When I went to the 05 DMC world finals, the last thing I expected was to meet one of the biggest legends in scratching, especially the one and only DJ Disk. Still life moves in mysterious ways, and thanks to a heads up from Pritt Nu-Skratch I managed to corner Disk early on in the night and get a quick interview with him. Disk is a legend in scratching for many reasons: he is an ex-member of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, taught Qbert how to scratch (alongside MMM) and he’s done more than many (if not most) to push the boundaries of the artform and expose scratching to new audiences by working with (live and in the studio) a wide range of artist from Primus to Bill Laswell. His own releases on Bomb Hip Hop in the 90s have become classics, and his live CDs are also a must own for any fan. While time may have moved on, Disk still is one of the best scratchers on earth. So in between bouts of fairly boring battling we sat down with Disk for a quick chat about his recent work, scratching, English ass, believing in yourself and more. The answers are as crazy as the man himself... if you thought Mixmaster Mike was crazy, meet Phonopsycographicdisk.

So what have you been up to recently man?

Disk: Just travelling the world and trying to make a difference in scratching and opening new doors, and just basically practicing a lot and creating new styles of scratching.

And so why are you in town tonight then? I heard you were here with Brain from Guns n Roses for a concert?

D: Yeah I’m here with him, he’s just an amazing drummer and we’re in town doing some shows and showing the people something new.

What are the shows like then?

D: The shows are just me and him going off, in this one I’ve got two different set ups, one turntable and one mixer and just trying something new and seeing how it goes.

I read about the new Praxis project you were working on, can you tell us some more about that?

D: Yeah we just finished the Praxis album, it’s got people from all over the world on it. Surge from System of a Down, Iggy Pop, who else… Brain, Buckethead, Bill Laswell, Mike Patton on some vocals, DJ Olive and loads of others I forget. It’s an amazing album everyone needs to check out. It’s a collective effort, it’s really diverse too. Really nice album that I recommend everyone to check for sure.
I also worked on a Mike Patton album, his new album called Peeping Tom. It’s got Kid Koala on there as well, and I’ve done 7 songs for it so it’s pretty dope and different too. I did cuts and production for it.

So how did you work on the production, was it more samplers and computers or something else?

D: To tell you the truth, I guess you could consider me one of the most hardcore scratch DJs in the world because I don’t believe in anything making it easier for me to do my job, I’m strictly fader and one record. And nothing else, but I do dabble in sounds and effects, just changing the way shit sounds, but ultimately for me it’s all about the hand. It’s not about the button, forget the button, screw the fuckin button! I’m sorry if I can’t cuss, but seriously screw the fuckin button, it’s all about the hand movement, vinyl, screw the other crap.
I’ve always believed in pushing the boundaries and if something that’s not even… If something hasn’t got an organism to it, or anything human like that can control it, I’m not gonna allow something mechanical like that to move me, if anything’s gonna control me it’s gonna be me, and I’m gonna control the machinery, I’m not gonna go down that other road. I do dabble in some sound effects, pedals, computer effects, but I do everything by hand still and I’m still trying to move it in that direction… I mean who would have ever thought that scratching would come such a fucking long way, from the 80s to where it’s at now, so if that happened what’s gonna happen when I turn 45, who knows what’s gonna happen, shit’s gonna be crazy! It’s kinda like a lottery, so I’m looking forward to the future, there’s no stress at this point for me.

And you got any solo projects…

D: Yeah for the first time in five, six years, I’m working on my third solo LP. And it’s gonna be, basically it’s gonna be a diverse collaboration with all the people that I’ve been playing with over the years… and I’ve been working with tons of people from Herbie Hancock to Mike Patton to Primus, so I think from the time I left the Piklz I just went on to try and expand the horizon and try to combine everything and see what comes out of it at the end, and now I’m ready for that and ready to just give it out and make an album, a scratch album like no one has ever heard before! You’ll never have heard anything like that, I’m coming way off on this one!

Has been like a constant learning curve since you’ve left the Piklz then?

D: Yeah, and it comes with age I think, you get older and come to a point where you just realise that life is a serious thing to take and that this is now a career and so you’ve got to take it seriously and keep on learning. And it’s weird because this started as being something fun for me and now it’s a career, and for it to be a successful career it’s got to still stay fun while I’m taking it seriously. So I’m always just pushing boundaries and making new things. But I still love hip hop, I still love scratching and that’s what I’m all about so I’m just gonna keep on going and I’m not looking back.

And have you had much chance to check out what’s been happening in the US with what guys like D-Styles are doing, the whole turntable band approach, live scratch music, all that stuff?

D: Yeah I’ve heard of them, and I’ve had the chance to check some stuff and it’s all good. I believe that anybody fucking with this shit, fucking with scratching in new ways and making it move forward is automatically good in my book period, because if you don’t push it then get out of my face, but if you’re gonna push it then I’m all for it. I’m not perfect, I’m not the greatest, I’m a believer, and if you’re a believer then you go for it and you bust your ass as much as you can and of course if you’ve got love for it then it’s even better. And I’ve got super love for it and I’m gonna do whatever it takes to move this in the direction I believe it should take.

So what’s it like being in town for something like DMC?

D: I’m here to see some people and meet other people I’ve never met before, like you, so it’s all good. It’s great to see this still going on, I’m a fan and a lover of this artform and I like to have a great time. Right now I’m listening to scratching in a club and it’s like listening to Frank Sinatra naked, drinking wine and being stoned out of your fucking mind, so it’s good. So yeah whatever, I’m having a great time, I’m in London and I’m loving it, I’m here with my homeboy, things are good, doing this interview, it’s all great.

So you love London I take it?

D: I love it, everytime I’m here it’s always a blast, the women are great… the women have lovely ass here by the way.

Wicked. Any parting words?

D: Just believe in what you got to do and just go for it, and love all the ass you can get and scratch, you gotta scratch! On a more serious point, believe in what you believe, don’t let anyone ever tell you what to believe, what to do, don’t ever let people put you down and don’t let that get to you. The strongest point is in your beliefs, and if you strive for it and believe in it you’ll get there, just like I did with scratching, I never thought I’d be here today still doing this shit and making a living off it, and I love it. So if you love something, it doesn’t have to be scratching, it could be being a doctor or a lawyer or whatever, just strive for it and believe in it and you’ll succeed and you’ll sit here drinking champagne, have a great time and see all the ass you want.
Oh and if you wanna get any info on me jut got to djdisk.net ok? Laters.

Many thanks to Disk for his time. As mentioned you can find out more about the man over at his site, and we can only recommend you hunt down his previous material, some of which is available at his site or at Bomb Hip Hop and look out for the new Praxis album. Also look out for a special Disk feature in a forthcoming Turntable Radio podcast.