Boom! Mr Switch grabs the DMC UK Final trophy and heads to the Worlds
Interview : Dan Prince and Cutmaster Swift
Welcome to DMCWORLD Magazine, where in the world are you today?
“Hey guys, it’s good to be back! I am writing this from my lovely home city of Birmingham. I moved back here last year after being in Nottingham for six years. It’s maybe not the most glamorous place to catch me, but I like it!”
First up massive congratulations for winning the 2014 UK Finals last week – that was one tough competition, a mere 4 points separated you and Ritchie Ruftone in the end?
“Thanks! I’m mega stoked to have made it. It feels a bit unreal considering the first DMC battle I watched was the 2001 UK final – 13 years ago! – and the six minute is such a difficult battle. It’s always hotly contested. I was especially happy to read the judges’ scores recently and see how many of them put me first – 5-2 to me against Ritchie. And I’ll take 4 points difference compared to last year’s result! In 2013 me and him got the same number of points, but he had one more 1st-place vote than I did so he won, that’s the closest result I think I’ve seen anywhere! So I’m glad I got a bigger margin this time round, but massive props to Ritchie, he’s a very dope DJ.”
Did you think you had done enough to win?
“I saw Ritchie’s set after mine and, to be honest, I spent the rest of the night feeling sure I’d lost! But loads of people in the crowd came up to me before the results and said how good a show I’d done. I felt like I slipped up in bits, but then you can always feel that when you perform something you yourself have created – you’ll always notice mistakes more than anyone else will. I finished the set very late in the day, but managed to get a friend of mine DJ Spats to come over and see the routine, he’s always helped me improve over the years. I showed him the set and he said “ok we could tweak this and that…but that is a winning set!” and he couldn’t stop laughing, in that ‘wow!’ kind of way.”
How did you celebrate?
“I was knackered by the end of the day. It was so lovely that loads of the crowd mobbed me for photos after the results, and all of the DMC crew were very happy for me, but afterwards I went over to my girlfriend’s place and pretty much collapsed! I went to a b-boy battle and a festival the weekend after and I got congratulated loads at both, which was pretty chuffing. Had a lovely celebration dinner with my parents as well. I think I’m going to save the full-on after party for the World Finals…”
October 5th sees the world’s finest lining up against each other at the Forum in London – who are you fearing?
“Well the UK final has happened pretty early in the battle calendar this year, so very few other countries have crowned their champion just yet. I’ll be keeping a close eye on who wins the US and French championships for sure, Japan also always bring really interesting DJs. I’d like to see Vekked from Canada come back this year. And we don’t know yet whether DJ Fly will defend his title – I don’t think he’s decided yet!”
The last UK DMC World Champion was Plus One 13 years ago is there a lot of pressure to follow in those footsteps and why are you the man to do that?
“There is definitely a lot of pressure, because this is a very conscious effort on my part to win the world title for the UK, as opposed to being happy with any result. I’ve been re-watching a lot of previous champions’ sets recently. I really want my final set at the Worlds to raise the bar in some way & hopefully inspire people in the same way I was inspired when I started. There’s also the pressure of expectation from other people, who know I’m a previous World Champ (albeit in a different category) – that makes me a favourite to win straight away, and people may critique me more than another, more unheard-of competitor. The good thing is that, for me, that pressure gets transformed into a strive – to fit all the best tricks and techniques I can into six minutes. I have only ever entered this category when I’ve been happy with my set..and I am VERY happy with this one. So I’m going to try and bring three years of back-to-back World titles, plus several years of judging the World Finals, to bear on my routine and have things in there that other competitors may miss out on, as well as some brand new techniques and tricks.”
What is your approach to a Final, how much practise do you put in on the run up to a major competition?
“Loads of practise – as much time as there is in the day. For this year’s UK Final I took the whole week off before to tweak and perfect the set – no contact with the outside world, little sleep, bread and water etc. – I did actually stack up on microwavable meals!! I have ended up editing my battle sets in my sleep sometimes! The World Final is something like five months away so I’m going to thinking about it intermittently for the moment – being on the lookout for songs and samples that might be useful. It’s just as good to spend time away from things so you come back with a fresh perspective.”
How do you locate and decide on the music you use in your performances?
