2tall feature - Published in Undercover Magazine, 2005

——————————————————————

Scratching, what is it? Some say it’s noise, some say it’s music. For 2tall it is most definitely the latter.

2tall’s musical background goes back to his early teens, when he learnt to play various instruments and use early computer software before turning to what would become his instrument of choice: the turntable. But unlike many DJs today who are exposed to the technical feats of scratch pioneers such as Q-Bert or MixMasterMike before anything else, 2tall took a more traditional road into the world of DJing and music making. Starting with production, 2tall then learnt to mix records as a DJ before discovering scratching thanks to DJ Hype, whose scratch styles he remembers trying to emulate using a test tone record and line switch. These first dabbling with scratching led to his discovery of battle records as a source for a DJ’s sonic arsenal, which in turn led him to master the art of scratching and realise the musical potential of the turntable, on its own and coupled with traditional production.

Far from limiting himself solely to production and scratching he also entered the battle arena, on his own and as part of the Truesicians, who represented the UK at last year’s DMC team finals. Looking back on his battle days he is keen to emphasise the importance for younger DJs to concentrate on more musical avenues than just battling: “in the older days of battles there was as much emphasis on being a good party DJ as there was on winning battles and freaking people out. The two were like the same thing. But then as the technology and scratching evolved it’s now got to a point where people are just battling and do not do anything else. They sit at home and do juggles, scratches and DJ battles. But, throw them in front of a crowd and ask them to mix and do it well, and there’s no chance.” He summarises what a lot of people feel has been happening to the battle scene for the last few years by saying that “it’s a shame because it’s almost like kidding yourself. Battling as a competitive, entertaining kind of artform has been eating itself.”

And thankfully for us 2tall never was one to see battling as a means to an end, instead choosing from early on to continue working on his love of music instead of concentrating on competitive DJing. His first releases came in the form of scratch beats CDs. As he explains they acted mainly as a form of promotion and an example of his production skills whilst also offering fellow DJs new beats to cut to. His first official release was to be a glimpse of things to come, in the form of an all-scratch track on the Cookshop EP sampler. He then went to work on new material, which saw the light of day as The Rise EP, released after his signing to newly founded Needle-Work records. Interestingly the Rise was originally meant to appear on the famous ‘Return of the DJ’ compilation, but was pulled out at the last minute meaning that 2tall was able to realise a life long dream of having his own EP, and in turn continue to work towards his first album, the Shifting Tides. Whilst the Rise was more of a musical image of his time battling, Shifting Tides reflects a more mature approach to music making, away from turntablism as a hiphop sub-genre and towards musicality and the rightful place of the turntable as an instrument. “You can still do tunes like [the Rise], with loads of cuts and showing off but you need to be able to move on too, you need evolution. Which is why Shifting Tides is a mix of different things: there is a bit of live stuff on there, percussion, some cello, and live bass as well as scratching and programmed stuff and all that is put together to fit as one whole. I like to call this blend of production methods, scratch fusion. It’s not just one or the other, but all of them as a whole.”

The album really manages to surprise you; with its varied moods and styles 2tall achieved more than proving the musicality of the turntable, he has produced an album that will surprise the sceptics and please the heads, whilst also being able to stand on its own and not be pigeonholed as a ‘scratch album’. The variety of musical themes and melodies is another strong point, as 2tall carries you on a journey that leaves you wanting for more. This is definitely an album to watch out for and an artist that you will be hearing more of as time goes by. In more ways than one 2tall manages to encapsulate the essence of a new breed of musicians; we are past proving the turntable as an instrument, it’s now time to let people enjoy the music.

Popularity: 1%

written by Laurent