I started receiving tunes from him about a year ago and over the last 6 months he has progressed really quickly and I believe he is one two look out for in the second half of this year. Check the mix of his latest tracks and remixes below.

So tell us a bit about yourself, I have been receiving tunes for about a year from you, what were you doing up until that point?

I've been producing for around 7 years, mainly as a hobby. I've gone under a couple different aliases, Merlin, Unique. I won a producer competition with RWD mag back in the day but never really had the belief to do music. So I went to university to study media production, after doing that for a year I realised that I couldn't not follow my heart any more so decided to choose music as my career path.

You did a couple of instrumental mixtapes as well right? Where you always writing Grime or where you just doing whatever?

I brought out an instrumental mixtape called dirty sheets, basically consisting of a few of the beats I had made up to that point. I've always been making grime, occasionally strayed into hip hop production but I've been supporting grime since its birth and its the music I enjoy making the most. I find it hard to stray far away from 140bpm.

SRC - Lemsip (Mr.Mitch Remix) FREE DOWNLOAD by Mr.Mitch

Interesting you mention tempo, you tried making Grime outside of that 140bpm comfort zone yet?

Well I do have tunes which vary in tempo but the majority of them go from 135-142. Even when I make tunes at a much slower tempo its still has my same style and feel to it. I made a tune the other day actually that speeds up to 160 at the end, I sent it to Skepta and he wanted it on his album.

Skepta - Badboy (Mr.Mitch Remix) by Mr.Mitch

Sick, so at the moment is it looking like you are going to have a couple of tunes on his album? And that is all off the back of the Bad Boy Remix?

I made the remix when he sent out the accapella and then sent it to him via twitter. He liked it and wanted to use the beat for a song on his album. I've been sending him beats since then and last week and sent him another one that he wants to use so its all good.

Terror Danjah - Air Bubble (Mr.Mitch Remix) (Free Download) by Mr.Mitch

Have any other MCs reached out to you yet? What other ones would you like to work with?

I haven't had many big names come to me yet asking for beats. But I would really like to work with JME and D Double, when I make music aim to create songs and I think JME really knows how to make a well constructed song and D Double is just my favourite mc and a legend so who wouldn't want to work with him.

Mr.Mitch - Fright Night (SRC Remix) by Mr.Mitch

Over the past 6 months you have really got into the remixing along with SRC, Swindle, Terror Danjah etc how do you think that has effected your production skills?

I find remixing really inspiring, as it forces me to try out different methods of editing/production. Every time I open logic I try something new so I don't get stuck in a rut. So sometimes remixing really helps me when I get stuck for inspiration.
→ If you want to remix 'Fright Night' you can grab the parts here.

Mr.Mitch - Skittles (Forthcoming Butterz) by Mr.Mitch

Finally 'Skittles' will be your first track on vinyl! I got the test press on Friday its sounding nice! Are you planning to release more music yourself or via other labels in the near future?

I've got a four track e.p coming digitally on subdepth records, I've also got a remix for Numan getting released on vinyl for the same label. I'm currently holding a competition to remix my track fright night, and I will release the best ones alongside my one digitally on my own label.

Keep in touch with him on Twitter / Mixcloud / Soundcloud

P.S You can download our last Rinse FM show here.

Since I put up the parts to 'Air Bubble' I have come across a lot of new producers, who I will give some space here to get to know them over the next few weeks. The first is Producer/MC/DJ Teeza who is from West London and is featuring on the official Air Bubble Remix package alongside Swindle, Starkey and Royal-T on limited clear vinyl in the near future.
Terror Danjah - Air Bubble (Teeza Remix) by TeezaMusic

Give us a brief introduction to Teeza

I'm an MC/Producer hailing from West London. I'm 22 years old. Been into music since I was about 12 and as of last year, I started taking it upon myself to get my name floating about.

Do you remember the tunes that particularly got you into actually making music?

Tunes like a Sticky - Triplets, Mos Wanted - Hungry Tiger. Amongst some other Garage Classics. And just having that Playstation Game 'Music' made it easy get started. My big bro bought that, he was an MC.

You're a DJ as well, who are your all time favourite producers?

Wiley, Terror Danjah, Skepta, Davinche and Target

Did you have any stints on pirate radio?

