BreakDLaw interview – SA’s international hit makers

BreakDLaw is David Law and Kurt Slabbert and they are known for their 5FM number one hit single ‘Paint Me like a French Girl’ released in 2013. They also ranked in the UK top ten charts for the track and they were toted as one of Capital FM’s “Ones to Watch Out For in 2014”.

The duo talks to us about signing their break out track to the label EGO in Italy, a master class with Steve Aoki, time spent in the UK music industry, and their plans to enlist a full time vocalist this year.

I truly believe in synergy and the idea of two being better than one, our strengths are so different that we complement one another, as well as always having a sound board to bounce ideas off of.”

Your hit track ‘Paint Me Like a French Girl’ made it to the number one spot on the 5FM charts in 2013 and even made it into the top ten UK Dance charts. What about the song do you think has contributed to its success and do you find yourselves attempting to emulate the formula with the rest of your upcoming music since you’re back in the studio at this point?

BreakDLaw: Yeah it did pretty well both locally and abroad and signing the track to the label EGO over in Italy certainly helped in getting it to the European territories. On ‘Paint Me’ I think it was a combination of sounds, piano melodies, minimally arranged and catchy vocal hooks that worked well together and ultimately made it the sexy little summer beat it is today. The fast melodic chord (piano) changes and building, filtering fuzzy synth bring the choruses to life. I worked in Reason and found some really rad sounds that weren’t overused including that lead synth which gives it a haunting feel. I approach each track with a new sensitivity and uniqueness according [to] what the song needs, both musically, lyrically and in terms of vocal and overall treatment. So, I wouldn’t say that I would want to emulate the ‘Paint me’ vibe but it is a sound that I’ve really come to love.

David, you had received a production and DJ master class from Steve Aoki as part of a prize in an Olmeca Tequila remix contest. Tell us a bit about this experience and what you took away from your time with Steve Aoki?

BreakDLaw: I got a call from the marketing division over at Olmeca Tequila SA who are based over in Cape Town informing me that I was one of the ten finalists of the compitition after submitting my ‘Come With Me’ remix of one of Steve Aoki’s original productions . I got flown to Cape Town to meet the sponsors and Steve Aoki for the weekend and thereafter [I was] flown to Amsterdam and put up in accommodation. After exploring the city for the first two days, we attended the DJ/music production master class at the Pioneer HQ, just outside of Amsterdam. Each remix was played and critiqued by Steve and we then trained in the workflow of recordbox on CDJ2000’s. It was a really cool experience and was my second time visiting the dam. I learned a lot after the encouraging feedback given with regards to my production and arrangement. A once in a lifetime all expenses paid trip to Europe to meet a legendary DJ/producer and talk about music, can’t complain about that.

We are taking BreakDLaw on the road and would like to start doing live shows, as well as continue to release more music.”

How did your collaboration with Mathew Gold on ‘When We Were Young’ come about? And how did you all come up with and agree to the concept of the track?

BreakDLaw : Dave and I spent a lot of time writing and producing the track until we had it finished. Once the track was done it was time to find a vocalist, we had always wanted to do a track with Mathew Gold and I thought his chilled vibe would work perfectly with the music. I contacted Mathew’s manager who I work with on other projects and he passed the track on to Mathew. Two months later we got in touch with him and did a session. We got some gems which we just continued to work on in the studio until we had the finished product. We all felt we had achieved what we wanted to with the track. We were all on the same vibe so it just worked, the ideas came together and ‘When We Were Young’ was born.

Kurt, you have previously studied at the Guitar Institute in London. Has anything specific about your time there left a particular impression on you? What would that be and why do you think so?

BreakDLaw: I think spending time in a music industry like the one in the UK has definitely taught me some lessons and I would have to say that the biggest lesson was that it is possible to make a living off of music. It never seemed to be questioned in the UK, it was like this is what ‘I’m doing and I’m going to do it’. So I think it gave me courage to enter the music market in SA with a ‘I can do it attitude’, most of my teachers in the UK were industry professionals playing with some off the biggest names in the UK music scene. For me the stories they shared about the industry were the true gems of having the opportunity to study in London. There was also a lot of competition and I remember in our year we had guys from all over the world which would also open you up to other styles of music. I found that it really gave me a love of music as opposed to being in love with a style of music.

As a duo, what do you find it is about your collective talents and skills that has managed to propel BreakDLaw into hit making status so swiftly?

BreakDLaw: I truly believe in synergy and the idea of two being better than one, our strengths are so different that we complement one another, as well as always having a sound board to bounce ideas off of. I have known Dave for over ten years so he is really a close friend, and that was well established before the music came along. I understand how Dave works and I totally respect his strengths and vice versa. I think for something to become a success you need a team and I guess we work very well as a team!

Since you’re in the studio now working on some new jams, do you have any hints on what everyone can be looking forward to from BreakDLaw in 2016?

BreakDLaw: We are taking BreakDLaw on the road and would like to start doing live shows, as well as continue to release more music. We want our live show to become something special so it’s a big focus at the moment. We are also looking into having a fulltime vocalist that will do the live performances, so it’s going to be an exciting year.

Our new release should be out at the end of January and once again we’re excited about the track. It is very different to ‘Paint me’ and ‘When We were Young’ so look out for it, and if we playing in your hood then come out and enjoy a show with us!

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BreakDLaw interview – SA’s international hit makers