NEWS
EVENTS
Mr Scruff Interview
House | Tuesday 4th October 2011 | Osh
We’re rounding up the end of the year and the festival season is over, how has your Summer been?
Yeah, good, I mean I’ve never been one for loads of festivals, I always do about maybe like four or five and just pick ones that I really enjoy or a few I’ve not done and basically I’m not into running from one festival to another and trying to squeeze in three or four over the weekend. For me it’s more like a, because sort of February and May and October and November are really busy for me. The times in between are a bit more mellow where I just kind of pick and choose the odd gig, but yeah I’ve had some great ones, we did The Big Chill which was as good as always, I have a tea tent with a sound system which we took to The Big Chill and Latitude Festival this year and that went really well.
What was your favourite festival?
I think my favourite festival was one called Beat Herder, which is up in Lancashire, which I’ve never done before but I’ve heard so many good things about it and it’s sort of small to medium sized festival, very independent, loads of great sound systems, loads of good music on, really interesting. So yeah it was nice going to quite a fresh young festival like that. Loads of my mates went there because it’s quite local to Manchester as well so that was really nice, having a bit of a social which festivals is all about. I might be working and playing some records but it’s also, it’s nice to go there for the whole weekend and get stuck in as a punter as well if you know what I mean rather than just purely kind of running in and running out which is a lot of people seem to do.
Did you see any artists you particularly enjoyed?
I’ve not really seen anything this Summer that’s particularly blown me away, I saw Horace Andy who was at Beat Turner and he was great and he’s always good. It’s one of the kind of roots acts who can play in front of a massive crowd at a festival and not go too cheesy or like kind of playing loads of big hits if you see what I mean. He strikes a really good balance for me with being a really household name but also being kind of really good quality musically and his band sound great and the sound engineers, you know he really gets it together, so just from an all over point of view from performance and sound and everything and music then probably Horace Andy this Summer.
You are returning to KoKo on the 22nd of October. You’re quite a regular visitor to KoKo.
Yeah I do it about three times a year.
What is it about it that draws you in?
Well it’s an amazing venue, obviously for all the history, the Camden Palace and stuff like that but I think from my point of view it’s, when you walk into that venue for the first time I defy anyone not to be amazed just by the architecture and the ambiance and you can kind of, just the history that’s there within that building you can tell there have been a lot of good nights in there. The staff are all lovely and the sound system is really good, all the technical crew bend over backwards to help you so from us it’s a very comfortable place to play in because we know the sound system, every night it’s been really busy and there’s been a great atmosphere, it’s a really nice place to wonder around, because the dancefloor’s quite compact as well, it feels quite intimate as a performer but then you look up and you see the three balconies and it’s quite awe inspiring as well and as a punter you can get into the thick of it on the dancefloor or take a step back and oversee the whole thing, so it;s quite a spectacle and it’s a really engaging venue for performers and people going to the venue. It’s got it basically, it’s a venue that’s got a good sound system, it’s got a great atmosphere, the architecture's wonderful, so yeah I never get tired of playing there really. It’s always nice when you find a venue like that go “Right, that’s our venue in that city” and it’s one less thing to worry about when you’re doing a gig.
So for new people checking you out, what can people expect from your nights, what would you say to them?
I’d say, I mean that’s the fun about what I do is not really able to describe it very well, I mean I play all night, I play a really wide variety of music, but in a way that pulls you in, it kind of gets you excited. The whole thing is about creating an evening with a really good mix of nice people and playing a big selection of music, quite a lot you wouldn’t expect to hear in a club and put together in a way that makes it quite special really. Probably the best thing to do probably rather than me witting on trying to describe what I do not very well is if you, I’ve got a SoundCloud page, it’s soundcloud.com/mr-scruff which has got countless DJ sets on there as well as loads of tunes and stuff like that, and that’s got quite a few of the KoKo sets on actually, it’s got loads of six hour sessions on there. Probably the best way to describe it, when someone gets into work pop one of those mixes on in the morning and listen to it all day and it’ll kind of do all the explaining for me.
Yeah, good, I mean I’ve never been one for loads of festivals, I always do about maybe like four or five and just pick ones that I really enjoy or a few I’ve not done and basically I’m not into running from one festival to another and trying to squeeze in three or four over the weekend. For me it’s more like a, because sort of February and May and October and November are really busy for me. The times in between are a bit more mellow where I just kind of pick and choose the odd gig, but yeah I’ve had some great ones, we did The Big Chill which was as good as always, I have a tea tent with a sound system which we took to The Big Chill and Latitude Festival this year and that went really well.
What was your favourite festival?
I think my favourite festival was one called Beat Herder, which is up in Lancashire, which I’ve never done before but I’ve heard so many good things about it and it’s sort of small to medium sized festival, very independent, loads of great sound systems, loads of good music on, really interesting. So yeah it was nice going to quite a fresh young festival like that. Loads of my mates went there because it’s quite local to Manchester as well so that was really nice, having a bit of a social which festivals is all about. I might be working and playing some records but it’s also, it’s nice to go there for the whole weekend and get stuck in as a punter as well if you know what I mean rather than just purely kind of running in and running out which is a lot of people seem to do.
Did you see any artists you particularly enjoyed?
