Greetings to all VnT – Instrumental HH music Blog readers, here’s our first interview. We’re delighted to host DJ Madhandz, a beatmaker/DJ from London, UK.
1) Hi DJMadhandz, welcome to VnT. We know you’re a huge fan of Hip Hop and its four disciplines. How and when did your passion for this culture begin?
I heard my first “proper” hip hop track when an older cousin had a NWA cassette and was playing it when we were playing computer games. I’d never heard anything like that before and was pretty much hooked for life since then!! Fast forward a few years and I got my first set of belt drive turntables and started collecting records and learning how to mix records first then that expanded in to scratching and beat juggling. But during secondary school (high school) is where my love for hip hop grew and every bit of money went on the latest records or mix tapes… still does now as adult hahah!
2) Let’s get to the heart of the matter: Instrumental Hip Hop – the best expression of beatmakers, how did you approach this world and what pushed you to turn on a sampler for the first time?
I’ve been a DJ for years in different aspects of DJing from just simply mixing records, to battling and working on music and to radio to
I kind of made a conscious decision to stop listening to vocal hip hop do a while as while it was good to see that more underground boom bap beats were getting love there’s only so much coke rap you can take (that being said I would still and always check for new UK Hip Hop… it’s one of my many loves in Hip Hop).
I found a lot of dope beat makers making instrumental hip hop via Bandcamp and various labels compilations and SoundCloud is a god send for people wanting to check instrumental hip hop.
Now after years a listening to beats I decided… hhhmmm … You’ve got the knowledge of DJing, you know what sounds dope so why not try beat making. I got a little Akai MPD Midi controller and after about a week bought a MPC ONE and it just kind of spiralled from there really. Next thing I bought was the AKAI S20 to add some crunch to drums followed by a AKAI S950 for that 12bit sound and filter. I did own a ZOOM Sampletrak ST-224 for a while to which had some made swing on it and the effects/resample made for some nice sounds.
3) This genre has grown a lot in the last few years and we can’t fail to mention your substantial contribution with your Beats Selecta for Radio “ITCH FM“, as well as your extensive personal collection of vinyls and cassettes. How do you feel about the explosion of this genre? In some countries it’s still struggling to catch on, how is it experienced in the United Kingdom?
I wanted to do a show on “ITCH FM” that was separate from the “HHBITD Show” I was doing with my crew to show case dope beats and champion beat makers who might not have an audience as such.
The UK beat making scene is pretty good I’d say! For years labels such as Village Live, The Get Down Records, We Stay True, Cheeba Cheeba Records and recently Legacy Echo (shouts to Chilla Ninja!) have championed instrumental music and then you have live beat nights around the UK to (special shout to Workinonit). There’s a lot of dope artists from these shores that’s for certain!
And what’s always good to see is people putting music out on physical platforms! My tape collection is pretty good from independent artists putting out dope tapes from either full beat albums to small beat snippet tapes… Trust me people still want tapes and records!
4) In April you released your first entirely instrumental album: “Back in The Dayz”, we hosted it on the blog with great pleasure (Here is the article). Would you like to tell us something about the creative process?
For the tape I was asked by Tim (Amajin Records) if I’d be interested in releasing it via the label and I said yes… But let me find my sound first (which he understood and got).
For the process I just made a stack of beats from 1:00-3:00 and over the course of a few months listened to them and decided on a batch that would flow together and get that 90’s boom bap vibe across with a modern twist.
I made most of it solely on the MPC One but also used a Akai S950 for some sampling of bass lines, the AKAI S20 basically had every beat recorded into it as I love the sound it brings to beats. I then recorded it all to tape before running it through Ableton for some light mixing (I do most inside the MPC One) and finishing touches just to add that vintage feel.
I also made the track “Whole Train” on my phone with Koala! Literally made it on a train journey then when home recorded it in the same process above (I’m no snob with equipment so whatever people can make good music on so be it!).
We remind readers that the tapes are still available on Bandcamp.
5) Which producers/beatmakers inspire you most today?
Man that’s a tough question… To many to list and that’s a honest answer!
To name a few in no particular order: Raw Mentalitee, Franz Braantwein, Raiges Cano, Remulak, Kuartz, Mr. Brown, El Jazzy Chavo, Bloodmasta Cut, DJ OP1, Krooks, Micall Parknsun, Evil Ed, Chilla Ninja, Sturks, Staf Beats, Dee, KrisengeBeat, rak., Alecs DeLarge, NoisiBoi, Mr. Backside, AlienLoop, Eddy Mugre, DemoTapez, Mowgz, 90’sFlako… There’s to many to list.
6) Thanks, DJ Madhandz, now tell us about your favourite beer: Dark, Red/Amber, or Blonde? Recommend us a good beer to enjoy while listening to beats 🙂
You know what bro I haven’t drank alcohol in about 3 years really! But if I do have the odd pint I’m easy going with a refreshing lager (Sorry booze heads!) something like Camden Town Brewery Hells. Mans a cuppa tea drinker init!
Well, that’s great because besides beer, we also love drinking tea while a record plays on the turntable… So feel free to recommend your favorite tea!
Oh my favourite tea is a cup of Yorkshire tea with a dash of milk so it’s nice & strong.
Happy listening, and greetings to all the readers of VnT – Instrumental HH music Blog! 🙂