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 K-Delight
Interview
interview 0365 added 15.01.06 words: Mr Lingo
technical: Spoon
In case it's escaped your attention ukhh.com have released their first CD and it's a hell of a uk mash up by DJ K-Delight. So who is this Brighton resident, how did he approach doing a CD for us and what other irons has he got in the fire for the year. Lingo went and found out...
“...
mostly I'm in my own studio in my own little world trying to look for the
the perfect beat
…”
Right K, thanks for making it down, introduce yourself and tell us a
bit about the man that is K-Delight?
Well my name is K-Delight, I'm a dj/producer originating from a town called
Darlington in the North-East and now reside in boogie down Brighton. I
first got involved in the scene in the mid nineties with a mail order
service that sold mixtapes only by myself, then went on to produce records
for various labels and am back on the music scene with loads of funky fresh
feasts.
Any reason for the name?
My name actually used to be K-Cool but when I used to write it on my school
books it never looked quite right, I thought I like to delight people with
my music so I stuck the K which is my surname (Kay) together with delight
and bobs your uncle!
So you've been working on our UKHH mix CTRL: ALT: THE BEAT, what else has
been coming out of your lab?
Well over the last couple of years I’ve been recording new material for my
debut artist album, it’s been a long slog because I record in a few
different studios in the UK so I’ve got tracks here and there and I'm
currently mixing and polishing the ones for the album. I've released a load
of mix cds and doing guest cuts on tracks, but just getting ready to
unleash loads of music on the people out there again, I'm very excited about
it coz it feels like ages since my last records came out.
You worked with Evil Ed for the live from Caesars Palace Mix how was
that received?
 Great, it was dope to hook up with Ed when I first moved to Brighton, and
we said the first thing we should do is a mix to get the ball rolling,
we're into loads of the same stuff and have the same influences so we had
no problem compiling the tracks for the mix. I wanted it to be live too
which I think is quite rare these days, just three decks, two mixers and
dope records, we had a right laugh doing it. Its selling well too, but its
a gradual thing, I think it’s the kind of mix that could sell for years to
come, a real feel good old/new school mix.
Are there any talented DJ's or otherwise you want to work with?
Of course, on my album there are a lot of dope guests who i've wanted to
work with and managed to hook that up, people like Kentaro, J-Red, Evil Ed,
Jazzy Jeff, 2Tall, Woody and MCs like Chrome from Deftex, Dr Syntax,
Koaste, HP and a dope New York mc called Lil ' Vic who has just been
produced by DJ Premier. I've done a track about Graffiti which features
Temper (UK Graff Legend) on the spray cans. I've also worked with some
great musicians on the album too. I suppose my dream collaboration would
be with Herbie Hancock or maybe T La Rock and Stevie Wonder.
Do you prefer working as a solo artist or part of a collective?
Both, I love vibing off other artists in the studio because you can throw
ideas back and forth and its more fun sometimes doing it that way, but
mostly I'm in my own studio in my own little world trying to look for the
the perfect beat. Like other producers it can be quite a lonely process
but I think that’s part of the process of making great music.
How long have you been involved in DJing and when did you get bitten?
I first started out 20 years ago as a breaker back in my home town, but
when I heard people like DJ Cheese and Mantronix on John Peel I really
wanted to create my own music and started scratching and making demos. So its a few years ago now, I've still got the tapes of me scratching and
rapping before my voice broke, bloody embarrassing.
“...
I'm pretty sick of hearing all these cds that
are just a bunch of the usual current crop of commercial tracks and mcs
bragging over the top
…”
How much do you enjoy stacking up a pile of wax and mixing your way to
the bottom?
Its cool, to just grab a load of your favourite records and throw them on,
you kind of go into the DJ zone and when you've finished and take a sip of
the freezing cup of tea on the side then you look round and there’s records
everywhere, it’s like a drug man. No matter how busy I am I always make
time for a mad half hour scratch session.
How tough was it on the Caesars Palace & UKHH mix?
 The Caesars Palace mix was a lot more spontaneous because it was live so it
was more fun I suppose. The UKHH mix was multitracked because I wanted to be perfect, with nice little cut sections, loads of blending and a few
juggles etc, it’s been years since I did a mix like this and it took a lot
out of me, there were tracks on cd and vinyl and I had to listen through
loads of new stuff I had not heard before. But I really think its worth spending a bit of time on something like this because I want to do the artists tracks justice and make it a journey through great hip hop old and new.
Did you enjoy getting all the exclusive tracks to go through for the
mix?
Yeah definitely, it was an education too with all these new artists that are
coming through and putting out tracks, it was nice man, I listened to
everything I was sent and just put a pile together of all the tracks I
thought would flow well together with the stuff I had already chosen from
my own collection.
What’s the worst thing about it?
Well I suppose listening to each and every one of those cds was quite hard
sometimes because I was just dying to get on with the mix itself, but I
needed to do that incase I missed some hidden gems.
