Stereo Mc’s interview

Mix tapes, baggy jeans and funk fuelled hip hop are the nostalgic memories of the boys from Brixton. A firmly established yet unique outfit spawned during the hedonist years of the 80’s. Still pushing the limits, they know how to mash-up it up. Fresh from back to back touring in the Ukraine, Beatmag and Rob Birch – the enigmatic front man of the Stereo Mc’s’ chew the fat over the new album “Double Bubble”, having the Mrs on tour and what’s burning a hole is his record bag.

Still upbeat and lively despite a gruelling schedule, all appears good in Rob’s world: “I’m good man… Spilling out of the bus, sound check, gig, then back on the bus… Its alright man – I kinda like it. But keeping busy with making some new tracks. Got some DJing coming up too between shows and some time with the family”.

It all started 20 years ago in Lavender Hill where Nick and Rob got together through the inspiration for the same music; hip hop and electro. Bored of the 80’s music scene they started listening to early rap, which made them want to re-educate themselves musically. “We decided to forget everything that we knew about music and start again. All we had at the time was reel to reel 4 track, an old belt driven turn table with a radio cassette plugged into it and started to make beats: Play a drum break and press record then rewind it, play it back with the record flying in and record it again. These were before the days of samplers. We just used to mess around with anything. It was the wild west of sampling”. It seemed like somewhat of a musical adventure playground. Yet to arrive were the software packages such as Ableton and Cubase, improvisation and a resourceful nature appear to be what has shaped the unique style of a quite significant band.

In 1986 they started their own record label G Street Records so they could get the music out there. Coming into some money to invest in themselves, they pressed their own record with Richie Rich (not the Beastie Boys one) and after getting the Jungle Brothers and Queen Latifah on board it built from there. Island Records saw the sparkle in them so an LP was created. We get an explanation of how things were back in the day: “A label like Island didn’t just say ‘Here you go, here’s half a million quid’. It was more like here’s fifteen hundred quid and we’ll pay for you to go on tour. They developed the group rather than give you stupid money, was a much better way of doing things. These days bands just get it thrown at them then if there isn’t a hit they get shelved”. The first album got a lot of people listening but didn’t sell much and they began an intermittent tour that eventually lasted an epic four years. Their second album, ‘Super Natural’ was finished off in New York then supporting bands like the Happy Mondays and De La Soul, gradually building up steam along the way. ‘Elevate my mind’ a track from the second album was a hit on the west coast of America, convincing Island to produce the third LP. “They had faith in us as well, there was a lot of love back in those days”. After recording ‘Connected’ it was back to more touring, doing their own shows and even a stint with U2 whilst constantly remixing along the way. “It was good that it didn’t happen too early for us. You get to have a body of work behind you so if there was ever a hiccup we could sit back, write something that we were happy with and not just have to chuck something out to keep things sweet. This was why we didn’t release anything for 7 years apart from a few remixes. We were just a bit burnt out at the time needed to check in with the family”. The years it seemed to have kept them away from emerging genres and how music had evolved so fast, particularly the dance scene. “We went away and it was all acid house and hip hop and came back to drum and bass and rave music and because you have been on the road you haven’t even heard this musical evolution going on.” Some much R&R was in order to reset to goals and get some stability back in the lives of a band whose motto up until now seemed have followed the ethos of ‘no rest for the wicked’. I just wanted to go down the supermarket and get some beans you know?” says Rob, laughing at how the simple things in life are really what make humanity tick.

He is incredibly sincere with a down to earth nature, seemingly unfazed but the flashy rock and roll aspects of being in the industry. Frustrated by conformity of clocking into a bling studio, the parameters of their free spirited approach to music felt close, so the boys took to the challenge of renovating a derelict building and making their own studio without time restraints (and an abundance of baked beans). It was all about creature comforts and hopefully some good ventilation. “You can do what you wanna do, and that’s how it should be really”. Inspiration and the creative juices don’t always flow between 9-5 (unless you happen to be Dolly Parton).

“Double Bubble” is something different to its predecessors, with a strong vibe taken from dance music, particularly break-beat. Stereo Mc’s have created something that translates straight to the dance floor. DJing over the last couple of years had reignited their spark for club music. “Five years ago we weren’t really felling a lot of dance music, it was all too generic and didn’t have a voice. Now we’re listening to Sinden, Duke Dumont and Baby Funk, and people like Diplo” says Rob, listing the inspirations with much gusto. “We started getting in to breaks but it all had big dirty baselines, more ghetto and grimey feel to it with a hip hop mentality that we could relate to.” Taking a very hands on trail and error method to progress, their translation of breaks into their music resulted in making a tune, pressing it and playing out in a club to see how it firstly heard in such a venue and the reaction from the crowd.

The next chapter is the introduction of a local whipper snapper: Tic Toc, a young guy yet to be tainted by the music industry was willing just to hang out with them for a few months and live what they were doing. A fresh mind and experience of music from a different place gave Nick and Rob a different view and education on how things are now for the kids. “It hopefully bought us up to speed and a renewed enthusiasm and fresh energy to be on the laptop all the time making music, making dub plates and mucking around with other people’s tunes, creating mash-ups and then playing them that night!” His passion and gentle melodic tones of story-telling spill out as an impressive monologue, citing his late discovery of online music and downloading. There is still a place in his heart for vinyl, but most of the music is based now on the laptop where he can take a record, manipulate it, give it a rough edge, a different feel. The new style and sound of the album lends itself to have something stronger to say, it’s a little less spiritual from former works and from a different angle.

