Freakmenoovers Interviews |
| Hi,
I’m Stewart or Q if you prefer, I’m
the not-so-silent third member of the Freakmenoovers,
who takes care of the business end of the Freakmenoovers’
ventures i.e. dealing with the stuff the other two
can’t be bothered with. I’m also the
other voice you can hear talking rubbish alongside
Dema on our Kinetic Energy show on www.radiomagnetic.com
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| In addition to ‘taking care of Freaky business’,
I’m also an active freelance music/arts journalist,
working with many of the nation’s best media.
To date I’ve worked across a wide spectrum
of the media; including 1xtra, BBC Radio Scotland,
Bfm, Go Magazine, Irish Examiner, M8 Magazine, Radio
1, Scotland on Sunday, The List, The Herald, Tense
Magazine, Evening Times, Touch Magazine, Wax………
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| Here I’ve presented some of my many hip hop
(and related) interviews that you can download and
critique as you like. If there’s anyone out
there that you’d like to see me grab a few
words with on your behalf let me know and I’ll
see what I can do. Hit me up at Q
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| All interviews are presented in Abode Acrobat, if
you don’t have it click here to download it
for free: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2_allversions.html |
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I hooked-up with the Blackbyrds backstage at the
Arches in Glasgow after their last performance as
the group. From memory the gig was a killer, with
all the hits coming at us thick and fast –
including some samples familiar to all the hip hop
headz in attendance. Instead of being in sombre
mood due to the imminent end to their touring schedule
as the Blackbyrds they were extremely positive about
the future of the various members of the group.
Originally published in 2000 in the now defunct
Bfm magazine.
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An extremely abridged version of this interview
came out in the Scotland on Sunday, when I read
it in print I nearly wept at how bad a job they’d
done on it. Cut to fewer than 500 words it never
done justice to Bootsy whatsoever. Here I’ve
reworked it and added even further quotes from the
original interview I conducted with him on the line
to his Bootzilla Studio (I still got those digits).
In general, this is the way the interview feature
was intended to run, I hope you enjoy it.
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| Chuck D Interview 1
Interviewed over the phone at his home in New York
(again, I still have that number). Chuck had just
returned from a tour and was totally fucked. One
of only two interviews conducted for his appearance
in Scotland for his lecture tour, it was the most
amount of research I’d done for an interview
(or since). As a renowned intellect you know you’ve
got to be on point with Mista Chuck. Pleased to
get the interview I was ultimately less satisfied
with what I put into print for Scotland on Sunday,
as it never totally captured the man. Something
I tried to rectify a while later with a piece for
Touch Magazine (see below).
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As a journalist you often have to work under the
constraints of the medium you are working to. Originally
I interviewed Chuck D for Scotland on Sunday newspaper,
where I put in an edited, almost family friendly
piece on Chuck. For Touch Magazine I let the full
spectrum of the man out for all to see. Unfortunately,
due to timing and publishing wrangles this article
never saw the light of day - so this is something
of an exclusive.
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Another few hundred words on the burgeoning underground
hip hop scene that never transpired into an actual
printed article. Whether it was bad writing or a
Scottish media unwilling to accept that their readers
were interested to know what was going on musically
outside the indie market, you can decide. Not so
much an interview but a preview of their forthcoming
gig. Dema and I did actually interview the group
at Glasgow’s King Tut’s the previous
time they’d played. As memory serves there
were about three people all trying to get an interview
and they chose us as the only one they’d do
– presumably as the Freakmenoovers were also
manning the decks that night, in support of the
group. As it turned out when setting up the recording
equipment I’d inadvertently plugged the microphone
into the headphone socket and vice versa. What we
ended up with was a crystal clear recording of me
asking questions and the throbbing of my temple,
and an extremely muffled Dilated Peoples. Well you
live and learn. |
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Interviewed ahead of his appearance at Freak Moves
I managed to track him down in his New York studio
late one night over the phone, when he was taking
a break in-between finishing off mixes for some
top drawer hip hop talent. We played out the interview
on Radio Magnetic the day before the gig and this
article ran in M8 Magazine a few weeks later. Funny,
articulate and forthright is how I’d describe
the interview. Some of his ‘quotables’
also made it into some other newspapers in the run
up to the gig. A legend finally makes it into print
in Scotland. |
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Originally published in Touch Magazine in late 2000
early 2001 this feature came about following a running
joke I shared with the Editorial team at the magazine
(incidentally that joke still continues today) –
about Scotland’s reputation as a drug crazed
nation. The more astute amongst you will notice
there are actually 11 tracks featured, and you can
guess which one was eventually dropped when the
article made it into print. Join us on the forum
to add your own drug influenced tracks.
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Interviewed in-between their sound check as the
DJ promoting the gig pounded out a few hip hop gems,
means I’ll never be able to play this interview
out on the radio. It was at Planet Peach in Glasgow,
when Sub Club had relocated their following a fire
that had engulfed the legendary club. Originally
published in Bfm magazine back in 2001 this acts
as an introduction to the Grand Central crew. |
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This was about the hardest review to get into print
that I’ve ever faced. Not that the magazine
(Touch) didn’t want it but because we couldn’t
find a photographer with the sufficient skills to
carryout the job for almost zero pay (actually I
still think they own her the money). Luckily I made
the acquaintance of a fantastic photographer while
working for a Scottish magazine, who was only too
happy to help shine the spotlight on the Freakmenoovers.