“Some of my best routines have come from classic, well-known tracks – things like James Brown “I Feel Good”, Billy Squier “Big Beat”, Run DMC “Walk This Way”.. – which one day I get an idea of how to remix ‘live’. The rest come from just stumbling across interesting music, whatever comes my way. The tracks I use generally have to have a little section where something different happens – sort of the ‘break’ of a track, but just something interesting in terms of timing. As a general rule, records with 3/4 parts work very well. Even if you have the idea for the routine, you have to play around, practise and develop it – a balance of technical tricks I want to fit in, and a good structure which will make people enjoy it; having a good intro/outro, ebbs and flows in the patterns you put in. I like to think of myself as being in the Craze and A-Trak school of turntablism, getting as many different things out of a record as possible, that it doesn’t do itself.”
What is your contribution to the originality of Turntablism?
“Oof difficult question! I suppose I would say:
– Maintaining that old school mentality of ‘flipping’ tracks through beat juggling. – I love taking a track and creating an entirely new one just from re-arranging the beats live – and advancing that in terms of technicality and making the performance engaging.
– Flipping records that people have maybe not thought to use.
– Bringing back showmanship a bit. People would probably best regard me as a performer – in battles, you have to bring the stance and personality. You can lose a battle just from the way you look, by not engaging with the crowd and acting the part.
– Trying to be a balanced all-round DJ.”
When did you first enter the DMC’s?
“My first year was 2003 – I had only been practising DJing for 2 years and wasn’t really confident or skilled enough to go anywhere. In 2005 I got into my first regional final, and then won the Derby heat, getting through to the UK Final for the first time and beating 25 other DJs in the process. I was 16 at the time. In 2006 I won the UK Battle For Supremacy, probably not a title I was particularly ready for. I managed to defend that title for the next two years, and on my third appearance at the Battle for World Supremacy I managed to win. And I managed to defend that title two years running.”
In which past DMC competition era would you liked to have competed in?
“Wow, I like the level of questions Dan! My parents recently realised as we were walking out of the Millenium Dome (as it was then known) DMC were walking in to set up for the World Final, when Craze won for the third time. I would have loved to have been there for that. I think I’m very happy battling now, I’d be very scared facing DJs like the Scratch Perverts while they were battling, they were just so innovative, but I’d have tried taking them on.”
Between the ongoing debate of purist analog turntablist and the digital one which would you choose and why? Who are your favourite UK Turntablist innovators and why?
“Definitely digital! It opens so many more possibilities and means I don’t have to ruin my actual records! Scratch Perverts for sure, but DJ Woody would have to be my single favourite innovator, he’s come up with more extraordinary ideas that all the other possible DJs I could think of put together! Scratching with tonearms, 3 deck scratching…he’s just endlessly creative, and been-there-done-that.”
With the vast amount of technology in the DJ market is there anything else you would like to see introduced into the DMC Championships?
“It saddens me that turntablism seems to have gotten itself trapped into just using vinyl, and there haven’t been many DJs bringing that kind of approach to CDJs or controllers – even in the online competition. I think there’s a real danger of turntablism dying out, without anyone showing off what you can do with these other technologies to inspire DJs who don’t start off on vinyl – which nowadays is the vast majority. The message being sent without that is ‘yes you can DJ with any technology you want, but if you want to do the really cool-looking stuff, you have to own turntables’. I’ve always thought of turntablism as thinking outside of the box – creating amazing effects with DJ technology in ways that no-one has thought of before. The whole culture we have now was spawned by the Technics turntable – I want to see someone do something amazing with CDJs (check out James Zabiela and especially DJ EZ).”
The DMC competitions has always been a male dominated why do you feel the females aren’t stepping up to the decks more often?
“It’s the same with DJing at large really, isn’t it? I’ve always had the theory that DJing is inherently nerdy – locking yourself away in your room, learning about some technological wonder (I actually consider it to be mathematical) – and maybe in general boys are nerdier than girls. Little by little I hear of talented female scratch DJs popping up – in fact I was teaching classes recently in Nottingham to a large boy and small girl demographic, but the girls were altogether more engaged and asking me about doing more lessons, more so than the boys did. Maybe it’s one of those circular problems – there are no girls in the championship, you’re a girl and you watch the championships, you think ‘that’s wicked!’ and want to try it, but as there weren’t any girls in it you think ‘oh maybe that’s not for me’. I’m putting my hands up and saying those views may not actually be held by anyone!!…I don’t know. I suppose the main problem is still that when you see a girl DJ, your first reaction is generally going to be ‘ooh look a girl DJ!’ Imagine if you went around saying ‘woah there’s a man DJing!’ It’s a very low level of sexism, but it’s still a stumbling block people at large might yet have to get over first.”