I was on a few different stations. React fm, LayLow fm, Frontline fm, Get Grime TV. Never really got a chance to go on stations like Flashback, Raw Mission, De Ja, Rinse etc.

Did you not pursue it because of the lack of raves/demise in pirate radio/lack of vinyl or did you just want to MC.

It began with just not having enough money for it. But as I was still writing and I teamed up with a few other MCs so, that became my main thing. We had a DJ as well so from time to time I got to throw in a few mixes on set, either at radio or someones house.

Going forward, are you looking to pursue all three pursuits? You recently appeared on Logan Sama's Chosen Ones and released an instrumental EP and your uploading mixes of your own instrumentals. How do you intend to balance your contribution?

You'll definitely hear a lot more production from me. I'm starting to get back into the writing because I feel I can compete with the top guys now. As for Djing, I have to sit and think about recording a demo and where I wanna go with it. But I cant promise anything just have to see how things go. Who knows, I could become a one man band.

What do you have planned for the rest of the year? Are you looking to work with other established artists and producers?

I've already started to do that, so yeah more of that and more releases. I'll be doing a few tunes with producers the main focus will be getting vocal stuff done and my releases.

Any final words...

Look out for my next EP release, Riot Musick. To find more music from me, check Myspace, Soundcloud, Youtube, Facebook and Twitter!

'Gutter Music' is the finest Grime track ever written outside the UK - Blackdown (2009)

It was also one of my favourite tracks of 2009, and it seemed well overdue that I interviewed Starkey. He recently remixed Terror Danjah's Air Bubble which you can listen to here and he his second album 'Ear Drums & Black Holes' is out April 19th on Planet Mu.

It is not a Grime album, but it is definitely worth checking if you like similar sounds to the stuff we play on Rinse.

Even though we have been in contact for over a year, this was the first time we spoke at length.. nearly 3 hours via Skype.

I thought it would be best to start at the beginning of the album, Ok Luv, which features Badness on the single, but not on the album, what was the reason behind picking him to vocal it, and why did that version not make the album?

I got in touch with Robin from No Hats No Hoods who I've spoken to a bunch in the past and done remixes for... and said that I wanted to do a tune with Badness he basically sorted it out. I'm a huge fan of his vocal work, he's all over the place, but its still him all the time.

So that tune was built with him in mind or did you send them a few and he pick?

I sent him that tune straight away it didn't make the album because they didn't know where to put it I kind of wanted it on there to be honest but I also wanted Millennia on the CD and that made the B-side to Stars we had a lot of tracks in the running for the album. Some just didn't make it. There's only so much space on the album and Mike at Mu really goes after a cohesive sound. I think he does a good job with it as well. We cut a couple things. just didn't work for whatever reason we also had a few things that never panned out.

Stars (feat. Anneka) by Starkey from Ben Curzon on Vimeo.

Tell us about Cerebral Vortex, where is he from and why did you decide to use him on murderous words?

Cerebral Vortex was down in Texas, i believe, when he did the tune or he could have been in San Francisco. He moves around a bit. he's in NYC now he hit me up on Myspace and said something along the lines of... people say we need to do a tune together and I agree.so, I sent him 'club games', which had the hook in it. I told him the concept and he was feeling it.

If an MC messaged a producer saying we need to work together over here they would probably just ignore it!

With vortex... he wanted to do another tune as well. so I always thought that Murderous Words would work with a vocal. I sent that to him as well... and we were really happy with how that turned out as well. I don't ignore anything everything could be the next best person to work with... or the next best producer....it takes a lot of time though.

Ive noticed, even in terms of the new producers I've been sending you have been really receptive, how do you balance the DJ role finding new tracks, alongside producing

I wait for things to come to me now DJ-wise I get so much music, it's difficult to listen to all of it
but I do. If even for 15 seconds to see if it has that initial 'wow' factor.

Can you put us on to some people, or some tracks you have come across recently that you have been feeling?

There's a lot! DNAEBEATS, Nasty Nasty, Halp, SDUK, Kaiser, BD1982, Eprom, Slugabed those are some of my favorites.. but there's others as well.Zeno has been doing it big lately... as well as Stagga and Monkey. The people whose music I really like, I tend to get them involved with what I'm doing like Seclusiasis or Slit Jockey, or remixes for my Planet Mu stuff.

So the balance between your productions and all these other names in the set, how does the balance take place, as people are paying to hear 'Starkey' when they book you right?

