Praxis Answers to Pencilbreak Questions 2008

Praxis Answers to Pencilbreak Questions 2008 (Unedited)

– Website address of the label:
Praxis: http://praxis.c8.com
Sub/Version: http://subversion.c8.com
Datacide (magazine): http://datacide-magazine.com

– Your complete name:
Christoph Fringeli

– Born date of your label:
Autumn 1992 (Praxis), 1997 (Sub/Version, Datacide)

– Main important bands in the label:
Base Force One, Hecate, Kovert, Somatic Responses, La Peste, Nihil Fist, Disciples of Belial, Metatron, Noface, Bourbonese Qualk, Society of Unknowns and many others.

– Style/s:
Shrillstep, Concrete, Speedcore, Breakcore

– Artists that have collaborated in the artwork of your releases:
Most of the musicians have contributed to their respective designs, or designed their own covers entirely (such as the Hecate albums, which were done by Rachael Kozak, as was the Potere Occulto sleeve and the Praxis label sleeve). Often I have worked with ideas or images provided by the musicians, so sometimes there is no clear authorship.

– Describe in words (not music genres) how is the music you produce:
Radical rework of general perception of tones and rhythms, deprogramming of spectacular myths, rejection of commercialized relations between artists and activists, creating new situations of collective cultural practices for the invisible insurrection of a million minds.

– Define “Breakcore” in your own words:
Sonic equivalent of workers and druids councils.
Was largely destroyed by careerism in the last few years, but lingers on deep underground.
Sonic discontent will rise again.

– Which kind of aesthetic you find better for breakcore/noise music?
Challenging: harsh, dark, intense.

– Do you think this noisy music must have a political background?
or it’s just fun?
I think all music (and other arts) have a political component. Music that pretends to be “just fun” is highly political in that it rejects a critical approach to culture. This makes it affirmative to the status quo, which is not acceptable to us.
“Noise” and “Breaks” are terms that already point to the effect that conventions are broken, alleged purity contaminated, and uniformity tainted.

– In which sense raves and illegal parties has helped to define this
culture and aesthetic?
If we talk about breakcore in a historical sense, then it certainly grew out of the rave scene presenting a radicalized combination of hard jungle and industrial hardcore of the early 90’s. There was definitely a relation between the breakcore scene and the free party scene, there was a certain cross-fertilization, not without friction. That it was illegal parties where this music was primarily played is not an accident. It was born in opposition to the spectacularized commodification of “techno”.

– Can you point one important moment in this music culture, like one
year/party/festival/release/band that has meant a highlight in this
style, something that has changed the way we understood it:
I think it’s not single events that shape things, rather processes, cross-pollination, meetings of people. Many of our activities have been dedicated to provide a forum for this kind of focus, most prominently maybe the Dead By Dawn parties in the mid-90’s in London, combining talks and information with parties. Back in Berlin we are still following a similar strategy, organising talks and discussions as well as parties, putting out records and publishing texts.

– Which steps forward can you see in styles like breakcore, noise,
electro, dubstep, nu rave? What’s next?
In my view breakcore and noise are not really “styles” like dubstep and nu rave. I’m aware that the perception has changed, but I find it telling that breakcore has more or less collapsed as a marketable “style” just when some people tried to establish it as such. This is a good chance for what was the original spirit for “breakcore” to find new hosts, absorb and pervert elements of other styles and formulate an energizing and intensifying critique of contemporary dance music. That’s fun!

THANKS a lot! I would need from you also:
– the logo from your label (black-white, negative, color version)
– the logos from the music bands in your label
– at least 10 covers of the best ones from your label
(size: 10×10 cm, 300 dpi, would be enough)

(Note 2010 – These are the unedited answers to the questionnaire sent out by the makers of the book Pencilbreak.
The books myspace site is here, it’s available from here, and the datacide review is here.)

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