TF Archives

Hudson Mohawke - The Man With The Mo'

Author: 3D
Monday, November 17, 2008

3D chats with Scottish electronic producer Hudson Mohawke, a chap with an album coming out next year on Warp. See him at the Civic this week.

You were a UK DMC finalist at 15, which is pretty damn young. How long have you been playing around with music-
I used to collect cassettes of just pop music and whatever [and] from the age of about seven onwards my dad also had a radio show, so we always had a lot of music in the house. I started DJing with one cassette player and one hi-fi turntable when I was about nine and graduated onto some belt drive turntables at the age of about 11, and I think I was 12 or 13 when the original music game came out on PlayStation, so that’s where I caught the production bug – making distorted jungle and techno on a PlayStation.

You make some really interesting sounds, combining all sorts of glitchy beeps and hip hop noise. Can you run us through what you feel your music is-
I feel – well, my vision for it anyway – is that it’s basically pop music, not restricted to hip hop or underground beats or whatever. I try to make something which transcends the little genre bubbles and is just music, it’s quite accessible I think, I like to chop up a lot of commercial RNB and stuff; it’s definitely not intended to be wildly experimental music but I think that’s how it’s perceived sometimes, but it’s just what flows out of my head basically. I like to be very melodic and try and write music which gets stuck in your brain.

Next year sees the release of your debut album through Warp Records. Is it finished yet- Can you tell us a little about it-
It’s pretty much finished, its taken me a long time picking out tracks though. There are a few straight up pop tracks with vocalists, some beats, some more dancefloor oriented stuff… it’s a real mix – fingers crossed people are gonna feel it.

How did you hook up with Warp- That’s kind of a big deal, so well done you…

Yeah, it’s a huge deal – I was jumping up and down when I got the call, it was almost out of the blue. They just really have their ears to the ground as far as new music and are not afraid to go in different directions. I had mp3s floating around the net (I have hardly any officially released material available) so they got a hold of some mp3s that had been passed around online and the rest is history.

You’re apart of a collective called Lucky Me. What exactly is this-
It’s a collective based in Glasgow/Edinburgh of likeminded artists, five or six producers and DJs, photographers, graphic designers, vocalists and also a band. Some of us attended the renowned Glasgow School of Art and it basically stemmed from there, running club nights with each other and putting on parties and events. We recently turned LuckyMe into a fully fledged label also – first releases will be from the band American Men, which is some incredible Jean-Luc Ponty-esque prog, and another release from Nadsroic, a nasssty female MC, which is produced by me.

This is your first trip down under, right- What are you expecting from us, and what can we expect from you-
Yes it’s my first trip, I cant wait. I’m expecting to probably blow up some sound systems, make a few people deaf and some more people cry – and hopefully make at least a couple of people happy. From you guys, I’m expecting a continuous stream of free alcohol and a kangaroo steak…

WHO: Hudson Mohawke
WHAT: Plays Headroom at the Civic Hotel
WHEN: Friday 21 November
MORE: myspace.com/hudsonmo / civichotel.com.au

Tags