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Ask a friend to list their desert island bands, and you won’t get an honest answer. They’ll walk the tightrope between populism and elitism to avoid controversy. You might be a closet prog rock fan, but shout it out and you’ll be ridiculed faster than you can say King Crimson. Nick Hornby's 'High Fidelity' didn't invent musical snobbery, but if you think it’s rife amongst punters, musicians are worse. Especially DJs.
Curious fact: far more people list the Velvet Underground’s debut album as an influence than actually own a copy. It’s rare therefore to meet a musician with no qualms about listing Grandmaster Flash, Blondie and Rick Astley as influences. Partial to Johnny Hates Jazz? Secretly craving some A-Ha? Gigwise has found your man.
His name is DJ Yoda. He’s on a mission to rid the galaxy from the terror of musical snobbery. Yoda catches up with Gigwise backstage at Lily Allen’s gig at London’s Portchester Hall for 3 Mobile. He’s here to handle mixing and visuals for the sharp tongued pop princess. Yoda has just released his first album of original material, ‘The Amazing Adventures of DJ Yoda’, having made his name since 2003 as a cut and paste DJ extraordinaire.
Having thrown the musical rulebook out the window, Gigwise asks where Yoda got the idea to wed phat hip hop beats to Rick Astley’s ‘Together Forever’. “It just surprises me why more people don’t do that,” he sighs. “Other DJs seem to be so specific about what they want to play. I just find it weird when people say, ‘I only play drum n bass or bangin’ house’. Surely you must like more music than just that?” Then comes the killer question: “Why don’t you just play what you like?”
As the conversation develops, it’s clear that Yoda’s influences aren’t an ironic joke. “I’ve always just been influenced by whatever I’m listening to or watching that week,” he explains. “I always have a pile of CDs about as high as my knee.” Lupe Fiasco’s new album, ‘Food and Liquor’, is currently rocking the Yoda stereo. His attraction to working with Lily Allen was obvious: “I really love what she does because it’s fresh sounding and just something slightly more upbeat, realistic and humorous. That’s kinda right up my street.”
For his new album, Yoda’s used many guest vocalists, but the extravagance has created a dilemma of how to tour the album. “There’s about 12 different guest vocalists on it, so obviously not everyone’s going to be joining me. I had to combine what I did with 'DJ Yoda Goes to The Movies', by filming all of the artists on the album.” Yoda now has videos for almost every song.
Yoda’s eyes sparkle as he lets Gigwise in on a secret: “All the guest vocalists on the album were basically chosen because I knew they’d be a laugh to work with. There were a couple of people who were miserable to work with and I left them off the album,” he laughs. Of the best ones, New Jersey hip-hop MC Paul Barman stood out. “He is just completely insane. He had to record wearing court jester’s slippers. That’s the level of idiocy I was dealing with.”
As a former literature student, Yoda might be familiar with a Wildean maxim: talent borrows, genius steals. Yoda, real name Duncan Beiny, began DJing at mate’s parties. Originally from North London, he attended the University of Warwick and began hosting a night at local club, Mojo. “I became weekly resident at their acid jazz funk night,” he explains. “After that I set up my own club night in London. It’s just been a gradual thing.”
Gigwise is desperate to know if there’s any music he wouldn’t sample. “Oh yeah, not anything by Robbie Williams…or any bangin’ trance,” he says immediately. “There’s tons of stuff I wouldn’t play.” He’s sceptical of electroclash too: “That’s not really 80s music is it? That’s current stuff trying to be 80s, but there are types of music I hate more than that.”
Yoda, like his Star Wars namesake, has a formidable wisdom. All the same, there’s no trace of an ego. He’s been a judge at the DMC DJ World Finals since 2003, but shuns the limelight. “I’ve always worked closely with them but never actually battled because I don’t really have that kind of competitive edge.” At least he thinks so. “I’m not really known for having a desire to prove I’m better than anyone else really,” he adds with a rueful nod.
Still, there are some artists that have so far evaded his clutches - Prince and Michael Jackson being two. But Yoda adds, “Not everything has to be done legally.” But Yoda’s musical holy grails still remain: “There’s actually one I found a few weeks ago, a Louis Armstrong song that I couldn’t find for years because it’s only on 7 inch,” he says. The grin on his face is bigger than a 10 year old who's just got a light sabre for Christmas.
Gigwise asks Yoda his opinion on being voted one of the top three DJs in the world by Hip Hop Connection. It's the only time in the interview he's flustered. "Ah, I have to knock that kind of thing on the head," he says. "I can think of 10 DJs I'd rather be." Whoever it is, they're from a galaxy far, far away.
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