Type and hit ENTER

Commonly used tags...

Brighton Festival Brighton Fringe Brighton Pride British Sea Power Cinecity Lewes Psychedelic Festival Locally Sourced Lost & Found Love Supreme Festival Mutations Festival Nick Cave Poets Vs MCs Politics Rag'n'Bone Man Record Store Day Save Our Venues Six Of The Best Source Virgins Streets Of Brighton Street Source Tattoos The Great Escape Tru Thoughts Unsung Heroes
  • Home
  • News
  • Previews
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Food
  • Tickets
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Advertise
  • Home
  • News
  • Previews
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Food
  • Tickets
  • Contact
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Advertise
Features

DJ Format Interview

Dec 6, 2011
-
Posted by SOURCE Writers

A player on the UK hip hop scene since the sleeper success in 2003 of his first album, ‘Music For The Mature B-Boy’, DJ Format is known for his funk-flavoured rewinds of retro hip hop sounds. Successful too as a club DJ, he has packed dancefloors worldwide and released several mixes, among them 2006’s ‘Fabriclive.27’, one of the most well received in the big selling series. In the past few years Format has lent his b-boy Midas touch to styles as varied as underground Eastern European beats, on the now collectable ‘European Vacation’ in 2006, and Latin rhythms in 2007 on ‘Fania DJ Series – DJ Format’.

For his third and latest album release, ‘Statement of Intent’, he has decided to mix up his trademark funky dancefloor fillers. “Funk is becoming very run of the mill,” he says. “If you are making old school you have got to bring something new to the table.” The title, ‘Statement Of Intent’, he declares “is to send a message to people like me who don’t want to hear the same old crap every day. I am laying down the gauntlet”.

Inspired by groundbreaking artists from the 80s and 90s golden age of hip hop, such as Run-D.M.C and the Beastie Boys, Format says he has “gone down the guitars route, but in an updated fashion, bringing in 60s psychedelia, but with a modern sensibility”.

Band collaborations proved a tricky business for Format as he says “some worked, but some just didn’t fit”. Bands that made it on to the album include the space-funk oddity of The Simon Sound, vintage rock’n’soul outfit Derriere and jazz blues group Nostalgia 77.

The album’s hip hop collaborators are characteristically leftfield and offer further intriguing style mashes. They include Mr Lif, Edan, Phill Most Chill (who he says is “an old school rapper that I grew up respecting”) and Sureshot La Rock, who features on ‘MR DJ’, the first single from the album and a sure-fire crowd pleaser.

Five years in the making, the album took so long because, he says, “It had to be right”. Time-travelling between inspirations as far flung as 80s hip hop, 70s funk and 60s psychedelic rock it is hard to imagine how it will work. But what sounds like a tall order for most was a natural progression for Format as he says it was “music that has grown with me, it was just what I felt in my heart”.

The key to making it all work, Format feels, was “to keep the drums raw and to work with MCs that are very old school sensibility, but with a modern twist”. Simple then.

‘Statement Of Intent’ will be released in February 2012 on Project Blue Book records. The first single, ‘MR DJ’, is available now on 12″ vinyl and MP3.

Words by Alex Oxborough

Dec 6, 2011
Email
SOURCE Writers
Sometimes an article is a bit of a team effort, and those are tagged SOURCE Writers. If you’d like to be part of that team, hit the Contact link at the top and get your work on this website.
← PREVIOUS POST
Wild Beasts Review
NEXT POST →
Street Style, 2011 Special
Mailing List

Recent Posts
  • Brighton Psych Fest 2025 Review
    Sep 26, 2025

    The second Brighton Psych Fest was a beauty as we got down with Getdown Services as the evening sunlight glowed through the Concorde Stained Glass.

  • David Devant & His Spirit Wife, Friday 12th December
    Sep 23, 2025

    One of Brighton's greatest live bands returns for a pre-Xmas homecoming party.

  • Nick Cave To Play Exclusive Brighton Show Next Summer
    Sep 15, 2025

    Nick Cave returns to Brighton next Summer for an exclusive show with The Bad Seeds in Preston Park.

  • Death Comes to Pemberley Review
    Sep 3, 2025

    Set six years after the marriage of Elizabeth to Mr Darcy, a murder on their estate takes this story into thriller territory.

  • The Lightning Thief Review
    Sep 1, 2025

    A high octane modern musical coming of age adventure about demi-god teens, complete with committed performances, stunning voices, and brilliantly inventive staging.

  • Betty Boo, Sunday 23rd November
    Sep 1, 2025

    The legendary Betty Boo is going on her first ever solo UK tour and you can catch her at The Green Door Store in November.

  • Mutations Festival 2025 Line Up Announcement
    Aug 28, 2025

    FORM are treating us to a Bonfire Weekend full of warm goodness, bangers and fireworks!

  • Pride And Prejudice Review
    Aug 27, 2025

    A beautifully realised adaptation of one of Jane Austen’s best loved books: giving us a grounded, real and hilarious retelling in perfect balance.

Website developed in Brighton by Infobo
Copyright © Brighton Source 2009-2023
DJ Format Interview - Brighton Source