I’ve not really seen anything this Summer that’s particularly blown me away, I saw Horace Andy who was at Beat Turner and he was great and he’s always good. It’s one of the kind of roots acts who can play in front of a massive crowd at a festival and not go too cheesy or like kind of playing loads of big hits if you see what I mean. He strikes a really good balance for me with being a really household name but also being kind of really good quality musically and his band sound great and the sound engineers, you know he really gets it together, so just from an all over point of view from performance and sound and everything and music then probably Horace Andy this Summer.
You are returning to KoKo on the 22nd of October. You’re quite a regular visitor to KoKo.
Yeah I do it about three times a year.
What is it about it that draws you in?
Well it’s an amazing venue, obviously for all the history, the Camden Palace and stuff like that but I think from my point of view it’s, when you walk into that venue for the first time I defy anyone not to be amazed just by the architecture and the ambiance and you can kind of, just the history that’s there within that building you can tell there have been a lot of good nights in there. The staff are all lovely and the sound system is really good, all the technical crew bend over backwards to help you so from us it’s a very comfortable place to play in because we know the sound system, every night it’s been really busy and there’s been a great atmosphere, it’s a really nice place to wonder around, because the dancefloor’s quite compact as well, it feels quite intimate as a performer but then you look up and you see the three balconies and it’s quite awe inspiring as well and as a punter you can get into the thick of it on the dancefloor or take a step back and oversee the whole thing, so it;s quite a spectacle and it’s a really engaging venue for performers and people going to the venue. It’s got it basically, it’s a venue that’s got a good sound system, it’s got a great atmosphere, the architecture's wonderful, so yeah I never get tired of playing there really. It’s always nice when you find a venue like that go “Right, that’s our venue in that city” and it’s one less thing to worry about when you’re doing a gig.
So for new people checking you out, what can people expect from your nights, what would you say to them?
I’d say, I mean that’s the fun about what I do is not really able to describe it very well, I mean I play all night, I play a really wide variety of music, but in a way that pulls you in, it kind of gets you excited. The whole thing is about creating an evening with a really good mix of nice people and playing a big selection of music, quite a lot you wouldn’t expect to hear in a club and put together in a way that makes it quite special really. Probably the best thing to do probably rather than me witting on trying to describe what I do not very well is if you, I’ve got a SoundCloud page, it’s soundcloud.com/mr-scruff which has got countless DJ sets on there as well as loads of tunes and stuff like that, and that’s got quite a few of the KoKo sets on actually, it’s got loads of six hour sessions on there. Probably the best way to describe it, when someone gets into work pop one of those mixes on in the morning and listen to it all day and it’ll kind of do all the explaining for me.
You’ve recently released a new EP called ‘Feel it’ and ‘Bounce’, so is there an album coming?
Hopefully next year yeah, I mean the single is out on the 3rd of October I think, yeah hopefully, I’ve been really busy over the Summer that’s the nice thing about not being too crazy about the gigs all the time, you know you have a couple of months where you’re full on and then you can just get your body clock sorted again and get into the studio and do five days a week. Hopefully I say the first half of next year, but I never know when I’m going to finish stuff, most people finish the album and then start releasing singles off it. I’ve released two singles off it and it’s not even finished yet so (laughs) it’s kind of like yeah I do need to get my arse in gear and finish it but hopefully I will have finished it within the month and it should be out the first half of 2012 which, but yeah really really pleased with the new music and I think one of the good things about being a DJ is being able to test out stuff, you know I can be at the studio on a Thursday and then go to a gig and test it at the weekend and think “Okay, that was alright, that needs turning up a bit, that section needs making a little bit smaller” so by the time something gets released you know it’s had a lot of, you know it’s been tested in the field a lot so to speak. For me that’s the really positive aspect of writing music and being able to play exactly what you’ve recorded and that’s probably about the closest to live I’ll ever get! (laughs)
You have got a serious tea drinking reputation. What is your ideal biscuit to go with your tea?
Ummmm none really...
Purest!
If someone’s got the biscuits out and I’m round their house, yeah I’ll indulge but generally it’s gotta be, the best combination with a cup of tea is if you have a nice strong english breakfast, I’d say a nice slice of fruit cake or fruit loaf, topped with a slice of Wensleydale cheese and that will wipe any biscuit off the face of the earth.
Here’s the scenario, you are exiled to a desert island, just randomly, you are asked to invite three famous people, dead or alive, who would you bring and why?
I think Derek Griffiths because he’s a star, and he’s entertained me from a very young age and still keeps popping up randomly and I still get excited when I hear his voice and I can’t imagine ever getting annoyed by him. I think I would probably invite the Chuckle Brothers, (laughs)
That’s great, that’s great!
I don’t know why, but I think they keep themselves entertained so they wouldn’t get too in the way and you can suggest stuff for them to do like “Go and find some bananas” or “Go and make us some dinner” and they’ll go and do it for you but take all day.
Lastly, if you could fill a swimming pool with anything other than water, what would you fill it with?
Probably tea.
I knew it, I knew it!
(laughs)
Well thank you for the conversation!
Yeah cool, cheers for that, enjoy the rest of your week! Alright ta.
Mr Scruff on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/mrscruff1
Mr Scruff's website: http://www.mrscruff.com/
