London, UK, Plastic Raygun

Breakbeat.ca Featured Artists:

NAPT

Record Label Affiliations: Plastic Raygun, Hardcore Beats, Garioutensei.

NAPT Interview Jan 2005
Interviewed by Somsay and Fhernando.

NAPT Profile
Age: 47 combined
Height: 11 ft 9 combined
Weights: 1
Average heart beat per minute: 60
Fingernail length: 0.3cm
Bed time: Anything from 22:00 – 09:00
Colour of hair: Light brown/black
Favourite Pop Song: Cheryl Lynn -Got to be Real/ Stevie Wonder – Knocks Me Off My Feet
Records: As NAPT
Band: NAPT

The Interview
How many releases have you put out so far?
As NAPT 4 single releases, 2 remixes.

How is the underground scene in the UK in your opinion?
For breaks it seems to be on the up definitely –There are more club nights going on now and more Ravers are coming into the scene so its all cool. There’s lots or representation on the net but there are still a lot of peeps with no access. Breaks really needs some bigger representation on the FM dial I’d say through pirates, but that seems like it’s getting more likely all the time.

Do you have a normal job on the side of breaks?
Music is a full time distraction!

How was the reaction at work...at your "normal job", when you released your first noticeable record?
Well my Dad buys them all and sticks them up which is probably the best reaction, but then again he is my Dad!

Have you been to Australia yet? If so how is it?
Not yet but we are looking to do a tour down there and NZ next year so really looking forward to that. It will be fun to see how they get down.

Are people still using the EMU Ultra Samplers or any form of external sampler in the UK or have people got used to the ease of software samplers like Kontakt or the Esx24?
I know that certain producers still use AKAI samplers but quite a lot of people are moving into all software territories now.
 
Did you study music in school?
Ashley did to a very high degree, playing piano and clarinet.

Do you use music theory in anyway?
Yes all the time!

Is Breakbeat culture on the rise in the UK?
There is a huge buzz around breaks at the moment mainly for the reason that it can be anything you want it to be. There are so many strains of other music involved in it that you can find something that appeals to people from most musical backgrounds. Plus there is the fact that the media is always looking for a new thing to talk about. After many years of saying "next year will be the year of breaks" - it finally feels like it might be now, with there being so many young producers coming through and new people coming into the scene.

How does the UK scene differ from Australia?
Well we don’t know the scene out there yet but I guess the UK scene is heavily influenced by our rave heritage. We have a history of having waves of music that have really captured the zeitgeist I guess Hardcore/Jungle/DrumandBass/Garage etc. That’s the background to a lot of people in our generation - We were obsessed with music in our teens, hunting tunes, playing on pirate radios all of that. I guess that’s like our version of punk or whatever. It’s great to go to places like Australia and see their scenes and how they have a completely different musical development.

Did girls call you more frequently since you started playing out? If so do they talk to you or do they just giggle and hang up?
Haha!

Did you ever work on the Mac OS X platform for any productions that came out?
We do some post production work on Mac sometimes. I find the one button thing a turn off though.

Did you ever try digital performer? Any comments about this software sequencer?
Never used it

What's your main piece of studio gear and why?
To be honest the most important thing ever in the studio is your own ears and brain. It doesn’t matter how much equipment you have, if you cant train your ears to tell you what's working and what's not then it's no good at all. You should always think things through -If you're creative enough you can pull out some good stuff if you think about how to apply processes and then reapply them etc. to get something new.

Do you see breakbeat music moving into a mainstream position soon?
Yeah it’s only a matter of time. There will no doubt be some good tracks making it big and of course some bad ones too. As long as there is always a hungry underground though it doesn’t really matter. Look at drum and bass, people have said it died a few times, but look at it! There was always that underground there of people loving it and that never went away - it was self sufficient and that’s why it can be so popular now. That’s exactly what breaks needs - a real core underground of people that are heavily into the music and that’s beginning to happen now. We just need to build a solid infrastructure and keep the momentum going.

Ever dated a stripper?
No, but "just cos. she dances go-go that don’t make her a ho, no!"

