|
 Leading up to his gig in Hong Kong on the 1st of September (this Friday!), DJ, Skratch Master and Turn Tablist Q Bert shares time with HKClubbing.com in an exclusive interview online about who he is, his acheivements and gives us an idea of what to expect from him during the party at Edge.
Ex- Q’s Me! Nilly: Why did you choose the name Q Bert?
Qbert; Just a nick name from high school because of the video game and my last name started with a "q" Nilly: What influenced your DJ career?
Qbert: Just having fun and wanting to share my music with people Nilly: You are part of a large Filipino American DJ community. Understandably the music form is very popular in the US among the community. Why hip-hop over other genres?
Qbert: It's just the best to play with as far as partying and all the arts involved in this street culture... it encompasses break dancing, mcing, graffiti, beatboxing, and of course skratching... the funky music and beats drive the culture. Nilly: What is the major difference between a Scratch master and a Turntablist?
Qbert: Tablists like to do a lot of juggling sounds and beats on 2 turntables. well, some tablists skratch too... a skratch master guy likes to just skratch... and what i like to do is all of it. Nilly: Are major rivalries between the two forms of scratch?
Qbert: Ya, if you are a dork Nilly: A few years ago I watched a documentary on television in the UK about you and how you scratch to communicate with aliens or life in outer space. What was that all about? Do you still believe this and if so have you communicated with aliens?
Qbert: Well, the type of aliens I was referring to are the ones that are here now that we don't know are here... they could be in a higher dimension and looking at us as if we are in a fish tank and we are pets to them. Nilly: You were previously part of the ‘Invisibl Skratch Piklz’ made up of yourself, Mixmaster Mike, DJ Apollo, DJ Shortkut and DJ Disk. Why did you split up and go your own ways?
Qbert: We just all had different ways of thinking and wanted to explore our personal music within us... then also because it was hard to deal with all the different personalities in the crew. Some would be late to practice, others wanted to only practice a certain amount of time and some would be drunk at practice, haha! We all had our own individual realities in life and since we were all from the streets, many of us had no discipline or wanted to work as a "we", but more of a "me". This is how communities are destroyed, when there is no longer team work, but selfishness. Nilly: When did you set up ‘Thud Rumble’ and why did you choose to do it with Yoga Frog?
Qbert: Yogafrog is a very disciplined mastermind when it comes to almost anything... he was at one time here in the Bay (San Francisco), the best promoter for the whole Dj scene and when we hooked up as friends, I recognized his thought flow and we worked as a team! Nowadays he is like my brother and all we want to do is make people happier with what we can come out with. Nilly: What is the philosophy and intention of Thud Rumble?
Qbert: Well, we are all about scratch, Dj-ing and making people's lives better with every aspect of it, from music, to records for Djs to use, to designing mixers and turntables like the QFO, and even making films like "Wave Twisters the movie" and the "Turntable TV" DVDs, etc. Nilly: You are one of the most highly regarded DJs and scratch masters in the scene. How popular is your music back home in the Philippines or rather how supportive are Filipino's outside of the US?
Qbert: From what I hear, there's lots of Pinoys doing it out there! Nilly: Do you spend much time in Asia?
Qbert: I usually do an asia tour once or twice a year for about a month Nilly: Off all places you have DJ-d in Asia which city do you feel the crowd has completely understood you and your art form?
Qbert: Japan, because it's sorta new to the other places in Asia. Japan has been into the hip hop culture almost from day one. Nilly: Which MC, DJ or Producer do you think is doing the right thing in the way of hip hop evolution at present?
Qbert: Producer's like Madlib, Timbaland and MC's like Eminem, Rakim, Kool Keith, Kool G rap, Ludacris Nilly: How has the turntable changed over the years since you first started out and how has this enabled your sound?
Qbert: Well actually, I still use the Technics 1200 from when I started until now... but I did design a turntable that has a mixer on it called the "QFO". I like that because now I don't have to skratch in my house anymore, because it's portable and I can take it to the beach or wherever in my car! Nilly: Is your trip to Hong Kong part of an Asian Tour to compile video clips for your DVD production for Thud Rumble?
Qbert: Yes, we are always looking for interesting footage for the video series whether it be skratching, breaking, or even someone doing something stupid like running around naked with a chicken mask on his head, haha! Nilly: How would you like to be remembered in history books?
