Oh America... Guess who's coming?!

Last night (21st October) saw the mighty Fabric nightclub in London celebrate 12 years at the peak of the game with a massive line up that it was an honour to be a part of. Jam Packed is the new name for any collaborations that I do with Fabric and last night, room 2 saw the inaugural Jam Packed night.

A massive thank you to all the DJ’s who smacked the granny out of it – from Goldie to Northbase; Logan Sama to TC; Cutline to Mz Bratt and the don dada D Double E. Rhodri Jones was there and captured some of the vibe on camera – check the flicks here

I managed to capture D Double E dunning the dance with his Wooo Riddim freestyle on my iPhone. Upload coming soon.

If you were there, thank you for making the first ever MistaJam/Fabric Jam Packed room such a success. I’ll let you know when the next one is on the horizon – it will be a very HOT ticket!!

Speakerbox is taking over Room 2 of Fabric in East London this Friday  25th March with me, B Traits, MJ Cole, The Others, Mz Bratt & Maximum from Boy Better Know and I have 4 tickets with q-jump, a few drinks tokens and a Speakerbox t-shirt for you & 3 of your friends to give away if you can answer the question after the jump…

I did an interview with the good people at Fabric this week which you can read here

Read the interview and finish the following sentence:

“I’ve always been a bass head thanks to my cousin getting me into…”

If you know the answer, leave it as a comment on this page with your name, the name of your 3 friends you want to take with you to Fabric, your preferred t-shirt sizes & colours (available options here) and a contact phone number. All comments are moderated so it won’t appear online!!

T&C’s
- Entry must be recieved before 10am on Friday 25th March
- Winner will be notified by telephone or email
- You and all your friends you wish to take with you to Fabric must be 18 or over to enter this competition.
- You are responsible for your own travel & accommodation
- No cash alternative will be offered
- Management refuse the right to refuse entry
- Winner will be chosen at random from all the correct entries recieved
- Good luck!

On Tuesday, Toddla T brought his and Redlight’s tour to his home city of Sheffield. Having relocated from Sheffield and Redlight from Bristol to London, Roller Express has already taken its tour outside the studio including a performance at the Notting Hill Carnival.

Both have plans to release albums in the coming months but right now they are focussing solely on the tour. Toddla and Trigganom who MC’d his set spoke to Sam Moir straight after coming off stage at The Tuesday Club.

Bearing in mind that some of the people in there would have been Freshers’ and new to sound, how did it go?

Yeah, especially with what Redlight does, not so much me. I just play party tunes whereas Redlight has a proper unique sound.

What’s the Roller Express Tour all about?

Toddla: Me and Redlight share a studio in London and we’re making records in different rooms and we’re trying to project the sound. Like I said before, he’s pushing things further than me, I’m just doing my thing but he’s really doing something different. It’s like a combination of both of us so we’re taking what we do in the studio on the road.

How do you find your sounds compliment each other?

Toddla: What he does is like complete new, next level stuff. He’s got a proper Bristol sonic to his sound, used to make Drum & Bass up there but there’s this common theme of bass to create a new.

Trigganom, you MC’d the set, how did it go?

Trigganom: The crowd were crazy and all up for it, loved it. Live and can’t wait to do it again.

You and Toddla are working together aren’t you?

Trigganom: We just started on it and it’s going to be a real fresh release with a whole load of different sounds, a Toddla flavour on it with some Trigganom lyrics.

Toddla: There’s production on the EP from myself, Seiji, Warrior 1, DJ Q and someone very big in the game that I can’t mention just yet.

I’m such a big fan of Trigganom anyway so when people are coming up to me and saying, ‘Toddla, can I do you a tune?’ and that’s so blessed but I’ve got a little team so what I’m doing is essentially telling them, ‘Yeah but he’s a bit different to me,’ and we’re just dealing with everything from the last two years where I’ve been working hard and now with people putting tunes to me, we’re just trying to do that with Trigganom because he’s so incredibly talented.

Trigganom: To be working with Toddla on this album is just the best because we started with Do You Know and I done the Girls track on that about two years ago and from that we’ve just been going forward. I love his fresh style and fresh attitudes to it all; the music, remixes, it’s all fresh.

