Tom Drummond - Interview and Exclusive Free Track

One of the most consistent producers on the scene, Tom Drummond’s name is a mark of funky quality. With massive releases on Goodgroove and Manmade to name just two, Tom flips classic samples with ease, flair and originality.

He took the time to catch up with NuFunk.net, to talk about his transition from punk to funk and the proliferation of new releases we can expect from him in the next few months.

How did your relationship with music begin? What music did you listen to growing up?

I was one of those kids who had a mum and dad that took them to music lessons each week – I played the guitar. I remember getting introduced to popular music when I was about 8 and getting my teacher to show me how to play tunes. I started figuring them out myself soon after.

I was into a whole bunch of stuff starting at cheesy girlie pop when I was 10 (think ‘Real McCoy’). Then I was a bit of a punk, when high school came around I was a Slipknot freak. Finally when I was in my late high school years I literally went from death metal to funk and jazz over the course of a few days.

And how did that develop into DJing and production?

I was big into the whole ‘playing in a band’ thing, then a mate of mine in high school showed me some production software. I remember thinking: “I can do the whole thing myself? Sweet!”. This same guy had turntables and those were the first decks I mixed on.

Is there a ‘Tom Drummond sound’? What are you aiming for in tracks you produce?

I'm a big Mr Scruff fan, I like it how his music always sounds so fresh and that he doesn’t take himself too seriously. So that’s pretty much what I aim for with my stuff; to sound fresh and interesting but still musical and not too hard to listen to. That's what I look for in the records I play when I'm DJing too.

Which bands/DJs/producers do you enjoy the most?

A-Skillz, Featurecast, Mr Scruff, Flow Dynamics, Slynk. These guys are all great DJs as well as producers.

What’s your take on the bootlegging/sampling debate? Is it a short cut or an art form in its own right?

I think it's like how graffiti dudes start out by tagging then move on to murals. Though bootlegging isn’t as destructive and people (like A-Skillz) routinely go back to it. So it's nothing like that really, ha ha.

It depends on the quality of the boot - if someone takes some big song, adds in an extra hi-hat or something then goes and sells it on Juno that’s just ultra lame.

How do you feel about new developments in production and DJ technology – Ableton, digital vinyl etc.?

Ableton is the best thing to happen to electronic dance music in a long time IMO.

As for the digital vinyl thing, it's only logical that everything is going to go digital at some point. As a producer I love having tracks come out on vinyl because it’s a tangible thing that represents the work you put into the track so it’ll be sad when the day arrives when there's no more wax to release on.

Tell us about your latest releases and any upcoming tracks we should listen out for?

I have a house release coming on Lingo Recordings. I also have a few tracks coming up on Bombastic Jam, some collabs with Slynk due out on Manmade and Bombstrikes Records. I've also got a CD release coming out on the Hip-Hop label Cold Busted in the near future as well as a collaboration with JMC coming up on the new label Shanghai Disco.

Some quick-fire questions to finish with:

What’s your favourite sound?

Funk.

What’s the last tune/album/podcast you put on your MP3 player?

A bunch of old Freestylers/Freskanova jams.

What is your proudest achievement in life?

The fact that I'm not tied down to some boring job thinking that I have to make a whole bunch of money then die.

And your biggest regret?

Not coming to this realisation sooner.

What do you think about the launch of NuFunk.net?

Great idea. I've got a few of the sample packs that have been uploaded, I'm sure they’ll come in handy.

And finally, can you tell us about the exclusive free track/mix that you are offering our readers?

This is a house type track that I did about 2 years ago (I used to produce lots of house). I think it’s a good crossover type track to go between house and funky breaks, so I thought you guys could get a bit of use from it.

And here it is, in all its glory:

  Tom Drummond - Funky Fresh From 83 by NuFunk.net

To get your copy of Tom's exclusive track, head over to our Member's Vault at the forum. You can't access the vault if you're not a member of NuFunk.net, in fact the forum is invisible until you sign in.

Once you sign in, the password for the Vault is in the forum description. We've spray-painted it out in the picture below, but you get the idea:

And if you're not a member yet, get on it and join the rapidly growing community HERE

DJ Zeph - Interview And Exclusive Mixtape For Download!

When DJ Zeph exploded into our consciousness last year with his 'Batidas Latinas' EPs we were blown away with his inventive, smooth edits and ability to select just the right vocals to ride on some of the hottest Latin beats around.

But he’s far from a newcomer to the scene. Starting out as a breakdancer before he moved behind the decks, Zeph has been a true B-Boy since the early 80s.

He took time to out answer a few of our questions and drop an exclusive download for our members.

From what we’ve heard so far, it seems like you have been involved in the hip hop/breakbeat scene from almost day one. How did you get involved and what do you think about how the movement has developed?

I was really blessed to be around and inspired by folks like DJ Imperial, Kutmasta Kurt, and Bubba G Scotch (Zulu Nation) in my hometown Santa Cruz, California. Even though it’s a small town, these guys were world class talents.

I could say I caught the fever from them in the early to mid 1980s. Recording radio shows, going to parties and shows, practicing DJing, sampling and working with vocalists and musicians.

When I moved to the SF bay area in ’92, again I was around world class talent. Qbert, Quest, DJ Apollo, Future Primitive events. I would just feed off being around them and what they were doing. Even more recently, I was on tour with Shadow and Cut Chemist, Lateef and Gift of Gab, just getting inspired by being around them.

It seems like there’s always been cool music and still is. Now it just seems like you have to dig more, and there’s more fluff out there.  A lot more. I find it's always good to think out of the box, because labels and genres can be limiting, but there are always interesting scenes and pockets popping up that freak original breaks, beats, and dope hip hop.

It sometimes seems like the scene today is a bit schizophrenic.  One end is moving towards an auto-tuned pop style, while the other seems to be going back to its roots, revelling in old-school sampling, turntablism and blending. What are your thoughts on the future of breakbeat/hip-hop?

I just don’t like it when people look at it like there’s a line between the two. I like my tech with some organic and my organic with some tech. I love vintage sounds, but old stuff sounds best when it slaps like it's brand new.

How did your relationship with music begin? What music did you listen to growing up?

I remember hearing a lot of mainstream stuff like Stevie Wonder, Donovan, the Eagles, Crosby Stills and Nash being played around the house. To this day, when I hear certain songs on all of those albums - I cant sit still. Love 'em! One of my proudest bassline chop-ups is from a Donovan record. The 60s & 70s were a great time for tones.

And when/how did you start producing your own tracks?

Somehow, I always knew I also wanted to produce my own tracks. I first started at around age 15 with my partner Tosh, working on a cassette 4-track.  We used a guitar FX box with infinite echo as a sampler. One day, I learned that I could chop beats into the loop by accident and that was really the beginning of manipulating and reconstructing samples. Bought an Ensoniq EPS 16+ several years later.

Looking at your discography, you have had a string of releases dating back to the early 90s – how have you managed to stay so prolific?

