The really likable, tattooed, mankini wearing, cereal munching, vinyl scratching, DJ Essdee!
An interesting guy who goes that extra distance for people. We knew we had to interview him!
Rockfresh (RF): Tell us more about yourself. With the Charity Shop Tapes, are you more than just a hip-hop head?
DJ Essdee (SD): At the root of everything I do is Hip-Hop as a lifestyle.
Creativity is is what Hip-Hop is all about and I have always drawn on my past to switch things up. As a 14 year old I was already looking for music which wasn’t been listened to by the masses and that came by way of pirate radio. At that time my ears were being opened to Acid House via these naughty radio stations plus Hip-Hop and Hardcore Metal which was heavily present on the skateboard videos I watched for the 10 years I was actively skating.
Skating back then (’88 to ’98), wasn’t the huge industry led sport it is now, it was underground, frowned upon and seemed to be taken up by kids either looking for a creative outlet or escaping tough backgrounds. The way we dressed was as close to Hip-Hop as a scene as you could possibly get, this dress code eventually adopted the pants hanging off your arse look and has stayed around to this date.
I was aware of Rap music and heard scratching on these tracks but wasn’t aware of how to do it until the first time I watched Breakdance the Movie where I saw Chris ‘The Glove’ Taylor on the ones ‘n’ twos behind Ice-T. This lit the fuse but it was a while until I actually bought a pair of second hand, belt drive turntables.
Once I had hung up the skateboard, then gone through a period of excessive drug taking, I started to learn how to scratch. Those early years were spent learning how to scratch without the help of others and without having YouTube videos showing how scratches are executed.
I started out wanting to enter the DMC competition so I practiced 4-5 hours a day, scratching and beat juggling, and after around 4 months slapped 2 Technics 1200’s on my Visa card because it was all I wanted to do. There is my first bit of advice to anybody starting .. buy the equipment the pro’s are using if you want to take it as far as you can, it makes a huge difference.
As time elapsed I realised that as hard I try to aim for DMC I enjoyed cutting tracks up and performing sets that rocked parties rather than putting weeks and months into preparing 6 minute sets. A big part I guess was looking at DJ’s Mr. Thing, Woody and Mike L from Leeds, they were raising bars and doing shit on a whole different level. This is when I witnessed a set from DJ P.
DJ P kept everything simple, creating mashups of Phil Collins etc. over a Hip-Hop instrumental.. this DMC set with a difference changed my direction entirely, it encompassed Hip-Hop as I understood it, taking anything and making it fit. Keeping the beat and opening closed boxes.
Since that day I started using all genres of music selecting tracks which work together but introducing it and playing with it in a Hip-Hop way. Cutting, scratching, looping, using 2 copies of expensive vinyl (way before Serato), and I started driving all round the country to study how the real party rockers work crowds.
RF: So now you’re all grown up. What are your aims? A family takes away a lot of practice time if nothing else. Do you feel as enthusiastic as ever?
SD: At the start of each year I look forward and wonder ‘what is this year going to bring?’
I have never set myself targets and since realising that DMC wasn’t my goal, I have no aims, except saying yes if the right opportunity comes knocking.
Being made redundant over 3 years ago changed a lot of things, then, when my beautiful daughter arrived at the same time, it changed things even further. When this happened I realised that if I am going to find the time to practice and keep doing the thing I love, I have to turn it into a business. I have no grades from school, never went to college or uni, and DJing was the only thing I had in my locker.
With my redundancy money I bought a sound system and started hiring out my skills as a DJ, which meant weddings found themselves on my list as well as clubs and festivals. The crazy thing was that because of my website, people were booking me to do things my way, which made those birthday’s and weddings not only pay well, but enjoyable because I was scratching, mixing, blending and learning how to work totally different crowds of people who have never been open to our styles of music and skills.
Finding a balance is more important than ever because being selfish with your time when you have a family is not an option. With the help of Irn Mnky, DJ Shadow, Mister Jason, MysDiggi, Mr. Thing, DJ Format and my beautiful wife, I have found a professional base to work from and have a purpose built studio where all the magic happens, from practising, to laying cuts on various projects and creating volume 2 of Charity Shop Tapes.
Speaking of Charity Shop Tapes 2, this is one of the two things which I did plan this year. I released the first in 2007 which has gained notoriety over the years and matured like a fine wine. Volume 2 has been widely welcomed and it isn’t even released until August 1st. I have Rob Swift of the Xecutioners on there along with QNC, MysDiggi and even MC Shan. It’s going to be out on DVD, CD with Limited Edition posters and t-shirts. The other pre-planned projects this year are my Beatbox vs DJ gigs with Megamouth and the Rockfresh album which features me, Irn Mnky, Spida Lee and Dead OTT.
RF: You must have a very supportive wife. Had you not had her in your life, would you have made the same decision when you were made redundant?
SD: I honestly think that if I had no responsibilities at that time I would have moved to London. Things are always popping off down there and I would have been closer to my beloved Arsenal too.
