Inside BBSAwards 2017 - one day with Cockney Nutjob. UK- Interview



Cockney Nutjob. UK.
Scour Records

I am a cockney wannabe (originally from Essex) creating and spinning a unique blend of 'Vintage Remix' music to make you go nuts to! I fuse elements of Hip Hop, Ska, Reggae, Rock Steady, Ragga, Swing and Funk, with a generous topping of with wobbly basslines.

I have released tracks/remixes with Scour Records, Radical Mixtape and BreakBeat Paradise and as a DJ I have had the honour of playing alongside the likes of Featurecast, Father Funk, Hong Kong Ping Pong, JFB, Deekline, WBBL and DJ Format.




Thanks for your time! Now that we are almost at the end of 2017, what are some words you would use to describe this year? 

Stretched to the max but Awesome probably summarise it!
It’s been particularly tough finding the energy/time for music this year what with the arrival of my 3rd child 2 months ago along and working a demanding non-musical day time job, but I have somehow managed it.  I‘ve put out 3 free tracks and EP and had another track featured on a compilation. The Kurnel and I have also played at some awesome festivals and other events this year. It’s ended up beingn our busiest year so far!


Badman EP Can you tell us what your favourite thing is about your track/ep? 

I think overall the best thing about it is that whilst all 4 tracks are my based around my reggae drenched breakbeat theme they are of varying styles and bpm’s so hopefully there was something there for everyone.



Can you tell us about new project you will be working on 2017/2018?

I am currently working on an original 4 track EP with Kurnel MC that will hopefully be finished early next year. I am also working on a remix of a really cool swing track, but can’t say any more than that at the moment, but again that should see the light of day early next year. A side from that I hope to have a few more fresh bootleg style tracks to unleash during festival season.


Imagine yourself walking into the studio; please may you talk me through a typical day? 

I wish I could spend a day in the studio, at best I usually get 2 hour segments. I also end up producing a lot of music on my laptop during train journeys. I normally start a track by picking out a loop in a track (sample) and then matching a beat around it. I then chop up the sample and tweak the beat until I have a good groove going and then develop into an 8-16 bar pattern, this usually then becomes my main drop section first. I then add synth’s or wobbles and once the peak of the track is nearly complete I start to put together the rest of the track.

What are your habits?

Flapping….I am often worrying about something or other…I also eat lots of burgers!

How do you go about choosing what software and plug-ins you use? 

I started making beats on FL Studio, but my good friend Jason from Bubaking introduced me to Ableton. I was anti it initially as I didn’t want to learn another DAW as I had only just got my head round FL Studio. However, he showed me a few features which I really liked. I then played with it a bit, and the more I played with it, the more I loved it and it wasn’t long before I ditched FL Studio. I guess the moral of the story is with software don’t always settle for the first thing you use.

I have learnt the art of music production through youtube and sometimes when I look up a technic that I want to learn they may use a plug in that I don’t own. If it looks good /worthwhile I then look up more info on it, usually on youtube and then potentially purchase if I have the funds. I need to give a shout to two really great tutors in my opinion and they are Slynk and Tom Cosm and I would highly recommend looking them up on youtube if you are interested in learning how to make sick beats!


What’s the one piece of DJ/production gear you can’t live without? 

This is an impossible question, there is more than one thing that I couldn’t live without. If I strip it down though ableton and my laptop are the most important as I make so much of my music during train journeys. Also I have a pair of Sony MDR-7510 studio headphones which are also a crucial part to my mobile production set up. That’s still three things, but essentially I could do anything unless I had at least those 3 things.
DJ wise my Traktor X1 has served me well, but I have recently purchased an S5 controller and am planning to start STEM mixing.


Any particular artists/dj’s/ producers that really influenced you? 

Slynk, Featurecast, A-Skillz, DJ Maars, Father Funk, WBBL, Krossbow, Deekline, Rebel MC


How’s the music scene in this moment in your country?

The breakbeat / vintage remix scene is really good and it feels like the hub is in Bristol at the moment. There’s pockets of things going on in towns and cities all over England though. Surprisingly I don’t hear that much from London, which seems bizarre. Not sure if it’s just a case that I moved away from London nearly a decade ago and I have just lost touch with what’s going on there though.


Often particular cities are linked to certain sounds and sub genres. Do you think living in your city is reflected in your music?

  I live in Poole and there is no real late night music venues here. In short - It’s CRAP! However, Bournemouth is just up the road and there is an underground music community there. I would say that D&B is the main thing that peeps are into though as most of the breakbeat / breaks / vintage remix type nights have slowly ceased to be. One of the main underground venues in Bournemouth (The Winchester) has also shut down which was a major loss to the town. So in answer to the question living in this town is defo not reflected in my music.

FOR BOOKING
djcockneynutjob@hotmail.com

www.cockneynutjob.com
https://www.facebook.com/CockneyNutjob/
https://www.junodownload.com/artists/Cockney+Nutjob/releases/
https://soundcloud.com/cockneynutjob
https://www.junodownload.com/labels/Scour

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