How would you define your musical style?
Ahhh, the eternal question. The eternal answer, I don't know! I love hip-hop from the late 80's through to the mid nineties (in particular, music by producers like Pete Rock, Diamond D and Showbiz) and it's still the biggest influence on what I do now. I'm into old jazz stuff, people like Thad Jones and Buddy Rich and when I started DJ’ing I was playing underground US house and early breakbeat stuff on labels like Shut Up & Dance and Moving Shadow. I’m also heavily influenced by bands like The Smiths and Nirvana, especially when it comes to writing lyrics so I guess if you throw all these influences into a blender you won't be far off my 'musical style'.
You are about to become a Dad, do you think being subjected to the Teletubbies 5 times a week could be detrimental to your future track making?
There'll be no Teletubbies for my kid, he or she's gonna be force fed a diet of Charlie Brown cartoons!
Whats it like on the road with Aim live?
Tiring! It's a lot of fun though. One thing about making music the way I do is that more often than not you're working alone whereas with the live thing I get to work with a load of my mates for a few weeks. At first I wasn't sure how my music would translate live. as it turned out, the fact that I use a lot of jazz samples, flutes, horns etc. and always try to produce my drums as if a real drummer was playing them meant that it translated surprisingly well. The fact that I was lucky enough to know some amazing musicians also helped a lot! The last tour we did was a great experience, we played Shepherd's Bush Empire and Manchester Academy and filled them both. Having said that, I was always aware that the material we were playing was pretty old so we won't be going out again until my next LP is released and we've got some new stuff to play.
What material have you got in the pipeline?
I just finished working on an LP called 'Life On Earth' by Niko, a new signing to Grand Central Records. She's half Japanese, half Spanish and moved to the UK from Brooklyn NYC. I produced 4 tracks on the album and helped with the beats on a couple of others. It turned out really nice, I reckon she's going to be huge. Also, I just finished a mix CD for Fabric in London. It contains loads of my favourite music from artists like Tom Scott and The Village Callers through to Ed O.G. and INI. They did a great job clearing all the tracks as there's some pretty obscure stuff on there. Finally, I've just started work on my next LP, my studio is set up at home and running nicely so hopefully I can get it finished and released sometime next year.
Finally Andy, I know you’re well into your classic 80’s Slasher movies, care to give us your top ten horror movies of all time, and can you throw in your summer vinyl top ten too?
No problem, vinyl top ten first...
01. Psychotropic - ‘Hypnosis’
02 Records
02. Diverse - ‘Jus Biz’
Chocolate Industries
03. Beastie Boys - ‘Ch - Check It Out’
Capitol
04. SWV - ‘Right Here’
(Lord Finesse Remix)
RCA
05. Niko - ‘Life On Earth’ LP
Grand Central
06. Inl - ‘Fakin’ Jax’
(Rude Youth Mix)
Elektra
07. Eumir Deodato - ‘Arranha Ceu’
(Skyscrapers)
Equipe
08. Diamond D - ‘Best Kept Secret’
(45 King Remix)
Chemistry
09. Dr. Dre feat Snoop Dog - ‘Still D.R.E’
Aftermath
10. Sisters Love - ‘Now Is The Time’
A & M