inthemix | Features | DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist: Knights of the turntables

When I find myself behind the turntables, the only thing that spins is my head. So it is with trembling fingers that I clutch the receiver, as one of the world’s most revered turntable talents is down the other end of the line. Cut Chemist, or Lucas MacFadden to his postman, was one of the deck wizards behind the now defunct Jurassic 5 outfit, with his dusty cuts and turntable trickery crucial in the solidifying of the hip hop crew’s much-loved sound.

MacFadden’s departure three years ago, while spelling the beginning of the end for Jurassic 5, allowed him creative breathing room for his inaugural solo venture: the wonderful The Audience’s Listening. Now in 2008, as well as scoring a 10-second cameo in hit film Juno (as a chemistry teacher, geddit?) the man is embarking on a world tour with aforementioned sample don DJ Shadow in support of their latest two-man venture The Hard Sell. It’s a positively epic show of biblical construction comprising, but not restricted to, eight turntables, four mixers, a visual screen, guitar loop pedal, Serato, and other pieces of equipment that read like a Lost In Space script.

Working together is hardly a new experience for the pair, having completed their first project Brainfreeze back in 1999. But their now gorgeously gaudy setup had even more humble beginnings before that. “I met him [Shadow] at a record fair,” MacFadden recalls. “We had some mutual friends, and we’d always appreciated each other’s work from afar, and knew we had similar tastes and ideas. I think, when you’re collecting records, the scene is kind of small wherever you are in the world, and to meet people into buying records, and DJing, it was bound to happen. As it turned out, we both had always wanted to do something together. Actually working on the same thing started with the Number Song remix I did for him. It was the first time he asked me to work for him, or I should say it’s the first time our names appeared on the one cover art.”

Flash forward to now and the pairing has grown along with the The Hard Sell tour’s equipment haul, and the boys are preparing for their imminent Australian tour. Like predecessors Brainfreeze and Product Placement, the album is an eclectic mash-up of genre and sound, gleefully plundering the past five decades and containing, in MacFadden’s reckoning, more than “300 songs and samples. We counted once, but I can’t remember the exact figure.”

But what determines the beads that are put into this kaleidoscope of sound? “We randomly choose records, not particularly our favourite ones, and as we go through them, things come to mind and you start thinking, ‘This might make a good remake’, and, ‘We could insert this effect here’ and …” MacFadden takes a pensive pause. “We were all over the place when we first started. Having to start was the hardest part by far.” But from scrappy beginnings bloomed an esoteric photo album of dusty sonic delights. “Yeah, there are a few moments on there I love, but one of my favourite parts is the Brazilian section, there’s something about bada-kada drumming that reminds me of hypnotic house; and I’m not being cheeky, I’m being serious,” he says, in a suitably serious tone. “It’s organic, danceable, tribal when that comes in, and I’m looping another beat under it; the blend feels really nice and unique. I don’t think anyone would blend those records, especially on 45, because it’s so hard to do.”

It’s a trickiness that has led to some interesting moments early in the tour. But sell-out shows the globe over, including Spain, France and England among others, means the experience will be a much more honed affair for us lucky Antipodeans. “This kind of setup is so difficult to do, that it took us a few rounds to get right. Last year we did some festival dates, mostly for rehearsal purposes. Looking back it really helped us figure out what worked, what didn’t work, and take it to this [The Hard Sell] show. Since then, we’ve probably added about an hour of extra material to the Hollywood Bowl show, which started this all off.”

What sets these shows apart from a lot of other turntable music, and dance music in general, is their live, almost rock-like, nature. There’s a setlist, the playing of instruments (however non-traditional) and there are, of course, the inevitable cherished slip-ups. “The show itself is pretty much from the CD. There are some extra bits. There’s two versions of The Hard Sell, an ‘07 and an ‘08 version, and we performing kind of both. We’ve added little tricks, just to keep it interesting for ourselves, but it doesn’t stray too far from the original path. We have our setlist, and we try and stick to that. The best part is the mess ups, which are exclusive to these shows, something that’s never gonna happen in any other show, so you just got yourself an exclusive. So,” he laughs, “be ready for that.”

Despite Shadow mentioning in a recent interview that his partner-in-grime is able to perform “technical, precision tricks I can’t do”, MacFadden insists the show is, like most good relationships, very much about filling in each other’s blanks. “We both have our share of things we can’t do,” he laughs. “There are thing he does that I think, ‘Glad I’m not doing that’. There’s a very special tradition we have with these mixes, so we cherish the opportunity to tour and play together when we can. This is the biggest tour we’ve done, we’ve never done an entire world tour, but it’s exciting. I feel we’re doing something no one else is doing, and we’re trying to figure out if we want to entertain, or educate? And we figure, why not do both?”

As we delve further into the reasons behind the tour, and mention is made to the CD cover art that shows a jukebox frying an iPod, it transpires it runs even deeper than the desire to enthral and enlighten. There’s a badge of honour to brandish, and a philosophy to uphold. “We’re trying to push the bar for the culture, but also for ourselves. We’re so involved in our own music, when we get together, we want to remind people we’re turntablists with ideas and ideals. [The cover] does have some kind of quasi political statement; ‘This is where we come from, but this is the age we’re living in, so we’ve gotta figure out how to deal with it. Oh, I know, let’s destroy all the iPods’,” he laughs. “We don’t refute technology. But we don’t like the idea of it being thrown away. We still use vinyl, it’s an option, and it should always be an option.”

Philosophies aside, the tour will be one thing; fun and excitement personified. This is a point not lost on MacFadden. “The last Australian tour I did I had so much fun, and I’m really excited to come back with The Hard Sell. We’re expecting this to be good. So hopefully everyone out there is as excited as we are.”

If nothing else, he always has a movie career to fall back on. “I’m actually gonna be in the next movie that Juno screenwriter] Diablo Cody is working on. Hopefully this role will top 10 seconds. I’m playing a DJ this time. They’ll probably get me to go up there and play some weird indie mash-up DJ.”

Story courtesy of Allan Sko from the Canberra Times. Catch DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist weaving their magic at the following shows…

18 Apr – Metro Theatre, Perth
19 Apr – Luna Park, Sydney
20 Apr – Powerhouse Museum, Brisbane (SOLD OUT)
21 Apr – Powerhouse Museum, Brisbane
24 Apr – Palace, Melbourne

And check out this clip of the duo’s massive performance at the legendary Hollywood Bowl show…