MistaTrick - Interviewed by Max Golfar

Max Stuart Golfar

Max Speaks to MistaTrick, one of the most creative producers and promoters in the UK, about his new live project, his festival, and his musical roots. The new live act is amazing, blowing my housemate's tiny mind with its combo of close harmony, live brass, a tight MC and serious dance beats. 

MAX: For those of you who don’t know you, who is Mista Trick and what are you all about?

MistaTrick: My name is Mista trick and I am a swing and bass DJ. I'm from London but now live in Bristol and I'm all about funky drum and bass.

MAX: You weren’t always a Swing’n’Bass guy, so would you be able to tell us about how your DJ career started and where your musical roots stem from?

MistaTrick: My musical roots stem from the UK garage scene in 2000s where I DJ'd under the name of DJ Halo. When I was 16, I ran a pirate radio station from my back garden and I learned so much about DJs and MCing. I then went onto Leeds Uni & DJ'd in pretty much every club by the end of the three years I was there. I'd mainly play R&B and hip-hop and at legendary house parties where the basements would always be drum and bass. I remember the first rave I went to was at the West Indian Centre in Chapel Town in Leeds; Subdub. The bass on that system was just mental. 

I ended up doing some commercial Djing in the West End and pretty much hated it - it's soul destroying playing music that you're not passionate about for 8 hours. I then started going to festivals and Boomtown changed my life and introduced me to the beautiful sound of Electro Swing.

MAX: You’ve progressed your music production in to a live show with a full band. What was that process like?

MistaTrick: After going to Boomtown I found out one of my friends was in a swing band called Elle and the Pocket Belles and I asked if I could remix one of their tracks called Swinging Together which was then released on Ragtime Records. We got loads of bookings as a collab band but I decided to create Mista Trick Live for the harder Electro-Swing tracks. The change has been a journey trying different ways of doing the sets and I'm always learning and one day I want to play live kit. One major factor I have is that I want to create more original tracks similar to the likes of Scratchophone Orchestra, Jenova Collective & Caravan Palace. This is why we're kickstarting our album and we need all the support we can to make this dream a reality.

MAX: Who have been some of your musical influences?

MistaTrick: Wow, so many. I think, at the moment, London Elektricity Big Band. They killed it at Glastonbury. The musicians are insane. Ed Solo tracks are always big tunes in the clubs. The reggae/jungle vibe is just perfect in so many ways and I feel that's what can be created in a swing/jazz style.

MAX: What music production software do you use and why?

MistaTrick: I was on Reason for years but then moved to Logic 9 (standard) and I dabble in Ableton. The warping function is second to none.

MAX: You also started your own festival last year, what was that like putting it on?

MistaTrick: Oh yeah, that! Sometimes I don't know how this happened! I love sharing people's talent and showcasing the scene. Under The Hill is a collab with my old family friend, James, and Amy, our incredible marketing expert. Funnily enough, putting on a festival isn't easy, I worked so hard I gave myself meningitis straight after!

MAX: What is Under The Hill all about and when is the next edition happening?

MistaTrick: Last year was really successful, we had 500 people attend. We managed to secure a license for up to 3000 this year and it's going to be just as good. We're also opening for one day more on Friday evening till Sunday morning. We'll be showcasing some incredible live bands and superstar DJs. I also want to reach out to anyone who wants to get involved, from sound, lighting, stalls and traders.

We also want local bands (Hereford and Worcester) and we are running a dj competition.

MAX: Where can people next catch you performing?

MistaTrick: Depending on when you may be reading this, I play all over the shop at a few London gigs, Bristol and the odd city in Europe. And a handful of great festivals. Also, Canada is going to be fun. Check Facebook and follow me on bands in town - great app for gigs. I also run a venue at Boomtown with Marcus Gear from Subsonic called Little Pharma.

MAX: Any else you would like to mention?

MistaTrick: You're a G! 

Mista Trick’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mistatrick/

Under The Hill Festival: www.underthehillfest.co.uk

Under The Hill Festival Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/234855063725631/
MistaTrick Live's KIckstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mistatrick/mista-trick-live-album-fundraiser

Alligatorz – Vintage Remix’s First Supergroup?

Chris Inglis, the worlds only vintage remix researcher, considers whether the vintage remix world has its first supergroup.

One of the newest groups to hit the vintage remix world is Alligatorz – a production duo formed of DJ Greem and Mighty Mezz, of C2C and Caravan Palace respectively. These two have been performing together since the start of the year, and as of last week, have begun to release original music. Upon discovering this act, my first thought was to question whether one could call this the genre’s first ever supergroup.



Of course, this isn’t the first time that individuals from various vintage remix acts have come together to produce new music. When thinking of other groups to compare, my first instinct is to go to the Dutty Moonshine Big Band: formed of Hypeman Sage, Maria Laveau of the VooDoo Collective, the Temple Funk Collective brass band, and Dutty Moonshine himself. Other examples could include the Swing Towers, a duo formed of Cab Canavaral and Tony Maroni; and Tuxedo Junction, formed of Father Funk and Bear Twists.

But I would hesitate to refer to any of these acts as supergroups. Let me compare with perhaps the most well-known supergroup of all time: the Travelling Wilburys, formed of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, and Tom Petty. What made the Wilburys stand out is the distinction that each of the members had already won significant acclaim as a musician in their own right. The significance is the key point; were one to define a supergroup as simply an act made up of musicians who have already performed in other acts, virtually every band ever could be described as a supergroup.



So what does significance mean? Well it would differ from genre to genre – each of the musicians from the Travelling Wilburys has enjoyed a degree of success that even the most popular electro swing artist could only dream of. As a fairly niche genre, the popularity one must attain to be considered significant within the vintage remix world, would be considerably lower than for other, more widespread styles.

I’ve chosen to do a quick investigation into looking at the most popular acts within the genre. I’ve looked at Facebook likes for my methodology, mainly due to the fact that it is the quickest and easiest method I can think of. This of course does not come without its flaws – an artist such as Caro Emerald, for instance, enjoys a much older fan base than many other vintage remix artists, and her Facebook likes would therefore not represent her record sales as accurately – but I think it’s a fair method for a study as brief as this one. Setting the threshold at 100,000 likes, the most popular vintage remix acts appear to be:

• Parov Stelar (1,000,000)
• Postmodern Jukebox (890,000)
• C2C (624,000)
• Gramatik (555,000)
• Caravan Palace (345,000)
• Chinese Man (299,000)
• Alice Francis 250,000 *
• Caro Emerald (248,000)
• Goldfish (204,000)
• Deluxe (145,000)
• Mr. Scruff (122,000)
• Molotov Jukebox (112,000)

I may well have missed out one or two acts, and of course there may be some disagreement regarding the eternal debate of what is and isn’t electro swing, but in my brief search I couldn’t find any other acts above the 100,000 mark.

The results are certainly interesting. An immediate realisation of mine is that the only two British acts are at the very bottom of the list. France is certainly leading the way, with four of the eleven acts being from there. So it is no surprise therefore, that Alligatorz –who we can now conclude are indeed vintage remix’s first ever supergroup – hail from France.

With each of the members belonging to an act from within the top five most popular vintage remix acts in the world, Alligatorz are bound to have an impact on the scene. I look forward to hearing more of what they’ve got to offer.




* This post was edited to include Alice Francis in the list.