Wavewhore Interview
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Name: Wavewhore
Label Affiliations: Broke, BreaksFM, Electrofly, BombTraxx
Age: Legal
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 170
Average Heartrate (BPM): will have to ask my doctor
Heartrate when mixing (BPM): elevated
Bedtime: usually up all nite but really trying to keep a more normal schedule
All-time Favorite Breakbeat Choon: ‘Time To React’ by Backdraft
Favourite Type of Girls: brunettes with curves
Interview
Big ups for helping to keep New York breakbeat alive, what’s happening this summer for you my man?
Wavewhore: After playing Miami WMC and then Spain in the Spring, I’m trying to focus on some studio time now and some New York dates in June and July. I also plan to sleep naked.
So whats going on with Broke recordings? Any plans for any of your new releases?
Wavewhore: Broke has been asking me for some more material to follow up on my previous singles ‘Funk Pill’ and ‘This Is How It Should Be Done’ but nothing is finished yet… As far as new releases go, my latest remix of D-Ranged’s “Assembled” is out now on the US-based BombTraxx label.
Where have you played out so far? And which place is your favourite to play at so far?
Wavewhore: I’ve played all across the US and in Europe in addition to my breaks residency in New York City at the Sullivan Room. Playing Sevilla in Spain where the crowds are massive and so up for it def puts it on the top of the list and the West Coast in the US also goes off nicely.
Where are you originally from?
Wavewhore: I was born in Spain to American parents and spent much of my childhood living in Europe. I moved to the New York City area in 1984.
How did you meet up with Broke Recordings?
Wavewhore: Jez of The Autobots was in New York City to play an event and ended up coming back to my apartment for an after hours session where I played him some of my early tunes. He asked me for a CDR and he ended up being a big supporter of the original mix of “Breakin’ The Law”, which was later released on Electrofly. We kept in touch and the rest is history…
How did you get into breaks? Your living in hip-hop city... shouldn't you be playing some hip-hop?
Wavewhore: I was in New York City for the golden age of hip-hop in the mid-80’s and I experienced it first hand, writing rhymes, making rap tunes, going to rap shows at Madison Square Garden before they were banned etc. so to me, hip-hop is an older sound – sort of been there, done that… But hip-hop got me into the sound of processed beats and in the early 90’s, I was always searching for breaks but didn’t know what to call it. When I stumbled across the Chemical Brothers in 95, I was stoked and I knew that I had found something that felt right for me. After that, I spent a lot of time searching for a sound which seemed to emanate primarily from the UK. Drum & bass also played a big part in my life during that time as well and many of my earlier recordings were d’n’b tunes.
Did you ever go out glow sticking and wearing white Michael Jackson gloves to a rave?
Wavewhore: Can’t say that I did although I was heavily involved in New York City club culture.
What happened to the New York rave scene? Were you ever into it?
Wavewhore: The New York City government and police cracked down hard on the rave scene and made it really difficult to do anything here. Even the big clubs are barely getting by now. The density of the population here is also a major issue and it makes it difficult to make noise under the radar.
What type of events are you currently playing at? I know your playing a lot of American parties this year, which has been your most memorable and why?
Wavewhore: The type of events vary from clubs to lofts to warehouse spaces, I guess it just depends on the promoters and they are all memorable but some of this year’s events at Miami WMC def stand out. When I played Breakfest, I had girls taking off their clothes in the DJ booth trying to get me to play “Funk Pill” which I wasn’t planning on playing but its hard to say no to half-naked girls hehe… I also played Future Sound of Breaks, Tastemakers of Breaks and Breakin Traditions and FSOB sent out a list of the top sets at each of the breaks events and I got mentioned for one of the events. I also have a breaks residency at the award-winning Sullivan Room in NYC and we have had some fun events there recently as well.
List some of your favorite breakbeat producers (past/present):
Wavewhore: General Midi, Backdraft, Santos, Far Too Loud, Screwface, Specimen A, Vandal, Rennie Pilgrem
What do you think of Breakspoll? Does it mean anything to American breakbeat heads?
Wavewhore: It’s a def a popularity contest but it seems like a good time. I was nominated this year for the category of Breakthrough Producer, which was cool especially as I think it can be very UK-centric, but I was really happy to receive some recognition.
What does your studio consist of?
Wavewhore: Mac G5, Logic Sequencer, Mackie 1402 Board, Event 20/20 monitors, MOTU 828, Novation MIDI Controller, Virus b, 2x Technics 1210, Pioneer CDJ-1000 & CDJ-800, Vestax Mixer and a skateboard.
What are you using to produce nowadays? Logic audio? Live? Cubase?
Wavewhore: Logic
What would you like to do to help get New York on the map for breaks? What do you need to get it going a little bigger?
Wavewhore: More breaks fans? When you look at the cities in which certain sounds have flourished it has often been because of the talent that lived & performed there. I think people need someone that they can identify a certain sound with and in the past, New York City has not really had someone that they could call their own in the international breakbeat community. I’m hoping that if I can continue my production work and expose breaks through my DJ residency along with my appearances on radio shows, that the scene will continue to grow.
How is it to work with Nexus Artists Management? Good people or what?
Wavewhore: Nexus has a lot of the top breaks artists under management right now and I’m excited to be on their roster. Both Chris and Justin are good people and I enjoy working with them.
Do you smoke the magic green while in the studio? What’s your view on potheads working in the studio? Is it productive? Does it really help the creative process?
Wavewhore: I tried it but I found that I would spend hours obsessing over the smallest details which nobody else would ever hear. The day I made that realization was the day I stopped combining studio work with trees.
