It might seem like we say this a lot, but believe us when we say Bro Safari is an ElectroJams favorite. Knick, the man behind Bro Safari is a veteran bass peddler who first cut his EDM chops as 1/3 of American drum n’ bass act Evol Intent, has juggled multiple projects including mashup duo Ludachrist and now his solo projct, Bro Safari is taking off to a whole new level. Knick was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to chat with us and give us his thoughts on a couple of different topics.

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Thank you for taking the time for this, I know our readers will like it.

Yeah man, no worries. It’s all good.

Firstly, how did you come up with the name Bro Safari? It’s a pretty awesome name.

You know, I don’t have a clever answer for that to be honest. Like I don’t remember. I started the project in 2008, 2007, making dubstep and weird glitch stuff and I came up with the name then. It was just on a whim, and I don’t remember the exact thought process. I always tell myself I’m going to come up with a clever answer, just don’t have one.

You started back in the day with Evol Intent, and ended up as the premier American drum n’ bass group and now you’re a pioneer of the moombahton movement, for you, can you see a difference in how the people react? The scene?

Well I think dance music in general has just changed so much, from when were just starting out with Evol Intent. You know I mean, these days when you go to a show, people are there to dance and have fun. And back in the day, it was a lot of people standing around and chin stroking. People weren’t necessarily there to have fun, but to listen to the music and stand there. To be honest, that wasn’t much fun. It wasn’t always like that but a good portion of the drum n’ bass shows were just kind of pain and experiences. Now, you know crowds in general, whether it’s moombahton, even drum n’ bass, or dubstep, house, or electro or any electronic dance music, seems to go over much better these days. I was on a tour with Feed Me and Kill The Noise earlier this year, and we were playing shows that were starting at 7 or 8PM and ending at midnight, and the crowds were crazy for those; even better than the club shows I played and it was just all kids dancing. I think overall, dance music is in such a better place now.

I know you’ve made dubstep and other bass tunes, but you seem to focus on the moombah sound, what is it about the moombah sound that drew you in?

It was a little bit different, and for Bro Safari, I don’t want to be considered as focused on one particular genre, especially because I have been doing a lot of other stuff I just haven’t released yet. I definitely enjoy writing at the tempo, that’s what pulled me in. Depending on how you program the drums, you can create all these different vibes out of it. 110 beats per minute (BPM) can be manipulated to sound like a faster version of drum n’ bass depending on how you program the drums or a really slowed down version of dubstep. What I am saying is, depending on how you flip the arrangements very easily at that tempo range and it sounds close to hip-hop, and it’s a really nice, common middle ground. You can make it “four-to-the-floor” and make it very house-y, so I just like the freedom. You can have straight beat or you can have breaks, or re-sampled drums. So it’s really fun, and I really enjoy the tempo. And other people making moombahton too inspire me, and different people putting their spin on it, and that’s what draws me in.

You’ve played some big gigs this year, you’ve been on a massive nationwide tour, Bros Gone Wild, what has been your favorite moment in the last year seeing Bro Safari explode?

Thanks man, almost a year ago, or exactly a year ago, I decided to give it my all. I was feeling pretty disenchanted with dance music, and not just dance music, but my own place in dance music. I felt I hadn’t put enough effort into doing what I love, and for a short period of time, I had taken it for granted that I was making money, making a living off of making music. I think I lost sight of that for a little while, so I decided to give it to my all and put everything I had into it. So the most exciting thing in the last year has been seeing it pay off. There’s not one gig, or tour in particular that was most exciting, just all of it together. It’s cliché, but if you put your mind to it and pay your dues, something good is coming from it. If your looking for something specific, the tour with Feed Me and Kill The Noise was a highlight, and obviously supporting those acts was great but also, it was great to hang out with those guys. We’re all old friends, so it was great to just hang out with them and just travel around with them for a couple weeks.



What’s happening with Evol Intent right now?

