Australian production duo Karton have developed and refined their own unique sound, which while grounded by their love for all things breakbeat is never limited by the constraints any single style of music provides.

With a nomination for Breakthrough Producer in the 2010 Breakspoll International Breakbeat Awards Karton are more than ready for the spotlight.

They're about to release We Bleed, the first single from their forthcoming album, so we hit them up to find out more...

Please introduce yourself...

We're two guys from Canberra, Australia both named Paul. Being that Canberra is a reasonably small city we met years ago and started writing tunes together around 2002. Since then we have released a number of singles and remixes, most of them breaks tunes, across a number of labels.

Tell us more about the album you're releasing...

The album is called For All Seasons and is coming out later this year on Sound of Habib. The concept of the album is in the title. We wanted to create something that not only represented us and the music we are interested in creating and the influences we have but also something that can has appeal to a listener whatever may be happening in their life at the time. It was envisaged as an album that you can come back to regardless of what's going on and be able to find something in it that speaks to you.

What did you set out to achieve with it?

Apart from covering as many influences and styles we wanted to we didn't want to come up with a mishmash of tunes thrown together without any real cohesion or common through-line. We tried to stamp our sound across all tunes on the album regardless of what style of tune it was. We hoped to create something that wouldn't be defined by the time it was created or the genre it was in, but rather something that had a timeless feel to it.

How does working on albums compare with of singles?

There is a lot more freedom when working on an album tune given that you don't really have to adhere to the rules that you are expected to follow when putting together a single. With an album tune there is no structure you need to follow, no need to cater for what DJs need or expect from a record and no need to put something together that is going to appeal to a dance floor.

That freedom can be wonderful as it allows you to do anything, but at the same time there is a balance that needs to be struck between something that is musically interesting and creative and something that has appeal to listeners. That said singles are great as well as you just throw everything into it in order to make something that's going to work on a dance floor.

Can we expect anything different on it?

I think we are lucky in that people outside of the breaks scene don't really have any expectation of what a Karton album would sound like. So for most people the album will form their opinion of who we are. Stylistically the album ranges from downtempo ambience through to drum & bass, it represents our love of all kinds of bass music.

Is this an album a collection of singles or is it supposed to work more as a coherent whole?

Definitely a more coherent whole, we had always planned that it wouldn't be a collection of singles or a 'genre' album, it was written with that in mind, even the order of the tracks on the album has been carefully chosen to deliver make the whole experience more cohesive.

Who have you collaborated with on it?

We worked with a number of different vocalists on the album, all of whom are based here in Canberra with us, apart from the one tune we did with Manuel from Infusion, who is based in Melbourne. Working with each vocalist provided a different experience as they all had different styles; however working with each was great as each vocalist was generally on the same page we were and they all brought something different to the table. I think the fact that we used people we know well rather than going after 'big name' people we have no real connection with made for a better experience.

Over what period was it made?

The album was worked on in bits and pieces for the last two or so years, in between singles and remixes we were doing. We got really serious with it for about six months late last year to get it finished, and that's when we took all the 'sketches' of ideas we had and turned them into fully fledged songs.

What are you working on at the moment?

Apart from the odd bit of remix work we are starting to toss around some ideas for the next LP and we are hoping to get back into the studio to work on that later this year, in the mean time we will be around playing DJ sets which run through all types of bass music including breaks, DnB, house and dubstep.

Anything else you want to tell us about?

Keep a look out for Karton related stuff on our facebook page or karton.com.au and you can download a free 320 kbps mp3 of our track We Bleed here.

 

Karton: May 2010 Mix (138MB Download) by Karton

 

Track List

1. Karton - We Bleed - Sound of Habib
2. Plaza De Funk - Keep Yo Head - Mofo Recordings
3. Bassbin Twins - The Lock - Bassbin Records
4. Afghan Headspin - MSG (Karton Remix) - Valium
5. DJ Fixx feat. Sporty-O - Shake It - Illeven Eleven
6. Freestylers - Bounce To This - Freestylers Records
7. DJ Dan & Uberzone - Operator (Miles Dyson Remix) - Nettwerk
8. Freerange DJs - Back To The Old Jack - Ape Music
9. Andrey Mute - Landmine (Karton Remix) - XSSR Music
10. Hatiras, Vandal, JELO, Stanton Warriors - M.A.D (Elite Force Remix) - U&A Recordings
11. Nick Thayer - Cash Money - Passenger
12. Bar 9 - Shaolin Style (Elite Force Remix) - U&A Recordings
13. General Midi & Odissi - Back For More - Distinctive Records
14. Noisia - Alpha Centauri - Vision / Costello - Girls Speak Louder (Donique Remix - Miles Dyson Edit) - Plasmapool
15. Sub Focus - Could This Be Real - Ram Recordings
16. Deadmau5 - Ghosts and Stuff (Nero Remix) - Mau5trap
17. Joker - Tron - Kapsize
18. Karton - All You Need (Mars Remix) - Sound of Habib
19. Hadouken - Turn The Lights Out (JFB Remix) - Surface Noise
20. Datsik - Retreat (Elite Force Remix)  - Rottun Recordings
21. Prodigy - Smack My Bitch Up (Twoker vs Krafty Kuts Remix)
22. Funkstar De Luxe - Do You Feel (Metrik Remix) - Destined Records
23. Karton - The Only One - Sound of Habib
24. Danny Byrd - Sweet Harmony - Hospital Records
25. Rox - My Baby Left Me (DC Breaks Remix) - Rough Trade Benelux

• Karton

Related Links:

• Karton Interview
• Brother Interview
• Top New Breaks Releases
• Blokhe4d - Last Days Of Disco
• Original Sin - Grow Your Wings LP Details

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