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 Keltech & Johnny B Interview
interview 0167 added 25.12.03 words: 2hip
technical:
QED
2hip: Right then, first off for people who haven't heard of you two, let
the people know what your about.
 Johnny
B: In a nutshell we are a rapper & deejay tag team who grew up
together on the same estate in Cardiff City. We've been making tunes
together since we were kids, playing gigs and releasing records on
various labels over the years.
Keltech: Old school style skills,
Just a DJ and a rapper having the time of their lives.
Johnny B: My involvement in
the Cardiff Hip Hop scene stretches way back to 1984 when I was just
8yrs old, I was in a crew called 'The Street Snakes' they were the
baddest B-Boys in the country at that time. They were all older than me
about 16 or 17 years old, I was like their little mascot. We use to go
out buskin in different town centres putting our Kangols and caps down
on the pavement to collect money.
After that apart from doing all the normal things a boy does whilst
growing up I would be found rapping & beatboxing where ever I could find
a spot to flex my skills.
I
spent most of my time during the 90's in various Hip Hop crews and
collectives where I lived in the St Mellons area of Cardiff with Welsh
Hip Hop Legend's DJ Jaffa & 4 Dee, we had a crew called 'The Underdogs'
with over 50 Deejay's, Emcee's Breakers and Graf writers.
Standing here now in this present time
going into 2004 and looking back at my history I see my self as a
genuine product of a ghetto's creativity manifested into the man I see
in the mirror today, or in more simple terms just a genuine product of
Hip Hop. It's all I've known over the last 20 years, I've been hooked
since day one and it's been so much good fun being involved since the
early day's of the UK Hip Hop scene.
2hip: Cardiff is a scene that not too many
people are aware of, how do you find it?
Johnny B: I love it! There's
always a good vibe between artists here in the city, there never seems
to be back stabbing going on as it did in the 90's between crews. When I
take a look around and see so much amazing talent it makes me feel very
proud to be apart of this scene.
As far as club night's go it's been fantastic since Brotherz Grimm
started Higher Learning a few years ago. It takes place here in
Cardiff's premiere night spot at the Toucan Club, it's an all elements
Hip Hop night with big names performing and there's always a local act
supporting!
Keltech: To put it bluntly, The
scene down here is fucking amazing!, it's the major reason I got back
into Hip Hop full time because I had also been producing D&B for years.
During the mid 90's I was a little put off with the local D&B scene, DJs
were arrogant and most nights would end in violence. I mean it was
getting a bit much when the D&B DJs started to get threatened if they
didn't play certain tunes! I just hope it’s changed these days?
So for years I led the life of a monk shut away from the world in my
studio where I put in a lot of hard work learning my craft, releasing
records, building an internet profile and supporting the US D&B scene
who were really into my heavy tunes, in fact the US scene happened to be
my best sales area.
It wasn't till Johnny started dragging me
back out to the local Hip Hop nights years later that I realised how
good the scene was on my door step. It was nothing like the old bad boy
D&B scene. The atmosphere was amazing and the Hip Hop community were
very supportive, embracing all up & coming artists/DJ's etc. Big up to
Higher Learning!
2hip: I sometimes feel like the Cardiff
scene is segregated from the rest of the UK scene in that not many acts
play across the Severn. Is this something you try to do?
Johnny B: Yeah most defiantly
that's something we try to push for mate, we play gigs in places like
Bristol and London, even as far a field as Bangor or up North in
Sheffield. Our priority at the moment is organising a UK tour to promote
the new album. So yeah branching out across Britain with our live shows
is something we feel very strongly about.
Keltech: Yeah we play where
ever we're welcome, doesn't matter where it is to be honest.
2hip: Also, in the reverse. A lot
of the big acts only make it as far as Bristol. Is this because the
Cardiff scene can't support big acts or because people will make the
travel if they want to?