Well we’re still a group; we’re still making music. In 2011, we put out quite a few releases; we had a release every month for the last 6 months. We’re still making music just when you’re not sure what we want to make and what people want us to make, it’s tough. We want to please our fans, but not live by our fans. There were times where we did what we wanted to do and then our fans would attack us. For instance, we wanted to make a dubstep song and we posted it on our Facebook page, but then people (and I hate to use the word ‘hate’) would just hate on us, and that’s a pretty shitty feeling. It sucks to put effort into anything and then have the people who have supported you, tell you that ‘you’re not good’, because that’s basically what a lot of people told us; or that we’re not as good as we used to be. And I beg to differ; I think the music we made last year was a lot better in terms of quality and dance-ability. So right now, we’re recording a new album, and we’re doing what we want, which is experimental, more forward thinking. We’re not doing drum n’ bass jams; we’re not doing dubstep jams. We’re pulling out our guitars, we’re making glitch-y beats; we’re working with vocalists. We’re not rushing ourselves, so hopefully in six months, we’ll have a solid update and an album soon.

Sweet, I’ll be looking forward to that. Dubstep and big room house have really caught on and are the driving forces in the EDM explosion, and then moombahton is huge in its own right with devoted fans, Why do you think drum n’ bass hasn’t had the same success?

Well I think dubstep has a direct correlation to drum n’ bass, and there’s no denying that. I think, and this is just my opinion, a big part of the problem was the term drumstep. People started to call half-time drum n’ bass, drumstep, which pretty much got rid of drum n’ bass. Everybody is into drumstep, but they’re not realizing it’s drum n’ bass. Kids who weren’t previously exposed to drum n’ bass, -‘wow what is this, I like this; this is fast dubstep, this is drumstep’- And I think that was a big mistake for whoever coined and championed that term, because it kind of just left drum n’ bass out in the cold. Skrillex just put out a drum n’ bass tune, well it’s floating around online, and it’s sick! It’s just straight up drum n’ bass. It’s just a 2-step drum n’ bass tune and it’s awesome, but I don’t think people understand what drum n’ bass means half the time. And by people, I mean the younger generation. So I think just dubstep getting popular, and how it’s been so popular, I’m not exactly sure why or how drum n’ bass got left out. And the worst part of it all, and this is a bold statement, but I honestly believe without drum n’ bass, dance music would not be where it is today. I think the production sensibilities of people like Skrillex come directly from drum n’ bass. And this is an even bolder statement, I can trace it back and that dance music would not be where it is without Pendulum. Pendulum came along and released the song “Vault” and that song changed everything about drum n’ bass and production sensibilities. Everybody wanted to have their snare drum pound like Pendulum’s snare drum or their kick and their midrange bass; everything about it and that changed the way everyone made drum n’ bass. It started to change the way other people programmed and engineered in other genres. So listen to old Pendulum tracks and then a Skrillex tune, or even Zedd or someone like that, and you’ll hear the same characteristics in the mixdown. Like I said, it directly stems from that period of drum n’ bass. That track, “Vault” was really the tune that put them on the map.

You’re a southern guy, and right now the trap sound is catching on and I’m curious how you feel about that, with it’s southern roots and now seemingly wide appeal? What’s the difference between that and say a Lex Lugar beat that Gucci Mane would flow over?

Well first of all, I love this modern take on trap movement. I spent a lot of time living in Atlanta, and that was my first exposure to it in 2006, 2007ish. All the hip-hop in Atlanta was trap. So I don’t think there is much of a difference between what was happening then and what’s happening now, but the people like Flosstradamus have spiced it up. The newer Flosstradamus stuff uses the backbone of traditional trap music, and they put a different twist on it. Then guys like Baauer from New York and UZ –who just released on Mad Decent—it’s starting to get a little weird. Maybe that’s the word I’m looking, it’s a little weird. It’s getting a little weird, and it should. It’s 808 drums and the same things from a Gucci beat, but it’s strange and little differences, like drum arrangements. Overall, it’s so new and people are trying to figure out how to make it their own, and the best guys are the ones I just named (Flosstradamus, Baauer, and UZ), and HeroesNVillans from Atlanta. So I’ve been really interested by it and I’ve actually made some tunes like that haven’t been released yet, but it’s awesome man.

Thank you again for your time! I’ll be waiting for those new tunes!

No problem man, no worries. Stay in touch.

Born and raised in NYC, a full-time student in the Towson/Baltimore, I’ve had a wealth of experience in electronic music. I’ve DJ’d parties and on the radio, and am an aficionado all things Electronic Music with a passion for art in general. If you have any questions, concerns, comments, you can email me with inquiries and demos at 808sJake@gmail.com And you can follow me on twitter! @808sJake Follow my music taste on last.fm too! http://www.last.fm/user/Jake0617 doandroidsdance.com