Despite dubstep’s rise in popularity and consequent rise in numbers, from artists to DJs and labels, there is still only a core number of labels which are of real, regular interest to me. DMZ and Hyperdub are two, and Paul Rose’s Hotflush is another. And even though Hotflush has been one of the busiest labels release-wise, it still regularly comes up with surprisingly refreshing music.

And so, it was a pleasure to be able to catch up with Paul Rose, aka Scuba, recently after I’d first interviewed him (briefly) for my dubstep piece in Serie B back in 2006. And it was Serie B who asked for a round two, this time concentrating on the man and his forthcoming album. The article appears in Serie B issue 21, out now and available in Spain, South America and most good European importers.

For the non-Spanish speaking massive though, the good people at Spannered are running a slightly longer version of the piece, in English. You can check it here.

I’ll be posting up the Serie B version to the portfolio archive later. In the meantime get reading if you haven’t and don’t forget to check Scuba’s new album and the excellent new series of free mixes from Hotflush.

Popularity: 3%

written by Laurent \\ tags: dubstep, Music, portfolio, writing

Dubstep feature – Published in Serie B magazine, 2006

This article contains extracts from a series of interviews conducted in person and over the internet with Skream, Kode 9, Scuba, Bruno Belluomini, NuMaestro and Infinite over the spring of 2006.

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Dubstep: Doin’ it in your earhole

London has always been a cauldron of musical activity - a unique recipient for cultures, ideas and sounds to clash, merge and form anew. At the turn of the century the explosion of UK Garage led to the emergence of various new strains of the sound, spread across the capital. In the years following these strains engrained themselves in various London boroughs and continued to mutate, emerging more recently - first in and around London and gradually spreading outwards. Grime is one of those strains. Another is Dubstep, a music that is just now starting to get a lot of attention.

While Grime emerged from the council estates of east London, it was in the south London borough of Croydon that a darker variant of Garage emerged. Built around the bouncy patterns of 2step combined with dark sounds, heavy bass and reggae, dancehall and dub samples and influences, as opposed to the rnb influences that dominated at the time, it was first pioneered and experimented by the likes of El-B, Steve Gurley and Zed Bias. In the years following it further developed and mutated thanks to producers like Horsepower, Menta, Artwork, Hatcha, Skream and Benga who built on the darker 2step foundations and were centred around the now defunct Croydon-based record shop and label Big Apple. Big Apple was instrumental in the early developments of this sound, as was Ammunition Promotions who were, and still are, responsible for the leading label Tempa, and the Forward>> club night. Ammunition coined the term Dubstep for a magazine article, a term that would slowly stick as the music bloomed over the years.

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written by Laurent

DJ Klock feature - Published in Serie B magazine, 2006

This feature was based on a longer online feature on DJ Klock and his work which is available online at spinscience.org.uk.

DJ Klock – Non-circular music

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Japan is a fascinating country to many people for many reasons – personally the one thing that never ceases to amaze me about Japan and its culture is its constant ability to surprise. Musically speaking this translates into the discovery of new artists whose work always bring something fresh. In the last few years I’ve discovered artists such as O N O, Goth Trad, Kentaro, DJ Baku, Tatsuki, Shing02, and DJ Klock who all produce and work across the hip hop, electronica and turnablist scenes. While their work can be seen within the frame of such genres, what’s truly interesting about it is that it is sometimes so different and ahead of what is being done in the West, it sounds like something entirely new. Back in issue 8 I looked at the new generation of Japanese DJs, turntablists and producers such as Baku, Kentaro and Tatsuki, who over the last 5 years have been pushing things in new directions, unhindered by what was happening outside of Japan. But there was one artist amongst this new generation who I didn’t really touch on – DJ Klock. Alongside Baku and Tatsuki he was part of Japan’s first turntable band, Whakhakha, and he’s also one of the country’s most interesting electronica artist blurring the boundaries between hip hop, glitch, house, live instrumentation and scratching and bringing all his influences together in a mix that works surprisingly well.

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written by Laurent

A-Trak feature - Published in Serie B Magazine, 2006

This feature follows up from the original interview I did with A-Trak in 2004, ahead of his becoming Kanye West’s tour DJ. A full length version of the original interview, and this feature are available online at spinscience.org.uk.

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Homeboy got that crack!

