Interview with DC Breaks

DC Breaks, the British Drum and Bass duo made up of Dan Havers and Chris Page, have been hailed by Annie Mac as ‘ones to watch’ since 2010 and haven’t they just.

With brilliant reworks for the likes of Tinie Tempah, Rox, Example and I Blame Coco and their unique gutsy, melodic sound, they have been quickly picked up by some of the top labels around.

They have spent years crafting their live performance in clubs and festivals all over the world, DJing across an impressive 6 decks and 2 mixers, it’s quite the show. DC Breaks are rapidly becoming one of the most exciting acts in drum and bass.

Hi Guys, how are you? What have you been up to?

We released our ‘Firez’ EP mid May on RAM Records, and since then we’ve been working on a couple of remixes for the likes of Lana Del Rey, Captain Crunch and Paloma Faith.  We’ve just started something with house legend, Jupiter Ace as well.

Can you describe your sound for those who might not know it?

One of the things we’ve found people saying about DC Breaks is that you never know what you’re going to get! But, everything is aimed squarely at the dancefloor, whether its light and melodic or heavy and techy we always try and make those ‘main room’ vibes.

How did you both find your way to producing and DJing Drum n Bass? When did the pair of you first get together to make DC Breaks?

We studied at Edinburgh University together and were both DJing DnB etc, and knew each other well, so it was only a matter of time before we started making beats together.

You have worked with many labels, including Never Say Die Records. How did your relationship with them come about?

We’ve been friends with SKisM for years and years, DJing together under various guises in the past and even producing together over the years on several things.  So we’re always in touch about collabing and remixing etc.

Your latest track ‘Killer’ is a collaboration with SKisM, how did this collaboration come about?

We were working on an OK track but needed that rawness that SKisM is so famous for and thought, lets give him a call!

How was it working together?

Nightmare, as always. 😉

How about your relationship with Dee Freer, why did you choose to use her on the track?

We do a lot of work with Dee and once the track had developed to the right stage she was an obvious choice with her soaring vocal range and weighty voice.  It suited the vibe of the track perfectly.

You’ve had a lot of support from big names in the industry, such as Pete Tong, Annie Mac, MistaJam and Zane Lowe. Which track have you been most proud of so far?

Ah that’s a tough one. But probably ‘Pickett Line’ as its the one we wrote in the least amount of time and the one which got the most heat and really helped us get to a new audience.

Zane Lowe was quoted saying “There is no way on earth I would be playing a JLS record if it wasn’t for DC Breaks”.

Why do you think your sound works so well?

Well in that case it worked because we didn’t use any of the JLS parts in the remix haha!  But I guess it’s down to making sure that the beats and the bass i.e the groove, is always spot on. With no groove you just can’t dance.

You are known for some wicked remixes; such as the JLS mix and those for big acts like Tinie Tempah, Example and Paloma Faith. Do you prefer remixing tracks or producing your own from scratch?

Remixing has its charms and sometimes there are just great sounds to work with from the off – sometimes its much harder though!  But it’s all about your own sounds right? The freedom to do what you want.

You have also stepped in to cover BBC Radio 1Xtra’s Drum and Bass mix show for Crissy Criss. Did radio DJing come naturally?

Funnily enough we really enjoyed our first show – it’s nerve-racking, going live on national radio, but you just have to get on with it and bash through it. I think we were pretty natural, however, when reading from a script at 3am to thousands of listeners, it’s really hard to concentrate!

You have quite the live performance set up, DJ-ing across 6 decks and 2 mixers! Did this take a long time to perfect?

Not really, we’ve DJ’d together so much its quite easy for us to manage.  However, it’s tough to do all the time because club set-ups vary so much. These days we more often do a 4CDJ mix.

Is live performance an important part of being DJs for you guys?

Yeah of course, we don’t have everything planned and try not to push too many buttons so we can keep as much aspect of a ‘live’ performance as possible. No vinyl anymore though.

Where have been some of your favourite places to play?

Austria, Australia, Canada…. so many, sometimes you have the best times in the most random places.

What are you like as a team? You must work well together? Is one of you more technical and one of you more creative, for example?

Chris is more of a beats and bass man, Dan more melodic and musical – However, the roles change round all the time!

What projects have you got in the pipeline? Is there anything you are particularly excited about/looking forward to?

If you find a few recent videos of Andy C DJing or his live show, you’ll hear a few bits of ours in there!  Lots to come 😉

Thanks guys!

DC Breaks’ new track, ‘Killer’ with SKisM featuring Dee Freer with remixes from Tantrum Desire and Crush is out on Never Say Die Records on 16^th July.

DC Breaks on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DCBreaks

Never Say Die on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/wewillneversaydie