I'm like 50/50 right now 50% my own tunes... 50% friends and label-mates. I plan to get back into live sets again in the near future... it just has to be interesting. it can't be me behind a laptop with a mouse and some knobs for me... that's boring



Yea, they are visually lame, but sometimes you hear some crazy stuff, how could you expand on that?

Vocals, videos... I'm not quite sure yet that's why i haven't done it. but, I'd like it to be kind of a spectacle like over the top.

Your still based out of Philly, how has that effected the creative process in making the album? Do you think if you were in London you would have had a totally different sound?

Well I'm not sure if now... if i picked up and moved... it would impact me immediately. I mean, I'm in London enough now that it definitely is an influence on me. but Philly is my home... and that's where i draw most of my experiences from. If i grew up in London... that would be a different story. Maybe I would be making funky! I moved my studio last year... so a lot of this album was done in a different place that Ephemeral Exhibits. So that might have influenced me a bit, my new studio is pretty comfortable.

Comfortable studio, more comfortable music?

I don't know. Maybe, that's why there's a lot of chill tunes on this album

I would say for someone that plays out as much as you do, your album isnt filled up with obvious dance floor material? Would you agree?

My old studio was always so hot.... like in the summer, it was ridiculous. Sweaty as shit I think my DJ sets aren't as immediate either though. It's a bit more challenging, and I don't say that trying to sound snobby at all. but, I don't really play sets filled with "big" tunes. Anyone can do that unless you're the person who made the big tune, or released the big tune... cool.


Ha, yea I'm like that as well, im the stubborn guy playing Grime still in 2010 remember

We were playing Grime in Philly in 2004/2005. I mean.... no one knew what it was we were outcasts and we didn't care that's the music that inspired us it was so refreshing. A lot of the music they call Dubstep in 2010 is actually grime though if we're gonna pigeon-hole stuff.

Did you get into Dubstep after that 2005 era then, what music kept you going until you you released your first album?

I kind of got into Dubstep when I heard Vex'd and Loefah stuff. The music that was darker and had more hip hop in it, I guess I wasn't into the 2steppy early stuff back then. I listened to a lot of Grime as well as, Electronica, for lack of better words. Stuff like Aphex Twin, Venetian Snares, Bjork.. then like Trip Hop stuff... Old Tricky, Portishead, Alpha.

What you think of the new Vex'd stuff then, would you consider that Grime? I assume most of the Dubstep you consider Grime you are referring to Joker, Gemmy, Guido etc?

Yeah... Mensah's tune Pulse 80's. It's like Pulse X for 2010. Lots of the Bristol stuff plus people in the US as well.

Who in the us? I dont know many producers

SDUK, who is on slit jockey, most of what he's doing I would call Grime but he's in London. The US the hip hop crossover stuff is where it's at right now, like i said... Dnaebeats, Nasty Nasty, Eprom, Lazer sword even lots of good music going on in San Francisco.


Numb, my favourite tune on the album, whats yours? How did the link up with P Money come about, and would you do more stuff with him in the future? I think MCs have always tended to go to a 'hip hop' beat for a 'deep' track but this was a really exciting beat all the way through.

Yeah it's one of my favorites as well. Top 3 definitely. I also got in touch with him through Robin as well. He's been one of my favorite MC's in grime for the past couple years. I'd be all about doing more tracks with him... I think he's got such a good flow. The tune was for the most part in the version it ended up in when I sent it to him. I did add the stabby section toward the end though, where the bassline changes, for some more variety at the end. It's got an odd feel as well... but he smashed it.

How has the the file sharing thing effected you? Would you say its done more harm overall then help? With Grime its so obscure File sharing has helped it reach far and wide but tore the heart out of it, Rhythm division in Bow closed on the weekend.

I didn't know that crazy well Wiley ain't making white label Grime tunes anymore... so... not much to stock I guess! I think it helps overall. but I really wish that people could experience this album on release day.I know some people that refuse to download it and are waiting to listen to it on April 19th. That's refreshing and means a lot. I want it to be an experience... and you won't get that if you just grab it off a site with 10 other things in one day but... if that means people will come out when you play their town... then I guess it helps. it gets people familiar with your music. This album will be sick though... we didn't skimp on artwork and packaging.

Who did the artwork?

