From here to there, an interview with Birdy Nam Nam...

Following from the in-depth two part interview conducted by Samsascratch with Dj Need from Birdy Nam Nam (BNN) and ahead of a solo Lil' Mike interview from KS & Style, we had the chance to catch the rest of the crew (minus DJ Pone) whilst at the 2004 DMC world finals, where they were judging. In between the supremacy and team battles we sat down in the warm british autumn weather (believe it or not!) and spoke to the guys about their upcoming album, scratch music, battling and DJ couture... Crazy B, Need and Lil' Mike are Birdy Nam Nam...

Ok so what have you been up to recently guys?

Need: well since winning DMC we've been concentrating more on studio work, we recorded an album last year in 2003, which we finished in early 2004. The first single came out in May, the second one is coming out at the end of October and the LP should be out early 2005.

And for you personally what's your opinion of the LP, and how do you think you've evolved musically since the battles and everything before that?

Crazy B: Well it happened over a period of time. But its true that working as a team when we did DMC meant that we were already used to working with each other, it helped with that and we knew each other quite well too. We discovered scratch music a bit by accident, we went with it and we progressed through working on it. In the end it all happened quite naturally and it shows because we've got something good going when all four of us get together. And that's good.

What do you mean when you say you discovered it by accident?

C: It was in our way of working together. At one point we told ourselves we're going to do a scratch music LP. We'd already done some tracks like that for a project called scratch graphique, and that was our first efforts in that direction so we had an idea of what we wanted to do even if we didn't really know exactly what. So we worked on it and got some good results soon after and we just kept at it and evolved through that every time. So our work also evolved while we were putting this album together and now we've already moved on to other things and other ideas. We're already doing new tracks now that the LP is finished.

N: Just to clarify a bit more, before this album we'd never really worked on tracks like this, as we were always working together towards live shows and not studio tracks, and so we didn't really record ourselves.

And so how are you approaching your new live shows for the album?

N: well we were a bit pressed for time, and we didn't really have the money to really put together a show like we would like to in the future, which would involve collaborating more with live musicians on stage, and really reproduce the tracks on stage in a way that we wouldn't do the same thing twice and not being restricted to using a loop on a pedal or a cd and filling in the rest. But the show we did allowed to get our music out because at the time of the show the only tracks out were those on the first single, so people hadn't really heard anything else from us. We did another four or five tracks from the LP, we did around ten tracks altogether, and I think the reception from the public was really good.

And was it as part of a festival?   

N: Yeah it was a festival, but this event was a kind of a parallel event at a night club.

And I wanted to ask you after speaking to other people who've worked on all scratch albums or albums that fused different aspects, did you find it limiting to do an all scratch LP or did you find a way around the limitations to achieve what you wanted?

C: Yeah, especially because at the end limitations are only those you put into your head. Musically we didn't limit ourselves to one style, we opened ourselves up. In our music we don't limit ourselves to doing scratch music for scratch music's sake, we don't scratch the beginning of the hi hats to give it a ‘scratch feel', if it sounds better left alone then we're happy to do that. We don't want to put any limits on ourselves from now on but I think that later on we'll discover the limits and we'll work to overcome them and figure out how to do it.

Do you think you'd work with musicians in the future and do things that have more of a mix of production, live instruments and turntables?

N: That's what we're doing now basically, we're trying not to limit ourselves. We'll do some loops on the computer or sampler, record some musicians, record some scratch stuff, maybe put in some of our own beats, we're just mixing it all up.

And have you got any other plans for the future, things people should know about?

N: well first of all, we're anxious to see the LP come out properly. To get some feedback on it, as we're really proud of it and we made it over a year ago so we want to see what other people think. And after that we just want to work together, we work well, at the moment we're doing a project that is more themed, that's the type of stuff we want to do from now on I think, work around a theme. Get into a style in a way, limiting ourselves but then go crazy with it and do what we want, do something electro rock if that's what works. Do albums like that, that are quite personal.

So no more battles for you then?

Lil Mike: Yeah I might do some more. The problem at the moment is that I would have liked to do DMC, but with the technics decks it's not really useful with the pitch and the limitations on it, false notes, skips etc... There are too many problems with that so I wont even think about it, but I might do ITF Europe as it's on Vestax and I can then do the routines I want to do.

And seeing as we're in London at the DMC, what's your view of the battles at the moment?

L: Well overall, it's really boring. Personally I haven't been into it that long but I find that compared to what I saw a few years back there's been a massive regression. DJs just aren't original, they're still scratching to break records and then from time to time to dnb as it seems to be the trend with DJs, and there just isn't anyone really taking any risks and musically there isn't much either. You close your eyes, listen to a battle and all you get is a big fat headache. So really unless you're a die hard fan, it's a bit boring.

N: Teams are a bit better

Well yeah teams do offer some more room for musicality and originality

C: I think that at the end of the day battling isn't really a place where you can create music. It's more like stepping stones, there is an audience and you have to fight someone. But I think maybe they should do showcases where they open the door for people who want to make music using turntables, loop pedals, whatever. But on the other end it could still end up being boring.

Judging music is also something that is very personal.

L: even without introducing the pedals, after that you have a problem of what sounds to choose. If DJs only want to buy break records and do freestyles using ‘ahhh', it's still not going to go anywhere. And that's the case now with the majority of DJs you see and hear, they all use the same breaks and generic sounds. And I think that this is the biggest problem.

Got any last words, shout outs?

C: Shout outs? No, just to all the people who keep loving this, and doing their thing, their music in their own corner, in a good spirit.

L: Oh yeah, to all the DJs, stop looking all the same!! Stop it with the caps and baggy trousers! You've got to get beyond that, there is much more to decks then this, well I think anyway!

Many thanks to the guys for their time. The second single from the forthcoming album is out now, entitled Engineer Fear. For more info on Birdy Nam Nam happenings the best place to check is currently www.hand-control.com, the growing French online resource headed by Sam, KS & Style. You can also find an audio version of this interview in both French and English overdub on www.turntableradio.com alongside the C2C interview. Be sure to also check the monthly TTR shows for audio from BNN's forthcoming album. Lastly keep your eyes on this site for some exclusive live audio coming soon. If you are having problems finding BNN releases in your area you can contact kifmusic@wanadoo.fr