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  P Brothers Interview
interview 0386 added
07.04.06 words: AGP
technical:
QED
Nottingham’s P Brothers need very
little introduction. They are quite
simply Hip-Hop legends and we are lucky to be able to boast that they are
from our shores. DJ’s Ivory and Paul S are two of the very best hip-hop
beat makers in the world, never mind the UK.
I read that you two
met as breakers at Nottingham’s famous Rock City nights back in the day.
What was the scene like back then compared to now? Do you long for a
return to those times?
 PB: Not really. That was then and this is now, got to keep things moving.
Rock City days were amazing and we were blessed to be a part of those
early times but you just got to take all those ethics that this was
founded on and move forward.
Ivory, your little
‘un ‘Jazzy Jay’ appears on a lot of your album sleeves and is
obviously getting an incredible Hip-Hop education, I bet you are creating
a hip-hop monster?!!!! What did your musical education consist of in the
days before Rock City?
PB: I was into all sorts up until 82/83, my old bids were into everything
from Queen and ELO to the Police and Ramsey Lewis, so I had a wide scope.
I’ve got 2 boys actually, they’re more into soul and reggae than rap
to be honest, plus they break whenever the ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’
theme music comes on! I try to give them a balance. They’re the new
generation of Hip-Hoppers so we got to raise them right, that’s my main
focus in life to be honest.
Can either of you
pinpoint an exact moment when you fell in love with hip-hop? How were you
getting hold of the material making it’s way across the Atlantic?
PB: Everyone was on it back then, it was all about tapes, you held on to
them like gold dust. Someone would have a cousin or something that lived
in New York and stuff would get over that way. DJ Masterscratch from Notts
was also putting out mixtapes from about 1982 then it was the Streetsounds
Electro series of LP’s that came out. Even when we were breakers you
could rob your school dinners and save your pound dinner money everyday
then buy an import 12” for £4.49 on a Saturday from Arcade Records. I
guess seeing the video for Malcolm McLaren “Buffalo Girls” was a big
point early on too.
At what point in
your lives did you get serious about hip-hop; DJ’ing and producing?
PB: Come on man, we’re still not serious about any of this….but at the
same time we’re dead serious!
“...We’ve been on records years before we got down as P
Brothers, you can do the Clueso on those!...”
What were the very
first beats you released to the public and how do you look back on that
material now years on?
PB: We’ve been on records years before we got down as P Brothers, you
can do the Clueso on those! There’s nothing we ever put out that we
won’t stand behind 100% as far as our part is concerned. If nothing
else, the one thing we’re good at is our quality control. We never put
anything out for the sake of it just to have something out. We’re
fuckers to work with, it doesn’t matter who it is, if it’s not right
it’s “No, do it again”. Hip-Hop music lost it’s quality control
along the way, too many people putting stuff out when they’re not ready
and too many people putting stuff out just to have stuff out.
Obviously your
trademark and the chief weapon in the P Brothers arsenal are your drums.
How did you fall in love with drums?
 PB: Well the whole of Hip Hop culture comes from drums - breakbeats, and
the tie between the drumbeat and the heartbeat and human life goes deep
but we wont go into that right now. Breakbeats used to be crazy in the
80’s. I know good friends that fell out and never ever talked again over
breaks, I’ve seen fist-fights and all kinds of fuckery over drums, so
yeah they’re important! Oh, and you can’t fuck with us when it comes
to drums.
How much time do you
spend in the studio or banging beats out on the MPC?
PB: Not much to be honest, it doesn’t pay the bills and we got busy
lives. We’ve been through all the years of 10 or 20 beats a week, but
we’ve got such high standards that if you turn out one true asher a
month then that’s good. Anything less – then you hit the “off
button” no matter how long you’ve working on it cause we’re not
fucking with “b-beats”.
What is your single
favourite piece of audio hardware?
PB: Technics SL 1200. End of story.
