http://www.thehiphopvillage.com/asp_pages/news.asp?ID=792&type=5
Any feedback is always appreciated!
Hi DJ Grind can you tell where you’re from and what is the music scene like there?
I’m from Portsmouth which is on the south coast. To be honest the scene here is very up and down, Portsmouth nightlife is very student based, so if the students are about it can be very good. The last 3 months of 2008 were unbelievable; there were 2 or 3 big acts per month performing in the city.
You first started DJing at the age of 22 can you tell us how did you get your first break as a DJ?
I’ve always been heavily into my music, various different genres. I was working in a bar, and was very good friends with the DJ who was DJing four nights in a row at the time. He wanted one of his weekend nights to himself so asked me if I fancied DJing Fridays nights, when I told him id never DJed in my life he said ‘Don’t worry, You know music, You’ll be fine’. So I was pretty much thrown in at the deep end, I still say to this day you don’t have to have the best skills as a DJ, as long as you know what to drop and when to drop it.
Do you play Hip Hop and RnB or a mixture of music?
I would say when I DJ I mainly play Hip Hop and RnB but I do throw in a little bit of everything depending on the crowd. Funky, Bassline and Bashment are obvious ones that I throw in if the night calls for it. But I have to say I love DJing student/underage nights so I can throw on the odd Artic Monkeys or NERD track.
While DJing you were asked a lot for mix CD’s and from there you have released a few mixtapes. Can you tell us what you’ve had out and who have you worked with so far?
Well obviously when I first started it was straight mixed CD’s, then I started making them to promote events to let the local people know about the artist that was coming, i.e DJ Drama. I then started working with local artists such as Drast and Marvelous, and they were big hits locally, but as I started to meet more of the big names via the radio show so came the bigger mixtapes. The Real O.G (Original Grind) was hosted by UK RnB singer Nathan and that was one of the first mixtapes which shaped how I try to make them now, with original tracks, mash ups, remixes, interviews and skits. Though the big projects I now focus my time on are blend mixtapes such as Busta Rhymes Gifted & Blessed which was released in November and my current release which is Eminem vs Lil Wayne The Showdown. Now because of my mixtape success I constantly get asked to host mixtapes from artists all over the world.
You also promote acts as well and brought Clinton Sparks over to DJ, can you tell us what other acts you’ve promoted?
I worked with a few people. A lot of the shows I’ve put on has been with Live Base Entertainment. I’ve done a couple with Clinton also Montell Jordon, DJ Drama, Mick Boogie, Chris Goldfinger, MistaJam, Ryan Leslie & Mims. But to be honest I don’t have the time to really all out promote shows now. So I just help set up deals and help other local promoters do their thing. Recently alongside DSP I’ve helped promote shows with Sway, Jay Sean & Chipmunk.
What was it like DJing with Clinton Sparks!? 
Oh wow! Talk about a lesson and a baptism of fire! Clinton has always been my idol, I feel he has everything, skills, personality and the ability to make a crowd jump! I’ve never really been the type of person to be star struck, but when I first met him I was definitely a little nervous! Watching him DJ for the first time was better than having sex! (Yes I said that, Ha ha!) Very few DJ’s have the ability to mix, scratch and talk on the mic at the same time. More over he’s just a really nice funny guy, I consider it an honour to know that we’re on a friendly basis. I know if I call him, he’ll pick up.
How would a promoter get in contact with you to book their artist or DJ?
Well as I say I try not to get too heavily involved with promoting events now, but I do know all the other promoters in the area, so I can always make things happen. Email is the best way to get hold of me djgrind@djgrind.co.uk though I can get pretty busy, so if I haven’t got back to you within a week, it’s a good idea to remind me!
So as well as being a DJ and Promoter you also have a radio show with Decyfa which is the RnG show every Friday 7-9 on 93.7 Express FM. How did the show come about?
Through a friend I was introduced to Smeakin who used to present The RnG Show, and she asked me to go on for an interview, so she and Decyfa interviewed me about the local scene as a DJ and promoter. It went so well I came back about a month later to promote a mixtape release with Drast, and again it went, so well I was asked to co present every week.
What is the listenership like and do you get a good response to your show?
The show has grown so much since we started it unbelievable! We’re now the biggest specialist urban music show in the south. We’ve gone from a having a few friends listening when we first started, to now getting thousands of listeners. The response is different every week. It’s strange, we can have the biggest artist in the UK on and only get a couple of messages or we can have a local artists and get tons! We also get lots of feedback via Facebook and Myspace, where you can download old shows and watch videos etc.
You’ve interviewed some big artists on your show like, Dizzee, Sway, Robin Thicke among others. Who has been the most memorable artist that you’ve interviewed so far?
So many for so many different reasons! Clinton Sparks did our first takeover show, it was one of the funniest most random hour of air time I’ve ever experienced. The same with Gym Class Heroes, they came in and took over the show for an hour which was impressive seeing as a certain nationwide radio station couldn’t even get them in the building, again Travis was just really nice down to earth guy. But I think our Robin Thicke interviews have to be the most memorable for me, we interviewed him twice in 3 weeks! I’m a huge Robin Thicke fan, and it’s quite ironic that the first time we interviewed him is probably the most nervous I’ve ever been about interviewing someone, and it’s was only a phone interview! Robin was on his tour bus just outside of LA and we were patched through, after 5 minutes we were cut off and re connected and then after another 5 minutes cut off again because of bad reception. As luck would have it Robin was doing a few shows in the UK two weeks later so we arranged the interview. We travelled up to London to meet the man himself, and I have to say I thought he was great. You can hear that interview at www.myspace.com/therngshow
How would an artist go about getting their music played on your show?
They can email it to us at therngshow@hotmail.co.uk but I do have to say we get sent a lot of tracks, so we like to try and tie it in with a release date or a local show if we do play an unsigned artists track. Also the standard of tracks we are being sent is very high now, we get sent exclusive tracks from very well established artists.
You say this year is 2 thousand and Grind, what projects are you working on this year?
So many! And its only one month in! My Busta Rhymes blend mixtape was so big last year I’ve just released an Eminem vs Lil Wayne blend mixtape. I expect to release a few more of those throughout the year. I’m also constantly asked to host artists mixtapes, all of my prices can be found on my Myspace page. However my main aim this year is to work more in London, mainly radio work but obviously and DJing work is always nice! I’m in talks with one radio station about starting a show which is London based. I feel that’s the next step up for me. I work very closely to a number of artists and groups such as Dap C, 308, Marvelous & Frixion (All of which you need to look out for in 2009), Also I work with the one of the biggest and best producers in the south, Nasty Boi Productions, You’ll be hearing a lot more of his stuff this year.
Do you have a MySpace page or a website?
Yes my main site is http://www.djgrind.co.uk/ but my Myspace is updated more often, www.myspace.com/djgrindmusic, you can also search for me on Facebook.
DJ Grind thanks for doing the interview any last words?
The manager of one of the biggest urban artists in the UK once said to me that he immediately deletes any messages he receives that is in ‘text speak’ or ‘urban speak’. I couldn’t agree more! So if you do want to message me, which I hope you do! Please use English and not ‘Wat do u fink of mi tune fam’, I think its just a respect thing.
Also they don’t call me Grind for no reason, I’m one of the hardest working guys out there, and I will achieve my dreams. By the time I’m 30 I want to have a popular radio show on a big station and I WILL be one of the biggest mixtape DJs in the country.
Interview by Jai Boo
www.myspace.com/jaiboowolftown
