From his early beginnings as an eager child buying his first set of decks at 15, to the ever popular grand stages of the World’s finest festivals, here’s one DJ with a clearly marked ‘one to watch’ sticker planted firmly upon his person and oh... how he is.

Meet John Kutski, beats, bass and scratch extraordinaire; working a set of 1000’s like a Ferret on speed playing patty-cake and giving the mixer just as much love, here’s an artist that has as much passion and enthusiasm for his live performances, as he does his studio production work with the likes of heralded artists such as Billy ‘Daniel’ Bunter and BK.

Previously, he has produced work for some of the finest labels the Hard Dance community have to offer, including Riot!, Traffic, Ministry Of Sound, Tidy, X-Cite and has performed upon the main stages of many a branded event, including Slammin Vinyl and Slinky. In his own self proclamation- he plays ”everything from Hip Hop to Hardcore put in a blender with a sprinkling of Cheese on top” and does so with skill, talent and priceless invention bringing a fresh and original approach to a live performance that has had him likened to the legendary Grandmaster Flash. Add to this his Radio One ‘In New Music We Trust’ show making often daring underground musical choices ”the likes of which not heard since the late, great John Peel” and you have altogether a clearly gifted individual.

He’s a self confessed Hardcore head, but has as much a passion for all fashions of Hard Dance and indeed Hip Hop and on Friday, 21st December brings his undisputable talent to High Velocity at The Mud Club in Bognor Regis.

Presenting a chat with the quite excellent Kutski…
Kutski, hello! Let us begin by getting your real name, your age, where you are from and a little bit about your musical roots – what inspired you on your musical career journey?

Hello! My real name is John, I’m from Chester (yes, Hollyoaks territory) and I am one whole quarter of a century old! I would say the music that inspired me to get involved in the scene myself, was Hardcore rave in the early 90’s. Altern8, SL2, Ratpack, etc…

From there I’ve got into a massive range of music from 60’s Soul and Funk to Metal, all of which influence everything I do as a DJ in some shape or form!

Tell us all about your first big break, where you were when you heard about it, how you felt, and what it was like, that sort of thing?

DJ’ing has always been quite incremental for me. A lot of small breaks have helped to build my career steadily as opposed to one key thing that launched me. One break, which was amazing though, was when I first started to work with Billy ‘Daniel’ Bunter. He’d always been like a child hood hero of mine, I’d got a postal address for him off the back of a Honey Pot Records release, and I used to send him mix CD’s every month, not even knowing if he was receiving, let alone listening to them. One day I was just sitting at my desk when I worked for the Council, my phone rang and it was Bunter saying he’d been listening to my CD’s, loved what I was doing and wanted to start putting me on at his Tasty events in London! That was a pretty surreal phone call and I was buzzing my tits off for weeks after it!

How was it that you made the progression from the cool cut-up Hip Hop sound to the mentalist thrusting of peak time Hardcore and Gabba? Or where you always into them all for there own respective reasons?

(Laughs). A lot of people ask me this but I was actually into Hardcore / Rave before anyone else! I got into scratching from the likes of Hixxy, Sy, DJ Hype and so on… the more I got into scratching, I found out about the turntablism Hip Hop scene. Then the more I learned about Hip Hop DJ’ing techniques, I could apply them to what I was doing with other styles! So it’s all kind of developed together rather than a transition from one style to another!

You have been hailed or likened to the legendary late John Peel, who also had a flair for the experimental and a no holds barred approach to breaking new music. How did it feel to learn that you were to host a similar sort of show, on Radio One whereby you have room to not only innovate yourself but explore genres that are not necessarily included within the daytime schedule?

Being compared to John Peel would be the ultimate compliment, and although it’s flattering, what I do is still very narrow compared to Peel! It’s amazing to have the opportunity I do to play such a wide range of Hard Dance music though, with no play list to adhere to! I think it shows these days Radio 1 is actively supporting more dedicated, specialised music genres by the inclusion of shows such as mine and ‘In New Music We Trust’ in general!

Your production work in the studio is very cross over, as are your live performances - what really engages you about what you do? Is the kick the same for you both in the studio and on the stage or are they completely different experiences for you for different reasons? Is there a preference?

I’m a DJ first, that just how I think and how I am, but I still love production! With production I tend not to do it for the sake of having tracks released with my name on it, when I have good ideas for tracks I’ll get busy and write, when I don’t, I don’t! I think it is better this way rather than forcing it, but this may explain why you won’t see any production from me for nine months, then three tracks in three months! After I’ve finished a track I’m really pleased with, there is an amazing warm feeling of accomplishment, but I still don’t think that can top the buzz of pulling of tricks in clubs and the crowd going mental!

Underground or Overground? (And why?)

Both! I’m very pro-underground, but without both the cycle wouldn’t work! Just because a track is commercially successful, doesn’t change how good the track is. If anything the fact that a lot of people like it is flattering and a good thing! The underground feeds the overground, and the overground recruits people into the scene, some of which will get into the underground.

Coming up, where you a huge fan of the International DMC Competitions? Did you ever enter any of them? Have you ever won any DMC Awards (or awards in general?)

I’ve always been into DMC and watch it every year! Its proper entertainment, but I think over the years the musical aspect has been somewhat lost. All these tricks where originally developed to enhance the records people knew. These days if you took away the visual aspect it doesn’t sound very nice at all, so I’ve always stuck to the Old Skool values of using turntablist tricks to enhance the music. Therefore my style is more dance floor friendly as opposed to battles and comps!

The artists you hail as your influences such as Shadow, Yoda, Scratch Perverts and so forth - have you ever worked with any of them? If not then who would you most like to work with?

I’ve never really worked with any of them, but I have got to know Yoda, and he’s reviewed many of my Hip Hop / Eclectic mixes in Hip Hop Connection magazine which is a real achievement for me! From a purely self-indulgent point of view, I’d love to do a cut and paste style mash-up mix with DJ Spinbad! He’s probably got the tightest skills and I personally think he’s the best mix tape DJ ever! I’d have to raise my game to keep up (laughs).

Give us a brief rundown of your current work schedule, be it DJ’ing, producing, performing, presenting, and being a rock star or otherwise?

DJ’ing – After High Velocity, I’ve have to drive straight up to Manchester Airport to get a flight to Inverness, grab a few hours sleep, play Fantazia, then shoot off for the last set in Bathgate. Boxing Day, I have two gigs with Alex Kidd near Plymouth, then two gigs with Eddie Halliwell the night after in Scotland. New Years Eve, I have Frantic in London, Big in Great Yarmouth and Hardcore Heaven at NEC in Birmingham, then finally New Years Day - I’m playing Good Greef in Leeds.

Production – A collaboration I did with Jason Cortez is released this week on Riot Recordsand I have a Limited EP due for release in January. I’m in the studio a lot in January writing new material including, a remix of a big track and an exciting collaboration!
Presenting – I have a four hour special on Radio 1 on the 28th December – 00:00am – 04:00 am, recapping all the biggest tracks of the year with special guests in the studio, the legendary Ratpack and Alex Kidd and then on the 4th of January, I’ll be filling in for Dave Pearce presenting Dance Anthems!

You are scheduled to join us at The Mud Club in Bognor next week, what are your plans for the set, any early indications of what to expect from your show there?

I’ve never played in Bognor before, so I’m not sure what sort of thing the crowd will be up for, but you can bet I will be stocked up with all my latest big hitters and all my tricks will be ready and waiting to get cut up ;)

Cheers Kutski – and have a very Merry Christmas buddy, we’ll see you at High Velocity!

Interview By Jon-Brown @ Turbulence-PR

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