Hip Hop meets Electro Swing - Exclusive interview with Offbeat!

Chris Nanook catches up with Offbeat to talk musical inspiration, podcasts, production & his booking at Prohibition's Bonfire Night Electro Swing Boat Party!

Disclaimer: The article below has been contributed by the event promoter or somebody representing the event promoter. As such we take no responsibility for accuracy of the content and any views expressed are not necessarily those of Skiddle or our staff.

Date published: 28th Oct 2016

CN - Hi buddy. Thanks for taking the time to talk to us! For those that are unfamilar with your project, your website introduces you as ...

"I AM OFFBEAT - Rapper. Swinger. Visionary" - Give us a bit more info about yourself. Where you from, for starters?

OB - As the description says I am Offbeat and I make (mostly) comedy Hip Hop with an Electro Swing twist. I'm based in Bristol and have been for 10 years but I grew up in a small, picturesque market town in the Cotswolds. When people hear "Rapper" they usually think guns, bling, hoes etc but my music couldn't be further from that! Growing up somewhere like I did I couldn't really pull that off so I tend to rap about more relatable topics such as online dating, reality TV and messy nights out.

CN - For a lot of us, that is real life stuff, so we can empathise!
What got you in to writing/producing?

OB - I remember hearing snippets of Hip Hop on TV but the first real CD I bought was a compilation called "Best Hip Hop Album in the World...Ever" or something like that. Actually it was my friend's and I swapped it for one that was much worse. She still reminds me of that to this day. Anyway, there was a track on there by Ice-T and I fell in love with it. I marched down to Our Price and bought a copy of his album "OG" and was hooked from there. I started trying to write lyrics inspired by this but, not being from the means streets of LA, let's just say they were less than authentic? It wasn't until quite a few years later I discovered UK Hip Hop and started listening to artists like Rodney P, Task Force and Mystro that I realised you could tell your own story in your own voice and it could still sound good.

CN - Few classic UK names mentioned there. I'm sure a few UK hip-hop fans reading this will relate. I've spent many hours nodding my head to Task Force!
Moving away from UK though, I saw you recently post a vid of US rapper, Astro, on your page. Was it MCs like him that got you into writing lyrics?

OB - Yeah that Astro kid is great right?! He reminds me of old Nas, Jay Z, guys like that. It's not so much the lyrics, but just the charisma and style that I love so much with him. He's only 16 as well, so I think it's great that someone that young is still championing the classic Hip Hop sound and not just trying to follow the current mainstream trends that, almost without exception, are awful.

CN - Agreed on points there, to be honest!

Any other big influences? ...from either hiphop or other genres?

OB - Music-wise, probably the artists I get likened to the most often are Scroobius Pip and Dr Sytnax. That's fair, as I'm a fan of both of them, but the majority of my writing influences actually come from outside of Hip Hop. I'm more inspired by comedians like Bill Hicks, Doug Stanhope and classic British comedy like Blackadder and Fawlty Towers, as well as newer-ish stuff like Spaced and Black Books.

In terms of the beats, some of the Producers I'm feeling the most are Smokey Joe and the Kid, Odjbox, Chinese Man, Gramatik and Griz, but again I'm inspired by stuff outside of the genre I make.

CN - I've had the pleasure of seeing Stanhope live. And I must say that is an experience that can't NOT influence a person!


When you MC, you often perform with a DJ (Extra Medium, Plz Nerf or Odd Chap) ... Do they each bring something unique to the table?

OB - Yes, they all bring very different and specific things to the table. Extra Medium is my live DJ, although an excellent Producer as well. I've not actually released any tunes with him yet but we've got a couple we're working on at the moment.

Plz Nerf is based in Glasgow so we've actually only performed live together a couple of times, but he is responsible for producing (at the time of writing) pretty much every song I've released so far.

Odd Chap is a new producer I've started working with and is based in New Zealand so we haven't actually met in person yet! He approached me after hearing me on YouTube and we've started working on some tracks together, one of which we'll be releasing very soon.

CN - Nice. A varied bunch, by the sounds of things!
Any plans to do a project all together?

OB - Haha, not at the moment, I'm not quite sure how that would work although certainly could be an interesting project!

CN - Never say never! One of my side projects was written via Dropbox..and I think I speak for all your fans when I say, we'd love to hear what you guys could come up with together!
I saw you recently played Swing'n'Tingz ... it looked like a brilliant gig....

OB - Swing N Tingz is a regular night I play at in Bristol and is probably the biggest of its kind in the city. It's been a fantastic platform for me, as it's given me exposure to thousands of people, as well as letting me meet and support some amazing acts including The Correspondents, Slamboree and Electric Swing Circus to name a few. The promoters of the night, Tremor Soundsystem have been massively supportive as well and have taken a real active role in helping my career, not only by booking me but also introducing me to various people and helping out in other ways too. They're really great guys who work tirelessly to push the scene and the artists in it and are genuinely in it for the love of the music so they deserve a massive big up!

CN - Big shouts to Tremor Soundsystem... they sound like a fine bunch!
What have been your top gigs this year?

OB - My favourite show without doubt has to have been the Isle of Wight. It was the first time I got to perform at such a prestigious event and to such a big crowd. It was probably the best reaction I?ve ever had as well and we had people coming up to us for the whole of the rest of the festival telling us how much they enjoyed it! We had more than a little drama getting there, but the show more than made up for it.

