Ghost Interview

Certified Banger: How would you describe your instrumental output? Is it Hip Hop?

Ghost: I think so. I grew up on Hip Hop so I consider anything I make an extension of Hip Hop. I grew up listening to classic Hip Hop from the early 90s so even if my music isn't a classic Hip Hop sound the ethos behind the music is taken from that time, a time when the music was more than just a ringtone, a fad - it was music with passion and soul.

CB: Which do you prefer: creating instrumentals tracks or beats for MCs? How does your mindset differ when you’re doing either?

Ghost: I like to do both, I think over time I've learnt about making music which is probably why more of the recent stuff is instrumental. It's a challenge to make the music interesting without a vocal when you have no formal musical training whatsoever. The important thing is to keep the listener entertained enough without a vocal ‘cause all the attention shifts to the music, you have to add more depth to an instrumental.

CB: What sounds are you currently into using? What records do you look for to find samples – or is that a secret?!

Ghost: No secrets! I look for all sorts, from jazz to rock. When the soul sampling sped up vocal samples boom took off I went the other way.

CB: How do you feel about being compared or likened to artists like DJ Shadow, Bonobo and Quantic?

Ghost: I'm not complaining about that. These guys have made themselves careers out of music so if I can be compared to any of them I'm happy. It was certainly never my intention to sound like anyone other than myself.

CB: Do you listen to music by those guys? Do you think you create music in a similar way? Have any of them ever had an influence on you?

Ghost: I do listen to all of their music and it’s inevitable that some of what other artists do will have an influence on the music you make. I know that the last few years I've not followed anyone else's path and looked to myself for inspiration. I can say honestly I never listened to any of their music whilst making this album.

CB: So what’s with the move to New Zealand? Is that to improve the creative process?

Ghost: A number of reasons, after a very long stint in London I was exhausted! I was living on the breadline all day every day, and life had just become the same old routine. I had an opportunity to do something different and I thought f**k it. I'd actually been offered a place at Uni studying Sound on one of the top courses in the capital but decided that a move away would be better for me mentally. Since I've been here I've felt rejuvenated towards music, people's attitudes are great, very helpful and very very supportive of my music.

CB: So you’re in NZ, from the UK but your album came out first in Japan! Why is that? Do you have a big following over there? Why do you think that is?

Ghost: Haha, yeah I know it's all over the shop. The Japan thing came about cause Breakin Bread licensed my first album over in Japan, I saw an opportunity to license 'Freedom of Thought' and I didn't think twice about it. All of my releases have sold well out there - I couldn't say why I just don't know! obviously I'm very grateful to the labels and fans supporting out there.

CB: Do you think people in non-English speaking countries have more of a grip of what music is actually hot? Do you think they succumb to fads as much as the US and the UK do?

Ghost: That’s a good question, I think that money, power and marketing can do anything anywhere. I've seen first hand that some countries are quite a bit behind on what's 'hot' in the UK and the US, and frankly they have a much better taste in music and how they respect the music and the artists, I hope it stays that way, I don't think it will. But then again you never know, I have my hopes.

CB: What’s the Hip Hop like over in NZ?

Ghost: From what I've seen NZ Hip Hop seems in the same vein as the US market musically. I've been very busy and haven't traveled all over yet so ask me in another 6 months and I’ll have a better angle to answer that from. There are some dope artists though, and some shite, just like you get everywhere. One thing I’ve noticed is that they support there talent here in a big way. Since I started the radio show a month back I’ve got an appreciation for the support artists get out here, it's shocking to think the UK doesn’t support its musical talent like NZ.

CB: Are there any good records stores for digging in?

Ghost: Yeah I got some digging spots, a couple of good ones!

CB: How do you feel about your music being bootlegged?

Ghost: I accept that downloading happens and people get music for free, I’ve given quite a few tunes away free for people to download over the years ‘cause I want to say thanks to the people that support and buy my music. But like I said in my blog the annoying thing for me is the recent music of mine I saw available for download free must have been uploaded from the promos sent out, the promos that are supposed to help you as an artist. It's basically an inside job and that just isn’t good enough, these people should know better.

CB: I agree. What can you tell us about the new album then? Who’s on it? What’s changed?

Ghost: What did you want to achieve by making it? The new album is called 'Freedom of Thought’; it's more instrumental than my first album. It's probably the last album in this style I’ll do for a while. It's a better body of work than my first album in that it's more together, it's a more complete package. The tunes were put together over a couple of years and what was going on for me over that time, a lot of changes in my life. Features on there include two Verb T collaborations, Finale, Jehst and Dubbledge. The sense of achievement I got from making this album was knowing I’d put together a collection of music that complemented each other, that’s just through learning about what an album should be in my eyes. I'm not sure what's changed, I’ll leave that for everyone else to decide. I just hope people see that I put my heart and soul into making this album just like I do with every piece of music I make.

