:: BB INTERVIEWS ::

:: MADAM BREAKS ::

There and Back with Madam Breaks by Doug Vaccaro Madam Breaks, aka Clare Wells, began DJing in 1999 and was involved in the UK dance scene playing house and progressive for about a year before she moved to breakbeat. The breakbeat thing came after she remixed my first hit with Future Funk Squad of Rollo and Rob Dougan's - OT Quartet 'Hold that sucker down'. It made the UK top 40 and became Pete Tong's 'Essential New Choon' kick starting her production career in a big way. From there she carried on to remix for the likes of Botchit & Scarper and en:vision and release her own material. After winning Muzik Magazine's 'Bedroom Bedlam' in November 2001 she went on to DJ at various nights across the UK, Scotland and Ireland including The End, Collision at Madam JoJo's, Pu Na Na's, Trigger at the Custard Factory in Manchester, Kingpin at Bar Latino in Bristol, Freek at Alex in Somerset. Madam Breaks has spent the last year travelling to Spain, Switzerland and Belgium, Atlanta, Berlin and Israel playing gig's, festivals and building up my production. She mixed the NEW:BPM Album released late last year. On it you'll see two of her singles, 'Breakspinner' and 'Surveillance' which rocketed in sales both in the UK and Worldwide reaching number 6 in the DJ Magazine's Breaks and Beats Chart and received press from the likes of Sasha, Tongy, Tayo, Stanton Warriors. The album with it's live mixing was given top marks from Mixmag, Muzik and Knowledge. More recently she made guest appearances on internet radio shows Ministry (UK), Trust The DJ (UK), Breakser (Germany), and FNX (USA). She's released remixes on US label Bless, Global Recordings in Australia, and Navigation in the UK. Looking forward she continues with her busy production schedule and a DJ schedule taking her to the US, Australia and Europe. You have been pretty quiet in the last year or so. We’ve been missing your music! What have you been doing with yourself? It’s been a hell of a year! I’ve been on the road to advertising agency heaven at London based BBH working on Audi, Levis and some great brands and obviously hankering after the wage/life/music balance so I can leave the big smoke and live my dream of a country mansion/horses…..! Not really, on a more serious note although the music has had to take a back seat I’ve now got the promotion and made the move to the country. I’m now based in Bath with a job at a new media agency so plenty of in-roads for music and a fantastic array of clubs and the south west at my fingertips! So the first time I heard the name Madam Breaks it was on a collab with the Future Funk Squad. I believe it was ‘I Want You’. Was Glen FFS the one who turned you on to producing? What is it like to work with one of the best in breaks? We began working together on collaboration for Rollo & Rob Dougan’s OT Quartet’s ‘Hold that Sucker Down’ about 2 years before that which was perhaps my first experience in a studio and definitely my first dabble with production. We had such a fantastic time and began introducing me (the then house dj!!) to the world of breaks. It took all of 1 night at Leicester Square’s ‘Home’ watching the Plumps to convert me! I can honestly say Glen is THE most talented and good hearted (a rarity) producer/DJ and a mentor I am proud to have known. It also helped the fact that I was friends with the likes of High Eight who’s rattling the industry big time right now and had a big influence on me I also had a lot of support from everyone around me (especially those that know how nervous I get when I’m playing to any size crowd!). Looking back, what inspired you to go down the DJ/producer path? I lived with a DJ at university who lent me his decks one summer, I taught myself to mix with Billy Jean and a Madonna track! I then began djing at the university student night and went on to run the night. I got involved in the Dolly Mixers - Lottie/various Lisa’s - although it was fun it had its limits and once introduced to breaks I realized I had to change my style. I loved DJing but there are so many out there, you really need a niche, and I soon discovered mine was making the type of music I couldn’t find on the shelves. It went from there really. So which do you prefer, DJing or producing? I think it would have to be Djing as I’ve done a hell of a lot more of that and love the buzz of knowing you’re going to be able to play all the choons you absolutely love and getting to travel and meet new people all the time. The breakbeat scene has got to be one of the friendliest I’ve been involved in and has such a great community of people involved all over the world. There’s very little politics and little if any competitiveness. I’ve been able to travel all over the UK as well as America, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Belgium and Israel which have all been amazing and the reception from the clubs, promoters and clubbers has always made my trips huge amounts of fun and damaging to my liver! Being a female DJ in a predominantly male DJ genre of music, do you find it harder or easier to get the word out on yourself? I don’t think it makes any difference really, I’ve not had any problems myself and not experienced a difference in approach although it would be naive to say being female doesn’t have its advantages. I did however, when I started out, have the most bizarre thing happen after playing a hard house night in the depths of Dorset. After my set I was asked to go and see the promoter in his ‘office’ to collect my fee and he promptly offered me what I can only describe as a rather small amount of something I can’t mention in place of money! I can honestly say this has got to be the most crap experience within the industry. And obviously, I made the right decision as well as moving to breaks! Most deff. So, if you had to pick a favorite piece of your own music, which track or remix would you choose? My favorite track of my own tracks? It would have to be Breakspinner, it embodies all that I wanted from breaks at the time and still makes the hairs stand up on my arms when I hear it now! And the best part for me would the breakdown of course. If I had to pick a track of someone else’s as my favorite it would have to be…hmmm there are so many. Zero – Emit/Collect, FFS Spitfire both of which would get me dancing even lets say at 9am, at work, office bound, suited and booted and in front of a client! So, when not in the studio producing/listening to breaks, what type of music do you usually have on? Any favorite bands? That’s asking for trouble….wait while I just ruin any reputation I may have built over the last 6 years! I love Kubb at the moment and still loving KT Tunstall also getting into my easy listening (think it’s my age!) so anything I can have on in the background while I work. Been drawn into a Faithless phase over the last year as my boyf absolutely loves them along with some quite bizarre stuff like Alison Krauss, Phil Collins and obviously my favorite song of all time ‘Billy Jean’ anyone who knows me can vouch for the fact I don’t even need a drink inside me to dance to that one! Vinyl or CD? Vinyl for me please. I can't get away from the fact that in the split moment I decide I don’t want to play a track and I only have seconds to change a CD always phases me but you can wack a vinyl on the decks and really play with it even if its not the right speed its so much more flexible even without all the gadgets and effects. I’m not a fancy DJ and find the more buttons available the more likely I am to press the wrong one! I remember playing in Brighton at Big Beat Boutique. Having gotten halfway through the set with a huge sound system around me, so no mistakes needed, I managed to eject the CD that was playing... much to the entertainment of FFS and High Eight. Professional eh! I think this was one of my first sets so perhaps it put me off. Well, what will 2006 hold for Madam Breaks? For now, it’s a case of having some fun, continuing with the gigs and hopefully getting back in the studio as soon as my bank balance lets me! I’m loving the south west…my home from 10 years ago and looking to get further into the scene here. The breakbeat community is such a friendly one to be involved in I cant wait to get more involved. Appreciate you doing this with me Clare! Hope 2006 brings good fortune to you! Also hope to see some new records out!! :: February 2006 :: For the latest updates on Madam Breaks, peep her corner of cyberspace at myspace.com/MadamBreaks

:: BACK ::