My first ever release was a number one college record (CMJ), so I feel like I came on strong at a great time in music. The company that did the college promo on it, Spectre,  hadn’t had a debut artist go number one previously.  They brought me to the CMJ conference in NYC where I was a panelist with Guru (R.I.P.)

The Bay was really a Mecca for DJs and turntablists at that time.   I felt like one of the few that was producing, cutting it up and playing in clubs. I won San Francisco Weekly DJ/Turntablist of the Year shortly afterwards.

My second solo album had some songs that were popular at the time in clubs. The last full length I did with lyricist Azeem, 'Rise Up', has gotten lotsa love in the licensing department. The new Karate Kid movie, HBO's Entourage, Adidas, and MTV have all used tracks from it. So my stuff has seemed to stay out there and be in demand.

How do you approach making a new track?

As a DJ first, I would say that I’m usually first inspired by something I hear. Could be a record, something played by a keyboard player, a car skid, anything.  Sometimes I’ll pass by a construction site and the way they’re pounding on some beams makes me think “oh that would be cool in a track”.

After the initial idea, it’s usually about finding the right layers, or changes. Sometimes I feel like simpler is better, some things sound better with more. Then I think about the objective, is it for vocals, baritone sax, scratching or all 3? I try to make my stuff sound interactive.  If I give a track to a vocalist and they send me the vocals, I’ll usually retouch the track to highlight moments in vocals.

Is there a ‘DJ Zeph sound’? If so, how would you describe it?

In a word I'd say 'organic'. I like breaks too. All those years of listening for breaks on records that sound cool, but are ruined by loud or obnoxious solos or string sections, made me never want to release anything that sounds like that. I love solos and strings, but also fat simplistic beats.

Tell us about your latest releases and anything you have coming out soon?

The 'Batidas Latinas' limited edition vinyl is actually inspired by a mixtape of the same name, out now on Breakin' Bread Records. I also have a new project with drummer Max MacVeety (Crown City Rockers), just turntables and drums called Skins & Needles. Although primarily a live project, we have a CD titled 'Back Beat Symphony'. I did a rock/hip hop mixtape with Azeem called 'On The Rocks' a little while ago and just finished a full length with DJ/producer Enki on some uptempo breaks DJ ish!

Which bands/DJs/producers do you enjoy the most?

For DJs - locally DJ D Sharp, my man DJ Platurn in my crew the Oakland Faders. I love anything Kid Koala does and thought his latest rock project - The Slew, was killing. I got some recent DJ Spooky that’s got some good joints on it. DJ Para’s album 'Fallen On Def Ears' on Breakin' Bread got some serious rotation in my car stereo. I've also been listening a lot to the Pretty Things, and saw Budo’s Band recently and they were doin' it.

How do you feel about new developments in production and DJ technology – Ableton, digital vinyl etc?

I’m all for it. We have to adapt otherwise we get left behind and this technology opens some great doors. My only complaint is that it seems like now that we can do a lot more, folks are actually doing a lot less. I almost never see folks using Serato or Ableton to really advance what they were doing previously. It’s usually more for convenience or so that it's easier. That doesn’t benefit music.

And can you reveal a killer production tip to our readers?

I almost never compress scratch/cut tracks. Usually I’ll ride volumes if necessary.  If it's hi pitched I find I usually want to turn the scratching down and up when the cut plays. This isn’t a killer tip, but more than a few times I’ve had other pro engineers over compress my cuts and not get that the subtleties in volume differences are necessary to the track. Especially if I’m doing manual echoes - over compressed will completely kill the effect.

How do you feel about being able to reach out to people through the internet – is it changing the music industry for the better?

Well, I like being able to do it, and it benefits me and my production world. But on the whole, I’d say that music is suffering since the invent of the internet. Not just financially - in every way.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?

I just had another song from the Rise Up album placed in a commercial for Justin Timberlake’s new liquor company - Cheers.

What’s your favourite sound?

It's a tie between baritone sax and female voice

And your least favourite sound?

Mic feedback.

What’s the last tune/album/podcast you put on your MP3 player?

The Stance Brothers

What is your proudest achievement in life?

I’ve had several, but it was nice to bring my mom and step dad to the San Francisco Weekly Awards, and feel their pride.

And your biggest regret?

Autotune was my idea, I just never thought it would turn into a multimillion dollar industry.

What do you think about the launch of NuFunk.net?

Love it, wish you big success.

And finally, can you tell us about the exclusive free track/mix that you are offering our readers?

It’s the 'Back Beat Symphony' mix by Skins & Needles, with me on turntables and drummer Max MacVeety from Crown City Rockers. It’s a live duo project designed to move butts!

  Skins & Needles - JB Medley by NuFunk.net

Once the preview track above has whetted your appetite, head straight over to get your copy of Zeph & MacVeety's incredible 13-track, live drummin', funk breakin' mash-up mix, from our Member's Vault at the forum. You can't access the vault if you're not a member of NuFunk.net, in fact the forum is invisible until you sign in.

Once you sign in, the password for the Vault is in the forum description. We've spray-painted it out in the picture below, but you get the idea:

And if you're not a member yet, get on it and join the rapidly growing community HERE

Big M Interview and Exclusive Track

As head of one of the most respected labels in NuFunk and Bootleg Breaks, Mick of Big M is riding high. With a string of huge releases stretching back - stretching waaay back, he is now working with some of the most promising new producers in the scene, including Rory Hoy, Chris Awesome and Ram Skank, making Big M Productions THE place to be seen in 2010. 

How did your relationship with music begin? What music did you listen to growing up?

My first relationship to music was the regular listener’s side. At the age of 14 or so I started listening to Punk Rock and Heavy Metal, as I was pretty much into Skateboarding. This was at the beginning of the 90s. Suddenly there was something called Techno and although it was a bit cheesy sounding at that time, the whole rhythm thing for dancing was interesting.

Remember German Techno in the early 90s? Ha-ha! The first cool electronic music that reached us here at a time before the internet was The Prodigy. This was in the mid-90s, as they got big. With their sound I got the first excitement for Breakbeat music, which soon developed into my favourite genre. From there on, my interests and investigations in music increased because I realized that there was more music out there under the flag of Breakbeat. First, I got pretty much into Chemical Brothers and later on to Fatboy Slim, whose Rockafeller Skank was released at that time.

The whole BigBeat vibe amazed me so much, I wanted to get into DJing. Later on, I found interests in a lot of other music genres, where I collected all my inputs for my love of mashing up and re-rubbing today. I was into 60s Soul, 70s Disco, Funk, House, Jazz, Latin, Hip Hop and a lot, lot more. Thank god for the research power of the internet!

And when did you start DJing? And producing?

With the BigBeat vibe end of the 90s, I first got into DJing just as hobby. I was also always interested in computers. One day around 1998, by coincidence, I discovered at a friend’s house the possibility to arrange music in a simple arranger on the computer.

