ukhh.com | features | interviews

Gizroc Interview

interview 0004 added 27.03.00 words DJ Enema (360 Physicals)

It was a crappy overcast Saturday and I was in London down by Bongo’s with my 360 Physical Crew. Unfortunately, the DJ who we were meant to go practise with was not too well and it looked like things were falling through. One of my 360 Physical DJ partners (DJ Leks) had got in touch with Gizroc of the 1200 Hobos and we met up at about midday at Bongo’s. After a lot of arseing about in London we ended up back at Leks house (DJ Leks, Gizroc and myself) for some scratch practise. Gizroc ended up staying over until Sunday and we had a decent practise - both juggling and some call & answer scratching. I got the interview late on Saturday night after some hectic cutting - we were all really tired and sat waiting for the living room to be freed up so we could flip some scratch videos. Many thanks to Gizroc for the enthusiasm he showed despite being really tired!
In attendance - DJ Enema & DJ Leks (360 Physical DJs), Gizroc (1200 Hobos)
[DJ Enema] Right Giz, when did you first get into cutting?
[Gizroc] It’s Gizroc - not Jizroc
nah mate - DJ Mr Jiz spraying mad jism
[laugh]
When did I start cutting? - a little over a year ago.
And what started you off? - was it that battle you went to?
It was when I first saw a battle between Craze and Domination.
Were you into hip-hop much before that? - were you like into it for a few years then a mate just said - ‘oh come to this battle’?
yeah - pretty much
how much did you practice?
When I was starting - it was like 5 or 6 hours a day, but not all at one time. I used to split it up - I mean I didn’t have a job so basically there was nothing else to do but scratch and, you know, just fuck around.
Did you have anyone showing you techniques and stuff?
Well first of all it was DJ Sureshot - he kept pushing me
He’s in the 1200 Hobos too yeah?
Yeah that’s my boy - we both started.. actually I started before him.
So you’ve always had a practise partner then?
Yeah - I’ve always had a practise partner to work with.
That’s pretty handy
yeah - so like I just basically sort of stayed out and we would video ourselves practising. It’d be like one hour it would be dark and the next hour it would be morning - yeah - shit like that.
[Leks] How did you get down with the 1200 Hobos then?
Basically it was through J (J-storm), J met up through Dibbs and he used to drive all the way down just to practise like the new cuts and stuff, and after a time we got talking to Dibbs and Dibbs said it was cool and I got in.
You all from the same area then?
No, we’re pretty spread out for as far as the like, ah, there’s like the Florida Hobos - we’re spread out like 2 hours apart. There’s actually 6 now. There’s 6 Florida Hobos - there’s Sureshot, J-storm, SPS, Gizroc, Dangerous and... I forgot, I only met him like 3 times... he’s from Tampa. I can’t believe I forgot his name. I met him for the first time over Christmas. We talked over the phone and he told me some scratch patterns - so - it’s Nick - yeah - that’s his name - Nick - I don’t know his DJ name...
How long have you been in the UK now?
Since October.
Have the had the chance to see many UK turntablists play?
Nah - when I first got here I was like - ‘where is everybody?’. The only thing I looked for was like for the Perverts and I met them - they were pretty cool. I think like the UK and the US - they’re on the same level I think - honestly.
Technically?
Technically yeah.
we are the 2nd best nation at turntablism - it’s just that we haven’t got as many.
I felt that it was more quality than quantity
I think we’ve got the right mentality for practice
Yeah, right.
But quantity kind of contributes to the quality because you vibe off each other - when you practice as 2 people you get ideas off each other. There’s probably as many DJs in your state as there are in this country. I mean I’m probably one of the best 100 DJs in this country, which is quite funny.
Did you ever catch any UK turntablists in the US?
Only through videos and that was Tony Vegas.
What did you think when you first saw Vegas - was it like - ‘Who’s this guy from England?’?
[laughs] nah man - I knew there was a scene out here (UK) but there was not really like that much publicity. All we knew were the DJs that were in the videos.
It must have been weird to see this long-haired dude from England come over and beat Do-boy and Craze. Did that shit just blow you away?
Yeah - well, I mean, his style was dope - it was something brand new, it was innovative and it rocked the crowd. That’s what I thought. You know Craze’s style was dope, Do-boy was dope, but then again, nobody did the up and down faders - that’s a totally UK style right there.
