interview with ADAM F & FRESH (BAD COMPANY)

[seno]

Adam F and Fresh (Bad Company) have formed one of the hottest drum and bass labels, Breakbeat Kaos, signing rising stars such as Pendulum. WorldDJ.com caught up with the pair on an anniversary type occasion at the WMC in Miami.



» Adam, tell me about Breakbeat Kaos. How did the label start?


A: Its funny enough you know being at WMC (Winter Music Conference). Me and Dan had a late night conversation a couple of years ago we were at WMC and I had met first met Dan through my last Kaos project. He was the first person I approached to do a remix. We had obviously known of each other for years and had a lot of respect for each other but that was the first time we hooked up because we ran in different circles. Once he did a remix for me we started communicating and started hanging out in London.


We started to build up a friendship as well as a business sort of thing. We sat down at WMC and talked about how lucky it is, things that we have done with music and drum n' bass and where still we want to go. We thought it would be really cool to join forces because I have sort of more of a mainstream, broader musical approach to doing things.


I do a lot of hip hop and fusions and stuff. Dan has more of a straight up, cutting edge drum n' bass production sort of style. We just thought it would be mad to fuse the two together and we have got mad visions and stuff as far as making tracks together. More importantly trying to put something back into the scene and try to give new artists a platform to start their career with all the ideas and things that we have learned.


We thought to start it off we need to find a gem artist and of course Pendulum were floating around at the time they had just brought out their Vault track which is really what launched them. That is really what started up, we sat here and actually pulled out receipt paper from a till and wrote a plan out that night at WMC two years ago and the first thing was a Breakbeat Kaos mixed CD for me and Dan.


I had just done Jungle Sound and he had done Foreigner so literally we just planned out a year with an album and who we would want to hit and what with. Everything we had planned out has worked out so far, except for getting some sleep and making more music because we suddenly got consumed working on our first album which will drop this summer. It has been an amazing experience. We always respected each other we had just never crossed paths.


» You had never met two years ago?


A: We probably passed by each other in a club djing but not properly.


» You said you traveled in different circles, what kind of different circles?


A: You find in this scene you get like that, just because of the way things have evolved. You have got the Bristol massive which live five hundred miles away from the London massive, do you know what I mean? Since the scene evolved and went from only being Suburban Based, Moving Shadow, Metalheadz, and all the artists started making their own label crews started developing to support their own unit. People moved in their own crews and I wasn't on the same sort of sound so we just rolled with other people. We were not hanging out and playing at the same events as much.


» Do you both live in London?


A: We sort of live all over the place. We shared a studio in Brooklyn for a year. I have got an apartment in Jersey. I would say I live more thirty three thousand miles up in the air because I am on a plane three times a week. We are constantly traveling between hotels and London and New York. Our life is pretty chaotic because we are trying to build an empire from a website Dogs on Acid to the label. Our biggest thing is trying to find the new artists.


» Do you use Dogs on Acid to do that?


A: No, that is completely independent from Breakbeat Kaos. Dogs on Acid is a multitude of things, it is a really great way for up and coming producers to talk online from all over the world and to upload their music. Dogs on Acid has its own label and shop. It is completely separate from Breakbeat Kaos. The first release on Dogs on Acid was Freshes Radar. Dogs on Acid also have another label called Under Construction which is another label to find new producers that are starting off. To be honest we are trying to find as many ways to put back into the scene. At our own Fabric nights whether they are Dogs on Acid or Breakbeat Kaos we quite often run competitions to give DJ's a chance. With up and coming DJ's we not only give them a chance to play, we play along side of Andy C.


» That is awesome because there are so many DJ's and it is so hard to break into the industry, especially drum n' bass.


A: There are so many DJ's that are really good. We are trying and it doesn't always work out as you plan. There are a lot of politics in the scene, obviously there are in every scene we thought just amongst us lets carry on making really good music and have some really cool business ideas. We do the same thing with emcees.


» I have always been fascinated with drum n' bass because in the early days it was very different than it is now. How did the whole emcee thing evolve?


F: (I think this is him speaking here)
You'd probably have to ask an emcee that. I reckon they focus the crowd quite a lot. That is what I love about them. You find sometime when you go to places, not always, but you think I wish there would have been an emcee so the crowd would've been a little more hyped, They also point out to the crowd what the big tunes are, they call it out and say your gonna hear this one again. They are the link between the music and the crowd.