I got that software and played around a lot, recording DJ-mixed stuff and mixing it together; trying to build something I could call a track. As technology for home production got cheaper and the internet got big, everything speeded up. I got the essential hard and software and dug myself into making music.

A good buddy of mine started the label Twin Town in 2001, where I was pretty much involved and where I released my first track after three years of testing around. It was called 'Power to your Flower' and was a snippet of a Sergio Mendez track on a 140bpm breakbeat.

I remember I sent a demo CD of early tracks to Freddy Fresh, who was absolutely stoked about my stuff that was not yet fully developed, but had extreme potential. He told me the hints of producing a real banger based on sampling. Thanks Freddy!

I also started intense DJing and after a while then professional DJing. I released a lot of tunes through Twin Town. But at that time, I was running under my nickname Mick or, like most of the time, with my buddy Marc as the Mick & Marc combo.

After the great BigBeat vibe, when the genre was declared 'dead' (by Norman Cook himself, who was founder of the genre), there were times where it was unplayable. The audience didn't accept it anymore.  We dug into a lot of house music at that time.  So over 7 years I collected a lot of experiences in DJing and producing and physically collected quite lot of music on vinyl and CD, but also MP3s.

How did your label, Big M, come about?

Big M Productions was not really planned. As I said, I was pretty much into Twin Town Productions a couple of years ago and released vinyl through this label. I helped my buddy out a lot in administration and soon got into the distributional side of things.

I remember I sent out some self-burned promo CDs along with TTP vinyl packets and one reached Chateaudisc Distribution in Japan. They asked if it would be possible to release some of the promo stuff I sent as a vinyl release. It was all about the tune 'California Soul' and the other tracks around this one. They were so stoked about that tune. And until today that tune was the most successful rewind I did. Thank you Marlena Shaw for the absolute murder original!

So I released a first Booty at that time through Twin Town, but it was already called ‘Big M Bootie Vol.1’. The tremendous success led to ‘Big M Bootie Vol.2’. From issue no.3 Big M Productions was its own label. I have to thank Thorsten alias Toni Tress, alias Three Blunts Later and his label Twin Town Productions at this point.

What do you look for in the music you sign? Is there a particular ‘Big M sound’?

Basically I love old vintage styled and cranky hooks on modern breakbeats. I always loved Freddy

Fresh’s Howlin’ label for exactly this kind of output. The more polished side of Breakbeat, like Electro Breaks and so on, are already a bit too electronic for my taste. I do like and love some tunes from that genre - no question. But they have to have something special.

A nice example is that I love Krafty Kuts when he comes along funky, like his work with A-Skillz, but when he does the harder Against The Grain part of things, that's not so much to my taste.

In general, the Big M sound is what Mick likes most. Haha. It already developed so much, that I now have artists with more jazzy breaks like D.END or more chilled or BigBeat like Ram Skank. And with my buddy Impulsionic, whose new EP 'Bust a Groove' just came out digitally through Big M, Electro Breaks has found a place in the catalogue.

But what you can definitely say about Big M sound is: It's all about broken beats and feel-good vibes.

Who are your latest signings?

Hmmm. there's a lot! The latest from this year are J Roc/Sould Out DJs, The Breakbeat Junkie

Vs. DJP, DJ Kid Stretch, Stickybuds, Niko, Funkanomics, Prosper, Rory Hoy, Hayz, CMC & Silenta,

Ewan Hoozami, Chris Awesome, Timothy Wisdom & The Outlier, Jayl Funk, Impulsonic, The Funky Spanking and a lot more if I included the remixers and co-operational producers.

Any new releases coming up on Big M that we should be keeping an eye out for?

Of course. On vinyl we'll have a 12" next with J-Roc (Sould Out DJs) called Motown Mashdown EP, which will be a murder mashup and Breakbeat show on wax. It will be 'Big M presents... Vol7'.

Directly after that or parallel, a various artist breakbeat mashup 12" record is in the pipeline with The Breakbeat Junkie Vs. DJP, DJ Kid Stretch, Stickybuds and Niko. That will be ‘Big M presents...Vol.8’.

After that, I'm aiming for my own ‘Big M Bootie Vol.10’, some more from Prosper & Rory Hoy stuff and so on!

On the digital side of things, Ram Skank will finally have his first album which will contain murder Chemical Breakbeat and BigBeat madness, mixed with some nice psychedelic vibes; some big emotions, laid back moments and a lot of FX action. A great album for any situation.

Which bands/DJs/producers, outside of the Big M family, do you enjoy the most?

I love a lot of stuff. Some names out of the genre and related ones that come into my mind at the moment are A-Skillz, Featurecast, Ursula1000, Freddy Fresh, Skeewiff, Fort Knox Five, QDup Foundation, BadboE and of course some grandmasters like Krafty Kuts, Fatboy Slim or Chemical Brothers. But there are also a lot, lot more in a lot of genres - not only electronic!

Some people talk down about bootleg breaks, saying ‘we need originality to push the scene forward’ but it seems like everyone still wants to play big bootleg records – what’s your take on this debate?

I loooove bootlegs. When I spin, 80% of my set is bootleg stuff. Bootleg stuff (if it is well produced and not just a beat under a sample) can have as much originality as original stuff. Remember the 2ManyDJs shows? They just hooked together known music out of all genres to a complex mix. One could say that's no big thing. But it was pure originality and totally amazing.

It's not about the what, but about the how you realise it. We need artists doing really new and original stuff. I think in the future, this period will be regarded as the years of mashing up and remixing, just as we had the great BigBeat vibe end of the 90s, which ended or rather developed on.

These days a lot of people realise the possibility of sampling and remixing as a whole new sub-culture. And this is because the new technologies, which are now affordable and available for any small producer. This hype will decrease at some point, and what today is called 'bootlegs' will have their own niche and right to exist in the world of music for all time - just like every other new genre that was invented over the years.

The big thing that needs sorting is that we have a totally outdated copyright law, which criminalises mashups to illegal bootlegs – making it almost impossible for a small label to get the samples cleared. That's the main problem. If we'd get that law reformed, mashing up or bootlegging would no longer be regarded as second class music or not as original as new stuff.

How do you feel about new developments in production and DJ technology – Ableton, digital vinyl etc?

In the case of DJing, I must say I'm a vinyl junkie and love the classic way. I don't like digital vinyl and recent tech stuff at all, although I think it will be the future. More and more DJs change to spinning via Final Scratch, Serato, etc.

OK, if you're travelling a lot it really is a good way, but only for the comfort of travelling itself and not for the playing. For me, it always will be the real vinyl (and maybe some self-burned CDs for the unreleased stuff), as too much tech stuff behind a DJ desk is always something fragile. Software dependent devices can fail. A mixer and two turntables, that's all I need to have a good party.

At home in the studio it's totally the other way round. As I grew up with computers and work with them a lot. My production side of things is computer-based only. I had a synth, a sampler, a 303, but in the end I always ended up with the computer.

For me these days, there is always software or a plug-in somewhere out there that can do what I want. But when it's about mastering, a real device equipped studio is the better way. The warmth you can get into sound with physical mastering devices is always a bit better than digital-only mastering.

