Crack

Birmingham-based DJ and producer Raffertie is best known for bass-heavy tracks such as Stomping Grounds and 7th Dimension, and for slipping classics from the likes of Whitney Houston into his frenetic sets. Over the past year support from Radio 1's Mary Anne Hobbs and Huw Stephens has boosted his profile.

Kanji Kinetic runs Electrostimulation Records from his South London home, but he can also be found spreading his signature 'splatterbass' sound all over New York, Belgium and Japan. He has officially remixed AC Slater, Drop the Lime and Roisin Murphy and 16-Bit's Chainsaw Calligraphy.

Like Raffertie, Kanji Kinetic is known for his eclectic genre-bending sets, throwing in flavours of drum and bass, bassline, dubstep, four by four and 90's rave to create a tasty musical pie with a thick crust of bass.

These two have been hoping to collaborate for a while, and this year they got the chance to splatter their collective bass all over the Braindrop stage at BLOC. We caught up with them right after their ear-splitting back to back set to ask them a few questions...

C – How did you guys meet?

R – I found some of Kanji’s tunes online and stuck them in a mix I made.
KK– I tracked the mix down and got in touch.
R – Friends ever since!
KK - Pretty much!

C – What made you guys decide to play b2b together?

KK – It was the Braindrop crew who actually contacted us and asked if we wanted to do a versus thing.
R – I played for them back in August and they were saying they would like to get me and Kanji to play on a bill together and I said we’d been talking about doing a back to back.

C- Did you arrange much of the set beforehand or was it spontaneous?

KK- We basically put all the tracks into Ableton, three tracks each - with three tracks you get to have a bit of a mix yourself, and then took turns.
R – We decided what the first track we’d play would be and the rest was just sort of... off the cuff!

C- Ideal b2b set?

R- Grandmaster Flash and DJ Shadow.
KK – Drop the Lime and Sibegg

C – Who were you most excited about seeing at BLOC?

R –I think Grandmaster Flash was my highlight of the weekend, somewhere between that, and actually playing it.
KK – Probably Luke Vibert, and Surgeon was sick as well.

C - Can you describe each other's music in two words?

KK - Esoteric wonky.
R- Err... futuristic black metal with wobble?

C - What is your most despised item of rave clothing?

R- Reflective jackets probably.
KK - Neon leotards.

C – Raffertie – whose musical talent would you most like to steal?

R – Probably Reso, just cos he’s ridiculous at everything he does.

C- And Kanji, who would you banish from the music scene forever?

KK- Tiesto, I want beef with Tiesto!

C- If you could have a DJ alias, what would your name be and what would you play?

KK– The Dutty Professor.
R –Theres a little bit of me that has always wanted to be a 90's r&b DJ. What would I call myself? I don’t know... Dr Rhythm?

C - What city or label do you think the best music is coming out of?

KK– I’m obviously going to nice up Trouble & Bass with their New York ting.
R – Being on Planet Mu, I do follow them and a lot of their new stuff that is coming out is wicked.

C - What do you like most about the British club scene and what do you hate the most?

R - I think we have quite a distinct sound, I dunno, Kanji would you agree?
KK - I just like the fact that so many genres that I love originated here, Drum & Bass, UK Garage, and have spread worldwide. They’ve all come from this tiny island, crazy shit.
R – What do I hate about the club scene? I hate people that come to clubs looking for agro.
KK – I don’t really like nights that just play the same genre all night, for like 7 hours.

C – If you could do any other job what would it be?

R - I was thinking about this the other day, I kind of wanted to be a pilot for years... I think its cos I saw Topgun and thought thats what I want to be! But then I started playing music when I was about 13 and that was it.
KK – I always wanted to work on video games. Hopefully I’ll get the chance to do soundtracks at some point.

C – Raffertie, what was the last record you bought?

R- Last record I bought was James Blake's new release on Hessle.

C – Kanji, what was the first record you bought?

KK –N-Trance ‘Set You Free’ on casette, I know that sounds too good to be true, but genuinely! Or maybe Dr Spin Tetris theme remix, one of the best casettes I own.

C- If you were a pair of Disney characters what would you be?

R- Maybe Balooo and Mowgli?
KK - Yeah there we go.
(E+L think this is an apt Disney duo, due to Raffertie’s immense height, and Kanji’s diminuitive stature!)

C- Do you have a party trick?

R- Well its more of a medical condition than a party trick, but I have this thing called nystagma which basically means that if you cover one of my eyes, the other one flickers from side to side! When I was a baby they used to show all the student doctors.

C - Would you rather ejaculate silly string, or piss those snakes that come in a can?

R - Probably the snakes?
S – I’m going to go with the silly string because it would feel like more of an achievement!

C - Like the splatterbass effect?

S – Well you know, I did coin the term!

Thanks boys! Look out for Raffertie's recent release Pumping Like Reebokson Black Acre and his forthcoming remix of Rudi Zygadlo's Filthy Logic on Planet Mu, as well as an album at the end of the year. Check out Kanji's New Era EP on Tiger Beat 6 and his upcoming releases on Senseless and Sleazetone, as well as a remix of his Splatterbass EP on his own label.



Words: By Eleanor Fogg and Lucy Fulford

http://www.myspace.com/djkanji

http://www.myspace.com/raffertie

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