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So you're all digging and finding your own breaks, so when you come to do a posse cut like 'Easter Island', how do you sort out who does the beats for that? ST: That track just sort of happened really JC: Yeah that was me and Dolo did the beats for Easter Island, and it's like 'Life and Breath' too really - that just happened. Same sort of thing. Basically you've got to get caned enough so people can only last for about ten minutes each, so like on 'Life and Breath' I was so caned I like put the break in and couldn't do any more so Lewis did the beats, and it went on like that really. ST: Those heads y'know - they're aligned with the stars, but not earthly stars. ST: It was a mad session - we didn't really know what was going on. LP: The break just sort of fell in and we got stoned listening to it for ages putting mad effects on it - I just remember doing the drum pattern on it and that, then more stuff got added, and it just happened y'know. ST: I want to do a 'Remix 2000' on that, properly get in to what that break's all about, lift it up a notch, make it some proper meditation shit y'know what I mean?
ST: What it was yeah, we never decided right we're a crew so we need a name, although me and Lewis some people'd say Cloudsteppers, but really it wasn't organised like that, there was just the bunch of us, we're all putting out a lot of shit together, it was more like we were all working on the music, we're all mates anyway, and this idea just came out. It's not even a decided thing now y'know that we're the Easter Island Heads. LP: He decided it. ST: Yeah it was sort of me, well me and Dolo just sort of chatting about it yeah, about the Island, cuz it's this mad place LP: Its connections with the stars JC: Then we were doing this track and you [Supa T] just sort of said 'Easter Island heads', then the next day we were doing another track and someone said 'Easter Island heads' in it again. It's no big thing, not so we could call ourselves that, it just sort of came about. How did you all get into production then? Cuz a lot of people they like to make beats, like to make tunes, but don't take it any further through lack of money or whatever. LP: For me it was like a long journey y'know. I was like not making beats and thinking 'how could you make a beat?', and then like just working for ages doing tape loops, using two tape machines, playing breaks off breakbeat albums and scratching over the top, building tracks up like that, then rhyming over the top of that. Then I like bought a sampler for my Atari, plugged it on the side and you have a few seconds of samples to use, y'know what I mean? JC: You just make it up to start with. I think nearly everyone started with pause tapes, then you get your Casio with about 2 seconds sampling time so you had to put it on 45 and spin the record through dead fast, then play it back slower, at a lower pitch. Then you start recording the stuff, you get a bit better, get better equipment. ST: My advice would be to bring loads of weed round, then use everyone else's equipment while they're busy with that! LP: That don't work with me though man... Why's that? LP: Cuz I always have twice as much weed as he has! So are you all pretty happy with how it's going down right now, the ease of putting out records n that, or is there still a point you're aiming at? LP: It's so unpredictable man, you can't tell. We put out tunes, I put out tunes, this album which I haven't finished yet, got to put out this and that and y'know, there's always the next thing. You never know, there's more things to life than putting it all out - something might happen that stops me from putting out records, but I'd still be making the beats, rhyming and all that - that's therapy to me y'know what I mean? How long will it last? Who knows? JC: I'm happy with how things are at the moment, but I'm not intending to stop putting out records y'know. We haven't got anywhere near our peak yet - nobody here has made their best record ever - there's always the next one. We're all keeping on doing this, bringing people through. And once you think you've made your best record, that's the end isn't it? JC: Yeah totally! Well by the time you realise you've made your best record so far, you're probably making your next one. If I find myself in that position, like I'll never be able to better that, that's the time I'll just say fuck it and put out other people's stuff. So what's next for Low Life can we expect any live shows from you? ST: I'm not really into playing live at the moment to tell you the truth. JC: to be honest, the problem is that doing shows in London is different to doing shows everywhere else. You do shows everywhere else and people appreciate you, in London and you just get a crowd full of critics. ST: It isn't my priority at the moment y'know. If I'm going to be going out and doing live shit n all that I want to be properly on it, and I haven't had the time to be. You need to be rehearsing, you need to have a tight show to go and do that or it's going to be coming out shoddy. JC: Yeah you need to spend time on rehearsal and that's a problem really. Because a lot of people are part-timing it, finding the time to rehearse and get your show together is difficult. Like, I don't know how MSI & Asylum do it - there's about 8 of them right? Dunno how they do that.
So what future releases have you got lined up? JC: The next thing out that'll be the Braintax EP 'Travel Show'. What's it got on there? Three tracks by me and one by Ben Grim not the Drum n Bass Ben Grim, another one. Should be out end of July, beginning of August. Then there's Profound's EP, and we're trying to get a 99 Series out as well ST: Yeah I'm putting that together, a track by Apollo, one by Jhest, Ricochet as well, and maybe a track with me, Profound and A-Cyde on it as well, but we're still working it all out. JC: these are like the extended family of Low Life if y'like - Jhest, Ricochet, Apollo. [to Profound] Who's doing the production on your EP?
