Geiomix

In a follow up to my Geiom interview, I have a specially commissioned "influences" mix by Geiom to share. With his album "Island Noise" out now (check "Phlei Nasir", it's nuts!), Geiom has kindly taken the time to assemble a diverse mix and describe what each track means to him.

DOWNLOAD the Geiomix here

Joao Gilberto – Manhã de Carnaval – 1959

“From the film Black Orpheus – this is what got me started on Brazilian music – well bossa nova at least. Bossa nova always seemed childlike at first but some of the main characters were actually quite debauched.”

Kishore kumar – Koi haseena - 1975

“Demonstrates a very fertile period in Indian pop – no fear of using funk guitars or mad synths in a tune. Sadly these days the western influence often just means a ‘dance’ beat or a rap section in English. It’s from one of the most popular Indian films ever, Sholay. I heard this a lot when I was growing up.”

Raymond Scott – Backwards overload -1968

“Genius electronic sound art from an era when only a few people like Mr Scott could make this stuff – Using instruments the size of a car, specially designed and built by himself and Robert Moog.”

Bjork – Scatterheart – 2000

“Truly visionary artist who always stays ahead of the game. From the film Dancer in the Dark which I found a bit crap (!) but also very emotional.”

Sweet Exorcist – Clonk - 1990

“Weird bass music from Richard H Kirk, who was half of legendary synth duo Cabaret Voltaire, and pioneering Sheffield producer DJ Parrot. The album ‘CCEP’ is a tripped out masterpiece. Sounds outrageous on a good system.”

4 Hero – No sleep raver - 1991

“Very unusual rave era tune that sounds more latin than ‘ardcore…4 Hero on some next level tip. The sample is from a wicked tune called ‘Friday Night Saturday Morning’ by The Specials. Terry Hall always makes interesting music – his more recent stuff with Mushtaq is top.”

Kosmik Kommando - ? - 1993

“All the things I like about acid music – relentless weaving synths expertly tweaked. Makes me think about strobe lights and sunrise.”

Plaid – Angry dolphin - 1995

“Great example of how you can mangle beats but still retain the funk. Totally inspirational producers.”

Sun Ra – Planetary search - 1980

“Crazed keyboard action from the outer space master.”

The Upsetter – Bird in hand - 1978

“Reggae likes to have a go at every style and this Lee Scratch Perry tune cleverly blends devotional style Indian melody over a sick dubbed out riddim. “

Goofy – Pack bus dem - 2000

“Pure joke tune – classic beat with the hilarious Goofy complaining about overcrowded Jamaican public transport. I love having ragga tunes on 7” vinyl – it’s a shame its dying out.”

Biz Markie – Just a friend - 1989

“Everyone loves this tune – its stupid but great ! We get treated to the inimitable Biz singing over a cheesy piano riff in this gently rocking hip hop classic.”

Paris – The devil made me do it - 1989

“From a big album with menacing lyrics that actually have some meaning, which can be a bit lacking in Hip Hop these days. Paris got in a lot of trouble for his politics but is still on it. Sick reversed backing track.”

Microstoria – Endless summer - 2000

“I became immersed in very minimal glitchy music around this period and these guys were maybe the best at it. I think one of this duo started out by damaging CD’s and sampling the results. They went on to turn the idea into an artform in its own right.”

Fela Kuti and Ginger Baker – Ye ye de smell - 1971

“The length of most Fela Kuti tracks is crazy ! – but the band is always tight and constantly inventive. I love afrobeat as a live experience but this is the next best thing. Pure energy as the king of African funk meets up with master UK drummer Ginger Baker in Nigeria and turns out a timeless album.”

Ennio Morricone – Esplicitamente Sospeso - 1973

“This is proper scary. We saw Morricone conducting a special concert on his 75th birthday - he is a badman. Despite being best known for epic catchy film themes this demonstrates that Mr Morricone is just as deadly with abstract dronescapes.”

Joy Division – Passover - 1980

“I love the way that Joy Division are bleak but still really tender. The production is cold and metallic and Ian Curtis’s voice is kind of robotic and it all combines to evoke something unique.”

Mazzy Star – All your sisters – 1996

“The singer in Mazzy Star (Hope Sandoval) has one of my favourite voices. Lush track.”

Kraftwerk – Ruckzuck - 1970

“From before Kratwerk went totally electro. I remember stuff like Tour de France from breakdancing as a kid but I discovered this side of them much later. Sounds almost like a live band with some tight drumming and mashed up flute/synth riff.”

Stevie Wonder – Evil - 1972

“Stevie in his best era plays every single instrument by himself to produce a nostalgic tune packed out with amazing vintage keyboards.”

Timmy Thomas – Why can’t we live together ? - 1972

“From an odd lo-fi album by a guy who only plays Hammond organ and drum machine for every track - it sounds like its recorded in black and white but the vocals and melodies are pure sweetness.”

The Stylistics – People make the world go round – 1972

“I got into this backwards – there is a cover of it on a Carl Craig album which I loved, then I discovered the original. Slick instrumentation from the days when pop music had full horn sections and stuff.”

Read the full Geiom interview here

Voices lesser heard

Local gang member getting arrested

One of the most frustrating aspcects of the debate around urban Britain's young gang/gun crime problem is the lack of voices by people actually involved or affected by it.

Yesterday, The Guardian published a series of transcripts of interviews with teenagers involved with gang and gun crime.

No matter how harrowing, it's at least good to see genuine first person accounts being published, rather than the debate being dominated by people totally removed from the causes or effects of the situation.

I think the most powerful quote from this reporting is the following:

"A lot of middle-class people think that gangs are untouchable and youths are unreachable, but that's not the case - these 13- and 14-year-old boys are scared, they are looking for guidance and they're going to anyone who can provide it."

This isn't from the journalist who wrote the piece or some MP. It's from a 19 year old who saw his first murder at 7 and has witnessed fourteen since. We live in serious times.

The eyes 'ave it

I don't normally post YouTube links but this video of Goodz is too much. One take, lit from above: he makes this any-beat sound like it's the anthem of the year. But it's all about his eyes. Just check his eyes. Pure fyah.

Metadub

On Thursday night I headed down to Metadub at Plastic People. The lineup was ridiculous: Appleblim DJ set, Shackleton live, The Bug ft Ricky Ranking, Warrior Queen, Flowdan and Killa P, Kode9 and Spaceape live. It was a night of Dubstep Visionary Allstars. I caught the end of ‘Blim’s dubby set, including some nice straight 4x4 housey tracks, before he gave way to Shack, live.

There’s something relentlessly fierce about the Shackleton sound, especially live. It’s totally no compromise, from the lack of breakdowns to the constrained sound palate: pitchbent sub, sharp percussion, jabbering just-out-of-earshot vocals and occasionally the odd synth/riff, but little more. If it had been made in the 80s, people would have drawn parallels with Thatcher’s Britain and seen punk style anti-establishment undertones. But in these apolitical times, it just seems like one man’s determination never to concede an inch.

Shackleton’s sound pushes my pleasure/pain boundaries, gets my head moving as fast as my feet and leaves me with a deep sense of respect for what he’s doing, though I do feel that sometimes I can reach an exposure limit with it. An hour long live set was full on.

On his recent Mary Anne Hobbs mix, he was described as someone who operates ‘on the fringes of dubstep.’ and perhaps in practical terms, it’s true. But yet Sam’s approach is totally central to everything that dubstep can and should be, and every new producer coming into the scene should watch how Shackleton developed his sound.

Firstly he spent time, like any enthusiast, down at the front of his chosen club by the DJ booth, which as symmetry would have it, was Plastic People, the very booth he’s now performing from. It’s said that the track that seemed to leave the biggest impression on him was Mala’s “Conference,” perhaps the Hatcha anthem during the era that his headlining FWD>> sets shaped dubstep as we now know it. Built from rolling congas and bongos, you can imagine this as a starting point for the Skull Disco sound, a kind of seed from which his untamed jungle grew.

But then Shackleton did what pretty much everyone in dubstep who wants to produce should do. He began to imagine the next step and the one beyond that. He asked himself, ‘how can I make this mine?,’ rather than Mala’s. He mutated “Conference,” rather than cloned it, and developed his own sound that you can now clearly hear as unique to him. Now I’m not saying this is easy to do, but it’s something everyone should be aiming at.

