Wider Styles: a Conversation with Broken District

This album marks a turning point in the label’s evolution. First, because its creator, Jus Jam, is one of the driving forces behind Broken District; and second, because the project is currently entering a new artistic direction. The perfect opportunity, then, to sit down with both the artist and his partner Antwan, the label’s manager.

How does the release of Theoric Proximity, Jus Jam’s debut album, represent a turning point for the Broken District label?

Jus Jam: I think it reflects a desire to further develop the artists’ worlds and to try to create more complete bodies of work. I had never made an album before, and it’s quite complicated when you want to maintain a certain coherence between all the tracks while presenting it to a label that most likely won’t share your exact vision — which is perfectly normal, but can also be frustrating.

When you build a story made up of twelve well-thought-out tracks and someone comes along to change everything, it’s really frustrating. I felt freer to make this happen within our own label — it’s a very personal exercise. And that’s why it’s so important for an artist to have control over their creative process.

Antwan: For me, as someone who isn’t an artist but more of a label manager, this album arrives at a key moment for the label. We’ve just revamped our visual direction, and this also marks a shift in our musical direction.

Beyond this specific release, I think we all feel more confident now in putting out a full-length album with twelve tracks and in telling a story through a longer format. We’re also ready to embrace a wider variety of musical styles — even within a single release — as long as it all fits together and makes sense.

What was the turning point for you, Jus Jam, that pushed you to start working on this project after releasing several EPs?

Jus Jam: I’ve indeed released several EPs, not to mention my two previous aliases (Maarius, D. Fine). I think over the past few years, my music has become less and less club-oriented, even though there are still a few nods to that world (“Midnight Marauder”, “Way Off Way Out”, or “Stonk”). That’s why creating an album felt much more interesting to me at this stage — it allowed me to develop my own universe more freely.

What are the main artistic differences between creating an album and an EP?

Jus Jam: With an EP, you’re limited by the number of tracks. That means — at least for me — you have to maintain a certain coherence between the few tracks so things don’t go in every direction.

With an album, I can express a lot more while still keeping a sense of cohesion, a world of my own. I have many influences, but I think I only have one musical universe when I compose. I’m not a technician — I make music instinctively, without a set plan. I don’t know exactly where I’m going; I just need to let myself be carried along. I actually find that much easier to do within an album.

What did you want to express through this album?

Jus Jam: That’s a hard question. Telling a story through electronic music—especially without vocals—is difficult. Of course, there are values I stand for and would like to share, but expressing them through my music is more challenging.

I try more to make people feel something. I want listeners to go through the different tracks and experience emotions—nostalgia, escapism, relaxation. I want to help them forget their daily lives for a brief moment. I think what I’m really trying to do is recreate the feeling I get when I listen to music that I love.

Given the aesthetics and sounds it champions, it’s sometimes hard to believe that Broken District is a Bordeaux-based label. How do you balance the image of an internationally oriented label—thanks to collaborations with artists from all over and visibility built on that scale—with maintaining a local presence?

Jus Jam: Speaking for myself, I’ve never really relied on local roots. Unfortunately, I feel like we’re in a city with plenty of collectives but not enough mutual support, which is a shame. Everyone’s a bit too focused on their own thing.

That said—and again, this is just my personal view—I don’t make music in a “local” context. I think we created Broken District so we could release what we truly love, because the kind of artistic direction we stand for isn’t really represented in Bordeaux—or maybe even in France.

The initial idea was to create a label for alternative electronic music—something in the spirit of Warp or Ninja Tune. I don’t want to represent a single musical style; I want to champion specific projects and creative worlds. I don’t see the point of releasing 40 house records that all sound the same, for example. But standing behind an artist’s universe. That’s what matters!

Antwan: The local scene is actually what made the label possible in the first place. We spent 10 or 15 years immersed in it, Stéphane (Jus Jam’s real name, editor’s note) and I. Him mainly as a DJ (at 4 Sans, IBOAT, and various other spots in Bordeaux), and me as part of a collective organising parties, mostly at IBOAT, where we had a six-year residency. That’s how Stéphane and I met. We became friends, but it was really music and the local scene that brought us together.

From there, the label was born. It’s true that we didn’t stay deeply rooted locally. We preferred to look for musical projects that resonated with our influences and tastes, and with the tone we wanted to give the label, without setting any geographical limits.

That said, we do try to maintain some local connection, especially through record shops in Bordeaux, who are our main retailers. I sell more records at Gimme Sound (a Bordeaux-based record shop, editor’s note) than at Fnac or online on Juno Records! And we’ll always be grateful to Erwan (the owner of Gimme Sound, editor’s note), who really understood the label’s vision and promotes it brilliantly.

