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DJ Tayo On Breaks, Bouncy House & Bat Out Of Hell

Author: Jonty Skrufff
Tuesday, October 5, 2004
As well as being one of the world's leading breaks DJs and players, Tayo is equally renowned for the bouncy house he purveys alongside fellow Rooty residents Frank Tope and Felix from Basement Jaxx. Perhaps less well known about the 28 year old Londoner, is his passion and respect he holds for the sweeter sounds of the 70s, including the nowadays sadly eclipsed genre once known as AOR (aka adult orientated rock).

"I've always had a soft spot for soft rock- particularly Whitesnake; the genius of Whitesnake has gone un-rewarded for too long," he laughs. "You have to like it if you're of a certain age because dance music has only been around for a certain period of time."

Less surprisingly, he admits to being obsessed with the likes of Marvin Gaye, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield and Prince as well as 'slightly less cooler things like Ultravox and Meatloaf'.

"I love Meatloaf's Bat Out Of Hell, it's an absolute classic," he insists. "I like every single track; the whole album's a classic."

Though when he's not reminiscing about 'You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth' Tayo otherwise remains firmly fixated on future, for both his own burgeoning DJ career and that of Mob Records, the breaks based label he set up in 1999. Championing artists including the Stanton Warriors, Beber & Tamra and Australia's NuBreed, Mob is developing smoothly as breaks continues to expand, which is just one reason why Tayo's recently embraced digital downloads (he recently signed up with Track It Down).

"People are downloading music anyway and it's something that the music industry needs to embrace and regulate, it's not going away," he says.

"I couldn't be bothered with downloading in the past because I was buying so many records, but now I'm onto it because there's so much stuff you want to be part of," he adds.

"It's like using cracked (cloned) software as a producer; you try something out and if you like it then you go out and buy it. I've just gone out and spent untold money on plug-ins, having messed around with the cracked copies beforehand."

Technical talk aside though, his greatest love remains DJing, particularly at his Rooty parties which take place at Space in Ibiza every summer.

"I'm primarily a breakbeat DJ but I started a club a few years ago called Rooty with a couple of mates, a guy called Frank Toope and The Basement Jaxx boys, doing it as a monthly Saturday in Brixton," he recalls.

"The music I was playing there was bumping house which I've always had a soft stop for and an extension of those parties has been playing at Homelands and playing at Space; it's nice to get a different groove out alongside the breaks."


Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff) How different is it playing to a bumping house crowd at Space compared to a typical breaks crowd-

Tayo: "It's totally different, for a start there's more girls at the house parties and you also don't get loads of blokes with their tops off, asking you what the records are. It's just a laugh. Playing to X thousand people on the terrace at Space is certainly just as much fun as playing in a sweaty bass to loads of blokes loving the heavy bass-lines."

Skrufff: Why do you think breaks remains less popular with girls currently-

Tayo: "I don't know and if I did know the answer to that then I'd be having a fucking great time. I guess breaks is harder, more uncompromising music and a breakbeat is more challenging to dance to than the gentle thud-thud of a four/ four beat."

Skrufff: More breaks DJs are being booked in Ibiza this season . . .

Tayo: "That's not me, I don't play breaks in Ibiza and I'm not interested in playing them out there either. I go out there and have a great time playing house music, I've been playing at Space on the terrace for the last five years, having an absolutely amazing time doing it; I like playing house music out there. You also get a more upfront crowd out there, it's a different vibe and more fun."

Skrufff: What was your route<
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