Can you reveal a few secret weapons you use to rock dancefloors?

As I love rarity, here are three murder records, which are still veeery rare and ones that I spin every time:

Bossarocker - Fever

Soul Of Man feat. Prince - Kiss

Atomic Soul Experience - Get right!

Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?

Yeah, if you think you have sound that would fit into the Big M catalogue don't hesitate to catch up with me and send me promos.

Some quick-fire questions to finish with:

What’s the last tune/album/podcast you put on your MP3 player?

'Rory Hoy - Cosmic Child' - a perfect chill out album for travelling. As I hear dancefloor stuff all the time, I prefer some chilled stuff on the MP3 player when on the road.

What is your proudest achievement in life?

One of my proudest achievements is definitely my whole music thing. Of course there's also other private stuff I'm proud of...

Where in the world were you born? Do you still live there now? And does the place affect your musical direction?

I was born in (West) Germany, near the French border and Luxemburg. I still live there, as I love it here. And it's perfect - geographically in the centre of Western Europe. My location never affects my music, as I have always been most interested in music that comes from other countries like the UK. In my area here, I was one of the pioneers of breakbeats.

What do you think about the launch of NuFunk.net?

It’s a great idea to have a fresh new place to meet and greet with people from the genre. For me, it's nice and familiar, as I'm into private dialogue with a lot of the people and artists that are here on

NuFunk.net. I must confess I'm a bit lazy writing comments or topics, as I'm so busy all the time.

But I always check everything to be up-to-date and I'm always curious.

And finally, can you tell us about the exclusive free track/mix that you are offering our readers?

It's a brand new re-rub/mashup I did from a powerful soul classic. It's called 'Young, Gifted, Brown' and pumping at 110bpm. It’s a bomb for the slower sets. Have fun with it out there!

  BigM - Young, Gifted, Brown by BigM Productions

To get your hands on a shiny 320 copy of this party banger simply head over to our Member's Vault at the forum. If you aren't a member yet, sign up here and for details of how to access the vault for a ton of exclusive tracks and mixes, check this announcement.

NuFunk.net Interview with CMC & Silenta of Manmade & Roca Records plus EXCLUSIVE downloadable Promo Mix & chance to win MM009!

We spoke to the guys behind Manmade & Roca Records - partners in crime CMC & Silenta.  Here they confess to being OAPs on crack - poised to ransack the scene and take over the industry.  Oh, and they also offer NuFunk.net fans an exclusive download of their special Manmade promo CD, plus the chance to bag the next Manmade Release for free…

So - how did you guys meet, are you both responsible for Manmade and Roca Records?

CMC: We’ve known each other since childhood. We lived in the same city in the early days and didn’t have much contact for years, but both became involved in making music. I started DJing at the age of 16. It wasn't until I moved back to my hometown after studying and working in several cities, that we hooked up and started to produce our first tracks.

Silenta: I learned to play keyboard and took some saxophone lessons. I started producing beats when my keyboard teacher brought this hell of a Technics workstation in to the classroom. I spent ages in front of that thing and ditched playing annoying and well behaved keyboard songs. Two years later, I had a home recording studio with a friend and produced my first album with him under the name Mono:Poly.

 

CMC:  I always had an eye on Silenta’s development. At that time, I worked for a big German Hip-Hop Soul label called Four Music and played out with the Mars All Stars during two tours through Germany, Austria and Switzerland.  I also played my resident nights with Mischinski in Stuttgart. With my contacts, I organised Silenta’s first releases on different labels.

Manmade and Roca Records are both my labels.  I manage the business, handle the distributors, artists, graphic etc. Silenta works more behind the scenes helping with some A&R work. We make the important decisions together and if I’m out of office he take over the reign, which is handy, as my second daughter was born three weeks ago!

Silenta: I’d say CMC is more the DJ and businessman.  I’m the producer and musician.

Tell us about both labels and how and why they started?

CMC: The label I used to work for [Four Music] was bought by Sony and I lost my job. I decided to take a trip around the world to find myself and think about what I wanted to do next in life. I moved back to Freiburg and decided to put all my experiences in the music business in to running my own label. I founded Manmade Records in late 2008.

Silenta: The plan was to primarily release our own mash-up tracks on Manmade. The first tracks were our own productions. Up to that point, I strictly worked without any samples in my tracks. CMC fortunately persuaded me to start integrating samples in to my sound. As a DJ, he has lots of experience in arranging tracks to make the party crowd go crazy. We produced our first track together and immediately knew – that’s the sh*t!  We planned to create more tracks, but CMC then had the idea to release them on our own mash-up label.

CMC: We got some important contacts via Autodidakt from Traktor Records to get us started. We knew there were lots of Nu Funk fans out there, who liked the same style of sound as we do.  We never imagined Manmade would be so successful. After some teething problems with a distributor, I changed to Kudos Records, who do a great job.  A large part of our success is owed to their work.  From the beginning, I always had a goal to release music on Vinyl or CD. I’m a vinyl junkie - I prefer the analogue sound quality.

Silenta: Roca Records is the next step - level two on our way to producing and releasing music.

CMC: With Roca Records we want to release high quality, non mash-up music from talented musicians and DJs. We focus on different genres, but mainly club tracks. I invest a lot in the releases and we have Whitenoise as our promotion partner.  We release everything physically on vinyl or CD - not only digitally. Roca is also the platform for our own sample-free tracks.

Tell us about the new Roca Records release, any stand out tracks? 

CMC: Yeah, watch out for the upcoming Funkanomics EP release on 10th of this month (August 2010). The promo has already caught a lot of attention and feedback by big names in the scene. Yesterday, the release hit number 12 in the Cool Cuts Chart and Kissy Sell Out played the CMC & Silenta Remix on his BBC Radio One show.

The idea was to release an EP by our friends from Bodensee. It's around 200 km from our town Freiburg. The guys are really nice and produce bombastic music. We chose three previously released tracks and let the guys mix two new versions for Roca, we also added a remix.  Have a listen HERE to make your own opinion. It’s my favourite release so far - Circle Kid Part II kills it on the dancefloor, I've been rocking this track out for months.

What artists can we expect to see on Roca in the future?

CMC: Everyone who produces good NuFunk, Funky Breakbeat, Breaks, Hip-Hop or DnB. I have no idea which way Roca Records will go in the future, although rest assured you’ll see a lot of CMC & Silenta releases. If everything works as planned, we’ll have some releases from Beatbrenning - a young and amazingly talented beatboxer from our hometown.  He’s one of the best in Germany. He recently came to the Swiss Beatbox Championship as a nobody and scooped second place. We collaborated with him on our Dub Pistols remix that we put up on our SoundCloud.

You can also expect to hear some more Funkanomics releases and other artists who send us brilliant stuff.

