features

DOWN WITH THE KIDS

We've been checking out the local dance scene recently to discover more about what's going on in Surrey. Over the next few weeks we'll have interviews with the next generation of local talent. First up DJ Ride...

 

Finlay Reid AKA DJ Ride is a fresh DJ from Dorking with a penchant for spinning dirty Electro-House. Ciaran Cummins asked him a few questions for The Surrey Scene…

So Finlay, how did you get that name, DJ Ride?

Basically it’s a spin on my surname, Reid.

Have you always been a fan of Dance music or did that come later on? What genres/DJs/artists got you into Dance music?

I would say yes, however I only got more into it in recent times. Some Underground DJ's like Steve Aoki and DJ Neuro Prime really got me into it all.

What styles do you usually mix? What is your favourite to DJ with?

Mainly spin Electro House; however I’m open to most genres. Favourite again has to be Fidget/Electro House, something with a heavy bass line.

What equipment do you use at the moment in your live and studio setup?

Currently I run a fairly basic set up; Macbook Pro with VDJ controlled by a Hercules RMX. Also use Apple Logic Pro to produce a little, however I’m only just getting my head around this at the moment.

Have you had much gigging opportunity yet? How have any shows you’ve had gone?

A little, I would say it went fairly well, people seemed to enjoy the night and liked the music, I hope to get more bookings around the New Year time period, and I already have the first few coming through.

What are your plans for the future?

Establish myself as a mobile DJ, perhaps get a residency in a small bar or club and finally upgrade my gear.

 

Check out DJ Ride’s mixes here:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/DJ-Ride/91904706297?ref=ts

 

For bookings etc you can e-mail DJ Ride at:

dj-ride@hotmail.com

 

The Longfellows interview

- part one

On Saturday night TSS

caught up with

millennium Modsters

The Longfellows ahead

of their shows at

Epsom's Native Tongue. Over a couple of pre-show beers we chatted with vocalist Alfie and guitarist Doug about the bands' eclectic tastes, songwriting, their loyal fanbase and why it's important to save experimentation until the fifth album...

The Longfellows interview

- part two

More from the

Surrey Modsters

as they discuss

recording, touring,

the university conundrum and creating a local buzz...

When you're not writing songs, what do you listen to?

Doug - a band called The Longfellows (laughs). I've actually started to listen to loads of hip hop, stuff from the Stone's Throw label. I bought MGMT's album recently, but I hated them at first.

Electric Feel's a great tune.

Alfie - He buckled to MGMT. I still listen to classic stuff. There's a handful of about five bands, The Beatles, The Jam and so on. There's a band called the 1990s, which are good. Kasabian's new album is brilliant. When I first listened to it though I thought, 'what are they doing?' But it's a grower.

So what's going on for the band for the rest of the year?

Alfie - We've just finished recording. We've been offered some pretty good support over the last week. Twisted Wheel, who've just returned from supporting Oasis - supporting them might be in the pipeline. The Paddingtons too. We're just looking to move up to the next level.

What's been happening, recording-wise?

Alfie - I think we've got our ten best songs done now, which we finished yesterday, so we've got a CD of ten tracks to get out there and circulate a ltitle bit. Everyone's off to Uni tomorrow, so we'll be splitting up for a little bit, but we'll still write songs via email and MP3.

So, you're all at University?

Alfie - No me and Ben aren't. The rest are. People think it's going to be a problem, but we've done it for the last year. We've got so many songs in the pipeline and we're quick at writing. Also, we don't ponder upon songs like some people do - like The Stone Roses taking ten years to record an album.

I guess at some point, though, you're going to have to make a decision regarding the band's future.

Alfie - We've had a few chats about it (laughs). In terms of songwriting the distance isn't a problem. Gigs, obviously, but we only play once every eight weeks or so.

Doug - We tend to play big Christmas gigs and stuff like that as we've got quite a loyal following, so to abuse that would be a bit...

But you're keen on playing bigger and better places over the next year?

