Breton: ‘Nothing Normal Ever Happens To This Band’

It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Breton, but they sure have been keeping busy. Not only are they readying a live set for this evening, but they’re also getting ready to release an instrumental EP and showcase a full photography exhibition this weekend. Not too shabby, ey?

DIY was a little curious as to how this all came about, so we thought why not check in with the band’s Roman Rappak to find out just how ‘Escalation’ was born.

“The idea was that we wanted to follow our show at the BFI a month ago (which was a live soundtrack short film show) with something that was exploring the link between the visual side of what we do, as well as the music,” he explains. “In a way its the most “analogue” audio-visual experience we could think of. You have a 24 page book full of beautiful photos taken by Adam Breton and various people we collaborated with in the year since we released our album, and it comes with a 4 track instrumental EP.

“What excited us about the idea, was that you could go through the book, at your own pace, and the music and the images would work together in a different way each time. It sounds so simple, but we got the first copies of the book/EP a couple of days ago, and its amazing how effectively the two work together.”

To celebrate the release of their newest musical project, the band will also be putting on a four day video installation and photography exhibition…

The Escalation Exhibition itself will build upon the book; showcasing an array of images from throughout the band’s career thus far, as worked on with collaborators Niall O’Brien, Nic Shonfeld and Andy J. Simmons. But surely, simply the idea of having their own event must be a little surreal?

“Nothing normal ever happens to this band. Sometimes it feels like because we were left to do whatever we wanted early on, and signed to an Indie that really let us explore whatever we wanted, we never really learned how to be a “normal” band. We have been amazingly fortunate in that respect.”

“We never imagined we would be celebrating the anniversary of our debut album with an exhibition, book and EP.”

Speaking of your debut, are the band thinking of releasing a new album any time soon…

“We started work on our new album last week, and all the early demos and tracks have been getting everyone in the band, and the people who work with us really excited. It seems a much more effortless process this time round. I guess we have learned how to be a band.”

“I just spent 8 hours in a room playing new tracks with the others, and it occurred to me that we have become such a central part of each others lives, and have seen so many places with them, that I honestly don’t think i could do this with anyone else. I feel really lucky i get to release another album with them, and do it all again multiplied by a hundred.”

Breton will be performing at Camden’s Proud Galleries tonight (28th March) to celebrate the opening of their Escalation Exhibition. The exhibition will run from 28th to 31st March, from 11am to 5pm each day.

Get your hands on their ‘Escalation’ book/EP by heading here.