Forbidden Tongues Interview interview 0549 added 26.12.07 words: Ryan Proctor technical: Spoon Introduced to Hip-Hop in the late-80s via tapes exchanged in the playground of his North West England school, the individual who would become known in later life as producer Forbidden Tongues became fully addicted to rap music during the early-90s era of hard boom-bap beats and dusty samples lifted from long-forgotten wax. So with that in mind, it should come as no surprise to learn that the musical fingerprints of beat kings such as DJ Premier and Wu-Tang’s RZA can clearly be heard on Forbidden Tongues’ debut album “Konnekt”, which dropped independently this past spring. The real surprise, however, is to be found in the revelation that an album as good as “Konnekt” could be crafted by an individual who, at the time of the project’s release, had only twelve months ‘official’ production experience under his belt. Rough around the edges but sounding all the better for it, “Konnekt” (for those who haven’t heard it) is a raw, back-to-basics display of undiluted Hip-Hop. Completely at odds with current trends, Tongues’ beats show little sympathy for those raised on an MTV-friendly ring-tone rap diet, ranging from the sonic boom of the title track to the melancholic beauty of “Pain”. Complimenting this impressive array of aural treats is an equally impressive line-up of underground Northern wordsmiths, including the vivid next-level lyricism of Chronicle and the lively punchlines of Parradox. With 2008 almost upon us, UKHH sat down for a brief introductory chat with the Manchester-based producer, who might just be responsible for one of the best debut albums of the last year. How did you first get involved in production? I was an emcee at first and I didn’t have anybody to do my beats for me so I just started playing around and taught myself how to use certain equipment. I went to college for a year between 2004 / 2005 to study production to teach myself the basic skills and didn’t start actually making tracks until April 2006. It was a lot of work, though. I basically used to have a kick and a snare and that would be it! I don’t think I even started using hi-hats for about a year (laughs). Some of my early beats were terrible, but if I could rhyme on it then I was happy. But what really pushed me on was spending time with other producers who’d been making music for awhile, watching what they did, and then learning from that and putting my own twist on it. It was Parradox, who I work with now, who actually stepped up and said that he liked my beats, so that really inspired me to try harder. Knowing other people were feeling what I was doing gave me a goal to work towards and it let me know that I was on the right track. " When I received three stars in Hip-Hop Connection I thought, ‘Right, the next project I put out has to be an improvement on that and get four stars’ ..." Considering you’ve only been producing for a relatively short period of time, your album “Konnekt” has a very seasoned true-school sound to it. Is that the vibe you were aiming for? To tell you the truth I listen to it and think it’s still only half-finished. I actually recorded it as part of a University project and there are parts of the album that I’m not totally happy with, so it’s been good to get compliments from people who’re into it. As far as the album having a good sound to it and being professional, I’ve loved music almost all of my life so I think I have a good understanding of how songs should be put together. If something has a vibe and I’m happy with it then I use it. I’ve always had a real passion for Hip-Hop and I’m not someone who looks at music as just another way to make money. I think there’s always going to be a purity to what you do if you’re not approaching it primarily from a financial angle. But at the end of the day, I’m just someone who’s slowly learning their craft, is fed-up with the music that’s coming out, and so is doing their own thing. What’s the general Hip-Hop scene like where you are? To be honest with you, I’m pretty separated from the whole scene because I don’t really go out to clubs and places like that. But I do think that the emcees I’ve worked with, people like Chronicle and Jaro, are the best that Manchester has to offer. Considering I’ve only been doing this for quite a short period of time, I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to work with artists of that quality. But there’s more of a grime scene here in Manchester really, and whatever Hip-Hop there is, it’s not really the kind of Hip-Hop I’m into. So the scene to me isn’t really there. Coming from up North, do you feel it’s been a blessing or a curse being removed from the London rap scene? From speaking to other artists and Hip-Hop heads up North, I think sometimes we feel that the London scene can be very intertwined with the American scene in terms of how some people present themselves. So when we see that I think it makes us want to come with something totally different. But to be honest, other than to go to Notting Hill Carnival, I’ve never really been down to London to go to Hip-Hop clubs and feel the vibe, so it’s difficult for me to comment because I don’t know anything different from what I’m doing now and where I’m doing it. Which is probably what makes the music sound so natural and organic. But I wouldn’t even say I was a massive fan of UK Hip-Hop back in the day because being up North record shops weren’t really selling it, and obviously a lot of the music at the time was coming from London but I wasn’t really hearing it. I mean, Westwood used to have a twenty-minute slot playing UK tunes on his radio show, but most of the time he didn’t actually tell you what they were or who they were from (laughs). So I was lost to some extent, but because of that it stopped me from paying too much attention to what was happening in London and I think that has allowed me to just do me now that I’m making music. I’m actually still hearing tunes now that I had on tape ten years ago but at the time didn’t know who they were by. " there’s more of a grime scene here in Manchester really, and whatever Hip-Hop there is, it’s not really the kind of Hip-Hop I’m into As a new artist, what’s your opinion on the constant debate surrounding the lack of support UK Hip-Hop seems to get from the media and the homegrown recording industry? Everything is a buzz for me at the moment. I went from having my tracks played on local radio, to Itch FM playing them, to Huw Stephens on Radio One playing “Konnekt”. But on a larger scale I don’t think British Hip-Hop gets the radio supports it deserves. A lot of the shows that do support are very niche, so there’s nothing big out there to give the music a push on a commercial level. But that said, people shouldn’t just assume that because they’re a British artist they’re going to get an extra push from the media because of that. You still have to come with good music that actually deserves to be supported. I wouldn’t want anyone giving me an extra star in a review or something like that just because they think they should be supporting UK acts if they’re not really into my music. I want people to give an honest opinion because otherwise it’s easy to be lulled into a false sense of security about how good your music actually is. If you’re constantly being told how good your stuff is when it’s not, you’re just going to keep making music of that standard instead of trying to progress or improve. Supporting artists just because they’re from the UK creates false egos and isn’t productive for the scene overall. So what can we expect from Forbidden Tongues in 2008? Right now I’ve recorded seven tracks for the next album but I’m not sure if all of those will be used yet. Most of the tracks I’ve done for the new project have been really dark and I’m trying to use less samples and be more creative with the samples that I am using. I’m trying to use just one-second samples of different instruments and then play around with them on the MPC to create my own sound and style. I’m really trying to get away from using big chunks of samples. I’ve also been thinking a lot more about how my music will translate in the live environment, so I’m really trying to make sure the new material has some energy to it. I want to set up my own label in 2008 and start bringing other artists in. So I want to try and get the new album out by this coming April as that’ll be a year since the first one, but only if I’m totally happy with it. When I received three stars in Hip-Hop Connection I thought, ‘Right, the next project I put out has to be an improvement on that and get four stars’ (laughs). I’m all about trying to raise the bar and I’ve just got so much passion for Hip-Hop. This is my life. The 14 track 'Konnekt' album is available now on CD for the cheap cheap price of £3.99 from forbiddentongues.bigcartel.com - Ryan Proctor   Related Links: myspace

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