Ben Curzon, who did the whole campaign... Ok Luv, Knob twiddler, stars and the album. Plus he did the Stars video as well. The cd is in a black jewel case... with the printing of the cover directly on the outside of the case. I've never seen that before and the text is on a sticker that wraps around from the front to the back it's sick.


What are the difference between the parties in US and in Europe? Are you doing more US stuff now that 'Dubstep' is getting bigger over there?

It's pretty much split. like this month I'm in the US and Canada... then most of May and June I'm in Europe. The parties in the UK are becoming a bit more diverse which is nice to see in the US... it's always been quite diverse.... because people come at Dubstep from such different places
like there are people in the US who are "big" in the US Dubstep scene who no one in UK even knows about I think it's kind of weird there's this whole other community of people that have embraced the sound.

So are you kind of considered as part of that scene, or you like alternative dubstep? Sometimes I see line ups for American nights with like 3 DJs from England and that shocks me when guys like you are close by.

Well the UK stuff definitely gets embraced a lot here. I mean... there's a lot of people who listen to Dubstep who know Skream, Benga, Caspa.... and that's their frame of reference. A lot of them may have been into Drum & Bass which I wasn't, and they come at it from people moving from DNB to Dubstep.

Yea I thought as much, but then I see Joker, Roska, Kode 9 doing U.S tours as well, so it isn't just a wobble thing.

I guess I'm the opposite though. I've been embraced by the people in the UK and Europe a lot which is obviously great. oh yeah... it's not just one particular sound I play a decent amount in the US as well and Canada has a vibrant scene too, the US is so spread out. It's such a big place.... that there are people that gravitate to certain sounds in different parts of the country even. People don't realize how big this place is.


Starkey Australia/NZ Tour - March 2009

Starkey | MySpace Music Videos

What about the other side Australia and New Zealand do you get out there?

I played out there last March a little over a year ago some of the shows were good... others not so. I think if I went out there now I'd have a better reception. It's so far to travel though. I was miserable on the plane. it would have to be some seriously good shows to get me back out there.

The traveling must takes its toll, do you tend to have long periods without gigs and use that time to build or do you just make whenever you can?

Yeah. I also currently teach full time so that makes touring even more difficult. It's got to be packed into these short trips like earlier this month i played 10 shows in 9 days in the UK and Europe that was intense.

And then went back to school?

Yeah, the next morning, I got home at midnight... then was up at 7am for the train to work!

Thought bout going part time?

Possibly. it all depends on how things are going really.I get off most of December and January... then May until the end of August so that's a lot of time to play shows. Plus I've done weekend trips to the UK before. They're marathons... but it's do able.

What have you got lined up for the summer?
Gonna be in the UK and Europe most of May and June, a festival in the US in May... other than that... just trying to get some festival dates and working on more music.

You heard this dream mclean "woo riddem freestyle"? I love it beat's sick as well!

*We both discuss our favourite versions of 'Woo Riddim'*


Swindle said you sent him over some bits to work on right?

Yeah... but I don't think he could figure out what to do with it I was having problems with the drop... That's why I sent it to him I still want to do a tune with him though, and terror. Would be sick. Every time I try that though... it never works out. Joker and I tried something... even sitting in his studio... and it was kind of shit.

Would definitely be amazing, I have been really pushing the co production and remix thing with this batch of producers lately, to keep them on their toes. Have you done any other co productions?

It's funny because I'm all about remixes just the whole co-produce thing just doesn't work for me for some reason, I'm hoping to break the trend though.

Thanks for doing the Air Bubble Remix as well, have you heard many of the others, if so what are you feeling?

Yeah I listened to the links from the Grime Forum. None of them are as good as the original even mine the original works so well.

Yours, Royal-Ts, Swindles, Mr Mitch's were among the highly rated but the reason why I released the parts is because I felt the original was slept on. What would you say was your slept on track?

Oh man... that's a difficult one, I mean... I don't think I've ever had a big tune. Gutter music is probably the closest I'm surprised Creature didn't get people going as much as I thought it would. At that point I think it was one of the best tunes I had made, since the Gutter VIP but on the last tour I had people request it twice... I'm actually really surpised the Armand Van Helden remix I did wasn't well received "illin n Fillin It". That tune was my favorite for a while.