What current projects are you working on and would like to talk about?
We have done a brand new version of the old rave classic “Take Me Away” which is going down a storm at the moment. The Freestylers put it as the last tune on their new FabricLive 19 mix (Along with two of our other tracks) which was great. We managed to get in contact with the original singer who sang it 12 years ago, Julie Morrison - she is an amazing singer and did all the vocals in 1 hour!! ‘Take Me Away (2005)’ is coming out on a limited promo on Garioutensei Records at the start of Feb. We've also just done a remix for The Freestylers which is gonna be huge and have a slew of really exciting singles featuring some truly excellent vocal talents coming up next year. There is also a rumor that there is an awesome collaboration with the Breakfastaz due, but I can’t confirm that… Hehe

Who were your first inspirations that originally got you into Breaks?
Hmmm that’s a tuffy. When we were about 15 a friend of mine used to play DJ Icey tracks in his house sets and I guess that’s the first time I paid attention to breaks, I loved the sounds of the beats at that tempo after being so used to drum and bass. Later when I was playing house and garage I used to hunt for little bits and bobs to break the set up with and amongst others began picking up the first releases on Marine Parade. Apart from a few bits of nu skool though in general the sound didn’t really appeal that much, a little too unemotional and static for our personal tastes. So I reckon in that way I guess we've always been moved by outside influences from RnB to drum and bass to house on an EDM front to pop Jazz Soul Funk etc. It's different now though I think there's a lot more diversity and energy so I guess we feel much more inspired now with all the fresh new exciting breaks artists like Breakfastaz, Distortionz, Mutiny and many others.

Is it really about the music in the UK or its really about the drugs?
Whilst I do think its true that drugs can play a role in dance music I also know that it is the case that for so many people music is the drug itself. That feeling of hearing your favourite track over a huge system and catching a vibe in a club is the biggest and best kind of "rush" we could imagine!!.

Do Mafia's control everything?
Hahahaha well the music industry has always been involved with shady characters…

Do you use the same vinyl manufacturer?
Well that depends entirely on the label were putting out with. It’s their choice really. Like Jason Distortionz said – The mastering engineer is a really important feature.
 
Have you ever heard a top quality American Press?
I might have done and not known it or realized it. I suppose I haven’t really looked at where the tunes are being pressed.
 
Is it possible to get an American press that is as hot as a UK press? Why is the UK the best?
Hhhm I don’t know really. Maybe its because Dance music has been pressed up here for years so there is some heritage.

What is your opinion on these music program suites(Fruity Loops, Reason, etc...) output real quality audio that would be efficient for any NAPT productions?
We don’t really use any of those programs. We use Cubase and Logic sometimes and we’d love to get a Pro Tools rig.

Do you wear baggy clothes?
Hahahah hmmm yeah we have some loose fitting apparel…

What did you listen to growing up before your fat breaks productions?
Well my mum was a massive blues fan, Muddy Waters, BB King, Stevie Ray Vaughn, as well as having the traditional eastern European love for 80's soft rock hahahaha. So I guess I kinda rebelled against all that - I loved anything electronic as a child Herbie Hancock's Rockit being a personal fave and also stuff like Boyz II Men. She did have a James Brown live CD though which I discovered hhahaah and that kinda changed me! I got into rocky stuff like Rage against the machine and Nirvana as well as some hardcore. When the sound mutated into Jungle I just fell in love with the bottom end Sonics and lashing amens. I followed the sound into the more jump up stuff before being attracted by the deep, dark and techy style - Trace, Ed Rush, Photek, Dillinja stuff in about 97. Around the same time we were getting into US and UK Garage - people like 95 North, Todd Edwards, MK. I eventually switched over to this and started playing UK garage with a bit of funky house and breaks and then I became disillusioned with the whole thing in about 2000. Then we got into breaks by accident really, after producing some funky house projects. - it just seemed new and exciting with lots of possibilities and few rules.
 
How long did it take to learn and master all your equipment before you found the sound that you were looking for and you were comfortable enough to produce what you wanted?
Well its all about not feeling comfortable really and always trying to push the envelope. That’s the only way to keep things moving forward I guess.
 
Are you using Mac OS X?
No a PC

What do you think of PC's?
They rock!

Do you think knowing synthesis is necessary when producing or do you think its not entirely necessary? What is the extent of your knowledge on the subject.
Tomek: Personally not much really in terms of theory. You just have to know when the sonics are sounding rich and full and what kind of textures you are looking for.

Ashley: I got into synthesis quite a bit but still have a lot to learn… it’s like anything in music production, you have to keep on learning and pushing your knowledge base forward!

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