In the run up to one of Reading's biggest underground dance music events, Thump co-owner Mikey Deviant caught up with DJ Ollywood, owner of the prolific Hardcore Beats record label, for a chinwag and to chew over all things tearout!

Mikey Deviant (MD): When and where was your breakbeat epiphany? In otherwords, when was it you knew that you'd found a sound that hit you like no other?

Ollywood (OL): Um, raving at The Rocket at a DON Fm Jungle rave in ‘94, buzzing on a love dove for the first time listening to DJ Hype & Stevie Hyper D. That put me on the path to where I am today. I fell out of love with Jungle in ’99, it became too fast and angry, or else my brain was slowing down... bit of both I think. Breakbeat was more my speed, but I came to it thru Garage, namely Zinc’s 138 Trek. It was the closest I could get to the old jungle sound and I’ve been chasing it ever since (w/out resorting to increasing the tempo, not that easy!)

MD: What, in your opinion, was the tune (or person) that started the tearout breaks scene?

OL: Tear-out was a phrase I used in my Hardcore Beats press releases and DJ Mag reviews to try and differentiate the sound from the more ploddy, house-orientated Breaks that has always been more famous (only because they started 5 years before us!) Their sound was counter-productive to what we were trying to push, we’d tell people we made Breaks and they’d go to a Breaks party and come back telling us it sounded like boring House, and we’d groan and roll our eyes, “Nah our breaks has more blatant energy...It’s Tear-out!” But I digress... Ed209 “Fight Alone” and Distortionz “Terrorize Your City” on Hardcore Beats was the beginning as far as I’m concerned, people like Aquasky will tell you they started the whole Nu Skool genre, but they never made it sound as nasty as Ed and Jason did. It’s a real skill slowing down the tempo and making it have the same fuck off energy DnB has...

MD: The genre of breaks has moved from the original "nu skool" of the late 90's, to the massive plethora of sub genres that we see today. In terms of creativity and musical development, where do you see it moving in the next few years?

OL: Wherever our ears take us!

MD: Even though the world of breaks has been bubbling under the surface for many years, it has still remained reasonably underground, while breaks's faster and often less accessible cousin, drum and bass, has had the odd mainstream commercial success. Why do you think that is?

OL: As already touched upon, Breaks still has an identity problem. It can sound like any other music and it can all be breaks rolling at around 128-138bpm. DnB is obvious, it’s fast, 170bpm +. Electro is obvious as it only has a few things it can sound like (ie Afrika Bambatta). Breaks is one thing to one person and another to someone else. This lack of identity holds the scene back from really developing. But saying that, there are Breakbeat parties all over the world, and there have been since the turn of the century, with both Plod and Tear-out DJs performing, so I don’t think there’s much to worry about.

MD: This next question is something that I'm sure you've been asked many times before, so apologies in advance.... Vinyl, cd or laptop? And why?

OL: Whatever your heart’s desire. The bottom end on vinyl will always sound better than an mp3, but not necessarily a wav. CD’s are much easier to lug around the globe and are a much cheaper way of playing Exclusives compared to dubplates. But then again vinyl is magical, it’s tactile and cool, that may be nostalgia for my generation, who knows if the kids of today give a shit? The vinyl sales of Hardcore Beats haven’t changed since we started 7 years ago, still hitting 2000+ units and the digital sales keep on increasing every month. So it looks like the wider choice of format has only increased our potential customer base. Laptops? Well if u spend all day on one at work, why the hell would you want to look like a mong standing at one in a club?

MD: How would you describe breaks to someone who had never heard it before and how would you make it clear to them that it's obviously the best form of dance music (hehehe)?

OL: Using words to describe music is like showing someone what a building looks like by dancing. All you can do is try and enthuse them with the passion you have for it and then play them your favourite stuff... loud as hell!

MD: Thanks for your time

You'll be able to check out Ollywood alongside The Breakfastaz, Paradox 3000 and three rooms of Breaks, Drum & Bass, Hip-Hop and Dubstep residents on Saturday 29th March 2008 at Plug'n'Play Studios in Reading!