What would you say you still want to achieve as a DJ & producer? Have you exceeded your expectations from when you first started releasing music?

I'm extremely grateful that people enjoy my music enough to buy records and come out to hear me play, it's amazing. I couldn't have imagined this even 5 years ago but I believe if what you're doing is genuine, then people will take notice.



Watch out for 'Ear Drums & Black Holes' April 19th on Planet Mu and his remix of 'Air Bubble' coming soon 'fingers crossed' on Butterz.

J Beatz was one of the first producers I came across on Grime Forum in early 2008. First of all I was shocked at the work rate, then I was shocked at his age. He was sending me a beat a week before I had even joined Rinse FM. Persistence is the key in this game, now he is gone on to get big vocals in 2009 from the likes of Big H and Skepta, 2010 should see him cement his name as producer in his own right with a release on No Hats No Hoods.

SRC hailing from Birmingham is the first of many 2010 ones to watch im going to do over the next few weeks. He reached out to me in May this year with about 10 beats and has been giving me about 10 every month since.



So give us a little introduction to the world of SRC, as I still dont know much about you!

Im a producer/aspring DJ from birmingham. Been makin beats for a few years now since about 03, Ive put out a few free downloads Organised grime, the srcd series and one called four one one.

So has it been an on and off thing or have you been consistently been making beats since 2003?

On and off I would say, I had months without making anything and sometimes its a few in a day. It depends on whats going on at the time.



You mentioned before you had a vocal tune out with a crew, shed a bit more light on that, and are you going to work with any other MCs?

It was a tune called "I Know what U Did" Came out in 2005 maybe. It did quite well with a video on channel U and plays on 1xtra. That was what got me involved in the scene in Birmingham as a lot of DJs & MCs got in touch after hearing it. I've had quite a lot of vocals altogether, from Birmingham MCs.

As for working with MCs I probably will do occasionally but I'm more concerned with beats at the moment. Saying that I'm involved with Vader's "Invasion" Movement so I will definitely have some beats in any projects coming from there.



Do you think not being in London where you could of networked with the bigger MCs has made you focus more on beats?

Not even that you know, it would have probably have been a help if I was in London to get vocals that might get me known, but what it was really was that I found a lot of MCs took long when I wanted a vocal for one of my projects, but when they wanted one it seemed to get done almost instantly. That left me a bit bitter and from then I cut down who I worked with to a minimum. Now though I just like beats more, I only really listen to instrumental tunes in any genre.

So what else are you listening to at the moment?

I listen to a lot of J Dilla, Flying lotus, Afta-1 Madlib, That kinda instrumental hip-hop stuff.

And Grime wise what are you into, and what keeps you motivated to make the music?

Grime wise I try to listen to most of what's out. I like a lot of the Swindle I Terror Danjah stuff you've been playing lately as well as some of the older grime tunes like J-sweet & Virgo. My motivation is just good response I guess. Its always nice when someone says they like a beat you've spent time on. Especially recently having more people approach me about tunes they like motivates me to carry on making beats.


Your a DJ as well? When you start playing out, what kind of set would you do? I assume you would play a lot of your own stuff?

I only really got into it this past year. Bought some decks, but I have played out couple times already alongside my mates B9a & Skeme. I don't play that much of my own stuff yet but I've been slowly working them into my sets. I want to do a mix full of my beats soon though.



What's the plans for next year?

This years gone pretty quick! I'm looking forward to releasing something on vinyl soon, and then follow it up with more both vinyl and digital. Hopefully I get to DJ out some more and just carry on making music and see how it goes. 'Gold Coins' is coming out on Numbers and hopefully others will come throughout the year.

Any last words?

Just big up to you and Skilliam for playing the tunes and helping me out. Oneman & Jackmaster and all the other DJs and people enjoying the music!

Download: SRCD Volume Four

Hit SRC up Myspace / Twitter / Youtube

Next Hype Remixes Vinyl Buy here
Pars R Us T Shirts Buy Here

No Hats No Hoods Volume 1 Buy Here

As we are approaching the half way point of the year, thought we would mix up some of the best vocals and instrumentals so far. Most of the stuff we played is out now, so if you like it buy it!
Bang in the middle we have a snippet of a telephone interview with Skepta where he talks about Too Many Man, Microphone Champion and Meridian crew.


