The Breaks

The Breaks are Herefordshire’s most vibrant band, a collective of musicians, all hailing from the ‘Wild West’ of Hereford HR2. They’re a band on fire with a mission to build community and inspire action for positive change through the energy and vibes of their self-described ‘anarcho-soul’.

Playing in various combinations, with sometimes as many as ten musicians on stage – horns, multiple vocalists – The Breaks conjure up a potent brew of jazz-infused hip-hop and funk that draws on influences as diverse as Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Fugazi, Wu-Tang Clan, Sun Ra, Herbie Hancock, Ganja Krew, Minor Threat and Azalea Banks.

The Breaks have been kicking out the jams and cutting a blaze across the county, lifting audiences and carrying them along as they forge ever forwards. Transition, Community, Growing Local and the Abolition of Oppression are the pillars of The Breaks’ manifesto. ‘No pasarán’ (‘they shall not pass’) is their clarion call, joining them down the decades with the anti-fascists of the Spanish Civil War, raised fists aloft.