Breaking Point is a great band from the UK. I loved there stuff from day 1. With their growing name and Life Sentence just behind them they are already releasing a new split with Final Rage soon. This and the fact that Louis is touring with BWP was reason enough for me to talk to BXP about all that stuff. So here’s the chat I had with Saker!
Who are you and what do you do in Breaking Point?
I am Saker and I play drums in BXP
What is your favorite hardcore release ever?
I wish I could limit it down to just one release, but it’s impossible so for me in no order:
American Nightmare - Background Music
Carry On - A life less plagued
No Warning - Ill Blood
Terror - Lowest of the low
Count me out - 110
What changed for Breaking Point with the release of ‘Life Sentence’?
I guess the biggest change was yet another line up change as our original guitarist Fisher rejoined the band and brought in some different influences with him. When writing with him and DBC stuff just comes together so well as we all have different influences and styles so we are always trying to push each other and aren’t worried to comment and change stuff up. We wanted to progress on what we had done with Judgement, and decided to move a bit more towards a metallic sound and then out came life sentence!
If you look back at the first release you’ve ever done, and compare it with ‘Life Sentence’, in what way did Breaking Point grow?
To give the cliched response I honestly feel that we progress with every release, when we first started our influences were going to be right brigade, frostbite and final plan, we got the demo out and played some shows and through that decided we wanted to get a bit heavier, and then from then on with each release we essentially did the same, along with the revolving door of members we have had a lot of different influences build up our sound across all of our records.
What can we expect from Breaking Point in the near future? I mean with Louis touring with Brutality and all that.
We never planned to be full time or touring band so won’t have too much of an effect on the amount of tours/show we play as we all have full time jobs/university to focus on, we just now have to work out where in the world Louis could be and fit in shows when he is around. It’s great to watch how BWP have developed and grown as a band and its wild that they are currently touring Australia and Asia, I’d love to get BXP over to Australia one day!
Release wise we recorded our side of a split with Final Rage a few months ago, which is going to be coming out on Carry the Weight records soon, after that we will be playing Ghostfest, Ninjafest and some more shows throughout the year, then start writing again for our next release!
We all know that Ajay is the owner of Purgatory Records and I wanted to know are you guys still on that label after the breakup between Brutality and Ajay and Louis becoming the new frontman?
We had always planned to release our split with Carry the Weight records, so nothing has really changed with Purgatory, we are all still good friends with Ajay & Purgatory records, but in regards to future releases at this stage we haven’t actually discussed with anyone about it! Ajay is now doing a new band called MindxControl, look out for it soon!
Everybody knows that the UKHC scene has exploded over the past few years. Bringing so many new and good bands to the table, including Breaking Point. What’s your opinion on the UKHC scene?
I think it’s in a really strong place right now, loads of shows, new bands, labels and scenes. Recently in Sheffield there was outbreak fest then the following Mongrel fest, completely different line ups, both were crazy from what I have heard. It’s really good to see mixed bills and everyone getting on. Local shows are picking up too, lots of good promoters putting in time and effort to produce good shows - shoutout to x29x/Callum in Brighton, Kam in Manchester/Leeds, Max Mitchell in Sheffield, Mongrel in London/The North, UYC in Southampton and no doubt loads more I can’t think of offhand!
Labels to check out also: Carry the weight, Purgatory, Atonement and the Essence are all putting out some great releases!What are some UKHC bands everybody should check out/listen to according to you?
Abolition - This band are great, straight edge 90’s tinged hardcore from London, they put out a 7” recently and it kills it. They have recently announced that they are splitting at the end of this year which sucks, I wanted another record from them!!
Final Rage - Easily my favourite UKHC band, we are doing a split with them and their tracks are great! Pure early 2000’s hardcore in the vein of Striking distance, No warning and Right Brigade. They also have a record on CTW coming out this year too!
Survival - Lockin out influenced from Manchester, this band smash it live, so good to watch!
Ego Trip - Fronted by Pat (ctw records and about a million other bands!) once again with a lockin out vibe, recently dropped a demo tape which sold out, getting strong reactions at shows, really looking forward to hearing more from them!