Enjoy

Frisco - Say My Name (Back to the lab 3)
Dot Rotton - Ride For Me - (Hardrive 2)
Ghetts & Rapid - One Way Road (Rapid Fire)
Newham Generals - Bell Dem Slags (Generally Speaking)
Tinchy Stryder - No Cape (Stryder v Maniac)
Tempz V Oddz - Strung Up Hype (Oneman Mash Up)
Newham Generals - Murked Again (B Side to Head Get Mangled)
Swindle feat Manga, Flow Dan, Riko & J2K - Roll Deep Rally (Funk & Grime)
Durrty Goodz & Starkey - Gutter Music (Keysound)
Swindle & Double S - Swaggeristic (Flow Father)
Jammer & C Gritz - Overly (Are You Dumb 4)
Newham Generals - Violence (Generally Speaking)
Griminal - Cant Be (Hardrive 2)
Tinchy Stryder - Pray For Me (Stryder v Maniac)
P Money, Little D & Blacks - Say Suttin I Dont Like
Ruff Squad - Bring Your Click (Rapid Fire)
Nasty Jack & Storming - One Spliff A Day (Shotta Music)
DVA - Bullet A Go Fly (Keysound)
Frisco Feat Roadside Gs - Ignorant Remix (Back To The Lab 3)
Newham Generals - Mind Is A Gun (Generally Speaking)
JME & Rude Kid - London Town Remix
Boy Better Know - Too Many Man (Microphone Champion)
*Skepta Interview Pt.1*
Skepta - Sticks & Stones (Microphone Champion)
*Skepta Interview Pt.2*
*Instrumentals*
Joker - 80s (Kapsize)
Joker - Purple City (Kapsize)
Rossi B & Luca - Nobody Knows (ARMY)
Rossi B & Luca - Run For Cover (ARMY)
Skepta - Reggae (Adamantium)
Wiley - Chance Us - (Adamantium)
Scratchy - Shangooli (Geeneus Remix) (Dumpvalve)
J Sweet - Concrete (Earth 616)
Joker & Rustie - Play Doe (Kapsize)
J Sweet - Ventilated (Earth 616)
Maniac - Salt Fish (Earth 616)
Silencer - Dirtbag (Wow Bass Level 2)
Starkey - Gutter Music VIP (Keysound)
Terror Danjah - Frontline Remix (Zip Files)
Silencer - Mr T (Run The CD)
Footsie - 3 Plates (Head Get Mangled B Side)
Jakes - Rock The Bells (Hench)
Terror Danjah - Flatline (Zip Files)
Maniac - Grime Kid (Stryder v Maniac)
Silencer - Wizard (Wow Bass 2)
Rude Kid - Jack Daniels (Are You Ready)
Silencer - Goblin (Run The CD)

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.

Behind the scenes of Sunglasses at Night video shoot. Also speaks on Microphone Champion which is out March 2009.


Skepta - Sunglasses @ Night from Butterz on Vimeo.

Props to Dane & Mo.

While your watching the interview. Buy the Earth 616 EP's here. They feature production from Maniac, Waifer, Davinche, DOK, Wiley, DVA, Skeamz and Rude Kid.


Logan Sama from Butterz on Vimeo.


Download 'The Best There Is At What I Do' Episode 5 Here.

If you didn't know he is on Kiss Fm 11pm-1am every Monday night as well.

Bashy.com is his 3rd mixtape following Your Mum Vol.1 and the Chupa Chups mixtape. Hosted by Ras Kwame and Masterstepz respectively this one drops the host and is scratched and mixed by CJ Beats. It follows the traditional format of a US hip hop mixtape: freestyles, wheel ups, interludes and skits. Bashy & I’s first debate was the format of the UK mixtape. He says 'a CD that has all original material with full tunes, with a video on television and a tune serviced to DJs and available on all digital platforms' is an album. It is a way of putting out a product and not expecting 10,000 sold, with the excuse “its only a mixtape". Bashy’s effort is solely to promote the launch of Bashy.com and give his supporters something to listen to until Catch Me If You Can the album comes in 2009. I think the different directions artists have chosen to take the mixtape format has been a positive thing for the music. If everyone did the same thing, it would be quite boring, and Bashy has the ability to put 25+ tracks on a cd, whereas others were under pressure to do the same, it could result in poor quality mixtapes. Tinchy v Maniac, JME’s BBK Series and Terror Danjah’s Hardrive CD have all had unorthodox formats and have worked well, so there’s no reason why this can’t.