I saw a few pictures
of you guys holding incredible ancient looking analogue audio equipment.
Do you prefer to make your music using the classic hip-hop tools of trade
or do you embrace modern technology? What do you think about cats like 9th
Wonder knocking out Destiny’s Child’s ‘Girl’ in under an hour on a
bog-standard laptop with a copy of Fruityloops?
PB: I like that track “Girl”. I haven’t heard much of that 9th
Wonder stuff cause it sounds a bit boring, but I like that track so I
guess it doesn’t matter how they made it as long as the track sounds
dope. We use all sorts of stuff analogue and digital, whatever sounds
right for what we’re doing. Most things get done on the MPC just through
familiarity with the machine. Just like all technology, you got to draw a
line between evolution and when there is little or no human input at all.
Serreto and all that stuff has made anyone into a DJ, and a lot of the
computer production stuff has made everyone and their aunt into a producer
because the skill level required is small. But there’s plus points to a
lot of that stuff too. We just like what we like.
“...There’s nothing we ever put out that we won’t stand
behind 100% as far as our part is concerned...”
I recently read an
article with Thes One of People Under The Stairs and in his pursuit of the
classic golden era sounds of warm bass lines and thumping drums he sited
atmospheric warmth and air humidity affecting the analogue equipment and
physical vibrations as something which might be the key! What techniques
do you employ and to what lengths do you go in the studio to make your
shit bump? Are you obsessive audiophiles? Do you spend ages to make a kick
boom or a snare snap?
PB: I guess some people should get out the house a bit more then! Alcohol,
drums and hitting the pads hard does us well. We have been into this for
nearly 25 years so I guess that helps.
Without giving away
any secret techniques what tips or advice can you give to any aspiring
beat smiths?
 PB: Alcohol, drums and hitting the pads hard – we already told you!
It’s not rocket science. You should also learn to produce for longer
than a week before putting a record out.
What is your
personal favourite beat you have created?
PB: We like them all, seriously.
Do you enjoy remix
work?
PB: They’re good for cash, that’s about it. You never know what
someone was trying to achieve when they first laid it down, so to come in
and just do something completely different to it that they never intended
can be an insult. I like the Jhellisa one we did though. To be honest,
even when we needed the money, we’ve turned down most remix stuff just
because the vocals or rap was so shit, or because it’s an artist that we
would never want to be associated with. Some things in life are worth a
lot more than money.
‘Speak’ from the
Cappo album, is one of the most raw, uncompromising pieces of Hip-Hop
I’ve ever heard. Without giving too much away how was that particular
beat birthed? To this day it makes the hairs on my neck stand on end, it
must have been an incredible feeling at the moment of creation when it
first came pounding through the speakers?
PB: Thankyou. Yeah we like that track too, it’s too hard for some people
to handle but sometimes it has to be that way. It was one of those ones
when you new it was finished, even when a lot of people might be tempted
to add something too it. Sometimes the skill is in not adding too much too
something when it stands alone. You get a lot of producers that don’t
work with MC’s too closely and that end up making good instrumental
tracks with too much going on, but MC’s hear things differently than
producers on the whole. There’s a time to make anthems and a time to
make beats. Cappo and Scorz really put it down on that though right?
“...If nothing else, the one thing we’re good at is our
quality control...”
You’ve made beats
for NY legends like Sadat X, Money Boss Players, Milano, Donald D and
Smiley Tha Ghettochild. You’ve worked with a lot of your heroes but who
would you most love to craft a beat for? Who would you love to hear
spitting on a P Brothers track?
PB: Chaka Khan. Then after that we retire. Try and get her on a diet too
then bang her as well, and then that’s all life’s ambitions killed in
one day!
You have obviously
got big respect stateside from some serious Hip-Hop heavyweights and Lewis
Parker has started making moves recently and just got a joint on the new
Ghostface LP. Do you think the US are starting to realise us Brits can
make Hip-Hop too or do you think it’s more a case that we’ve finally
started to catch up with regards to quality?