Silenta: The third Roca release will be a track by us, a funky piece, which we invested a lot of time and heart’s blood recording.  It’s all original, no samples. It’s called Funky Town feat. Penny, with banging remixes by Slynk, Nick Thayer & Zamali. This one and the Funkanomics release will definitely be something for your NuFunk.net fans out there! We’re also in the process of recording a complete album, but we always get interrupted by Manmade Releases, remix requests, family action, moving our studio/office in to an old railway station and things like that.

And what’s next on Manmade?

CMC: We have mm009/ Feature Funk Vol 6 in the pipeline, which includes five tracks and promises to be one of the best Manmade offerings yet. It features Tom Drummond, Moodbase, Telephunken and of course – CMC & Silenta. We decided to create a wide spread of style and tempo on this one. Tom Drummond comes with a mashup version of a downtempo funk classic, Moodbase took the hook of Smoke on the Water to produce a midtempo burner and Telephunken delivered an uptempo funky breaks tune. We took nine tracks and mashed them up.  If someone can name all nine correctly email me and get a feature funk vol 6 for free ;-).

The release date is 7th September, 2010.  The 10th release on Manmade will be a double LP with cover and full artwork, featuring Slynk, Tom Drummond, The Breakbeat Junkie, DJP, Badboe, Prosper, Funkanomics and more...

Would you say Manmade is on a par or as respected as Goodgroove Records for booty releases?

CMC: I don´t know. I think their founder - Slim should get the prize for outstanding contribution at the first Nu Funk Awards. He’s the guy who pushed the whole Nu Funk thing to the next level, with all his big vinyl series, Regrooved parties, podcasts etc. I never met him, but we emailed each other a lot in the beginning of Manmade and he helped me out at times, I really appreciated it. Manmade started as an idea to promote our stuff. Slim wanted to release great artists like Featurecast, we had different ideas for our labels. I think we´re one of the top mash-up labels, but that’s it!

Silenta: There’s no competition amongst the mash-up labels.  Most of us are in contact, they all work for the same goal: To release good music to dance to! There’s no money to earn with it anyway, as production, mastering, promotion, graphics and distribution costs are so high. We simply do it for the love of good music.

What do you think Manmade has to offer that other labels don’t?

CMC: A friend of mine told me he played over an hour DJ set solely with seven Manmade Records and the ladies went crazy. Maybe it’s that? I think there are so many great labels out there, we’re obviously doing something right!

The labels and artists that truly make it in the Nu Funk scene tend to have the right attitude, rather than develop egos when experiencing a taste of success.  Do you think it’s important to keep your feet on the ground in such a small scene?

CMC: Yes, that’s why I love this scene so much. Goodgroove's Slim voted for us at breakespoll.com 2009 and promoted it on Facebook. It makes sense to work together to push things forward. As Silenta said, everybody knows you and everybody tries to help out, that’s how a community should work. We don’t tie artists to our labels. Labels like Goodgroove, Big M, Bombstrikes, Manmade etc promote the same style of music and feature almost the same artists. It´s not like in older days when artists were bound to one label.

Silenta: I hope it will be the same in years to come, the Nu Funk-scene is growing strong.  More and more labels are rising.  I hope this relaxed, working together attitude will remain.

Tell us about the Nu Funk scene in your country?

CMC: We have a small and nice Nu Funk scene in Germany, especially in our city.

Silenta: Quincy Jointz also lives here and has already played here with some other great DJs. Ramp Fm is based here, too.  They regularly broadcast great shows like Lebrosk’s Funk Sessions. Lebrosk has a brilliant show with interesting guests like Lee from the Plump DJs or recently Badboe – he’s a big supporter of our sound - check him out HERE. Our friend Chris is a good booker and a big Breakbeat fan.  He regularly books guys like DJ Deekline.

CMC: We work in a collective in an old railway station, Chris also has his record store here: The Urbanrecordstore.com is the best Breakbeat and Electronic music record shop I know in the south of Germany. If anyone comes to our area, call Chris and get your personal opening evening. It’s killer. He’s got around 8000 Breakbeat records from the last 15 years.

Here in the south, we also have the Stamina Agency from Marten Hörger, the Funkanomics live in a town around the corner. The posse around Jayl Funk is based in Nürnberg and some more great NuFunk mates like Basement Freaks and the guys from Big M Productions are spread over the country.  I think there will be more and more in the coming years. The party people understand that Minimal, Techno and House are getting boring. I think they’ll soon realise that Nu Funk is the bouncing bridge between Old Skool, Hip-Hop and Nu Breaks.  It has more soul than other types of music. Roca Records and the Urban Records Store/Agency try to support the sound around here with some great artists from the scene.

What are your proudest achievements?

CMC: My two little daughters, my wife and my friends. Musically, that we have almost finished our new studio and have found the beautiful place to stay and make music. Manmade and Roca - my babes.

Silenta: I’m also proud of my family and what we have achieved with our music and the new studio.

What are your biggest influences when it comes to making music?

CMC: Oh that’s difficult. Our musical background is the 80s and 90s hip-hop, especially the West Coast stuff and Beastie Boys. I love fast club music, a hiphop touch mixed with the 90s style to sampled funk beats. Making a Manmade track is totally different to my own original production. If we create a mash-up, one of us is looking for a sample, cuts it in to little pieces.  We add some drums, bass lines and risers and afterwards we look for a vocal. If we have up to 2-5 different parts fitting in a track we start to arrange them. If we record our own production, we start with a bass, guitar, or Rhodes hook.

Silenta: Afterwards, we add all other instruments or invite other musicians to add some recordings. When we’re almost finished we invite a vocalist. We take a lot of time to get the right sound. I have a lot of influences.  I also listen to many different genres of music. That’s why we produce more than just funky styled tracks.

CMC: I think my biggest influence is the DJing and the feeling that you get rocking out to party people, especially when the ladies shake their ass.  A DJ friend always calls me LL CMC.

Tell us something about CMC & Silenta that nobody else knows?

Silenta: In reality we’re not producing or DJing, we’re crack dealers, but don’t tell anyone. In fact we’re old age pensioners, camouflaged as young men in an undercover mission to hijack the DJ scene and to seize the power of the worldwide music market.

What are you thoughts about the launch of NuFunk.net and the community?

CMC: It's nice to see what you’re doing. Something for all of us, the community gets free stuff and interesting information and the artists get attention. You support a growing audience of our favourite music. We've had an eye on what you’ve been doing since we met Hayz via Myspace two years ago and it’s nice to see that the NuFunk.net team are seriously pushing things forward. It gives a nice feeling of community. Nowadays, there are many people working on projects, but only few really invest time to produce quality.

And finally, tell us about the free downloadable Mix CD you've kindly offered up - exclusively for NuFunk.net members? 

CMC: We produced a mixed CD to promote our stuff when we play gigs. We gave the half of them to Kudos as a give away. Also the first 50 sold records of mm008 got one for free at Juno Records The mixed CD has all of our tracks from mm001-mm007 (except for Voodoo). We also put some remixes on it we did ourselves and a track from Slynk, Basement Freaks, Funkanomics and Javier Morillas. It’s mixed, mastered and tracked. We got a lot of positive feedback and now we’re giving it to NuFunk.net as an exclusive download, accessible in your VIP Vault for all members.