Where do you stand on the style and funk versus technical ability debate?
I feel like you have to have a good combination.
Do you think you can develop the funk and the unique patterns?
You can yeah - what it all comes down to is practice.
Basically what you’ve got to think about first of all is the way it sounds.
Do you get frustrated with people that don’t know anything about scratching?
No. If they don’t know then it’s not meant for them.
What about crowds at shows though? - where you might get a DJ doing some easy, showy scratch like some scribble echoes and the crowd go nuts, then the next minute the DJ pulls some really hard scratch and everyone who knows is like ‘yeah’, but the crowd don’t respond?
Does that piss you off?
Yeah - that really winds me up - ‘cause if you go to an event to see DJs, you should know enough so that you can appreciate what’s good and what’s not.
I don’t know - I mean you’ve got to play to the crowd. That’s what I try to do.
See that’s my problem right now - I’m not crowd orientated - I’m just trying to show to the other DJs.
That’s part of like a good DJ is that you’ve got to be able to play the crowd - you know. You’ve go to give the crowd what they want and at the same time do what you like to do.
Did you get straight into scratching and juggling?
I started out as a mixing DJ.
See a lot of people don’t do that anymore and it’s an important thing to know about.
Yeah - you start with the basics and you work from there.
But there’s a lot of people now that start scratching and they know people that can already scratch and they’re learning the advanced cuts before they can even beatmix. And certain people are starting hamster style because they think it’s a good gimmick - but the reason for going hamster is if you’ve bad habits from orthodox and transforming all the time and they work for you when you swap over.
What about equipment? What do you use? A 05pro?
Yeah - industry standard.
What did you start out with?
I had a Realistic Radioshack mixer that clicked in the middle - old school! You know what? - the fader never bleeds to this day.
No sharp cut-in?
No sharp cut-in or nothin’, but they still last. Then I got like a Gemini Scratchmaster.
Yeah - that was my second mixer too!
The pmx-15.
I put WD40 on my scratchmaster fader ‘cause someone told me to do it and it killed the fader.
Yeah? - I put WD40 in my 05.
You shouldn’t do that. You should use baby oil. Yeah - Tony Vegas did it and he mashed his mixer up.
Who have you had the chance to scratch with apart from the most excellent 360 physical DJs?
I scratched with the X-men.
All of them?
Total Eclipse, Roc Raider and Sinista. That was the first time I was ever on stage. Yeah - I was nervous as fuck. It was when the X-ecutioners first came out with their album and they were doing a show in Orlando. They asked us to open up for them so we did a freestyle 10 minute routine.
A team thing?
Yeah - a team thing before the X-men showcased. But it was cool though y’know?
What’s your main influence on your scratching as far as DJs are concerned? - Personally, I always think Babu and Rob Swift.
Er, D-styles as far as cutting. Beatjuggles - Develop. Well, Develop now, but my influences were Qbert for scratches, beatjuggles was Mista Sinista, er, Total Eclipse.
My main influences have been Eclipse and Vinroc I think.
Yeah - Vinroc - Lil’ Jaz too. It’s getting now to the point where you can do everything you see in the video and now it’s at the point where it’s all you - so you can be creative.
What about competing? - how often have you competed?
I competed in Scribble Jam and some local battles.
How far did you get in Scribble?
I got killed. I didn’t make it past the eliminations.
Got taken out by Precise.
Yeah Precise - he went all the way through and won first. My friend SPS - I think he should have won. The funny thing is that we didn’t really prepare for it - we just went up there to show. I won some local battles in Jacksonville and Orlando - but those were nothing big - just local. I plan to win…
I WILL WIN!...
Yeah [laugh] - I WILL WIN for the UK Dec - I’m gonna work my ass off.
Where are you gonna enter? Which heats?
London.
London will be tough. Tony’s gonna enter again.
I could do it - it just a case of giving me turntables for like a week.
You got any shout-outs?
No. [laugh]... 1200 Hobos, CSV crew, UGA crew, Native Souls, there are a lot of crews out there... er, my boys out here in the UK definitely. That’s about it.
Anything else you want to say to the people?
Nah - I’m done man.
Many thanks to Gizroc for the interview - see you at DMC mate...