To this day she is a good friend to us all and an
ardent fan of what the guys do. Incidentally, she
has done all the Freakmenoovers press shots in the
images section (even the infamous badger shots).
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When I first mooted this to the Scotland on Sunday
I was convinced I was wasting my breath. Imagine
then my surprise when they chose it as the lead
article in the arts section that week. It was a
tight as hell deadline, with phone calls going well
into the night trying to track down graffiti artist
Mau Mau at his Devonshire home. Luckily I’d
done some preliminary research for a history of
graffiti article I’d been toying with for
another publication some years before. Ultimately
what came out was a merging of some of its elements
along with the information about the exhibition
itself. Mark Brennan (Marcobe) who put on the show
now runs his own exhibition company – check
him out at Urban
Art Official |
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Another one of those badly timed pieces - by the
time I had the interview in the bag there was nothing
new to promote so no magazine/newspaper was willing
to run the feature. Fair play to them but is that
all magazines are about – promotional tools?
The interview was conducted between sound checks
at Glasgow’s King Tut’s and Melle Mel
was a revelation to me – a genuinely funny
guy who’d obviously been through a lot in
his career. I latterly found out, through Quincy
Jones’ biography, that he’d actually
taken Mel off the streets of New York - where he
was emerged in a crippling cocaine habit - to record
‘Back on the Block’, along with Big
Daddy Kane and Kool Moe D. It was Q who managed
to turn his career around again and set him down
the road of rehabilitation. The guys over at Df
Concerts – the owners of King Tut’s
and the people behind T in the Park – still
consider the gig these guys did to be one of the
best their company has ever put on. I’ll need
to dig out the original tape and get it on www.radiomagnetic.com
one of these days.
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I managed to track down Wu-tang Clan originator
GZA when he was in the UK for a short series of
gigs and it first appeared in M8 Magazine. I caught
up with him at his hotel room in England somewhere.
He certainly maintained the image of Americans not
knowing their geography when he asked me where I
was calling from. ‘Glasgow’ was my response
and when he muttered ‘that’s in England
right?’ I quickly moved onto subjects he was
more familiar with – the Wu. The gig he appeared
at Glasgow’s Arches later that week also saw
the Freakmenoovers take to the stage in support.
A great gig and we also managed to a get a quality
shout-out from the man for use on future Freakmenoovers’
mix tapes (it’s on Dema’s ‘Dirty
Menoovers’ mix CD). FYI: This interview was
conducted prior to Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s
tragic death. |
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I still recall the shock I felt when I heard the
news of Jay’s death. I think it was either
Dema or Nice that sent me a text telling me the
news early the next morning. Touched by everyone’s
respect for the man it prompted me to write this
small obituary for Touch Magazine. Aged just 37
he was far too young to die but his true legend
still lives on. RIP.
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Catching up with one of the Native Tongues originals
- the Jungle Brothers - was a relatively positive
experience. The piece ran in M8 Magazine and it
was a breeze of an interview to conduct such was
Mike G’s professionalism (I only ended up
chatting to Mike alone as Afrika was running late).
I spoke to Mike over the phone at his home in North
Carolina (I think) and we chatted for a good while
about the new single they’d done with Mr On
(see below). We also spoke about the Jungle Brothers’
place in hip hop history and where they see themselves
going. He also promised to try and hook me up with
an interview with the almighty Q-Tip – I’m
still waiting on that coming off. Hopefully one
of these days we’ll get it sorted. |
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A shorter version of this piece first ran in M8
Magazine but I’ve added some other quotes
to bolster it out a bit. I’ve missed some
stuff out, concerning his fiancee’s father,
none other than Quincy Jones as it was all over
the place (he's enganged to Rashid, whose sister Kidada was dating Tupac at the time of his murder). What I can say here is that Mark
refers to him as “the Jedi Knight of the music
industry………because so many people
call him for advice.” A real talker with plenty
of stories to tell he’s a dream interview,
I’m only pissed that I never got to catch
him DJ when he was in the UK. |
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Part 2 of the above interview this was originally
just an interview with the Jungle Brothers for their
remake of Q-Tip’s ‘Breathe and Stop’
rap for Mr On’s bootleg, I ended up interviewing
Mr On regarding the actual process of getting the
bootleg released. Primarily, because I forgot to
get the skinny from the Jungle Brothers –
it all turned out okay in the end, with Mr On giving
readers of M8 Magazine a good insight into the working
of the music industry. |
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Back in 2000 Edinburgh’s Oh Eye Records was
attracting a fair bit of attention, especially due
to Reachout’s association with Roots Manuva.
It was a joyful time and one filled with a lot of
optimism. Keen to highlight not only Oh Eye’s
successes I set about constructing this article
to really blow Scotland’s hip hop innovators
and creator’s respective trumpets (no, not
like that!). In essence it was a puff piece on Scottish
hip hop but unfortunately and somewhat predictably
it never made it into print.
