There are few live acts that fire with as much energy and innovation as Australia's own NuBreed. Their philosophy of the “style of no style” is finally defined on their brilliant debut album “The Original”. Including collaborations with Koolism, Andy Page and Luke Chable, “The Original” also features the captivating new single “One Day” which will be accompanied by a stunning video commissioned from one of Australia’s leading video production companies - EXIT films. I recently caught up with Mykel and Jase to talk all things Nubreed.

Congrats on the album it’s great! How long did it take to complete?

MK: 8 months after the signing, 10 years in the making...... Our first album after 10 years together making tunes.
JS: All up probably a year. If you include artwork and remixes .we added a few new songs to this australian version. Plus the Phil K mix cd.

Are you guys happy with it? Looking back, would you change anything?

MK: Happy with the fact that it's finished and the way it sounds, would've been good if we could have released just one album for all regions..... but now we have 2 versions that peeps can buy that are quite a bit different.
JS: Just maybe the efficiency of how we worked.... it took us a while. We pretty much jumped around on several different songs till they were finished which was time consuming. I guess it boiled down to what was keeping our creative juices flowing at the time. We would of loved more vocal tracks on the album maybe at different tempos as well but you only have 78 minutes to do your thing.

What now? A holiday or world domination?

MK: World domination.... Starting with an Oz tour. NO REST FOR THE WICKED
JS: No holiday not at all...oh we play three days in kuala lumpa so thats a short holiday. Its straight back into song writing and putting a new live show together for the album tour coming up next month.

How long have you guys been writing music for, individually and as a group?

MK: We are all a bunch of hairy tune junky-beathead-audiophile freakazoids from way back... whether it was collecting old vinyl, writing rhymes, sampling loops, making beats, or writing a song you think 's gonna change the world, the guys were always there.
JS: Me personally since around 1994. We started songwriting and producing for other people. I produced a lot of hip hop under the label Nuffsaid for guys like prowla, trem, brad strut, bias b, pegz , lazy grey, A-love, muphin the list goes on. We were all in different bands since 1991 and Mike and I have been in all the bands together. We met Dan around 95 and have worked together ever since.

What is the creative process for Nubreed? Do you get together and jam, or do you have individual ideas and then try and bring them alive in the studio?

MK: All of the above.... no real formula to it apart from create something... together or alone.
JS: When we first started writing songs we would sit around, make a beat and then everyone would just throw their ideas on the song while a tape recorder was taping whether it be vocals, samples or music. Then we would go back and pick what was the strongest melody, bassline or keyboards. This process still carries through our work ethic today .We usually have individual ideas that are brought to the table then worked on together by everybody.

Do you all agree on every part of every track, or are there some disputes over how things should sound and what direction to go in? Is it ever a case of 2 against 1?

MK: It can be a bit fuzzy sometimes trying to realise everybodies ideas.... we're lucky that we generally all agree with most directions tracks are taken, but if there are other ideas, we do try and make them work before we scrap it... It's fair that way and it can sometimes really surprise you.
JS: When we are together in the studio making tunes we all just play around till everyone says yeah that’s the bassline or pad sound. If u have a good reason for something being in a track u can get away with it but yeah we usually have to all agree on the direction of a song. We all go home and create what we think the track needs then come together and get the best of all our individual work then work at getting a fluent song or journey. All Nubreed tracks are worked on by the three of us from the mixing, songwriting, vocals, keyboards, drums etc .

What up-coming projects do you have?

MK & JS: A Nu live show format incorporating new equipment, software, and drummer that we can't wait to unleash for the album tour......

What tracks have you got coming up? with Luke Chable / as dirty fours / remixes / collaborations?

MK: Currently got a Crystal Method remix of "born to slow" thats doing the work all over the globe at the moment... We also have "Dirty 4's" mixes on release through EQ of a track called "Breathless" and a crazy B-side called "Machines"... we also have a remix on the same label called "MFA" i think, or that might be the artist??
JS: Apart from a new album, our dirty fours stuff and remixes. We are trying to find the time to start a MELBORN collaboration project with Luke Chable, Jono Fernandez, Andy Page, Phil K, Mortar and Pestle and the rest of the Melbourne producers fraternity. One day single releases and video clip,

Is Tokyo ever coming out?

MK: Hopefully..... we have to finish it first!!!!
JS: Tokyo is in the pipeline to be finished as soon as we come off our album tour and Luke is free from remix duties.

DB did ride with Luke Chable which was a great success. Are we going to see more individual works from each of you?

MK: Yeah for sure..... Helps to keep things fresh, we love to swing... If you know what I mean!!
JS: It all comes down to time .We would all love to do collabs and side projects. We got lotsa ideas for projects....a new nubreed album, a hip-hop album here ,a lost electronic one here, a dnb project there, a down-tempo dark vocal album here?.....its all coming.

What live set up do you use? What hardware/software?