Roller Express Tour Dates

8th October – Stealth, Nottingham
16th October – Motion, Bristol
13th November – Sigma, Swansea
19th November – XOYO, London
20th November – CYNT, Cardiff
3rd December – DQ, Sheffield
4th December – Rainbow Warehouse, Birmingham
7th December – Mint, Leeds
15th December – MWP, Manchester
31st December – Motion, Bristol

Related Links

Toddla T Interview with Sam Moir | Trigganom MySpace |

MistaJam.com’s Sam Moir speaks to the man who warms up for some of the biggest names in music.

The Tuesday Club in Sheffield can lay claim to being the biggest student night in the nation. In the last year it’s hosted Chase & Status, Skream, Major Lazer, Scratch Perverts, Eve, DJ Yoda, Andy C, DJ Zinc, Mary Anne Hobbs, Caspa & Rusko, Toddla T and Sub Focus. That’s just a few that roll off the tongue.

Soon to be celebrating its 12th birthday, one of the men responsible for making the night so successful is resident and warm-up DJ, Andy H. Such is the man’s talent, people will often turn up right from the start to enjoy the night from the moment that first tune is played.

“The people who come in to the venue early are normally the music heads so it’s good to give them the new and interesting stuff because they appreciate it, then as people come in later on, I gradually build from there,” Andy tells me.

“You have to think “what would I want to hear right now”, especially if a crowd have come out with a certain headliner in mind.”

If you are into DJing as an art form, you will know about the DMC Championships. The DMC DJ Championship started at DMC’s first DJ Convention in London in 1985 and the event is still going strong in 2010. DJs from all over the world compete, scratching and mixing against one another and Andy’s a former finalist.

“It was my first time at the DMC, I had been encouraged to compete by various DJs I had met warming up for, so I gave it a go.”

After qualifying through the eliminator, he went on to win the Liverpool regional.

“I went on to finish 4th at the UK final which was great for my first attempt but it became obvious comparing my set with the others that I was so much more excited about entertaining the crowd than I was at working on the technical scratches.”

“I didn’t really see myself as a battle DJ. I think that being able to juggle and scratch just makes you a more versatile club DJ and means you can add more to your sets.”

While on the subject of scratching, it seems relevant to ask him his thoughts on the change in DJing over the years. Everyone fancies trying to mix and DJ now but you can’t say the same about scratching with the latter seemingly dying out.

“When it was all record shops and vinyl I spent hours talking to the shop owners and listening to tracks on the listening posts trying to find the right sound for my sets. It was also really expensive to buy a handful of new tracks. I did love the “vinyl days” but technology has helped make it much simpler to start out.”

So while purists may look down on the digital age of DJing that we see today, the advent of new technology seems to have made the scene easier to break in to.

“It’s so easy to get into now because the equipment is really cheap. The music is less than a pound per track and there are loads of people to watch to learn from. It’s also really easy to find out about new music online.”

With 15 years of DJing experience, he has spent this time working on all the elements of DJing including competing in competitions, DJing for vocalists and being in a DJ crew. It was pirate radio that first got Andy into music, “I loved the fact that DJs were playing music they were into just because they thought it was good and wanted others to hear it, not because they were getting paid to play it.”

“In many cases they didn’t even know if anyone was listening. I also loved the fact that back then there were nowhere near as many tracks coming out as there are now but you could still hear a DJ and know their style straight away by which tracks they selected and how they played them.”

Fifteen years is a lot of time in the music industry and there have been big changes in terms of the widening of music genres. “Around the time I started to make a name for myself as a DJ more people just seemed to be into one style of music.”

“Drum & Bass, Hip Hop, Garage and House were all kept relatively separate. Now with the blurring of genres I can happily cover a wide range of styles in one set and the same people are into them all.

“I can only see this being a good thing as it’s very easy to become stale as a producer or DJ if you end up playing a narrow sound for along period of time.”

When it comes to addressing the paying punters who want a particular genre, Andy tries to accommodate it, “As for my sets I’m all about playing for the crowd if a track or style makes a crowd jump then I build it into my sets, it’s as simple as that.”