Recently here’s been a few people suggest that Shackleton isn’t dance music. I disagree. It’s just not DJ music, and that scares and confuses DJs. To me, a good selector shouldn’t be afraid to edge roll a tune: your selection as a DJ is just as important as your ability to make two tracks not sound like a horse galloping for ten seconds. And with DJs rewinding every other track right now, who cares if the next one is faded in if the last eight were pulled up?

A man who knows a few things about no compromise is The Bug, as his recent interview on the Boomnoise and Poax show will attest. While I liked the first Bug album, over the years a lot of his stuff has been either slightly too hard, industrial or noisy for me, but recently he seems to have found a perfect balance between impact and depth. And while I’ve seen him perform a few times, this was definitely the best I’d heard.

The Bug has a very refreshing attitude to DJing. Using Final Scratch, he loads up either riddims he’s made or ones that fit his style from, in this case, grime, dubstep, hip hop, dancehall or dub, and lets them off. When their impact is waning, he’ll make no attempt to beatmix, instead either hitting soundeffects or doing a spinback of the track, before rolling the next riddim. As I say, it’s refreshing, coming across like The Bomb Squad were doing his segues.

Some of the tracks he opened with hinted at real gems, including two Spaceape vocal tunes, including Cult 13’s “Wickedness” that set off my “what the...?” alarm. Others, over the physical Plastic People soundsystem, illustrated a wonderful sense of raw minimalism, such that the few elements that were chosen, and where they were placed (esp. if you can ‘read’ beats), had fantastic impact.

But this was just the beginning. Soon added to this rich mix came four very different MCs, that represent different sides to The Bug’s sound. First there was Ricky Ranking, an old school sing-jay in a reggae tradition. Older than the other MCs, he sang short, sweet, repetitive refrains over different riddims, ephasising respect and unity. Warrior Queen, all sassy and sexual-aggressive, was exhilarating as ever. Then in came Flowdan and Killa P from Roll Deep, all gruff grime menace, with a dancehall edge. Ricky and Warrior took the mics into the crowd in front of the DJ booth, and with crowd forming a tight circle around them, there was a glorious dissolution of the artificial barrier between the performers and audience. Who would have thought you could have caught a wiff of Carnival at a Wire night?

In many ways, the difference between the performers’ styles and fashions was visually manifested by their attire. Warrior Queen wore a tight but, with little tassels, teasing outfit. Ricky Ranking was sporting his reggae traditions loud and proud, with a Bob Marley t-shirt and Jamaican colours woollen hat. The Bug wore a simple black t-shirt that bore an inscription like “Killer” or “Terror” that was suitably uncompromising but yet also tells you how nice he is in person. Just as their vocal styles contrasted with Ricky Ranking, Flowdan and Killa P’s attire reflected their new school LDN road style, with Nike sportswear the look, in Flowdan’s case what seemed to be the Brazil away kit.

The visual attire metaphor even stretched to Kode9 and Spaceape, who headlined the night. Struggling through early technicals (the speaker next to them kept cutting out thanks to Plastic People’s mixer), Kode9 took to his live set rocking his favoured Sun Ra t-shirt like the experimental, scene-agitator he is. Spaceape followed Ricky and Warrior deep into the crowd but his clothing conspired against him. Standing in a part of Plastic People’s dingy dancefloor that had no lighting, the black MC, wearing a black hat, black coat and dark jeans was absolutely invisible, even from a vantage point of under two metres away. I could say it added to his sense of post-modern mystery, but a little bit of atmospheric lighting wouldn’t have gone amiss.

Still, it’s not up to Kode and Spaceape to bring the lighting to gigs, let alone a new mixer and despite these technicals, they soldiered on to give London the first glimpse of their evolving live show.

By contrast to Kode’s DJ sets or their combined studio work, the live set has its own unique feel. With Spaceape handling vocals, Kode works of Ableton, triggered by a MIDI controller, run through a mixing desk that adds in additional, analogue effects. At one point I thought I saw him preparing an analogue radio (Music Concrete!!) but didn’t see it used in the live set (Plastic People is below ground).

Unlike the Bug’s use of pre-recorded riddims, Kode’s live set works off collections of loops and sounds that can be selected or removed. Glancing at the laptop screen, there looked to be between 6 to ten sounds per section, which reflected what was being heard, namely a stripped back version of their studio sound (I can only speak from personal experience, but most tracks I’ve worked on, excluding vocal parts, use around 20-25 channels). Clearly there was a kind of sound density versus live flexibility trade off going on, but with Spaceape’s vocals providing constant arrangement variations, it worked.

Most of the tracks took an electronic, synth lead feel, abandoning any of the uses of samples heard on his album. They evolved as live, raw club tracks, liberally spiced with pitchbent, high synth melodies and perhaps a touch of the influence of skwee?

The set climaxed with an amazing synth excursion that seemed to build on some of the ideas in “Magnetic City,” the cut from Box of Dub 1 that, as with much of Kode’s stuff, I really didn’t get at first but came to understand as an exercise in evolving variations. As synth fluttered and ruffled like long flags in the wind, you became enveloped in the arrangements.

As the perfect coda to the night, as I drove I put on Quest’s “Forever.” God damn it’s epic. Warm, passionate, gentle, groove lead and catchy as fuck. Perfect for the nightdrive home from some visionaries in the venue.

For a full Shackleton interview click here. For some of my thoughts on live sets, click here

FWD>> 7th Birthday

Yep, it's true, Dusk and I have been booked again for FWD>>. I'm well chuffed.

I didn't blog about playing FWD>> for the first time this summer but from a personal perspective it was reassuringly amazing an experience; really different to playing DMZ and yet everything I'd hoped fulfilling a long-held dream would be.

One insight was that, despite six years of standing in front of those speakers, it bares no comparison to being behind the decks. I wish the experience once in your lifetime everyone who wants it. Wants a blend of extreme terror and exhilaration or the sense of trying to calm a tornado with your bare hands, that is.

Anyway, we'll be rolling Keysound style on the 23rd. See you in the venue.

Pitchfork Nov

Martyn
Originally uploaded by Blackdown

The penultimate Pitchfork column of the year featuring JME, Skepta, funky house, Burial, Untold, Ramadaman, Pangaea, Narcossist, Anti Social Entertainment, FWD>>'s 7th Birthday warehouse party, Beezy and of course Martyn.

The Bits ft Trim

The Bits ft Trim out now as an MP3 on Bleep/Road.

Futurerustic

Blackdown: Hey Geiom, so lets’ start at the top: when did you start producing?

Geiom: Its been a while now - A friend and myself financed my first 12" back in 1995 - I only had one synth and drum machine at that time. I think I was still in the aftershock of rave, looking for new sounds and getting inspired by the more thoughtful styles of the Black Dog/AFX etc.

B: Where are you from/based?

G: I grew up in North London - Recently found out I went to the same school as SLT Mob - its a small world... I have been living in Nottingham for a long long time now. Don't believe the media hype - Nottingham is not the most dangerous place in the country! Its a great city but not the easiest to promote independent music events in.

B: How many releases have you had?

G: In terms of albums there has been: “Sellotape Flowers” as Geiom, “Magic Radios” as Kamal Joory, a collaboration with multi-instrumentalist Morgan Caney which is a hybrid of acoustic and electronic sounds. “See inlay for details” as Hem - experimental/glitchy/ambient project on Staalplaat. “Small medium” as Hem - collaboration with producer Metamatics.

One important event was the inclusion of Overnight Biscuits by Kode 9 on his dubstep Allstars 3 mix - I think this introduced me to the dubstep community and helped to start Berkane Sol. I will be releasing the new album 'Island Noise' on Berkane Sol in November. Berkane Sol has now had 5 12" releases. I have also put out many other singles and tracks on compilations over the years.




"Future Rustic" photo by Geiom

B: You mention Black Dog/AFX in your early (’95) influences and oddly I’d noticed this in your current material, I guess mostly in the synths and melodies. Do you still actively cite that era of electronica as a reference point? I ask this because in many ways the “inner” synth-lead, detailed/lite/chaotic percussion approach of Black Dog and AFX is in total opposition to the urban/black music approach of linear and physical percussion/bass pressure approach…

G: Its one influence for sure - I also like a lot of older electronic music like Eno, Tangerine Dream, Raymond Scott, you can find stuff made back in the 60's and 70's that still sounds like the future.

