A Macclesfield lad who grew up in the golden era of Madchester clubbing in the late 80s, where you were up on stage at The Hacienda and scooting off to Blackpool and Blackburn for ‘Shaboo’ and the warehouses?
“I grew up in Stockport and spent many nights out in Manchester at clubs such as The Man Alive, Precinct 13 and the PSV. Although I loved house music at the time, I tended to go to soul/hip hop/reggae clubs back then before the Hac.”
Before all that though, it was stumbling onto your dad’s record collection that switched you onto a bigger musical picture…
“Yes, it was finding my dad’s Price Buster records – I was a big Madness and 2 Tone fan which made me aware of the bigger music picture. Once my curiosity was ignited, there was no stopping me.”
You are renowned for many things, one of the more sane ones is how diverse your sets are – sometimes playing up to six hours. Which artists throughout the 80s were you listening to that moulded this incredible diversity you have and how did you gain access to these sounds back when there weren’t that many records coming out?
“The main way for hearing new music as a teenager in the 80s was radio – Greg Wilson’s mixes on Mike Shaft’s GMR show, Lee Brown, Scotty, Tony the Greek, especially Stu Allan on Piccadilly/Key 103, Hewan Clarke, Leaky Fresh and many more on Sunset, Steve Barker’s ‘On The Wire’ show on Radio Lancashire, John Peel, plus all the pirate stations like WBLS, Southside and Laser. The first dance music that I got into were the Electro albums in 1983 which covered all aspects of Electro and Hip Hop plus some of the more electronic Boogie/Freestyle stuff such as Aleem and Xena. Dance music tended to be less segregated in the 1980s and the amount of good quality specialist radio shows meant that we got to hear all the latest releases. These shows turned me on to early House stuff, Soul, Hip Hop, Reggae, Funk, Jazz, Latin, Bhangra, Alternative and African music. There were more than enough releases to eat up my paper round money.”
You are also known for your tea exploits, what started as simply having a brew before a gig has exploded beyond all expectations. Your own brands, tea-tents at festivals, Selfridges and Waitrose stocking Mr Scruff tea and an online store selling mugs, teapots and tea-towels. So…
Where is the strangest place around the world whilst DJing have you had a cuppa?
“I have had some great brews in Japan, but the best was a cup of banana tea in a Shibuya department store.”
Which promoter on your travels makes the best cuppa?
“I met a DJ called Liquid Brother at a recent gig in Gent in Belgium where his sister brought me some fantastic Jasmine tea.”
What charities do you kindly donate to through your tea business?
“Mainly the World Development Movement, but there have been hundreds of local charities over the years.”
Have you convinced any other DJ to slurp on a cup on tea whilst DJing?
“Yes, I tend to bully people into drinking tea, especially on a Sunday.”
If asked, what do you put on your rider?
“We have a massive rider, mostly geeky technical stuff, plus masses of concrete slabs to weigh down the DJ table. We do have a list of daft requests, including…
1 Donkey.
1 Chaffinch.
1 Mr Scruff lookalike.
1 Fully intact dinosaur skeleton.
1 Giant Inflatable Sandwich (must be edible).
1 Set of chess pieces, hand carved from Peruvian cucumber.
1 cattle grid at the entrance to the club – to prevent stilettos.
1 Remote controlled cement mixer.”
And finally, of all of the different directions your tea business has meandered, did most of these ideas come about late at night after a club sitting around ‘chilling’?
“No, the initial idea was inspired by occasionally being able to get brews at all night Northern Soul clubs, and thinking ‘why doesn’t every club serve tea?’. The rest of the inspiration came from selling it at my own club nights and taking note of feedback from the clubbers.”
Obvious question, but got to get it out of the way, ever been tea-bagged?
“Fortunately not, although I did have some (thankfully unused) tea bags thrown at me during a gig once. Flying teabags & tonearms don’t get on well together.”
A funny story surrounding the first time you heard a mix tape then, concerning the actual mixing side of things which was a first for you…?
“The first time I heard mixing was on an Electro album in 1983, and I wondered why there there no gaps between the tunes. It didn’t strike me as being anything special at the time, but when I realised that a DJ had put it together I quickly commandeered the family Hi-FI and broke all the buttons on the tape deck trying to do pause-button editing.”