Trying to find the narcissist in Rob proved to be fruitless. Asking about who he has inspired over the years he has a humble opinion. “The best comments we get are when people say that the music has helped them through a bad time, or ‘Me and my girl go to bed when and listen to it’ – things like that are the best part of being in the industry. And on Myspace you can see it from all sides. I leave a message on the page of some kids that are making dub step and they come back all “thanks man, that really inspiring coming from you” so its great to hear the feedback.”

It’s a diverse shopping list of genres that inspired them; “Kraftwerk, Schoolly D, Africa Bambaatta, Public Enemy, Beastie Boys right up to what’s going on now Dizzie Rascal, Santa Gold and I am really feeling some of the dub step that’s around at the moment like Benga. We played in the same tent as him at Bestival and I really liked his set”. Tours constantly peppered with festivals throughout Europe offer up the chance to take in some bands that they wouldn’t normally see “Ronnie Size has still got loads of energy. I’m not really a drum and bass fan because I don’t play it, but every now and then I hear a wicked tune man, but I cant go and play it out! I don’t know my arse from my elbow with that – cant be an expert on everything.”

“What I really love at the moment is that everything is melting down a bit, you can hear the baselines underneath electro. Artists now are taking a little lean from each other and everyone is dipping onto each other’s pot a little. You don’t really know what you’re listening to anymore.”
New music and Nu Rave and this overall blend of styles and people take Rob back to the day when the yuppies, dealers, b boys and ravers all used to party together creating a unique atmosphere and electricity at the honeymoon of rave music. “Back in the day you would be coming home on the night bus, and it was before the scene was awash with drugs so there would be b boys, and rockers and futurists all partying up there. People with their stereos so loud that you could here them. There was a lot of Mantronix played back then, I remember that. Good times”
People today seem to be slipping back into that trend and chilling out a bit more, experimenting on different styles. “Its not all baggy trousers anymore. You don’t have to pretend to be something your not”.

How would describe your music to a Beatmag reader’s mum? “With a bit of luck after a couple of sherries it would get her dancing on the table!” To coin a phrase from the horse’s mouth, its ‘dirty electro funk’.
He goes on to discuss his fashion sense, his wife and why he has the reputation for a bit of a club casualty. “When we got back from making ‘Connected’ there were rumours going round that I had died – it was even written in a paper! Admittedly I did feel pretty rough but I wasn’t dead and I wasn’t a junkie either! People just thought that because I looked like one…” There are pros and cons of such a physique and even now he gets followed around in shops by security guards with a shifty glare. No longer clad in the massive baggy jeans that were the signature look of the latter years, Rob now rocks the stage in some skinny jeans “Even with them I have to have a break every now and then. They get a bit much!” Considering the grip of an obesity epidemic, shouldn’t you wear them just because you can? “Ha ha – that’s what my wife says ‘why don’t you wear something that fits you man?!’. Not everyone can get away with it, but they still do it! I think it’s a woman thing. They notice it more.” With the wife (who is also one of the vocalists) now on tour with him, domestic bliss has its place, even on a tour bus. They still do their own thing with an air of professionalism “She still watches that shit on TV I never watch and I have to wait to use the bathroom cos she will be doing her make up for the gig and stuff. Its nice really, kind of normality”.

Many a mix-tape throughout the years has featured their wares, such as ‘Now That’s What I Call Music’ so what’s it like to be sandwiched between the likes of Elton John and George Michael? “It doesn’t bother me to be honest with you. It’s the nature of the beast of a label releasing your music. At least we’re not going out making excuses for writing songs with them which is what a lot of people do. You know, get really successful and make a song with Elton John and they are like ‘O well Elton John is ok’ and its like, no, sorry”. Despite this it gave the Stereos the chance to be shown to a wider audience in a place where they may not usually be heard, so for that he is happy. Always of the presumption that their music was quite underground (although a certain mobile phone company who utilised the lyrics to ‘Connected’ springs to mind) it is easy for him to forget this has spanned two decades and they are still going down well to the kids in the club today while keeping to their roots.

A few days later, armed with a guest list for the Brixton Jamm, London and a bottle of Jerry Sailor rum for the night train back to Brighton, Beatmag are treated to a home coming gig and a showcase for ‘Double Bubble’. A cute little venue rammed with a diverse collection of locals, hardcore fans still decked out in apparel from the 80’s and kids all enjoying how accessible their music is. After some random support acts including DJ Rubbish (great name, dubious mc but a pretty good DJ actually) the atmosphere had built up to fever pitch and the crowd were baying for band. They eventually burst on stage in a flurry of colour, hair and moody shades to deliver the bouncing tracks from the new album chopped with a couple of the crowd pleasing classics such as ‘Connected’. As a performer, Rob is professional, controlled and can really hold a note. He casts a spell over the audience who seemed to be enthralled, the music was very up beat and smothered in breaks. new tracks such as ‘Black Gold’ were extremely catchy and left you humming it all the way home and ‘Show Your Light’ was a chance for a quite ethereal use of his voice fading it out to a spooky climax. For a small man his stage presence is huge, when we finally see his deep, sparkling blue eyes you can see a lot of warmth and fun hidden behind the serious gaunt expression. With uncapped energy bouncing around the stage anddancing in-sync with the girls (who were extremely hot) it was clear that they know how to put on a good show.

Considering they span over the last 2 decades, the core of the band have remained true with Rob, Nick the same drummer and one of the backing singers, a couple of others drifted in and out over the years. “It’s a character, and if things are working why change it?”

Words: Catherine Pryce
Photos: Mary Pryce

http://www.myspace.com/stereomcsofficial

Click here for Rob’s recent Bamjam mix – Quality!

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