Voted ‘Best DJ’ at the annual Breakspoll Awards 3 years running, Krafty Kuts is undoubtedly the globe’s most renowned breakbeat DJ. We should feel pretty chuffed, then, to learn that he feels most at home when onstage in Australia. And why wouldn’t you, when you’re regularly invited to play the biggest clubs and festivals? With a brand new mix out for the FabricLive series, now up to its 34th installment, ITM’s Oetir recently got the chance to speak with breakbeat’s Kraftiest man, discovering the first details of his plans to tour again in early 2008.

Hey Martin, thanks for speaking with me today. First of all I’d like to congratulate you on what can only be called a monumental career in the music industry. Being voted the best breaks DJ in the Breakspoll awards 3 years in a row, how does that make you feel?

It’s outstanding really isn’t it? To be received like that from your peers and fans is an amazing achievement and that’s why I’ve stepped down at the last awards. I’m honored that I’ve won it 3 times and it would be great to see another new face winning it. It’s a great achievement and I love DJing, I always will.

Your style of music ranges from hip-hop and funk to bangin’, driving dirty breakbeats. Being involved in such a variety of styles, do you think this has had an influence on the tunes you make?

Yeah I do I think it makes it eclectic, people can never really put their finger exactly on what Krafty Kuts is and what he does. Yeah, he’s breaks of course, but he likes to blend different styles in there. It keeps the options open, you know if you read someone like a book it becomes obvious and then it just becomes boring. You can’t read Krafty Kuts like a book, I like to keep it interesting, I like to think forward and be creative. I don’t just like to get pissed behind the decks and fall all over the place. I don’t treat it like it’s a night out, it’s a profession and I’m a 110% focused, especially when I come to Australia.

Any plans for Krafty Kuts drum & bass productions in the future?

I’m thinking of working on a drum & bass track for my next album, I love my drum & bass. I’ve been working a bit with Friction in the studio, so we’ll probably come up with a drum & bass track for my next album definitely. Or Pendulum maybe, I know those guys really well, but whether or not we can fit our schedules together is another thing. To be honest I’m just excited to write and DJ and as soon as I lose that vibe than I know it’s not worth it anymore. That’s why I always look forward to coming to Australia, cause you guys know how to fuckin’ party.

You’ve been involved in a handful of collaborations with both rappers and producers from across the globe. Are there any MCs out there that you’d like to get in the studio?

I would love to work with Method Man or Red Man or Busta Rhymes, people like that they’re in a league of their own. I’d also like to work with Lord Finesse, he’s a crazy character and a brilliant MC. I’d like to work with one of the guys from Lords of the Underground, you know? Just that whole kind of like old school hip-hop sort of vibe, but in a new school way.

Tell us the process you go through to produce a tune; do you start off with a concrete idea for melodies or drums before you jump into the studio, or is it mainly done on the fly so to speak?

It’s a little bit of both really. I think that I do get inspiration from the strangest things, like a bird whistling… it’s kind of, like, a weird thing that’s coming out, like there’s a melody in there. Or I might hear a noisy car that goes past and it’s a “BARRR” sound and I think, ‘whoa, if I grabbed that and created a bass sound…’ I’m always listening and taking things that I want to take for my music to inspire me, just [to] be forward thinking, I don’t copy what anyone else is doing. I get inspired by my favorite artists, like the Stanton Warriors or the Plumps, or some techno guy or a house producer, with the fact that he’s being clever. But whenever I go into the studio if I’m going to write something it usually starts with the beat, to get that vibe, and then suddenly I’ll say, ‘right, we need to write a hook, but with a sound that no one else has ever used before’, so people when they hear it will think ‘what the hell is that?’

As a DJ and producer myself, I’ve noticed that more and more producers are incorporating breaks into house and electro tracks. Even producers like Bass Kleph have been reworking tunes with breakbeat drum patterns replacing the typical 4×4. I think the groove of breaks patterns suite the majority of house tunes more so. Would you agree with this?

Yeah I think so. I think you’re completely right. I think yeah, house music is very powerful, and when house music becomes a little bit heavy it kind of borders towards techno, and I think that Tim Deluxe is the ultimate person who does that. It’s not my personal taste, but it sounds really powerful. But with breaks, what it does is it just makes it more danceable. When its 4×4 it’s more hypnotic, and you just kind of bounce your head, but with breaks it’s more funky, you just groove to it, and you can move about in different ways and you can just feel the music more and it has more energy to it, there’s more changes, twists and turns. I think that you just get really into it? It’s got more emotional pull to it. I think that house music is kinda like hands in the air, ‘bang bang bang’. It’s easy… house music is easy, but breaks are way more fun. It’s a bit wilder, it’s a bit more captivating you know, there’s more energy involved in breaks.