To get your mitts on this exclusive Downloadable Promo Mix, head over to our Member's Vault at the forum. You can't get in if you're not a member of NuFunk.net, in fact the forum is invisible until you sign in.

Once you sign in, the password for the Vault is in the forum description. We've spray-painted it out in the picture below, but you get the idea:

And if you're not a member yet then get on it and stop missing out on all the fun-k HERE

Dirty Dubsters Interview and Exclusive Free Mixtape!

The Dirty Dubsters, aka DJ Obese and Jay Sharp, are redefining the word prolific with a seemingly endless stream of quality releases. Ranging from Swing/Hip-Hop excursions to disco-flavoured house outings and taking in plenty of jump-up Bigbeat Ska on the way.  You never know how their next track will sound – all we know for sure is it WILL rock a party.

We caught up with the pair to find out how it all began, where they're at now and what the future holds for the talented pair.

How did you guys meet, and how long have you been collaborating?


Jay: Myself and Barry met back in early 2006 out and about at some gig, where in a drunken state decided to set up a breaks night in Dublin, which is still going strong over 4 years down the track.

We found we were both interested in starting some production work and that we had similar tastes in music so we started collaborating in the studio. I moved back to Sydney at the end of 2006.

I returned back to Dublin in June of 2009. We kept in touch and had agreed to get back to the studio upon my return to Dublin in May 2009 when the Dirty Dubsters moniker was created. During the two-and-a-half-year break we had learnt and developed our production skills and switched from Cubase to Abelton Live. We found the extended break combined with new studio knowledge gave us a huge amount of creative ideas and better skills to put them to work in the studio.

How did your relationship with music begin? What music did you listen to growing up?

Jay: Growing up I was into mainly rock and a bit of Reggae I suppose, Led Zeppelin, The Doors, AC/DC, Bob Marley. I also played the guitar, which suited this music. Once I was 18, started going out, I got in to dance music.

This consisted mainly of house and techno flavours at first, but once I got my decks and began DJing in 2000, I started getting into Breaks / Funk / Reggae. it's really from then that my passion for Funk and Reggae began.

OBese: Growing up with my folks playing music in the house probably started things off for me. They had eclectic tastes. I remember hearing a lot of Marvin Gaye, Steely Dan, The Beach boys, Jimi Hendrix and some Bluegrass shite my dad likes!

My dad used to go to trade fairs with work and would bring back loads of cassette tapes and vinyls from all kinds of artists. He once brought back a Digital Underground album and other
Hiphop that he didn’t bother with.  I'd listen to them a lot and even began splicing my own ‘Mix Tapes’ using a dual tape deck when I was younger – Mad Skills!

My Brother would watch YO MTV Raps as well – I used to love watching videos especially with DJ’s cutting and scratching. When I was 14, I stole a Bob Marley tape off him while on holidays in Florida and found the perfect combination of Sunshine and Reggae. I since haven’t stopped listening to Jamaican music. I unfortunately don’t see too much sunshine in Dublin though!

When did you start DJing? And producing?

Jay: I got my first set of decks in 2000, a dodgy pair of Numark belt drives, but these were very quickly up-graded after six months to the standard 1210’s.

When I moved to Dublin in 2002, I started up a breaks radio show on Radio Nova 94.7FM, at the time I think there was very little in the way of breaks going on in Dublin, which I hoped to change. It wasn’t until 2006 that I started getting into the production side of things, I saw it as an extension to DJing, a track was like doing a mini 5 minute mix. It also allowed for more creativity and greater control over you sound / style of music.

Obese: When I was in my teens I too got a bogie pair of belt drives and hooked them up in my parents attic. I upgraded to Technics and started playing gigswhile living in Manchester. I was involved in a few nights while at university over there. After uni, I enrolled in a music production course learning how to use all the different programs. I wasn’t getting much time to practice so I decided to relocate and moved back to Dublin in 2006. I’ve since become quite the hermit and I’m in my home studio every evening / night, taking occasional breaks to promote the Break-Down and Breakology parties and play some gigs! My day Job tends to get in the way also.

What do you look for in records you play out?

Jay: I look for something that makes you move / dance, something that has a great beat and a solid funky groove. I tend to like big beats and big bass driven tracks, as I think this really works in the clubs.

OBese: Pretty much what Jay said. Lots of energy and something that’s gonna work the floor out.

What’s the best party you ever played?

Jay: Tonic in Kings Cross, Sydney Bank Holiday Sunday in 2008. It's a small club / bar that only holds about 150 people, but the place was rammed from like 8pm with a wicked up for it crowd, this was due to a huge dance festival that just finished up that afternoon. I played for about three hours rocking a big NuFunk party breaks set and a load of fat Reggae tracks that the crowd just couldn’t get enough of.

OBese: Probably Life festival in Ireland a few years back. We were playing in the Breakology tent, which had hundreds of people going crazy to our Break-Down band set up of DJs, MC , live drums, saxophone and flute.

I also have extremely fond memories of playing in any and all of the rooms in Magruders (R.I.P) on Thomas Street, Dublin. It was a lawless adult playground, the likes of which I’m sure Dublin will never see again. We played Bristol in May on the same Bill as Jazzie B, Jumpin Jack Frost, Mickey Finn, Navigator and the legend – Tippa Irie. The night is called Championsound, it's an excellent set up pushing all things Ragga.

How do you keep up the constant stream of releases, do you guys ever sleep?

Jay: We both have a huge passion for music, and can't get enough of creating new tracks at the moment. We both work on new material and ideas separately throwing together the basic idea and layout of the track, we then bring these into the studio to work on together to finalise the track. We have found this works really well creatively and we seem to have more tracks and ideas than we have time to finish them. We have managed to release a huge amount of work in the last 6 months with nearly 50 tracks under our belt and many more to come.

OBese: We’re not the types to spend too long bogged down on a track. I’m far too impatient for that. We have ideas ready before we go into the studio and we know how we like to execute them so things tend to get done in one or two sittings. Then they either go up on SoundCloud or get played in the car stereo to see what further tweaking needs to be done.

Tell us about your recent releases and anything forthcoming we should look out for? And any big gigs coming up you want to tell us about?

OBese: We’re about to start a 7” vinyl series called “Dirty Dubplates", which will be mainly Hiphop/Reggae tunes with voicings of artists we like such as Bass Nacho, Chip Fu, Jah Clarity, Whandah The Dainty Queen and hopefully some others. We’re reaching out to work with some really excellent vocalists / MC’s and it’s a lot of fun.

On the Dirty Dubster Digital label we've just put out a big four-track EP of Swing / Ska inspired NuFunk tracks, its due for release today. The tracks have been getting huge support and comments on our SoundCloud page, so we’re feeling really positive about this release.

