Around 18h00: "Is still cool to do the interview?

"yeah call me back around 20h, 20h30"

Around 20h30:"well, call back around midnight, half past if you ain't sleeping"

Around Midnight, half past midnight as I'm not sleeping: "well, is a problem if we do it another time?"

"Ok, seeing as I got you on the phone and I'm going to be knackered tomorrow can I ask you a few questions for my own curiosity?"

Around 1.15am: "well thanks, I'm officially dead and off to bed, shame we didn't record anything."

Around 1.26 am: "I'm actually free now, you still want to interview me?"

So what's new with BNN? Where is your album at?

Need: The first single is going to be out slightly later than planned, around early May. But it won't be followed by the next single as originally planned as it will be the holidays which isn't the best time of the year for putting stuff out. So the second single will be towards September when everyone gets back to school and stuff. And that will be just before the album drops. There still isn't a definite date for the LP but we are doing our best and making sure that those in charge are made aware of it so that it doesn't end up being pushed back. Come to think of it, the second single is more likely to be around early October, as sometimes people are still on holiday in September. Could still be end of September for that single and more than likely end of October for the LP, early November at the very latest. That's where we are at right now.

Which label will be putting out your different releases?

N: For the moment we are with KIF (Faster Jay's label). Both singles will be put out through KIF, and for the LP we are in the process of passing it around to people. We are getting them to listen to our music to get feedback and views on it as well as maybe some new angles we might not see. We really want to meet someone who can visualize what is possible to achieve around our work, as we would only sign the album to another label that can develop appeal for it media wise in a way that KIF can't do. KIF is a small indy label which will be putting out the album with good strong distribution but on the other hand they won't be developing a mad promotion campaign for it to help push it and I guess that's what we are looking for elsewhere. So right now that's where we are, at a stage where the album is being passed around left, right and center.

Do you play on the visual aspect of using the tables? Is that a selling factor when dealing with labels?

N: Well when I think about it I tell myself that ideally the music should speak to people first and then, if they feel it, we can tell them how it's done and how that impacts on the listening experience, especially live. Especially because what we do is really novel in many people's eyes, in France anyway. That's what is interesting to us, and we have seen that in general people are interested in the music, before how it's made... well I'm not saying everyone is interested in it, but in general people are really interested in the end product. Actually let's say people like it, because interested sounds like a business term... Basically people are finding the result very interesting and it's true that now it isn't as much of an argument as it used to be to have this type of music put out. We haven't met anyone yet who has visualized a marketing strategy around the fact that the album is all made from turntables. We know that people who feel turntable music will feel our album, and that they are interested in it and therefore will be buying it and telling people, but if we can't find a way to develop a strategy to try and appeal to people outside of the scratch community then we won't be reaching the 70 year old grandmas who might like BNN or the 7 year old kids or people from all walks of life, which we could touch with our album.

Is Laurent Burthe still in charge of the visual aspect of your products?

N: Well I'm at his now actually (laughs)... But yes it's still him, he did our first cover. He manages it all: who is doing the first single, the second one and the LP. It's a bit hard because we are still developing the visuals and the first single has had to be a bit rushed. But at the same time we are all attracted to the idea of not letting anything out in advance. In turn this means the first single is really ‘sober' design wise, with just two colours and a really simple design. I think with the second single we will be uncovering more of the visual identity that we want to develop. We will be working on the LP's artwork now because we have some spare time and once we got the LP's artwork nearly finished we will put out the second single, meaning we'll be able to give people more of an idea of what the visuals on the album will be like...

The BNN logo that was seen in ‘Scratch Graphique' (a book released last year centered on the visual aspect of using tables and featuring music by BNN), is that the final one?

N: Yes, it is the final logo, because all of us like it and that's what we want to put on our releases. On the LP we'll be developing other things than just this logo, with a BNN font actually, but we think the logo is strong and so we are going to work everything else around it. I think we'll be putting some stickers out quickly to cover some strategic places for events and to drop them all around. It's true that we all just love the logo, we want to do t-shirts with it, not necessarily to cash in but because you have to develop your identity bit by bit. A bit like Nike's ‘swoosh' you know, you have to start somewhere. There are brands that just have to have their logo black on white background and you know who they are. It's good to have people recognize your logo, and it think this logo is able to do that for us, and Crazy-B's dad who was a part of our marketing strategy, because he owns an ad agency, also found the logo strong and catchy. People around us, who are professionals, have all told us that the logo was strong.

What was the feedback like from ‘Scratch Graphique', especially from newcomers?

N: The feedback?... Well there wasn't a lot of it, people that are totally out of the scratch scene who might have listened to it were those from Pyramid, the book's editors. They are the type of people who'll listen to stuff that is a bit more out there, but who also may not know anything about the history behind the music. It's true that it interested quite a few people and a lot were pleasantly surprised by the result all the while knowing how it was done. But there haven't been any real rewards from it, we didn't get anyone listening to it and asking us to do music for TV or film for example. It doesn't reach that far yet, but those who have heard the 4 tracks on it are curious to hear the album... Now I don't know how many people that is, but the book works well still, they are happy with the buzz it's created, but I don't know how well it's done in terms of sales, thought there definitely was an impact. They've had feedback from all around Europe, so it's sounding quite good, and if it all goes well there is a chance it might get translated into English, and thus get more distribution.