CB: When do we get to hear it then? Will you be doing shows in the UK off the back of it?

Ghost: The album will be out late May early June, I will be doing some shows hopefully in the autumn. As you mentioned I’m away in New Zealand right now, I’m putting together a live show which features me on 2 decks, my laptop and MPC, re-creating tracks from the album. I want to do some show's so hopefully that can happen; sadly it's hard getting good management to organize show's. I've organized a lot of shows for myself, Kashmere and Verb T over the years but it's harder to continue doing all the organizing yourself when you have to juggle music, radio, life etc.

So anyone reading this wanting a show please send me a message!

CB: What other work are you doing at the moment? Have you done any production work on any other albums recently?

Ghost: I haven't done a lot other than my own stuff really. Saying that I’ve already got the album with Kashmere and Verb T, our collaboration project called Invisible Inc, virtually finished and we're just trying to organize someone to put that out, we might end up doing that ourselves it just needs a label to commit to what we're trying to achieve. That album sounds amazing and is a real departure musically from what people know us for doing. It's a shame we have to wait so long for the release ‘cause it doesn’t sound like anything else around at the moment. I've got half an album with Verbs recorded, we'll keep plugging away with that.

CB: How did your work on both albums with Finale come about?

Ghost: Finale is a top geezer, he's been around for a while. I think I met him through an old forum a few of us used to chat on, he was working with Beat Butcha and I just reached out to him and said did he wanna do some vocals for me. He's always been on the ball and dealt with things, I really hope his album puts him on the map, I think it will.

CB: Who are you feeling in the UK Hip Hop scene right now?

My crew Invisible Inc! Anyone who is out there working hard and not being a d**khead I’m feeling

CB: Can you finish off with some life improving hints and tips for all the wannabes out there?!

Ghost: Don't do this thinking you'll make money, work hard, grow a thick skin quickly and make sure you're doing this for the right reasons, enjoy yourself!

Asaviour

Certified Banger: Yo Asaviour! You’re gearing up for a new release but before we get into that, for those who have kept their ears closed over the last 3 or 4 years, can you give us a quick history of Asaviour?

Asaviour: First appeared on Jehst’s ‘Premonitions’ EP, worked with artists like Konny Kon and Strategy, featured on a track by Jehst called ‘People Under the Weather’, worked with a number of artists like Yungun, Kyza, DJ IQ, Dubbledge, Micall Parkinsun, Verb T, Ghost etc. Dropped an EP called ‘Savoir Faire’ on Lowlife Records. Then released the single ‘Money in the Bank’ REMIX backed with ‘The Homecoming’ on YNR Productions, followed that up with a debut LP on Lowlife records called ‘The Borrowed Ladder’, released a series of mixtapes called ‘Play 2 Win’ and I’m about to drop a new album alongside DJ IQ called ‘The A Loop Theory’. There’s a few different records in between all that but… you get the idea!

CB: So, what is it that you’ve got coming soon? Tell us a bit about that:

Asaviour: Right now it’s all about ‘The A loop Theory’.

Er well I’ve been working with a group called Athlete on both production and rapping on their material for a new project they’re working on. I’ve been doing some remixing for Neon Hitch, The Happy Band and Claudia Georgette, I’m also working new material with her as well. I’ve got some things in the works with vocalists Bonnie Freechyld, Kevin Walls, Pat Fulgoni who are all extremely talented individuals that have something fresh to bring to the table.

I’ve got a few other big collabs but you know, can’t let too much out of the bag!

CB: What, at the moment, are you favourite album tracks from 'The A Loop Theory'? Which ones are gonna knock our socks off?

Asaviour: I dunno I like different tracks for different reasons; ‘Beefy’ is alright, I feel hard as nails when I’m rapping on it, you know that whole school bully vibe. We got a remix of ‘Cracked It’ featuring Verb T which is dope, it’s on some crazy bounce house s**t. I like ‘Sucker or Savvy’ just because how I was inspired to do it and the fact I didn’t put pen to paper for that track once. ‘De Ja Vu’ featuring Graziella is a little bit deep, ‘Gatheround’ featuring Jehst is just some big boys raps innit. Hopefully it will f**k the jams we play. I dunno, I really tried hard to make each tracks as strong a possible; all thrillers no fillers mate!

CB: What’s the partnership between you and IQ like? How does that pan out when working?

