ONE LAST DROP: BROKENHEART
Image by @_erv____
Brokenheart is manned by Montreal, Quebec duo Jumbo and Redscars. Their raw style is anchored by intricate fabric work and fusing many different textiles onto a single garment. Brokenheart controls chaos as a tool to push their signature mark, one defined by texture, synthesis, and in their words, destruction.
Check out our interview with Redscars and Jumbo and dive into their minds for a bit to witness their creative journey.
Brokenheart has a very distinct style in the emerging streetwear world. Absent is an emphasis on printed graphics and illustrative prowess. Instead, you two chose to focus on the fabrics themselves, cutting and sewing your way to showcasing a carefully calculated formula of distressed (or as your site describes with some items, destroyed) garments. How did you guys get to this point creatively and why did you choose this genre of street fashion?
Like many other brands, we started off with screen printing on shirts, but after a while, there’s only so much you can do with prints. At that time, though, we were really into crust/punk pants but couldn’t afford the ones we wanted. We knew that originally punk pants were mostly DIY, so we figured we’d make them ourselves. That was our first introduction to actually playing with fabrics hands-on. It opened doors to experimentation that printed graphics never could. We were still very far from what we do today, but these pants most definitely paved the way toward our focus on fabrics, like you said. This obsession with silhouettes and textures developed and has given birth to the heavily distressed/destroyed garments and masks we’re known for in our city. Some people describe our pieces as "Avant-Garde Fashion," while others have gone as far as saying we should exhibit our pieces in art galleries. The truth is, we never intended anything. It’s the kind of thing where you’re just chasing what you like for 2–3 years, and then you look back and realize you’ve carved yourself, found more of yourself. Looking back, though, it makes sense we’ve fallen into this niche; experimentation and craftsmanship are essentially what’s most important to us.
What is the story behind the name Brokenheart?
Before being our brand’s name, it was a way to describe a mental state we both shared at a similar time, at our lowest point, facing personal issues and scrambling to find purpose. Ultimately, we were just looking for something to save us, and when the idea for the brand came about, it did just that. That era of introspection led us to finding our purpose; without that mental state, without going through it, we wouldn’t have found it. All this to say, Brokenheart in itself is a story of transforming your hardships to better your life. Exploiting the darkest parts of the mind has always been our greatest asset, both in music and clothing.
How did you guys meet?
We had known each other for some time through mutual friends, but that was it. We only really clicked when we started going to parties a few years later. Now, with everything we’ve been through, we’re like brothers, and we literally talk every day.
How did you two come together and decide that Brokenheart was the medium that you both wanted to express yourselves through?
REDSCARS: I had been making music on my own but hadn’t really told anybody. When I got around to dropping my first song, Jumbo hit me up, looking to understand how serious I was with music and why I was trying to make something out of it. That got us talking about what we just mentioned in question 2 about purpose-seeking. It turned out we felt the exact same way. Maybe two months go by, and Jumbo comes up with clothing. Music and fashion had always been intertwined, so it was a no-brainer. We’re as similar as we are different, but at the core, our work ethic is the same, which made creating under one umbrella extremely easy. At that point, we had also made some money here and there, so we already had trust and experience working together.
JUMBO: Before dropping his first song, we were speaking almost every day, but he never brought his music up. I guess his plan was to get good enough before putting it out there, and I felt that. But yeah, when we got together, we figured out we enjoyed a lot of the same things. He showed me the underground scene, and I showed him the fashion scene. Adding onto what he said, it was indeed a no-brainer, and deciding to create under Brokenheart was an easy decision, as we had nothing else going for us.
What does the number 7 represent for the brand?
When people think about the number 7, they often associate it to luck. For us, when we think about luck, we think about the cards we were dealt in this life. We all start somewhere, but it’s up to us to find a purpose and follow that path. Both being the sons of immigrants, it’s a lot easier to see that. Them coming from a place torn by war or chaos, it was then up to them to play the resources and circumstances around them to get a on a path. It’s no surprise when we see 7 or 777 in the wild, but it serves as a reminder that we are on that path and to be grateful we can do so.
Where did you two gain the experience necessary to envision the kind of clothing that you bring in to the world?
