- Henry Johnstone
BRUX on going independent, living in the moment and being a BADBOI
BRUX is on fire. Since relocating to Brooklyn from Sydney last year, her career has gained serious momentum thanks to a slew of hypersonic bombs brimming with a ferocious post-lockdown energy. Finding homes on Steve Aoki’s DIM MAK and Zeds Dead’s respected Deadbeats label, these chaotic dance floor bombs have resulted in celebrated live gigs across North America, including Nevada’s iconic Red Rocks venue.
BRUX latest EP, BADBOI, continues on a high NRG tip. Personally guided by one of her heroes, Boys Noize, the EP is also the first BRUX music to be released fully independently – a process she found both inspiring and freeing.
On the eve of her Australian live tour – which includes an exclusive DJ set at Club 77 – BRUX gives us the lowdown on her new EP and goes deep with a track-by-track breakdown.
Compared to your very first output, this new EP sounds a lot more chaotic - less vocals and melodic stretches and more high energy, grungy sounds. How has your vision for BRUX changed musically since 2018?
Yes I think it’s changed a bit. There’s more urgency in the music now, especially since Covid. This EP was made in 2020 when the lockdowns were happening. It was such a frustrating time for artists not being able to feed off the energy of a crowd in a live setting. So I began to create music that gave off the energy I was seeking.
Was this EP made with the intention of music DJs would be frothing to play? Say as opposed to making music with your own live performance in mind?
Yes it was specifically made for the club - for DJs, for punters, for the culture I so greatly admire and am inspired by. I also wanted to create tracks that I could work into my DJ sets too.
“Self-funding the project meant I could execute my true vision for the cover art, press pics, mixing and mastering and PR for the USA and Australia.”
What was the hardest thing to get right on this EP?
The hardest part wasn’t so much getting it ‘right’ but deciding to release this fully independently. It was a first for me but I felt great relief (and stress!) from the freedom of this process. Self-funding the project meant I could execute my true vision for the cover art, press pics, mixing and mastering and PR for the USA and Australia. This wouldn’t have been possible without selling my BRUX NFTs - something I plan to continue. I was also independent of management and a booking agent in the US, so this EP
was independent in every sense of the word!
What are you looking forward to about your upcoming Australian tour?
Seeing friends, eating Tim Tams and sausage rolls and playing this EP out in a live setting! I’m also super excited to play a DJ set at 77 as it’s my only non-live set of this tour. A lot of curation goes into my DJ sets where I play my favourite underground house and techno. I’ve been DJing for almost eight years and I love it just as much as performing live.
BADBOI EP – Track by track
1. BADBOI
This was the track that kicked off the concept for the full EP. It spawned from a Zoom writing session I did with Pat Lok back in 2020 - me in Sydney, Pat in L.A. We had been writing together for a few months and on this particular day decided to go into unchartered territory…an extreme techno weapon!
It came about quite quickly, I think because we were having so much fun making it. I had a groove going on my Moog DFAM percussion synth which quickly turned into the ‘drop’ groove you hear now. From there Pat made these crazy chopped vocals and some more percussion, then the ARP in the bridge. We had about a 32 bar-long sketch by the time we wrapped up.
I kept finessing it from there and knew that it was a BRUX release. I had found my turning
point sonically! The title is a word that I kept hearing in the vocal chops (but doesn’t
intentionally say that), so I decided to stick with it.
“All three tracks had support from Boys Noize early on…it was very special to get feedback from someone I look up to and admire so greatly.”
2. VINEGAR HILL
This track is very much a self-empowering mantra to amp myself up: To live in the moment, to be present and speak up for what I want. The very first element I made was that massive kick drum - from there I fleshed out the groove, being careful not to add in too many layers. The vocal chant came last. Sonically, this song is such a colourful punch in the face and it’s my favourite to play live.
All three tracks had support from Boys Noize early on - he helped A&R them during the production stage and it was very special to get feedback from someone I look up to and admire so greatly.
The track title comes from a suburb in Brooklyn that I live nearby and often walk through. It’s a tiny little suburb - very old, with cobble stone streets and has this magnetic energy about it.
3. FOLLY OF THE BEAST
Firstly a bit of back story on the title. ‘FOLLY OF THE BEAST’ comes from a quote by author Herman Melville in his novel Moby Dick: “For there is no folly of the beast of the earth which is not infinitely outdone by the madness of men.”It really struck a chord with me. The foolishness of ‘man’ is as relevant as ever with our climate crisis situation. The lyrics - "what is it you want? what do you need? How do you live? Live, for free?"; - are urgent questions, to myself and others. We come from the Earth yet we have this disconnection to it, thinking we're superior and that we don't need it. When in fact we do.
I made this track with my Moog DFAM percussion synth. I’s how I sequenced the main melody of the bass that plays throughout. It has such momentum and movement that I knew what to build around it so as to not overcrowd. The vocals are a dominant force in their own right. I formant shifted them down to lower them and recorded them on a low fi mic - an Akai M-8.
Brux plays Sunday 16th October at Club 77 alongside Reenie and Isa. Free entry, 10:00pm - 4:00am. Full event info HERE