I think that both AFX and Black Dog started out with a more sound system style - Black Dog used to make jungle - so I don't think these particular artists are in opposition to physical music. Although AFX has made some deliberately awkward music in his time!

We saw Autechre playing live at the Bloc Weekend event earlier this year and their set showed influence from almost every electronic style I can think of, including dubstep and grime. What they were doing was totally physical and had tons of bass pressure – It was designed to engage the audience rather than alienate them, which is something that electronica can be found guilty of.

I've noticed that some people like Benga and Skream are using effects and edits that sound more like electronica than dubstep so I think stuff crosses over in all directions. I think the fact that Benga and Skream are best friends and make loads of very influential music together is proof that the idea of ‘black’ and ‘white’ music has become redundant, at least in certain communities.

B: With an electronica background, both as a fan and as a producer with releases on Staalplaat and in collaboration with Metamatics, how did you come to be interested in dubstep and what excites you about the music?

G: I was into grime mainly through helping local MC's to make beats. I like it a lot but it does annoy me sometimes, mainly when the lyrics are waste. But I have learnt a lot from the Nottingham hip hop and grime scenes.

I first heard dubstep properly when the FWD>> tour came to Nottingham - I think it was Kode 9, Youngsta, Oris J and Crazy D. I was led to believe that it was a grime event so I couldn't believe that the MC was hidden away with no ego and was just hosting more than taking centre stage. I was surprised by the variety of influences I could hear and in general just blown away by the experience. Sounds cheesy but its true.

B: You were born in north London but live in Nottingham. How has your environment, both in the past and more recently, influence your music?

G: My family moved out of London to the countryside when I was a teenager and it was during that time that I got into the emerging rave culture. I think I ended up wanting to make my own music partly out of rural boredom, partly because I thought I had something new to offer. Experiencing the non diverse culture that exists in most of Britain away from our cities (I was one of only two non white people at the school I ended up at) made me fully appreciate the importance of our immigrant populations.

B: You mention you think Nottingham has of late, had a bad rep, but why, despite being a nice university town, do you think it got its gun crime reputation alongside London, Manchester and Birmingham? Was Colin Gunn’s crime syndicate, that they recently took down solely to blame?

G: That was one aspect of it in a certain area. (Gun crime has gone down here by 90 percent since the syndicate was taken down ? not sure about that)

Its true that we have crazy territorial problems here – I only live less than half a mile from the city centre and know local youths that are scared to visit town. I know that a certain type of person actually feels empowered by the idea that their ends is a no go area for strangers, and actively tries to encourage that. I think that the media hype actually adds to that problem – people are aware that Nottingham is notorious. Sadly these people fail to realise that they are often imprisoned in their ends and hardly ever go anywhere else. Its interesting to note that London has always had high violent crime stats yet does not grab the headlines as much as other cities.

B: How did Kode9 come to know about “Overnight Biscuits” by yourself and what is the thinking behind Berkane Sol, both musically/label ethos and the name itself?

G: I sent Kode 9 a few CD’s and he seemed to get more into them over time – he cut some of the tunes and played stuff on Rinse. I sent tunes to loads of labels and got mostly no response at all. Decided to do it myself and it seems to have worked out well. The label is mainly for my own tracks but I have a couple of other people that I would like to release.

B: What’s the plan with your new album 'Island Noise' on Berkane Sol?
G: It’s a CD album of new tracks packed in some futuristic/surreal artwork by my designer friend Barret. I would rather just put out vinyl but I know there are a lot of people that don’t have a turntable, and I think my tunes are good to listen to at home/in the car as well as on a system.

I am inspired by all the sounds that exist around me and we live on an island, so the title is related to that and also other islands that figure strongly in my imagination – Mauritius, which is where my family is from, and Jamaica, which must be the most musically important small island on the planet.



B: How did you come to get booked at DMZ? What is it like to play there?

G: I would like to think that I have maybe created my own small space within the dubstep sound/community and that DMZ appreciate that. It does feel like a real privilege to be asked – I learned a lot about the music from attending those events in the past and so it felt good to be on the other side of the booth. I have been getting more bookings abroad than in the UK so it was sweet to play at the most important UK event. DMZ has a special atmosphere created by the diverse crowd as well as the performers. It even brings people from as far away as the US to meditate and Mass has a heavy soundsystem. It’s been a real pleasure watching the event turn from a specialist night for the heads into a full on big rave over time.

B: Tell me about your work with vocalist Khalid? How do you know him and what was the thinking behind the release?

G: My girlfriend was organising a charity dinner after the Pakistan earthquake and we wanted some live music for it. I found Khalid in the process. He’s a big fan of Mohammed Rahfi, one of the singers I grew up listening to. He had some songs written for him in Pakistan some years back – it seems that you can pay for someone to write the lyrics and melodies for you. He had recorded them in a studio out there with session players – the recordings were cool but ruined by cheesy drum machine and home keyboard sounds.

So I chose one and got him to sing it over a dubstep tempo drum pattern I had put together. Then I built the music around the vocal – the tabla and sitar parts are programmed, I played the harmonium live and then edited it and did the same with the flute sections provided by my friend Dorian.

B: Tell me about the amazing LP track “Pheli Nazir?” What does the track name mean? Who is the vocalist and what was the thinking behind the track?

G: It means ‘first sight’ – it’s a love song, like most Indian pop music. It’s another track with Khalid (he wrote this one himself) and was made in the same way, but without the live instruments. I think it’s a good example of how diverse dubstep can be – “Zalim Maar Daala” is the same tempo but sounds much more hectic than this tune, which I think is pretty laid back.

B: Do you have any interest in the other desi/Asian/Far Eastern influences in dubstep?

G: I think tracks like the Loefah mix of Monsoon are hard to beat – it feels like a unified piece. I think some of the newer Asian sounding stuff is a bit ‘soundbite’ but I could say the same thing about a lot of the ‘stuck on’ sounding reggae samples that are being used at the minute. But I know from experience that its not easy writing an original Asian song from scratch and that mashing stuff together has often introduced people to sounds they didn’t know about.

B: What other genres of music excite you right now?

G: I listen to pretty much all styles of music – for example reggae/dub/ragga is a big influence, I loved rap ever since the breakdance era, I listen to a lot of (mainly older) Brazilian music, and I am fascinated by traditional music from many parts of the world. Characters like Sun Ra are inspirational on more than just a musical level, he had a whole mythology surrounding him. I love film soundtrack music but I don’t really get into ‘traditional’ classical orchestral music.



B: Jon Rust and Benny Ill from Horsepower rock the Berkane Sol t-shirts, Benny wearing his at the Tempa Radio 1 special recently. Are you going after Boy Betta Know’s t-shirt market? Are you going to do pink small tees for the ladies?

G: Already on that one – white small ladies shirts on sale now! Jon Rust always said the logo would look good on a shirt – we thought it might be a good way to get the label name and logo out of the record box – it’s the sort of thing that just gets hidden away in a stack of vinyl normally.

B: All this talk of “inner” sounds, what about looking out, to politics worldwide: is this something you follow? How do you feel about the terms “war on terror” and the “axis of evil?” Do either exist?

G: I can’t imagine anyone not taking an interest in some of the crazy stuff that is going on all over the place right now, I think it would be safe to say that if there is an ‘axis of evil’ then it centres around Wall Street and the other financial centres of the world. These institutions create and support misery on a scale the terrorists can only dream about. The other expression is totally dumb – how can you wage war on a concept? Is the military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan reducing our risk of terrorist attacks? – I don’t think so.

From the ground

Time in Thailand meant space. Room to read. Choked by multiple channels digital media, my book reading has suffered in the last few years. Only when the plug’s pulled do I find the mental space. And boy, do I feel the benefits.

In an impulse airport buy, I picked up Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Tipping Point.” First published in the UK in 2000 (I know, I’m late…), it sets out to explain how given social phenomena, seemingly in contented equilibrium, can suddenly undergo explosive growth. The parallels with epidemiology and virology are strong.

Having read it, I guess I should admit I’m not sure I entirely buy “The Tipping Point.” Gladwell assembles disparate case studies and claims to find laws. There’s little scientific method nor attempt to eliminate whether a complex interaction of multiple forces was responsible for a given “tipping point,” rather than taking the easy route of pointing to the influence of, say, one sole Salesman. Yet to me its real value is in learning about the case studies he’s so painstakingly read up on, whether it’s crime in STD infections in Colorado or New York in the 1990s.

