SECURE SHOPPING
How often do you randomly stumble into a club and hear music you actually like? The answer for most of us is not often, and that probably explains why, on that rare occasion when it does happen, it ends up being a memorable night. For young Parisian producer Brawther it was an evening hosted by Nottingham’s DiY deep house party collective, long admired in underground circles on British shores and beyond, that served as a turning point in his musical existence.
As a teenager he took part in an exchange program that saw him spend regular summers with a host family in the Midlands. Apart from making lifelong friends and partaking in the finer aspects of English culture, most notably pork scratchings, one night Brawther unknowingly walked into a DiY party at Nottingham nightspot The Bomb; or at least, almost 10 years later, he’s pretty sure it was – and all evidence suggests he is correct. The producer, who was up to this point fascinated by the leftfield electronica of Aphex Twin et al, fell suddenly and irrevocably in love with house music.
As well as discussing his own productions as Brawther (and the now idle Izmo alias), in this Ones To Watch interview we uncover his previously secret Paris Underground Trax alias, which caused a wee bit of a stir in 2010, elevating the My Love Is Underground imprint to a ‘buy on sight’ label for house music lovers the world over. A chance internet meeting with Chez Damier and a subsequent release on his Balance imprint proved the catalyst to a steady yet remarkable rise that has seen Brawther signed up by London types Smith and Priestly’s Secretsundaze booking agency and – soon – revamped record label. We caught up with the young Frenchman to discuss his musical beginnings, the Parisian house scene and what’s next for My Love Is Underground, including plans for a London party.