“People were like, ‘Lou Reed told me to get this!’ And I was like, ‘That’s nuts!’ I should definitely have that on the box”: Oliver Ackermann on the break-stuff philosophy that makes Death By Audio the world's most radical stompbox brand

Oliver Ackermann of A Place to Bury Strangers throws it down live in Texas.

This whole idea of moving fast and breaking stuff gets a bad reputation these days but musicians have been doing it for the longest time and Oliver Ackermann can testify that it gets results.

He didn’t get where he is today without breaking some stuff. Ackermann fronts Brooklyn noise-rock trio A Place To Bury Strangers and is the founder of Death By Audio. And the demarcation between these two roles is beyond blurred. Each informs the other, and the breaking of stuff – rules, guitar amps, recording equipment, noise limits et cetera – has been a through line of his career so far.