Yet within a few pages of “The Tipping Point,” I was dumbstruck how clearly there were parallels with dubstep’s growth. The year “The Tipping Point” is released in the UK, dubstep’s little more than a good idea (dark garage) contained in a handful of releases (Ghost 001, Tempa 001…) lost amongst the hype and success of UKG.

It continues its outsider status for nearly six years, largely derided (“it’s too slow,” “it’s too dark”, “when does it go off?”) by other genres (breaks, drum & bass, broken beat, mainstream dance, grime…), written off by most bloggers and totally ignored by the mainstream music press. It sells little but incubates quietly amongst a handful of committed DJs, producers and fans. While it experiences gentle growth beforehand, dubstep’s tipping point was clearly January 2006.

Malcolm Gladwell attributes scenes that “tip” to three factors:

• The Law of the Few
• Stickiness Factor
• Power of the Context

Of these three in relation to dubstep, “The Stickiness Factor” is by far the easiest to assign. Where in other social epidemics it might be less clear, here you can simply say “the music appealed to people.” I always felt it could. I can’t honestly say I knew if it would. In the end it has. Of course some tunes are stickier than other and the stickiest has important role as appeal means audience. At this time, no tune was stickier than Skream’s “Request Line” which burst the genre out of its confines, though the weight of multicolour tracks from Mala (“Neverland,” “Forgive,” “Changes” …) certainly helped.

“The Law of the Few” centres around the idea that certain types of people can have a disproportionate effect. He names three of them Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen.

In Gladwell’s world, the connectors are the facilitators, people who link, join and arrange. The classic example of this is Sarah Soulja from Ammunition. To this day people have no idea how much she did and still does for dubstep behind the scenes. Other, less clear cut, examples of connectors include Boomnoise, but also Barefiles and Rinse, who connected the fans to the music. Also the DJs and producers themselves, act as connectors as they spread their sound.

Then there’s Maven, people who ingest, rank and share vast amount of information about the scene. I guess at that time that was, well, probably myself and Gutterbreakz who probably came under this umbrella.

Then there’s Salesmen, evangelists, people who take the idea to the audience. This was clearly people like Boomnoise, Mary Anne Hobbs and George Drumz of the South. To an extent I’d also argue that clubs like FWD>>, DMZ and Subloaded were Salesmen, but perhaps they are more easily categorised using…

“The Power of the Context.” Where some of the other examples seem a little stretched, according to Gladwell’s definitions, “The Power of the Context” has blatant resonance with dubstep. To quote from “The Tipping Point:” “The Power of the Context: …in ways that we don’t necessarily appreciate, our inner states are the result of our outer circumstances.” How clearly does that resonate with the importance placed in dubstep around bass heavy, clear soundsystems installed into essential club environments like FWD>>, DMZ, Subloaded?

In a final twist in the correlations between “The Tipping Point” and dubstep, I did find a startling parallel between some of his ideas around The Power of the Context and some of my Keysound thinking, the ideas that underpin our label.

Here’s something I wrote recently about Keysound Recordings:

“What is Keysound thinking?

Around 2005 I found myself returning to, in essence, the same question: why is so much of the music from London, from jungle to grime to dubstep, so dark? What was it that unified all these producers in their love of dark, edgy beats? Again and again, I came back to the same conclusion. Of those making dark beats in London, the only single factor that united everyone - from all backgrounds, gender, ethnicity, age or class - was their London surroundings.”

Contrast this with Gladwell’s The Power of the Context:

“In ways that we don’t necessarily appreciate, our inner states are the result of our outer circumstances.”

Or his explanation of a concept called FAE:

“The mistake we make in thinking of character as something unified and all-encompassing is very similar to a kind of blind spot in the way we process information.

Psychologists call this tendency the Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE), which is a way of saying when it comes to interpreting other people’s behaviour, human beings invariably make the mistake of overestimating the importance of fundamental character traits and underestimating the importance of the situation and the context.”

Using criminologists James Q Wilson and George Kelling’s “Broken Windows” theory, Gladwell points to the power of cleaning up the New York subway and its positive effect on crime rates.

“Muggers and robbers whether opportunistic or professional, believe they can reduce their chances of being caught or even identified if they operate on streets where the potential victims are already intimidated by prevailing conditions. If the neighbourhood cannot keep a bothersome panhandler from annoying passersby, the thief may reason, it is less likely to call the police to identify a potential mugger or to interfere if the mugging actually takes place.”

By extension perhaps London’s grimey surroundings are responsible for its dark music epidemic?

Old ILEA building, Hackney
Originally uploaded by Fin Fahey

A late twist to this train of thought came to me when I returned to London. I was talking to, well let’s just identify the person as a Rinse insider, who was describing the funky house nights going on out east right now. I didn’t write down the quotes, so here’s a loose paraphrasing.

“I’ve been to some funky house after parties that you’d love. Out east, some grimey venue, all girls and ghetto kids. Everyone’s dressed up, no hoods or trainers. It’s exactly like UK garage again. The music’s London funky house, except the ghetto kids are starting to make it now too. It's unclear, but in a minute it will be something. There’s no trouble though, perhaps the dress policy keeps them away…”

Apart from my obvious curiosity about “a new UK garage,” despite my musical narcolepsy, sorry reservations, about funky house, a parallel appeared to me with Kelling’s “Broken Windows” theorem.

“There’s no trouble though…” said the insider, despite this being exactly the same audience/demographic/location as grime. Perhaps, surrounded by well dressed people, a individual behaves differently? Frankly that isn’t such a revelation, think about the number of times you’ve dressed up and been on your best behaviour.

But then I think back to the one time I went to Twice As Nice in 1998 at The End. At that time it was the quintessential UK garage rave. Then a few months later, someone who may or may have not have been at the club got shot about half a mile from the venue.

In fact I remember one senior urban journalist telling me once, “mate, it’s not the new school (grime) MCs you gotta look out for, it’s the old school garage mafia…”

Hmm. Am I looking through “broken windows?” or a prism reflecting many complex colours.

Rinse@Cargo

Rinse @ Cargo Thurs 1st Nov: ya dun know the club space. Featuring Boy Betta Know, Jammer, Ghetto, Spyro, Skream, Scratcha and JJ, Jelly Jams, Circle, Youngsta, Benga, Supa D, SK Vibemakers, Katie...

From above

I recently spent two weeks on holiday in Thailand. Time away from a PC, a mobile, the internet, newspapers, four email accounts and three types of IM was good for my brain, stress levels and my book intake. This is the first in a series of short pieces inspired by my time away…

Around three hours into the flight, maybe four, I looked out the window. Dust. Nothing but dust, over hills and gullies, stretched out beneath me for hundreds of miles. There were no trees, no plants, no houses: nothing but stone mountains shaped by wind, water and tectonic forces. This had to be Afghanistan. Maybe Uzbekistan. Um, or perhaps Turkmenistan.

Tiny tracks would cross ridges or enter entire mountain ranges. From above, I had a window into entire worlds.

Blame the news agenda but when you think of countries like Uzbekistan or Afghanistan this isn’t what you visualise. What is ‘top of mind’ when you recall a nation’s identity bares little correlation to the actual geography. just like, a recent conversation with a friend informed me, the Bollywood cliché representations of London (Piccadilly Circus, Big Ben…) bare little correlation to rows and rows of Victorian terraces or post-War housing you actually find. Think the “Notting Hill” view of London, or shocked US rap fans meeting Dizzee for the first time: “Y’all have black people in London…?”. “It’s not all red telephone boxes and Buckingham palace,” as Diz says.

So when you think Uzbekistan or Afghanistan, perhaps new militant groups like the IMU come to mind, or the Taliban – images and ideas all drawn from the information reductions of the Western media. But the contrast with the visual impression couldn’t be greater. By area, mostly what makes up this part of the world, is rock. Dry, empty, rock.

In “The Tipping Point” Malcolm Gladwell brings up the well known phenomenon, “six degrees of separation,” an idea that dates to a piece of research done on US citizens in the 1960s by Stanley Milgram. Looking down on to the bare rock peaks of Uzbekistan, I wonder how on earth this could apply here?

Stanley Milgram’s study involved people connecting people through their network of contacts from Omaha, Nebraska, US to Sharon, Massachusetts, US and it found on average, that the two groups could link through 6 connections. Yet crucially, both groups are in the US: they share a language, geography, a currency, free exchange of labour and the same local laws.

