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Meet Derek Hackman of The Breaking Pattern in Tempe

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Derek Hackman.

Derek, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I am the primary singer/songwriter and manager for a band called The Breaking Pattern.

As a kid, I moved around a lot – never having gone to the same school twice until I finally moved to Arizona at the age of fifteen. I was a sophomore in high school when a friend brought me out to my first local show. I was blown away by the love of the music community and how much impact a small time local artist could have on the lives of the people in its own city. I knew at once that I wanted to be on stage and contribute to the culture. I played my first show at 18 and have been heavily involved with the comings and goings of Phoenix music for the past decade!

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I entered the music just as the recession hit in 08-09. When the recession hit we lost all our music venues – Tempe Clubhouse, The One Place, The Brickhouse, etc. To make matters worse, the super artist-friendly platform of Myspace completely withered up and gave way to Facebook, which had little to no means of propagating art and culture. Due to this, rock-based music declined sharply and instead rose music that was cheaper to produce and easier to book (folk and EDM). Bands like myself were forced to play at churches, parks, warehouses, and literally, anywhere that would allow us to play. Most bands that weren’t already commercially mainstream died, very few survived this era. However, in the past five years or so, we’ve seen a resurgence – both economically and in the rise of better social media platforms for artist discovery (Instagram, Twitter, Spotify). This has led to a new boom in rock and indie music. My own journey has been marked by scams, betrayal, and catastrophic losses. That said, I am not a cynic. I do what I do because I love it. I love music, I love art, I love the community, I love shows, I love everything about this world. If you aren’t absolutely insane and all-consumed by the pursuit of great art, then I would not advise stepping into this arena, it’s brutal. Also, despite what all the award speeching celebrities will tell you, it’s perfectly fine to have a backup plan!! You think you’re going to pay for a professional sounding album, music video, and photoshoot while working minimum wage?? This artist is done with starving, learned that lesson the hard way.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into The Breaking Pattern story. Tell us more about it.
Our motto is “songs for people who want to feel happy”. We want to hook you in with a feeling. However, we also want to be so much more than music. Yes, in the metaphorical sense that we like to be very open and communicative with our audience, but also in the literal sense. I am a spoken word artist with multiple poems out on YouTube (and active in the slam community). I occasionally host podcasts with other creatives around the valley (called “Wine Wednesday”). We have over 1000+ Instagram posts, many of which contain poetry, lyrics, and other content. Our live shows are interactive and contain thought-provoking messages. And I also am currently 80,000 words deep into my first novel. The Breaking Pattern was always intended to be an outlet of creative expression, and not some one-dimensional band cranking out song after song. I think the days of the one-dimensional artist are gone. We are now seeing a rise of creatives with multiple talents. And people follow them because these are the thinkers, the idea-men, the people who influence and inspire us with great art regardless of the platform the art has been received. Sure, we have some supporters who are there just for the music. But the ones who get super invested are the ones who love all the various content and craziness coming out of our brains!

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I’ve always defined ambition as “perpetual dissatisfaction”. Don’t get me wrong, I have achieved a great deal. The band has accolades from Alt Press, Substream, and Huffington Post. We’ve opened for our heroes, put on sold-out headlines, completed tours, released full-length albums, and released music videos that trended on Reddit. All that said, there’s nothing I look back on as a singularly proud moment. I always tell myself that I can do better. I will say this… occasionally, I will get a message or have a talk with a fan about how much I have impacted them with our art. It’s those moments that all my vanity sheds, and I remember how much music and poetry can really change others. I cut myself open on the daily with every song I write, to know even one person was impacted in a positive way is such a liberating feeling that pushes aside any hardship and eclipses any accomplishment.

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