Bashy - Drive


The highlights of Bashy.com for me are: Raving no more, Think They're Bad and Blacks & Gold. Superheroes is pretty cool for an old skool comic fan like me. Very clever freestyle that could go over a lot of peoples heads. It is mainly freestyles over recent hip hop tracks, I don't know the original tunes so it is hard to compare, but there is definitely a paper planes freestyle, swagger like us, and a freestyle over T.I's Whatever You Like. It is a shame there aren't more freestyles over good UK tunes. There are always sick tunes floating needing a vocal. Tunes like Virgo's Hypnotiq, Rapid's License and even tunes from people like Rusko & Benga who's tunes rarely have vocals.

Bashy- Superhero


We also talked about the oddity of Black Boys not being nominated for a Mobo Award. We both don't know how the nominations and awards are decided so it just left us confused. Kidadulthood to Adulthood was nominated for best video, but is that an award for the director of the music video rather then the artist? Leona Lewis ended up winning that with Bleeding Love the most viewed music video on UK Youtube. No way an independent artist could of competed with one of the biggest pop acts this year. On the contrary this weekend Bashy picked up a UMA award for Most Inpsiring Act, I assume for Black Boys single and remix project. Hopefully this will be the first of many (awards not UMA's).

Catch Me If You Can Is Out In 2009

The Bashy.com website has gone live and the CD is out nationwide now. Check Bashy's Blog Here

Apologies for some of the sound quality. Maniac told me to move, but i'm an idiot, I didn't listen. Props to Matt Benson on the photographs as well. Check out the rest here.

I met up with him to talk about Grime, and he was fully representing the sound. Didn't sound interested in making other stuff at all, unlike other grime producers who are experimenting with other sounds.

We spoke briefly about Eskibeat Recordings, Wiley's new label that he was talking about doing last year, but nothing has materialized. There was a lot of confusion of who was in the team, and after a while, it just fizzled out. Wiley is still releasing his stuff on the label, like Grime Wave and She's Glowing which is out on November 24th.

He also explains how he had to meet in the middle with Stryder when deciding what beats to use for their collaborative project, Stryder vs Maniac, which is out November 10th. It is 6 vocals and 6 instrumentals, a format that hasn't been explored before in grime by an MC & Producer, although Terror Danjah did Hardrive Vol.1 that was half vocal and half instrumental but with various artists. I think this sort of project is the way to go with the mixtape, I never miss an opportunity to say I am not a fan of them in general, but these could work money wise for both MC & Producer and it will ensure a consistent sound throughout the whole CD.

The lead of song is 'Im rolling' featuring Roachee that is getting battered right now by all the big DJs and a video is coming soon. Instrumentals include What The Rass, Grime Kid and a remix of Little Dees Star In The Making. So DJs and instrumental enthusiasts will get their fix.

Maniac also has two tunes featured on Plasticians Rinse 06 compilation album. They are both big tunes, and flow together nicely with the rest of the dubstep cd. It makes you ask the question, what is the difference between Grime & Dubstep?

If you need to check out some of Maniacs previous work get onto iTunes and download these bits.

Wiley - Bow E3
Chipmunk - I Am Chipmunk
Bashy, Ghetto, J2k - Over Here
Bashy- Kidulthood to Adulthood
Wiley - Grime Kid
JME - Shut Ya Mouth


Big up Maniac for this and apologies once again for the wind.

*The views represented in this video do not necessarily represent the opinions of Butterz.co.uk, Grimeforum.com or any of it is partner websites.

Couple notes to add with this

• The F Leakers EP is out now. Buy HERE
• No Right Turn is sounding fucked. It's coming "Soon"
  
• Faction G is a sound bloke. He bought me a drink and even gave me a lift home.
• Scratcha is on Rinse.fm 8-11am doing the Grimey Breakfast show every week day.
• He also does "Powerhouse" a house show every so often. His tune I'm Leaving is tidy. Check that out here.
• Also filming black and white in the dark is a bad idea. Ah well, you live and you learn.
  

Big up Scratcha.

Mz.Bratt Interview Pt.1 from Butterz on Vimeo.

Mz.Bratt Pt.2 from Butterz on Vimeo.