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  Digitek Interview
interview 0261 added 23.11.04 words: Elplate1
technical:
QED
Britain is still waiting for a group to drag the
multitude of its underground
activity kicking and screaming into the mainstream… Meanwhile,
it appears the answers to all its problems are sat on deck
chairs on a cold, pebbled beach on the south coast. Elplate1
linked up with Brighton legends Digitek to find out why they
have decided to Keep The World Guessin…
It appears that
Digitek is more than just a band name, if this is true, explain
what it and “Channel Digitek” mean?
 Chill
out, roll yourself a doob, it’s just a name… Digitek does kind of
explain the style of music we make, more (futuristic?) clean,
digital and electronic than usual Hip Hop that traditionally
samples dirty breaks. Channel Digitek is the media centre for
all Tek information.
What is your
mission statement for the group/what do you wanted to
accomplish?
Global domination, via the music and Channeldigitek. We used
‘War of the worlds’ as an intro for a reason.
At a time when it
seems that age of emerging artists drops day by day – can it get
intimidating being a newly signed act, that shares a distinct
level of maturity?
Stupid question, intimidation happens to the youngsters. We’re
wiser, more knowledgeable and more experienced.
Why do you think
it has taken you so long to get signed?
When Zebra Traffic signed us, they said they’d had an eye (or
ear) on us for ages but thought we were too ahead of our time.
The moment they understood where we were coming from, they
signed us!
Do you feel like
you have something to prove?
To who?
Tell us how the
group got together?
Pablo and Warwick have worked together for years, A friend
(Scotty) hooked the 12 o’clock production crew up with Red and
Buzz, and then Iye 95 was brought in as Red had worked with him
before in Raw Tribe Killers.
You seem to be an
act that very in touch with the local community, and like many
Hip Hop acts, assert the authority of their hometown. Brighton
is a town often associated with all kinds of stereotypes and
clichés, could you explain a bit about what it means to you and
how it has affected your music?
We’re not Gay. It’s not Little-London-By-The-Sea. It IS
cosmopolitan and is a melting pot of different musical styles.
It gives us the freedom to be ourselves without having to
conform to any particular style.
"...As
for commercial appeal, do we look like 5 Fresh Princes of Bel-Air?..."
Reviews seem to
repeatedly assert the hybrid nature of Digitek; describing the
sound more as melange of different “urban” (wot u call it?)
styles than staple Hip Hop as such. Are you happy about this?
How important is being “Hip Hop” to you?
Surely Hip Hop is about expressing yourself and “Keeping it
real’’, so we ARE hip hop, just not the same old Hip Hop as
everyone else as we all have unique influences that come across
in our unique sound.
How actively
engaged with other styles of music are you all?
Very. Iye 9 actually got engaged once…
Looking at the
production side of Digitek first, Warwick and Pablo work as a
unit – could you tell us a bit about the history of your
relationship and explain how it works?
Warwick: We’ve known each other for about 25 years and
started making beats together about 16 years ago. Pablo is
pretty much the composer and programmer while I’m the technician
who keeps everything running smoothly, researches new equipment
and sets up our live rig.
Talking
technically, what equipment do you use in the lab and how does
this transpose to a live setting?
 In the 12 o’clock mansion we use a dual processor G4 Mac, MOTO
2408 I/O, Yamaha 02R desk and Akai S6000 sampler. We use Logic
Pro and some plug-ins, and a bit of audio alchemy.
Live, we have a mixer on stage with a digital 8 track, Red,
Buzz, Iye95 and an MPC going into it and Pablo remixes each
track, adding delays and FX, plus flying in extra samples.
Emcee-wise, again
there seems to be a close lyrical bond between Red and Buzz –
fill us in with the details of how this partnership came about,
and how the Digitek writing process works out?
- What kind of musical background does each come from?
- How do they differ?
Buzz:
Red & me met in 1995, and sparked off a rhyming partnership
immediately that inspired each other. Our writing formats are
similar but still individual. My background are various
different influences from pop, rock, Motown, Hip Hop and Reggae.
Red: I grew up listening almost exclusively to reggae
until Drum n Bass came along.
How do you guys
feel about the UK scene as a whole right now, its pros and cons,
and how much of a part of “the scene” do you want to be? Do you
feel its intrinsically underground nature could ever be a burden
to an act with commercial appeal like yourselves?
UK Hip Hop is on the up right now. Too often people seem more
concerned with, and writing about, being British than actually
getting down to making music. How much a part of “The Scene” we
are is up to all those involved, not just us. As for commercial
appeal, do we look like 5 Fresh Princes of Bel-Air? Are we too
commercial for the UK Hip Hop scene? Can you define commercial?
If you were
attempting to sell yourselves through comparison to someone that
had not heard your music who would you name-drop? And aside from
that whom in and out of Hip Hop do you guys find yourself
listening to?
We can’t think of anyone who sounds quite like the us.
There are a million names we could say we listen too and still
leave a million more!
There seems to be
an ethos of partying and good-time feeling surrounding the group
– are we likely to see Digitek taking on political corruption
and social inadequacies on the next album or are you just about
having fun?
Check out our new tune ‘This World?’!
Some up “Keep the
World Guessin” for the heads out there?
 A melting pot of future-funk Hip Hop, with ragga and DnB
influences, a future classic… Fuck knows, that’s why it’s called
“Keep The World Guessin’”, obviously!
Are you pleased at
how the album has come together?
– How much resemblance does it bare to your previous
self-releases?
– How hard was it selecting material from what must be an
extensive back-catalogue?
It is a good selection of tracks from over the past five years,
some of which were already released on our 3 EPs and some of
which are brand new. We still have old tracks we fight over
whether to re-work for our next album or not!
What is the next
step for the group?
The second album, hopefully the world tour, and as we said
before… Global domination.
Finally any
shout-outs?
All Brighton Crews, All UK crews, Tru Thoughts/Zebra Traffic and
Phi-Life Cypher, Blade, All promoters who put us on, Rarekind
gallery, our families, Val Doonican, George Bush and Pol Pot and
the shit loads of others too numerous to mention!
-
Elplate1
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