Alfie - Yeah.

And what if someone offers you the chance to headline, say, the Secombe Centre in Sutton?

Doug - Depends who else is playing.

You're headlining, but a drum and bass DJ is also on the bill.

Alfie - No (laughs).

Ok, a couple of generic indie bands.

Doug - I'd play it with the drum and bass act.

Alfie - Yeah, he would.

Doug - I reckon all your mates would liek that.

Alfie - Yeah, they probably would.

It would be cool to do that though and have a really eclectic lineup.

Doug - Well, that's what we thought about. Do we support mid-level bands and get better or hold more local nights and find bands that want to play together regularly. Hold these great night, you know?

Could you not do both?

It's difficult though, because I'm a strong believer in being in the right place at the right time. You've got to attach yourself to the movement at that moment. That's why you need to be quite particular with regard to where you play and who with.

Doug - I do find that a lot of the indie bands nowadays try and keep to their separate scene. If you're playing the local scene you wan tto have about three or four bands that get on and with a big following.

If you're getting lots of people watching you play though, no matter where you are the right person is going to eventually take notice.

Alfie - Yeah, we played The Watershed in Wimbledon and had about 200 people and on the back of that these other bands get in touch regarding tours and stuff, so we're happy to do it our own way. We come from Worcester Park and Sutton. I've lived in Worcester Park for most of my life but I've never known of any local bands. I'm sure there's bands around, but I've never known a band that's created a little buzz like ours.

To find out more about The Longfellows, go to their Myspace page.

Let's start at the beginning.

Aflie – Well, it was me and Doug, actually. I bought the first Arctic Monkeys album and I started messing around with lyrics, then I was at a boat party and quite pissed and I saw Doug across the room and he looked like Buddy Holly so I thought I’d go and have a word with him. I asked him if he played guitar, he did and he popped over my house and we messed around with some acoustic songs.

You wear your influences proudly. What sets you apart from the bands you admire?

Doug – Each of the five members has their own preferred genre. Alfie’s into his Mod and ‘60s stuff, I’m more of a...my dad bought me up listening to John Mayall and Clapton, Hendrix, blues and stuff. Ben (drummer) is a big metal-head, Pat (bass) is into Ska and stuff. Evryone brings their own influences to the table.

Alfie – My favourite band, The Jam, were based around Punk. Whereas we’re five different people who listen to five different styles of music and essentially we all write our own parts.

Doug – And also when we sat down to write songs, we didn’t say, ‘let’s sit down and write a style of music’.

Alfie – They’re quite varied, our songs, they’re not specific style-wise. When someone asks what genre they are it’s a pain in the arse, because you can’t really explain.

 

There are a nuymber of great bands in the Surrey area at present, where do you figure in that - particularly live?

Alfie – Because we hang around in the local area, we’re from five different groups of friends, sooner or later a friend of a friend will know someone else and bring them along. We have an average of around 100 people come to each gig. Every time we’ve played we’ve always had 60-70 more people show up than any other band playing. So we stand out first and foremost because we’ve got a good following, loyal ‘fans’.

The Longfellows

Alfie – Yeah, the Longfollowers. I think really it’s because we’ve got a loyal fanbase already and we provide a decent night out.

What are shows like?

Alfie – They can be mental, quite heated. Our gigs sum up the average night out for the average 20-year old.

Doug – A lot of the lyrics cover that. There’s a lot of energy when everyone’s had a few drinks.

Alfie – Live we’ve got separate styles on stage. We don’t all jump around like Busted, but then we’re not all spaced out.

Busted?

Alfie – Yeah, I thought I’d drop that one in there...

Namedropper!

Alfie – (laughing) Oh, yeah. That’s as far as my musical knowledge goes.

Tell us about songwriting process.

Alfie – Well, since it’s only me and Doug here, we write everything! Nah, we all do. For example, if I’ve got lyrics I’ll sing them to Joe (guitar) or Doug with a guitar or speak them, even, and they’ll play some chords and we’ll try and work out a melody.