Bleak Reality - Mid 90’s NYHC style from Nottingham, they recently went over to the mainland and are going back soon with War Charge in June so look out for them. They just recorded again for a tape from what I know too, which I am sure will be available for that tour!
You guys are a Straight Edge band, so I want to know, when did you claim? And are you happy about the Straight Edge scene in general?
I have been straight edge for 10 year this year. I am blown away by how the straight edge scene has blown up in the past few years in the UK, after so many people dropping out and selling out in around 2006 its back now stronger then before! Bands like Abolition, Survival, Iron Curtain, Repentance, Inherit are good examples of this!
What are the best and worst things ever happening to the band?
That’s a hard question! The best things have got to be the reaction and support we have had as a band from playing our first show and dropping the demo through until now, we couldn’t thank people enough for that. We’ve met so many good people through this band and played some wild shows with our favourite bands, none of this was ever expected when we first started out!
Worst thing, I couldn’t really say, we have been unfortunate with line up changes, initially this was harder to work out but it’s worked out in our advantage as it’s helped to progress our sound! Shoutout to all our friends who have helped out and filled in for us!
Can we expect an European tour any time soon?We have been discussing coming back over, as unfortunately we have only made it over the once in 2011 with Foundation and we’d love to come back! We just need to get something arranged, a weekender would be great!
Talking about tours, sickest tour line-up you’ve played so far and craziest thing happening to you while touring?We’ve only done a couple of tours but playing with Foundation, Bracewar and Terror are obvious highlights, all of them are great bands and as I said before Lowest of the low is one of my favourite records so it was great to play shows with them. Playing shows like outbreak and ghostfest have always been crazy for us which is amazing, really looking forward to playing them again!
The final Basement Leeds show was unreal too, the lineup was really strong and all the bands got really good reactions!
As for the craziest thing, not massively crazy but we played up in Scotland with Last Witness the other year and found a hidden beach, where we all went climbing on massive rocks, Louis was in their van and they got there after us, we knew they’d arrived when he came sprinting across these rocks before jumping into the sea to find he was surrounded by jellyfish…..
What is your favorite Breaking Point song?For me I’d say Life Sentence, when we were writing it I really wasn’t sure on it, as the structure didn’t seem to work, then the night before recording we changed it up a bit and now I love it.The lyrical content and Jamie Frye’s guest part are great too.
What do you love and hate the most about being in a band?I love being able to travel around and see friends all over the place, play great shows with them and their bands which would be hell of a lot harder to without the band! We get to go to some great places and eat loads of good food, all with our friends. Perfect!
The only thing I don’t like is the organisation side of things, logistically having to organise another 4 people around conflicting work hours, band commitments etc can be a struggle, but I wouldn’t say I hate it!
What jobs do you and the other BXP members have besides being in a band?I work for a highways agency
Fisher is a teacher
DBC is studying at University
Louis is doing BWP full time!
Earlier I asked you about the UK scene but what do you think about the hardcore scene in general?There are some great bands coming out still, and older ones putting out constantly strong releases too. The biggest loss is that Trapped Under Ice are taking a break for a year or so, easily one of the best bands of the last 5/10 years. I really like how UKHC is standing on its feet more and not relying so heavily on a touring US headliner to make shows good, this is positive and should be built upon.
What would you say that the greatest influences for Breaking Point are (bands, releases, life experiences)?I guess we just all have a similar mindset, obviously are all straight edge and into hardcore. I personally am not sure on Louis’ influences lyrically, I think they are varied!
What are you looking forward to this year?I can’t wait to get our split with Final Rage out firstly, then just seeing what new records come out in the UK, hopefully more new bands and hardcore continuing to grow like it has been for the past few years. CTW fest in September is also going to be a highlight from what I understand!!
Anything you want to say or add?Support UKHC and shout out to Southern Rise Hardcore.
Thank you very much for your time and effort!
Looking forward to get the new split,
and I hope to see you in The Netherlands soon!
