Music

CommsBreakdown is Steve Ash, a British music producer and composer now based in New South Wales, Australia.

I’ve been involved in music since an early age and was part of the Black Dog Productions crew in the early noughties. I contributed several tracks to The Black Dog’s ‘Unsavoury Products’ album, as well as remixing tracks for Elbow, A Guy Called Gerald, Hanson and a remix of ‘New York’ by U2.

I record a mix of instrumental electronica, downtempo beats, ambient soundscapes, techno and drum & bass from my home studio in The Southern Highlands, NSW.

CommsBreakdown’s sound always had a melodic focus, mixing synth hooks, ambient washes with intricate programmed rhythms and beats. As well as playing keyboards and programming electronic sounds, I also play guitar and bass, occasionally adding these textures to my compositions to add a human feel.

Where to listen to CommsBreakdown music

I have four albums that you can stream on Spotify, Apple Music and most of the major streaming platforms.

Dadtronica Eclectica, Frequencies Of The Southern Hemisphere, Dystopia For Soundtrack Lovers and Music For A Civilised World are all available to stream on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Tidal + Deezer.

You can find more music on the CommsBreakdown Bandcamp page, where you can stream the tracks and (if you like ’em) buy the whole album, or just single tracks.

Stream the tracks from the embedded links below.

Dadtronica Eclectica

Dadtronica Eclectica* takes you on a journey, mixing CommsBreakdown’s trademark environmental noises, melodic hooks and ambient soundscapes with beats, bass and 120bpm+ tempos. It’s an album that works as well on the dancefloor as it does on headphones at home.

Think of Dadtronica Eclectica as a journey through the day, starting in the morning with leftfield house and techno, then taking in retro electro, melodic house and drum & bass for a night on the town, before crashing out in the gutter with more downtempo vibes.

*Dadtronica (definition): retro-influenced electronica and dance music, made by mature producers who mix 80s, 90s and 00s influences with 21st century music-making.

Listen to Dadtronica Eclectica

I Heart Techno

I Heart Techno started out as a crazy experiment – could I take the sounds from a kids toy DJ mixer and actually make them into a decent techno track? Around 70% of the sounds are taken from the toy DJ mixer, then sampled, manipulated and effected, with additional 909 drums, 303 acid lines and synth sounds added in Logic.

This is a Bandcamp-only release for Bandcamp Friday, November 2025. I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether this track hit the techno spot!

Listen to I Heart Techno

In Two Minds

In Two Minds is a collaboration between CommsBreakdown and the mighty Stimeral.

This Bandcamp-only EP brings both our signature styles to the table, with a mix of uptempo electronica that draws on house and techno influences, alongside our shared love of 90s electronic music.

Listen to In Two Minds

House On The Spectrum

House On The Spectrum is a collaboration between CommsBreakdown and Michael Herman, aka MyAutisticHusband.

Based around a classic house groove, it’s a commentary on the affinity between autism and the predictable, pattern-based structure of house music – and how music bring us community.

Listen to House On The Spectrum

Remixes Of The Southern Hemisphere

Remixes Of The Southern Hemisphere features six amazingly original reworkings of tracks from Frequencies, with mixes by Masefield Labs, nic, Twitchy Bones, DarpSyx and Stimeral (oh, and me too!)

The EP kicks of with some dancefloor energy and takes a journey through trance and electronica, before dialing down the vibe for some dub, downtempo and soundtrack chill.

Listen to Remixes Of The Southern Hemisphere

It’s always an honour to get your music remixed by such talented producers, so please do go and check out their Bandcamp pages and dive into their own original music too.

🔥 Masefield Labs: masefieldlabs.bandcamp.com

🔥 nic/Shugmonkey: shugmonkey.bandcamp.com

🔥 Twitchy Bones: twitchyboneselectronica.bandcamp.com

🔥 DarpSyx: darpsyx.bandcamp.com

🔥 Stimeral: stimeral.bandcamp.com

An Unexpected Treat

An Unexpected Treat is a slice of tasty dub-flavoured jazzy house, designed to put a spring in your step and a smile on your face.

Listen to An Unexpected Treat

Lazing In The English Sunshine

Lazing In The English Sunshine is a chilled piece of ambient electronica that’s a love letter to England and the hazy summer days of my youth.

Listen to Lazing In The English Sunshine

Frequencies Of The Southern Hemisphere

Frequencies Of The Southern Hemisphere takes you on a journey around the sounds and everyday moods of Australia.

CommsBreakdown’s trademark mix of ambient, electronica, downtempo and post-rock merges with the sounds of Aussie wildlife, cascading waterfalls, rolling thunderstorms, laughing kookaburras and the hot summer buzz of evening cicadas.

Close your eyes, open your ears and immerse yourself in the ambience of the Southern Hemisphere…

Listen to Frequencies Of The Southern Hemisphere

J’Adore Les Croissants – The Remixes

J’Adore Les Croissants is an homage to 90s French house and the humble croissant, featuring the sultry spoken vocals of Key of D Music and Tina Hyde.

The Remixes EP features the original club mix from CommsBreakdown, with Nic’s groovy disco mix, DarpSx’s retrowave mix and Stimeral’s sparse minimal electronica mix. There’s even an orchestral downtempo mix for those post-club munchies.

Listen to J’Adore Les Croissants

Downtempo Forever! EP

Downtempo Forever! takes the five dance tracks from the Uptempo Forever! EP and remixes them as halfspeed, downtempo chillout versions.

Listen to Downtempo Forever!

Uptempo Forever! EP

Uptempo Forever! takes five of my favourite CommsBreakdown dance tracks and brings them together for the one EP of four-to-the-floor magic.

Listen to Uptempo Forever!

Symbiosis by CommsBreakdown + Avilynn

Symbiosis is a collaboration with Berlin-based DJ and producer, Avilynn, mixing evolving IDM sounds with hard-hitting, uptempo beats.

Listen to Symbiosis

Attack The Planet

Attack The Planet! is a slice of sci-fi trance, with a thumping techno rhythm melded to space-age, psychedelic synths and filthy acid riffs.

Listen to Attack The Planet

Dystopia For Soundtrack Lovers

Dystopia For Soundtrack Lovers: an album of instrumental, downtempo electronica that’s the soundtrack to the imagined movie in your head.

It’s an album of light and shade, highlighting some of the darker elements of the world in the first five tracks, and then shining a brighter and more relaxing light on the final five tracks.

Close your eyes, step into the movie in your imagination and let the music take you on a journey…

Listen to Dystopia For Soundtrack Lovers

Stargazer by James Page vs CommsBreakdown

CommsBreakdown takes the original Stargazer track by James Page, adds some dancefloor magic and enhances the inherent beauty of James’ original piano motifs and melodies.

Listen to Stargazer

Remmus by Meraldown

Introducing Remmus, the new track from Meraldown – a collaboration between Stimeral and CommsBreakdown.

Remmus mixes Stimeral’s characteristic synth bass and atmospheric electronic vibes with CommsBreakdown’s twangy, retro guitar, acid synth and pounding four-to-the-floor drums.

The track is available in two distinct mixes:

Stimeral’s Reverse Mix
CommsBreakdown’s Twang Mix

You can find Stimeral’s mix at stimeral.bandcamp.com

CommsBreakdown’s mix is at commsbreakdown.bandcamp.com.

Music For A Civilised World

Music For A Civilised World is a collection of ten downtempo chillout tracks, with electronica, ambient, jazz fusion and chillhop flavours featured in this relaxing, laidback mix. Slip on your headphones or earbuds, dive in and join the civilised world!

Listen to Music For A Civilised World