Music : House, Urban and Retro
On Saturday January 31st 2009 Saturday Night Project is pleased to announce the return of the legendary DJ, Producer, Cartoonist and Tea Drinker – MR SCRUFF!
No stranger to Bangor, he will be playing an exclusive live 6 hour set @ Time/Amser of eclectic sounds from Soul, Funk, Hip Hop, Jazz, Reggae, Latin, African and Ska through to Disco, House, Funk, Breaks, Soundtracks and much more.
From his early years as a 12 year old boy in 1984 marvelling at the genius of mixing, the transition to internationally acclaimed DJ was littered with plays on pirate radio stations and regular bar gigs. His first break came in 1994 when he met Barney Doodlebug, a DJ/Doodler from Bristol, who gave him his first Manchester gig in Dry Bar on Sunday nights and passed a demo tape onto Rob’s Records, a local label, which subsequently led to them releasing Mr Scruff’s first 12” single.
1994-1995 saw a string of residencies at Hedfunk, Eardrum, One Tree Island and Dubism, as well as a stint at the infamous Manumission. The next couple of years allowed him to release more singles through Rob’s Records subsidiary, Pleasure, as well as sides for Echo Drop, Grand Central and Cup of Tea, and even the opportunity to release his first remix, a DJ Food megamix for their ‘Refried Food’ box set, which was his first encounter with the Ninja Tunes fold. The offer of a residency @ Off-Centre in London led not only to a four year stint with them, but an increase in gig offers around the country and regular spots at Electric Chair and Fat City nights in Manchester, and Tru Thoughts in Brighton.
Following his signing to Ninja Tunes in 1998 he was able to release his first album ‘Keep it Unreal’ and launch his own club night of the same name, borne of the desire to play exactly what he wanted to play rather than having to fit in with the policies of other club nights. The success of the nights allowed him to take the idea on tour, and instead of the usual DJ routine of turning up and playing a two hour guest slot, Mr Scruff was able to play a whole night at a venue, creating his own atmosphere and setting his own pace for the night. The ‘Keep it Unreal’ nights are still a regular event @ Music Box to this day.
The last ten years has seen Mr Scruff honing his talent, taking his music around the world and building a huge fan base. His success has enabled him to be in a position to play a lot of esoteric and unusual music. Although he takes influence from many genres of music and incorporates an array of sounds into his mixing, the only real criteria Mr Scruff expects from his music is that it has to have soul.
Having been holed up in the studio for the last 2 years he is now ready to release his new album ‘Ninja Tuna’, an eagerly anticipated 13 track compilation including collaborations with some of the music scenes biggest and best names - Quantic, Danny Breaks and Roots Manuva to name but a few – and this month saw the release of his new single ‘Get On Down/Hold On’.
An avid tea drinker and environmentalist, Mr Scruff has now branched out into the world of brews. For years he has set up stalls at his events selling tea paraphernalia such as tea towels, mugs and coasters, and has now made the transition into stockist and distributor of some of the ‘greenest’ tea around. His cuppa’s have maximum flavour with minimum impact – more of a wrestler’s brew than a builder’s!
His tea company is still very small and very new, but they are clear on their vision – to bring us the best quality and best tasting teas and brews with minimum impact on the world around us and, at the same time, doing their best to work with suppliers who adhere to strict ethical and environmental policies. Whenever they sell cups of their 100% organic tea from their Make Us A Brew tent at festivals, gigs and clubs all the profits go to charity. They have even made an effort with their packaging too – the card cartons are made from 80% recycled cardboard and the teabags are made from chlorine-free paper and are compostable.
We mustn’t forget the visual side of Mr Scruff either. His cartoons have become iconic and his clothing and other branded items can be purchased from his Onion Shop online and his stalls on location. His ‘Pies are Nice’ and ‘Ninja Tuna’ T-shirts are much coveted and can be seen on the backs of fans and peers alike.
For more information on Mr Scruff’s audios, visuals and tea consumption, check out his website www.mrscruff.com which has links to all aspects of the Scruff repertoire.
So for a guaranteed spectacular event, make sure you don’t miss the return of MR SCRUFF to Bangor next month!
Entry is £10/£8 NUS & Members