 Johnny
B: I was only speaking to Dregz from the Skinz about this the other
day, we were discussing the fact that Bristol is a bigger place and has
more of a concentrated Hip Hop scene than Cardiff. In our city centre
we’re saturated with mainstream clubs pumping out house & techno, so the
promoters are worried that the crowd won’t support Hip Hop. You will
always have your underground heads turning up to most Hip Hop gigs here
but it's just that gamble for the promoters if Joe public are gonna turn
up to fill the remaining seats?
It's a difficult one because sometimes Brotherz Grimm will have someone
big playing at Higher Learning and it could be a sell out show and then
the following month they'll bring down someone who's just as big and the
club might only get half full?
Keltech: I never see flyers for
other clubs outside of Wales so I can't say if we have fewer big names
than other regions, but it certainly seems as if big names do reach here
quite often.
2hip: The LP 'The Name', what can people
expect?
Johnny B: In a nut shell this
album has strong, uplifting, party, conscious type rhymes with Keltech
bringing world class production and scratching skills to the table...and
not to forget he's engineered and mastered the whole fucking lot!
Keltech: I feel it's just a
refreshing concoction of hip hop, cooked on a low gas mark just the way
we like it.
Johnny B: I would also say
that based on the feed-back we've had so far this album seems to have
quality stamped right through the middle. It's had plenty of radio
airplay already and we only found out just the other day it's reached
Hip Hop Connection magazine's 'UK Gold Top Ten', its gone straight in at
4th place!
It feels great because my 'Rhyme Hungry'
mini album had also made it into the HHC Top Ten spot at 5th place.
Since then I had been wondering if my next record would ever have the
same type of impact or mass appeal, but the new album seems to be doing
even better so I’m really pleased.
Keltech: On this album I really
pushed myself to the limit with the engineering & mastering, I was
trying to produce a professional polished sound like the guys that work
in million pound studios would do but on my very modest setup instead. I
don't want to bore you with details but each track took weeks to master,
individually tweaking each sound once it was laid down, I was still
teaching myself how to engineer and master at the time by trail and
error so next time things might be quicker. But like I always say you
get out what you put in and the results speak for themselves.
I
put 110% percent in to everything I do, Johnny will tell you I work till
I physically drop to get these results, I must be mad!
When I step in the studio I try to
produce something totally different from the last track, maybe try
different techniques or experiment with sounds I wouldn't normally use.
I also find it a challenge to write something that isn't as dark as my
previous material. I've been producing dark & heavy tunes for 10 years
now so I have to vary my diet a little.
2hip: Why call it 'The Name', is it as
simple as just introducing yourselves?
Johnny B: Yeah it's basically as
simple as that mate because my last 2 albums featuring Keltech were self
titled by 'Johnny B' because they were more of a solo venture for me,
plus I had produced half the album on 'Am I Still Hip Hop?' and Dek
Masha Slice from 'Headcase Ladz' had produced music on my second album.
We only started to use both names as a
double act after the success of 'Rhyme Hungry' which was a brilliant
record to make by the way, as you know it featured some of the UK's
finest like Junior Disprol, Nobsta Nutts and the Freestyle World Record
holder Ruffstylz!!! It was fantastic working with those artists because
I've got a lot of love and respect for them boys. Anyway back to the
original topic, the album title also represents our whole angle down to
the ground because our basic motto in this game is what you see is what
you get!, no gimmicks, no hype man on the stage, it's just me and my
deejay rocking the crowd!
Keltech: Yeah just as Mr B say's
2hip: Johnny, on the LP there's a skit
called 'Spit How I Speak'. Is this something that you feel is a problem
when selling units outside Cardiff in terms of appeal and understanding?
 Johnny
B: No mate I don't think it's a problem with regards to appeal
because I know in the past my records have sold well in the UK and our
material gets played by proper heads like Disorda and Excalibah to name
a couple. It's just an issue I needed to make clear for those who think
Cardiff people have a typical Welsh accent just because where from
Wales. I wanted to help them understand this is how we speak in our city
but most importantly let them know I rap with a 100% Cardiff accent.