A: They are the Master of Ceremony. You go back into the days of dancehall or whatever and you could say they started off as introducers to start of a DJ and now it has evolved into lyrical. With rap being along side of it, it has sort of just grown with the rave scene. You have people like MC Conrad who are all about the lyrics and working with the music and then you've got the hype people who are all about that and creating the atmosphere. To me emcees are a key part of drum n' bass. Back in the days when it was hard core and they used to have massive festivals everything was important, the DJ, the dancers, the production, the lighting, the emcee, all of it was part of creating an atmosphere for a party. Unfortunately the only thing that has changed is the laws in America to stop raves and stuff like that. Nowadays it is narrowed down because of expense to the way things have evolved to the focus being mainly on the DJ. A lot less focus is put on production so that is why people are so amazed when there is great production behind things, it makes a party amazing.


» In New York there is not really a big drum n' bass scene there?


A: The scene that there is, ya know New York is such a unique place with a unique breed of people anyway. I'm out of the New York sort of vibe. There is a cool kind of social gathering thing going on that is small but it is good trying to see people get together. Everyone knows each other; it is a very small tight net. It has really been picking up though I played the other day at a new club, I can't remember the name but it was absolutely killing in there. World of Drum n' Bass is about to go there next week, which I was asked to play at but I can't I am not going to be there. America has been up and down, do you know what I mean? There will be six months where it is slamming and then it drops off a bit. That is the same all over the world.


» How would you compare the drum n' bass scene in America versus London and other parts of the world?


A: The only way that I can compare it is the hip hop scene, although there are a few roots though. You've got the south, west coast, east coast, but you could go on forever I don't want to leave people out. America to me is like several different countries to me anyway. Let's just narrow it down to saying you've got New York and the roots of hip hop there and then you've got the rest of the world hip hop. Most of the really big DJ's of course are in London. Then you have a handful of International ones. The main core of it is London that is the main difference. All of the majority of the latest tunes and the tunes are generally set in the heart of where the roots are. What has happened with drum n' bass is you've got people like Pendulum as far away as Australia. They couldn't be farther away from London but are actually now setting trends. It's like me I have been making hip hop for two years and I am living in New York, because I am closer to the main heart of the scene. I am not just saying hip hop is in New York. Also another difference is if you go to a party round the rest of the world you find one person is the main thing, like Andy C. In London one night you have got seven massive headliners because we are spoiled over there. People expect that, having a choice. A lot more fuss is made over here for one artist, as opposed to ten.


» From your Fabric nights where you let newer DJ's have you found anybody that has gotten signed?


A: We have. We are working with a few people that we found from those nights, it's a tour for Dogs on Acid. One of the things that we tried to with the label as well as the Kaos competitions, is we get our own artists on the label for two reasons: 1) we get them to bring new music. Other artists that they hear out on the scene djing and people that send in music if they think it is cool we will consider them for Breakbeat Kaos. We want them to help shape the sound of the label and make them feel like they are A&R for the label. We also compensate them if they bring a track in we will give them a cut out of the profits. It is all very fair that is the whole concept of what we are trying to do.


» Yeah you never know when the next big thing is coming through. Thank you guys. What do you guys have going on?


A: Obviously look out for Pendulum's debut album in June/July. Fresh has got his album coming out Escape from Planet Monday. There is the next Jungle Sound album at some point. It is a really busy year this year.


» Have you heard anything here that has really impressed you?


A: I have been here like nine hours. Tonight as well there is a post on Dogs on Acid for new producers to bring there stuff down to the party and approach one of us. We have been making it a point about bringing your demos. That is what we are going to be spending the next days doing is looking for talent.

[dirtynumbangelboy]

lagunya pendulum yang versus fresh judulnya tarantula ok banget tuu, its wicked dude!!

[osvaldo1945MF]

john b..dnb trancey2 gitu...hehehe..

[le_gaiyya]

mantep nggak lagu lgunya bad company ??:?

[mahfud_partojin]

mantep nggak lagu lgunya bad company ??:?

sepertinya mantap juga

[olis]

pendulum remix voodoo people prodigy juga keren!!!

[NEUROLAB]

wah adam f itu adam apa ya gw cari download2 malah adam2 yg laennya
adam freeland bukan sii
albumnya yg dnb yg mana yaa namanya heheh

[BlackBolt]

mantep nggak lagu lgunya bad company ??:?

sepertinya mantap juga

sepertinya ya..

[s0nty]

wah adam f itu adam apa ya gw cari download2 malah adam2 yg laennya
adam freeland bukan sii
albumnya yg dnb yg mana yaa namanya heheh

Adam F beda dgn Adam Freeland

[NEUROLAB]

yea gw cari downloadan ada jg nama adam f hawa n adam freeman gtuu kayanyah dah nunggu2 lama laa mzkna ga jelass diduga emang itu bukan si adam f  dnb hehuhuahua jadi aja gw lookin2 lg  nama initialnya wuiiih