“In the past it has felt like there has been a bit of a drought in fresh music coming out but these new styles have opened the flood gates to scores of brilliant new tracks.”

Former BBC Radio 1 DJ Mary Anne Hobbs has played at the Tuesday Club on many occasions and as well as it being her favourite university gig, she also has praise for the nature in which the club works on bookings.

“The people who book the line-ups are bringing the best artists internationally into Sheffield every week and there’s just this incredible exchange of energy between the audience and the DJ,” says Mary Anne.

Andy agrees and believes Sheffield, a city known for its rich music history, has a balanced mixture of big and small events, “The small nights often showcase the new interesting up and coming acts and the big events draw the big names to the city from where ever they are in the world.”

It’s the big names that make The Tuesday Club such a seminal night in electronic music now and it is because of the regular big name DJs that play, Andy has perfected the art of warming up.

“Looking back over years of warming up for hundreds of DJs I guess I learnt the art of “warm up DJing” by just doing it week in week out, it’s the best way to learn. It’s your job to make sure people enjoy themselves and to make sure that the atmosphere is set for the headline artist.”

Bearing all this in mind, there must surely be a sense of frustration when you have a tune you know will tear the floor up but can’t play it because the headliner is most likely to play later on in the night? “It’s just not fair. You have to see the night as a whole and doing your job well as a warm up means the headliner gets to do his job well to. Everyone’s happy.”

In fact, he sees it as a challenge for the headliner, “I love to raise the bar for the headline act so they feel they have to work hard and put on a big show to prove themselves, after the warm up.”

Andy’s shared the stage with some of the biggest names in music and could go on for hours discussing some past memories. “There are so many DJs that I have looked up to over the years and finally getting to share a stage with them is so exciting. A few of my favorites at TTC include Jazzy Jeff (probably the best DJ ever)who also encouraged me to do the DMC, Mix Master Mike, Qbert and Mark Ronson”

“All these DJs are super technical but they still know how to rock a crowd. I love it when you come away from a night just inspired to go home and practice even harder.”

For more information on Andy H visit his MySpace or e-mail mike@tuesdayclub.co.uk. His latest mix is available to listen here.

MistaJam will be bringing his Speakerbox tour to The Tuesday Club on 26th October with Donae’o (Live), Shapeshifter (New Zealand Live DnB) and a Special Guest.

On 4th August, one of the most important Hip Hop acts EVER are reunited in full force at the o2 Academy in Brixton with Mastakilla, GZA, RZA, Inspectah Deck, Method Man, Ghostface, U-God, Raekwon, Mathemathes, Cappadonna and Streetlife. Oh, and me on the warm up DJ set duties…and I’ve got some tickets to give away.I have 2 pairs of general entrance tickets to give away. This competition is JUST for the entrance tickets. You will need to be over 18, be able to make your own way to and from the o2 Academy in Brixton and even pay for your own drinks (U21s require I.D to purchase alcohol by the way).

To be in with a chance, leave a reply below answering these 5 Wu related questions:

1) What is the name of the first Wu Tang Clan album?
2) What Wu song contains the lyric “I bomb atomically, Socrates’ philosophies and hypothesis can’t define how I be droppin these mockeries”
3) Which member of the Wu is also known as the ‘Wally Champ’ due to his love of Clarks Wallabees?
4) Late WuTang member Ol’ Dirty Bastard was known earlier in his career under a different name. What was that name?
5) Tiebreaker: What is the best solo Wu Tang album?

Make sure you put your current email address in your reply. Competition closes Sunday 1st August. The 2 winners (of a pair of tickets each) will be notified by return email by 12 noon on Monday 2nd August. GOOD LUCK!

When you set about making music under Redlight, did you have any new influences?

There are lot of people who inspire me from different types of music from house to dubstep. From Ill Blu to Laidback Luke, Skream and Benga. Anyone who’s just pushing something forward and making new music.

There’s a lot of good electronic music out there and then I’ve always been into synths and kick drums. It’s just a natural progression.

When you sat down for the first time producing as Redlight, what did you want to do with your sound?

I just wanted to create something new and something different that people haven’t heard before. I want to push dance music forward.

How do you think people have reacted to your new sound?