CN - Your video "Hold On" tells a story of Isle Of Wight festival, and a trip to get there on time for a gig. Was that a legit story, from your perspective?

OB - Haha, sadly yes. In fact there were even extra bits I ended up leaving out because it would have made it too long! Everything that could have possibly gone wrong on the way there did and there was a point we didn?t think we were going to make it. I said to Plz Nerf on the ferry over that if we did make it we should write a song about it and that?s how it came about.

We actually filmed the video in reverse (CN - "Niiice!" Love that).. . I hadn't written the lyrics yet, but I knew what I was going to say so we just filmed everything as we left (the stage, the crowd, the ferry etc) and then once the track was made I just edited it all together in the right order.

CN - Are all your tracks based on real life situations you've been in? Whats your creative process?

OB - A lot of them are, but they're usually exaggerated slightly for comedy effect or amalgamations of things that have happened to me and/or people I know.

Usually I won't know I want to write about a certain topic and then I'll be ranting about it to someone and suddenly think "Ooh, this would make a good concept for a song!"

For me the story or message is the most important part of the lyrics, so I almost always know what I want to say before I write it. That makes it much easier as then the only thing you've got to do is try and make it rhyme.

CN - It is interesting to hear that. If you know what you're going to write, before you sit down, then half the hard work is done for you, and you can concentrate on the fun bits!
Speaking of fun, you recently wrote a comic with Tom Barton doing art... It looks like a beautiful creation. What lead you down that route?

OB - That was to accompany the video for the song "Prohibition!" - It tells the story of an alternative 1920s where Swing music is outlawed instead of alcohol. The video actually came about out of necessity, because I didn't have the budget to hire all the sets, actors and props I would need to give it an authentic 1920s look. I'd wanted to do an animated comic book video for a while though and this just seemed like a perfect compromise. Tom is an incredible artist as well and captured the mood perfectly so I?m very happy with the outcome.

CN - Readers... If you haven't seen the video, check the links out at the bottom of this interview, and make sure to grab a printed copy of the comic, from offbeat's merch store, on his website.

How about your Podcast?... was that another creative outlet you see that went hand in hand with the music?

OB - I would say it's less of a creative outlet than a great learning opportunity. The theme for "Talking Shop" is "How creative people have turned their passion into a career". As an artist trying to make a living from music, I'm very interested to learn how others have managed to do it successfully.

CN - The longer you work in music, the more fantastic stories you come across of people thinking outside the box to make ends meet and follow their passion!

OB - Yea...It's also a great way of networking and meeting people, as there are very few other occasions you'd get to sit down and have an intense discussion with someone you don't know very well for over an hour. Even the people I knew before interviewing I'd only met for the odd 5 minutes here and there at gigs, so it's been a great way of getting to know them better.

CN - Whats on the horizon for Offbeat?

OB - I?ve been lucky enough to meet some incredible artists over the last couple of years and build up some great connections. I?ve got quite a few collaborations that I?m working on at the moment, so these are the focus for the time being. There?s a good mix of Producers and Vocalists in there, both of which will give a completely different dimension to my music. From an exposure point of view, collaborations are brilliant as well, as they allow you to open yourself up to each others? audiences.

CN - For sure. And when you're eclectic in your music tastes, or have taken influence from many genres, that cross-pollination is a learning experience for everyone!

Okay, change of pace now...When you're gigging... top three things you never leave home without? (wallet, keys, phone don't count!)

OB - Towel, water and USB back up! I?d also consider adding ?needle and thread? to that list after a recent gig where I discovered my trousers had split, but I won?t say which one?


CN - Haha. I think i'll start adding travel sewing kit to mine tackle now. That is definately not a scenario any gentleman on stage would like to find himself in!

Desert Island discs time...

OB - Ah man that?s a tough one? like my influences, they probably wouldn't all be Hip Hop. I'd say Arctic Monkeys? first album, Eminem?s second album and? maybe "Bad" by Michael Jackson? They're not very cool choices, I feel like I should say something more credible or obscure but if I was trapped on an island for the rest of my life these are probably the albums I could listen to over and over the most.

CN - Hahaha.. Fair play. I can respect at least one of those. (Not telling you which one though!)
So...Top three tunes of all time...

OB - Jesus. Ok this changes on a daily basis, but right now I'd probably go with

Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter (Because it sends a chill down my spine whenever I hear it)

Eminem - Stan (Because it?s just an amazingly well written story)

Cab Calloway - Minnie the Moocher (Just because)

CN - I queued to buy Stan on 12" the day it came out, so i'll give you that one. Minnie the Moocher too... oooof! Good choices!


Well... thats us out of time. Thanks for taking some time out of your schedule to talk to us. We're really looking forward to your performance with Extra Medium, at Prohibition's Boat Party on 5th November, in Manchester. It should be a riot!

OB - Yeah, we're looking forward to it!
Can I just give a big shout to Extra Medium, Plz Nerf, Odd Chap and Tremor Soundsystem. I wouldn?t be able to do any of the things I'm doing without these guys.

Everyone in the scene has been incredibly sound and supportive, but in particular I'd also like to big up Dutty Moonshine and Professor Elemental, as they've both gone out of their way to help me out and give me help and advice, which is particularly appreciated.

And finally of course, shouts to Prohibition in Manchester for booking me and helping organise this interview!


-------------------

For those that aren't connected with OffBeat, please check out the following, and be sure to link him on social media.

Website
Facebook

Tickets are no longer available for this event