Si Begg; aka Noodles, Cabbageboy and Buckfunk 3000

Ken Ishii rates him as one of the world's best producers, he's best mates with Cristian Vogel and he frequently labels music 'stupid'. He's got an upcoming release through NovaMute as Si Futures, and a new collaboration with techno head Neil Landstrumm about to be pressed up on Mosquito. He's already released stuff on labels including Tresor, Ninja Tune and Caipirinha, and you may know him better as Buckfunk 3000 or Cabbageboy. But it's for his dual record labels Noodles and Noodles Discotheque that Si Begg's name is now being seriously touted, with two fresh compilations, 'The Complete Death Of Cool' and 'Noodles Discotheque Vol. 2' recently pressed. Mezz's man in Melbourne Andrez Bergen chatted to him recently.

Mezz: How did you first become interested in electronic music-
Si Begg: ""I was in various bands, playing guitars, drums, keyboards, etc and I've always liked the weirdest music I could find. It seemed that the most experimental stuff at the time was in electronic music and you could do it on your own. My uncle used to be into Jean Michel Jarre and used to play it in the car while my brother's mate's dad also had [Mike Oldfield's] 'Tubular Bells' and stuff like that. I remember being really into all the sounds and noises, the total futurism. And I was right into 'Star Wars' and 'Tron' and all those kind of kids' sci-fi things."

Mezz: You recently described your own album 'Death Of Cool' as "cluttered, unfinished, half-arsed songs with no direction"... do some producers take themselves too seriously-
Si Begg: "Definitely - I think people confuse seriousness with integrity or meaningfulness. Just because you take yourself really seriously doesn't mean what your doing is valid - and vice versa..."

Mezz: Where do you stand on politics and music-
Si Begg: "Politics... you can't escape it. It's all around us, you can bury your head in the sand, but it's probably better to get in there and try and kick some ass... as Frank Zappa said; Would you rather be a hippy with no power or a bank manager with some power...-' If you really want to change things I think you have, to some extent, to get within the frameworks available and twist the fuck out of them - otherwise we're all just playing into the hands of the corporations and governments that rely on the lethargy that enables them to keep on doing their shit, whilst we just sit at home watching TV and whinging about all that's wrong with the world."
Andrez Bergen
Noodle's 'Complete Death Of Cool' compilation is available on CD through Leaf (Australia) while 'Noodles Discotheque Vol. 2' is available on vinyl through independent record stores.
Andrez also records as experimental electro producer type Little Nobody and runs his own equally experimental label If- Records. His new album 'Action Hero' is out now on If- Records.
<http://www.melbourne.net/ifsowhat>(IF- Records)
<http://www.mp3.com/littlenobody> (Little Nobody)
<http://www.mp3.com.au/littlenobody> (Little Nobody)

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