Sitting in a studio in a flat somewhere in New York with Hell Rell from the Dipset exclaiming ‘that’s that crack!’ when hearing a beat isn’t the type of setting where you think you’d find a world renowned turntablist and young producer, responsible for said beat. The beat in question was for a track, ‘Don’t Fool with The Dips’, that became one of the big surprise of 2005 in some music circles – a track featuring 3 young members of the Dipset collective rhyming over a production made mainly from turntables isn’t exactly run of the mill after all. But then again at just 24 years of age the man responsible for this, A-Trak, isn’t your average turntablist, DJ or producer. In the last 2 years he has made a habit of breaking norms and surprising followers of his early days as a turntable prodigy and battle DJ champion, as well as surprising a fair amount of people out of scratch circles since becoming Kanye West’s tour DJ. So how exactly did this Canadian boy, who still hasn’t finished his university studies, get to go on the road with Kanye for the last 2 years, have the Dipset rhyme on his track, end up doing cuts for Common’s lauded ‘Be’ album and more importantly achieve what most turntablists haven’t managed to by linking the underground, and inward looking, scratch scene to the current mainstream of rap and hip hop? Whatever answer you’re thinking of is probably off by a few miles. It involves a shop in London, a routine, some guts, Dame Dash, and of course skills.

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Popularity: 3%

written by Laurent

2tall feature - Published in Serie B magazine, 2005

This feature is based on various much q&a sessions which took place over a year at 2tall’s home and studio. The first and longest of these q&a sessions is available online at spinscience.org.uk and ukhh.com.

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Musicianship can take many forms and artists many shapes. And in many ways the above sentence has never rung truer than when applied to scratch DJs. From the musical stylings of Mixmaster Mike and D-Styles to the dnb productions and club sets of Craze, scratch DJs are constantly redefining concepts of music. And in the UK, one DJ in particular is standing tall over the rest.

2tall first came to music in the early 90s and through playing the piano and drums during his youth and teens. 1995 saw him catch the DJ bug, and after a few years of mixing he discovered battle and test tone records, opening up a whole new world of sonic possibilities which he started to integrate more and more into his mixing, experimenting with scratching as he went along. This led him to take scratching more seriously and find out about its history and the emerging turntable music being made at the time. By 2000 2tall was incorporating all the different music making skills he’d learnt in his youth alongside his newfound love (and talent) for scratching. 2001 saw him take to the battles for the first time as well, both solo and with UK crew The Truesicians. All this ultimately led to his first official release, the ‘Rise EP’, on Needlework Records in 2003. A snapshot of his time battling and learning the scratching ropes, the EP also hinted to a different and more musical side, which would eventually materialise further into his first full length solo album, ‘Shifting Tides’.

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written by Laurent

Scuba feature - Published in Serie B magazine, 2007

A longer version of this feature appears online at Spannered.

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A deeper understanding

Two years ago when I first interviewed Paul Rose, aka Scuba, artist and head of the Hotflush label, he explained how the label was never “intended to be a dubstep label.” But intentions don’t always end up as reality. Today Hotflush is one of the most well known and productive label in a seemingly ever expanding scene, and Scuba’s debut album is about to drop. And while some things may not have gone according to plan, Paul Rose is more confident than ever about what directions to take from now.
In September last year, Paul decided to leave London for Berlin, a natural move considering his musical roots. “Techno is huge here, and it’s the music that originally got me into the whole electronic thing, so it’s like a homecoming for me.” It wasn’t just that though, “I was bored of London, I wasn’t really interested in what was going on there musically. When London works well it really works, but a lot of the time the music that comes out of there is terrible.” Like what? “Well Funky House. A lot of the stuff these guys play sounds like late-90s deep house to me.” Paul’s move from the ‘home of dubstep’ to the ‘home of techno’ echoes the recent minimalist influences heard in the crossover between dubstep and techno. “I love the concept of minimal. I love it that people go mad when a little hi-hat comes in. And I think that some of the most interesting dubstep being made today is the minimal-influenced stuff.”

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Popularity: 1%

written by Laurent \\ tags: dubstep, feature, Scuba, Serie B Magazine, techno

Tokyo travel feature - Published in Serie B Magazine, 2007

Zen Futurism

I’m looking over fields of carrots and cabbages, quiet streets, temples, small houses packed tightly together and a clear night sky. This might not be the idea of Tokyo most westerners have. And yet that’s the flipside to the town centre that inspired Blade Runner, where no one sleeps and neon signs shine bright. It’s the best of both worlds – zen peacefulness wrapped in unconstrained futurism.

Tokyo, and Japan, is a shock to the system. So adapting is the key. And it’s fun because everything in Japan is an adventure. Around every corner there’s something new and exciting waiting.

