NYC Basshead's Digest: Meet BrokinPaper
Artist Highlight - Experimental Bass | Vol. #12 [October 4th, '24]
Hello to any new readers here from Substack! I’m Carson AKA Bassmasterrush, two years ago I started a newsletter on Reddit where I would aggregate the upcoming Bass/Dubstep/Drum N Bass/… shows in NYC for the next couple months. Since then the newsletter has evolved and I’ve done things such as artist interviews and collective highlights. I’ll be cross-posting the newsletter that I post on Reddit to Substack from now on, I hope you enjoy and if you find it useful please consider subscribing. I also run an online community to chat about such events which I would encourage you to join if you enjoy the newsletter/find yourself going to these type of events!! You can chat with me on Instagram @bassmasterrush
On any given day of the week, ravers and club goers in New York City have a menu of shows to decide on — if their preferred tastes fall within house and techno. Clubs like Bossa Nova Civic Club, TBA Brooklyn, and Nowadays have developed their image and audience for years by putting on underground house and techno shows. For more niche electronic genres — such as midtempo bass, trap, and DnB — the options for shows are often more limited.
Meet 29 year old Queens native Harrison Lee — who is throwing an experimental bass event at the grassroots electronic venue Eris Evolution today (Friday, October 4th). More well known as the as the genre defying producer and DJ BrokinPaper, his thoughtfully curated releases are brought to life by his attention to detail across all aspects of his sound and presentation. His latest 8-track album “Creation Theory” released in 2023 set the stage for his sound moving forward and his up-coming self release “FUNCTION OVER FORM”.
I got together with Harrison to do an interview to learn more about his artistry and hear a bit more about the upcoming show:
“We've really upped the production value compared to our previous shows. We want guests to really feel like they had a good and fun night at the end of it. So we've approached everything in regards to upgrading our lights, upgrading our visuals, all oriented around how we want our guests to feel when they get to the venue. We want them to feel like they were a part of something.”
Check out our exclusive interview with BrokinPaper below!
Q: When did you start making music and what inspired you to produce electronic music?
A: I started making music when I was 13, releasing music as a band at the time and some guy on the internet showed me FL Studio. Got into it, he let me reverse engineer some tracks that he had made, then it became easier than recording live instruments.
Q: What is your process for creation as a genre-fluid artist?
A: I usually get inspired by certain themes, and topics that come from what I see or hear. I especially like to find things that don't directly relate to music, but offer enough information for listeners to get a general understanding of what the project might sound like. They can then make their own connections. For this reason, I've found that it was necessary to put songs of different genres into one project to get my idea across. Each song is like a piece contributing to the overall tone and message of the project. Some songs' titles don't have anything to do with the project, but how the song sounds definitely does. Some titles are a little more on the nose than others.
Q: How would you describe your sound at present?
A: I think my music says what it needs to say without saying too much.
Q: What are you most excited about in your upcoming release?
A: It feels like it's the most polished an idea has been. I took a little break from creating music, and focused a lot on visual aspects. I was also able to get new inspiration from living.
Q: What is the origin of “BROKINPAPER”?
A: "BROKINPAPER" / "BrokinPaper" is an offshoot of the name of the band I was in when I was 13. I've kept the name ever since and used it for everything, it's become who I am at this point and I can't change it (even though I've considered doing so before).
Q: What is your creative process for visual accompaniment to your music/projects?
A: The theme or idea that the project is centered around typically drives the visuals that come with it. However, the idea of "saying what I need to say without saying too much" also drives a lot of how I approach making the visual aspect of BrokinPaper.
Q: Can you tell us a bit about the show you have coming up on October 4th?
A: I'm super excited for the show on October 4th, as its our first time playing in Brooklyn, and I have a lot of music to share / test out. We're also using some new visuals that I think people will enjoy. I've also been able to add some other artists to the lineup who I've worked with before:
indigo - New York native. Has released several tracks taking inspiration from Griz and LSDream, and has gained attention from prominent producer/DJs like Zingara. This marks his second live performance after making his debut at Elements Music & Arts Festival in PA.
TooFknLoud - New York native. A talented DJ and performer, he also performs as singer/songwriter Ian Persaud. He is set to make his producer debut as "TooFknLoud" soon after the show, with a new single set to be released in the coming weeks.
Zarka - From Houston, Texas. Has released several bass / melodic dubstep releases with Noiseporn and Future Bass Records. Takes inspiration from Illenium, Wooli, Said The Sky, and Kai Wachi. This is Zarka's first live performance in New York City, and follows several shows in his hometown and his festival debut at Flow Faire in Cleburne, TX.
Hope you enjoyed the interview and getting to know about BrokinPaper. If you’re looking for something to do tonight (Friday 10/4), check out their event at Eris Evolution in Brooklyn — Check out the event here!