2hip: Since being signed to a
label, how have you found the whole business? Easier? Restrictive?
Johnny B: I don't really want to
dig deep into detail with regards to our record deal but I can tell you
this much mate, apart from funding the vinyl this label hasn't done a
thing to help with this release. We've had to sort out everything from
marketing to promotion, anything you can imagine a label should have
done we've had to do ourselves. We've taken care of all aspects of the
business because if we had not taken control we would be nowhere with
this release.
Keltech: Personally its
been VERY stressful, we made the big mistake of waiting for a label to
do things that they promised but couldn't deliver, we sat around for
months so myself and Mr B said enough is enough and we did it all
ourselves.
Much happier now this way, things are
finally moving swiftly again and the Pyraplastic label is back up and
running stronger then ever with two heads taking care of the business
now.
2hip: Are there any plans to release more
material on the label?
Johnny B: We're already in the
process of a CD re-press of the album through Pyraplastic records...
Pyraplastic is an old record label that Keltech run during the 90's. We
are resurrecting it from the ashes and we're both now breathing life
back into the flame until we find another record deal.
Keltech: Yeah like Johnny
said not on that label, it hasn't worked out, we're going back on trusty
old Pyraplastic, we have just paid for the album to be pressed on CD,
and then we will drop a couple of new EPs early next year. Got some top
secret tuneage up our sleeves that I've been developing in the lab!
2hip: So you won a few awards at
the Welsh Music Awards. Do you feel awards like this are necessary for
welsh music to gain recognition at a higher level especially in the UK?
Johnny B: I think music award
ceremonies like this can be a good help towards an artists dream of make
a living off music. It definitely helped us move up the ladder, we had
nationwide press and played live alongside the biggest names in the
music industry which sparked off a lot of interest outside the Hip Hop
scene, it also helped us get high profile gigs and radio airplay &
interviews on stations I never imagined possible for an underground act
like us.
Even reaching the semi finals of the MOBO awards last year was a
brilliant help to us, because we were contacted by some major A&R's in
London who were mad excited to watch us play live.
Keltech: Yeah they seem to have
giving us some recognition in the mainstream world which can't be a bad
thing because it gives you leverage, but in general Welsh music
certainly doesn't need any help getting recognition. Just think about
some of the massive names in the music world across every genre who are
from Wales. Half the time people don't know where artists come from
anyway and for that matter who cares, it’s the music that's the
important thing!
2hip: What's the proudest moment in your
music career's so far?
Keltech: My proudest moment and
biggest achievement that taught me discipline and determination was
entering the world DMC championships in Glasgow and getting through to
the final in the night where I was holding my own amongst the UKs best.
I had 8 weeks to nail down a 6 minute world class set.
Entering the DMC might be personally
nothing to the talented DJs around today but to me it was the biggest
moment in my life something I could only dream about doing when I
watched Cutmaster Swift in 1989 win. I would of never of thought I would
be performing in front of him, judging me!
Johnny B: A very, very proud
moment that springs to mind was only just last month when we supported
Afrika Bambaataa. We had just arrived back in Cardiff after a 6 hour
journey in the car from a gig we played with Rodney P & Skitz so we were
proper exhausted and worried if we would perform at our 100% best. I
must say it didn't stop us one tiny bit, we played our hearts out for
what was one of our most proudest gigs yet alongside the Godfather of
Hip Hop himself.
