Primitive Technology

FOLLOW THE BEATS: BreakBeat Energy’s Monthly EDM Newsletter – January 2010

To kick off the new year, this month’s interview showcases Primitive Technology of BreakBeat Energy Records.

BreakBeat Energy: Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer a few questions. To better acquaint our readers and listeners, where did Primitive Technology begin? .

Benjamin: Geographically? Charlottesville, VA. Ideally, it basically started when Craig and I both started hanging out and mixing together.
Craig: Not mixing out… just playing on our home gear.
Benjamin: I had put together this one track (the breakbeat track w/ the vocoded Dead Prez vocal) that Craig really liked.
Craig: I played the unfinished version out a few times. I eventually got fed up with it and made him finish it. That’s kinda when we realized we could tolerate each other in a working environment.
Benjamin: Craig then gave me, like, every project file he had ever created. After that, we just went to work, so to speak.

BreakBeat Energy: Where did the name come from?

Craig: Combination of our DJ Names. I was playing under “Small Primitive Group”.
Benjamin: “Benjamin Technology” was my default.
Craig: “Primitive Technology” just sounded cool.

BreakBeat Energy: What gave you that initial push?

Craig: Maudite Ale and duplex cookies.
Benjamin: Basically, yeah.
Craig: We decided to try the “walk around to everyone local venue and hand out demos” tactic. Amazingly, it worked. That’s how the “Space Program” party started in Charlottesville.

BreakBeat Energy: What was the first event you ever performed at?  Were you nervous or a natural?

Benjamin: Playing live as PrimTech, that’d be Digital Invasion at Uptown Tavern in D.C.
Craig: I was nervous as hell. We were basically programming the MPC 2500’s up until about 5 hours before the show started.
Benjamin: We had this problem with the hard drive partitions….
Craig: It was bad.

BreakBeat Energy: What’s the most memorable event you’ve performed at?

Benjamin: Digital Invasion.

BreakBeat Energy: Out of all the tunes you have, which one ‘never fails?’

Craig and Benjamin: Honestly, Strider’s “Phazers on Stun”. Just.. yeah, fantastic breaks track.
Benjamin: I’d say something by Hybrid or Soulwax or Way Out West, but most of the time we end up editing the original down into something more manageable.
Craig: Most of Evil Nine’s tracks fit the bill.

BreakBeat Energy: What’s your favorite tune of all time?

Benjamin: “Olsen” by Boards of Canada. Listen to it and you’ll know why.
Craig: “Lights Off” by Loudeast. It just hits me.

BreakBeat Energy: What is your favorite piece of gear used for your live performances?

 B: My mixer, obviously.
C: Probably the Nord Rack (synth), but realistically, I’d have to say the MPC1000. It just runs too much.

BreakBeat Energy: What advice would you give to up and coming DJs/Producers?

Benjamin: Don’t buy Mackie.
Craig: Don’t do drugs.
Benjamin: Word.

BreakBeat Energy: If you had a time machine, what year would you go back to and why?

Benjamin: If I had a time machine, I’d go forward to 2029 to see if Ray Kurzweil ended up being right.
Craig: 1977. That’s when Studio 54 opened.

BreakBeat Energy: Anything else you would like to say? Any shouts, new releases on the horizon, events you’re performing at in the near future?

Benjamin: Our second single “Fraulein” should be finished soon.
Craig: Our first live studio mix is about to be released. It’s basically the start of our “No Hope of Rescue” series – all original material and remixes played live and recorded in our studio. We also set up a bunch of web cams so we could record video and stuff. Should be pretty rockin’.
Benjamin: Mediatastic, to say the least.

BreakBeat Energy: Please feel free to list any website links, promotional links, myspace links, etc here:

Primitive Technology on Twitter
Primitive Technology on Facebook
Primitive Technology on MySpace