On the LP, did the 4 of you compose everything or are there more ‘personal/solo' tracks as well?

N: On the LP there was a real will from all of us to do everything together, and that's how we wanted it. After that, following each of our timetable and availability, everyone has been involved on each track, more or less. At the end of it our way of working was getting better and so the tracks were put together much quicker, some of them in one afternoon, one night, and sometimes over 2 or 3 days. So by the end even if one of us might not have been there to finish the track, that wasn't such a problem because the track would have been started when we were all together. But if someone wasn't there for a track, we made sure not to influence the direction of the track so much, and the person still likes the track and agrees with where it's going. And that's what's important. Personally I'm there on all the tracks, because I was the one recording everything and when I wasn't there we couldn't work as I'm the only one that really was in charge of the recording machine... ... that would be a computer... N: yes... to give an example, throughout the album, there are very few tracks where you can go "this is a reggae track" or "this is a hip-hop track" or "a jungle track". There are very few but there is one that has a more tangible ‘genre' to it: a very jazzy track or at the least jazzy because of the backing drums and bass. It was a track I started with Pone, and when we were wondering about the direction to take to continue it Mike, who isn't necessarily into jazz even though he was there that day, didn't really contribute to our debate about the track because he wasn't really inspired about it. But he still likes the track, thinks it's dope and he will be with us when we perform it live but he didn't have anything to do with the development of the track. For me it's the same, I think there are tracks where I was able to distance myself from the music... We all think the final tracks are dope, and there are tracks where it's more some of us feeling it than others, but there aren't any tracks where I would have done it all on my own, even if on that jazz track I did most of it. Yet there was still a dialogue, when we lay something down, we always ask the others what they think before finalising it and it's always done in a spirit of communication between the 4 of us.

In the first interview we did together, to collaborate with D-Styles was still a bit of a fantasy of yours. Now that you've done it (there is a track on the LP featuring D and Mike Boo) how did it go with him? Did you feel let down? How did you compose the track together? What's the track's name and why did you choose Mike as well?

N: Actually we offered for Dave to come over, and I think that even though we knew each other a little bit, we had only crossed paths briefly, and so he felt more comfortable to say ‘I'll come over with someone else' instead of just crashing anywhere. And so in turn we tried to get the people who were paying for him to come over to pay for his friend too and it worked. And so he came over with Mike on a total fluke, but not because we had asked him. Now to answer your question as to ‘why Mike?'... well basically we asked him to come over (D that is) if he had the time to and if it could fit with our schedule. We paid for both their tickets (well KIF did), we put them up in a hotel near Crazy's house and they came over for 5-6 days. I think it was in October last year, and when we asked for a featuring the thing was if it was to happen we wanted it that way, not done quickly half way through a tour or doing it long distance. Either we composed it all together from scratch (lol) with them here so that we could talk about it and direct the track where we all wanted it to go, or we didn't do it at all. And that's what happened, and it meant the track really came together the way we had imagined it, which was great. Now regarding D, well personally speaking we weren't disappointed at all. The thing is Lil' Mike wasn't really there at the time as he was touring with Jeremy (from the French version of Fame Academy) so he was only there on the first and last days, and same with Pone, so in the end the track was more just me, Crazy B, D and Mike. When we recorded it, there was only the four of us, and on the last day Pone came back and added quite a few things to it, mainly on the intro and outro. The track hasn't got a name yet, we were really happy with it, and we still are especially because we realise that we could have never done this track on our own, and so it's quite special and different from the rest of the album, yet it still fits really nicely within the LP. To come back to Mike Boo, in the end it all went really smooth, we were able to tell D that he could bring Mike over and so they both came. We didn't know Mike anymore than anyone else as such, we knew he worked with D and we knew all the good people spoke of him online, but nothing more. It turns out he's the same age as me, same cultural background with street and skate and he's really nice. He's more of our age anyway (if we take Crazy B out of the us on this one) whereas D is older, and on another level, with him being married etc... Mike still lives with his parents, he's really down to earth and musically incredibly talented... So in the end the most positive aspect of our collaboration on the track, the kind of cherry on top, was Mike because he wasn't taken into the equation originally. And I'm not saying he was nicer than D, but we found out that he was a great guy to have around and musically such a big talent and always objective in his choices. To give you an example, on this track we did together a lot of the work was done by just jamming together. We started the track with the 4 of us, and we all found a sound each that worked well together: D was doing the drums, I was doing some weird guitar sounds, and Mike and Crazy B had their own sound too. We laid out the track by jamming for about 3 and half minutes together and after that we went back and finalised the details of the track. We have a flute as the lead, added some bridges etc...