Your artwork is of legends in the music world – tell us what drew you into this world…
“After a childhood of being entertained by the whole wonderful world of kids animation – Bod, The Clangers, Magic Roundabout, Ivor The Engine etc. it was inevitable that my drawings ended up looking like potatoes.”
Where was your first ever gig and how much were you paid?
“My first gig was at Stockport’s student union in 1990, DJing for our end of course party for free. My first paid gig was at the ‘Hoochie Coochie’ Sunday night at The Dry Bar in 1994, and I got £20!”
You played for a while at Manumission when they were based in Manchester before ‘that incident’. Did you ever think they would go on to create such a monster?
“Andy and Mike always had bold ideas, so I am not surprised that it grew so big. There were a lot of theatrical elements, even when it was based in a small club in Manchester.”
The 90s saw you play at some seminal clubs such as ‘Headfunk’ that evolved into ‘Eardrum’ and ‘One Tree Island’ alongside some brilliant fellow resident DJs – out of which, who did you know was going right to the top?
“Not really, we were all too busy having a good time. Tom from Groove Armada and Malcolm Wax from the Dub Pistols both played at ‘Headfunk’. All the DJs had a great taste in music and were good at what they did. Andy Votel, Chubby Grooves, Funk Boutique, Mark One, Sam DuPrez Stefano, Jah Conguero – some are still doing music and some have moved onto other things but they all left their mark on Manchester’s clubbing history. The 90s were a very fertile years for Manchester music.”
How did the signing to Ninja Tune come about?
“Ninja were aware of me from my first release and myself and Mark Rae had a few friendly four deck battles with DJ Food at Ninja’s ‘Stealth’ night. I also did a DJ Food megamix, so slowly but surely, I was becoming an honorary Ninja and in 1998, they asked me to join them.”
Ninja obviously has produced some incredible artists and DJs – who stands out for you?
“Personal favourites are Up, Bustle & Out, Roots Manuva, Flanger, New Flesh, Antibalsa, Poets Of Rhythm, Daedelus, Dwight Trible, Homelife, Ty, Wagon Christ, Zero dB and Andreya Triana.”
Manchester or Miami?
“Miami has better weather, but Manchester has better music…”
So a new album coming out, the re-release and re-mastering of ‘Keep It Unreal’ – The 10 Year Anniversary complete with a 9 track bonus CD including 6 unreleased tracks from your original Scruffy studio sessions. How important was this album in cementing you as one of the most innovative and exciting producers we have?
“This was definitely the album that introduced me to a wider audience, and I suppose that it was a really good statement of where I was coming from musically.”
You created your own club night in Manchester using ‘Keep it Unreal’ as the name, what was the idea behind the night (which is still running to this day)?
“The idea was to have a night where I could play whatever I wanted. I had been playing as a guest at nights for several years, but I was always fitting into other people’s music policy. The first night was the launch party for the ‘Keep It Unreal’ album, and it was the first time where I realised that I had a bit of a following, as it was just me on the bill and loads of people came to see me.”
What are the best 3 clubs, festival and DJs you have witnessed over the years?
“The clubs – Plastic People in London, Yellow in Tokyo and The Smart Bar in Chicago.
The festivals – The Big Chill and Womad in the K and The Garden Festival in Croatia.
The DJs – DJ Spinna, Kelvin Brown and Jah Shaka.”
The DMC World Mixing Final takes place at the 02 in September, what do you think of the Turntablist scene?
“The Turntablist scene is still pushing the possibilities of what you can do with two decks and a mixer to it’s absolute limit and continues to emphasise the importance of the DJ in hip hop culture.”
You have a very firm belief in the role of the DJ and how a set should be put together program wise, can you explain…
“The main technical things a DJ should take note of are…
1. Sound quality, good quality needles, sound files and D?A converters if you use a computer and knowing how a club system with all its components such as the DJ kit, EQ, compressors, limiters, crossovers and amps work together.
2. Not pushing the mixer into the red.
3. Not running the system at full volume at the start of the night.
Personally, I play for the whole night and start off very quiet and mellow to create a welcoming atmosphere when people are coming into the club, getting a drink, chatting etc. The volume and energy slowly builds until people are ready to dance and then you can step the music a little up to get the floor moving and continue building for another hour or so until the place is rocking. Then you can do whatever you like! Musically, the most important thing is to be yourself. I am not going to say that the way I DJ is the way everyone else should play because variety is the spice of life. Try and play for as long as possible so you are not under pressure to just play big tunes and have the time to let your style and taste show through. If you are a guest DJ, check out what the residents are playing before you go on. Contrast, dynamics, programming, timing, drama and a strong gut instinct are very important Dan.”
