In Waks We Trust

Calling Lady Waks the first lady of breakbeat around the globe is almost a cop-out. She basically is breakbeat in her Russian homeland, and the diminutive DJ, producer, record label owner, clothing label owner, radio host… (you see where this is going) stands tall alongside some of the pioneers of the genre like A-Skillz, Krafty Kuts et al. So who better to join in on the fun of arguably this country's finest broken beat festival than the Lady herself? That's exactly what will happen when Alexandra Seriogina joins the likes of the abovementioned breakbeat maestros at Breakfest this coming Boxing Day. She's no stranger to the festival, and you can tell it holds a special place in her heart – a pretty standard response among most (if not all) the world's best. “My first gig in Australia was in Perth, and that was already five years ago,” she begins via email correspondence from home in Saint Petersburg. ”Before coming to Australia I had heard from many DJs that Australia is indeed a breakbeat country, so I expected a massive rave, but the gig I played first was just a little pub. And because it was the first one from five or six shows, I was quite shocked; I couldn't believe how small the parties were in the breaks country!”

Almost shocking to hear, right? As you can imagine though, things quickly improved on return visits. “But other shows were much bigger, and the year after I had been playing in Perth at Ambar. Two years after I had been playing at Breakfest and it was a real blast. Dom Stanton [of Warriors fame] and I arrived by helicopter and after this we had a great set and [partied] with all the people 'til the end. Nowhere in the world I saw such a cool stage as the main one at Breakfest. It's a place where you can charge yourself with energy, and the amphitheatre with dancing people. I just love it! And I can't wait to come back this year.”

Let's rewind a little first though. After spending half a decade in Germany, Seriogina returned to Russia and began what still continues today; a career as one of Russia's most loved radio broadcasters. Initially starting out with a hip hop show in 1999, the turn of the millenium saw her shift her attention towards the now world-renowned In Beat We Trust brand, starting as a club night in which she'd play the warm-up sets herself. The name has since become synonymous with breakbeat worldwide, and is now an independently-owned record label run by Seriogina herself. Not bad, really. “I run the In Beat We Trust company and we [have been] doing events around Russia for the last 12 years. That's a long way and on this way we learned the Russian taste of breaks. Different parts of Russia are into different styles of breaks. As we are the biggest breaks promoter crew in Russia, we are trying to represent the Russian crews [and] the mixture of whole genres. From 140bpm like Pyramid to the 110 A-Skillz, with some 130 from Stanton Warriors, some of Plumps, Jay Cunning, Westbam, Atomic Hooligan, Slyde and so on…”

Over the course of that past decade-plus, in which she's also become a respected producer and clothing label owner, a lot has changed. “I'm into the music industry for more than 13 years now, and of course there are a lot of changes. The saddest thing about this is that a lot of good producers stopped making breaks and switched to dubstep, house and other music styles, which have better sales than in breaks. The good thing is that there are still some very talented artists [coming] up, and if you're into the breaks scene you can always find something new,” she tells, before revealing how it's been for Lady Waks specifically. “If you are asking about my personal feelings, I'm still in love with broken beats and bass music. I try to progress in everything I do, whether it is work on my Breaks Arena Festival or In Beat We Trust parties in general. In May, next year we are celebrating the thirteenth birthday of the IBWT event company… [And] after a break I'm finally back to production. Working on a couple of new tracks at the moment, I enjoy myself and really love what I do.”

Oh yeah, forgot to mention the whole Breaks Arena thing – the world's first breakbeat festival. She's still rocking the radio station as well. “I love my work at the radio. I host a weekly radio session at Record, the biggest dance radio station in Russia,” she extols, although admitting it can be a little difficult with her busy touring schedule. “This is clear that sometimes I can not be present in the studio because of tours and gigs, but I will have a guest mix from the name I would like to represent to the Russian audience.” It's all part and parcel of the one-woman industry that is Lady Waks. Plus it helps her find a heap of new tunes. “[The] radio show is a good thing for me, because I'm going through so much new music and have an opportunity to represent the music I like.”