Doug – Someone has a little riff or a lyric, maybe. Everyone tends to write their own parts. Occasionally, I’ll write something for Joe or Joe’ll write something for me...

Alfie – The they’ll play it to me and I’ll write lyrics and then we’ll take it to a band practice and the bass and drums will just jam over it.

Doug – Urban Urchins started with Ben playing some stupid riff and then we started playing guitar on top of that.

So it’s all from fragments?

Alfie – Yes, the song Is He From The ‘60s, someone asked me was it cool that everything I wore was looking small and I thought hang on, that rhymes. I then sung it to Joe and it went from there. The same for the guitarists, they’ll come up with a little riff. If Joe was here he’d tell you that he might come up with something, but it’s often totally different by the end of it. What starts off as a ballad ends up as some kind of..

Funk odyssey workout?

Alfie – (laughing) Yeah, he gets upset sometimes. The songwriting’s a process where we all just chip in, really.

Lyrically there's a lot of depth there and some of it read like street poetry. Does this come from observations or is it personal stuff?

Alfie – It’s quite difficult to explain. Some of them are just literally lines that rhyme which we’ll turn into a song. A majority of them are just about...you go out and something happens in the night and you’ll wake up the next day thinking that it was quite funny or shit or whatever and you write it down. A song like On The Tour was written after a night out with my mates and only they would really understand the lyrics to it. I wouldn’t say I was a big thinker or anything - It’s just easy to write about.

So, although tonight will be just your 10th gig - are you happy with your live sound now?

Doug – Yes, we’d love a trumpet player, but most of the stuff we do is pretty much set.

Alfie – We’ve got more ideas, but we’re not a frilly band. We play it how it was initially written. We don’t bother changing stuff or slowing it down live. If we ever do it’s because someone’s knackered or had too many beers.

Doug – The second recording we’ve just done we messed around a little bit.

Alfie – We heard some weird guitar sounds. The reverb was on full and we went a bit Sergeant Pepper’s for the day.

That’ll be for the fifth album.

Alfie – That’s what we were saying. It was the sixth track we’ve ever recorded and we were thinking what if we were doing albums, we might start clanging fire extinguishers together.

You might start bringing cows into the studio to moo on tape.

Alfie – Yes. I’ll take that idea, actually.

I want a credit on the album for that.

Alfie – Yeah, yeah. Of course.

PART TWO TO FOLLOW...

Native

Ambition

at Epsom's

best little

venue

- part two

In part two of our

interview with Native

Tongue's Tristan

Maguire, he tells TSS

about resident bands, booze, and getting a gig...

DJ Spit In Your Eye 

- an interview with TSS

Jack Gavey AKA ‘DJ

Spit in Your Eye’ is an

exciting young Dance

musician from Dorking,

whose frantic, menacing

Drum and Bass manages

to reference everything

from the Gonzo journo

legend Hunter S.

Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas to comic stalwart The Punisher. The Surrey Scene's Ciaran Cummins spoke

with him about his DJ moniker and his music...

Tell us about your resident bands.

Well, in town, because you’ve got constrictions, you can’t book a band to play once a month; why would a band bring their mates out once a month anyway to watch the band? It just doesn’t work. So waht we do here is when we find a really good band that the crowd gets off on I’m able to offer them a paid residency once a month. Consequently it’s a long option as we’ve had bands playing here for over a year now, so when we announce it’s, say, tonight at 11pm, everyone knows who that band is and make their way down to see them.

That was another important point – the bands don’t just get treated with respect, they get paid and get drinks, but they also have opportunity here to build a new crowd, they’re able to sell CDs and so on. That’s why this is a different model for a music venue. It’s not because it’s the biggest place, it’s not because we’ve got the most expensive equipment, it’s because all of those huge holes that don’t exist at a London gig, and a lot of places outside of London now, have been filled.