How have the image and identity of the label developed over nearly eight years?

Antwan: We had a fairly clear idea of what we wanted to highlight from the start: an electronic music framework, but not necessarily “club” music, with influences from hip-hop, jazz, and nu-soul. We launched the label with three VAs (Various Artists compilations), which set the tone, and then followed up with four mini-albums—something between an EP and an album, with six original tracks, where we tried to develop each artist’s musical world.

There was Sofatalk, an Italian house artist with jazz, broken beat and blues influences; Interface Palm, an Australian deep-house artist blending nu-jazz, broken beat, hip-hop, and a touch of lo-fi; Jus Jam, whose sound mixes electro and breaks with UK garage, jazz, nu-jack swing, and vaporwave hip-hop; and Slowaxx, who released a concept album combining electronic music with six jazz musicians and a rapper.

These were already well-defined projects: a continuation of the first three compilations, but adding more depth and maturity, something we’re continuing to build on today with Stéphane’s album release.

Jus Jam: The image came together gradually (laughs). It’s a lot of work. Honestly, Antoine has been the one driving most of the project. I’m the picky guy overseeing the artistic direction, probably a bit too meticulous.

We’ve just changed the label’s visual identity to give it a more mature look. The label evolves with us. It’s true that in the beginning, we were focused on an electronic direction influenced by jazz, soul, and hip-hop. But after eight years, we’ve grown and we realised we wanted to push things further. I hope this album inspires the rest of the crew to go down that same path.

What’s your overall assessment after nearly eight years of running the label?

Antwan: Running a label really isn’t easy, at least not at our level. It’s a major investment in terms of time and management… and financially too.

That said, I take a lot of pride in it, and I’ve made some amazing connections with artists whose creative worlds complement each other; artists we’ve even brought together at times. Personally, that’s what drives me: meeting people, exchanging ideas, growing culturally and musically through those encounters and collaborations. The label has truly acted as a catalyst for that.

Another takeaway is that today, an artist doesn’t need a label to release music. If someone approaches us now, it’s because they’ve connected with our universe, because the direction we’ve taken resonates with their own sensibilities—and because they’re looking for creative support in co-producing an EP or an album. So it’s rewarding to see that the work we’ve done so far has paid off in that way.

Jus Jam: Keeping a label alive is hard. We take a lot of financial risks because music doesn’t make money anymore. But we’ll keep doing everything we can to support our project because we love music and always will.

Once again, between the two of us, I’m more focused on the music itself, while Antoine’s more invested on the human side of things. It’s not that I’m not interested in that aspect, but we’re both in our thirties now, with lives that come with it, so choices have to be made. I’ve just preferred to spend more time in the studio!

Can an independent label like Broken District be economically sustainable?

Antwan: It depends on how you look at it, and at what level. If you take the project as a whole, we manage to stay balanced, to break even.

Our main expense is vinyl production, and that’s costly. We always end up selling them, but not always quickly. Still, that’s one of the things that excites me most about this project: releasing music in a physical format. Maybe it sounds a bit pretentious, but I think vinyl records are also a kind of legacy. Our records might end up in a music lover’s collection 50 or even 100 years from now!

That said, vinyl production does make the project a bit shaky financially. To bring in cash and make it viable, gigs—club nights, bar sets—are essential. It’s a broader issue though, not just for independent labels; it’s the same for most artists in the electronic music scene.

There’s a real gap between what an artist earns from selling music or through streaming and what they can make playing a two-hour set. It’s not logical, because what artists really want is to make music. And not everyone is built to perform in front of 400, 1,000, or 2,000 people. But that’s the current state of the electronic music industry.

It’s been an ongoing issue for over ten years now, ever since major streaming platforms became dominant.

Jus Jam: It can be economically sustainable if listeners actually buy records, and by streaming and sharing the music. I think the best way to support us is to spread it as much as possible. After that, if you want to send us some money, we won’t say no!

What upcoming projects are in the works for Broken District?

Antwan: We want to keep building new releases with our existing artists while also introducing fresh projects. We’ve been in talks for a while with one artist about releasing an ambient album, and with a French artist based in London for an EP that’s more club-oriented than our usual output with a distinctly UK electronic sound: bass music, garage, dubstep.

Jus Jam: Personally, I’m planning to develop a live show around my next releases. We’d also love to extend that approach to other artists on the label. So, I’d say the general idea is to keep developing album projects alongside live performances, with artists who each have their own distinct universe.