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 seven albums that you can find on the CommsBreakdown Bandcamp page or stream on Tidal, Qobuz, YouTube Music, Apple Music, Amazon Music and Spotify etc.
- Beats From A Neurodivergent Brain – a collection of beats, breaks and bass that dives into the leftfield side of dance music.
- Dadtronica Remixes – 10 tracks of remixes, with the cream of independent electronic producers reworking CommsBreakdown tracks from Dadtronica Eclectica and Dadtronica Ambientus.
- Dadtronica Ambientus – a voyage through the chilled, ambient side of CommsBreakdown.
- Dadtronica Eclectica – a mix of leftfield dance, techno, drum & bass, electro and downtempo.
- Frequencies Of The Southern Hemisphere – a journey through the natural sounds of Australia, mixed with ambient, electronica, post-rock and downtempo beats.
- Dystopia For Soundtrack Lovers – an eclectic selection of IDM, electronica, dark synthwave and downtempo moods.
- Music For A Civilised World – a mellow trip through downtempo beats and calming electronica.
They’re all available to stream right now.
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.
Beats From A Neurodivergent Brain
Beats From A Neurodivergent Brain is a collection of electronic doodles with one eye on the dancefloor and the other on the beauty of repeating rhythms and patterns.
I was late-diagnosed as AuDHD back in 2025, and while it’s been tough getting to grips with that diagnosis, it has made me realise just how important my brain type is in defining the way I make music. The hyperfocus on making tunes, the love of repetition, the desire for structure and the need for new sounds (and dopamine) have all shaped the way I make music.
I hope you enjoy these beats as much as I love making them. The album is an eclectic mix of techno, IDM, drum & bass, electro and ambient techno. So, whack up the volume, max the bass and get your dancing shoes on!
Listen to Beats From A Neurodivergent Brain
Jimothy (He Does Raccoon Strut)
This track was inspired by Seattle’s cutest, short-spined raccoon, Jimothy. It’s an acid techno homage to the furry little critter, extolling his immense greatness over a four-on-the-floor beat and an acid 303 backing.
Listen to Jimothy (He Does Raccoon Strut)
Dadtronica Remixes
Dadtronica Remixes is a reimagining of tracks from the Dadtronica Eclectica and Dadtronica Ambientus albums, with remixes and reworks by Masefield Labs, Stimeral, Shugtronix, Stimeral, Darpsyx, Tim Hopkins, Socool, Arcane Trickster, Dubdelay + CommsBreakdown 🎹 🎛️ 🥁 🎶 🔥
There’s drum & bass, deep breaks, leftfield electronica, ambient techno, psychedelic dance and dubby IDM in the mix. It’s CommsBreakdown + Friends as you’ve never heard them before!
Sax Trax
Sax Trax is the latest collaboration between CommsBreakdown and Socool.
We started with an experiment: could we take two straightforward saxophone samples, chop them up into single notes, re-play them, change the pitch, process them and turn these source sounds into multiple new tracks. The answer is, YES, we could!
Sax Trax is a collection of different moods, tempos and electronic music genres, but all featuring the same sax samples hiding somewhere in the mix. Dive in and feel the sax!
Cyclops
Cyclops is the phenomenal new dub techno track from Arcane Trickster and CommsBreakdown.
Cyclops is the first collaboration between the production team, Arcane Trickster, and solo producer, CommsBreakdown. It’s a slice of spacey dub techno that brings together the melodic and studio mastery of Arcane Trickster with the beat-driven production of CommsBreakdown.
My Brain Feels So Good
My Brain Feels Good started out as an experiment to try and replicate the warm, overdriven guitar tone of one of Socool’s favourite tracks. I didn’t quite nail the guitar tone, but I did come up with a cool guitar riff that become the foundation for this track.
Socool and I took the rough guitar riff, a few additional guitar parts and some basic drums and then made our own versions of the track, to see how differently (or not) they would turn out.
There’s a common thread through both versions, but our own style shines through in both mixes. Enjoy!
Listen to My Brain Feels So Good
Check out more music by Socool on her Bandcamp page here
Dadtronica Ambientus
Dadtronica Ambientus is the flipside to my Dadtronica Eclectica album. This collection of tracks celebrates the chilled, ambient and electronica sides of the CommsBreakdown sound. It’s all about evolving textures, soporific moods and the calming sounds of nature washing over you.
Listen to Dadtronica Ambientus
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
Symbiosis by CommsBreakdown + Avilynn
Symbiosis is a collaboration with Berlin-based DJ and producer, Avilynn, mixing evolving IDM sounds with hard-hitting, uptempo beats.
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.
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.
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
Four To The Floor EP
The Four To The Floor EP takes things to the dancefloor, with four tracks across the trance, psytrance, house and techno genres.
Listen to the Four To The Floor EP
Pulsomatic EP
The ‘Pulsomatic EP’ features four remixes and reworkings of the eponymous title track in tech house, drum & bass, dubstep and tech dub flavours.
Techno Relics
‘Techno Relics’ is a collection of techno, ambient techno and uptempo electronica, made between 2014 and 2024.
Ultra Communication
‘Ultra Communication’ is an album of laid-back, chilled out electronica, with a hint of techno and drum & bass in the mix.
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