Does something approaching ‘six degrees’ really apply between the West and Uzbekistan? Perhaps it’s not unreasonable so say it doesn’t. But what about Uzbeks in London? Suddenly we’re now sharing a currency, geography, free exchange of labour and the same local laws. How many separate us degrees now?

Staring down from 11km above, I guess this was what my wonder reminded me of: the sense of amazement I’ve had over the last five years or so in London that how we can all share the same city, yet massive groups move geographically near each other yet are mutually culturally invisible, like the (rich) City workers who glide thirty feet up through (poor) Shadwell on the DLR to Canary Wharf.

“Ayo/I’m tired of using technology/why don’t you sit down in front of me..?”

The invisibility of local groups is all the more amazing given the ubiquity and connectivity of modern technology. Simon Reynolds, in conversation with K Punk, has talked about the over-accessibility of culture in an internet era: “the web has extinguished the idea of a true underground. It’s too easy for anybody to find out anything now.” But how easy is it to find anyone? In cases like looking for connections between an UK blogger in a plane and an Uzbekistani tribesman, I don’t think Facebook is going to help.

Perhaps the ubiquity of technology in the West gives a perception of infinite connectivity? Instead, perhaps the internet contains dark matter, not in the physics sense, but regions of culture not lit up by the net, or parts of the net not mutually accessible, beyond the English language character barrier? Sure, you’d expect that as a function of poverty (manifested as the global digital divide), but yet the consequence of the perception of infinite connectivity might be a numbing, mutual reinforcement of viewpoints and worldviews. One that’s flawed by it’s limitations.

The plane sped on. The next time I looked out the window, rock had given away to water. Then, across sparkling waves, strode this one long, curved sandy spur like a raindrop running down a windscreen. Occasionally it split and you could see a vast bridge joining one dribble to another. Welcome to the Caspian Sea.

[PS: these aren't my Flickr images, my camera was full. But this is the same plane, the same flight company, the same side and part of the plane, the same two views I saw (Afghanistan/Uzbekistan and the Caspian Sea). Strange...]

Navratri

All this week British Hindu’s have been celebrating the festival of Navratri. It ends this Saturday. Wikipedia outlines the proceedings:

The Navratri commences on the first day (pratipada) of the bright fortnight of the lunar month of Ashwin. The festival is celebrated for nine nights once every year during the beginning of October, although as the dates of the festival are determined according to the lunar calendar, the festival may be held for a day more or a day less.

A friend of mine took part this year, and showing me the video of the night, I was enchanted by the energy, colour and synchronicity of the dancing.





Having seen that amazing video, I couldn’t help quickly asking her a few questions…

Blackdown: So you were out dancing last night, what's the name of the festival?

rt: Navratri, It literally meaning 'nine nights' It’s celebrated by Hindus, mainly Gujaratis. It is to symbolise good over evil.

Blackdown: So what's it like to attend?

rt: It’s tiring, that’s the only bad thing. Otherwise its exciting, fun to get dressed up and enjoy yourself, good to focus on the religious part so well for nine days, and it’s something everyone always waits for every year once it ends, people almost miss it, because you've got so used to going there every night for the past week

Blackdown: And who goes?

rt: Everyone, literally all ages, boys and girls...the elder men and women will mainly sit and watch the youngsters form the majority of the people who actually take part in the dancing generally, there are more girls then boys

Blackdown: So is the nine-day festival dedicated to one god?

The goddess that is worshipped is called ‘Durga’ and her each of her nine forms are worshipped on each day. Durga is the supreme Goddess. I don’t know what each form is called, but am familiar with Amba Maa (maa means mother), she is the mother of everything, the whole world and universe. Also, Maa Kaali. She is a significant figure; she is responsible for destroying all evil, killing demons. If you look up any pictures of her, she is always portrayed in a very angry and scary way with her tongue sticking out.

She is the only one like that; all other goddesses are always shown as pretty, kind and very lady looking…if that makes sense.

Blackdown: Can you explain, to someone who's not been, what happens throughout the evening? What's the structure?

rt: It will usually start around 7:30 or 8. The whole evening consists of a variety of dances, with 5-10 minute intervals in between. The first dance is called 'tran taadi' (meaning three claps), where people dance around in a huge circle and the step involve three claps and then repeat it again.

Once that is over, after a break, they'll announce the start of another type of dance which may be ‘tran taadi’ again or be ‘taadi (two claps).’ In the middle of the evening, they have 'aarti' which is where everyone sings a prayer to the goddess. Once that’s over, the evening will finish with the 'daandiya raas' (the stick dance) that will go on for about 45 mins.

At the end, people leave and collect 'prasad' which is basically fruit or nuts that have been offered to the gods then shared out amongst the people

Blackdown: It looks so energetic and well co-ordinated. How do the people who attend go about learning the steps?

rt: People just pick it up if they've been going every year since they were young or otherwise, people teach each other and the steps are really simple so they're picked up quickly.

Blackdown: Isn't it tiring?

rt: Yeah it is but its so fun, and only happens every year so you want to make the most of it and you end up with a lot of blisters on your feet!

Blackdown: so is the festival more religious or fun these days?

rt: it’s more fun now I think even though people will take part in the prayers during the middle, I’m sure its the dancing they truly come for...which is true in my case too

Blackdown: go on, admit it, how much flirting goes on?

rt: lots of flirting goes on... that’s what some of the people must come for. The most fun part of the evening is the stick dance at the end, so not everyone will bother coming into the hall until then... so the guys and girls who hang about in the corridors just end up messing around and flirting I guess

Blackdown: tell me about what everyone wears, is it colourful?

rt: yeah, really colourful. Girls wear saris or another type of dress which includes a flowly skirt and top with a veil (called a 'sharara' or 'ghaghara choli' - ghaghara is the skirt, choli is the top). Guys can come in normal jeans and tops but now more and more guys come in traditional 'sherwani' suits. Which is a long top with embroidery or some sort of design and trousers.

LDN004

What some people have said about LDN004:

"Unsettling and beautifully off-key Shaolin grime."

Kode9, Hyperdub


“Talking of the more atmospheric end of dubstep I did get a good tingle off the latest release from Keysound Recordings, Dusk & Blackdown featuring Trim's "The Bits" b/w/ Blackdown "Northside Cheng Dub", excellent attention to the higher frequencies on both of these with a cobwebby skein of reverbed plinky patterns…”

Simon Reynolds, Blissblog


“’Northside Cheng Dub’ is bristling with laidback power… an atmosphere that tingles like frostbitten fingers.”

Dave Stelfox, The Wire


“Journalist Martin "Blackdown" Clark … with Dusk cuts up the Chinese "cheng" instrument in a mellow grime style for ex-Roll Deep MC Trim to get contemplative over, and on his own makes a bouncier instrumental stepper from the same elements on the flip. On both, the production positively shines. 5/5”

Joe Muggs, Mixmag


“I guess I'm notorious for my love of AA (or B sides)and this release is no exception.. i love the atmosphere of this tune, the deeply enchanting oriental textures and chimes...”

Mary Anne Hobbs, Radio 1


"Sensual instead of hard, warm instead of wobbling, the eastern-tingled Northside Cheng Dub is a gentle hit. Roll Deep's Trim does his casual brilliance over an equally understated beat on the flip."

DJ/rupture

“I’ve got chips on my shoulder and a fish that ain’t even battered yet.” The former Roll Deep MC, Trim, teams up with dubstep duo Dusk and Blackdown for this slow-moving single embellished by oriental touches and harp flourishes. Surprisingly light on bass, it goes all the way on the strength of the vocal."

Steve Yates, BBC Collective

“Forward sound: Further evidence that dubstep's most creative minds might be onto something else altogether.”

Paul Autonomic, Woofah mag

" ....... as my old mate, Northwest dubmeister Roger Eagle, used to say "Always the Version"! So last moth I flipped this and played out "Northside Cheng Dub" at the new YuGong Yishan club on Beijing's DongSi and that GuZheng sample cut like a monster robo scythe right through the mix and into the depths of the sunken dancefloor ...... China Needs Bass! - order the T-shirts now! Old mate Jah Wobble was out here last week and he tells me that his (Chinese) musician father-in-law, based in Liverpool, has invented the (first) Chinese bass, the DaHu!"

