If you have been listening to most of the Grime shows on Rinse for the past 3 months one of the stand out instrumentals has been 1UP; 2009 Grime meets Super Nintendo Mario. The man responsible for this is Royal T, new producer hailing from Southampton.

1UP Megamix


It took me a while to realise you weren't from London, when and what got you into Grime?

I have always been listening to Garage as a kid. I would be stealing my brothers Tape Packs and take them to school on my Walkman. As the sound slowly progressed into Grime, so did my listening. I can't really remember a defining moment when I first listened to Grime, it just gradually happened.

Were you producing around this time? How much later did it come and what influenced you to start?

I don't think I had even heard of Fruityloops at that time. I used to make my own little compilation cassettes of my favourite tunes from those tapes or radio and I used to love drawing and doing art as a kid so I think that's what blended my creative side. I always wanted to be doing something creative and it was when my uncle gave me and my brother a copy of Fruityloops 3 I got an insight to how songs were made. I was always messing around on the program just making random little jingles and when I learned to sample I think the first tune I made was an Ice Rink refix. This was never a serious thing I had in mind but I found making tunes quite addictive and to this day it is all i do.

So what led to you building up your skill to the point that you wanted to share your music with the world? How helpful has Grime Forum been in sharing your music?

A few mates of mine and I started our own little group. It wasn't anything special but around the time my area was just being introduced to Grime so our songs were seen as something new and probably quite original at the time. The songs weren't masterpeices but it was this time I really was making tunes for a reason and the more people started to like them, the more motivated I was to make more. I made a MySpace around that time, seeing people like JME gain a lot of popularity from it so I thought it made sense to join in. I started to browse the RWD forum for a while and it was when GrimeForum started I grew confident enough to show people my music. GrimeForum has definitely helped me out a lot. I'm not exactly sure where I'd be without it as I have met DJ's on there that would later be playing my tunes on stations like Rinse. It was just an easy place where I could get fast feedback for my songs.

How long were you sending the DJs music before they started playing them? What was the first tune of yours that got love before 1UP?

Almost instantly I think. I hadn't really approached any DJ's until a couple DJ's noticed me at first. The first tune that got played on radio was my World War 4 Remix played by you Elijah. It was funny at first as it was being mixed in with a Tinchy Stryder song and I just thought 'Woah'. It's a good feeling knowing your being played. Before 1UP started causing the storm on radio it was my other song entitled 'Mega' that was getting spins. It was played on JJ's Rinse FM show with Jendor as a guest and he duppied it!

A lot of Grime producers are making the change from making tunes for sets to make tunes for mixtapes and albums. Do you set out to make instrumentals that sound good on sets deliberately?

Not living in London makes its hard for me to get vocals done. I think producers in London should count themselves lucky the fact they are living in the heart of Grime. But still taking away nothing from set beats, its what I love making. I prefer making tunes everyone can hear rather than giving the same beat to an MC in hope that he will vocal it and wait months on end for any sort of result. Some producers choose to boost their profile by getting big names on their songs whereas I don't have the same opportunities, so my way around is building a platform for myself to get in those places. It is 10 times harder this way but I have benefited much more and I have learnt what works and what doesn't.

I think the instrumental being out there then the MC choosing the vocal it for their project is a good way to do things, as the instrumental is already proven to work, so it could work in your favour. Rumour has it P Money has vocalled 1UP for his next project, how did that come about?

It's true and the vocal will feature on his next CD. When I finished making the tune I had P Money in mind for the vocal so I asked Blacks to send it to him and the rest is history. It was one of DJ Smallz's shows which I think he first heard it and he had the tune playing for 10 minutes straight. Be prepared because of what I have heard of it, he has done the beats its justice.

The instrumental release is via No Hats No Hoods, how did that come about?

It was DJ Magic's idea. I was looking to release 1UP and perfect timing Magic approached me about possibly making an EP so it started from there. I know that Rude Kid released on No Hats aswell and he has prospered from this so i'm hoping i can benefit too. Expect it being released within the next couple of months as there is also going to be heard and unheard tunes of mine alongside 1UP.

Any last shouts?

Big up all the DJ's and artists supporting me right now and to the people that will be buying my EP. 1UP Or Shatup!

Here's an MP3 of the Youtube clip.