:: BB INTERVIEWS ::

:: INFLUENZA ::

The Sickness Doesn't Stop with Influenza Doug Vaccaro comes down with the Canadian strain of breakbeat Influenza has been around just a few short years. But in that amount of time they have amassed quite a resume. Being known for having quite a unique but diverse sound, has set them apart from a lot of the newer acts in the genre today. Not only have they had stellar releases, they also break it down well to the crowd. Voted #19 at the top producers of 2004, and #24 as the best dj's in the Breaks Scene. The duo consists of legendary Psidream and the ever crazy Oddmud. This team has traveled the world; they were the first Canadian Act to partake in the Annual Breakspoll Series at Fabric in Fabulous London. November 2005 sees the start of another new era for the boys. The start of Epidemic Recordings is abound. As progress has its way these two now move forward in the business side of things. They have lined up some serious music, and are chipping in their own take on the first release. Not only are we seeing their breakbeat side of things; Psidream is taking it a step farther and throwing in his own vibe into the mix as well. Oi! I’ve finally got you boys in the hot seat. Let me start off by saying that I’m a fan of everything you guys touch. The monthly mixes that you supply off the Sick Beats website are truly amazing. Had to say thanks for those! Jason: You are very welcome! Thanks for enjoying them! We try to put together tracks of the artists I’m really into. Plus giving people previews of some of the hot tracks that will be coming out over the next year. I get more emails and PM’s from people thanking us for those mixes than any of our tunes! LOL. So hey, more reason to do them. Jeff: We’re very keen on helping expose newer artists that deserve to have their music noticed by more people, so the monthly mixes are also a great opportunity for us to do this. So how did Influenza come to be? Jason: Well, Psidream and I lived together in a basement suite in Vancouver. He was into producing DNB, and I was just another local breaks DJ. I started to get bored with what I was doing, and the fact that the scene was in major recession at the time, DJ’ing wasn’t doing it for me anymore. So I started tinkering with Fruity Loops and such, asking Jeff for help and stuff. One day I ran into a post on nubreaks.com about a remix contest for Sponge Records. I talked to Jeff about working on it together, and he agreed. We finished the track, we found a name for ourselves, and we won the contest, the rest is history. Jeff: Yea we got into the studio quite early on after we had met. We found that we had many mutual friends, were both looking for a roommate, and it worked out. It has been funny watching Jason go through a period where he was getting bored with DJ’ing, sold all his records, got into making tracks, we started to get gigs, then he started DJ’ing again. Fill me in on the current breaks scene in Western Canada? Sounds like the wild west up there from what I can gather! Jason: There’s a breaks scene? Not really in Vancouver there isn’t. We get the odd show of some well-known producers dropping in, but there isn’t a regular breaks night, and a lot of the local parties take the multi-genre theme. I tried to start a night with long time friend Lenny Ford, but we couldn’t get the venue to agree. So I wouldn’t say there is a “breaks scene” here. Toronto, I wouldn’t know about because we’ve never even been there to play breaks yet. I hear it used to be pretty hot, but as of late a lot of the club nights are shutting down, etc. Canada is pretty wild in general. Jeff: I haven’t really had a chance to check out the breaks scenes outside of Vancouver.. our city does have a few people that are really dedicated to pushing the sound though. So you just launched the Epidemic Recordings label. What made you guys decide to start up an independent label? Jason: Well, it’s the next step I guess? Since I’ve discovered electronic music, I’ve sort of tried it all. I was the party kid, then I was the promoter, then I was the DJ, now a producer and record label manager. I think the next thing is going to be a magazine. I really like business, and am always thinking about what I can do next. Jeff and I were tinkering around with the idea for a while. There were talks of doing it with another label group, and there were talks about vinyl, etc. We’re not running it for profit; we’re looking to give back as much as we can to the artists involved. We see it as a good promotional tool, and a way to really get more good music out to the punters. Jeff: It’s also a form of experimentation in a sense – to see if selling MP3’s is something that we can do right, because we’re both well aware of the piracy issues involving MP3 sales, but it’s worth a shot. We’re also both aware of how the vinyl industry is doing these days, so we figured while we’re taking a risk either way, we might as well try something that may just end up being the future of this music. We also love doing remixes, so this is a chance for us to work on more remix projects as well! What artists have you signed up so far? Jason: Well the ones we can actually mention are the ones we’ve posted on our website. We’ve got Hidden Forces, Transformer Man, and AMB signed to the first few releases. We’re also involved in each of these releases as well, providing breaks remixes as Influenza and Jeff will be doing drum & bass remixes as Psidream. Jeff: At the moment, the major focus of the label is breaks, but may include some previously unreleased drum & bass material from myself and possibly others as well – can’t say much more about that at this time Damn, you signed AMB for a track? Solid! So what outlets will be carrying your releases? Jason: We’ve got good distribution, and we’ll be selling through our choice of smaller places, plus we’re selling on iTunes, MSN, Rhapsody, Napster, Music Match, MusicNet, MusicNow, eMusic, Yahoo! Music, Sony Connect, Audio Lunchbox, Beatport, OD2, Loudeye, Karma Download, Virgin Digital, Juno, and many more. Wow, that’s a lot. Jeff: You can also purchase Epidemic releases directly from the label website if you‘re a Paypal user! What do you think 2006 will hold for breaks? Same ol' same ol' or will it finally be ‘the year’? I think it will be the same old. We’ll see some new faces, and we’ll see a lot of the same faces change in their focus in styles. I really don’t think there will ever be ‘the year’. This genre just does not have the capcity, or the mass appeal. I think I’m ok with that, although I think I would like a little bit more action. The people involved have huge hearts, but not enough people are spreading the news. Jeff: There are a lot of people from other genres, namely drum & bass, that are starting to cross over into the breaks world though, so you never know.. that could have a lasting impact. Some of the best breaks tunes I’ve heard in a long time are from people like Hostage (Knick of Evol Intent, and Mayhem), Pendulum (who have been working with the Freestylers regularly), Jade (up and coming Hungarian d&b producer who has released with Moving Shadow among other labels), etc. It was great chatting with you guys! Anything you’d like to let the world know about before we depart? Jason: Keep buying music, even if it’s not ours! Trading MP3’s is illegal, and it directly hurts the artists you love. Support the artists you enjoy! Go to the shows, buy their music, and tell your friends! Jeff: And please get in touch if our music inspires you – we always love to know how it affects others! :: December 2005 :: Epidemic Recordings first release Hidden Forces - "Close to You" is out NOW. Buy this track and drop it on an unsuspecting dancefloor! Additional information on Influenza can be found at www.sickbeats.com

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