I’ve seen you play on multiple occasions in Brisbane, each time surpassing expectations. How do you keep it so fresh every time? Do your sets involve extensive planning beforehand?

Yes, you’re completely right. I do, that’s what I do. I just completely focus my energy on making sure that I’ve got the utmost best material that I could possibly play. Not just the most forward thinking, newest sound, but good fuckin’ tracks that people are just gonna go ‘wow, what the hell is that?’ And then looking deep into my collection for some accapellas, and then do some edits, and maybe do a couple mash-ups, new intros. So when I walk on stage people know it’s me and it’s about that time, and I just want to take people on a journey and play a few tunes that will stick in their head for the rest of their lives. That’s what I try to do. But I got to say that the Brisbane crowd, honestly, are just the most ridiculous, crazy party goers you will ever wish to meet. They’re so up for it!

Being labeled as a ‘true leader’ of the scene, where can you see things headed in the next 5 years for breaks?

I think it’s going back underground a bit, people are realising, you know, you can’t just buy any old record out there, people are being a bit more careful. The whole downloads and digital things changed where we are now. People aren’t buying records anymore, they’re buying CDs and DJs are playing more off CDs, because it’s easier. It’s easier to travel, and it has changed everything. I think the rock and indie style of things, and electro sorta, has changed things. You know, there’s more live shows, there’s more bands and things on, so dance music has taken a little knock, and it’s pushed it more underground, but that can only make it improve. Because people will go back to their roots and produce better records, and within the next 6 months to a year you will see an amazing change within dance music, especially breaks, it will just get bigger and better.

What are your thoughts on the digital revolution we are experiencing now? Do you support the move to CD DJing or are you supportive of the vinyl only record labels?

Obviously, because I own my own record label, I want people to buy records, but in a way records are a little bit a thing of the past. People are all CD based these days because it’s easier to maintain. I think there needs to be a governing body within the downloading system, you know, you can’t get stuff for free because every time someone takes a track from someone for free it’s taking away money from the industry.

You must be running on a pretty hectic schedule with such high demand for your DJ skills. Does it all get a bit too much after a while? Do you ever get time to sit back and enjoy life and get away from the scene?

Sometimes I do, yeah, next weekend I have Saturday off, which is good. But this week I’ve got like 4 gigs in a row, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday as well, and I’ve got to go to Romania on Thursday. I’ve won some more awards out there for best DJ and best international DJ of all musical types, as well as best underground breaks DJ. So I’ve got to go out there to do that, but I’m thrilled. It’s a great honor, to actually be appreciated. In my spare time I watch movies, I like curry, sport, I’m also a crazy soccer fan, I watched the rugby 7s yesterday, New Zealand won that. I’m a mad sportsman in general.

Holding a number of residencies and playing all over the world, do you have any one or two clubs that you prefer to play at? And for that matter which festivals that you’ve played at stick in your mind?

I’ve done a few festivals with MC Dynamite in Brisbane, probably one of the greatest DJing experiences for me personally, it was incredible. A couple gigs at Family have been pretty awesome, and the Field Days with Kurtis Blow and A Skillz were just phenomenal. Coming on in Melbourne at like 5 o’clock in the afternoon after a trance DJ to 18,000 people was a bit of a challenge, starting from hip-hop up to breaks, but the crowd just went absolutely nuts and that was when it all really hit, 2 years ago now, people just thought ‘wow, this is entertainment’. Those 3 gigs in the 3 different cities have always stood out for me, it’s always Australia, the crowds there can be enormous sometimes, and if you can connect with them the vibe is just absolutely ridiculous.

Last but least, can you tell the heads of Australia when you’ll be coming back here to fill us with more funk?

To be honest, I’m working on a tour at the moment that is going to be early next year; I can’t tell you what tour it is. But it’s possibly the best tour a DJ could do, and if it comes off then it’s going to be magnificent. Obviously I’m really excited about it and I’m just waiting for confirmation.

Do you think you could ever see yourself living in Australia?

Yeah I think I could. I think the food is great, the environment is great, and I think the way the country is balanced is great. All the cities have got their different cultures and different styles.

FabricLive.34, mixed by Krafy Kuts, is out soon on Fabric/Inertia.