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A version of this interview ran in Bfm Magazine
back in 2000, when I interviewed the guys backstage
at Glasgow’s Arches club ahead of their gig
that night. A real couple of hip hop heads only
too keen to rattle on all day about the hip hop
underground. I also conducted some interviews with
the Edinburgh hip hop massive that day for a piece
on Scottish hip hop I was putting together, and
an interview for Reachout for BBC Radio Scotland.
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In my opinion Pharcyde made some of hip hop’s
most enduring tracks and when I interviewed Imani
from the group at King Tuts in Glasgow back in 2000
they were on the cusp of a revival. Originally I
thought Imani was bored to tears with the interview
since he was reading a car magazine during it, he
did eventually spark into life enough to give me
some killer quotes. We’ve played the interview
out on www.radiomagnetic.com
on our Kinetic Energy show a few times and it still
makes me laugh.
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My first magazine cover for Scotland on Sunday it
came as much of a shock to me as it did to the good
people over at Radio Magnetic. I remember Dougal
and Tom from the station telling me they went to
a meeting with some heavyweight radio people a few
weeks after the article came out and were surprised
to see they all had a copy of the magazine. It’s
a shame there is no royalty cheques in the journalist
game!
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One of my earliest pieces for the Scotland on Sunday
newspaper this appeared on the cusp of Roots Manuva’s
move into the mainstream media consciousness. Before
that he was designated a strictly ‘London
thing’ by the press. The emergence of ‘Witness
(One Hope)’ and ‘Dreamy Days’
would soon put paid to that.
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Interviewed for M8 magazine to coincide with his
last album ‘Awfully Deep’ it was a strange
interview. One minute happy as a clam the next in
deep reflective mood. To be honest re-reading the
interview I think I went a bit over the top in painting
the picture of a troubled soul but space never really
allowed me to expand on the lighter elements of
the interview. Today I unfortunately can’t
rectify that because when I was recording the interview
my mini disc recorder kept stopping and starting
as it had ran out of battery. All I have left are
the deep reflective bits. Ah well, I’m sure
they’ll be another chance to paint a fuller
picture.
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Originally printed in Bfm magazine sometime back
in 2001, the interview took place in the dining
area of his London hotel early one Sunday morning,
after Roy had just finished a two-week stint at
Ronnie Scott jazz club. The interview coincided
with his appearance at Scotland’s triptych
festival. I initially conducted the interview for
BBC Radio Scotland after it ran I used the material
to create this piece for Bfm Magazine.
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For me this is where it all started with the Freakmenoovers,
down at the 13th Note Cafe in King Street, Glasgow.
I can’t quite remember how many times I’d
seen them before this review, but it must have only
been a handful of times. Back then Freakmenoovers
were a three-man outfit Dema, Nice & Bunty,
on the night of this review they had some more recruits
bolstering the crew to five. This appeared in Bfm
magazine back in 1999, when I was convinced things
were going to take off for the table wizards. Thankfully
I wasn’t too wrong. |
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Originally conducted as a live interview for BBC
Radio Scotland in 2001, I took elements of the interview
and combined it in this piece following a subsequent
phone interview. It’s still a crying shame
that he’s never really garnered the success
that he quite clearly deserves. A real gent in the
hip hop game. Hopefully there’s more to come
from the man.
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This was an extremely difficult interview to get
at the time. Westwood was extremely sceptical of
the press back then, and with good cause. I had
to jump through many a hoop to get it. Some of the
text is taken from an interview I conducted with
him for BBC Radio Scotland and it was the first
time he’d ever been asked about his voice
and the infamous drive-by shooting. The interview
was a real scoop and was just one of those right
place, person and times things and I’m grateful
to Westwood for being so open with me. An abridged
version of it ran in Touch Magazine along with some
additional quotes on the release of his first compilation
album. It was also a real scoop for Touch magazine,
as Westwood had fallen out with them many years
earlier when he was part of the original editorial
staff, in its previous incarnate as Free Magazine
– a sort of fanzine that went along with Kiss
in its pirate days, which he also set up.
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A version of this first appeared in Scotland on
Sunday and in it he lets his big dawg guard slip
when he describes his healthy regime. There is also
some scandal dished on P Diddy that I’m really
surprised was never siezed upon by the tabloids.
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My most recent interview with the big T, conducted
in promotion of one of his last ‘Westwood
Presents’ albums. This was for M8 magazine
and was my fifth and probably my most concise and
revealing interview with him - where he discusses
his secret charity work, and those all important
cars – this before he went on to pimp people’s
rides. ‘Bend down and kiss the ring!’,
as it says on his answering machine.
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Interviewed ahead of their appearance in Glasgow
before the Freakmenoovers brought them over to rock
Glasgow, the conversation took place over the phone
to their hotel room somewhere in the States. Never
ones to epitomise the hip hop lifestyle these guys
never disappointed when the dispelled with many
a myth on what it’s like on the road with
a rap group. First published in Go Magazine back
in 2001, this is the original unedited version that
never made it into print.
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