Posts Tagged ‘United Arab Emirates’
DJ Solo
A throwback interview from when I used to write for Mid East Dynasty.
Neil Andrew aka DJ Solo is a turntablist and producer. Originally from High Wycombe and London, U.K., he now lives in Dubai, UAE. Read on to find out more about his EP “Who is Wriggly Scott?”, how Neil got the “DJ Solo” moniker and more.
Hi Neil, hows it going? Congrats on the release of your “Who Is Wriggly Scott” EP. How has the response to it been so far?
The response so far has been amazing both here and abroad. It’s been featured on various blogs and radio shows in the US and Europe, and one of the tracks is currently no.21 in the US College/Internet Radio Chart.
When did you start working on the EP? What was the writing and recording process like?
I didn’t specifically start working on an EP, and was just working on separate tracks. After a few of them came together and I did the track ‘Tangible Dream’ with Orifice Vulgatron, I think it was his encouragement which made me decide to try and release something. So from then on I would write beats, and then contact MCs that I knew and thought would suit specific tracks. The only MCs that recorded their verses in my studio were Feras, Jibberish and Orifice, all of the others sent their verses from abroad. It was actually a pretty smooth process all in all.
How did you choose which MCs to work with? How did you get J Live to feature on your EP?
The guys that I worked with were all friends that I’d known or worked with before, and it really was more of a case of suiting certain beats to certain MCs – obviously it depends on which beats they’re feeling also, or the verses would lack energy. In the back of my mind however I did have the inkling that I wanted it to have broad spectrum of nationalities on it. I met J-Live a few years ago when he performed here. Myself and Solphonic always said that we could retire from producing if we ever worked with him, – he’s really been one of my favourite MCs for a long time. Anyway, I managed to get in touch with him via Ben McDonald (Mach 4), who was originally involved in bringing him to perform here, luckily J liked the track and we took it from there, it reminded me of one of the beats off his second LP which is why I felt it would suit him.
“Who Is Wriggly Scott” EP will be released digitally by Dented Records, how did the deal come about?
Honestly it just kind of came up in conversation. I remember when I recorded Orifice’s verse (he’s a co-founder of Dented Records) for ‘Tangible Dream’ he said “you’d better do something with it”, or something like that. I think later on he just asked me if I’d like to release it on the label, to which of course I said yes. It’s been a real learning curve so far, and I’m lucky to have landed on a label that’s professional, and is already established with such great contacts in the industry. As a producer, especially in this region, it’s hard to guage the quality of your work and we always look to producer such as J Dilla or Madlib, as opposed to someone in London who probably knows a producer who lives on his street corner with a string of releases under his belt – I mean it’s great that we do that because that’s a very high standard to set yourself, but it can also make you question the level of your production.
When did you start DJing using turntables?
Well I started collecting records when I was 13 or 14 as it seemed that I could only buy the hip hop I liked on vinyl at the time. I bought my first turntable I think when I was 14 or 15, it was a belt-driven JB Systems Disco 2000 – I bought it from my friend who also threw in loads of old Jungle records. I used to call friends and scratch down the phone on my one turntable – my first DJ name was ‘The Deck Destroyer’.By the time I was 16 some of my friends were DJing, but they were all playing Jungle, Garage or Happy Hardcore and as none of them were playing Hip Hop I felt like it was kind of my duty as my home town (High Wycombe) once had a thriving hip hop scene which nobody seemed to be catering for anymore, so for my birthday I asked for another turntable – this time a belt-driven Soundlab – so my set-up didn’t even match. I also got a Kam GM25 mixer whish was particularly bad. I then changed my name to ‘The Drunken Master’, but it turned out there already was one in Wycombe, so I called myself ‘Peter Parker’ and later ‘Hash Solo’ (which stuck and became shortened once I moved to the U.A.E.) When I was 18 I visited New York with my Art College, and actually saved my money so that upon my return I could buy some Vestax turntables, the rest is history.
Do you play any musical instruments ?
I used to pay the piano growing up, then the guitar but unfortunately put them down when I started DJing. I still like to play the keys when I’m producing and also record a lot of percussion to give it a more ‘live’ feel. My mother and sister were both piano teachers, and I definitely feel that having even a small background in music theory helps me to structure things more musically when producing or scratching. I did take the piano up again a few years back, but due to a heavy workload had to drop it again.
When did you move to UAE? How did you get involved in the music scene?
Around 7 years ago. At first I played at a few MIS parties, and those guys later opened ibo, where I used to play quite regularly. I also played at some of the Global Funk parties. I actually gained a lot of exposure by just handing out mixtapes wherever I went. After meeting Dany Neville, he offered me guest spots on his show so that also helped a lot. Just meeting like-minded people leads you to meet more such people and before you know it you have a good circle of contacts.
The hip hop scene has been slowly developing in the UAE and the Middle East in the past few years, where do you see it going in the future?
Hip Hop and music as a whole has always been an extremely powerful tool to get your message across, but it’s a shame that many of the artists that I revere in this region seemingly don’t get enough exposure. Not only are record companies or club promoters generally more interested in the more commercially-viable artists, but individuals often get held back from traveling or studying abroad due to which passport they hold. Honestly I cannot predict where it will be in the future in the same way you cannot predict where this region as a whole will be next year, but I do see it growing and hope that the scene continues to develop in diverse ways.
You have a weekly online radio show “Another music” and also run a weekly club night “Freshly Laced”, any other ventures that we should know of?
Hmm, well I’m already working on my follow-up release which will be the first official release under the guise of ‘Wriggly Scott’ – it will be a lot more diverse in terms of the production, and will feature a mixture of instrumental and vocal tracks. I’m also working on a release for one of my other aliases ‘Ductchild’ which is much more moody, electronic stuff. I have another few ideas kicking around my head for collaborations but I have to keep them secret for the time being.