As Far as gigs go, we hope to get back to the UK this year. We’ve a few gigs in Dublin. The Break-Down 4th birthday in November. Maybe even a NuFunk.net party, as the opener looked like it was a belter! Fair plays boys.

How do you feel about new developments in production and DJ technology – Ableton, digital vinyl etc?

Jay: For us personally, Ableton has really helped us release our creative potential with regards to our productions. We started off initially using Cubase / Reason, which are both great packages but you really need a lot of technical know how to get the full potential out of them.

We found we were getting to bogged down in re-wiring channels etc. and loosing sight of the creative side of the production process. Abelton is so user friendly and a much more visual program, that suits sample-based type of production very well. And with a great bank of VSTs on board its potential really is endless.

And can you reveal a killer production tip to our readers?

Jay: I think the key to making good NuFunk tracks is getting the beats really fat, just listen to any A Skillz or Fort Knox Five stuff and you hear it in all of their tracks.

To get nice punchy fat beats, you need to layer up the kicks and snares, we some times have 3, 4 or more different samples behind a kick or a snare. Also make sure to have a separate channel for each of the samples so you can have the greatest amount of control over each individual sound.

For the kick we like to use a nice punch kick with a big deep sub kick, compress and EQ them to maximize the low-end. For the snares, we’ll use a few different snare sounds depending on the track add a tight kick and a clap to the snare also makes it nice and snappy and gives it a good punch.

Finally, always listen to the track on a number of different speakers / sound systems, good bad and indifferent to get a better feel for the sound and how different mastering techniques affect the over all sound of the track.

OBese: I like hi–cutting sub bass sound to isolate the very low-end to get that booming, rib-shaking effect for the clubs.

How do you feel about being able to reach out to people through the internet – is it changing the music industry for the better?

Jay: Of course, it’s brilliant. We’ve connected with a huge amount of people in the past year and without SoundCloud and Facebook etc, collaborating with some of the above artists just wouldn’t have happened.

What do you say to the haters who write off the NuFunk scene as ‘just another name for funky breaks’ or ‘just breaks bootlegs’?

Jay: I wouldn’t waste too much time with them to be honest but... What we would say to anyone not convinced is to get to any bar / club playing this kind of music and see how it works on a dance floor.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?

Yeah, please check for our Digital Label: Dirty Dubster Digital on Juno and coming very soon to Beatport. Our label breakdown records – www.myspace.com/breakdownireland and link us on facebook: ‘TheDirtyDubsters’

Some quick-fire questions to finish with:


What’s your favorite sound?

Reggae

Least favourite sound?

Trance, Hardhouse and all that other glow-rod and furry boots inspired Bo**ox

Okay, you’re stuck on a desert island, what luxury item do you take with you?

Jay: Solar powered MP3 player. Just gotta have the music, I think that’s one thing that will always be with me whatever I do.

What’s the last tune/album/podcast you put on your MP3 player?

OBese: Capleton’s Greatest Hits

Jay: Billie Holiday

What is your proudest achievement in life?

OBese: Jay’s wife Leah is about to give birth in August so I’m sure that’s gona top anything I have to say on this question.

And your biggest regret?

OBese: None really, maybe just that we didn’t get into the whole production thing earlier.

What do you think about the launch of NuFunk.net?

I think it’s a great outlet and promoter for the Nufunk scene. I think that Nufunk as a genre gets far too little credit. It really is about great booty shaking party music that spans and encompasses all genres. The more exposure sites like this give to the genre the better.

And finally, can you tell us about the exclusive free mix that you are offering our readers?

We have put together a cracking summer party mix of all our latest tracks especially for  NuFunk.net members. We have been rinsing out these tracks at a few of our last gigs and they have been going off like a storm. We hope everyone enjoys it.

This mix is a banger, it's been getting heavy rotation on the NuFunk.net iPod already! The tracklist is below and as always, you can grab the free download in our exclusive Member's Vault over at the forum. See this thread for details of how to get in there and access all the exclusive content.
Track listing:
01) Dirty Dubsters feat. Chip Fu - Chant Down Babylon
02) Riddimwiser
03) Dibby Dibby Dubplate
04) Every little bad man Skank
06) Sound Clash
07) Dubsters Be Good to Me
08) Do What you Wana
09) Pull up to my Bootleg Baby
10) Afro Skank
11) Swing it Brother
12) Shotgun
13) Ganja Check
14) Ska Ska Ska
15) In the Summertime
16) Cease Fire Selecta
17) Dirty Dubsters feat Bass Nacho - Big Tings!

Slim - Interview and Exclusive Track from the Sly Players/Goodgroove Star

Head-honcho  of Goodgroove Records and half of the Sly Players, Slim has found himself at the forefront of the NuFunk scene. He talks about his journey, looks ahead to a future full of disco breaks and drops an exclsuive download for NuFunk.net members.

Which came first, Goodgroove or the Sly players?

Goodgroove by many years, it was a clubnight way back in 1999, then became a label that reflected the music style on the night. The Sly Players were born from the label and wanting to push the disco breaks sound.

How do you split your time between the two?

The label and production run hand in hand, so the time merges into one, we are always working on new tracks and new releases.

What does the future hold for Goodgroove and the Sly Players?

Goodgroove is a mature label now so can afford to take some musical style risks, expect some dubstep and drum n bass. The Sly Players new work is mainly original sample-free tracks and we intend to take disco breaks to some big places, WMC is on our hit list.

What do you look for when signing music to the label?

The music has to be a gem, the original tracks on Goodgroove were all the best tracks for clubnights, DJ Wood - Eye No (our first ever release) was getting played by stacks of DJ's worldwide on CDR so we made it vinyl, it was as simple as that. It sold amazingly, so we found more gems from the DJ worldwide community.

What are you 3 top tips for any budding producers out there looking for their first signing?

1. Do something you would play in a DJ set

2. Get out and listen to music in clubs

3. Try something you haven't heard

Who is your favourite DJ?

Jazzy Jeff, i love the way he makes every club a big party.



Who is your favourite producer?

I have a lot of favourites, right now The Captain is on fire

How do you see NuFunk progressing in the next couple of years?

More towards disco, there is a crossover between the slower disco and funk breaks, new labels are filling the need for this.

Slim has shared an exclusive track with our members, which you can preview below. It's Umbo & Pip's remix of his track 'Turn You On' and it's sounding pretty sweet.

  The Sly Players - Turn You On (Umbo & Pips rmx) by NuFunk.net

To get your mitts on this exclusive free download, head over to our brand new Member's Vault at the forum. You can't get in if you're not a member of NuFunk.net, in fact the forum is invisible until you sign in.

Once you sign in, the password for the Vault is in the forum description. We've spray-painted it out in the picture below, but you get the idea:

And if you're not a member yet then get on it and stop missing out on all the fun-k HERE

An Interview with Jalapeno Boss Trevor Mac & Exclusive Track for NuFunk.net Members ONLY!