Ok, bearing in mind that the bands get paid, get a bar tab, etc. How do you afford to keep this place running? Surely it can’t be just from selling drinks.

But it is from that model and I think the key point here is that the financial model attached to any retail or leisure unit, to use the technical term, is wet led sales – booze, which works. The problem with the parent companies is that they’ve simply bought too many pubs and got too greedy. They can’t fill these pubs to capacity as there aren’t that many people who want to go out on a Friday and Saturday night and get absolutely pissed. The management of these big parent companies was so bad that they’d send around emails asking them to save one pound per day, but then wouldn’t give the manager enough budget to buy toilet paper, so they’d run out and then they’d get complaints from people at the gig at the venue and the manager would have to send someone to Sainsbury’s or wherever to get some at retail prices. This is how they’d lose a load of money. Or they’d book a DJ for £200 to play Michael Jackson, when you can listen to him anywhere. I’d say ‘why don’t you pay me and I’ll book a band, pay the artist and run it as a gig on the door. That’d solve everything, but they wouldn’t do it.

Here you can make enough money. With this sort of size venue you’re not going to be a millionaire, but you can make enough money to pay the bands something, and to be honest with you, to give the artist respect and a good sound costs nothing.

So, who looks after your budget?

My wife works as an accountant for one of the big companies in the area and she’s the financial controller. She controls about three hundred million quid of turnover for her company and this is obviously much smaller, but what I’ve learned from her are the principals of making it all work are exactly the same. I think it’s very important that we’re a free-house, so if we buy something and it doesn’t sell then we can sell it off cheap and change it, where as if you’re not a free-house you might get given a load of Foster’s Ice Twist Lemon or whatever that no one wants to drink and you’re told to sell it at £2.70 a bottle.

We don’t have any draught here, just bottles. There’s plenty available that’s near the pint mark, Bulmers, something called Desperados. Shots are very popular – black Sambuca and apple sours, we have a range of pretty good whiskies.

Ok, back to the music. If there’s a band just starting up and looking for gigs how do they approach you?

There’s an email address: info@nativetongue.co.uk that they can contact me on, sometimes bands have a generic email that’ll just go out to all the venues. Some places have a problem with this, I don’t. Most bands have MySpace, which is a double-edged sword as it should be representative of a bands’ sound, so if the demo is great you might get booked but if you’re terrible live then you won’t get booked back, and if the demo is shit... If I have a skill it’s being able to look past those demos and those MySpace sites and decide whether the band really has something.

I would say to a band have something live, doesn’t matter how shoddily recorded, so we’ve got some idea. Online is the way – I don’t have a problem with the online thing. I’m not going to get out to any gigs, so get your stuff online, live stuff as well. You’ll probably be brought in to support someone first. If it does happen live then we’ll tend to offer you a paid gig after that and then a paid residency. If you don’t want to take that then fair enough – busy bands have busy schedules.

The venue is really about local bands; a local band being within a five to ten mile radius. We do have bands coming up from Guildford, I think that’s the furthest. This site’s generally for local people to come to and local bands to play at.

I guess the joy of playing here, seeing as you don’t charge admittance, is that you’re doing it to a largely new audience.

It is a very black and white thing, but you have to look past it because sometimes a band can be very good, but the audience don’t pay them the respect that they want. I’ve certainly found this with jazz music. We have a guy play here called Sam Eagles, an incredibly talented sax player. The connections that he has of local jazz musicians and the musicianship is the best I’ve ever heard on this stage. Jazz music has been tainted by being played in lifts and as background music, so when these musicians play people start talking and not noticing the musicianship, but then you might get this crappy student three-piece rock band playing stuff that isn’t particularly great, but the audience will get into it. If you get a jazz band back though and the audience reaction is still the same then maybe you need to move on, but you do need to exercise a bit of judgment.

PART THREE TO FOLLOW...

The Surrey Scene: So Jack, the name DJ Spit in Your Eye, where did that come from?