Do you have any upcoming collaborations on tracks coming out in the near future? Or any projects you would like to chat about?
Wavewhore: Regarding collabs, I’ve got a tune brewing with Specimen A and I started a tune with 30Hz as well. I’m also working on 2 original projects that I’m def excited about. One track is very heavy although its accompanied by melodic synth lines while the other is a tech-funk tune along the lines of “Funk Pill’. I like many different styles of breaks and I’m happy that I can jump around a bit when I make my tunes. My downstairs neighbor has told me that she doesn’t like the jumping part though.
What do you drink in your area? And are you a regular pub or bar drinker? How much can you drink?
Wavewhore: A lot of water when I’m at home and a lot of beer in the club. Sometimes I go for hard alcohol if I’m in a hurry. And you probably wouldn’t catch me too often in a regular bar though unless they had really good jukebox with a heavy sound system.
Can you play when you are COMPLETELY wasted?
Wavewhore: Probably not too well… I usually don’t drink too much before I play but after is a different story.
Do you play strictly breakbeat or do you mix in other genres?
Wavewhore: Strictly breaks. Unless I’m doing an 80’s dancehall set and then it would be strictly 80’s dancehall.
What would be your dream track to legally remix?
Wavewhore: Maybe some AC/DC, Metallica or Guns n’ Roses stuff…
If you were stranded on an island and had a portable record player with enough batteries to play one last track… which track would you choose to listen to?
Wavewhore: ‘Second Bad Vilbel’ by Autechre
What type of inspiration drives you to sit in your studio to output your great tracks?
Wavewhore: Most of my inspiration comes from other people’s great tracks.
What is the longest studio session you ever had? Was it fun? Anything good come out of it?
Wavewhore: It was probably around 30 hours. I wouldn’t recommend it and I don’t think I was very functional at the tail end of it. I don’t think much good came from it but I’m not sure really.
If you were allowed to pick one artist–any artist from any genre of music production... who would you like to work with in the studio and why?
Wavewhore: Fat Boy Slim because he collects smiley faces =)
Shout outs:
Big ups to Somsay for the interview and to everyone supporting my sound and pushing breaks forward into the new millennium, New York City breaks massive, Ceos & Arcee from Downbeat, Hi-Fi, Craig, Betty Boom, Wes Smith, Courtenay, Kostek, Broke family, BreaksFM crew, Bijou Breaks, MechaMusic crew and Henry D. at BombTraxx
WWW Links:
www.wavewhore.com
www.myspace.com/wavewhore
Biog: Wavewhore
Broke Recordings - BreaksFM - Electrofly Records – BombTraxx – Nexus Artist Management – New York City, USA
With releases on high profile record labels such as Broke, BreaksFM, Electrofly and BombTraxx, New York City based Wavewhore is quickly building a reputation as one to watch in the global breakbeat community. His skills behind the decks have also led to headlining appearances across the US and in Europe and he has appeared as a guest on Annie Nightingale’s show on BBC Radio 1 London, Jay Cunning’s Breakbeat Sessions on KISS FM London and Liquid Todd’s radio show on WKTU 103.5 FM New York. In addition, Wavewhore is a resident at the Sullivan Room, one of New York City’s premier underground venues, and he regularly hosts ‘The Audio Tactics Sessions’ on the Breakspoll award-winning BreaksFM internet station (www.breaksfm.com).
Wavewhore began his career as a heavy metal guitarist performing in clubs while he was still in high school and his first electronic release dates back to 1992. In 2007, Wavewhore was nominated for the Breakthrough Producer category at the annual Breakspoll Awards in London and his cutting edge music has received high level support from many of the top names in the business including Aquasky, General Midi, DJ Icey, The Autobots, The Freestylers, Elite Force, Drumattic Twins and many more. As a musician, he stands apart in his ability to produce a wide variety of styles within the breaks genre with quality results. His diversity in production also carries into his DJ sets which blend many styles of breaks from funk to bassline to tech into powerful and effective mixes that whip the dance floor into a frenzy.
In 2004, Wavewhore signed with Electrofly Records and "Breakin' The Law" was released on vinyl in May 2005. His mammoth "Funk Pill" single, which features vocals from Bex Riley, was released on Broke Recordings in 2005 and has been repressed on vinyl four times. “Funk Pill” was also licensed to Finger Lickin’ Records for the “Export 01” compilation mixed by the Drumattic Twins. In October 2006, Broke released Wavewhore’s most recent funk-fuelled single titled “This Is How It Should Be Done” and in the same month his heavy remix of Rektchordz’s “Bass Pressure” was also released on the BreaksFM imprint. The “Bass Pressure” remix has become an anthem in the massive breakbeat raves in Spain. His latest release is a remix of D-Ranged’s “Assembled” which is out now on BombTraxx Records.
Wavewhore’s name is derived from his addiction to manipulating audio waveforms and from all appearances he promises to be an inspiring force in electronic dance music. For more information visit www.wavewhore.com
“The next big name of 2007!” Annie Nightingale (BBC Radio 1 London)
“This guy is a break beat master!” Liquid Todd (WKTU 103.5 FM New York)
“One of the USA’s finest breakbeat DJ/producers” Jay Cunning (KISS FM London)
Tune in every other Monday from 8-10pm EST for ‘The Audio Tactics Sessions’ - 2 hours of top choice breaks and exclusive material featuring Wavewhore live on www.breaksfm.com
For bookings contact Chris Pattison at Nexus Artist Management (
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