annalyze interview

by senseone ~ I've always been a fan of breakbeat, and even more, one of turntablism. The DJ's that combine these two talents, and do it well, are few and far between. Combining DMC battle tactics with the freshest in new-school breaks is Rochester, NY's, Annalyze. Having been in the trenches for close to five years now, and putting Rochester solidly on the electronic music map, her hard work has also earned her a sponsorship from Stanton, and brought her coast to coast in her travels, playing alongside greats such as Q-Bert, Craze, Shortee&Faust, and Z-Trip, just to name a few.

What are your affiliations?

Fused artist management / Stanton magnetics/ Breakline

What is it about breaks, as opposed to other genres, that drew you to it?

Hmm they have just always been around. My cousin form Miami got me into the scene & just watching the way breaks make people just get funky. House music will be on & people step to the beat, but when breaks are on people get loose.

Was Rochester a big breaks town before you got into things out there?

Not really, there were only 2 or 3 kids that played breaks but when those kids played everyone came out. Now everyone plays breaks.

Do you have pretty deep roots in hip-hop as well?? (Your intros mad nice)

I LOVE hip hop. If you don't listen to hip hop I prolly wont like you..............Nah, I'm just playin', but hip hop is awesome & I didn't listen to it as much as I should have when I was growing up

What would you say was hip hops greatest era?

Early 80's cause I love the breakbeats, but I love the early 90s. 93 was a sick year for hip hop as well like Dre & Snoop & all that gangsta stuff.

Did you spin Hip-Hop before you spun breaks?

Hmmm I actually played house but I had a ton of hip hop records, kinda inherited someone's old collection, but I thought hip hop was hard to spin so I never tried, until 2000.

How does it feel to step up there on the same stage as legends such as Q-Bert?

No words can really explain that. It's crazy, when you look up to someone for years & study there every move & then before you know it you're friends with them & you call them on the phone...not with Qbert but with dj's like Shortee. I was just star struck when I met her & now she is my partner.

Yeah, you guys have a documentary coming out, right?

Well we were featured in 2 different ones, Vinyl is a Girls Best Friend & Girl, but I have no idea the status on either.

No word on a release date?

Nope, but we filmed them back in 2003. I'm kind of embarrassed to see myself 2 years ago.

So what are your plans for the next few months? Touring, producing?

Well I'm touring with Shortee right now. We go by twice as nice, it a tour that will be going on forever. Basically doing spot dates in between our other gigs. Shortee & I actually are putting together a mix cod that should be out in 2 weeks, then in early Feb. I'm going on tour with Breakbeat Science's Reid Speed. We have some good sponsors & good backing. We also are going to be making a mix cd for the tour that is nameless still. I'm definitely working on my own production & working on some tracks with EWUN. He's a dope drum & bass producer. Also I have been collaborating with a few break beat dj's & sampling my cuts. I just did some cuts for DJ Fixx, the track is called "Bring Em Back" & its on Bottum End records. Should be out in December I also just did some cuts for J break as well & the track is called Amp, but not sure when that is coming out, and I'm teaching scratch lessons at the west coast dj academy.

Be sure visit her at DJAnnalyze.net