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Issue70

Monthly newspaper and online publication targeting 18 to 35 year olds. The ultimate guide to the hottest parties, going out and having fun. Music, fashion, film, travel, festivals, technology, comedy, and parties! London, Barcelona, Miami and Ibiza.

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Hey Roman! I read that you named yourself after André Breton - that's a pretty good choice seeing how you have your whole visual, artistic side of things as well. Why did you decide to name yourselves after him? Well, I guess as he was a big part of the surrealist movement. The surrealists were obviously about making things a bit weird and surreal, but also saying that art had become quite a homogenised mass where everyone had agreed we all went to a gallery to look at pictures of bowls of fruit. I think that's also true of today's music industry. Did having the BretonLABS help with that? Being in a legal squat in Elephant & Castle... I can see how that would lead to you feeling more able to experiment. Can you tell us a bit more about that? Yeah, experimenting was our reward for living without heating and with very little security... the benefits of it are you really are left to your own devices. I had a friend at the time, about 3 years ago, and they were doing the normal thing where you try and sign to a major label. But actually, even though that's what you dream of when you're young - signing to Warner Brothers then driving away in a Porsche – it's incredibly stressful because so much investment and money has gone into it, that people really can't take any risks. You worry about making back your money. Bands were slightly held prisoner by labels, as well as their own egos and ambition; everyone wants to be massive, and I think that sometimes happens at the expense of them being interesting. So the second album you released, you obviously worked on in this crazy Berlin warehouse. It's called War Room Stories, is that mean to allude to where it was recorded? Well, partly, it has a few interpretations depending on who you speak to. For me it was inspired by Churchill's War Rooms in London Bridge. It's one of those places that they drag you to when you're at school, but it's kind of fascinating that you had this guy who was controlling the entire country, locked away in this little room without seeing what was going on. We kind of wanted to get lost in our music and lock ourselves away so it's a reference to that too, and the stories aspect of it is the tracks themselves - each one of them is a reference to a different character or narrative. I read that the locals in the area where you were based, way out on the east side, included some colourful characters, such as a white Rastafarian with a life size model UFO. Can you tell us a bit more about that? Imagine if there was a complete shift in political ideologies and places like BBC headquarters became abandoned buildings. The rooms were so big that there was this one guy who'd have barbecues actually in the building. The first time we met him we were borrowing a mic stand, and he told us he'd need it back in a few days, and we asked why, and he said he had a gospel choir coming. When we saw him a while later we asked him if his gospel choir had come, and he said no, they're all ill! They're actually an old folk's choir, so they get ill all the time. Are you in Berlin now, or are you back in England for Christmas? Yeah, came back last week, we had our last show at heaven, and I'm pretty much just here writing and working on new stuff, spending Christmas with my family. Does your family have any funny Christmas day traditions? Yeah, my family's Polish so our Christmas Eve is pretty weird - you're meant to set a table place for Christ. So there's always like this strange place - I mean he's never turned up yet - but my mum never makes enough food so we're quite grateful actually! When you were little did you have any Santa traditions? Yeah, my dad once totally fooled my sister by hiding a tape machine with some bells jingling on it somewhere in the house, but my sister was terrified thinking there was a strange man in the house! What are Breton's future plans? We've got one last show - we're just doing it for fun really, it's a snowboarding festival in the Alps. I'm gonna keep writing lots of stuff, and we've kind of just got a couple of short films in the making. I think we're going to put a book out, because Adam - our drummer - is a photographer, and he's putting all his photos and illustrations together. So basically, you're staying true to your whole tradition of mixing it up artistically. Yeah, as long as we find it interesting, we'll pursue it. That's how the band started! 37 Issue 70 / 2014 INDIE / ROCK guestlist.net INTERVIEW Breton " Experimenting was our reward for living without heating and with very littlesecurity... the benefits of it are you really are left to your own devices " Breton are a truly innovative indie/electronic band/art collective. Having started out in a squat in South London, then decamping to an abandoned communist radio station in Berlin. We caught up with lead singer Roman Rappak to talk about keeping it real. Interviewed by: @bretonLABS @bretonLABS

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