 PB: We don’t really look at things in those terms. Good music is good
music wherever. But I think anyone that thinks that New Yorkers are going
to suddenly look to the UK for Hip Hop talent is very naïve. If you come
from a city where Hip Hop is born and given birth to MC’s like Cold
Crush, Rakim & KRS-1 - and what you see promoted out there is Dizzy
Rascal, Lady Sovereign, The Streets and Ali G….what would you think? We
have it easier as producers because beats are less regional where as
MC’s have the same problem as a Reggae MC with a Welsh accent trying to
break through in Jamaica You can argue about it all day long but it’s
never going to happen. There’s French Hip Hop that sells millions….but
not in New York. Then again, all that down south stuff has penetrated New
York and that’s like retard theme music so who knows?
Ha, Ha! How much
time do you actually spend digging for records these days?
PB: We dig daily. That’s something that goes on and on no matter how
busy you are. There are charity shops on most streets so there’s no
excuse.
Apart from digging
for samples and breaks what music do you buy these days as fans? Which
current hip-hop artists, emcees or producers, do you check for?
PB: It’s changed a lot. There are no dead cert artists for consistent
quality music anymore so we just go by whatever is a good record.
There’s still a lot of good music coming out today, there’s just a
bigger pile of shit than ever before that covers up anything good. It’s
all related back to who’s controlling the industry and the media. 1Xtra
came up to Notts recently to talk to people and we wont get into it cause
it’s deep, but it was a real eye opener about how fucked up things are
with Hip-Hop media generally. It’s run to suit certain agendas - but
again that’s a whole other topic. At one point in about 2000 we’d
basically admitted to ourselves that Hip-Hop was dead as far as the
musical aspect, but then you start to educate yourself to listen to music
differently regardless of when it was made or how much it sold or what
“type” of music it is and then you realise that Hip-Hop music is very
much alive, we just forgot the Bambaataa mission for a while.
“...We’re fuckers to work with, it doesn’t matter who it
is, if it’s not right it’s “No, do it again”...”
What sort of sets do
you prefer to play when DJ’ing? What do you enjoy most? Straight up
hip-hop or funk, soul, electro sets?
PB: You have to understand that all that music is Hip-Hop. Rap music was
born out of everything non-rap, because there were no rap records out for
years while Hip-Hop was going on. So, Soul, Funk, Rock Reggae, Rap - all
that makes up a Hip-Hop set, it’s just how you play them. You will find
a lot of breakbeats in any set we play though, that’s standard for us.
You put out the
magnificent Zulu Beat mixtape last year and the Hear No Evil mix CD’s
previously. Do you plan to put out any more mixtapes? Please!
 PB: Yeah there’ll be new mixes. There is a new Hear No Evil dropping
real soon, but it’s on a different tip. 1988 was one of the great
era’s for Hip Hop music, but its just one point in a big history and a
lot of people got that whole thing twisted. It’s time to switch it up
and get the focus back on the music, all that shit mutated into some nerdy
world by some people and that’s not how we get down. The Zulu Beat is
without doubt the best thing we’ve ever done as P Brothers and it also
represents us best. If we only get a tiny one liner in the history book
then it would be the Zulu Beat mix.
A few years back
Nottingham seemed set to blow but things seemed to have quietened down a
little. How is the scene in the city at the moment?
PB: Notts always rules at this, just cause you don’t hear records coming
out of here doesn’t mean its not happening. You don’t get any stations
playing Notts records anyway so there’s nothing new there, we’re used
to that, we’ve become self-sufficient over the years as a city. It’s
not like Notts was about to blow up at any point cause we never had the
backing to blow up, as a city we’ve always been shut down from media.