Asaviour: Well I reckon the basis of it is we get along, we look at music and life in quite a similar way but have our own views on s**t ,I’ve worked with plenty of people I get along with (even some I don’t) as you definitely have to separate the person from the music. Some artists are amazingly skilled but are arseholes and some are safe a f**k but not quite ready. The fact we respect each other personally and artistically helps us have quite a bit of perspective.

CB: You’ve been sharpening your production claws too since your first album. Is your production essential to you as an artist? How did you get into beat making? What do you aim for when making a beat?

Asaviour: Well I’ve actually been making beats almost as long as I have been rhyming. I’m very critical of my production and just like my rhyming I’ve always strived to have an original slant on my sound. I’ve worked for ages just trying to develop my own sound that can stand up to any producer not just within UK Hip Hop but in music generally and I finally think I’m there now.

Like I said before I was always intrigued about how the sound was made, I never got money from my folks for music or anything like that, so I hustled for my first sampler which I think was an AKAI SO1, it stored 8 samples which I triggered with a second hand Atari ST. I used that to learn how to make beats and do a few demos, then I started going to college and they had a music room. I kinda hijacked the place even though most of the teachers hated me in there, though there was one teacher who helped me and let me in there at lunch time and after college showed me how to record with the 16 track and in turn I taught him how to use the sampler.

From there I moved to Manchester to study Music Technology and just kept on developing and building my skills.

I’ve done production for Sir Smurf Lil, TB, Verb T, Jehst, Ricochet aka Ric Branson, Yungun Kyza, Braintax, stuff on the DJ IQ’s album ‘Live From The Sofa’ as well as working alongside DJ IQ on our new collaboration album ‘The A Loop Theory’ and a little bit of work on a track with his new group Mama Said.

CB: Obviously you’re based in Huddersfield and IQ’s in London. How important is London to you?

Asaviour: “It aint where you’re from, it’s where you’re at”: I think Rakim said that!

CB: Jack Flash told me that the Huddersfield scene is ‘non-existent’ and ‘lacks unity’. What’s your take on Hip Hop in Yorkshire in general?

Asaviour: Not sure if it’s a case of unity or more a case of pro-activeness, to be honest I don’t just work with artist because they’re from up north I work with them if they’re good. There’s a lot of talent up here but if you don’t have the drive to do something or collaborate nothing really gonna happen is it?

In terms of a Hip Hop scene, there’s a lot of talent doing different stuff. If you’re talking straight up boom bap Hip Hop then he’s right, it’s non-existent but if you mean different styles of Hip Hop, there’s quite a few different talented rappers, singers, poets, producers doing their thing.

CB: Can we talk about Low Life? What was your deal there? What are your post Low Life feelings? Can you speak out on the discontent of some of the ex-Low Life artists?

Asaviour: I’ve always been told if you don’t have anything good to say then don’t say anything.

I couldn’t really comment on other artists feelings, but for me he’s just a businessman, first time I had a meeting to discuss putting an album out, pretty much the first thing he said was “there are no friends in business”. I kinda respect that not bulls**t, there’s plenty of dudes that aren’t that straight up and will pretend to be your friend and switch up on you in the end. For me he just never put the effort in that he would for his own release.

CB: ‘The Borrowed Ladder’ project got you working with a who’s who of the most talented people in our industry: Kyza, Tommy Evans, Yungun, Jehst, Micall Parknsun, Braintax… the list goes on and on. How influential were they all and how much would you accredit your success to their support?

Asaviour: Every person however talented they may be I have ever worked it I accredit my success to, I’ve learnt a s**t load from artists on not what to do artistically as well as in business.

CB: Who do you look up to?

Asaviour: Easy: my mother.

CB: Where does UK Hip Hop stand, in your mind, in the current financial climate? Will it cope with the recession?

Asaviour: I mean nobody every really sold masses of UK Hip Hop when Hip Hop has sold from this country it’s transcended the ‘UK Hip Hop’ tag. When I hear the words UK Hip Hop I can’t lie; the thought of unfinished beats, raps about rapping come to mind… I’m not too sure. The music will always be there but in terms of and industry I dunno, it’s gonna be artists who are innovating, pushing boundaries and who also have their business tight.

CB: In your opinion, what do UKHH artists need to be doing to survive, to get heard, to be successful? Finish this thing off with a little advice – aim it at whoever you like!

Asaviour: Work Hard, Hip Hop don’t owe you a living. Stay focussed, believe in yourself but the cold hard truth is: adapt or die.

Oh yeah, if you wanna design ‘The A loop Theory’ t-shirt make sure you come to one of our launch parties and check out:

http://www.saving-grace.co.uk
http://www.myspace.com/thealooptheory