What is your favourite tune so far on the ukhh mix?
I love the Krispy track 'What They Talkin 'Bout?' I've always been a fan of
them, The Menagerie, Dirty Diggers, there loads of new gems on there man. As far as the old tracks go I would have to say either 'Style Of The Street' by Broken Glass which is a dope electro tune for the breakers and Aspects 'My Genre'.
What else have you got coming up in the future?
 My new ep 'The Real Thing' which is a collaboration with my long term
co-producer Voodoo Guru and features the incredible DJ Kentaro from Japan
and also a dope track with Evil Ed too. The B side is a megamix I've done of
all my best moments on wax, a bit like the old Mantronix megamixes. The EP
is going to be distributed out in Japan by Endeavor Entertainment and we
have had a great advanced orders for it. I've been working with a new web design company called Logan Freeth on my interactive site which has just been launched, we're trying to do something different with it. We're getting loads of great tracks that are free to download, we're working on more ideas to make it even more interactive for people to play with sounds and effects etc, its a whole new ball game man with the internet, its great for artists who want their music heard. I really wish it was around when I first started making tunes. Also I have finished an instrumental album with a dope new producer called Elan Vital. It’s called the Fabulous, Fantom, Funk, Frontiers and its pretty epic sounding. Basically if you’re into Star Wars, Battlestar Gallactica and classic Sci Fi music you’ll really dig it, should be out some time this year.
Another live mix with Evil Ed which will be a cd-rom too and then my album.
Do you feel like there are enough people wanting fresh and innovative
mix tapes?
Yeah, but I think they have to sift through a lot of shit before they find a
real dope one. Its so easy to knock out mix cds these days and there is a
lot of them about. They are a great way for new artists to build a rep, and
get their name out there but I'm pretty sick of hearing all these cds that
are just a bunch of the usual current crop of commercial tracks and mcs
bragging over the top. People need to put more effort into these things
instead of just rapping over the latest Jay Z beat. Use some beats that are
not as familiar and mix them in with some well known hits, take people on a
journey where they don’t know what the hell to expect! Be original.
“...
It’s been years since I did a mix like this and it took a lot
out of me
…”
How do you keep the concepts and innovations as clean as possible?
Like I said before its all about being original. I like to imagine what got
me excited when I first listened to hip hop and to create something that
will stick in peoples minds, be it the music, the artwork or the video.
Even the titles of the music need to fit the sound.
You set up Playing Around with Ed, how’s that going?
 Cool, our first release was the 'Live From Caesars Palace' mix that we both
did, then there is my new ep which is due early this year. It isnt bloody
easy running a label, no matter how small it is, but you know with people
like Boombox who are distributing all over the world now it’s made a big
difference. Its just another sideline really, we're not planning on it being the next Def Jam or LowLife but just to put out whatever we want. Ed is doing his
own label HID too so its just another little project we are building, its
early days man. But its nice to be in control of everything from the
artwork to the music.
You got any live dates planned for the launch?
We are currently putting the dates together for an Evil Ed & K-Delight tour
to start in January through to April so if anyone wants us to smash up
their dancefloor with four decks then reply to us asap. We're looking
forward to getting out there and playing because of the feedback we are
getting for the mix. Also I will be doing solo shows too, and then me and Vital are going to start rehearsing to perform our Funk Frontiers album live using synths, samplers, effects and decks!!
What is the plan for 2006?
I'm looking to go out to Japan to play out there and promote the new ep with
Kentaro, we're shooting a video for it too so that will be dope. Me and Ed
on tour in the early part of the year then putting out the next mix, I think
the Funk Frontiers project with Vital could do well coz I think its a bit
different. Really looking forward to my artist album coming out though.
Who should we have to look out for, people you rate etc?
A group called the Shadowlights I'm really feelin, they are Biru Lex from
Portugal and Vital on the beats, I've done cuts on their debut album out this
year, look out for New York mc Lil'Vic who has just done a track with DJ
Premier and its dope, The Menagerie from Brighton and also a group called
the Greenkeepers who are about to drop some dopeness.
Any shameless plugs, or shit to get off ya chest?
Yeah just a couple, go and check my website people, there’s loads of dope
FREE downloads from people like Evil Ed/Mr Thing and Jehst, The
Shadowlights, Koaste, The Funk Frontiers and myself, radio clips, news and
mad interactive sounds, etc and of course loads of K-Delight mixes for sale
only available on www.djk-delight.com or
playingaroundrecords.com. Also go and check out the live funk breaks session I did which is a free
download from www.temper-bmc.com its called The Headcleaner Session and its funky fresh and once again ITS FREE!
Many thanks to K-Delight for the words and the utmost respect and thanks for the superb mix he's done for us. The first ukhh.com CD, CTRL:ALT:THE BEAT, mixed by K-Delight is out now, pre-release copies are available from headnod.co.uk. Keep checking the front page of ukhh.com for further information on availabilty, tracklisting and all that goodness
-
Mr Lingo
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