Qbert: Well, since my grandfather was Chinese... probably like a Shaolin monk who used his whole life to perfect his art and was able do some incredible stuff! So that's why I have dedicated everything to a life of spiritual skratching!! By Nilly Chaudhuri
將於九月一日 (本周五) 在香港演出的捽碟大師暨唱盤音樂家Dj Qbert 與HKClubbing.com 的獨家網上專訪， Dj Qbert與我們分享有關他的一切，並讓我們知道該對他這次在Edge 舉行的派對抱甚麼期望。
Nilly: Qbert 這個名字的由來是？
Qbert: 名字只是我在中學時期的一個匿稱，是由一個電視遊戲名配合我姓氏的頭一個字母 ”Q” 字而來的。
Nilly: 你的Dj 職業生涯受甚麼影響？
Qbert: 就是享受箇中樂趣，並和大家一起分享我的音樂。
Nilly: 你身為美國菲裔Dj社群中的一份子， HipHop固然在美國很受歡迎，但在眾多音樂種類型中，為什麼會選擇HipHop 呢？
Qbert: 當它 (HipHop) 與派對及一切街頭文化藝術均能融合在一起的時候，他便成了最佳選擇。街頭文化包含了霹靂舞，繞舌，塗鴉，”人肉拍子機” (用人聲發出敲擊樂聲的技巧beatboxing)，當然還有捽碟，其古怪有趣的拍子及音樂風格帶領整個嘻哈文化。
Nilly: 一個捽碟大師跟一個唱盤音樂家 (Turntablist) 有何主要分別？
Qbert: 唱盤音樂家喜歡利用兩個唱盤在聲音和拍子上玩戲法，嗯, 當然亦會有一些唱盤音樂家是會捽碟的…… 捽碟大師就是喜愛捽碟，我喜歡做的則是以上全部。
Nilly: 兩者 (以上提及之兩種捽碟類型) 之間會對立嗎 ？
Qbert: 如果你是一個笨蛋的話，會。
Nilly: 數年前我看了一套有關你和你如何利用 ”捽碟” 去和外太空生物或外星人溝通的英國電視紀錄片。 到底是怎麼一回事 ？你仍相信這事嗎？是的話，你和外星人接觸過嗎？
Qbert: 唔，我所指的那一種是在我們身邊而我們卻懵然不知道他們的存在的外星人，他們可能站在比人類高的地方，看如缸中寵物的我們。
Nilly: 你本來是由Mixmaster Mike, DJ Apollo, DJ Shortkut ， DJ Disk和你所組成之 ‘Invisibl Skratch Piklz’ 的一份子，為何會解散並開始自行發展呢？
Qbert: 我們各抱不同的想法並希望在當中探索各人的自我音樂風格，要和每個性格不同的隊員和睦相處亦非易事。有人會在練習時遲到，有些人只想練習一段小時間，又有人會在飲醉後來練習，哈哈! 我們每人都有自己在現實生活中要面對的問題， 而我們這群街童亦沒有任何紀律或團體精神可言，大家都非常自我。當一切只有自私而再沒有團隊精神可言的時候，團隊便會被破壞。
Nilly: 你是在可時建立 “Thud Rumble” 的？為什麼會選Yoga Frog 為合作對象呢 ？
Qbert: YogaFrog在差不多任何事的表現上均才華橫溢並非常注重紀律， 他曾是在洛杉磯整個Dj 業中的最佳製作人，當我們成為朋友後，我開始了解他的思想方法並且與他團結工作，現在他就像我的哥哥一樣，我們希望我們所做的事能讓人更快樂。
Nilly: Thud Rumble 的哲學和含義是甚麼？
Qbert: 這個……一切均和捽碟，Dj-ing 及讓人有更好生活各方面有關，從音樂到Dj 用黑膠，設計混音器和唱盤如QFO，甚或是電影製作如 ”Wave Twisters the Movie” 及 DVD “Turntable Tv” 等等。
Nilly: 你為現今音樂工業中最被受尊重的Dj及捽碟大師之一。 你的音樂在你家鄉菲律賓有多受歡迎？ 或換句話說，身處美國以外的菲律賓人有多支持你？
Qbert: 以我所知美國以外有很多的同鄉支持者!
Nilly: 你在亞洲上花的時間多嗎 ？
Qbert: 我每年通常舉行兩次約為時一個月的亞洲巡迴表演。
Nilly: 總括所有你曾到訪表演的亞洲城市，你認為哪裡的群眾最了解你和你的藝術風格？
Qbert: 日本，因為它（嘻哈音樂）對亞洲其他地方來說仍較陌生，日本幾乎從有嘻哈文化的第一天已經開始融入其中。
Nilly: 你認為現今有哪些繞舌歌手，Dj 或 製作人對嘻哈音樂發展有所貢獻 ？
Qbert: 製作人如Madlib，Timeberland ，繞舌歌手如Eminem，Rakim，Kool Keith，Kool G rap及Ludacris。
Nilly: 由開始到現在你所用的唱盤有甚麼轉變？它們在音樂上有何作用或幫助？
Qbert: 其實從開始到現在我仍在使用Technics 1200，但我曾設計一台名叫 ”QFO” 的附混音器唱盤，我喜歡用它因為它是手提式的，除了在家裡捽碟外更可以在沙灘或在車子裡捽碟!
Nilly: 你到香港巡迴演出的其中一個目的是為Thud Rumble 的DVD製作收集錄影片段嗎？
Qbert: 是的，我們常在為這套影片尋找一些新奇有趣的鏡頭片段，無論是捽碟，霹靂舞，甚或是做一些無聊事如頭戴雞面具然後裸身體跑來跑去，哈哈!
Nilly: 你希望被記載在歷史書上嗎？
Qbert: 這個…我的祖父是中國人，大概是一個花了畢生精神時間去完美自己的藝術並做過不少好事的一位少林寺和尚，我則窮盡畢生精力在鑽研 ”崇高的捽碟音樂” 。
Translation by Sharlin S. |
