|
 No stranger to Hong Kong, drum and bass innovator DJ Suv makes a return back to the city along with San Francisco based percussionist and MC Ricky Patrick to kick start the new year with funky drum and bass.
HKClubbing caught up with visionary and DJ, Suv to get an early scoop on his roots, his present and future ahead of his January 13th gig at Club Magazine.
Nilly: Where did the name Suv come from?
Suv: The name Suv comes from my second name, Southey, nothing to exciting but over the years it has just got smaller with people calling me ‘Suvvy’ and then of course Suv… It now means ‘sports utility vehicle’! I suppose I could take that as a compliment and add that to the way I play my sets? Nilly: What got you involved in music? Who were your early influences?
Suv: I have always loved music like most humans. I think music is the first language of this planet bringing cultures and people of all walks together and its almost like a new religion that has no discrimination or race, everyone can be a part of it and it is the one thing we all have left that might just save us all from disaster! I was raised on Bob Marley, James Brown and reggae from my Caribbean father and the likes of David Bowie and Tom Jones from my English mother. When I was a teenager, I was heavily into hip hop and was a break dancer. From break dancing, I turned to Dj-ng from watching Grandmaster Flash and early hip hop movies in the 80s! Then, electro was born and the electronic music opened new doors to explore with house being born then the progression and the path that I took led to jungle techno, rave, then just jungle then the name changed again to drum n bass, I’m not sure why the name kept changing but I think drum n bass is a less scary name and more people can consume it or just people like to put labels and names on style so they can promote and digest it. To me it’s all the same, its easy to say just music, but electronic music is probably the best way to describe what I do as I use electronic equipment to produce it. I like to use organic sounds and instruments, as without that the music has no soul. Nilly: How did you progress into the Drum and Bass scene?
Suv: Drum n bass was developed for me from going out to raves with my friends and listening to others play rave music, and listening to the tracks, the early rave tracks had an intro with beats that they might switch to a ‘dibby dibby’ rave sound and then drop to the break and the big bass part. That was the part I was waiting for. So would go home to my studio and try to reinvent the parts I liked and the music kept progressing from there. I think it’s the same format until today… Being a Dj you get a real direct and hands on approach and insight to what the people really want . Nilly: You and DJ Krust joined forces with Ronni Size and DJ Die to form Full Cycle Records and Reprazent. How did such collaborations take place? (With yourself and Krust as well as you guys and Ronni Size)
Suv: Myself, Krust along with his brother Flyyn and a guy called Judge were in a group called ‘Fresh Four’. In the 80s we had our first success along with help from Smith n Mighty. We got to the UK top ten charts with having this early insight in to the music business and experience. It was much easier the second time around to make Reprazent more successful. We met Die through Flynn. He used to come to our warehouse parties that we put on in Bristol. He would help us set up and watch us play. He was and probably still is Bristol’s best skateboarder and we wanted his moves! So we traded off for Dj skills… Its was a while after that that when I was playing an after party black club we call Blues Party, and I was mixing up rave tunes with reggae tracks, and Roni saw me and was going crazy! He invited me to his brother’s studio and we played around and had fun. After introducing him to the rest of the boys, we soon realised we all had a same mission and goal. We formed Full Cycle and V Recording along with Brian Gee and Jumping Jack Frost. Then ofcourse Reprazent hit. Roni wanted to do a project that was slightly different which had more commercial potential, so thanks to Mercury and Talking Loud, we had a platform for a merger and took the live act on the road. It has been, still to this day some of the best times of my life, to be apart of the biggest drum n bass act in the world. I have a lot of good memories. Nilly: Was it difficult to break through in Bristol which is a city well known for churning out some of great talents across all genres of music?
Suv: Bristol is a small place I know all the bands personally. Smith n Might, like I said helped us with our first break. Portishead, Tricky, Massive Attack are all friends. In fact Tricky used to sometimes jam with ‘Fresh Four’ back in the day before he was with the Wild Bunch. It wasn’t difficult to have influence or to be influenced by each other as we all got on and enjoyed the same things. Nilly: In 1997 Reprazent were awarded with the then coveted Mercury Music Award. Apart from helping with record sales, how or did this change you all musically?
Suv: The Mercury prize helped us all and helped the way the drum n bass would be there after, catapulting the music into the main stream and introducing it to people that might not otherwise of listen to it. But to change me musically I’m not really sure it has. We have just been making music we love if people enjoy it then that’s a bonus. Nilly: Within Reprazent you are known by some as FX Man and Echo Sounds, where did those names come from?
