Messy Bastard: Dunproofin interview Pt 2

The second part of our interview with Scotland’s Dunproofin [part 1 here]. This time, we consider club Bastard, the decline of bootlegging’s creativity and the future.

6.Are there any bootlegs of yours that you think have withstood the test of time (don’t say, none)?

The Stevie Wonder vs Clash one (Casbah Wonder) seems popular even today – I’ll get a few tweets on that every week, so I guess in terms of popularity that’s stood the test of time. There’s some I’m still more keen on than others though.

7. Were you involved with the club Bastard? What was it like – I never went?

Do you regret not having gone ? [I do – I was nervous of not being part of the clique] I went as a participant once and as a DJ once. Both events were memorable and pretty messy thanks to the specials from behind the bar. As I wasn’t a regular, it was more interesting actually putting the pieces together to all the on line persona I had started to know. The physical size of the place undoubtedly helped this as you couldn’t help but literally bump into people. I guess if the atmosphere and influence of that place can ever be recreated then someone will be onto the next big thing.

8. Which bootleggers did you particularly rate?

I’ll forget some people here without a doubt so apologies in advance …. the usual suspects like Soundhog, GHP, Lionel Vinyl, Lenlow, Loo & Placido, ATOM, Don & Josh (in their 1001 different alias). Dinbot especially – his Wire / Britney Spears thing I think is the only thing of his I ever heard but it’s still one of the best.

9. It all seemed to exciting and vibrant in 2002/03 to hear mash ups. What marked the start of the end?

Lots of factors reduced what was an all consuming interest. You actually pretty much nailed one aspect of this already in your introduction to Soundhog’s interview – it’s a typical genre thing. Once it becomes mainstream, it’s no longer as exciting as it used to be. It also got to the stage where I’d hear some bootlegs and think to myself they actually sounded better before they were mashed up in some cases. A lot of the combinations being made were becoming pretty predictable for me also, so there’s no “wow” moment. I do actually wonder if it’s because when I listened to tracks I was starting to listen as a bootlegger, trying to work out how I would have approached the same combination. There’s still occasions where it excites me though. As most of the older and more recognisable sources became used also, it also became less interesting to hear a bootleg if I didn’t actually know what one of the elements was – the impact of hearing the familiar in a transformed context became lost.

10. And what is music’s role for you now?

Pretty interesting actually. I’m still learning new ways to produce music and currently graduating through some pretty good remix opportunities. The aim is to eventually progress to making some original music. I’m very much into recording cover versions just now – it’s really make me think about how music is structured again as opposed to a bootleg mentality where the angle was completely different. Hopefully later this year there will be a limited vinyl release of some cover versions (most of the tracks are finished already but not all in the wild yet). Remixing is perhaps still the main attraction currently – on a technical stand point it’s the best way to learn about song structure and how other producers approach a track. On an emotional level there’s something exciting about the transformation of a track that still excites me.

My thanks to Andy for agreeing to take part.

‘Ave you got that choon that goes ner ner ner ner ne ne ne ne ne ne 

• Download Dunproofin’s Last Choon

~ by acidted on September 26, 2012.