Brainstormer - Creating a Storm in the Nu-Skool Breaks Scene

Richie Elliot aka Brainstormer's credentials include work as a DJ and a producer, as well as a graffiti artist in his hometown of Peterborough, and more recently in Edinburgh. Perhaps his entry for the Soul Biscuits graffiti competition may lie somewhere in your subconscious, but music is (and always will be) his first love: "When I was seventeen, I started going to this club called Tekno Dream, and it was all experimental stuff, right at the beginning of the whole scene. It was also the start of the big raves." The year 1992 proved to be a landmark year for Richie: "I had written music in the past, I had tunes played in 1989 in clubs, but it wasn't until 1992 that I got my first record deal and that was with a group called "The Brainstorm Crew."

The Braintorm Crew initially released a white label in 1991 on Whitehouse Records entitled 'The Southey Woods EP'. The group were later signed to Formation Records (in 1992), and released material through the main label, as well as their subsidiary, F-Project. The band split in 1993, and went on to pursue different interests. Richie released another single on F-Project entitled Wise Ones, as well as further singles and remixes on various labels for the likes of Matt Darey (M3), Lynsey Moore and Flowstate. He also dabbled in trance in the late 1990s, worked as an engineer for Carbon Based Recordings in 1997, as well as setting up the Solaris Studios network.

"The scene moved on however," he continues. "It split in two different directions - on one side of it went drum & bass - that went really dark. On the other side, it went really happy and really cheesy. In the original scene you had all the elements all in one music, and when it split I was thinking: 'What do I do, do I make happy tunes because I like the happy elements or do I make drum & bass because I like the beats?' I was pretty torn."

It all changed for Richie in 1998, after hearing a Rennie Pilgrem set. The genre of music he played was then being touted as Nu-Skool Breaks, a term Mr Pilgrem himself is said to have coined. "That was the first time I'd heard the style, and I started writing that straight away. It was open enough to have all the elements - so I'm bascially making tunes exactly the same as I did back then, before the scene split." Brainstormer has also worked with Wester Hailes vocalist Breakbeat Baby. Their latest track, named Take Us On, is a response to one particular illegal rave down in Essex, which was raided by the police on August Bank Holiday weekend. Richie hopes to release the song on his own record label, which he also plans to have off the ground by early next year.

Other Brainstormer releases are due out some time soon through Ninety Two Records, Mertwax and Buzzbee Recordings. There are also hopes to start up a club night with founder of The Institute for Electronic Artists, Kenny Breaks: "I want to make the night as interesting as possible with quite a few different genres of music," says Brainstormer.

It is clear that people such as Brainstormer can only help in bringing awareness of Nu-Skool Breaks to Scotland - DJs like Believe, Wreckage, G-Mac, Dangamouse, and the aforementioned Kenny Breaks have been flying the flag for some time. With some pushing, the Scottish scene could well expand and flourish. Those who get their kicks from Sugarbeat and BioRhythm / Bass Syndicate would do well to check out Brainstormer's set at Obscene in November, and see for themselves what an old pro can bring to the Nu-Skool.