Steve Barker, The Wire aka DJ Lao Lao Shu (Old Rat), Beijing

LDN004 "The Bits ft. Trim"/"Northside Cheng Dub" is out now. Check it on Boomkat here. The first release in the return of Keysound Recordings for 2008...

Pinch

My PinchFork column this month features Lewi White, Ghetto, Peverelist, Burial, Guido, Quarta 330 oh and some guy called Pinch. Check also the first in a new series called Words into Sound. Checkit.

Under and over

It’s been a busy few months on the music front, between one thing and another but recently it occurred to me that a common idea kept appearing again and again.

First there was my Dizzee review for eMusic, as I came to terms with the changes he’d made to his sound and his message. In last month’s Pitchfork column I interviewed Skepta. The week before last I was invited to a “dubstep round table” for music marketing magazine Frukt, that featured MJ Cole, Plastician, Del from Drum & Bass Arena, Geeneus from Rinse and Dan Hancox from Dot.Alt. Then last week I was interviewed by Mary Anne Hobbs for a forthcoming Radio 1 dubstep documentary, due to go out at the pretty much peak time slot (for dubstep) of 9pm. It was in talking to Mary Anne that I realised the common thread that united all these events.

Both dubstep and grime are, by and large, underground phenomena. Dubstep is currently in an unprecedented growth period and grime has, in aspiration, always aimed high. In all four events, the Dizzee review, Skepta interview, the Frukt round table and the Radio 1 interview, the issue came up of what happens to underground scenes when they reach for the mainstream.

I’m not intrinsically against the mainstream. I love hearing Timbaland’s or Ryan Leslie’s weird beats on the radio and it was incredible when Dizzee won the Mercury Music Prize with “Boy In Da Corner.” Kanye does confidence on a global scale. And yes, while it’s true that I struggle to relate to most mainstream music, it’s fair to generalise that most artists would like their music heard by the widest possible audience: for them to think otherwise would be irrational. But increasingly reaching the widest possible audience comes with some very large terms and conditions, ones that like a straight jacket, tend to restrain.

First off there’s my eMusic “Maths + English” review, the closing paragraph of which reads:

“Much of what made Dizzee so utterly compelling has been discarded, a unique message replaced by the everyday urge to entertain. “A couple of years ago in my road-yout days/I was into pirate radio I guess it was a phase…” spits Dizzee on “Pussyole”. It’s a tragic admission. While the track as a whole lays into his former mentor Wiley, those bars cheaply dismiss pirate radio, the medium that first afforded him a voice and that continues to function as the voice of inner city London that mainstream radio will not allow. If Dizzee has fought his way to the heart of commercial media only to loose his message, did the end justify these means?”

Skepta, alongside his brother JME, has done more to work with mainstream media than any other unsigned grime act (they played at celebrity socialite Peaches Geldoff’s birthday party – that’s breaking serious cultural boundaries!). Speaking to him, prior to the launch of his self-released debut album about his strategy on reaching a wider audience, it was interesting to hear some compromises he makes. From the start, one of the appeals of grime has been its unique use of language. Even in my first Dizzee interview for Hyperdub.net almost five years ago, I spent time with him clarifying what the slang terms he used meant (“shotters/blotter/HMP…”). The slang itself evolves within the grime community and takes dedicated listening by an outsider to decipher. Talking to Skepta, his approach seems to be a process of lyrical self-clarification, both in vocabulary and delivery, to ensure his message is heard and understood. It’s about knowing your audience, he believes: speaking to 50 grime fans on London pirate radio is not the same as MCing to 1000 clubbers in Russia or wherever.

I mentioned this at the Frukt round table and Plastician, who’s tight with Skepta and has spent time on tour with him, attested to this change in approach by Skepta when facing audiences abroad. Lots of the Frukt debate centred around “what’s next for dubstep?” with many inevitable comparisons to drum & bass. “Will dubstep become ‘coffee table’ music?” went on line of questioning. Will we see dubstep-lite on adverts like we saw drum & bass-lite selling shampoo and conditioner in the late ‘90s?

Whether we will or won’t can only be speculation. The bigger question is, will it still be dubstep if it is? How much do you have to compromise for it no longer to be recognisable and furthermore, if the price of compromise is a complete loss of everything that made your art form unique and interesting in the first place, was it worth it?

The Mary Anne Hobbs interview was a strange experience. Putting headphones on in a broadcast studio so you can hear your own voice – and only your own voice – reverbed, and then being asked emotive questions you feel deeply about, gives the an effect that’s not unlike having the entire room be able to hear your deep, near-subconscious thoughts.

During the interview this “future of dubstep” question came up and also “should dubstep go down the ‘live’ route” and I thought back over the Skepta, Frukt and Dizzee encounters. Then an analogy came to me, that I’d been mulling over for some time, that applied to all the situations.

Imagine a political party with a brilliant, nation-changing idea. They do everything to gain power, except in doing so, have to compromise the one idea that made them unique and important. You’d have to ask, as a voter, was it all worth it? The same question applies to dubstep and grime.

I try wherever possible, to remain positive and idealistic about music. But I appreciate that with a few exceptions (Dizzee’s “Boy In Da Corner”, Burial’s “Burial” and Lethal B’s “Forward Riddim” aka “Pow”), access to the mainstream audiences – if an artist wants to go down that route – requires some degree of compromise. I guess then, the crux of this arguments then reduces itself to, what compromises are acceptable for the two genres if they’re to retain what makes them unique, vital and interesting?

The original nuttah

Blackdown: So Trim, here we are in your ends, the Isle of Dogs, just standing on a wall. To start with, how did the Soulfood mixtape series come about?

Trim: Wiley asked me for a name. I said “Soulfood.” That was it. He said “why Soulfood” and I said “because there’s drugs out there that fuck with people’s souls.”

B: That’s deep… the name has a funk feel to me though. Like James Brown.

T: We found out afterwards that there’s a record label called that so I’m just going to do 1-5 and then I’m gonna change it. But yeah it’s a good little theme.

B: The mixtape thing: it’s like having your own albums out. Do you see it like that or do you see it differently to albums?

T: Way differently to albums because I’m not putting 100% effort in, I’m only giving you 75%... 50%. But I’m peaking at the minute so I’m going to keep trying, keep going on until I think, this is as far as I can go.

B: So vinyl… there was the "Boogieman" 12” with the diss thing on the flip…

T: It’s now 2007: we have evolved. [Laughs]. Those are the classics. They were hot stuff but yeah, we just keep going on from there and hopefully every tune’s a hit.



B: So tell us about your new crew, The Circle?

T: So The Circle are a new group of people that I know, that I want to work with, from around here and everywhere. From all walks of life. What it is it, I was working with some people I already knew and we always have arguments, another one’s occurred, so I can’t live with them, I cant work with them, never gonna work with them, not mentioning no names but you’ll just not hear them on my mix CD again. Or anything to do with me. But yeah. The Circle is going to be a sick thing.

B: So I know about Crunch…

T: He’s the front runner at the minute. He’s gonna be the next guy. He’s got a lot to say for himself. But there’s a line of youngers ready to go, like soon. I’m setting them up, getting them all together… there’s producers involved, like T-Spark [or this one].

B: One of the things I liked about Soulfood vol 1 is that you seemed to be working with a whole bunch of new producers, like DVA, Mega, Jerzy…

T: Yeah man because I’ve veered away from Roll Deep and just wanted to let the world know… we always used to have arguments because they didn’t want to do the same music as me, it was always the case that I had to do tunes that I didn’t want to do, so I went and found tunes… “…My Playground” was made by Maniac but not credited to him – he’s so upset about that. He’s a good producer, a good producer from E3 … we’re from E14 but it’s a different thing, Chrisp Street.

B: [Trim mentions Chrisp Street in the tune we’ve done together called The Bits so I’m curious about it.] Where is Chrisp Street?

T: It’s just up the road from here. About two miles away, it’s the bits, my bits. Limehouse is also E14, Stepney is E14, so E14 is quite big, not just Chrisp Street and Isle of Dogs. There’s so much to it.

B: So what about the early days, when did you start MCing?

T: Everyone asks that question and I always tell them, it’s really hard to believe but I started … the first time you heard me on the radio. I had about seven lyrics [laughs].

B: Is this [his old crew] Bomb Squad days?

T: So I’m 23 now and this was about five years ago, so when I was 18. Maybe 17. Fresh outta jail, packed with lyrics…

B: Did you write lyrics in jail?