Things happen in life that are unexpected but it really does matter who is in your life and who is supporting you when decision time comes. Emma has been a rock and I owe so much to her resilience it is untrue. Allowing me to persue my dream has been one of her greatest gifts, she’s a special female.
RF: She must be very special, if not for anything else but for not divorcing you after your many appearances in the green mankini! Tell us more how that came about.
SD: Ha ha… that has been almost one leotard too far.
The mankini was bought for me as a joke by my sister. It was sat in the drawer and I never wanted to use it but didn’t want to throw a present away.
I went through a period of time where I was a bit lost on what Hip-Hop was supposed to be. I’d done all the baggy pants, big tee and crazy big Timberland boots thing and it was when I started reading ‘Hip-Hop Don’t Stop’ that I started to get angry about how some of the legends in the game saw Hip-Hop. I read about 20 pages of that book and then threw it in the bin. It was all too serious, being publicised as a religion, way too much bullshit printed in black on white paper.
I loved Hip-Hop because it was fun and allowed you to push creative boundaries, so when West Yorkshire artist Mury P got in touch wanting some scratches doing for his track ‘F*ck You All’ (which I loved as soon as I heard the rough version), I said ‘if you do a video I’ve got an idea’.
That’s when the mankini came into play. It was my nod to Hip-Hop as I knew it. I have never been one to do anything like that but it was me breaking them chains which certain artists have wrapped Hip-Hop in. The ‘F*ck You All’ video is in your face, the mankini shot is a total opposite, a kind of Yorkshire Biz Markie.
RF: And what about Cereal Killer? Was that from the same sort of thinking? Just wanting to do something at the complete opposite end of hip-hop (and normality?)
SD: I was actually in a difficult place when I started it which is the first time I have admitted that. I don’t really know why I did it but the idea came when Leeds graff artist and entrepreneur Eject said ‘you should eat nothing but cereal for 30 days, a bit like that Mcdonalds thing’. So Cereal Killer was born.
I was smelling food in a whole different way throughout it, almost eating it through my nostrils. The positive was that I had a new respect for food and eating, the negative was that I put my not so stable mental state on show for people to see. That’s me in a nutshell though really .. what you see is what you get.
RF: Ok, that wasn’t quite what we expected. Is it still ok to find them funny?
SD: Haha, I laugh about it, everything is worth a chuckle.. even forgetting equipment when DJing on a boat which has set off has it’s funny side (long story).
RF: Gonna need to know about the boat trip now…..
SD: Haha, well, I agreed to help a friend out by taking my system and decks on board a big boat they had hired out to celebrate the anniversary of their friends death.
I turned up with everything in tow (so I thought), and started setting everything up. When the boat was just about to set off I realised that I had forgot my amp.. I told the organiser and she asked the captain of the ship if he could get his hands on any kind of amp. He went off with me following (and panicking), and went on board another boat. He ripped out the tannoy system from this other boat and we plugged it in.. it just about worked, it wasn’t powerful enough but there was sound so I breathed a sigh of relief.. for about 5 minutes.
The boat set off and it was full with everybody happy, that was until the battery light started flashing on the laptop and I realised I had forgotten the charger. The battery went, Serato naturally stopped and I had to endure a boat trip for 2 hours looking at my decks which I swear were laughing back at me. Long live vinyl I think the saying goes.
RF: Let’s talk about a saner choice in your life. Supporting Arsenal. What made you choose them when you’re from Leeds? Was the home town choice of singing “We Are Leeds” every time you stepped foot outside of the city not an attractive option to you?!
SD: I originate from Bradford and although I used to be seen donning the full Bradford City tracksuit it was my brothers Arsenal Adidas tracksuit bottoms which not only caught my eye at the age of 12 but his words ‘you should support Arsenal’ made me choose the red and white of the Gunners. I supported them through thick and thin ever since.
I don’t mind admitting that I cried when Henry left, life as a Gunner was amazing before he left for that crappy Barcelona team. I’m not bitter one bit.
RF: To finish on a hip-hop note – what’s good and bad about the UK scene right now?
SD: The good thing about the UK Hip-Hop Scene right now is that it has Mystro aka MysDiggi, I don’t say it because everything else is bad, it’s just that the man get’s the balance right between being original, professional, stylish, on point and keeping it real. His album Mystrogen is dope, has loads of crazy good material on there and if anyone deserves a BIG break it’s definitely the hardest working man in Stro business.
The bad thing is the fact that nights up and down the country put on poor MC’s and poor DJ’s which doesn’t push the scene. People responsible for arranging events around the country are responsible for helping the scene, not only progress, but be seen by others outside the circle as something which you have to be good at to earn your place on a stage.
Our huge thanks to DJ Essdee for this. We hope you enjoyed it and we ask you to check out his links below as well as searching out DJ Essdee – Cereal Killer on YouTube.
Website – http://djessdee.com
Twitter – http://twitter.com/djessdee
Facebook – http://facebook.com/djessdee
Soundcloud – http://soundcloud.com/djessdee
Irn Mnky – http://soundcloud.com/irnmnky
HBS Music Archaeology – http://youtube.com/user/HBSMUSICARCHAEOLOGY