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Skool is in session with breaks scene

At Tommy's, Wednesday

By Nicole Fitzgerald

Who: Skool of Thought

When: Wednesday, Feb. 21

Where: Tommy’s

Tickets: $12/$15

It was time to step into a new Skool of Thought said Lloyd Seymour of the house music dominated club land of the 1980s and 1990s. In the late 1990s, clubgoers screamed out for something new. And Skool of Thought heeded that call.

“A new group of people in London experimented with new sounds and technology which had the funk of James Brown mixed with technological influences of house, techno and drum ’n’ bass — and nu skool breaks was born,” explained Seymour a.k.a. Skool of Thought, one of the founding pioneers of breaks.

His club night, called Carnage, in 1996 was a key outlet for the nu skool sound with DJ magazine’s Decade of Dance issue crediting the Brit as one of the key visionaries for setting the breaks scene. Seymour’s decision to move to Brighton to join forces with Kraft Kuts to create a new night called Supercharged led to the scene blowing up. The result was the founding of two record labels, SuperCharged and Against The Grain, which have become two of the top breaks labels in the world.

Artist, DJ, promoter and record label manager: it’s no wonder Seymour’s debut artist album, Random Acts of Kindness , has taken a while to get out of the recording studio gates. He hopes to release the album later this spring on Against the Grain.

“I’ve been writing it for ages and I can’t wait to get it out there now!” he said. “To be honest, I planned to have this out last year, but running the record label restricts the time I have in the studio. But I’m not complaining. I think it will be a real achievement to write and release an album; something I will be able to look back on. It’s a personal goal really.”

Personable was what he wanted to achieve with his new tracks, leaning away from too much of an electronic sound and instead focusing on jazz, reggae and funk influences with a technological edge to the sound.

“(I want it to) sound phatt in the club, but also good to listen to at home or in a bar,” he said. “I think we got the balance just right.”

Seymour has plenty of experience to keep the sound vibes of yin and yang in harmony with hits such as Groove Armada Superstylin, Beastie Boys Fight For Your Right and Freestylers hitting the airwaves in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and Spain. Guest spinners at his SuperCharged night read like the who’s who of the breakbeat scene with stylings from Stanton Warriors, Plump DJs and Rennie Pilgrem, among others. His producing credits have also included hits such as Feel the Music, which rated top spot on DJ magazine’s beat chart, as did his first Heavy Weight Breaks mix album. His latest single hits include When I Was A Youth and Love You Life, and Random Acts of Kindness tracks promise to follow in the same footsteps.

So what can Whistler expect from Skool of Thought’s Whistler show on Wednesday, Feb. 21 at Tommy’s?

“Soulful vibes with beats and bass bigger than Third-World debt,” he said. “I’ll be playing a cross section of funky breaks to bass line bangers, techy tunes to drum ’n’ bass. If that means anything to you, if not, bring an open mind and experience something new.”

Advance $12/$15 tickets are available at the Hub Creekside, Electric Daisy and Tommy’s.