:: BB INTERVIEWS ::

:: FRIENDLY ::

Getting Friendly with Andrew Kornweibel Stu Fingerhut chats with one of Breaks rising stars Friendly is Andrew Kornweibel, a breaks producer and DJ originally from Australia. Now holding it down in East London, Friendly has quickly establishing himself as a major player in the breaks genre. From his residency at Chew the Fat! nights at the End nightlcub in London, being awarded 'Best Newcomer' at the 2004 International Breakbeat Awards and the release of his single 'The Bump and Grind' to worldwide acclaim, Friendly is one the most respected 'up n' coming' DJs in the breakbeat world. We first met this past New Year's Eve at Seismic in San Francisco. How would you rate 2005 so far? 2005 is going really well! This year I've played San Fran (right at the start as you know), Dubai, St Petersburg, Moscow, Lisbon, Bergamo (Italy), and a bunch of dates around the UK and London. And I'm about to head out to Australia and Japan for some gigs, so that should be good too. On the music front, I've finally (for the first time in my life!) got a studio outside of home. It's bliss, I can actually go to work now rather than always having it in my home, and as a result I'm a lot more productive. My studio is a ten minute bike ride away from my house, complete with vocal booth and sound insulation, so it's sweet. The other big thing for me this year is working with this singer called Ra Khahn. I hooked up with him at the end of last year, but now we're plowing ahead and writing heaps of tracks together. He's got a kick ass voice, sometimes funky, sometimes rough, sometimes sweet falsetto, and his lyrics are totally on the money. He's going to be a big part of a Friendly artist album when that happens, and we'll definitely be going live as well, so watch out for that. What's your take on the Breaks scene in the USA and North America? It seems people are really up for breaks, and know how to rock it with the best of them. There's some shit-hot deejays out there, and every time I've played in San Fran and the US I've had an wicked time. There are some great producers as well. Uberzone is one of my all time fave producers, and the Fort Knox Five guys are really onto something as well. And of course there's a bunch of festivals like Burning Man which are really pushing the envelope and bringing the best of the best together. Hopefully, with more gigs and more people pushing breaks through alternative media we'll start bringing folks into the fold more, because it's a growing and vibrant scene worldwide. Tell me a little about how you got involved with the FAT! crew. I was still living in Australia, but about to move to London, and I found Paul Arnold (Fat-head) wandering around, lost, in a Sydney record store. I'd met him before in London, so I recognized him. Anyway, he was wanting to go to all the Sydney record stores to talk up Fat to them, so I took him around and showed him them all. And then I took the opportunity to slip him a demo. About two weeks later, I was DJing in Sydney at 3am and I got a text through from him, he was back in London, and was really digging the demo and wanted to put it out. So that was the start. I moved over to London about three weeks later, and we just kept working closer and closer together. Now I'm resident at his nights, he manages me, and is also my agent, and we have a brilliant working relationship. There's Fat! nights in London, Brighton, Budapest, Berlin, Bournemouth, Manchester, and the compilation that's coming out is the first in a series of Chew the Fat compilations, so Paul's really pushing it to the next level. On your new album, you've created entirely new sounds by fusing parts of existing tracks. What's the process you go through to select the different components and create these tracks? It's weird, it just starts with me thinking of the other track over the top when I'm playing it. It almost just pops into my head in a weird way, and then when I splice them together I realize that they are in exactly the same key and tempo, or that the beat of one works perfectly over the vocal rhythm of the other. It's an almost subconscious thing. Doing that kind of splicing is quite an important part of my sets though, because it makes the tracks your own in a way, because nobody else has that edit or whatever. I don't really get enough time to do as many as I'd like, but it's been great to whack a few of my faves onto the compilation. Vinyl or CDs? CDs without a doubt. I like vinyl, but CD usually implies it hasn't been released yet, or it's a cheeky bootleg a mate did, or one of my own tracks which hasn't been pressed up yet... CD's are so much more exclusive. Once it's on vinyl you know anyone can go out and buy it. They're also a lot lighter, and I pack a wider range of CDs, so if I get booked for a gig and it turns out to be quieter than they expect, at least I've got some more funky, chillin' stuff in my CD wallet. In 2004 you were awarded Best New Act at the Breakspoll awards. How did this whole Djing adventure start for you? I started DJing in Australia sooooo many years ago, I was playing ambient and chillout stuff like the Orb and Mix Master Morris back in the early 1990's. Then I gave it up to do the production stuff in Sydney, and went live. It wasn't until I was heading to London that I ditched the live thing and went back to DJing. So it's been a long and round about route to get where I am. I guess I got that award because when I came to the UK, I was a new act, but I'd been beavering away in Australia before that. DJing is a really important part of what I do now though, it compliments the production side perfectly because I can use both to promote myself, and to try out new stuff and keep up to date with all the new music and what's shaking it on the floor. I can also experiment bringing in new sounds and ideas through DJing, and then refine them in the studio before releasing them on 12". Even when I go back to the live idea with Ra Khahn, I'm not going to ditch DJing because it's really portable, and it's fundamental to pushing my music forward. What advice can you give the bedroom DJ who wants to make their mark on the Breaks scene? I guess production is the way forward. If you put out a good record, then the DJs will be onto it and all of a sudden folks holding down the Uzbekistan breaks scene will be digging you. From there, you'll be getting requests to play their clubs, and you'll be international in no time! Really, putting out a 12" is like sending out a calling card that's got wings, and people get interested right away. Another option is to start up your own internet radio show, because that's also international and it's relatively easy to do once you've got broadband and a basic DJ setup. Putting on your own parties in some little pub is great for building a local scene as well, invite all your friends down and put on a proper knees up, everyone will want to come back again and you'll be building your profile in the process. To really make your mark, you've got to have your own sound. Don't just buy a bunch of new breaks releases, create your own sound by choosing what really appeals to you, and making sure it's all what you are about. Looking ahead, what's in-store for the rest of 2005? Working with Ra Khahn is a big priority, because that's going really well. I've got a track coming out on the new handheld Playstation, it's for Wipeout, so I¹m looking forward to seeing and hearing that all in action. I've just done a remix for Positiva, and I think that should do well, I'm well happy with it, and it seems to be going down a treat in the clubs. I've got a few tracks up my sleeve and a few secrets that will be revealed in good time, so I'm hoping things will be moving along. I'm also hoping to come back to the US later this year as well, so we can catch up again then! :: April 2005 :: Chew the Fat! at The End presents Friendly is out now! A DJ who completely represents the Chew the Fat! sound, Friendly's latest mix CD embodies all the very best things about the breakbeat culture today... good times, irreverent fun, and funk fuelled party moments.

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