It’s gone down really well. It takes a long time to go down in the clubs. I can remember when I first started playing Stupid out about a year ago and people didn’t really know what to make of it.

Now it’s a massive tune and everyone likes it. It takes time to get into people’s minds. You can’t expect to do something brand new and for people to get it straight away.

Redlight – Stupid Feat. Roses Gabor

That’s the fun part. Once it leaves the studio, it can do anything. Music’s like fashion, it’s got to create that vibe. Anything creative, it takes a while before people get it.

You’re being heavily supported on radio now, do you think it’s because there’s more vocals in your music?

Yeah but I’ve always been into producing vocals. That’s a big part of what I like doing. Working with singers and vocalists in different ways and using it as a collage on my music.

The vocal’s just another layer which makes it so much more accessible and so much more fun.

I expected these new tunes to get more airplay because d&b is a lot faster and you can’t have as many vocals. As soon as you go down tempo, you’re working with vocals and doors do open which is what I wanted.

The plan’s working at the moment so I’m really happy about that.

You’re fresh from producing for Mz Bratt, how did that come about?

Mz Bratt – Selecta (Produced By Redlight)

They just said we really want to do some tunes with you and I was cool with that. Her and Donae’o came down to the studio and I was going through some old bits on my computer. I’ve just got folders of tunes so when artists come in, I just play them and they heard that and went, ‘yeah.’

We rolled it out in about six hours and then it took me a few days to mix the vocal. The tune just come out quite natural and quick. Everyone was vibing off it, Mz Bratt was doing well in the booth and Donae’o was helping out with the writing. It all came together quite quickly.

Is that where you want to take your sound now? Do you see yourself getting more airtime when you are working with artists like Roses Gabor and Mz Bratt?

I want to keep my integrity, that’s the main thing. I don’t just want to do tunes I’m not into. If it’s like Selecta then yeah, definitely. If it’s an underground beat which then can go on to becoming more mainstream via the vocal then yeah.

I wouldn’t just make music that I’m not into for vocalists though. I definitely want to produce artists but it’s got to be right. You can make the dirtiest backing track and then as soon as the vocalist comes on, it changes completely.

It becomes so much more accessible and the vocals can take it somewhere where it never could have gone before. I’m all for that.

What tunes are you currently into?

I don’t really listen to much music. I’m always in the studio, making music. I’m playing Magnetic Man in my sets, their album is going to be good. Artists like Toddla T, Roses Gabor, Zinc and Deadboy have all got good music coming out.

What are you up to now?

I’ve just finished remixing Magnetic Man’s new single. I’ve done three tracks for Roses Gabor’s EP and I’ve just finished a track with Ms Dynamite. The instrumental is called MDMA and she’s done lyrics over it. That’s my next release and it’s called What You Talking About and that’s coming out on Chase & Status’ MTA Records.

Redlight – MDMA

Then it’s all about the album which I can’t reveal anything yet. I’m writing the album now before I sign to anyone. I’m doing it differently this time. I’m just plodding along, making music, working with artists and I’m really enjoying it.

I’m creating new sounds and something fresh. I’m not looking for admiration. I’m just creating music and doing me. I don’t care about anything else.

And because of that, good stuff is happening.

MistaJam and Redlight are playing at Does Anyone Like Good Music at Plan B in Brixton tonight.

But the funniest time, for me, had to be attending the Biggafish Camden Payback in which North West’s 15-24 year old residents could “Dagger” each other in the Roundhouse to DJ Vectra’s mixing ting. No word of a lie.

Now the idea, (which in theory is bloody excellent) was for Biggafish (who hold events for young people) to come together with Bang Radio and The Roundhouse to support the NHS in their fight to get young people tested for STD’s. The line-up was fantastic, Nu Brand Flexxx, Princess Nyah, Griminal, Scorcher, Bashy, Skepta, Ironik, Wiley and a surprise guest. Foam, non-alcoholic-pops and Jazzie, Dr Psycho and Policy being the “host’s with the most”. I was very excited. Sidebar: I’m well within the age bracket so I was well within my right to be to be over the moon about this event). The rule “No Test. No Ticket. No Entry”. What could go wrong?

Oh yeah, Wiley not turning up (again). *Insert hysterical laughter here*.

