Skiddle speaks to Krafty Kuts ahead of Lowdown and Dirty @ Sound Control

Jasmine Phull talks to the UK’s Krafty Kuts as he puts the finishing touches to his soon-to-be-launched album 'Let's Ride'.

A once 12-year-old Martin Reeves stepped behind the decks some 30 years ago and wowed a crowd that, naturally, suspected his age. Come the late 80s, he ran a break-beat club night and by the 90s he was running a string of record shops that inspired a growth in his knowledge base, which inevitably developed; turning him into a master of genres and a mixer of sounds. 

From Coca-Cola ads to iPhone apps, Krafty Kuts spans three decades where no one style or technique is overlooked. Instead, as with his approach to new label ‘Instant Vibes’, the electro break-beats DJ is constantly on the hunt, always two steps ahead of a track’s inception. See him at a festival and he promises to unleash a stash unheard by others. 

INSTANT VIBES by KraftyKuts

What are you currently working on?

I’ve been working on some remixes and I’m currently putting the finishing touches on my album ‘Let’s Ride’, which is launched in London in the middle of November.

When did you start working on ‘Let’s Ride’? Has it been a long time coming?

Yea, it has been a long time coming. (Laughs). The thing is, as a DJ Krafty Kuts is known for going all over the shop with the music, so the demand for DJing is really good at the moment and I’m busier than I’ve ever been. I never have a long period of time in which I can sit down and finish the album. It’s quite strange though, because some people can write an album and that album will stand the test of time and other times it can be an album of ‘the moment’. So as it’s taken about two years to put this album together, it has inevitably improved as time has gone on. I’ve taken different steps forward and tried different sounds. It’s changed but also moved with times. I’ve taken influences from all my different styles and it’s just been getting more and more exciting. There are certain tracks that are songs and they’ll never date, but I’ve saved the dance stuff for the end - there’s drum ‘n’ bass, electro and hip hop. It’s got tracks that people have heard before, like ‘Let’s Ride’ and ‘Shake Them Hips’, but I’ve put a new updated flavour on them. Hopefully it’s going to take people on a little cheeky journey, a Krafty journey.

How important was the order of the tracks?

To me that’s one of the most important ingredients. I sit there for hours analysing. I’ve got the 15-16 tracks pretty much done and now I’ve just got to put the final touches on them. The order and the artwork are as important as the music itself because it’s the whole package that is people judge you on. When they hear the album and if they hear it correctly, in the right time and place, they’ll think it’s perfect. If you have a heavy track at the beginning of the album, someone who is listening to it when they get up in the morning, won’t be able to digest it. You have put down-tempo more funky things at the start so then by the time they’ve warmed to the album and they’ve started to digest it, they’re really in the vibe of the album. It’s important that people dig it, so that it stands the test of time.

How do you feel about the whole download generation who don’t really listen to albums from start to finish, and instead download the couple of songs they really like?

To me downloading has a double-edged effect. You definitely miss the value of an album. Though when you download a mix cd you can’t download bits and pieces of it, it’s one whole mix. People are downloading mixes more than ever, you’ve got podcasts and DJs are selling themselves on the Internet. It’s not word of mouth or posters anymore, it’s the Internet. The good thing is that albums only cost about £7.99 now and it’s a product that you can keep and listen to over and over again, and you can pass it around. With a CD you can just put it on and vibe with it, which is the element that is missing when you download single tracks. In saying that, someone could listen to a track from the album and then put it on a blog and encourage people to buy it. It’s a difficult one to call. Someone can hear one track from your album that can be totally different from the rest of the album and automatically judge the whole album. That’s why you need to read reviews and take in a little bit about the artist, but people are more inclined to buy a finished product from Krafty Kuts. I mean, I know people who’ve gotten married to my music, and fallen in love… even my kids love it.

How important is reaching out to the younger generation?

It’s very important to me because they’re my biggest audience.

Are you still releasing music via your ‘Against The Grain’ label?

We’re not putting out any music at the moment. My business partner has actually taken that label over and I’ve started up my own label ‘Instant Vibes’, a name that dates back to the first record store I had. Eventually, we’re going to hand pick tracks released via ‘Against the Grain’ and give them to some of the world’s best DJs. We wanna do a remix album so that people can still hear those classic tracks and that way we can keep the label afloat. It’s such a good label and it has a lot of nostalgia so it would be a shame to let it go.

So why did you start up ‘Instant Vibes’?

I wanted to go back to my roots. Both ‘Shake Them Hips’ and ‘Let’s Ride’ have been released to massive success. They’ve been number one on Beatport and we’ve got some really good remixes. I’m going to release my album on the label but we’ve also struck a deal with a major so it’ll be world-wide at affordable prices.

What are three qualities you look for when signing artists?

It’s nice to get an artist who’s not released too much, so there’s room for you to lay the ground-work and give them an identity. Thought it’s also good to sign someone with a bit of release history, so I’m flexible. I like to have a good relationship with the artists; I’m not into signing artists who aren’t interested in changing their style. I want to relate to someone, I want to enhance them with my own knowledge. I’ve got a lot of experience in the industry so I want to nurture them and help them become successful.

One thing that’s changed about Krafy Kuts since you started?

I’m constantly changing. There’s an element of ‘you know what you get’ but there’s always the unexpected. I’m always pushing the boundaries, I play drum ‘n’ bass, dub step, breaks...

You’re very passionate about staying relevant in your music, how do you ensure you’re constantly updated?

I’ve got a lot of friends in the industry that are forever sending me new stuff and tipping me off. As we talk I’m looking at five tracks that I’m going to play at Bestival that nobody else has. I’ve got at least 20 new tunes that I could smash - no one could compete with some of the tracks that I’ve got. As a DJ you always have to have those monsters; you have to stay one step ahead. If there’s a DJ playing before me I know I’ll be able to follow him.

You're playing Shrewsbury Fields, will it be similar to the Bestival set? Do your sets differentiate much?

Because Shrewsbury aren’t used to having these big festivals in their area, I’ll have to play to the crowd and do more ‘party favours’. I’m very excited about Shrewsbury as my future wife is from there, so it’s a bit of a reunion with our family and friends.

Interview: Jasmine Phull

Catch Krafty Kuts at Sound Control for Lowdown and Dirty on Saturday October 1st. Tickets are available below. 

Tickets are no longer available for this event