Hi guys, first up a big thanks for taking the time out to speak to us. You are truly Turntablism legends, you all have an incredible talent. Who were your deck heroes when you started out?
“Have to be Primo, Pete Rock, Invisibl Scratch Picklz, Beat Junkies, X-Men, Craze and A-trak”.
How do you think the art of Turntablism has changed over the years? It’s all changed since DJ Derek mixed a record with a bicycle at London’s Hippodrome in the early 80s!
“I’d say the thing just became more and more technical and elaborated over the years. Also turntablism, which of course originally came from hip-hop, grew by itself and became a musical culture made up of all kinds of music genres, not just hip-hop.”
Who are your music heroes? After hanging with you guys after various DMC World Finals I know you are into anyone from The Prodigy, The Beastie Boys, De La Soul and Jamiroquai – who inspired you growing up to get into this world and who do you think are rocking it today?
“Too many to mention, you will get the idea of what we were into by listening to our mixes and remixes.”
How did C2C all meet in the first place?
“Pfel and I have known each other since we are kids. Then we all met at college, we were like 16.”
So tell us all about Beat Torrent. Your set is an incredible 90 minute journey through Hip Hop AND Electronica on four decks – I hear you remix some classic tunes…tell all about what we can expect, I will be coming to see you at ‘Don’t Panic’ in Manchester on New Years Eve…
“Originally, as you said, Beat Torrent is a 4 decks / 2 djs live set in which we like to mix all kinds of music from old skool hip hop to rock or electronic stuff, anything that can bang a dancefloor. We also recently finished a new Audio/Video set which consist of live remixes with production of our own and visual scratches. We actually did 15 remixes – here’s a few names…The Beatles’ ‘Back In the USSR’, Run DMC’s ‘My Adidas’, Led Zepellin’s ‘Whole Lotta Love’, Queens Of the Stone Age’s ‘No One Knows’. Then we asked graphists, 3D motion-makers to work on visuals on every remix, we basically worked with one graphist per remix. The thing is, we use Serato’s Video Plug-in which allows us to load AV files instead of only audio files on the software, and gives us the opportunity to scratch the visuals and the sound at the same time.”
What has been your best performance at DMC World Finals Night?
“I think the 2005 one was the best, every year we put a lot of work on the set, but that year was special, it was the record-breaking year, the last time we entered (that’s what we thought at the time!!), we also had family coming for us that year. A good time!”.
How do the members of C2C compliment each other, who has the skills at one piece of turntable magic and who has another. Talk us through each DJ…
“Pfel is specialised in putting the needle on the record, Atom can push the start/stop button of the turntable like nobody else, while Greem is the gain control master and 20syl does the best baby scratches on earth!”
Who should we be looking out for next year in Turntablism?
“We have heard that some old famous French names could come back next year…wait and see!”
What is the best club you have ever played at?
“One of the best one’s would be Fabric in London, we also did really good gigs in Babyface and Richy in Shanghai and Shenzhen or Guangzhou in China. Tai Pei’s Room 18 is a nice one too.”
What one record never leaves your box?
“The Serato ‘Scratch Live Contro’l record, BEST TUNE EVER !!!”
Are there any new French turntablist DJs we should be looking out for?
“DJ Fly and Nelson showed good things at this years DMC World Finals, but we really have lots of other good turntablists over here in France, lots of very skilled scratchers, not so many beat-jugglers unfortunately though.”
What country do you think are producing the best DJs at the moment?
“La France biensûr!”
How cool is the organiser of the DMC World Finals – Sally McLintock? You have partied with her many a night!
For sure we did ! All fun !!! Sally’s just one of the most kind and adorable people we have had the chance to meet on the DJ Battle scene.”
Who is France’s most beautiful actress of all time?
“Josiane Balasko.”
Why do you think C2C are so far ahead of the rest of your competitors?
“Good question…”
What’s behind the name?
“C2C originally means “Coups 2 Cross” which is “Coups de Crosse”. It means approximately “Crossfader hits”.
What advice would you give to aspiring DJs wanting to follow you?
“Drink water and say no to drugs!”
Who is the most famous person on your mobile phone’s?
“Sally McLintock.”
Do you get nervous before going on stage at DMC?
“We used to. The worst was in 2004. We were so nervous on stage that we didn’t get the right rhythm on the first routine and totally messed it up. A nightmare.”
Which Team you have competed against were you most scared of?
“Lordz of Fitness were scary for us.”
What are your Top Ten current tunes you are playing?
Prodigy/Pendulum – ‘Voodoo People RMX’
Joan Jett – ‘I love Rock’n’Roll’
KRS-1 – ‘Sound of Da Police’
Kurtis Blow – ‘The Breaks’
Vitalic – La Rock 01′
Rage Against the Machine – ‘Killing in the Name’
Dj Shadow – ‘Organ Donor’
Nirvana – ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’
Goose – ‘Check’
Yuksek – ‘Tonight’
Who is the best Turntablist of all time?
Would be something like a mix between Q-Bert, Craze and A-trak, maybe a bit of Netik as well…”
What next for Beattorrent?
“First 12″ should be out in January on French label Kif Records and a mix CD will come right after that. Then we hope lots of gigs, we want to tour the new AV show as much as we can.”
I believe you stayed at my mum’s house in Burnham for a month – what was that like?
So nice.We just felt right at home, we stayed in her cottage in the gardens, it was lovely. Thanks again to everybody in the family for welcoming us so kindly. And we also had the chance to see Tony’s huge record collection, CRAZY !!!”
What celebrities do you have a crush on?
“Michel Galabru”
You hail from Nantes in France – a beautiful city by the sea – what’s the clubbing scene like there, what hotel/club and bar should we check if we went there?
“We have nice bars here in Nantes like L’ascenceur, Le Meltin’Potes, Le Point Barre and L’Alter Café.
And finally, how important has DMC been for the Turntablist scene?
“Being the most famous DJ Battle, DMC helped turntablist scene to be shown and respected all over the world. Would A-Trak be Kayne’s DJ without his DMC title and all the exposure it gave him ? Same for Craze or Q-bert, which are known way over the turntablist scene.”