Toronoto, Can, PROMO RECORDS

Breakbeat.ca Northern Coverage:
August 2005 by Somsay and Kai

DJ ROBB G Profile

Name: Robb Gilbert (The last name is French. For any Anglos it's pronounced more like "Jill-bear")
Age: 27
Height: 6'3
Weight: 165 lbs
Average Heart rate (BPM): Not sure but pretty chill
Heart rate when mixing (BPM): 133-135 BPM
Fingernail length: Short
Bedtime: Midnight during the week and anytime after 3 am on the weekends Colour of Hair: Dark brown
All-time Favorite Breakbeat Choon: Tough question, 4 Hero's "Mr. Kirkwood", FSOL "Papa New Guinea", and Beastie Boys "33 1/3 God" definitely rate.


The Interview

How long have you been DJing?
I've been DJing for over a decade but was making off the wall "pause button" mix tapes before that where I would mash-up loops of my Favourite music with T.V. and movie audio bites.

Describe your taste in breaks (what kind of breaks do you buy/play/produce)?
Short of the excessively trancey beats, I love it all. I tend to play and
produce an uptempo energetic hybrid of funky hard and housey breaks. During a set I try to vary it as much as possible to keep things interesting while maintaining some continuity.

What/Who got you started (as a DJ)?
My mom always played music around the house when I was growing up and I have fond memories of dancing to disco in the living room as a child. I had a baby sitter when I was around 9 named Todd who made me mixtapes with his Radio Shack mixer and I was fascinated by his extensive music collection.

Shortly after, we moved to England and although I was only 12, I was blown away by all acid house and dance music I would hear on the radio and at the local youth club. I spent every Friday and Saturday night at the club dancing and watching the DJ's play records. Tired of my hawk eyes train spotting his every move, one night the DJ let me have a go at mixing a few records and it was my first DJing experience.
When we moved back to Canada and I started my first part-time job my music collection only got bigger. It wasn't long before I was bringing music to the local youth club called the Ortona and advising the DJ on what tracks they should play. When the DJ moved away it only made sense that I took over his spot and thus landed my first residency at the age of 15. Now that I look back it was a pretty good deal because I was paid $1 for every person that came out. On a slower night we would get 75 people and the busier weeks we would ram 150-200 kids in the place. There were also non-monetary rewards such as getting to know all the older kids I looked up to, including the cute girls.

What is the breaks scene like in Halifax, do you still live/visit there?
I was born in Truro, Nova Scotia but I've never lived in Halifax. The 3 or 4 times I've played there rate among some of my Favourite gigs. Maritimers are
a friendly and welcoming bunch who know how to party. There isn’t much of a "breaks scene" per say but there is a couple local DJ's who push Breakbeat sound, notably Matt Ananka.

Do you run any weekly/monthly events to try to promote breaks?
Although I don't run any regular events, I've been advising and helping with the promo of plenty of events in the last year. The Activate boys and I brought the Stanton Warriors for their first Toronto appearance in February. We had them in a more intimate venue and the place went off, I can't remember the last time I felt so much anticipation and energy in a room. Other events that I have recently helped out with were the Boa Breaks series with Soul Of Man, Drummatic Twins, Lee Coombs over the course of 3 months.
I've since left my residency at Boa but I won't soon forget these nights. Having breaks in the main room of a massive club with world class sound is a dream come true.

Where is you Favourite place to DJ so far?
I couldn't narrow it down to just one place but there seems to be a pattern with coastal cities. Some of my best nights have been in places like Halifax, Victoria and Brighton. There's an immense love for life and a friendly outgoing attitude that goes hand in hand with living close to the ocean.

Got any good groupie stories (come on we know you got some)?
There's a few but my lips are sealed. Let's just saw that I've been flashed by 3 girls at once while playing, autographed a thong, and had a girl yell" I want to have little Robb G's!"

Did you ever wear fun fur (be honest)? I wore funny stripped shirts, crazy big pants and had an array of "party accessories" but never ever wore fun fur.
How often do you mix (how many hours/week)? It goes in waves depending on my moods. I spend several hours every week listing to new music over and over again to get a feel for it. The days leading up to a gig I will spend hours mixing, organizing and combing through my records trying to decide what I want to pack.

List some of your favorite Breakbeat producers (past/present):
The Bomb Squad, The Dust Brothers, Xpando, Old Bassbin Twins, Electroliners,
Early Chemical Brothers, Browser, Atomic Hooligan, Rascal & Klone, The Plumps and I'm loving Christian J's stuff of lately.

Who is your favorite Breakbeat producer right now and why?
Hands down Atomic Hooligan, they make dance floor bombs that break limbs and tear everyone a new face but have proved with their new album just how versatile they are. Everyone should go out and get their "You Are Here" album, take it home and listen to it from start to finish. I don't mean the four track "album teaser EP." either, I mean the whole 12 track package. It's an album that grows on you with every listen and I honestly think that years down the road people will be looking back on the project as a landmark in Breakbeat production.