 In
all honesty mate there have been a lot of proud moments in my music
career over the last couple of years. There was this one time when I had
just come off stage after performing at a night in Bristol, I was
sitting back stage watching Probe Mantis from Aspects dropping a
freestyle when security came over to me and said "there's two girls
saying their big fans of yours and their asking to come back stage and
meet you", I thought yeah right, just two girls trying to blag their way
back stage and hang out with the Aspects or whatever, I said "yeah safe
then let them through mate" then sarcastically I said to both girls "I
hear your big fan's of mine, tell me what you know about Johnny B
then?" one of the girls then said to me "I bought your vinyl from
Backyard records here in Bristol and we both love it!", she then began
to start spitting lines from a verse on 'Rhyme Hungry' and then her
friend joined in with the chorus, I thought is this f**king real or
what???, I almost cried with emotion, believe!, I quickly called
Keltech over to hear these girls rapping my song, I said "fuck me mate,
last year I was sitting on my bed writing these rhymes and now there are
two girls I don't know from Adam who live in another city spitting my
rhymes back to me in my ear"...I was so overwhelmed that night I went
home and wrote the title song for 'The Name'. So girls if you read this
interview I dedicate that song to you both!
I had a similar buzz back in
December 2001 when I first saw my records in HMV, as a kid I had only
fantasized about seeing my own vinyl on sale in there, and there it was
for real, a Johnny B record almost glowing, fresh on the new releases
stand. It was such an amazing feeling because I remember at the
beginning of 1999 I set myself some personal targets which were once
only my child hood dreams and decided to turn these dreams into goals, I
put my head down and worked really fucking hard and all of a sudden I've
hit a few of these targets already. It's such a wonderful feeling when
dreams come true, believe! They might not be big dreams to some people
but they’re my dreams and they mean the fucking world to me!!! I feel
even on a small underground scale I've achieved more personally than I
ever thought possible.
Another really proud moment was
August this year when we supported Ice T as part of his UK tour. I
remember just before we were due to perform I was chatting to my man
Ruffstylz by the side of the stage telling him how I couldn't believe I
was actually hanging out back stage and supporting a legend like Ice T.
Ruffstylz then reminded me that years ago I had once told him that all I
ever wanted was recognition around the area where I lived in St Mellons,
and the point he made was so bloody true because all the success I've
received over the last few years has been nothing more than just a huge
fucking bonus!!! I feel a lucky man.
2hip: Keltech, you've been producing
non-hip hop for years now. Do you still do much of it?
Keltech: Since 2000 I have
produced just 5 D&B tunes, which isn't a lot if you compare the 65 tunes
from 1995-1999. I was recently asked to do a D&B remix for a US group
called Pitch Black "Its All Real" produced by DJ Premier of Gangstarr,
but for the last 3 years 99.9% of my production has been Hip Hop and
turntablist tracks only.
2hip: Do you find it hard to
produce a drum and bass track one minute, then start working on a hiphop
track?
Keltech: Nah its easy, I used to
produce them in exactly the same way its just the tempo is almost
doubled for D&B. Sometimes I would even start a Hip Hop track and turn
it into D&B if it sounded better speeded up and vice versa.
I'm very fussy with my Hip Hop production I want it to sound original
and unique but still obviously tie in with the Hip Hop genre. For
example I've started making tunes before now and they happen to sound
like something DJ Premiere would produce, which is good don't get me
wrong but it's a sound he coined which is uniquely him. So I end up
deliberately changing my tracks so hopefully they sound different from
the norm fitting a gap in the market that know body else is filling. If
that's a good gap to fill is another question haha.
2hip: Equipment wise, how do you go about
making a track?
Keltech: To make tunes I use
Cubase, soundforge, esi-32 midi sampler, 2 decks, coffee and a porno mag
for when I get bored.
I used to use loads of outboard
gear but as I no longer need to make mad sound fx and heavy synth sounds
for D&B I just stick to a few bits of gear I know I can get results
from.
2hip: So are you totally happy with how
your music is progressing after all this time?
Keltech: Yes very, I'm finally
doing what I always dreamt of as a kid, to be on stage with people in
the crowd going nuts over what I'm doing and what I've produced. Doesn't
matter if its 10 people or 1000 because it’s such an intense feeling
when I'm performing complex tricks and the crowd are buzzing off it.
