Finnish breakbeat producer Rico Tubbs has been rocking clubs under various guises for over a decade, but the time has come for him to throw the spotlight on his most important alias. He’s just launched his premier album Knuckle Sandwich on Menu Music, and it certainly packs a massive wallop. Taking inspiration from classic big beat and 90s rave sounds, there’s any number of other influences also mashed in there and more obscure breakbeat, rave and hip hop samples than you can poke a stick at. “Right now club music has so many interesting things going on with bassline, fidget house, electro, Baltimore,” says Rico. “So exploring all that will keep me busy both production and DJ wise, I like a big mess of everything.” ITM finds out more…
Have you ever given someone a Knuckle Sandwich?
Only in the form of my new album.
You’ve won a slew of awards and medals. Well done son! Do you have a poolroom or trophy gallery in which you hang these achievements?
Well of course I’m aiming for that ‘Dr Dre’ hallway of platinum discs. Truth be told I’m still to collect my DJ trophy from 2006…. hmmm I wonder where it is.
What’s the breaks scene been like for past 10 years in Finland?
There has really not been a strictly separate breaks scene – its always been part of more diverse bunch of electronic dance music: electro, drum n’ bass, house etc. I think that’s only a good thing – I loathe purism – there so much good music around regardless of genre.
Has the velocity of breaks changed in Finland, or been infused with regional influences, i.e. Dirty South, Baltimore, Miami Bass etc.
It has followed pretty much the same path as everywhere else – now it is maybe fusing into the new rave electro sound and bass-driven house music more than tech breaks.
Have you tried to maintain your own signature sound through the years, or have you been forced to change with the evolving scene and plethora of requests?
I never analyse what I do that much. I’m addicted to hearing new sounds and that comes through my production and DJing so they naturally evolve all the time. My production style is anyway quite chaotic, something that reflects that is that I have about 500 unreleased tunes on my hard drive.
Did this have an influence on your local scene?
Well, Finland is a small country so the tastes of few active DJs can maybe have more of an influence but I’ve never really thought of that.
Inspired by music masters such as James Brown, George Clinton and Comedians such as Bill Murray and Will Ferrell, how do you try and incorporate funk and humour into your production?
Club music shouldn’t be taken too seriously – it’s all about having fun anyway so yeah, I like to keep my music fun and bit quirky and funk is always the driving force. It’s all about the beats and the bass.
You’ve produced breaks, Baltimore and hip hop amongst a buffet of other genres no doubt, so what style do you prefer to compose and/or mix?
It goes in cycles. After a while you get bored of something and move on, and then maybe come back or find something completely new. Right now club music has so many interesting things going on with bassline, fidget house, electro, Baltimore etc. so exploring all that will keep me busy both production and DJ wise, I like a big mess of everything.
You’ve been praised by the big guns of the industry like Soul of Man, The Stantons, Krafty Kuts and Switch. Have you, or do you plan to collaborate with any of these maestros?
I’ve had few remix requests from some of the bigger names and I’m really excited about that of course. Lets see what happens – it’s more up to these big guys than me really.
A few years back, The Sydney scene was controversially dubbed the ‘Breaks Capital of the World’. Where in the world do you think takes the torch for that title now?
That’s a tough one. I still haven’t had the chance to play Australia so it still might be there – I hope Ill find out soon.
What’s it like owning a record label? Do you often bite off more than you can chew with responsibility?
Well we’ve had our own label on bit low profile for the past few years because it is bit too much to produce, DJ, promote club nights and run a label. There’s some plans to get more active again though.
What kind of hardware/software do you employ in your studio?
Just PC and FL Studio. The most important thing in my production is my vinyl collection – that’s where you find unique sounds and lot of inspiration.
I heard you had a hand in the production of the Bomfunk MC’s third album. We didn’t hear much after Freestylers. Whatever happened to those guys?
I joined the band and ruined it haha. Seriously speaking, I think the 2nd and 3rd albums never got much outside Europe. There was some shady record company politics involved with that. Some of the band members then moved to different countries or launched their own projects, so Bomfunks kind of went to hibernation.
How many tubs of rylcreem does it take to manage those dreddies?
These are pretty much self maintenance. I’m actually planning to cut them away soon – it’s been 10 years with the same hairstyle now which is more than enough I think.
Rico Tubbs’ Knuckle Sandwich is out now on Menu Music, check out the ITM review.
