L23 Magazine

Seventy Recordings will be taking over Remix, Hitchin 11th Sept. Hosting a night of live music by up and coming Seventy artists Scrabull, Jamie Leo and Kosha. CEO, John Turner has decided it is time to put all speculation to bed and bring the label back home.  Throughout London, all of the Seventy artists have been damaging shows at venues such as The Jazz Café, Café De Paris, Ocean and The Pigalle Club, dominating the stage and gathering fans as they go. Energy and attendance will both be running high in the dance, as Scrabull and Jamie Leo are both from the Herts vicinity and already have a loyal hometown following.

Ladies favourite and Seventy’s newest signing Kosha, will be serving up Grime and R’n’B, unleashing his own very distinctive and unique style upon Remix’s residents. His ability to effortlessly sing and rap, interchanging between the two in his very own twang, both with the same level of talent is truly one of a kind and not one to be missed.

Seventy’s first lady Jamie Leo, will also be gracing the stage with her mesmerising voice, providing us with a sexy soulful sound, that will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Performing tracks from her forthcoming debut album ‘I’m About To Say Hello’ and her newly released single ‘Mr. Smooth’ her voice is a combination of restrained power, effortless range and an aching cadence with a soulful maturity that belies her years. It smothers you with its emotion or, it simply hits you where it hurts!

Topping the bill will be urban fusion artist Scrabull. A born entertainer, he is currently dominating shows, promoting his new single ‘Badboys’ and working in the studio with Producer KrissKutt on their debut project ‘True Brit Language’.  The pair are pushing boundaries in the studio and on stage, using a lot of live musicians for the album to create really original sounding tracks, developing something fresh. The genre mix he is working with will have you skankin out and getting lively. Already having shared the stage with the likes of Bashy, Tinie Tempah and Ironik, his biggest performance to date came on July 13th when he and Kosha supported Flo-rida at Birmingham o2.  Dash all those other cliché standard nights and come be entertained, witness the rise of a brand new movement that began in Herts County.

You have been producing and djing for over 20 years but where did it all begin for you?

“Growing up I could never just listen to music as I was always breaking things down in my head in order to see how it was pieced together. My relationship with music was strange because I could not just sit and listen to it for enjoyment.

An opportunity appeared when a friend at college on a media studies course told me he had work experience in a recording studio and suggested that I come and have a look. It was at that point that I saw how a track was put together and that was it. I was hooked.”

If you were to stop now and look at your career, what would you say is your greatest achievement?

My career as a producer has been strange in a sense that I’m currently having a bit of a second coming but I would say my first track, ‘Music Takes You’ which I made in 1990 and to be honest, I didn’t know what I was doing but it just blew up and it was crazy for me as it went straight in to the top 40’s and was No.1 in the national dance charts. I looked at the charts and saw that I was higher than Public Enemy and The Prodigy. These were my icons at the time and it was big moment for me. More recently, I would say seeing my track “Because of you” playlisted on BBC Radio 1.

What has been your worse experience as a DJ/Producer?

“My worse moment would have to be a set I was doing in Leeds. I don’t know how the set was wired up but the left deck was coming from the right side of the mixer and visa versa. Have you ever seen those bicycles at the fairs where you have to pedal in all sorts of directions? Well that was me and I was making the worse mistake a DJ could make by pulling up the track that was still playing. I think I did it about eight times during that set.

If you were not djing and producing, what do you think you would be doing now?

“Hmmm, I would probably be a graphic designer as that was what I studied at college and my first job was doing design work. I do feel there is a lot of similarities between making music and designing. You can start out with a blank canvas and create something new each time by playing with everything from the layering to the textures.

What tracks are doing it for you at the moment?

Logistics – Toy Town
Chase & Status – Take Me Away
V V Brown – Shark In The Water

How did you get into DJing and who has influenced you?

Well to be honest, I kind of fell into DJing.

I started out as an emcee (shouts to Lady Tiny, Dan-E-P, OJ and Dappa) for Sidewinder back in the Sanctuary days! I was in a rave in Wolverhampton and there was some DJ playing who clanged every mix imaginable! I kind of said to myself ‘ even I can do better than that!’

I always admired the big DJ’s out there (EZ, Tim Westwood etc) but it was the guys I knew like Crucial Robbie, DJ Furious Stylez and Eddie D (the guy who taught me to mix) who I really looked up too!

What are your favourite three tracks at the moment?

That’s a tricky one as I’m constantly listen to old and new tunes. My number one is ‘Freakin Me’ by Jamie Foxx feat. Marsha Ambrosius. It’s about time some proper slow jams came out. ‘Blown’ by Busta Rhymes feat. T-Pain and I’m still loving In The Morning by Fuzzy Logik feat. Egypt!

What has been your crowning achievement so far?

Playing one of the first Bashment dances in Oslo, Norway last year Boxing Day, all by myself!! Gutted I didn’t record it.

DJing has “traditionally” been a male dominated but more and more females are breaking through. What advice would you give to upcoming female DJ’s?

Do it for the craft and not the fame Don’t sell yourself out and stay professional at all costs. Also, don’t make anyone tell you how to do your job! I’ve always used the fact that I’m female as a bit of a gimmick but at the same time, I’ve always demanded respect as a DJ.

I would rather be proclaimed the bitch who demands her money up front than the pretty girl clanging up the mixes who don’t mind a Nandos instead of being paid!

What can we expect from you in the future?

NOTHING YOU HAVE HEARD BEFORE!!!! *cue evil super villain laugh*. I intend to keep on a steady path of success! I don’t wanna be left in the same place too long and believe the only way is up from here on out!