With a very well-received new mix, Solar Life Raft (Agriculture), a bizarre shout-out on the CW's 90210, and an already formidable trope of releases under his belt, things are going just swimmingly for Jace Clayton, a.k.a. DJ /rupture. Seduced by /rupture's awesome reputation and the news of more work from Dutty Artz, the label Clayton runs with Matt Shadetek, in the pipeline, we decided to try our luck and score a studio visit with the guy at his Sunset Park, Brooklyn abode. Fortunately, both Shadetek and Clayton are some of the kindest DJ/producers around, so we had no trouble in arranging a time to meet up.
For a guy who was born and raised in Boston, listening to /rupture's output can be pretty surprising. A blend of world musics, face-melting techno, thick dub, ragga, breakcore, and much more, all of his releases can verifiably be dubbed both eccentric and instantly ear-catching. When one digs a little deeper into Clayton's past, though, his musical persuasions and aesthetics become much clearer. Clayton's DJ career began largely as a reaction against what others were doing. Frustrated by the homogeneous-by-segregation Boston scene, /rupture and some friends started throwing parties where anything and everything in any order was fair to play. Jungle would be backed by South American cumbias, acid would be followed with hip-hop. When it was time to move on, Clayton bounced over to the far nicer climes of Barcelona and Madrid, where he lived for about five years. The “lifestyle rhythm” was perfect for /rupture: Everyday life, to him, seemed somehow fueled by a “soft social anarchy,” a non-malicious effort to be perpetually against the grain. The price of living kept going up and up, though, and eventually Clayton jumped across the Atlantic again to find himself in New York, where he's been dwelling for the past three years or so.
Outside of dropping albums with or without Shadetek, /rupture also keeps busy with updating his spectacular music-centered blog Mudd Up! and connecting with fans across the airwaves with a WFMU show of the same name. Truly an intellectual artist, one of Clayton's articles was featured in this year's Best Music Writing anthology and he was one of the speakers at the New Yorker Festival that recently finished up.
If you haven't already, pick up Solar Life Raft and check out the surrealist animated music video for the record. But for now, click through the photos in the media player for a peak into /rupture's vibrant workspace.
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