Jack: Well, my brother decided to make up a name for me. We were watching The Mighty Boosh and in one of the scenes Vince is talking to a Cobra, and he decides to make a DJ duo with the Cobra.

TSS: What else would you do with a Cobra?

J: (Laughs) Yeah, DJ Spit in Your Eye is one of the DJs in the line-up along with DJ Venom.

TSS: You went for the good one. So was that your first choice? Did you have any ideas before that?

J: Nah not at all, it’s just a bit of a joke that’s stuck really.

TSS: Well, when you got that why would you wanna change? So your music, how would you describe it genre wise?

J: Breakbeat, Drum and Bass sort of stuff ,but I’m now working on some Dubstep, which my brother is convinced is Breakbeat Dubstep ‘cus it’s a bit too fast to be Dubstep.

TSS: That’s good though, you’re pushing the envelope. So who would you consider your main influences? What inspired you to start making music?

J: Oh a long time ago. Mainly Beatles, R.A.T.M. and Nirvana and stuff like that; my parents always played that sort of stuff in the car so me and my brother just got into their music.

TSS: Cool parents. So when did you first get interested in Break Beat and D’n’B?

J: Oh that came a lot later on. I was in a band, but eventually I moved on and started getting into Dance music and DJs.

TSS: That’s a transition a lot of teens make I think when they’re growing up; to go from Rock to Dance music. So how do you make your music? What do you use?

J: I like to run my studio (Laughs), on mainly Korg gear; Microkorg, the EMX – Korg stuff is awesome.

TSS: And I read on your MySpace page that you use a Korg Electribe, I don’t know much about that, how does it work?

J: It’s your standard, sequencing, music production station – except its blue and its beautiful (Laughs). Plus it runs on valves which is great.

TSS: Yeah, they add a real warmth to the sound. So have you had any gigging opportunities yet?

J: Just the one, at the Lincoln Arms’ Dorktown Punks night.

TSS: How did it go?

J: Uhh, not well. I got called up at the last minute, ‘cus some guy hadn’t shown up and I was asked to play like a 15 minute set. Then when I was playing I forgot how to play my songs and I kept looping it round trying to get it right, so I ended up only playing one and a half songs ‘cus they told me to cut it short.

TSS: Ah, well I shouldn’t worry, everyone’s got to have some dodgy gigs before they have great ones. So how does your setup work live?

J: Well it’s mainly on the Electribe. I loop patterns from the trigger buttons and when I’m feeling a bit more daring I do some automation, its pretty fun live.

TSS: Cool. So have you got many plans for the future, gigwise?

J: Nah, well I don’t really have the publicity and I’m just making it for myself; sometimes having parties at my house with a live set.

TSS: That’s a good attitude to have, just doing it for the music. So how do the songs come about? Do you have a sample and you work from that? Or from a drum loop?

J: Well, I usually start with the drumbeat first ‘cus I quite often find that the hardest bit. Then I sort of build off of that stuff to make it sound better, after that I think about breakdowns… and then the intro (Laughs).

TSS: That’s a good mindset to be in though, ‘cus the beat and bassline are the most important parts of Dance music.

J: Yeah, it works best from there.

TSS: So, a couple more questions. Do you want to acknowledge any support with your music from anyone?

J: Umm, my brother and my girlfriend for the motivation. My brother’s got a harsh criticism about him, which is useful, but upsetting (Laughs).

TSS: But that’s good though, you want someone to offer that.

J: Well it’s not what you want, it’s what you need (Laughs).

TSS: Yeah, ideally that’s not what you want. So lastly, have you got any plans for the future? I know you mentioned you’re doing it for yourself, which is cool, but do you have any ideas about where you want to take it?

J: Eventually I’d like to be a club DJ; I think it’s just that whole idea of being able to control that crowd in front of you with the music.

TSS: Sound good, and you’ve got the moniker; you’ve got DJ Spit in Your Eye.

J: Haha, yeah.

Check out DJ Spit in Your Eye’s MySpace page