Breaking bread with Breaking Beattz ahead of Eden this weekend
Catch Breaking Beattz at Eden: A State Of Happiness this Valentine’s weekend.
Introducing Rafael Arantes Zocrato and Lauro Viotti Alexandre, the bad-ass Brazilian house duo known as Breaking Beattz.
After becoming fast friends through they’re shared love for music, the duo pressed the start button and started making the dankest of dank house music in 2015- the Beattz were broken and dancefloors were heaving.
They achieved major success with their singles “Don’t Stop” and “Get Low,” and their “American Boy” remix but it was with “LIITA,” a song released by Universal Music Group, that Breaking Beattz started to gain international recognition.
The duo has played at major festivals in Brazil and now they are coming to South Africa to share their music with us all at Eden: A State Of Happiness taking place on Saturday 15 February (Valentine’s weekend) at Zevenwacht Wine Estate.
A true passion for music, this is Breaking Beattz and there’s no fixing needed 😉
Lauro Viotti and Rafael Zocrato, better known as the bad-ass Brazilian house duo Breaking Beattz. Friendship was key to this musical union- how did you meet and at what stage did you decide to embark on this Beattz Breaking adventure?
Breaking Beattz: We met each other at parties and clubs in our city. During the friendship process and exchange of several ideas we could see that we needed to ‘press start button.’ For both our careers it was necessary, as our musical tastes were common in many aspects, so we created Breaking Beattz.
You’re both from Brazil, the bass capital (and probably party capital) of the world. At 8.5 million square kilometers and with over 208 million people, there’s a lot of ground to cover tour-wise and listener-wise. What’s the best and worst part about living in such a vast country?
Breaking Beattz: We LOVE Brazil!
For being such a big country each place is special and has its own characteristics. The best part is living in one of the most beautiful places in the world and because we are in a new city all the time, we get to know all of this even more.
The disadvantage would maybe be the long trips and connections that we have to do to be able to be in every corner of it, but nothing that a good rest can’t solve.
You broke into the House music scene with your tracks, American Boy and Get Low, and haven’t slowed down since. Your productions have been played by some of the most relevant artists today, such as Chris Lake, Vintage Culture, Chemical Surf, Illusionize, and more.
Explain the feeling you get when you see clips of people losing their minds to your tracks?
Breaking Beattz: It’s the best feeling ever to see the audience freaking out to a song that came out of our studio! We are always listening and playing new tracks from other DJs, but when the track corresponds to some sound we made it is much more special!
You have yet to release a full album, which understandably takes time to perfect. Is this because of the Spotify/streaming paradigm we’re in that forces artists to release consecutively or is it simply a time issue?
Breaking Beattz: We haven’t released an album yet just for the reason that we haven’t planned for it.
The work going into each song is also very cool, because every month or so we try to have something new for everyone! We also want to release an album but in electronic music the need isn’t as great as in other styles, so it’s only a matter of time before we feel comfortable and prepared for it- it will it certainly happen.
Besides making music, touring and general living, you also host a VERY popular podcast titled Bass Da Vagabundo. With an average of over 250K listeners per episode, it’s safe to say it’s going really well.
What made you initially delve into this artform and what does the future hold?
Breaking Beattz: Bass de Vagabundo is a podcast we created to show our fans what we are preparing for the future that hasn’t been launched. This makes interest for tracks every time we release it instantaneous and that is why the large numbers of plays are made especially for people who want to hear something new!
Since you’re going to be in South Africa over Valentine’s Weekend, I thought it would be fun to ask some questions surrounding your idea of the perfect date.
Chocolate or flowers: CHOCOLATE
Staying in or going out: GOING OUT
Mood-setting music: GOOD QUALITY ELECTRONIC MUSIC (PLEASE)
With an active tour schedule, you spend a lot of time away from home and friends. What’s the one thing you look forward to most when going home?
Breaking Beattz: We certainly want to see the people we love; family, friends, girlfriends. We have to split between gig marathons, time in the studio and maintaining our social ties, but everything settles down and they also understand that sometimes we don’t have time to do all that.
No doubt a career has its ups and downs as we navigate (as close to) perfection as we can. What’s one piece of advice you would send back in time to the younger versions of yourself?
Breaking Beattz: Consistency, patience and hard work; all in your time and at the right time!
If I’m not mistaken this will be your first gig in South Africa. What is the most outrageous thing you’ve heard about the Southern tip?
Breaking Beattz: We are looking forward to getting to know South Africa.
We have never been there, but several friends have been and everyone says it is a country that resembles Brazil in the good parts for being very beautiful, with a receptive and lively crowd and in the bad parts as well because of social inequality, violence and other problems that every emerging country faces. We are going to spend a week there to also form our own vision and opinion, but the expectation is the best possible.
You’re playing at Eden: A State Of Happiness on Saturday, 15 Feb. What advice do you have for those coming out to watch you play?
Breaking Beattz: We hope everyone is as excited as we are for the festival, from what we saw in the videos and on the internet it is a very beautiful place and with an amazing crowd. Other DJs who are our friends said that the public in South Africa is as good as in Brazil- they know our sounds and blow up to the tracks- so we hope everyone is ready to break everything with us. See you on the 15th!
Join Breaking Beattz at Eden: A State Of Happiness!
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