The clothing line – along with the IBWT label – is going okay too: “We [have done] three collections 'til now. [I'm] working on an online store at the moment and then I have some time for painting. I'm doing some sketches for the new collection, even when I'm on tour. I wouldn't do it alone anyway; of course there are people who help me with organising the process and running the In Beat We Trust Wear. Same about the label. After a year's break we come back on track with the new release coming out in November. We have some nice music for ya!”

That previous year's break seemed to coincide with something of a lull for the genre itself. With the omnipresence of 'bass music' in 2012 (way cooler than 'EDM'), and the blurring of boundaries (you're hard pressed to find a pure breaks set these days that doesn't feature some dubstep), are there any names Seriogina sees that are ready to take the mantle from your Krafty Plump Warriors? “Stantons, Plumps, Krafty, Freestylers… [They're] the names everyone knows. In my generation they are the pioneers and they are still here and still producing breaks. That's great and of course breakbeat lovers give them the most respect. People around the world know and love them!

“But we shouldn't also leave out names like Deekline (no one produces so much as he does, everyone of us play his tracks), DJ Icey, even if he is so far away [Chicago] and doesn't really like to travel. He is one of the names which should be the cream of the crop as well. Marten Hørger [also playing Breakfest] from Germany, Colombo and Baymont Bross from Spain. They should all receive more attention from the crowd.”

What we are seeing a rise in is the number of female DJs, and while Seriogina doesn't really pay much attention to them in particular, there are some she admits who are getting more attention, but for the wrong reasons. “Truly speaking, I don't trace the statistics about female DJs,” she responds when quizzed on if she's noticed an insurgence of female DJs, particularly ones who generally have some kind of background in modeling. “I have no idea what's going on with the models. I have recently seen pictures of Paris Hilton DJ though.

“I can imagine that a girl DJ gets more attention from the crowd as a man, but to get attention is just 20 percent of the whole work. The most difficult thing is to hold this attention and to get respect from the crowd. If you are a woman it's more difficult to get respect, rather than if you are a man. Lets get back to Paris; she is a perfect example, she did get the attention, but couldn't hold it.”

No such problems for breakbeat's belle of the ball, though. She'll be keeping our attention now, and you imagine well into the future. “I'm working on some new tracks at the moment. One of them is a collaboration with Marten Hørger and lyrics from MC Darrison,” she tells, before revealing, “I will represent some new tunes at Breakfest this year.”

CLUB CLOTH

DJs are an entrepreneurial bunch, and you can be dang sure Lady Waks ain't the first and definitely won't be the last party rocker to launch a clothing line. Here's a few more if you're trying to think of what's 'hot' this festival season.

CLVB LIFE

Of course Dutch mega-DJ Tiësto is already in on the act, and his exclusive fashion line Clvb Life is pretty much what you'd expect from one of the world's highest earning DJ/producers. The men's and women's t-shirts are said to be inspired by dance music culture, along with his own performances including light, colour and symmetry. Sells itself really.

DIM MAK

Just announced as part of next year's Future Music Festival, Steve Aoki launched his Dim Mak Collection in 2006, named after his record label. In a recent interview Aoki also revealed plans to launch a new fashion range with half sister and Sin City starlet Devon Aoki.

DIRTY COURTURE

With Ed Hardy's popularity stakes dipping quicker than you can say “we got a Situation here”, Pauly D found an obvious whole in the market and started up Dirty Couture. Packing more swagg than any one person will ever know what to do with, expect big star emblems, skulls and well…pretty much Ed Hardy.

NEFFMAU5

In July of this year Canadian egomaniac Deadmau5 launched his first official clothing line – a collaboration with Neff Headwear – featuring t-shirts, hats and hoodies and plenty of mau5heads combined with the snow/skate/surf company's signature suckerface design.

ASHBA SWAG

Alright so DJ Ashba in't actually a DJ, rather the lead guitarist of some band called Guns N' Roses, but he nevertheless has a rather impressive clothes line, which covers such essentials as stage clothes, scarves, kids ranges, leather jackets, jewellery, flannels (of course) and…iPhone covers. Insert devil horns here.

Lady Waks will be playing the following shows:

Wednesday 26 December - Belvoir Ampitheatre, Perth WA
Friday 28 December - TBC, Brisbane QLD