This interview was
made for the "Breakcore Guidebook Vol. 2".( I did interview in
September 2018)
The English version will be published exclusively for the Murder Channel Blog.
The English version will be published exclusively for the Murder Channel Blog.
Stazma The Junglechrist
https://soundcloud.com/stazma-the-junglechrist
https://stazma-the-junglechrist.bandcamp.com/
Breakcore Guidebook Vol.1&2(Japanese version)
https://murderchannel.bandcamp.com/merch/breakcore-guidebook-vol-1-2
A total of 400 pages in full color.
A total of 400 pages in full color.
Over 500 Discreet
Reviews.
Interview with 27
artists from around the world.
and Column and the history
of Murder Channel.
Q.
Hello Stazma! How's it going?
What are you up to right now?
“Hey there! I’m all good thanks,
working on my first album right now actualy! It will be less fast as my
previous Eps but very intricate and weird.”
(August 2019 edit : Still
working on it actualy but it is almost done now, only mixing and mastering left
to do.)
Q.
This book is the first Japanese book about "Breakcore". How do you think Breakcore becomes a book?
Q.
This book is the first Japanese book about "Breakcore". How do you think Breakcore becomes a book?
“This scene has been around for a few
decades already, but still there is not that
much documentation about it, apart from Notes on Breakcore
and Pencil Break (both being ten years old at least). So, I'm very happy that something new is being made.”
Q.
You have released many amazing Breakcore tracks. Do you still consider yourself a Breakcore artist?
Q.
You have released many amazing Breakcore tracks. Do you still consider yourself a Breakcore artist?
“Of course, I still consider me as a
part of this weird family. Even tho what I do now is quieter than what I
was doing five or six years ago. The music I compose now is way more
complicated than before, even more broken than in the past in fact.”
Q.
You perform live in many countries every year. Where do you think Breakcore is the most popular at the moment?
Q.
You perform live in many countries every year. Where do you think Breakcore is the most popular at the moment?
“Those last few years I've been
playing mainly in Germany, Netherland and the UK. There is a recent regain of
interest in fucked up music in big events since the last two or three years I
thinks. I started playing a little bit in France again, as some new young
promoters are trying to integrate extreme electronic music like Breakcore into
their own scene, like Psytrance or Electro Punk. My hope is that in the future
people will have the possibility to hear Breakcore music in more events not
directly related to extreme electronics, like Metal, Punk or experimental
events”
Q.
I think you are one of the top artist of "Breakcore third generation". How do you feel about this standing position in the Breakcore scene?
“Well, I’m still surprised every time
someone tell me he or she likes my music, so I really have hard time picturing
myself at the top of something. But I'm very happy that making those crazy
noises allowed me to travel the world and meet most of my idols from the scene,
plus many crazy fans who really enjoy challenging music more than happy pop
soup.”
Q.
Breakcore was a big movement in the middle of 2000. Why do you think the momentum fell? Do you think there is any cause?
Q.
Breakcore was a big movement in the middle of 2000. Why do you think the momentum fell? Do you think there is any cause?
“I have no idea why the interest in
this particular scene got so low after that sort of golden period of the mid
2000. Maybe the feeling that it was something fresh and new
vanished, more and more people were doing “breakcore” as just gabber kicks and
amen breaks and people got bored of it. But
there
has always been crazy, out of this world producers to
keep it alive.”
Q.
You said that you were affected by Rotator, Krumble, Cardopusher. Did you listen to the work of the first generation of Breakcore? (Praxis, Ambush, Dyslexic Response、Addcit、Low Res, Zhark International, New Skin, Kool.Pop, Irritant,etc)
How do you feel about the influence of this first generation of Breakcore on yours ?
Q.
You said that you were affected by Rotator, Krumble, Cardopusher. Did you listen to the work of the first generation of Breakcore? (Praxis, Ambush, Dyslexic Response、Addcit、Low Res, Zhark International, New Skin, Kool.Pop, Irritant,etc)
How do you feel about the influence of this first generation of Breakcore on yours ?
“Sure, I still listen to a lot of
early Breakcore records, mainly Praxis, Peace Off, Ad Noiseam and Hymen as they are the closest to my musical roots of Metal and
Industrial. For me, those labels and the artists who released music with them,
have made it clear than this music scene was about not caring about being too
extreme, too dark or too fast; they made it possible to a lot of people (me
included) to realize they could express themselves with no rules, except their
own, and still be a part of a family, and that is what define the Breakcore
scene to me.”
Q.
Do you remember when you first made Breakcore? Why did you decide to make Breakcore yourself? (At that time, were you consciously making Breakcore?)
“My very first attempt at electronic
music were already very experimental, brutal and excessive so it could have
been considered Breakcore straight away. But when I discovered first Bong-Ra
and a little bit later Venetian Snares I realized that I wanted to make music based
on those very fast and rolling drum pattern from Jungle, and I added
my own palette of influence over it with time. It took time and a lot of work to get to a result I was happy
with and I guess I developed my style like this.”
Q.
Please tell me about when you first met Rotator. What is his first impression?
Q.
Please tell me about when you first met Rotator. What is his first impression?
“I had already released my first
track on Peace Off on the Kamikaze Club 07 when I first met Frank in the flesh.
We briefly met in a party in Belgium in 2009, but it was in Marseille a little
bit later that we first really talked together. First impression I guess is
that we had very similar taste in hard music and that we both like to party. It
is after this first real meeting that I started to put together the Lucky
Strike Ep for the launch of Peace Off digital.”
Q.