We’ve always had a taste for designer sophisticated garments, we just didn’t have the money for it. One thing was clear at that time, though: if we wanted to create pieces of the same caliber, there was no way around it—we had to put our heads down and truly learn the basics of making and reworking clothes. Nowadays, no matter the endeavor, all you need is discipline because all the information is out there on the Internet. But yeah, after getting the basics down it was mostly experimentation—trial and error. We approach everything like we don’t know anything, and I think this has helped us as well when it comes to learning our crafts. We’re still very far from our full potential but as long as we stay on our path, we’ll be alright.
Being from California, Quebec seems like an entirely different world to me. How did being from Montreal lead you guys into the lane that you carved for yourselves with Brokenheart?
We’ve been around the world, but Montreal really is that special place. We believe the city stands at a crossroads between the U.S. and Europe. You could even say we’re French Americans, and that would be a fair assessment. Culturally, it’s a melting pot, and you can see that in the way we speak—that mix of French and English you can’t find anywhere else. Anything that happened in the U.S. and Europe (especially France) would come to influence the music and the drip in the city. It allowed us to be exposed to the best of both. So, when it came time to carve our own lanes, we had a good number of things and places to be inspired from. We still want to convey that the city gets inspired, but the way it twists it to make it its own is really what makes it unique. Since we’re neither of those regions, we’re able to mix things in a way that never feels forced or out of place.
Redscars, you make music that complements the Brokenheart aesthetic very well. Do the creative breakthroughs of one project help with the other?
Most definitely, over time, I’ve realized my music isn’t the cause but the result. It’s a by-product of our lifestyle. We’re chasing our overall aesthetic, and when we achieve something, it bleeds into the music—you can hear that. I try to record every day, but whenever I feel blocked, I can always turn to the clothing side of the brand to replenish until I can go back to the music again. I think Jumbo would say the same about music. Everything we do is a common effort toward our common goal, and it doesn’t matter whether people realize it or not; all that matters is that they see the brand. (Be sure to check out some of Redscars’ music at the end of this segment).
The aesthetic of Brokenheart seems to take cues from different scenes such as Punk, Extreme Metal, Hip Hop, and synthesizes it all into something unique and defining of your brand. What was your guys’ reasoning and approach to this melding of subcultures?
All of the above are scenes we appreciate and follow for one reason or another, whether it’s the music, the fashion, or the visual aesthetics. We’d even add Trap Metal in there, which is really what got us into punk in the first place back in the day and made us fall in love with crust pants. The reasoning was made a while back, but it went along the lines of : to find our identity we have to pay close attention to what we enjoy and to what makes us different. This way, we’re able to double down and combine a whole bunch of things to make something that feels like us. We’re still in that process, though; it’s always evolving, but finding ourselves is the only way to discover some form of originality.
What kinds of things give you guys inspiration for coming up with a new piece?
Consuming all forms of art—movies, architecture, video games, music, past civilizations, different cultures, etc. For example, one of our current best sellers is the “Fur Hoodie” which was inspired by Ryuk from Death Note. But yeah, even just walking around seeing the landscapes or people in the street. Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up looking at one medium and forget inspiration can come from any where, even from within. We don’t have to force these things we just have to pay attention to what’s in front of us, gain consciousness.
For a question that we all ask ourselves as creatives, why do you guys do what you do?
To feel alive. Think we can all relate to that. There’s nothing like finishing a piece or song and seeing the final product.
What are your opinions on the current state of the creative scenes in Canada?
We know in Vancouver they’re going crazy over there, but to be honest, we really only tapped in within our city, Montreal. The city is full of talent once you look for it; the scene keeps progressing. We believe it has been brewing for long enough, and that you can expect a lot coming from Montreal in the upcoming years.
Do you believe that art of all media should stand for something or have a message about larger society?
We definitely like for our stuff to have meaning, as it helps trigger ideas for all aspects of our brand. When it comes to art in general, we don’t believe it necessarily has to have meaning at all times. As long as you can make somebody feel something, we believe it has served its purpose. You can imagine something like a song that has the hardest bars ever written, but if it doesn’t sound good, nobody will listen. So, it’s almost always about the feel first; then, if there’s a deeper meaning, it’s a plus.
What is the end goal with Brokenheart? Any plans after Brokenheart?
We don’t really see a future where there’s an after Brokenheart as of now. Brokenheart is pretty much the end goal, we plan to create something that will last long after we’re gone. We want to inspire, become a reference internationally.