How does it feel to have your latest track (Disaster w/Paranoid Jack) get such positive reviews, do you feel like all the hard work is paying off?
It's nice to have everyone supporting the track and know that people around the globe are shaking their rump to "Disaster". It's an amazing feeling, and even though there is a certain amount of reward at the moment, I see it more
as a beginning then a payoff. It just means I have more work and bigger challenges ahead of me, and I like that.

Who do you plan on teaming up with in the near future?
I can't say anything until it happens but there are some UK producers who I've been chatting with and definitely some local talent that I would like to work with.

Do Canadians buy a lot of your records or do you sell more overseas?
Breaks sell a lot more overseas and that is based purely on mathematics due to the size of our population and the vast area we are spread over as Canadians. As well, the continual dominance of rock and urban music in North America has made it a challenge for electronic music to gain any foothold on this continent.

Do you buy most of your records online or through record stores?
I'm spoiled to live in Toronto where there are several shops that stock loads of good records. For new music I will often prescreen and browse online but I will go do my buying in person. I love being able to flip through the records with my hands and it's often hard to tell with online clips how good the pressing quality is. For older gems, shopping online is the way to go because you have the ability to dig through crates on the far side of the planet without leaving your house.

Can you play when you are COMPLETELY wasted?
I can but it's not fun because I have to concentrate so damn hard on the mixing aspect that my whole presence behind the decks is lost. Thankfully I've extensively cut down on my drinking and this hasn't happened in awhile.

Do you ever get nervous while you are DJing?
Anytime I play in a new city, play for a massive crowd or play a high profile gig I still get butterflies. I just close my eyes and think to myself that I've got a bag full of bangin' tunes, I know damn well how to mix them and I've done this hundreds of times before.

There are a few key gigs in my past where I was under immense pressure and
the end results were most memorable. One of these times that I keep mind if
I'm feeling nervous is an outdoor gig I played in British Columbia mountains In 2000. Rain in the evening had ruined the setup for the secondary stage where I was supposed to play so they put me on the main stage at 4 am after
hours of 150 BPM Nu NRG and hard trance. The 2000 + glow stick pumping dancers were devouring the "Klubheads" who were on just before me and I had a vision of the crowd whipping water bottles my way for slowing it down and playing breaks. I sat down, closed my eyes and told myself that all I had to do was ease the transition as best as possible and the rest would follow. I envisioned myself winning over the crowd and being able to play anything out of my box by the end of the set. I put my first record on and set my plan in motion, although there was certainly some confused faces in the audience at first, I stayed focused and within a few tracks the crowd was going off and I had the time of my life.

Do you play strictly Breakbeat or do you mix in other genres?
One of the beauties of playing breaks is the ability to incorporate so many other genres. The concept of being a Breakbeat DJ started with the idea of playing only the best section of a record. In a given night I'll play the best of house, breaks, techno, hip hop and retro all held together by a Breakbeat backbone.

Why do you focus on playing (mainly) breaks instead of house, electro,
polka, hip hop, etcetera?
Breaks are the best beats to dance to and the most fun to manipulate behind
the decks.

Do any cast members of "Trailer Park Boys" remind you of yourself?
I honestly wouldn't know because I don't own a T.V.

Tell us about your mix?
My slack ass hasn't made a mix since the fall so I didn't include one but
you can check me and Paranoid Jack with a guest set on Annie Nightingale’s
BBC Radio 1 show on Thursday August 18th.

Did you ever go to a music school or take classes to learn an instrument?
I never attended any formal music school but am currently teaching myself how to play the keyboard with online lessons.

Do you have any advice for aspiring DJs/Producers/Record Label owners?
To an aspiring DJ I would recommend going out to see as many other DJ's regardless of what genre they spin and watch them play. You can learn at least one thing from every DJ on the circuit (even if what you learn is what not to do). Find your niche and do something different, the world doesn't need anymore jukeboxes that play records from beginning to end without any creativity. To an aspiring label owner starting in this day and age I would strongly advise them way out the costs of manufacturing and consider starting a digital only label. The game has changed so much and the costs involved with a digital label are so minimal that there is no risk in pushing the music you believe in. To an aspiring producer I would suggest starting off with something simple like Acid or Reason before you dive in and try and decode Cubase or Logic. Get to know as much about what you are using as possible, it's all about leveraging the resources you have, not about amassing endless amounts of synths and programs that you have no clue how to use. if you know anyone else who produces try and hang out in their studio while they write music, watch and learn. It's never too late to learn anything, do what you love with a clear plan, lots of dedication and the rest will follow.

Shout outs?
Cyrus & Evan @ Activate, Martin Krafty, Terry Hooligan, Jelo, Deko-ze, Soundsysta Tab, Annie Nightingale, Meat Katie, Splitloop Elite Force, Zac@Zaudio,and every promoter, DJ and partygoer who has supported me over the years.

Links?
www.robbg.com
www.promorecords.ca
www.streetwisemusic.co.uk