DJ Box: Drunk Monk
You’re from the UK but based in Shanghai, miss home at all?
I miss the live music, there’s not a lot of live music in Shanghai. And I miss record shopping, because we don’t have any record shops here.
How did you become a DJ?
I first started playing drum’n’bass mid to late ’90s. I was into LTJ Bukem, but that kind of changed along the way. Mr. Scruff – obviously with me being from Manchester – is one of my favourites because he plays lots of different music. My dad DJs and is a record collector, and I’ve grown up around his music – reggae and dub. I guess a lot of my influence is from him as well.
Did he have turntables you messed around on?
No, I was a DJ before him but he’s got a serious record collection. I started DJing and then he started a world music group and brought in bands from all over the world. He wanted to play some music between the bands so he started playing, and he’s been DJing for about seven years.
It’s not blowing up yet. It’s getting there but I think a lot of people think it’s too slow. They don’t quite get the rhythm yet so a lot of people are expecting a fast beat and something pounding that they can dance to. It’s kind of difficult to get over, but we’re getting a bigger crowd each time.
I’ve got a couple of white labels not a lot of people have heard. [One of them is by] The Bug – a DJ from the UK from Ninja Tune [who] recorded a track with a female Chinese MC from Uprooted Sunshine. So it’s like dubstep with Mandarin vocals – and I’m the only person with a copy of that apart from Bug.
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