Kidz Rage !

T_! INTERVIEW & MIX – February ’08

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Download the mix here (tracklisting below interview)

PIXELFACTOR:

We’ve seen your name about in the scene for quite sometime now. How did your career start, and how did you get to where you are today?

T_!:

Well I first got on the Djin circuit aged 16, blimey, 7 years ago now. I got my family to blame for my love of music and bass, my Dad has such diverse music taste and I was educated on literally everything throughout childhood, plus he plays bass guitar. I’ve always loved the fact you can physically feel bass aswell as heard it. After becoming hooked on pirate radio from age 12 or so and thanks to my older sisters Dreamscape tapes, all I wanted to do was DJ. There was a record shop in my hometown Stevenage (Big Drum Records) which was like my Mecca, and they were associated with local pirate Impact FM. Around that time UK Garage was kicking off and the guys in the shop kept me educated. After a few months of buying tunes and locking myself in my room on my beloved Soundlab belt drives teaching myself to mix, I got a Saturday morning show shortly after my 16th birthday Djin as “TNT”. Over time things progressed with a local residency, and bookings round Herts/Beds and Bucks and before I know it I was 18 and doing the rounds on the local UKG circuit, and at one stage doing 3 pirate stations a week. I always liked to mix up darker UKG with the nicer more vocal bits, and followed the progression through to Grime as it retained those, dark, industrial sounds.

I’m so so passionate about DJin, so I guess just grafting, putting myself about and working hard has got me here now.

PIXELFACTOR:

We understand that you produce and DJ Dubstep ? How did you get into this genre, and what about it do you like / dislike? Are you involved with any other genres?

T_!:

Production not just yet, I got a few bits unfinished but the man with the plan production wise is R.Demon, the guys a veteran, and he knows his shit! My productions will be about in the future, keep eyes peeled!

I’d been buying dubstep bits for years, Geoff Big Drum got me hooked on El-B/Gurley/Zed Bias/Ghost Recordings/Vehicle stuff, and I became tired of the bad attitude of Grime, there was no focus on the DJ creating the vibes anymore. So, 2 and a bit years ago, after experiencing Filthy Dub @ the Telegraph, I switched to concentrating on Dubstep, and working alongside Macabre Unit, trying to educate people around the Home Counties and East Anglia about it…

I don’t know if there’s anything I dislike about Dubstep, everything is good right now. I love the community spirit, the vibe at dances, the way a bassline can beat the shit out of you, the levels of production, and the diversity of everything that falls under the umbrella “Dubstep”. It’s when you start splitting it up and pigeon-holing it you’ll get problems.

I still play Old Skool Garage bookings, and there’s obviously the Drum and Bass side of Stink Like Sock, but dubstep is something I’m so mad about it takes up most of my time!

Involvement in other genres in kind of limited to just listening to them!

PIXELFACTOR:

As a Dubstep producer / DJ…..who are your favorite and most inspiring artists, both in & out of the Dubstep scene and why ?

T_!:

Within the scene obviously people like Mala, you can see the passion he has for the music, and you can feel it in his beats and in his sets. And people that have kept on it from day dot when it was so small, and continued due to their love of the music, not how much money they can line their pockets with.

Guys like Raff aswell (R.Demon Macabre Unit) cos he’s kept his sound unique, but still moved with the times. Being out in the sticks aswell its harder to get the sounds out there. He’s got tunes that came out in 2001 and 7 years later is still getting beats signed to labels like Boka, he has belief in his sound.

Toasty= gangster, the guy’s on some next level stuff, you could tell from his early work. It’s a shame we don’t hear more from him but it’s quality over quantity at the end of the day.

Dj wise, well I’m all about technical mixing so Youngsta and N-Type top it, I got a lot of respect for what they do.

PIXELFACTOR:

If you could have a peek in any dj’s record bag…who would it be and why ?

T_!:

Definitely Kode 9, you never know what he’s gonna have in there!

PIXELFACTOR:

Can you name a few artists off the top of your head that influence and inspire your sound ?

T_!:

Inspire my sound as regard DJ sets? I’m not sure I like to think I can take a little bit from all of the artists I’m feeling and give a proper cross section of dubsteps different aspects when I play.

PIXELFACTOR:

What’s your favorite drink/smoke ?

T_!:

Alcoholic- Brandy and Coke, all day. Shmokey- Super Silver Haze is a favorite, and I love a good sativa strain but they are so hard to come by in the UK. Also, being close to it’s town of origin, you can’t beat a bit of Cheese.

PIXELFACTOR:

How do you see the future of Dubstep ?

