INTERVIEW: The Breaking Pattern

With a new EP released this month, "...And Suddenly Nothing Becomes Everything", frontman Derek Hackman of Phoenix based The Breaking Pattern took a moment to chat with us, check out the full interview below!

​Shannon Rae: how did The Breaking Pattern come to be? What is the meaning behind your name?
 
Derek Hackman: Prior to TBP I was in a band called Ezer and our drummer Brandon was in a band called Lennox House. The scene was fairly small back then, and our bands were constantly in show lineups together. We both found ourselves without bandmates around the same time. I showed Brandon the songs I had been working on and we hit it off instantly. Our first few shows were a bit rocky as we had a revolving lineup of musicians. Eventually we landed Jacob (bass) and Nick (guitar) who had both been in prior local projects and are incredibly hardworking and talented musicians. When I teamed up with Brandon, it was decided a rebranding was in order. We switched the name to The Breaking Pattern as sort of a reference to all our past projects that led us to where we are now.
 
SR: You call yourselves the ‘new emo’, so what emo bands did you grow up listening to?
Of those, who do you find yourselves taking the most inspiration from?
 
DH: We’re certainly influenced by bands like Brand New, The Early November, and Dashboard Confessional. Our biggest influences are mostly from growing up in the local music scene. As Phoenicians, we were spoiled with great talent like Lydia, The Maine, and A Change of Pace. A lot of the bands we draw from heavily are defunct local bands who had brilliant ideas that were never fully heard. Of course, we say “new” because we wanted to make it clear that we’re trying to progress the genre forward, not pay homage to the work that has already been done. Those bands gave us a foundation, but music will always evolve from one sound to the next and we want to do our part in that shift.
 
SR: What makes The Breaking Pattern stand out?
 
DH: Lyrics tend to attract the most attention. Our songs are wordy, hyper poetic, and somewhat unashamed in a confessional type of manner.
 
SR: Where did the name for brand new your EP, "...and Suddenly Nothing Becomes Everything", come from?
 
DH: The final song on the album, “True North”, has a line in v2 that says “be nothing with me so you’re everything to someone”. Truthfully, I had no intentions of making it the album title because the line doesn’t conjure a strong image. However, the idea of smallness and infiniteness occurring simultaneously seemed so universally applicable.
 
SR: You gave a little bit of a blurb about each song from the new EP on your Facebook page, what prompted this action?
 
DH: Sometimes music can be more than atmosphere. Sometimes a single note or line can burst into a world of new thought for a listener. I shared the backstory of each track hoping that maybe I can spur some new ideas and perspectives into fans who were wanting more out of music than pleasant sound.
 
SR: What will fans of previous releases find different with the new songs?
 
DH: The EP is not a departure from our debut. At most it is a refining of our sound. We made catchier vocal melodies, we toned down the intensity of our lead guitar, and we upped the ante on how large we can make our choruses. Ultimately, we wanted to plant our flag firmly in the ground and say this is the sound of TBP, and no one else sounds the same.  
 
SR: What is "Wine Wednesdays" and how did it get started?
 
DH: It started on Snapchat, where I would get drunk and tell stories/anecdotes across several snaps. It was a weird performance piece that was a cross between comedy, poetry, and preaching. I eventually put it on pause due to an increase in workload with getting this EP written. I received an unexpected amount of backlash from fans asking for it back. Around this time FB, IG, and YT all introduced livestreaming. I thought it would be fun to bring on interesting people and have some real talk. I wanted our supporters to feel more connected to us, and so far Wine Wednesday has really been great at delivering that personal touch.
 
SR: Since we are on the topic, red or white wine?

DH: I have a penchant for reds, especially Merlot. But I’m not picky, you can pour me the cheap stuff!
 
SR: Any tour dates that your following should be aware of?

DH: You can expect some southwest touring in the spring of next year!

​SR: Thank you so much for talking with us!

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