Suv: I think the guys label me FX Man because of my random way to have fun in the studio. I am a vibes man, I’m not really technical or claim to be a professor with my equipment , but more someone who has fun with the equipment , some people brag about all the different kind of equipment they might have, but I don’t think its what equipment you have but what you do with you equipment. I don’t much care for why it’s making that sound but just that it makes it. So being labelled ‘also the Lee Scratch Perry of drum n bass’ I think it comes from the way Lee Scratch used to just play a lot, and see what happens after. I am not scared to play and experiment when I’m in the studio so I think putting to effect is like adding the vibe...I’m happy with this label! An example is to make a bass I might put the cable in the decks half in so in makes a humming feedback sound, sample that then recreate a new sound. Nilly: You are also known by names such as Bigga Star for the Dope Dragon label and Survivor for the Philly Blunt label. Why do you have so many different pseudonyms are they indicative of any specific style?
Suv: The reason we have pseudonyms is because in the early days drum n bass was built on sampling and sometimes you use samples from other places and camouflage them to fit your tune. But also for me to have an alias is so I can let my alter ego do stuff that Suv can’t get away with. Dope Dragon, Philly Blunt, Chronic and now Flip Side are fun labels and more for a younger audience, as the Playside, Fullcycle and V recordings, are more for a mature drum n ass listener. Nilly: The past few years have seen you incorporating elements of more ethnic sounds in your music. What was your major inspiration for this?
Suv: Incorporating ethnic and world sound is for me the easiest way to introduce other cultures and people to the music. I remember Krust asked me once what is my market, and I replied “the world”! This is our home why do we cater only for the English ravers? I live in Spain and I travel all the time so it’s a normal thing to mix the cultures together it opens the options and keeps the music alive. I think this all comes with getting older and seeing more, you want to share your experiences with others. Nilly: As an artist you are known for your genre breaking efforts in the scene. Many artists like yourself get tag lined as being part of a specific genre. What would be the best tag line to describe your music style?
Suv: If people label me as someone who has a genre for breaking sounds then I’m real happy with that. The plan is working he he he he! I can’t stand producers that follow the dead fish, but if they didn’t do that then I wouldn’t stand out as a innovator so I have to love them. I feel there is so much to explore and the only way we can develop is to evolve, changing the way people think or feel and opening new doors so we can enter new rooms. It’s the only way! It’s a mission for me. I still can’t believe a civilisation like ours still has racism, poverty and war, lets move forward? Nilly: Tell us a little bit about your feelings on the future of drum and bass.
Suv: The future for drum n bass is bright as long as we keep moving forward! There isn’t any other music out there which has the same energy on the dance floor, which you could listen to all night. Don’t get me wrong, we do have other music for the dance floor and some people might like to argue this point but really for me, I can’t think of anything I can listen to all night that would have the same effect. Nilly: You have been to Hong Kong a few times before. Tell us a little about your feelings on the city and the general drum and bass scene here?
Suv: The drum n bass scene in Hong Kong is nice! I love Hong Kong and its nice mix of cultures. It’s a city well up in my list! The people are open minded and like to party, the drum n bass scene is small but Hong Kong has a family feel that you have to be there to understand! The small clubs are cool it means for me I can meet the people, talk to them and feel home. When you play bigger events the stage is normally so far from the people you can’t even see them. You can’t put your hand out to touch them and is less intimate Hong Kong rockz!! Nilly: What can we expect from your set in Hong Kong?
Suv: Expectations sometimes lead to disappointment so expect the unexpected as MC Dynamite say and you might be prepared... Nilly: What are your plans for the future? Any new albums or tour plans?
Suv: Future for me is my own labels. One running right now just started this year is called PLAYSIDE. Soon to follow for next year will be possibly the sister label to that almost like a Dope Dragon, Philly altar ego label, called FLIP SIDE. This will reintroduce bigger stars along with other new exciting up and coming artists like, SKELM, SPLASH.E, IZAH. As for Playside, I am planning to release my next project around March of 07 with, RnB artists from London called DON.E. With his rhythm n blues and my drum n bass we have created a new style called RHYTHM N BASS. A feature on that will be various singers, MCs and musician mixes and remixes from producers alike..watch this space... www.myspace.com/suvmusic. www.djsuv.net DJ Suv with be supported by percussionist and MC Ricky Patrick along with the Magnetic Soul regulars. Catch them on 13th January at Club Magazine. $170 with one drink, 11pm to late! Interview By: Nilly Chaudhuri
|