T: Nah that wasn’t the case.

B: Because when a lot of MCs that go to jail, like say Riko or Goodz, seem to store up lyrics and come out really hungry for MCing.

T: I had bars that no one had heard before I went to jail anyway. So I needed to get them ones across first. Obviously you can get pen and paper, but that wasn’t the focus of jail.

B: What was jail like?

T: Normal. Like a boarding school. Jail’s like a boarding school with no girls. That’s it.

B: But like, really harsh or bearable?

T: It’s bearable but I’m a strong minded person, if you’re not, if you’re a weak minded person it’s not bearable. I’m a strong minded person so I dealt with it.

B: You make it sound like it’s literally bearable, where most people would try everything to avoid it.

T: Yeah I’m trying to avoid it obviously, I’m not trying to get locked up in a cage, I’m no bird, but yeah bruv… if you can avoid it, avoid it. It’s not something I’m planning to do. Holidays: that’s what I’m out here for…

B: What about Ayia Napa, can you go there again?

T: Hahahahaha… I dunno, can I? Let’s ask Marcus [NASTY], phone him up and see if he’s dropped the case.

B: OK. I take it you haven’t been this summer?

T: No but I’ve been to Malia, Kos, Faliraki. I’ll be going next year so if you want to see Trim n Scratch, we’ll be there. Scratchy wasn’t there this year, he went for about two days but came back because he got arrested. Yeah dawg, they just wanna take your money when they know you’re working in the rave as well, wait ‘til you get drunk, come out on your bike and then nick you…

B: Who’s they?

T: The police. But yeah, I had a different case. Long story but it’s definitely not water under the bridge.

B: OK… so tell me about your use of wordplay? It’s kinda unique in grime.

T: Yeah I’d say I’m an artist, wouldn’t you? I can play with words, do anything. I’m that guy.

B: I don’t really know anyone else in grime who does this though. Most guys spit standard bars…

T: I don’t spit standard bars because I’m not a standard person, I’m not thinking like these guys, I’m not from the same place as these guys, they’re from E3, I’m from E14, I’ve got a different set of words in my head and I play with them. Wordplay: it’s just what words come to your head and how you say it. You can always say the simple words but I always try to look for the thing you’re not looking to hear next. So you’re always on the edge of your seat.

B: Tell me about remixing your own bars because you do that thing when you take one of your own lyrics that everyone knows from radio, you hear it again, you think you know where it’s going and then – bang – it’s gone the opposite way…

T: Yeah man, you have to keep people on their toes, like: are you listening? I want people to be listening, and if you ain’t listening, you’re just gonna think it’s the same old bar and switch it off.

B: On "The Bits" you use the lines “speedboat/I’ll leave the rowing to you.” That’s pretty abstract.

T: Yeah cos like, rowing… speedboats, it’s got a lot to do with Roll Deep, it’s on my conscience, I cant get them out of my head.

B: It must have been hard going from being part of something like Roll Deep to being by yourself, what was that like to deal with?

T: It wasn’t hard, it’s always been just me. Just me. No one else. [looks around him, into an empty residential street] I’m just here on my ones. But there are other people supporting me, and my family, but yeah I’m my own guy really.

B: Back to wordplay, what’s that “coco butter” bar about?

T: Bruv, it’s that black brown that you never see on TV advertised but every black person uses it.

B: I love the lyric because it had that extra meaning that other people don’t notice. Plus it references the jungle classic “Original Nuttah.”

T: Bigup the Apache Indian!

B: I know Goodz memorises all his lyrics, some MCs have a pad by their bed. How do you go about writing your lyrics?

T: I’m in seven states of mind. Sometimes I’ll be in a state of mind to write a lyric, then I’ll know it’s there and think “OK, where’s the beat! Get the beat!” Whatever comes out, I try and talk myself into what I’m saying. I write stuff down, say it, write it down… once the first line’s down I’m away. It’s like a zone and I’m in dere. You see something, or someone says something, it triggers a part of your brain and you have to say something. I’m trying to paint a picture for you, so you can see what’s going on, not leave you blind.

Like the tune “I’m Not” that ends Vol 1 and starts Vol 2. “I’m in a playground full of hobbits/And on-screen goons.” Now THAT’s a bar. You’ve got to look into that. “On screen goons” because they’re only goons when they’re on screen. Gollum’s another character I chose for myself, he’s another person’s that gonna be in The Circle. The character with three personalities.

B: An alter ego of yours?

T: Yeah, he’s mine, it’s mad. Like a mad person bwoy.

B: Trim, Trimble, Trevan, Trimvan, Trimothy, Trim Trim Cheroo: you’re amazing at playing with your actual name, especially when names are very important to MCs in terms of their identities and reputation…

T: Like I said I’m in seven states of mind, so I’ve got so many names for each state of mind. There’ll be different days and different moods. We’ve all got different moodswings and those moodswings are my names.

B: What’s your original name?

T: My original name is Javan. My surname is [censored] it’s French.

B: How did you get the name Trim?

T: It came from road. But you can have Javan but don’t put my surname out there…

B: Where did the French surname come from?

T: My parents are St Lucian, they speak broken French.

B: Do you speak any French?

T: Nah nah. I don’t speak no French, call JME for that job. English is the most: I don’t really need to know French.



B: OK so, you have a reputation for being fearless in ‘war,’ aren’t you ever concerned about starting things?

T: Concerned? About? Nah, nah, most of the people in this game we know of them, that’s it. So whatever they’ve got to say, they can say it. We’re out here.

B: You’re never concerned?

T: I can’t see what they possibly could say. They stick n stone can break your bones…

B: It’s not saying, it’s doing though.

T: Yeah but when I’m saying stuff, I’m willing to do it, but I won’t do it unless I’m forced to do it.

[Trim has two phones, held together, back to back, by a rubber band. One of them rings, but after a short conversation, he returns to the interview…]

B: So, were you born around here, the Isle of Dogs?

T: I was born in Mile End. E3 but yeah, f-that.

[Phone goes again. OK he’s back now…]



B: Do you still play football on a Sunday?

T: Yeah but I’ve currently stopped because I’ve dislocated my big toe getting away from police, and I didn’t get away, because obviously I dislocated by toe, but I got rid of the food so I was alright. But the leg’s getting better so I’ll be back playing football on a Sunday. I don’t play for a team, I just play with the local goons, the mandem from the area.

B: Where do you play?

T: I’m got going to tell you because there’s so many goons there I wouldn’t want no one to come and feel that they’re safe there. They’re not really safe there.

B: Is this the same game the one Roll Deep play against Ruff Sqwad on a Sunday?

T: Nah, but I’ve played in that game. Ruff Sqwad are a good team, healthy people. And they’ve got heart so they won’t let Roll Deep just win, though Roll Deep have won on a few occasions.

B: Who in grime is good at football?

T: Me personally, I think I’m one of the best guys…

B: You would say that!

T: I would because I’m really not shit at football. But um, Tinchy’s quite good but he’s little so gets barged off the ball. DJ Begg from Ruff Sqwad. Riko, he’s a striker, you put him up there and he will score. Jet Li. Wiley can have a good game. Scratchy’s not into football. Flow Dan plays basketball… thinks he’s American.

B: You likely to work with Scratchy again?

T: Yeah he’s on two tunes on Vol 3. Yous are behind me now, because I’m on Vol 5 now.

B: What’s the 12 Monkeys theme about on the artwork?

T: The film was not used the right way, they never had 12 real goonbags. Ha. I think that the 12 monkeys that represent the circle that are gonna be here when I’ve left. And I’m not saying “left” as in getting a record deal I’m saying if I don’t get a record deal by the end of this year, I’m leaving and I’m gonna make sure these people have got a better chance than I have.

B: You’re gonna leave MCing?

T: Yeah I’m not gonna force it too much just do these mixtapes, start another project, get onto it by the end of the year and then by January if I haven’t heard anything, I’m outty.

B: You can’t leave Trim!

T: I can’t leave? Watch me! Wiley said he was leaving, he came back. I’m not Wiley, I’m not gonna come back. So these labels better fix up, look sharp. Holler at a boy because I’m willing to work. I got the words. The scene better not let me leave, I want to get a record deal.