MK:
Hardware: 3x Laptops, AKAI MPC 1000, compressors, mixers and FX's, and a triggered drum kit (that means it plays samples)
Software: Ableton Live 3, Reason (samplers, synths & FX's).

What’s your favourite track to perform live?

MK: Bring that sound into the 12/8 change!!!!
JS: At the moment qurious because it gets the dancefloor jumping. The vocal stuff is always good for the crowd interaction.

What’s been your most enjoyable gig? What’s been the worst?

MK: I love the Phil k vs Nubreed shows we have a lot of fun performing and putting together those shows..... the worst gigs are always forgotten quickly because it's usually a personal emotion.... you can make any gig work whether there's 5 or 5000, it's all in the way you look at it.
JS: There are too many faves but mostly when the gigs have gone smoothly, we have all played tight and performed well and the crowd has gone bananas. A good all round party.
I wouldn’t say its the worst but the funniest is when we played Tasmania and the fire alarms went off in the middle of our set just as the place was rocking . The power got shut down with no warning and we had to evacuate the whole building and stand outside in the winter for 40 minutes then go back in and finish the set and get everyone warmed up again.

What’s the worst thing about being a live band? The best?

MK: carting all that F@#%ing gear around..... Watching people light up on the dancefloor because of YOUR music
JS: Carting around all the heavy equipment on tour was a problem but we just fixed that problem with our new gear which all fits in our backpacks
, bad sound engineers, bad sound systems, bad plane rides, peakers that want requests while you are playing live, no turntables, dancers that bump ya gear and wanna talk to you while you are playing. oh and early check outs just when you get to bed.
On the good side seeing the crowds reaction to our music, travelling to new places, meeting cool crew in each state, crazy festivals and parties all round Australia,,. The occasional luxury hotel. Meeting like minded beatheadz from here and around the world.

Which artists do you respect in Australia and around the world?

MK: All those that are true to their art....
JS: Hmmmmn.....Mostly our friends Tipper, Luke Chable, Pocket, Phil K. Andy Page, Infusion and any producers making cutting edge music like Lusine, Wiley, Jaydee, Neptunes, Heatmakerz, Dr Dre, Scott storch, Pendulum.

When are we going to see you guys do a track with Phil K?

MK: When the guy is home long enough to nail down.....
JS: We have done a few remixes in the past and Dan’s helped Phil mix a few of his records but when we are both free i hope. As you know Phil’s about to head off on his world therapy tour then he is working on a dark alley album with Luke (Chable).

What music do you guys listen to at home?

MK: Depends on what mood I’m in......Neptune’s if I feel like mackin' it. Lusine & Tipper if I’m feeling moody but intelligent...or Rage against the machine (first album) if I’m feeling revolutionary
JS: At the moment my jazz, soul record collection over and over again for sampling and anything by Lusine, Pendulum, Fink ,Tippers new hip-hop stuff, Scribe, Evil 9,Wiley,General midi, Stereotyp, momu, jaylib, alchemist,

We heard your music on a recent Hard Yakka ad, are we going to see more of your work in a “commercial” sense?

MK: Yeah for sure, it’s great work if you can get it.....so feel free to call the breed all those film production houses out there. We also had music on the "One perfect day" soundtrack and movie.

Infusion have blown up over the past year around the world in the live scene, but are yet to complete their album. Do you ever feel like you’re in competition / being compared with them, being Australia’s other main live (dance) act?

MK: We're two very different race cars both built for performance but very different engines driving us, because of this I don't think we both have never really seen ourselves as competition. If anything Infusion are forging the path internationally for us and all the others that will come. BIG UP the Infusion much respect.
JS: Not really. We never stick to one style of dance music so our music is very different even though we are known as a breaks act. They have been playing live a lil longer than us so they have their show down. We are still growing and morphing our live show and learning the best way to perform our tunes. It’s so funny watching their big heads in their Girls can be cruel video clip on mtv cause there our mates. When they were touring we were working on our album and now it’s kinda the other way around. We are aiming to go over to Europe and America at the end of this year and see how we go in the bigger clubs overseas and follow in their live show footsteps.

What would each of you like to be doing in ten years? Do you think you’ll still be together?

MK: Hopefully still together making tunes, making a living and maybe even making movies...... breeding new little nubreeders
JS: Still making music in some form or running studios and labels etc. In ten years I can still see mike on the barbie cooking up a storm at a house party while our girls are in the background complaining about spending too much time on music with all our kids running around, while our tunes or label artists are on the radio while me, dave and dan are plotting out the next takeover over a beer and a laptop. heheheh!!

What words of advice would you give anyone thinking of starting a live act?

MK: Bands are the hardest thing to put together, and then even harder to keep together....like relationships you need shit loads of honesty and respect between each other cause not many will give it to you unless you're giving it to yourselves.
JS: Be original. Practice and get your music mixed properly for the clubs. Know how to set up your own gear because know one else will.