All this to say that we were looking for the sounds of the track as we went along, a bit like we do when we are together as BNN. Each of us on his table, looking for sounds that will make the track come together and with Mike 9 times out 10 when he got off and did something we ended up keeping it in the end. D we found was more of the sort that knew what he wanted in relation to the music. For example there was a bit, where Crazy B found this vocal, who went well with the track but it was a female vocal, it was quite singing, a bit abstract, not really RnB more like a singing vibrato... It was that type of thing and I think that in a way that didn't really fit with D's view of the track, it didn't go with his concept and so he wasn't interested. He was the one who recorded the track, and each time we found a sound he was feeling, we could tell, because he would record it and add a track on the computer. And when he wasn't feeling it, no matter how long we played around with it, he wasn't going to add a track for it. On the LP, there is a track where you get this reggae guitar with an electro bass and a kind of military style drums, and we aren't thinking "this is the type of sound we want to achieve", we aren't limiting ourselves. When something sounds like it works, we record it on a track, and sometimes we come back to it, and take it off, or we wait till the next day so we have a more objective look on it. But people who liked D's album will probably find a D-Styles' sound to the track, there is a piano on there which is quite dark. The track isn't dark overall, but you can tell D was involved on it, which is good I think. In comparison to us the main difference is that there is a limit to the sound that his music must have, whereas we aren't really bothered.

So if I understood well there aren't any solos on the LP...

N: There aren't any solos with typical scratch sounds. But there are trumpet solos, flute, guitar, saxophone... When it fits with the track, it's all done for the music overall and all the sample manipulations (the technical aspect of a solo) that are on the LP are on there to serve the overall sound of our music. Everytime we play a sound, we don't chirp and baby scratch at the start of it, and we don't cut it up if that doesn't bring anything to the music. If it's only ‘triggered' and it sounds better that way, than that's the way it is. Actually it's much harder to find sounds and to fit them together without manipulation on 15 multiple computer tracks in harmony, than it is to baby scratch each sound at the beginning and to do transforms on it 3 times. So it's true that sometimes our music isn't really technical as such, but the technique resides in the capacity to select the right samples, research the track, fit it all together, so that notes aren't clashing. It's easy to fall into bad taste when you make scratch music, there are samples which can quickly...

...clash?...

N: no that's not it. It's more like a concept of bad taste. Maybe there are certain elements of our music, that if they were to be separated from it might make you think of something that is bad taste, maybe something sounding like the 80s, or like a very generic sound from... from... well I don't know maybe MacGyver or something like that. That's what we call bad taste when we speak together, because sometimes when you listen to music people put out online, they have 3 or 4 sounds going which go well together as a whole and then they'll bring in something which to us has nothing to do with the rest of the song and to us that's bad taste, though I haven't really got any examples at hand to give you. It's similar to what we call ‘the waste'. It wastes a track. For example when Pone is feeling a bit funny, he sings one of our tracks, where there is a pitched up vocal sample, which we argued about whether or not people would believe that it was someone singing on the track, and at the end of the chorus, he mimes someone doing "cut-cut-cut like a guillotine" (laughs)... You see it can really fuck things up when you are doing something quite ambitious. At the moment in scratch music, we are still at this stage, people sometimes manage to make music which is interesting, that has nice vibes to it, and after a while there is always a little vocal that creeps in or a sound which really has nothing to do with it, and that's just sad. Well I say it's sad now, but when we were making the LP I don't think I was seeing things that way just yet. But we weren't even thinking about this, we never had the idea to tell ourselves "we won't do it", we just didn't put any limits on what we wanted to do, if we had found a way to use ahhh and fresh we would have done it. We just wanted to do something different. Maybe at the beginning we thought we weren't going to do any solos with ahh or fresh, but didn't tell ourselves that we weren't going to solo at all. There aren't any scratched vocals in the same way as there are loads of them on D's album. To go even further with it, there aren't any drums, bass or guitars that come from a break record, there are actually no sounds from break records, apart from the BNN or solo ones we have done.

Well when I mentioned solos, it was more because you had D at hand, and he is still the number one soloist out there.

N: Yes but no... from the beginning our approach was laid out. He is a top soloist, but he also is a leader in the sense that he was the first person to put out an album made entirely out of scratch. And his vibe interested us, and there was a good, strong contact between us, which was there because Pone had a good contact with him prior to this. Pone has been round his twice. It was also to do with the reaction that he might have had in relation to what we were able to do when we played together at Batofar (for the Phantaz Tour). All this led to us knowing that we could ask for a collaboration in the future, and from the start we didn't want to approach him to fill a gap that might have been there. That was never the reason we contacted him. Because it's true that if we had done loads of ahhh and fresh solos, we would have been stupid to bring him over to do a ahhh or fresh solo, because that wouldn't have been something worthy of what he can really do. And at the same time had he done a ahhh or fresh solo on the track it would have sounded like there was a gap to fill in our music. We don't think our album is on that level, and what we wanted to do with him more than anything was compose music together. And in the end we all had a good time. D is also a bit like a leader, as much for those who scratch ahhh and fresh all day long, as for those who compose music on turntables. He is a legend in the scratch world. We were given the means to make this happen and we are happy that it went the way it did.

Interview is continued here.