And then what's the next step? P: I've got some stuff to sort out for me, work out what I'm doing personally. Then there's the album which I'm going to have tracks on - there'll definitely be future projects anyway, it's just a matter of working out what they're going to be. So is that a compilation you're planning? JC: Yeah - that's going to be the climax of the year basically, a double album, Low Life. I want to have like Lewis, me, Supa T and Profound, we'll be the main ones on there, all new tracks from us. That'll be like November time - that's the main long term release at the moment that we're looking at. It's going to be a mad album that! How does it compare in terms of costs to putting out the EPs? JC: We don't have to pay for recording - I can do it at home, Lewis can do stuff here, and Dolo's got his studio just round the corner. Then with my second job being record pressing, sorting out getting vinyl pressed up, we've got things covered really. I mean, even if it was costing what it usually costs to put an album out, it doesn't take that many sales to get your money back - 500 even maybe. The pressing is just a job basically - my main job before the record label. So the first Low Life album is on its way something all heads will look forward to. The label is all about bringing talent through, putting out records which are well produced and presented, so what's the final goal? Are Low Life going to be the first true stars of the UK scene? LP: I don't think this crew really gives a fuck about being stars. That's one of the main things. All that celebrity status thing is dead y'know. ST: It's blasphemy at the end of the day - all the religious texts say like 'thou shalt not worship false idols', and what is celebrity? Then this whole industry is just based on two things - ownership, which is separate from artists cuz it's about people wanting to own the rights to music not protecting the rights of the people making the music, and the second one which is turning people into a product. We don't want any of that shit y'know what I mean? We just support the music, that's what we're into
ST: If you're inspired by music, you've got to keep it in perspective. Everyone here is just another human being, getting up in the morning and all that. Sure, be inspired by the music, have respect for the people, but don't live your life through other people. That's just distractions from what you could do - don't limit yourself. Life is going on out there. LP: We don't really need to be stars. It kills mad energy from you. Living in that world, it sucks you. Pure vampire style. JC: Look at people who put out their first album, blew up and then fell right off. Cypress Hill, Nas ST: Even Tribe - they've maintained their music, but you can see what the pressure's done to them. And what's your opinion on UK hip-hop people doing beats for pop people. Like KG from Outlaw Posse is doing stuff for All Saints, I can't connect that. And now we heard that Dexter from the Brotherhood is allegedly doing music for 5ive. JC: I don't know if that's true or not ST: One thing's for sure, if he's doing that, he's doing it with a smile on his face. Cuz he will know exactly how fucking funny that is. JC: He's just doing that to get money I reckon, which is fine. It's a job. Then he'll use that money to further himself in what he wants to do with the Brotherhood. And to be fair, he's making money out of doing stuff he enjoys - making music. He's using the system basically. But then, I've got this thing where I think music is art basically, and you shouldn't contribute to the making of shit art basically. But at the same time, that's life. You've got to pay your bills. If someone offered me money to do some remix or something I'd probably do it. I think we've got past that stage of thinking 'Oh no, people won't think we're street'. Fuck that - at the end of the day, if I can do a remix and get £500, that beats working for two weeks for the money.
Music industry and record label politics are one thing, but what do the Low Life crew think about politics Westminster style? ST: I dunno? voting. I'm not sure how much use politics is on a broad scale. There are more things you can involve yourself in on a local scale than putting a cross on a bit of paper. If you want to take some action, take a look around you and see what you can do, y'know what I mean? P: Voting to me, it's like, there's no point in me voting, cuz whoever's in there it won't make a difference to my life, that all depends on what I do. But I may have to consider voting soon, with Europe and that. Not because I'm into any of the British parties, but because there are certain far-right parties in Europe which you just don't want to be in power. I'm not a Conservative man, but I'd rather vote for them than some of these parties like in Germany and France. JC: I was going down the supermarket, and this Labour woman asked me 'are you going to vote sir?'. I was about 'what d'you mean?', but then I remembered. Didn't vote though - just went home. It's one of them things - I think it's losing its relevance to people our age at the moment. I voted Labour at the general election - first time I voted - and I mean it's just the lesser of two evils really. Just voting to get people out, not get them in. P:Like why should I vote for this man, when he's going to go in parliament and fight against this man, then that evening they're going to go out drinking together? ST: That's not saying like we're all just nihilistic, sitting back letting it happen or whatever like we can't do anything in the world, it's more like sitting and looking at what you can do in the world, and there's other things than politics. It's a field of its own isn't it, politics. Things that politics deals with are universal, everything's separated up but it all connects to life doesn't it. But the more you separate things up from life and the reality and actuality of people living, they start projecting upon themselves and perpetuating themselves, y'know what I mean? It gets to the point where basically politics is about politics, the way the media is about the media, education is about education, science is about science. In reality they're all interconnected with life, but when you separate them that's when all this fuckery starts, they turn in on themselves, but you don't really want to get me going on that one...
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