Anyway – the event kicked off at 5pm, the kids queued up patiently to get in, all excited and what not. DJ Vectra spun some big tunes on the decks. He had the crowd going mad to Funky, grinding on each other to Bashment and slow dancing with each other to slow jams before Nu Brand Flexxx were invited onto the stage.

Now lets bare in mind Nu Brand’;s big hits include “Anthem” and “Gash By The Hour” which were released in like 80BC were performed on the night, and in true good music form, they still managed to make the crowd go wild. Their new song “Runway” didn’t have a massive reaction but understandably the crowd we’re about 15-18 at most and they’re more into songs they know and can dance and sing along too. I personally think it’s a very good tune.

Princess Nyah came on stage, with very nice pink heels and a pink pleated skirt-thingy. She looked very pretty (every no-homo intended) and performed her anthem “Frontline” and some other songs off her E.P “Diary Of A Princess. I don’t like Funky (as we all should know) but Princess Nyah is definitely one of the only good and constant ones to break through with that trend. She also gave the quote of the day during her performance of “Big Boy”. “Where’s all my big boyz at?” Babes, no par, but they’re not even old enough to cross the road by themselves.

Next to grace the stage was Scorcher, he performed his verse on “She Likes” and brought Liam Francis out to perform “Lipsing Ting”. (Which had the crowd going crazy) and they gave the lil’uns a speech about not having sex without a condom. It was a good performance but it seemed to end very quickly. He jumped into the crowd to for the girls to touch his hand and stuff. We’re still unconfirmed as to whether he made it out of the crowd alive.

Following him was Griminal *cue a million girls screaming* he performed bits and bobs from “Don’t Phone Me” and “She Likes” then performed his latest solo tune “Invincible”. The crowd seemed to be more amazed by him, than his actual tunes which was disappointing, but again, I think they’re more into stuff they religiously know/hear.

In true lets-stick-rival-schools-and-people-from-one-area-in-one-location form, a fight broke out. It was quite vicious (from two floors up where I was sitting) but the security and Biggafish organisers ended it ridiculously quickly and peace was restored. One of the hosts took to the stage then to say what everyone with an ounce of common sense was thinking. “After having numerous Biggafish raves where every area can attend with not one fight, we bring you this rave, exclusively to Camden residents, and you go and fight with each other, in front of the NHS who has made this happen”. What should have been said and what was so rightly pointed out by Bang FM host Tahirah Edwards “You lots pissed in a bottle to be here so behave yourselves…bruv”… a girl after my own mindset.

Bashy (who come on stage in his signature gas mask) performed “When The Sky Falls” with Loick Essien, then a couple of other tracks and swiftly left the stage.  Skepta performed the anthem “Too Many Man”, a track off his album and his new hit single “Bad Boy” before coaxing the crowd to keep buying the single in a “BAD BOY OUT NOW” t-shirt, spoke about having safe sex a bit, and then left the stage.

Ironik then came on, in glasses. I left the room at this point… I was, er, thirsty.

Next thing you know, the hosts are talking about the surprise act, but huh? Where’s Wiley? I don’t think any of the kids even noticed to be fair, there was no rushing of the stage in anger or “Where’s Wiley” chants, just nothing. Chipmunk was called out as the surprise act *cue screaming* he performed “Sweet Dreams” off his “For The Fun Of It” Mixtape, “Fire Alie” and “Diamond Rings”. His performance of “Oopsy Daisy” seemed to be where ever Wiley was (god knows) but in all fairness, that audience didn’t deserve to hear it anyway as he received the biggest response from the grime track “Fire Alie”. Which was interesting…

So that was that, performances done. All in all it was a very good night, although watching 14-18 year olds strip down to their underwear to stand under the foam, groping each other during the Bashment tunes and even one couple on a lisping ting did feel a big R Kelly to me. Hopefully the fight didn’t put the NHS off of doing future events with Biggafish and understand that there are always a couple of people who will spoil it for the rest. Hopefully the next one is for everyone in London, and doesn’t have Wiley on the line-up.

Ps. Wiley didn’t turn up, he musta had Bigga Fish To Fry… Geddit? AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.
Toodles.

Sian x