GREG BROOKMAN in Interview

by S. Herpich

On the chilled tropic island of Koh Phangan, in the gulf of Thailand, we found, enjoying his pina coladas and riding choppers, UK Hard House Legend Greg Brookman.
He kept on coming down to Jumunjy Bar, where he also engaged in a Party and left you a stunning recorded piece of art. Available to download here on databass.asia.

Having intercepted Greg on one of his interfacing trips, I instantly realized the chance and bribed our good Mr. Brookman with Baileys ( Yeah, believe it or not ), and fired away our questions.

Hello Greg, an honor to have you here, how was your trip?
Lovely thanks.

We can't believe how lucky we are, having stars like you or Graham Gold here on the island, is it a temporary home or a long term move?
I'll be moving on at some point but don't know when. For the moment I'm happy rocking it with the Jumunjy crew!

Any plans to rock the island on the turntables?
Yep, that's one of the reasons I'm here. It's not turntables though these days, a laptop and Traktor is my tools for rocking now!

How did you end up in dance music anyway? Didn't your parents have had plans 4 u?
I've loved dance music since I was a kid plus I can't play guitar! I was going to trance clubs all the time about ten years ago and decided that was the music I wanted to make.

What was your biggest Gig so far?
Supernova at Briton Academy. That was a blast!

The most embarrassing moment in career?
Setting fire to the decks at one party, getting arrested at another and tripping over a stage monitor in front of 2000 people in Brixton Academy....I could hear them laughing over the music!

Having produced with various labels you had your fare share of fun stuff. We've heard you produced the "Gilette" Theme Song, is there something else we should know about?
No that was BK who produced music for Gillete, not me! I did used to produce garage though many moons ago! (BK also did the Honey Nut Loops song!)

And still producing Dance Music, what can we expect 4 the future?
TECHNO! And lots of it!

Any forthcoming releases?
Well, quite a few. Here is what i have in mind:
Greg Brookman & Tim Coe "Crank"
Greg Brookman & Tim Coe "Imoogi"
Filth & Splendour vs. Greg Brookman "On A Roll"
Filth & Splendour vs. Greg Brookman "Canary"

Would you have any Tips for newcomers? Do's and Don'ts of the music scene (like: don't do it we got enough djs...)
Don't let yourself get pigeon-holed in one sound, it can really mess things for you later on. Make yourself as original as possible, there are a million DJs all doing the same thing. Stay humble, arrogant dick heads don't last long! Most importantly you gotta work as hard as possible, really live it! When your hard work pays off it's an amazing feeling!

By the way ... Would you tell us your all time favorite tune - album?
It's impossible to have a ultimate favourite but some I could listen to all day without getting bored are (Albums) Prodigy "Fat Of The Land" Leftfield "Leftism" Depeche Mode "Songs Of Faith And Devotion" (Tunes) Push "Strange World" Scott Mac "Damager 02" Plump DJs "Scram".

Knowing your favorites now, ...what is it like to play in Asia? Do they like the same tunes / style of music as we do in good old europe?
Here I'm mainly playing tech house. People don't seem so into the trance sound over here. I'd like to be able to play a bit harder but it's more of a bar culture here and I'm not really into psy trance.

And your free time here in the eastern world? Gregs Leisure activities...
Lady boys.

And for the end some Greg Brookman insider tip...
Use Traktor. It's far more fun than CDJs!

Big Thanks to Greg Brookman for his participation in the databass.asia experience.
You find more info about Greg Brookman on myspace.com/djgregbrookman....