Austin Sound Check

When most people think of Austin Music, they don’t often associate our fair town with hip-hop. Austin-based label Beats Broke is swimming against the current of Austin Music and bringing something new and refreshing to the table. Beats Broke works almost exclusively with hip-hop artists from The Netherlands.

Ryan Goeller, founder of Beats Broke, recently took some time to answer questions about what influenced him to work with Dutch artists as well as US contemporaries that he’s currently jamming. Read below for the interview, along with information on the new album by Beats Broke artist Arts the Beatdoctor.

Austin Soundcheck: Tell us about your label and the artists that you work with.

Ryan Goeller: I currently have 5 artists (4 of them are in Holland…1 in the US). The one US artist, Max Fischer, had a friend who studied abroad in Europe…met my now artist Inf (a hip-hop producer)…and brought back his CD. Max contacted Inf do to a song, and I helped make it happen. Over the course of correspondence with Inf we became friends, and decided we all clicked so well we should start a label to support ourselves. Consider it an international version of the Postal Service, as we all work remotely on these records.

Continue reading the interview with Ryan Goeller after the jump.

AS: What inspires you to do what you do?

RG: What inspires me to make records is that my friends, now artists, are making better music than what I could find in stores. I was a big indie hip-hop fan, but after awhile most of it just started sounding too underground (poor production value, bland lyrics). What my guys are making excites me, and it’s that rush that keeps me going.

AS: What US hip-hop artists are you into right now? Who do you consider peers of your Beats Broke artists?

RG: I don’t want to sound like I’m completely bored with US artists. There are still a lot of exciting ones out there, but my tastes have become more refined and specific as I’ve gotten older.

In the US hip-hop world, Sean Price and Rustee Juxx excite me (Duck Down Records). Most of the Stones Throw releases do it for me. Vast Aire & Vordal Mega (Cannibal Ox), C-Rayz Walz…anything that’s grimey, honest and real. Some of those cats are above the level Beats Broke is currently on, but I don’t see myself that far behind them.

There’s some really great euro acts which I’ve gotten into like Burial, Fink, Bonobo, Nobody Beats the Drum. It’s fun to have a one-up over US listeners since my guys in Holland pass me all this great stuff.

AS: Why Holland?

RG: Why Holland? Well, it was all just luck. I didn’t seek the Dutch out, I just sort of fell into this fantastic scene and am trying to make it work and introduce them to a North American audience. All of my artists except one live in this amazing city called Utrecht. Utrecht is like the Austin, TX of the Netherlands; it’s a young vibrant city of music and art. The scene there is huge, everyone is hip-hop. I’d compare Utecht’s current hip-hop scene to the indie rock scene in Omaha, NE 8 years ago…or Chapel Hill in the 90s. It’s bubbling and it’s ready to break. Nicolay from the Foreign Exchange is from there. C-Mon & Kypski are from there (Kypski just did a Daedalus remix). Arts The Beatdoctor (who’s EP I just released) is starting to really make a name for himself worldwide. It’s exciting to be on the brink and keep releasing albums as part of their movement.

Later this week, I’ll be bringing you a review of the latest Beats Broke release by Arts the Beatdoctor, entitled Progressions. Visit Beats Broke website for more information on Arts the Beatdoctor and the Beats Broke stable of artists.

For more information: Beats Broke // Arts the Beatdoctor

1 Comment