Breton (band)

Breton
Roman Rappak during Rock im Park in 2014
Roman Rappak during Rock im Park in 2014
Background information
OriginLondon, England, UK
Genres
Years active2007–2019
Labels
  • Fatcat
  • Believe
  • Cut Tooth
  • Strange Torpedo
  • Hemlock
Past members
  • Adam Ainger
  • Roman Rappak
  • Daniel McIlvenny
  • Ian Patterson
  • Ryan McClarnon
  • Alex Wadey

Breton was an English band from London, consisting of lead vocalist and guitarist Roman Rappak, drummer Adam Ainger, programmer Ian Patterson, bassist Daniel McIlvenny, and visual artist Ryan McClarnon.

Rappak and Ainger began playing together around 2007, but the full group did not coalesce until several years later. They envisioned themselves as a multimedia artist collective, working from a former NatWest bank building in Elephant and Castle which they dubbed Breton Labs.[1] The group released three extended plays and did remixes for artists such as Tricky, Alt J, The Temper Trap, Lana Del Rey and Local Natives.[2] The group signed to Fatcat Records in 2011 and released their debut full-length, Other People's Problems, early the following year.[3]

For much of 2012 and 2013, the band played around Europe while writing material in preparation for a follow-up album. As their own studios had been earmarked for demolition, the five-piece moved to Berlin to record the new album.[4] They set up their own label and signed with Believe Recordings (UK) and released the singles "Envy" and "Got Well Soon" by the end of 2013. In early February 2014, the album War Room Stories was released.

Breton's single "Got Well Soon" was included in episode 4 of Life Is Strange, an episodic video game made by Dontnod Entertainment in 2015, as the first song played inside the Vortex Club. This caused a rise in popularity of the single.[5] But "Edward The Confessor" was their first ever single to be included in any video game. The single was included in Sleeping Dogs, an action-adventure video game developed by United Front Games and published by Square Enix's European subsidiary in 2012 as one of the songs in the in-game "Kerrang! radio". The following year, their single "The Commission" was included in Asphalt 8: Airborne, a racing video game made by Gameloft as one of the main menu themes.

In February 2019, Rappak confirmed the splitting of the band through posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.[6]

  1. ^ Hann, Michael (23 March 2012). "Breton: Other Peoples' Problems – review". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  2. ^ Breton at Allmusic
  3. ^ Diver, Mike (2012). "Breton Other People's Problems Review". BBC Music. BBC. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  4. ^ Martin, Felicity (9 January 2014). "Breton: East Berlin War Stories". Clash. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  5. ^ Google Trends [1], rise in popularity noticeable in August 2015
  6. ^ bretonLABS (4 February 2019). "Thanks for all the amazing messages over the last year. We wanted to officially announce the end of Breton as we are all working on new projects. Thanks to everyone who came to the shows, streamed the music, bought the records and wore the t-shirts... (part 1)pic.twitter.com/lSQMUZ3f0p". @bretonLABS. Retrieved 5 February 2019.