Everyone talks about it in whispers but here it is in Black and
White…unless you’re coming from London then the radio stations and
magazines are not interested in backing you even though you well know that
the main MC’s in Notts are taking all those guys out on a skill level,
we’re just backwards on a business level and that’s not a bad thing as
far as keeping the music fresh it’s just a bad think at trying to make
any money at it. To be truthful, as a city, the one thing that let’s
Notts down is the club scene, the last 15 years have been poor. Outsiders
always seem to think that it’s all happening here with lots of clubs but
the reality is we have nothing.
You produced a few
things on the C-Mone album ‘The Butterfly Effect’ are you still
working with or in contact with any other members of the former Notts
supergroup Out Da Ville? What other Nottingham talent are you checking for
or working with and who should we look out for?
PB: C-Mone had her launch party last week and all the heads were out and
it was good to see everybody plus good to check a lot of the new heads who
stepped up. Nottingham works on a couple of levels, there’s a strong
pride of everyone repping the city on one level, but on another level
everyone is really competing against each other trying to be the best.
It’s real competitive and always has been and that’s the reason why we
have the best talent here. There’s none of that “Pat each other on the
back” shit or support it just cause it’s from Notts. No one gets up to
show and prove here until they’re really ready at what they do cause
they know that everyone will be real quick to call them wack - if
they’re wack. If you get silence then you know you’ve smashed it! The
new guy to check for from Notts is Nigel Boon, the guy is sickness.
“...It’s real competitive and always has been and that’s
the reason why we have the best talent here...”
The Spaz The World
LP you produced for Cappo was an example of how you can craft an entire
well rounded LP with varied production whilst still staying true to the
Heavy Bronx ethos. Together you three made a formidable trio. Are you
still down with Caps, any more stuff to come in the future?
PB: Haven’t seen Cappo in a while.
The new 12” drops
in April and features NY duo Boss Money who used to be a part of Money
Boss Players. The A side ‘Boss Money Gangsters’ has an almost reggae-ish
feel to it lurking deep underneath layers of organs, guitars and the usual
heavy beats. It shows an impressive development in the musicality of your
production. Are you looking to showcase different styles to your
production besides your trademark hardcore boom-bap? Do you feel your
production has developed since the first few Heavy Bronx Experience
EP’s?
PB: People in this country love to put labels on stuff, they like little
boxes that they can stick a label on and put stuff in cause it makes them
feel in control because they don’t want to feel that they don’t
understand something. When we first dropped the Heavy Bronx Experience
series of EP’s you got people coming out saying oh it’s this or it’s
that so they could make sense of it and box it up, but we’re constantly
moving and we have no one style you can just put a label on, we’re just
Hip-Hop. We might do something just to take the piss or something to piss
people off and then at the same time come with something emotional
that’s completely different because it’s the right thing to do in our
heart. We haven’t even scratched the surface of what you’re going to
hear in the future, by the time you heard Spaz the world, some beats were
3 years old and by the time you pick up the new 12” in April, we’ll be
9 months down a different road.
After the 12”
what’s next for the P Brothers? It’s been a minute since an album
‘The Castle’ was talked about. Is that still in the works? Any
details? I can’t even begin to express how hungry the people are for a P
Brothers album!
 PB: We already made “The Castle” but two of the US MC’s got signed
to big deals after they recorded their tracks so it got messy. Then we
made “The Gas” and a similar thing happened with a soul singer plus we
had a big sample clearance issue, now we’re making “More Gas” which
the Boss Money 12” is on, and that LP might get released, we haven’t
decided yet. We’re still enjoying listening to the first 2 LP’s.
We’re not too good on the business angle as you can tell, it’s about
time that we got a manager then we might get more records released rather
than just making them for us to listen too.
Any shout out’s or
other stuff to look out for?
PB: Notts represent! Buy the album if we ever drop it!
P Brothers featuring Boss Money “Boss Money Gangsters/Blam Blam for
Nottingham” is released April 22nd on Heavy Bronx records.
- AGP
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