at festivals and nights throughout Europe, it’s fair to say the name Bredren triggers substantial enthusiasm, and the release of Stop and Turn / Celestial a collaboration with Displaced Paranormals 3 (D.P.3) has certainly been an eagerly awaited one!
Dropping today on Inception Audio (I:A) Stop and Turn / Celestial are both tunes that stay true to the dark, minimalistic style we’ve come to associate with Bredren. Eerie, distorted and disturbing atmospherics build a positively suspense-filled soundscape, this, and bass that’s so twisted it creeps around both tunes, prowling like a dancefloor predator, and I won’t deny it Stop and Turn/ Celestial render me unable to prevent pulling the grotesque, distorted and positively offensive facial expressions that partner tunes of such a sinister nature.
Stop and Turn / Celestial is the first Bredren release that is available on Vinyl, the 12″ also includes a copy of an I:A various artists CD including Stop and Turn / Celestial , head over to our Facebook for the chance to win both. In celebrating their first release on wax we figured this was the perfect opportunity to have a chat with them, here’s what happened when we caught up with Bredren…
Hello Bredren, things have been incredibly busy for the three of you off late, what would you say has been the stand out moment?
Adrien: For me personally it’s this release as it’s our first 12”. It’s been a long ride for this one but it’s coming out at last, we’ve all really been looking forward to it.
Dieter: To be honest, it’s hard to pick one. For me it would be a really funny moment at the Proximity night I organised in Brussels. While I was playing, Data was throwing giant Turkish breads into the crowd and screaming: “Who wants some Bread-ren?!’’.
Haha that sounds like quite a night! I’ve heard that all three of you have been involved with other electronic projects (Dieter was in a drum and bass/ dubstep duo called Orphans and Sebastien and Adrien make up dubstep act Requake) do any of you play any instruments? And was there ever a point where you considered joining a band/ orchestra?
Adrien: I played saxophone for almost 8 years and stopped at the age of 16-17 because of our busy schedule and other interests/school. I used to jam a bit with a friend at that time, but never really intended on joining a band, now though I would love to play some funk in a band.
Dieter: I’ve never played an instrument but if I could choose one I would pick the drums. My father played drums for a long time and he could teach me. Never too late to learn something!
I’ve read in a previous interview that the three of you first met at a DJ competition back in 2009, what was it that first got you interested in DJing? And what was it that kicked off your passion for drum and bass?
Adrien: To be honest I think at that time everybody wanted to become a DJ. The rhythm, the possibilities and deep basses kicked off my passion for drum and bass. Drum and bass was and still is the best dance genre there is in my opinion.
Dieter: I started DJ’ing in 2009 because a good friend of mine was playing drum & bass at that time and I loved what he was doing. He taught me everything and I’m still very grateful for this. My love for drum & bass started in 2003 and has only increased. There is no particular explanation for it; you can’t really explain a love for something can you?
I know what you mean, and I guess not.. So, your based in Belgium, would you say this is a strong environment for nurturing drum and bass artists and pushing forward the genre?
Adrien: I think Belgium is extremely fertile when it comes to drum and bass. We keep discovering new producers and DJ’s who deliver some cutting edge music.
Dieter: I must say; the scene in Belgium is continually growing. We have some very talented guys in our small country, to name just a few: M-Zine & Scepticz, Mtwn, Mental Forces, M-Soul, S27, SVB, Nativ… Our scene has always been quite healthy, and there used to be mostly DJ’s but now more and more producers are getting their names on the list.
You’ve played a number of nights and festivals around Europe this summer, including a boat party on the Thames and a dungeon at Outlook, if you could play anywhere where would it be?
Adrien: The ultimate festival for me would be ’DOUR’, and ‘Sun and Bass’ is definitely on the wish list too.
Dieter: I spoke to Lenzman at Outlook this year and he told me Sun And Bass is such an amazing experience so I’d love to play there sometime.
Sebastien: I’m not DJ’ing with Bredren, but yeah Sun And Bass would be nice.
Things have certainly been going well, you’ve had support from truly exceptional artists including Doc Scott, Skeptical and Loxy, how would you describe your sound when first starting and how would you describe it now – have there been any vast influences and developments?
Adrien: Every time we step inside the studio we try to make something unique and fresh keeping in mind our minimal, deep sound.
Dieter: I don’t think our sound has changed much since we started. We always try to keep it minimal and deep.
Sebastien: Minimalistic, deep & dark with a lot of bass, sometimes with a liquid touch.
This is your first release on vinyl which is a huge achievement, and a CD will be included with the 12″ – CDs seem to be quite a controversial move in the digital age, what do you think is in the future for physical music? Are we having a comeback?
Adrien: I am still a huge fan of vinyl, and always will be. But I think the digital era has –unfortunately- taken over the physical era.
Dieter: I don’t think there’s going to be a comeback. Most of the releases will be digital in the future I guess… Vinyl & CD releases will be very limited; I think it will be something for die-hard collectors.
Sebastien: Vinyl is charming; and there’s a difference when you buy a track on vinyl rather than mp3, but like Dieter says: it seems like it’s more for the die-hards/collectors. Mp3 format on CD or USB is so much easier, I don’t think there will be a comeback!
What was your approach to the collaboration with DP3? And how did this collaboration come about?
Dieter: We were really feeling their tunes and sent them some of ours. They immediately asked to do a collab so we did 4 tracks for the Inception Audio release and one track for our EP on Proximity which came out in July.
Sebastien: Dieter fixed this, he is the PR++ (public relations & contacts/label stuff), he is so good at his job!
Can you run us through your set-up in the studio?
Sebastien: Software: Our main program is Propellerhead Reason 5, sometimes we use Audacity or FL Studio for the sampling stuff.
Hardware: Not much; a lovely pear of Yamaha HS80, an extra sub and a TASCAM external soundcard.
I:A is a label fascinated with the concept of aliens – do you have any super natural experiences that you feel to share with us?
Dieter: I once saw a UFO, no joke. I was sitting outside on a summernight with a friend, and suddenly a huge yellow light crossed a few meters in front of us and disappeared again really fast. We both saw it and really believe it was a UFO.
We really enjoyed the guest mix, can you tell us a bit about what you’re feeling at the moment?
Adrien: It’s hard to start a list about what producers we all like, because the list would be endless… We mostly keep our eyes open for Ingredients, Metalheadz, Exit, Commercial Suicide, Dispatch, C.I.A, Cylon, Diffrent, Critical, Horizons, Shogun, Utopia, Renegade Hardware, …
Dieter: SHKEPTICAL is the boss! Besides him, I’m really feeling stuff from Homemade Weapons, Fre4knc, Joakuim (!!!), Philth, Tom Small, Amoss and the list goes on.
Finally, we’ve heard you have a release forthcoming on the Dispatch Transit 2 compilation, which we’re very excited about! Can you tell us anything else about what’s in store for Bredren in the coming months?
Dieter: We got 2 tracks forthcoming on Demand Records, 1 track forthcoming on a new Belgian label called Halogen Music and we’ve got a couple of collabs in the running with Amoss, Philth, Roygreen & Protone, Dexta, Mauoq, Tom Small, A-Cray, Joakuim,… Besides that also a lot of our own projects wandering around on the studio laptop! Busy times ahead.
Stop and Turn / Celestial is available to buy on 12″ (CD album inclusive) here
Stop and Turn / Celestial can be purchased in digital format here
For more info check out Bredren’s Soundcloud and Facebook pages!
A massive big up to Bredren for speaking with In Reach – Check out the exclusive Bredren x In Reach Guestmix below & get your download on 😉
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