The food is out of this world, the latest technology is fighting itself for your attention, assorted ‘geek’ consumer goods are everywhere and the price and choice is unbelievable on all accounts. Tokyo is all about convenience – whatever you want chances are you can get it 24 hours a day, no matter how far from the centre of town you are: food, drinks, video games, DVDs, magazines, cigarettes, alcohol, concert tickets or even pay your bills.
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written by Laurent

Killa Kela feature – Published in Serie B magazine 2006

Beatboxing is often referred to as the fifth element in hip hop - the one that is most easily forgotten but which has always played an integral part of the culture. From the days of Biz Markie and the Juice Crew to groups like Foreign Beggars, Spit Kingdom and Saian Supa Crew via Rhazel and the Roots, beatboxing has always been with us in one form or another. And when you think of beatboxing and Europe, chances are the name Killa Kela will be the first that springs to mind, or mouth. Since bursting onto the scene in the late 90s, Kela has fast established himself as the continent’s most talented beatboxer, or multi-vocalist as he once remarked. Be it solo or with crews, the man has brought an entirely new dimension and perspective to an art too often ignored or relegated to the back. With a second album about to drop (officially), non stop live tours and bags of music forthcoming it was only right that we catch up and find out what 06 has in stores for him and the Spit Kingdom crew.

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written by Laurent

Mr Lif feature – Published in Serie B magazine 2006

A full length version of the q&a this interview is based on is available online at www.spinscience.org.uk and ukhh.com.

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Return of the Colossus

Having become a firm fan favourite in the 9 years since he first released a record, Mr. Lif has in many ways a lot to live up to with his new album, ‘Mo Mega’. Regularly praised by critics and fans since his official introduction to the rap world back in 2000, Lif is an MC known for many things: intricate rhyming skills, politically charged content, an ability to articulate and deliver thoughts that aren’t the normal staple of hip hop and a talent for supercharged live shows. While these skills have earned him a reputation as one of Boston’s finest hip hop exports, a 21st century Rakim for many, they’ve also brought a fair share of criticism.

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written by Laurent

Kaikoo feature – Published in Serie B magazine, 2005

This feature is based on interviews conducted with DJ Baku and DJ Kentaro and accompanying feature and additional interviews conducted in the process of 2 years, all of which are available online in full at spinscience.org.uk.

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Kaikoo – A look at Japanese DJ culture and turntablism in the 21st century

Kaikoo is a Japanese word that roughly means ‘coming across somebody and the chance born from that encounter’. It’s very fitting to how this article was made possible and it’s also the title of a DVD documentary about DJs and producers on the Tokyo underground scene.
Japan has for a long time exerted a sort of exotic appeal to westerners as a land of differences, where things are not quite the same. Since the advent of hip hop culture over 20 years ago, Japan has taken its place amongst this worldwide scene – first by appropriating the music and culture and then by changing and evolving it so that it’s no longer about Japanese artists trying to imitate US or foreign counterparts but instead about Japanese artists expressing themselves through the culture and music.

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written by Laurent

Third Sight feature – Published in Serie B magazine, 2006

An unedited version of this q&a interview is available online at spinscience.org.uk and ukhh.com.

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Liberation Music

Even though they dropped their first album nearly 8 years ago, Third Sight are still considered as one of the finest US rap groups by fans worldwide. The gap between their first, and now classic, LP ‘Golden Shower Hour’ and the recently released ‘Symbionese Liberation Album’ doesn’t seem to have dented the fanbase or reputation a bit either. Like fine wine it gets better with age. Composed of Jihad the Roughneck on mic duties, Dufunk and D-Styles on production and cuts, Third Sight are slowly but surely stamping their print all over 2006 with a new LP that’s proving successful, features the likes of MF Grimm, Ricci Rucker and Raggedy Andy and is one of the nicest hip hop LPs we’ve heard in a while with beats, cuts and rhymes to shame most other crews. So with this in mind it was only right that we set up a conference call with this talented trio and find out some more about the music, the crew and other little known facts.

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written by Laurent

DJ Supreme feature – Published in Serie B Magazine, 2005

An unedited version of the q&a this interview is based is available online at www.spinscience.org.uk and ukhh.com.

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DJ Supreme is a legend for two reasons. The first is that he was the brains and hands behind the production and cuts for the acclaimed UK group Hijack, who delivered one of the defining albums of European hip hop in the early 90s. Turning heads around Europe and the world, Hijack’s sound was dubbed Britcore, a term it embodied in every aspects. The second reason is that Supreme is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential originators of the scratch movement. Alongside DJ Undercover, they brought forward new styles and techniques that took people by surprise and inspired a whole generation of scratch DJs from Qbert to Woody via Primecuts. But this legendary status was only achieved years after Hijack broke up following their first and only album, ‘The Horns of Jericho’. And so 15 years on we managed to track Supreme to his Swiss home and find out more about the history of Hijack, the cuts and the music. Ahead of a new DVD documentary, Supreme brings some knowledge to the table. Sit down for a tasty history lesson.

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written by Laurent