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Krafty Kuts Talks Canadian Sushi, the EDM scene and The Secrets To His Career
Drum and Bass | Wednesday 14th October 2015 | Annalisa
Everyone who loves Breakbeats knows that Krafty Kuts, aka Martin Reeves, is pure legendary material, and for the past 20 years he’s been cutting, scratching and sampling his way to Godfather status. What many may not know, is that Martin is really a down-to-earth dad whose passion for music and skill has allowed him to live his dream while traveling the world. In my interview with him I found out he loves Canadian sushi and Drum and Bass, his thoughts on the current EDM scene, his secrets to a successful DJ career and that as a kid his babysitter was the one who initiated his love of music. Read on to learn more about Krafty Kuts’ process:
It seems you come to Canada fairly frequently and are touring all over the world, how do you keep up?
It is tough travelling but the key to it is eating healthy and maintaining a good balanced diet and little bit of exercise. I don’t exercise as much as I’d like to;I’d like to do a lot more. Don’t let yourself get too tired. Take vitamin supplements, eat really healthy - sushi and low carbs - sushi is something I’ve come into later in life. It’s coming into it’s own. Canada has the best sushi in the world, even in little spots like Fernie, but especially Vancouver.
What do you do in your downtime, if you ever get any?
I search for good music, surfing the web and looking for new music. My main priority is spending time with my children - I’ve got twins - a boy and a girl, and my family.
What kind of music did you hear growing up, for example what did your parents listen to?
My parents weren’t really big music freaks. I just got the bug for music from my babysitter who was into soul and funk. She brought around a BT Express album. I loved the disco sound. I grew up with reggae, funk, jazz and two-timing ska. Then I got into hip hop. The album I was listening to was called “Do It (‘Til You’re Satisfied)”, and there’s a lot of great breaks in there. Hip hop artists had sampled them, and that’s how I found out about digging for samples and DJing and that lead to me DJing, cutting up disco breaks.
What are your thoughts on the current Electronic Music Scene now that it has been labeled EDM (Electronic Dance Music) etc.?
The art of DJing seems to have taken a back stage. I’m all about using 4 CDJs and interacting with the crowd to get the people into the music and the skills I’m trying to perform to get people loving music not me saying “make some fucking noise”. I’m not against people standing in front of the decks and shouting and getting the high from the music. But, if that takes preference instead of the art of the DJing then...you should combine the different aspects of the experience, that’s what makes good DJing.
You just completed volume 2 of the Golden Era of Hip Hop, and my friends are saying it’s the best hip hop mix ever made. Are you considering doing a third?
The first one started by me transferring my vinyl on to the computer and I thought it would be fantastic to make a mix, my masterpiece, the best hip hop mix you’d ever hear. It took three months and I wanted to have something I’d listen to myself. Volume 2 was even harder because I’d used all the best a cappella, especially ones that people recognize. For example Public Enemy, or Redman or Method Man have between two and ten gems, absolutely stonewall classics, that deserve to be on there. Over the 2 volumes I’ve used over 190 records already, so it’d take a long time to put together volume 3, but I hope it will be ready around Christmas.
You’ve been known as a pioneer in the breakbeat scene. Is it really your favourite kind of music to play?
No, but the reaction [I] get is phenomenal because I’m lucky to get some of the best tracks in the world from the best producers, so I have an armoury of really good music. It’s what you make and how you bring your music across to people. I’ll be playing a track and layering it with different things, to make it more interesting then I’ll mix up the records so the music’s changing constantly and not staying at one level, the rhythms are changing but not all of a sudden. It’s a nice little wave on the ocean, so I feel like music for me has always been like that, like a wave, it takes you up and down - highs and lows to give you time to breathe and digest. In between I like to do little scratches, drop acapellas, just to make it really interesting. Basically I’m trying to get the best form of that type of music.
When I do my sets, I like to start high energy, then bring it down a little bit then finish on a high. So I will go fast then drop it down to the mid tempo stuff, glitch hop, then throw in some trap and drum and bass and bring it back up again and then end with some breakbeats.
After this interview I was lucky enough to see him rock the turntables in true old-school style at Distrikt Nightclub in Victoria BC. Martin never disappoints. Not only can he rock the dance floor, when he’s not on stage he is chatting with fans, taking photos and giving out props to those he feels deserve it. Next time you see a poster reading ‘Krafty Kuts’ be sure to buy a ticket before they sell out!
