Hailing from North London, many will know turntable extraordinaire DJ Yoda as the king of the mixtape, and with his wildly varied approach to putting a set together, he’s one of the world’s best proponents of the cut n’ paste aesthetic. Look no further than the How To Cut & Paste series of compilations for an example. But he’s taken the reigns on the latest FabricLive mix, and it represents quite a different approach to what we usually expect form his compilation releases.
“This mix is unique for me. After all these years and all the mixes I’ve done, this is the first mix that’s actually representative of what I do in a club. As much as the “How To Cut & Paste” mixes represent my style, the fabric mix is the first time you’ll hear what I sound like in a club, as opposed to me sitting at home in my bedroom fiddling around with tiny pieces of music. It’s music you can dance to.”
And according to the recent ITM review, it’s a corker of a release. “Despite having a history in hip hop, DJ Yoda’s diverse musical tastes come to the fore, with an unpredictable mix that jumps from hip hop to pop, new jack swing, Baltimore house, drum n’ bass, Baile Funk and even dub step… If you’re after a party starting set that’s different to a lot of the mixes out there, then get FabricLive.39, you must.”
While DJ Yoda fans were shattered by the news that he had been forced to pull out of the Future Music Festival tour, they can dry their eyes: he’s got something exciting cooking, it seems. “I was really gutted not to have made it out there, as I was so excited about it. But all I can say is, keep an eye out for an exciting announcement in the next few weeks!” In lieu of any such exciting announcement, ITM talks to Yoda about his new FabricLive mix CD.
You named yourself after a Yoda figure, but are you a Star Wars fan? Has George ever got nasty with you over the name?
I’ve never liked the name, but I had a big Yoda toy by my turntables, and it just stuck. I deejayed for a Star Wars premier once, and with Mr Lucas there I got introduced, so I guess all is cool!
You’ve said that, “it annoys you when people say I’m trying to be ironic”, but isn’t Jews Paid an ironic title? Isn’t this setting yourself up for the future questions about irony?
I don’t think that title was ironic! It’s a play on the phrase “dues paid”, and me and Greenpeace are Jewish! So it’s a pun. GEDDIT?!
You say, “If I love a song, I’ll play it.” So what makes you love a song? What made you choose Doin’ The Do over Where Are You Baby, for example?
I don’t think there’s a secret formula to loving a song – sometimes it’s because it’s a technically brilliant song, sometimes it’s just catchy, or sometimes (like in the case you mention above) it’s just pure nostalgia; a song can remind you of a certain time in your life. My 80s mix was just that – a lot of the music on it isn’t technically very “good”! But it’s reminiscent of a certain time.
Have you had any difficult to get clearance for certain songs for the mixtapes, and if so does that mean you have to go back to the drawing board completely?
Definitely. I had about 4 times as many songs denied for usage on my Fabric mix as ones that got on there. It’s a frustration, but I have to see it as a challenge to work around and it forces me to get more creative.
Is there any music you’d really like to put out on a mixtape, but haven’t yet?
Always – I have a constant iTunes folder of ‘Stuff I Must Use’.
Is there any music you wouldn’t put on a mixtape?
Sure – anything I thought was rubbish. But I remember this classic quote from the scratch DJ Q-Bert, where he said “Give me any record and I’ll find a way to flip it. Opera, McDonalds records, anything!”
I love how you slam DnB DJs for just playing DnB, and saying, “Electroclash is so contrived. I don’t understand why people want to make music that sounds like the past”. You aren’t afraid of speaking your mind. Has that ever bit you in the butt?
Well I wasn’t specifically targeting DnB DJs, more just commenting on DJs that play one very specific kind of thing always – whether it’s hip-hop, trance, reggae or anything. If you’re into music, then you should be open-minded to anything. No one’s attempted assassination yet over the electro-clash comment, but we’ll see.
Speaking about making music that sounds like the past, some could argue that your productions, essentially a blend of hip hop/funk, is the same thing. How would you counter that claim?
I think I produced songs on the Amazing Adventures album that were inspired by DnB, blues, jazz, 80s pop, old hip hop, country and electro. And the new stuff I’m working on is influenced by Baltimore club music, Brazilian baile funk, dubstep, bassline, juke and dancehall. So I don’t think I’m one of those DJ/producers who is stuck in a certain era.
You’ve called hiphop “safe” and “middle class”, so what do you think of English or Australian hiphop?
I think there’s good and bad examples of both. It’s really difficult to label an entire genre, you have to take each example individually. I would say that most of the MCs with charisma seem to be in the Grime scene these days.
You’re quite oldschool – making tapes, using turntables to cut up the happy days theme. So what do you use for making your tunes – is it synths and reel to reel or is it pro-tools or similar?
It’s a mixture of everything. I came up using strictly vinyl and turntables and making mixes onto cassette tapes. Now I use things like synths and Pro-Tools and Serato, but it’s really just whatever’s clever for the task in hand.
Have you played with CDJs, Final Scratch or Serato? How do you find them?
I use Serato to DJ with. A really great, creative tool for me I find.
DJ Yoda Goes to the Movies sees you playing with vision and sound. Was it hard to make the necessary conceptual adjustments from records to DVD? Was it hard to track down the material you used, or did the material you have shape the set?
I always used audio samples from movies in my mixes, so as soon as I saw that you can now scratch the DVDs themselves I knew it was the way forward for me. I’ve changed from digging for vinyl to digging for DVDs! I can also sample from YouTube, which is pretty cool.
FabricLive.39 mixed by DJ Yoda is out now through Fabric/Inertia. For a bit of Yoda action, check out the ITM review as well as his recent promo mix in ITM-FM.
mathway says...
Fingers crossed the exciting announcement is a tour...... please!