As head honcho of arguably the longest-running NuFunk label, Trevor Mac has watched the scene grow and flourish whilst working with some of the most talented producers and DJs from the UK and overseas.


He took time out of his hectic schedule to talk to NuFunk.net and share an exclusive free track with our members.


So, how did Jalapeno Records come about?

Jalapeno more or less grew out of the dying embers of Big Beat.

Skeewiff were signed to FSUK, which was part of Ministry, but they got dropped because they were touring a lot and running up a pretty big touring bill, which Ministry was picking up.

Thankfully Ministry said they could keep the rights to all their unreleased records – one of those was ‘Mucho Mambo’, which went on to sell around 3 million copies. They realise they could do this on their own.

So they set up Jalapeno, so they could release their music without some of those pressures that come from being on a label.

Before all this, I was at college with Elliot and Alex in Brighton. At that time I was working my way up in the music industry and was a marketing manager for a major label. We had always kept in touch, so they called me and asked if I could run the label for them, so they could get back to making music.

Is there a particular ethos to the label?

At Jalapeno we want our music to be successful, but there is no pressure to follow the latest sounds or fashions – this meant that Skeewiff could explore their loungey, funky breaks thing.

That whole Nu Skool Breaks sound was becoming quite hard. I know it was sometimes billed as funky breaks, and some of it – the kind of Finger Lickin’ style of breaks – does have funky elements to it, but it’s quite tough music.

So we’ve suffered a bit from not knowing what to call it. In the last year people have started to call it NuFunk. If everyone had left funky breaks as funky breaks, then we could have just called it that, but really that sound became something else.

Whilst a lot of newer labels in the scene are releasing big sample records, mash-ups and bootlegs, Jalapeno seems to be moving away from that sound. Was that a conscious decision?

 Ultimately I’m looking at building artists. I love big cut-up sampled records, they’re great to play out and DJ with, but I like to see artists writing their own music – that gives us something to build on.

Sample records are great fun and they can really rock a party but we don’t want to invest a lot of money in a band only to have EMI or one of the other majors come along and say: ‘That’s our music, we own that’.

Kraak & Smaak had a lot of samples on their first record. In fact ‘Squeeze Me’, which has been one of their biggest sellers, had a sample in it. Even though Ben Westbeech sang an entirely original song over it, EMI took 75% because of the sample. And that was a result, you’re lucky if you can talk them down to 75%, you’re lucky if they don’t just say ‘that’s our music’ because of a sample.

We want to see originality because the technology is getting simpler and for a laptop DJ it isn’t a big step between playing out beats in Ableton and creating a cut-up sample record. I mean, that’s great, but it’s not something we’d want to invest in.

What recent releases on the label are you excited about?

We’ve got Dr Rubberfunk’s 3rd album. His first two were released on his own label GPS. I pitched him for his second album actually but he wanted to keep it on his own label. By the time it came to his third though, we’d kept in communication and he said: ‘You know what, I don’t really want to do the label bit this time’.

So we signed him a couple of years ago and now the album is out. He’s a very musical guy. His first album had a lot of samples and cut-ups, the second album was a mix between that and more original stuff and this third album is all original.

Obviously it’s great to have successful releases, but for us we don’t see it as a disaster if we put out a record and it only sells 500 copies. As long we the artist thought it was a great record, we thought it was a great record and the people who bought it thought it was great we’re happy with that.

The tracks that come out on the label are pretty diverse, but would you say there's a particular Jalapeno sound?

They all loosely fit together. If you see Jalapeno you know roughly what you’re going to get. It goes from proper funk records like Dr Rubberfunk through to people like Kraak & Smaak who are making quite big electronic records but they all loosely have that Jalapeno sound.

Beyond that, it’s just stuff we like, what we hear in the office and suddenly think ‘we need that’. Soopasoul was like that. Danny had his own label and I picked up one of his tunes in a record shop. I thought it was amazing so we called him and talked and got him on the label.

Nowadays Jalapeno is quite well known so a lot of people send us stuff. That takes a bit if the work out of the A+R aspect, going to live gigs and trawling through Myspace. We get to hear stuff from agents or managers who will play us something they think we might like.

That’s how Smoove & Turrell came to be on the label – through their agent.

One recent release that caught our ear here at NuFunk.net was Tape Loops Vol. 1 & 2, how did that come about?

That’s actually an alias of Skeewiff. They are very prolific and it’s hard to keep on top of everything they’re writing. They’ve set up their own library music company and they’re writing stuff for that all the time – the film and TV music licensing people in the UK and US really love their sound so it makes sense.

They had this album of reggae stuff, working with Finley Quaye on some tracks, which I heard and thought it was really good. I told them that I had to sign some for commercial release.

They got to know Finley through someone they work with who was a part of Finley’s live band and it just went from there.

What have you got forthcoming on Jalapeno that we should keep an eye out for?

Basement Freaks has already got one release on the label and we’re planning on doing an album with him this summer. Also Max Sedgley’s album is dropping in summer too. Kraak & Smaak’s next album is nearly done.

We’ve got a Beekeepers album – which is Parker & Boca 45. It’s a side project for both of them, Parker’s got loads going on at the moment and Boca is doing very well in the States, but they’re moving towards it becoming more of a live band. They work well together and they’re going to be playing Glastonbury this summer – dressed in full bee-keeper costumes, like the West Country Daft Punk.

We’ve also got a good turnout at Glastonbury this year: Smoove & Turrell, Dr Rubberfunk, Beekeepers and Jalapeno Soundsystem are all playing.

The NuFunk scene really seems to be taking off at the moment, are you excited about that?

I don’t know whether we strictly fit under the NuFunk banner, because a lot of the scene is based on cut-up and samples, but I’m glad there’s a name for what’s going on and with NuFunk.net providing a focus for it, it’s a good time, an exciting time.

There’s a lot of cool people around the world supporting and playing this type of music, some great labels doing their own thing, making everything from real funk to club records that people really want to play. There’s some great DJs, from selectors like myself to really great technical DJs who can really wow the crowd with their skills.

It’s a big eclectic sound, people can experiment a bit, play what they want. It’s a good time for the scene.

Tell us about the exclusive track you're sharing with our members.

It's a track by Radio Trip. When we heard their album 'Music Heads' we signed it straight away. It's full of samples, but it was so inventive and had such a strong sound that we knew it would be great on Jalapeno.

This track is a remix of their tune 'Lonely'.

Radio Trip - Lonely (RT Remix) by NuFunk.net

We reckon it's a banger: tweaky acid and glitched-out vocal samples over relentless beats.

To get your mitts on this exclusive free download, head over to our brand new Member's Vault at the forum. You can't get in if you're not a member of NuFunk.net, in fact the forum is invisible until you sign in.

Once you sign in, the password for the Vault is in the forum description. We've spray-painted it out in the picture below, but you get the idea:

Get the latest Jalapeno releases on Junodownload, and don't forget to check out their mighty compilation 'Jalapeno Funk Vol 2' - a rollercoaster ride through the freaky funky world of Jalapeno.