T_!:

It’s got a strong future. A lot of people are worried it’ll go like drum and bass and get commercialized, and raves will become full of dickheads with attitude. I think it’s a marmite thing. You can’t fake liking dubstep, you’d stick out a mile. It’s not a mainstream thing, it can’t become high street, it’s deeper than that. People that might flood dubstep because they see it’s the “in thing” will either become hooked on the music for the music, or not get on with it. It’s about a big dark room, big sub and system, and the music above all else. Not about dress codes, what people look like, how they dance, how many girls you can pull in one night, club décor, some DJ who thinks he’s gods gift, and a tangible “image”. When the commercial crowd come looking for this in a dance they ain’t gonna get it, they will either feel the music, or turn up their nose and leave. I think that’s why its been growing at a steady rate, people are getting hooked on the raw elements of dubstep, while the image chasers and cool squad have nothing to attach to themselves too.

You know when you’re standing in Leeds West Indian Centre at 5am sweating your balls off, with the lights on an every head in there is standing saluting, looking like they skanked for the last 6 hours, it ain’t about image.

PIXELFACTOR:

How did you get involved with Macabre Unit ?

T_!:

R.Demon and Niner had always been about, I’m based in Stevenage and they were up the road in Bedford. I’d always been aware of them being in the locality, heads like us are few and far between in our areas, and I chatted to the guys and collected beats at a few raves. I think I hooked up with them properly after djin with Raff @ Paradiso in Dam 2 years ago, started picking up beats on a regular and pushing them. We worked for a while on raising attention on the artists in the Home Counties, with IMP Batch and Macabre both running through 1xtra on Cameos show in 2006. [It was after that I had to switch from TNT to T_! after veteran producer Trend had a polite word] I’ve always been a fan of that dark, techy, sininster sound (sKum) as R.Demon calls it, and it seemed to fit so well with Dubstep I was playing, it seemed a natural progression. The Macabre production sound has continued to evolve I feel works so well with the current sounds I’m playing, so it’s mad not to push them. Rep your ends and all that!

PIXELFACTOR:

What’s your favourite show played to date ?

T_!:

Blimey there’s been a few thinking back. Dubstep wise, when me and Raff played Dubpressure in Brighton last summer (large up DP gang!), it was bananas! Such good crowd participation and response, the vibe in there was amazing. One of those ones where you finish your set with a proper grin on your face.
Playing at Warning in Cambridge is always a big privilege aswell, considering it’s the UK longest running DnB night, and they are allowing me to rep Dusbtep there.

PIXELFACTOR:

Can you give us your 3 favorite websites you visit:
[Excluding myspace?]

T_!:

1.) www.dubstepforum.com all day, I’m hooked!

2.) www.radiopirates.co.uk cos I’m a pirate radio geek

3.) www.halifax.co.uk to check how well I’m doing at caining all my wages!

PIXELFACTOR:

Can you give us your 5 favorite Dubstep web links:

T_!:

1.) www.indiestore.com/demon

2.) www.subconscious-dubstep.com

3.) www.rinse.fm

4.) www.blackdownsoundboy.blogspot.com/

5.) www.getdarker.com

PIXELFACTOR:

Can you give us your current Top 5 Dubstep tracks:

1.) Benga- B4 the Dual

2.) R.Demon- No Soundbwoy No Cry

3.) Toasty- On Something

4.) Afterdark- No Badness

5.) R.Demon- Sunshine Remix

PIXELFACTOR:

Can you give us your current Top 5 other tracks which we might find on your Ipod:

T_!:

I flex a lot of old music on my mp3 player!

1.) Nas- One Mic

2.) Omni Trio- Renegade Snares

3.) The Clash- Rock the Casbah

4.) The Police- Roxanne

5.) Metalheadz- Inner City Life

PIXELFACTOR:

Any closing thoughts, shouts or greets?

T_!:

Big up my fam! Big up the Perception FM, Stink Like Sock and Macabre unit fams respectively. Out to the Warning crew, all the dubsteppers round the Home counties and beyond that are getting on it! Big up Bush, out to all Dj’s keeping it technical.

www.myspace.com/tntbatch is you – downloads and booking info!

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Download the mix here

T_! Tracklisting:

T_! intro

Macabre Unit vs Don Goliath- No Soundbwoy, No Cry

Benga- 26 Basslines

Afterdark- No Badness

Skream- Nemesis

Sully- Flashback

>> Dexplicit- Blazer Riddim

Headhunter- Sushi Brain

Badwai vs Kode 9- Den of Drumz

Toasty- The Knowledge

Macabre Unit ft Don Goliath- Sunshine [rework]

Skream- I

TrillBass- Fucking Heater

Benga- The Kut

NIN- Hand That Feeds [Dreadless remix]

Coki- Shattered

Afterdark- Number 47

Kromestar- Surgery

Dee Pattern- Who’s The Badman

Skream- Oskillator

Mizz Beats- Saw It Coming [instrumental]

Benga- Zero M2

>> J-Sweet ft Aron soul- Marxman (oh no)

DJ Oddz- Toilet water

The Bug ft Killa P and Flo Dan- Skeng

Macabre Unit- Beserkoman

Virgo- Sad Song

Monkeydubz- Venus In Furs [remix]

Skream- Chestboxing

>> Mondie ft Flirta D, Ribz, Napper, Shizzle- Pull Up Dat

>> Afterdark-Raw

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