What are your plans for the rest of 2011?
Mainly to continue working on my production. I think that after my second or third release I will start looking into performing abroad more but am in no rush right now.
Palayan interview
Palayan is the solo project of Sandeep Sequeira. I know Sandeep from my time in Dubai where he was part of a metal band, Beneath the Remains. The band featured the Ampulance compilation that I helped to put together. Last month, Sandeep released his first album as Palayan, Metanoia. The album is a mix of post rock and electronica, a big departure from the metal sound.
I spoke to Sandeep about the origins of Palayan, the album and the possibility of performing live.

Picture by Ahmed Carter
Your recently released your first album as Palayan, Metanoia. How does it feel now that the album has been released?
Just sitting with the mastered tracks in my AirBnB rented room in Chiswick was a feeling of pride. I was proud that I didn’t settle on any aspect of the album and that it was the album I was always dreamed to make but didn’t think I was capable of years ago. When I was in that room I thought, even if I don’t get to release this properly I wouldn’t be upset, because I had done something for myself. I took moments of sadness, grief, pain, anger, betrayal, confusion and made something that made me feel none of those things. Anything I write is self therapy, so far. Releasing the album and people listening to it and messaging me about the songs is a bonus for me and a testament to my team’s dedication and patience.
From those who are unfamiliar with Palayan. How did you start the project?
Back in 2012, I kind of left my music dreams in a bin. The trauma of the drama and failure from my first metal band, left me frustrated and sick of chasing the dream. After not doing any music at all in 2012, my dream was re-ignited. Collaborating with Hesham Abdul Wahab here in Dubai in our time in university inspired me and gave me confidence to explore what I was ridiculed for before. People told me I can’t sing and that I wasn’t really capable of making anything other than metal. Which was strange because even in those metal days I wrote the same way as I write now, the same sense of melodies, chords, etc. I just present it differently now. So working with Hesham was an eye opening experience. I owe the start of Palayan to him. I started out making electronic and post rock instrumentals filled with elements of fusion. I started singing in 2014 and the way I write changed after that, I found another instrument to use.
From a guitarist in a metal band to a singer-songwriter. How did you make the transition?
I always wanted to sing but the people around me at the time never gave me the confidence and I guess I allowed them to put me down. I always wrote anyway, writing songs and recording was always happening. There are albums worth of material lying in hard drives. All the songs I wrote in the metal days and now always start on the acoustic guitar. So in that sense I still write and compose the same way. Having the confidence to sing and seeing people’s amazing reaction to my first vocal recording in 2014 was enough for me to make the transition to a singer-songwriter.
The inspiration behind Metanoia is a relationship that you went through. How did you go about the songwriting process for the album?
The songwriting didn’t happen intentionally. My friends joke about my writing volume. Sometimes I feel I have the opposite of writer’s block. My phone and computer is filled with music written from 2005. There are thousands of pieces scattered and I haven’t even listened to 5% of them. These songs on the record were phone recordings found on my phone from December 2015 to October 2016. Each song is an incident or a moment. And every track is in the order it was written. I only intended to release Chapter 1 as an EP because that was already recorded before I recorded the rest. Luckily, I found some more phone recordings and I started finding all the notes in my phone and in my books. I made a list thinking, ‘Maybe this can be an album.’ That idea marinated in my head for a couple of months before I knew I had to do it. And it was a journey of sorts.
The album features Indian musical instruments like the tabla. How did they become a part of your sound?
I have always had an interest in Indian classical instruments. From the earlier days of listening to Mohammed Rafi and Kishore Kumar and all those other greats, it was a sound that became a part of me. In fact any traditional instrument is something that I am a sucker for. If you remember Sting’s Desert Rose , it has the middle eastern vocals and percussion in it, but the track is not middle eastern, neither can it be classified as fusion. That is one example of how I like to fuse traditional instruments in my songs. Discovering fusion rock band Advaita helped opened this idea further. The way they use the tabla, sparingly and effectively, and over western arrangements, is something that I have always wanted to listen to.
You have released a music video for the track Empty Seed . How relevant do you think music videos are in the age of Youtube and Vimeo?
I don’t really know how relevant it is to be honest. I barely watch music videos, I like lyric videos more. I’ve had this vision of creating visual pieces for all the songs and I wanted to collaborate with all my friends, half of them being filmmakers. Most of my friends love watching music videos so making videos caters to that crowd as well.
What have you been listening to lately? Are there any acts that have inspired you of late?
These days I’m listening to Alice In Chains, Sepultura, PVRIS, Metallica and Nickelback to name a few. I guess you can say London Grammar has been an inspiration over the last few years. Their less is more approach is something I adore. The lyrics, melodies, chords and beats are next level.
What are your plans for the coming year? Do you have any plans to play live ?
Some of the plans are that I have to release music videos for every song on the album. So far I have 8 out of the 15 tracks. The others in planning and pre-production stages. I also want to record some live studio sessions and release some alternate studio versions of some songs. I really do want to play but that will have to be another project on its own. Pooling musicians together to play my song my way is quite tough. But I can see it happening.
Thanks for answering all my questions. Do you have any final words?
It is my pleasure to do this with you. I always wanted to be featured by Trendcrusher back in the metal days. So this is really great to do with you after all these years. Thank you for the opportunity.
Listen to Metanoia below
Maticrust
The United Arab Emirates is a country consisting of expatriates from around the world. Grindcore band Maticrust has been in the country for 5 years and made of of expats from the Philipines and India. This week, they released their first EP Inhumane World Deprivation. I spoke to vocalist Dondon Crust about the EP, performing at Obscene Extreme and also their plans for the rest of the year.
Check out my interview with Maticrust on EveryDayHate