Dj Krush : What kind of records did you bring? I did so many songs!
Built to Last : Don’t worry, we just brought a couple of projects you’ve been working on, to let the readers know what you were about when you made them.
Dj Krush : Oh, ok, let’s go!
#1 Dj Krush ‘I just wanna touch her » (stoned jazz mix)
Dj Krush : Before I Came out and made my name as a solo artist, I was in a group called Krush Posse. We eventually made a track with a singer called Monday Michiru. The song was called “Wagamama”.
But, at the time, alongside my work with them, I was doing movie stuff. Particularly remixes for soundtracks, and James Lavelle (Mo-Wax founder ndlr) heard one of my score. The Mo Wax staff then went looking forward to know who made the songs, and they were led to me this way. It was really important for me, as it represented a turning point in my career.
#2 Ronnie Jordan & GURU « season for change » (remix)
Dj Krush : Yeah, the Ronnie Jordan remix…It was a very tight schedule to do this project, I only had one week deadline, losing sleep to do all the production done (chugging his head). I was much focused to say the least! Then I went on tour with friends and when I came back to Tokyo, we hooked up with Ronnie to play at this Tokyo’s club called the Blue Note, like the label. We did the session and released the « Bad Brother s » ep. It was maybe like 1994?
Built to Last : Were you in touch with Guru at this point?
Dj Krush : Yeah…Unfortunately, he passed away… I knew him from Gangstarr obviously, Premier, Pete Rock, Dj Cam and I are about to do some shows together when I’m back from Europe, like doing a Guru homage. It’s a very strange/sad coincidence.
#3 Dj Krush « Kemuri »
Dj Krush : OOOOhhhh! (Seemingly excited as the track goes on ndlr), it’s one of my most popular track. It even led me to collaborate with the almighty dj Shadow. If you remember, the vinyl was one side me, and the other side was the dj Shadow remix. We were kind of connected at some point because of a group called Zimbabwe Legit (on Hollywood basics ndlr). When I was completing the track, my daughter was playing around. And she gave me such a nice smile full of energy every time I was playing it at home. It felt good you know! That was so dope; it was kind of a family groove! A real turning point, ha ha!
#4 Dj Krush « On the dub-ble »
Dj Krush : Yeah, a really popular track, I still get a lot of positive feedback about this song. The trumpeter on this joint is a guy called Kazufumi Kodama. So good, he’s really the only person I know, able to get his groove on this way. As far as the drummer, he’s the guy who used to play with Soul II Soul back in the days.
#5 Dj Krush : « Meiso »
Dj Krush : The Roots only started to be noticed at this point. I was calling Mo Wax and told them I needed The Roots on this one! Fortunately, they were around, because they were on tour in the U.K. at the very same moment. They were truly inspiring people…Mc Solaar was around too. So we connected, did a couple of shows in England and made « Meiso » happen. That was my « thank you » to them (laughs).
#6 Dj Krush feat Toshinori Kondo « Mu Getsu »
Dj Krush : Toshinori Kondo! I don’t know how, but Mr Kondo heard about my Strictly Turntablized album on Mo Wax, and he approached me to do some stuff together (« Ki-Oku » ndlr). We had a drink, talked about music, clicked and we said at the end of the night: let’s make a track together! We stayed up all night at Mr Kondo’s studio, trying stuff; a lot of good energy came from there. A superb experience. This is a rare vinyl, nice find!
#7 Dj Krush & Tragedy « Real »
Dj Krush : Old school woah!!! Khadafy! At the time in Japan, we had kind of a leftfield, real personal approach to the different elements of hip hop culture. But, this time I needed something really American you know? Because it all comes from here… And for this release, I truly wanted to do something, as close as possible to the core of the culture. I then contacted some of my favourite artists, underground cats you know! It was a really different approach.
Built to Last : How did you choose rappers?
Dj Krush : Mos def, he didn’t popped yet, it was a really a magic. He was really the only one who finally reached success. Finsta Bundy, sure, really underground cats….Only people I was feeling at the time.
#8 Dj Krush & Mista Sinista « the Kinetics »
Dj Krush : Stylish, refreshing, instrumental track, no vocals, no raps: my own view on things, adding melody through scratches. It’s Mista Sinista on this one. A crazy dude for sure! He came to Japan, we toured together…He was always disappearing, and we were all like « where is he? » (Laughter). He was really a strong part of the turntablist movement that was happening in the late 90’s, and this song is our contribution to this key element of the culture, the whole dj thing you know. We lost touch, I don’t know what he’s about these days, but it was a good run.
Built to Last : Were you interested into competing for the DMC’s?
Dj Krush : Not really, battling is more something I was into at the beginning of my career. Different persons led me to this, but in my early years, the DMC’s were not set in Japan, as far as I know.
#9 DJ Krush « Day’s end »
Dj Krush : Kazufumi Kodama again. I was really feeling his vibe as well, because I wanted to include some stuff on the album that could ensure a balance between rap tracks and more abstract and dreamy songs.
#10 Dj Krush & Anti Pop Consortium: « Supreme team »
Dj Krush : It was from the “The message at the depth ” album. This was during this weird/ crazy era after 9-11. We almost stopped doing stuff. Bad times. We were in the process going into the whole computer method too, trying a different approach. I wanted to work on a lot on effects to create all those gritty sounds. And the rappers were really adventurous lyrically wise. It was very inspiring experience. It was like recreating my own formula.
#11 Dj Krush & Mr Lif « Nosferatu »
Dj Krush : Mr Lif went as a guest at a show I was doing in Hawaii. That’s when he was still signed to Def Jux. We performed this track together, and the crowd went really wild. It was crazy.
#13 Dj Vadim : « Variations in USSR » (Dj Krush remix)
Dj Krush : Ooh, Vadim! The relation came from back in the days, we went separate ways music wise, but at first we had the same feeling. We played at the same show in Paris; I enjoy Vadim’s style a lot. A bit like Dj Shadow, but the perspective of the music stays the same even if we took different roads.
#14 Pete Rock « Back on the block » (dj Krush remix)
Dj Krush : I met CL when I was still a young and upcoming dj back in the days. Reaaaal old school you know (laughs), I feel we both aged when I hear the stuff for CL, ha ha.
The interview’s done Aril 1 st 2012 at « Le Bikini » (Toulouse – France).
Thanks: Anthoine (Le Bikini), Trinidad (Heavy Listening/TSC)