You have released "The Lucky Strike EP", "Napalm Junglist", "Virtual Civil War", "Chaos Propaganda" on Peace Off. Which one would be your favorite ?
Q.
You have released "The Lucky Strike EP", "Napalm Junglist", "Virtual Civil War", "Chaos Propaganda" on Peace Off. Which one would be your favorite ?
“My favorite off this period is Chaos Proganda, as it represents the result of everything I was trying
to achieve since I started Stazma. Being both very violent and energic it was
also my first attempt at more intricate and melodic constructions with the
track “Drunken DSP” for exemple. It was also my first solo vinyl, so it will
always have a special place in my heart (thank you Frank Rotator for believing
in this one).”
Q.
What is the most important to you when making a Stazma track?
Q.
What is the most important to you when making a Stazma track?
“I try to focus on the recording
quality of my hardware synthesizers and the mixing of those sounds together to
create a coherent sonic environment. I put more effort into melodic
progressions as well nowadays, which was not very my thing before. But the most
important is that the final result is energic and weird at the same time and always
with the best sound quality possible.”
Q.
You are a known modular freak. Why do you like modulars? What is its appeal for you?
How do you make your own originality in modular?
Q.
You are a known modular freak. Why do you like modulars? What is its appeal for you?
How do you make your own originality in modular?
“I’ve always been attracted to
hardware synthesizers even before I started making music. My first synth was a
Moog Sub Phatty
(sold it since for a Grandmother from the same brand)
and it had taught me the pleasure there is in creating sounds by myself,
without counting on existing presets.
The appeal of modular is that the
possibilities of sound design are very wide but not infinite, like when you
have hundreds of virtual instruments, also the fact it has a real physical
interface that you can play with and react too. As it is impossible to save any preset, it forces you to record everything you like on
the moment,
otherwise it is too late and this sound is gone
forever. I collect a lot of those recording to use as samples in later
productions. All this process gives a lot of pieces of sound that are entirely
yours to play with. Of course, you could do the same on computer, but I'm one
of those people who prefer to work with something physical than stay in front
of a screen forever.
I like the fact you can create your
own environment, choosing the tactile interface that work for you, and if you
are bored of it, or by the sound you get out of it, you don’t have to throw it
away and buy a full new synth; you can just change one or a few modules and
your modular synth become a completly new instrument.”
Q.
You are a mastering engineer for Breakcore release with Peace Off, PRSPCT RVLT, Murder Channel. What is the key points in Breakcore's mastering?
“I approach mastering with a very
technical point of view, so there is nothing really specific about Breakcore
mastering more than with other style, the important thing is to respect the
sound of the artists and make it listenable on any type of sound systems.
But the key point for me is to
always favor dynamics over loudness, when I have the choice over that
point. I do always prefer to listen to something with a lot of dynamics and use
my volume knob to put it louder than having to turn down something that is too
loud already.”
Q.
Why do you think that Breakcore is not picked up greatly in music media?
Do you think that people will hear more crazy electronic music like Breakcore someday? ( The influence of streaming service etc.)
Why do you think that Breakcore is not picked up greatly in music media?
Do you think that people will hear more crazy electronic music like Breakcore someday? ( The influence of streaming service etc.)
“I think Breakcore is the exact
opposite of what the music industry has become. It is, and has to be, a
challenging experience to listen to something called Breakcore, it might be the
tempo, the time signature, the level of distortion or the ever-changing rythms,
something is here to shake you up. In the mainstream media today, everything is
pre-programed to please you instantly and to never surprise or upset you in any
way, as if music had to be safe all the time by “following the rules”.
But is reassuring to see there is
still some very weird and crazy artists making there way to big audiences like Clipping. or Arca. It shows that some people
are also very tired to be told what they should listen to and how each type of
music should sound. If the Breakcore scene keep on evolving and to go against
this massive media it will never become a huge and successful product, but I don’t think it should be a
product at all so I'm good with that.”
Q.
The current Breakcore has many Hardcore-like tracks and mashup-like things. And many creators are imitating Stazma, Wheyheyhey, Satan.
What do you think is missing from the current Breakcore creators?
Q.
The current Breakcore has many Hardcore-like tracks and mashup-like things. And many creators are imitating Stazma, Wheyheyhey, Satan.
What do you think is missing from the current Breakcore creators?
“I think every producer needs to
first imitate what he like, to end up finding his own style. If
you listen to my first releases I was just trying to recreate what I liked from
others
and mix that together. It is only with time and work
that you manage to find your own musical vocabulary. As long as those new
producers are having fun at what they do and that they keep on with it they
will find their own style.”
Q.
Do you continue to make Breakcore and crazy electronic music in the future?
Q.
Do you continue to make Breakcore and crazy electronic music in the future?
“Oh yeah! I don’t think I will ever
stop to be honest, I might keep on getting quieter in the tempo and do some
softer side projects (as my alias Repeat Eater). I will keep doing weirdo
music, because that is what I like to do.”
Q.
Finally, what is "Breakcore" for you?
“Breakcore is post 2000 punk in the form of electronic music; it can be super dirty, clinical, distorted, lush, too fast, too slow, too complicated, all this together in the same track; but never "just” Breakcore. To quote mr Christoph Fringeli from Praxis, I consider Breakcore is more an “hybrid strategy” than a style music.”
Q.
Finally, what is "Breakcore" for you?
“Breakcore is post 2000 punk in the form of electronic music; it can be super dirty, clinical, distorted, lush, too fast, too slow, too complicated, all this together in the same track; but never "just” Breakcore. To quote mr Christoph Fringeli from Praxis, I consider Breakcore is more an “hybrid strategy” than a style music.”