Karl Marx only drank herbal tea as he thought all proper tea was theft, author George Orwell famously disagreed – whose side are you on?
“I have the same attitude to tea as I do to music, so as long as it is good I don’t mind!”
What one artist in the music industry would you really like to get in the studio with?
“Al Campbell”.
What are the big 10 tunes in your box at the moment?
1. Quantic & his Combo Barbaro ‘Tradition in Transition’ (Tru Thoughts LP)
2. Pearson Sound ‘Wad’ (Hessle Audio 12″)
3. Moritz Von Oswald Trio ‘Vertical Ascent’ (Honest Jons LP)
4. Sa-Ra Creative Partners ‘Nuclear Evolution-The Age Of Love’ (Ubiquity LP)
5. Zed Bias & Tawiah ‘Further Away’ (CDR)
6. Mark Pritchard & Om’Mas Keith ‘Wind It Up’ (Hyperdub 12″)
7. Various ‘Panama 2’ (Soundway LP)
8. Scruff & Kaidi ‘Fresh Noodles’ (Prime Numbers CDR)
9. Silkie ‘City Limits’ (Deep Medi LP)
10.Reggie Dokes ‘Spectacle of Deepness EP’ (WPH 12″)
Nearly twenty years at the top now with your DJing, producing and various radio shows on the likes of Kiss 102 and Key 103…what do you think have been the biggest changes in clubland since you began to the present day – what for instance is your view on the whole download side of things?
“Where is this fabled place called clubland? There is a lot more music about now than there was 20 years ago and styles seem to develop a lot faster due to digital technology and communication – but the basic principles of going out and dancing to music have not changed much. There is still an amazing variety of venues and different club nights to go to, from Jump Jive, Northern Soul and Mod R&B nights to Dubstep and IDM. As for downloads, there are good and bad sides. The good side is convenience and a greater access to music, and the bad side is poor sound quality.”
Other than Ninja, what other labels over the years do you have respect for?
“Tru Thoughts, Soundway, Hessle, DMZ, Apple Pips, Tommy Boy, Alegre, Analog Africa, The Sun, MAW, Metroplex, Fantasy, CTI, NIA, Kent, Shrine, DFA, Guidance, Prime Numbers, Alleviated, Trax, DJ International, P&P, Enjoy, Cotillion, Elektra, Greensleeves, Blue Beat, 2 Tone, Basic Channel, Underground Resistance, Wild Pitch, Payday, Kold Sweat, Factory, Grand Central, Tectonic, Punch Drunk, 3 Stripe, SUAD, Reinforced, 2000 Black, Ubiquity, Far Out, Salsoul, Prelude, Amha, All City, Syllart, Motown, Chess, Blue Note, Riverside, Pressure Sounds, Warp, Island, Brain, Atlantic, WIRL, Taxi, Zakia, Sutra, Sub Pop, King St, Waxpoetics, Timmion, Jazzman, Argon, Ramp, Hyperdub, Polar, Vintertainment, Tempa, Sound Signature, Mahogani, FXHE, DEB, Black Swan, NuGroove, Nervous, Strictly Rhythm, Skam, Ariwa, Exterminator, Germain, African Museum, and too many more to mention.”
The album ‘Mr Scruff’ released in May 1997 through to the new re-work are just two of the seven albums you have released, what has been your most accomplished, your proudest?
“It would be a toss-up between ‘Keep It Unreal’ and ‘Ninja Tuna’.”
You’re having a tea party at Lyme Hall – which 5 people dead or alive do you invite?
“I wouldn’t invite any dead people to a tea party, that would be silly.”
Your house is on fire, what one record do you salvage before jumping out of the window?
“A massive, mattress shaped record for me to land on.”
Some new stuff coming out from you production wise we hear?
“I have a Deep House track with Kaidi Tatham coming out on Prime Numbers soon, and an Alice Russell remix.”
How do you feel about being nicknamed the Salvador Dali of beats and breaks?
“He was a Surrealist, I am an Unrealist.”
So your tea-room ‘Cup’ in Manchester, I think Moby has a similar place in New York and I have heard rumours that Sasha may be investing in a rock n’ roll chip shop in Los Angeles – have we all gone mad?
“Yes”.