It’s been hard work mentally and physically to get to this stage but
well worth it. I strongly believe if you want something bad enough
you'll work hard to get it, you only get out what you put in.
2hip: Has your production style
changed over the years?
 Keltech:
Yeah, before I needed to produce sick dark tunes to flow my built up
emotional anger into growing up with life's pressures, but now I'm
happier and I channel my positive energies through skills.
Its reflected in my music, my
sonic palette has diversified, I now enjoy different sounds and its more
of a challenge to me in the studio to write something that isn't dark as
fuckk. maybe I'm just getting old.. I get my fix/therapy from scratching
nowadays, at this moment I'm obsessed with skills, that's what I buzz
off when I hear a tune, it's gotta have that magic spark, something I
haven't heard done before.
2hip: So why do you like Hip Hop so
much over D&B?
Keltech: Again the skills mate!
I've always been into Hip Hop its just I devoted more of my time to the
D&B scene for a while, I used to get intense rushes off dark D&B tracks
in a club, I mean real paralysing rushes going up my spine, where you
feel like you are floating in your own world. But I found in 95 the D&B
scene started to change, it went slightly commercial and it wasn't the
style or scene I was into anymore. It became more and more difficult to
find decent tunes and before I knew it everyone was making tracks and
DJing which led to the market being saturated. The reason I love Hip Hop
culture is because it's so highly skilled, you have breakdancing,
graffing, DJing and Rapping, all mad skills which I buzz off. Also at
every Hip Hop night I've played around the UK the atmosphere seems to be
wicked and friendly, what more can you want.
Personally talking from a DJ that
used to spin D&B for 8 years I find scratching/turntablism a infinite
universe of skills which I find more stimulating and harder to master
than just mixing D&B back and fore. This is what keeps my
enthusiasm/hunger going knowing I can never master every technique out
there. Its like an everlasting gobstopper a new flavour around every
corner.
I started scratching in 1992 but I
wasn't that good, and left it to learn mixing. It wasn't till recent
years I got back into it and I started getting obsessed with techniques,
apart from producing I practice scratching for hours daily like a
religious ritual , developing new techniques or inventing new beat
scratches. Its like I need that tough challenge to keep me hungry and
its therapeutic to my mind. Scratching is escapism when you're deep
inside a freestyle its almost as if you are locked inside your own
little world, its like a spiritual yoga style experience.
My misses thinks I need help with this obsession because I have a
crossfader on my key ring that I use in the office to practice my new
fader techniques on when ever I get a spare minute. Just tonight I was
sat in my local take away waiting for my food, so I whipped it out, (the
fader that is) and started on this new continuous crab technique I'm
working on where I crab forwards and in reverse in one fluid motion, I
was getting some funny looks!
2hip: What can we expect from Keltech &
Johnny B in the future?
Johnny B: We're in the middle of
organising a UK tour at present featuring 'The Skinz' (Captain & Dregz).
We're also back in the studio writing and recording material for a new
EP we want released at the beginning of next year, shortly followed by
another EP, closely followed by a double album.
Keltech: Also expect allot
more turntable based tunes, complex beat scratching tunes with Johnny
and guest emcees on, most of the tracks will be focusing on sick skills.
2hip: What's your favourite flavour
crisps?
Johnny B: Pickled Rhymester Munch
Keltech: Pork Scratching
flavour
2hip: Ok, that's about it. Any
shout outs you want to make?
Johnny B: There's far to many
people I wanna big up so I'll just thank everyone in the UK who've
bought my records, attended gigs or showed any support over the
years...actually let me add on that please, I would like to give an
extra special shout of respect to the Welsh Hip Hop scene, your support
has been life changing, Thank you! Big up ya self also 2hip!
Keltech: Simply thanks for
the interview and big up everyone that has been supportive, too many to
mention.
- 2Hip |
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Related Links:
2Hip's
Rhyme Hungry review
Sumo's
Now or Never review
 
|