[Trim gets interrupted by an older guy on a bike who wants to meet him. Trim wanders off for a second, then returns…]

T: That was Richie Campbell, by the way, who does the boxing on the Isle of Dogs. I aint really a boxer but I used to do martial arts when I was younger, so I can kick and that, but it’s good for you innit? I eat good so, I wanna just tump someone in the face sometimes, my mates all do it, so I wanna show up one day and say “come on lets ‘aaaaave it!” My mates all go so I’m on jumping in the ring with some people but I don’t ever show up for the gym so Richie’s telling me “get on it.” I used to do Tae Kwon Do and Open Hand Karate. But obviously I was young and thick so I didn’t listen but I clocked a few things, the things that hurt innit, haha. But I aint trying to kick anyone so don’t look at me like I’m some kind of Karate guy.

B: OK. You mention your dad on one of your mixtape tracks, saying he was famous and to ask about him, what’s the story behind that?

T: Bruv you gotta do your history. He was a reggae artist, well I don’t know if he was… he was on… don’t know much about him apart from I’ve got pictures.

B: Do you not see him much?

T: Nah, am totally locked off from his family. There’s never been a word from each, but I spoke to his brother one day, that was it, that’s as far as it goes. I was too young to have a proper conversation with him.

B: Is he gone?

T: Nah nah, they’re about I just have to go find him but the way I live, like I’ve grown up in a set of family, I’m alright, no bad to him or nothing but one day we’ll speak, we’ll see the other people, but right now, I’ve got my own family to worry about.

B: Do you know where he lives?

T: Yeaaah, I think he has a yard near Brixton. But anyway, not that it matters. We’re talking about grime…



B: OK so tell me about the Roll Deep situation, is it completely finished?

T: Do you know what it is with Roll Deep, I don’t hate them, but it’s people that have grown differently to me and they believe in different things. I cant hate them for believing in different things but I don’t agree with everything so I just want to be on my own if I cant make certain decisions. I’m my own boss, no one cant tell me shit. That’s the best thing.

B: I suppose being on your own makes it easier to get signed for you…

T: Yeah but Roll Deep should be getting another record deal, I think they’re getting another one so they’ve gotta pull another album out of the bag. But I’m on Vol4, holla at a guy, labels: I’ll do a lot of work for yous. Let me be the only grime act. If you’re sitting there and you’re thinking, “Trim” then I’m thinking of yous.

B: What do you look for in a beat from a producer?

T: I just look for space for me. If I can hear it, I will know. Sometimes I jump on beats that are nothing to do with my kind of thing. Makes me sound a bit off but I like jumping on beats I can hear myself in.

B: What other genres of music do you like?

T: Hip hop, r&b, reggae, bashment… I don’t really like crunk and all those guys but I do believe if they gave me a beat that was serious I would move to it better than every other guy. I swear.

B: Any chance of hearing you on radio soon?

T: Yeah I’m gonna run up on Rinse soon.

B: What about grime DJs, which ones do you rate?

T: I don’t rate grime DJs, Karnage is my cousin. Boy betta know that DJ Karnage is my blood cousin.

B: Literally?

T: Yes so everybody should know that he is the best DJ. It’s not loyalty, he’s my cousin. That’s it. But there’s other DJs that are good. Johnny Skeng is good. Geeneus is one of the biggest DJs that there could ever be, I think Slimzee’s nang. Maximum is definitely nang.

B: How do you feel about funky house?

T: Um, I like it, I do like funky house. Bit of a dance and that, it’s alright man. I don’t specifically go out looking for certain raves but funky house: I will maybe make the occasion to go to those girl-raves. Haha…

B: Ahaha, I see where you’re going with that…

T: I love funky house because the girls love funky house. And if the girls love funky house, we can go to funky house.

B: The only thing is it doesn’t leave a lot of room for the MC. So we’re back to the UK garage thing, with MCs as ‘hosts.’ What happens if there’s no room for MCs anymore?

T: Yeah that would be a bit shit but I always believe there’s room out here for me. I’m guaranteed a spot haha.

B: You don’t hear grime MCs on Radio 1, but you hear funky house on adverts…

T: Yeah, I know where you’re going with it but I think there’s space for me. If there’s space for Take That, there’s space for me bruv.

B: Maybe Take That are taking up too much space, and if they took up less, there’d be more room for you?

T: Nah nah, The Spice Girls be taking up too much space…

Woooooooof Ahhhhh

In an era of full on digital submersion, you've gotta commend people willing to swim against the tide. Woofah mag, is a real, in print-magazine dedicated to all the good shit in life (reggae, dancehall, jungle, garage, hip hop, grime, dubstep and bass) and none of the bad (adverts, very high pitched noises, people who write about music they don't burn for).

It's edited by John Eden and Paul Meme, aka Grievous Angel. The latter's just finished a ragga-techno-dubstep LP: clearly he's beyond such mere mortal necessities as "sleep."

It features writing from many fellow bloggers, including Mel Bradshaw, Simon Silverdollar, Dan Hancox, and amusingly some bloke called "Martin C" taking the piss out of Forward>> who isn't me. Seriously, it's not me. Photos come from George Infinite and illustrations from Woebot. In the game of UK blogger bingo, this baby's a full house.

I'm still in the process of reading it all, but it's a total joy so far. Here are some of my favourite quotes:

"Badman don't drink Snapple"

From the Badman Commandments feature by Gabriel Heatwave

"They had no idea about dubplates, but we did. We had a certain one telling 10 things about Unique 3 - why they were going to get buried - 'Unique 3 this, Unique 3 that'. Awww, fucking 'ell it was ruff!"

Dub's Mark Iration on clashing Unique 3 in Bradford during the bleep era.

"Jungle is massive!"

Pinch on being asked which is better, Krome and Time or Photek

Woofah mag costs only £3: far cheaper than starting your own mag called Tweetah aimed at dogs, bats and all ultra sonic-hearing animals. Honest.

PF Sept 07

Pitchfork column time ft. Skepta, Dysfunktion, LV and The Bug.

Ready...

Dusk + Blackdown @ FWD>> and Keysound 004

I’ve loved Forward>> like no other club, since its inception six years ago. I’d been badgering El-B to start a night so I can’t lie, like a total fanboy, I turned up far too early to the first one at Velvet Rooms. There was no one there at first but a stush garage industry crowd soon mooched into the venue late and Jay Da Flex rocked it with a headline Ghost set.

So it’s with real excitement that, six years later, I can share with you that Dusk and I will be making our Forward>> debut, in the warm-up slot next Friday (31st August).

Although its evolved, I’ve lost count of the amazing sets I’ve seen at Forward>>. There’s Jay Da’s aforementioned Ghost set at Velvet Rooms, and several Zed Bias rinse outs there too. I recall Slimzee and Maxwell D there in the proto-grime, Pay As U Go days.

Moving to Plastic People – a far superior venue and still my favourite place in London – makes me think of Youngsta cutting up dubplate (!) doubles of “Request Line,” Roll Deep shocking out to “Request Line,” Mala b2b Loefah smacking it, Newhams pon mic, Kode9 dropping “Subkon,” and most of all those peerless 2004 headline sets by Hatcha which really set the cement in dubstep’s foundations.

Given all this, it’s a pretty serious opportunity, being given the chance to step the few yards from my favourite spot in front of the speaker, to behind the decks. But really and truly, when your name is called it’s important to step up.

Since autumn last year Dusk and I have been quietly focusing on building an entire new Keysound set. For anyone that’s tried to build, they’ll know it takes hours, days, nights, and quite often years. All going to plan, we’re hoping to present what we’ve been working on at Forward>> alongside some tunes we've cut by some of our favourite producers. As I said, we’re playing the early set 10:30-12, so if you’re up for hearing what we’ve been building, try and reach early if you can.

This is probably also a good occasion to mention our new single too. Keysound’s been a bit quiet this year, overwhelmingly because we’ve been focusing on the slow process of writing but we’re trying to ensure the pace picks up a little from here on in.

Our new single is done and will be out in October via Baked Goods:

LDN004

a) Dusk + Blackdown ft Trim “The Bits”
b) Blackdown “Northside Cheng Dub”

Audio of the single is now available on MySpace and Virb.

Both tracks are built from a master template we assembled of samples from the Chinese instrument, the cheng. “The Bits” is essentially Trim over three separate but related grime-inspired cheng riddims, juggled together. “Northside Cheng Dub” is also built from cheng samples but is more dubstep focused. Together we hope they form a kind of dark Sino sonic reflections of the London experience. I hope you can join us for their airing, next Friday at Forward>>.