Best DMC Championship memory?
“Ah that’s so difficult! So many great times and parties. Honestly it’s so amazing to watch these videos as a kid and get inspired by these great musicians, then you end up hanging out with them! In terms of battles, 2010 was definitely my best year, and getting to battle and beat DJ Pimp from Spain in my first round – who had knocked me out 3 years earlier – felt like coming full circle. I proper went for it!
…jamming with Q Bert and Craze at one of the last few after parties was very dope, I love the fact that a lot of the best DJs in the world are really nice and down to earth guys.”
What is the current top 10 you are currently spinning?
Shamanic Technology – Kaiju [Beta Test]
The Fresh Dixie Project – Remix EP (Ft Mr Switch) [Ragtime Records]
Cakes Da Killa – I Run This Club (Siyoung Remix)
Dizraeli & Downlow – Minnie The Moocher
Automaton Ft MC Xander & Mr Switch – (Evil Forces) [coming soon]
Cheshire – The Funk’d Up EP
Dutty Moonshine – Moonshine Hype
Joe Ford – The Mission EP
Geek Boy – Threw It All Away [Rain Maker]
…and to play at home
Sleaford Mods – Divide & Exit
Where have been some of your stand out club gigs been in recent months?
“I’ve got a load of gigs in London this month, which I’m really looking forward to – a good-vibes hip hop night, a secret electro swing speakeasy and a return to one of my favourite residencies!
Check out my site for further details…www.dj-mr-switch.com/gigs
The Jitterbug in Nottingham is our irregular-monthly electro swing residency, and I absolutely love it every time! It’s a rammed trip back in time to the 20’s, but with a dose of bass & beats sprinkled on top of the swing. We’ve recently launched it in Leicester which has been fabulous too – the cabaret was top class, oh the stripteases!! I spent two weeks in Abu Dhabi recently with a lot of b-boys, a beatboxer and a world class balloonist! I do love how this job can take you anywhere and put you in touch with amazingly skilled people doing things you’d never considered before. And in February I performed Gabriel Prokofiev’s brand new Concerto For Turntables (Trumpet, Percussion) and Orchestra in the south of France, which went down extremely well and was a fantastic week. We got looked after so well by the lovely people of Pau. I got a basket of gifts on my birthday, the premier of the piece, with a selection of wine, cheese…and a commemorative beret! Plus I got recognised at the check-in desk at the airport! Such a fantastic week. Hopefully we’ll be touring the new Concerto in the UK very soon – there are plans afoot.”
How much work did you have to put into the Royal Albert Hall BBC proms performance of Concerto for Turntables and Orchestra by Gabriel Prokofiev?
“When I first got given the piece to perform, it felt like a piece of school homework. I had to piece together the sheet music, the samples, the final audio and the backing tracks to work out what bits I had to do. It was quite daunting at first, especially as it’s quite a unique, interesting idea and you want to do it justice.
But Gabriel is such a nice guy and great to work with, he was very good at guiding me through the piece. He knew all the turntable techniques from DJ Yoda (who had performed the piece first) so I was very glad the concerto showed off a bit of everything. The Proms itself was actually made quite a comfortable experience, by the fact that by then I’d been playing the piece for 2 years, in various forms and with different orchestras, so I knew the Concerto inside out. Plus I was touring with that line-up (Vladimir Jurowski and the National Youth Orchestra) in the week leading up to the Proms, so although I felt a bit of nerves before going on stage (and national television!) I was well prepared for it. Especially having done the DMC I was used to being filmed. So long as I could stand to watch myself back I would be happy!”
What your opinion on DJs/ Turntablists trolling?
“DJs speak with their hands in dangerous ways!”
And finally, are you going to win on October 5th?
“Haha! well let’s just say every DJ at the world finals had better be on top form. To quote an episode of Sherlock – “I want your best game!” Bring it on!!!”
http://www.facebook.com/DJMrSwitchWorldChamp
www.dj-mr-switch.com
