- Wed, 2010-09-15 14:49
Having honed his craft since the age of 13, toured the globe, hosted many a messy night and worked with key producers in the game, UK MC Mystro has now dropped his latest collection of tunes via the Digmund Freud EP.
Released on Self Destruct Music (the label responsible for producing and arranging classic Skinnyman album Council Estate of Mind in conjunction with Lowlife Records), plus Mystro's own lable Don't Bizzniss, the EP features production from Self Destruct's DJ Flip, DJ Swerve and Jehst, alongside guest appearances from Skandal Stig of The Dump, Ramson Badbonez, Baby Sol, Sharlene Hector and Chezelle Bingham.
I Like Music caught up with Mystro for a chat, he reveals the beats that are making him swoon, he lets us in on his favourite Cuban act and talks passionately about how UK rappers can achieve success
"I Like Music because… it has no colour. It doesn't really have a language either, if you like the music, then you like it regardless. Music is a very theraputic thing, it's a lot more theraputic than a lot of people realise.” Mystro
ILM: Hello, how are you?
Mystro: Yeah, yeah not too bad. I've just been doing a bit of writing and trying to work out my schedule for next week.
ILM: Yeah, I just checked out your schedule on myspace - you're pretty busy over the next few months!
Mystro: Yeah, yeah there's a few. There's a few more to add! But it's looking good! Definitely looking like I'm in demand now - hahah! I'm not complaing at all!
ILM: For all those yet to see Mystro live, what can they expect if they come along?
Mystro: A lot of high energy! I like to put 110% into the performance. It's about entertainment, we'll have a few laughs. It's a hip hop show, so don't expect too much dance music, it's all about the beats and the lyrics. I run through a lot of my catalogue, old stuff from eight years ago, leading up to the current stuff. Check my videos on youtube, I'll perfom the majority of my tunes on there. It's entertaining you know? A lot of people say they come away feeling exhausted! Haha!
ILM: Who do you have on board with you?
Mystro: DJ Phor, like the almighty Hammer of Phor! Plus the other guy I rap with, Jargon. Together we form the Natural Born Spitters. Jargon's away at the moment, so I'll start bringing him on tour when he's back in mid October. Til then it'll be me and Phor keeping things traditional!
ILM: You've toured the world. Which have been some of the most memorable moments?
Mystro: The most recent one was Splore Festival in New Zealand. There's one main stage and another stage, it's not a massive festival, about 8,000 people, but it's right next to the beach! It's the best festival I've done so far, so I've gotta give that a shout out!
ILM: So you could finish your set and run straight into the sea?!
Mystro: Exactly yeah! When you're sweating! Haha! It's amazing to see people screaming their heads off enjoying it and they're actually in the water! It's pretty crazy!
ILM: You've been making music for a while, how would you describe the styles and themes in your work?
Mystro: It's a mixture. I do the hip hop thing but I like to do broken beat stuff as well. The main thing is me as a hip hop artist, rapping over sample based music with hard drums. It could be a mixture of down-tempo more thoughtful stuff, through to mid-way entertainment with jokes and funny ideas, like Around My Way. The other side is social commentary, like the track Aquarius. Party stuff as well. A lot of people know me through doing stuff for the clubs. It's not one dimensional. That's kinda what I'm like anyway, I like to read a lot and gain a lot of knowledge, but I also like to party a lot! I try and keep a balance between that. I like to keep people entertained and I like to keep things as creative as possible.
ILM: How do words and phrases come about for you?
Mystro: I used to always carry a pen and pad, but now you can just jot it into your phone. Cos it's my job, I sleep with my work boots basically. I'm always coming up with ideas, whether it's a concept for a song, lyrics, chorus... I usually hear a beat and then get the idea from that, kinda let the beat tell me what I should be saying on it. There are times when I don't have a beat and I need to get a verse finished, so I'll just think of one of my favourite beats by somebody else and kinda write to that in my head. I try not to limit my inspiration, it's endless, so I can write whenever I want to...
ILM: Rather than saying It's five o' clock, now I must write!
Mystro: Yeah! Hahah! I think that when it comes to being creative it's better to let it flow rather than force it.
ILM: How old were you when you first put pen to paper?
Mystro: Oh....I was about thriteen! Being young, it wasn't that great! Although when you first start out it's rarely your own lyrics, it's always what you've been influenced by. I think mine was based on the UK group Gunshot. They kinda influenced me to think OK, I can do it as well. They're from here. It's not just an American thing. I vauely remember what I said and I developed it from there, although I didn't take it too seriously then.
ILM: When did you start taking it seriously?
Mystro: About '98. That's when I was working on the style. That's when I felt more comfortable rapping with how I sound and being from the UK, rapping how I talk. At the time that was still a bit weird for people. I remember friends of mine saying what? Are you seriously going to try and rap with your own accent? As discouraging as that might have been, it made me want to prove them wrong. And now it's the norm! It's normal for people to rap with their own accents, it's come a long way.
ILM: You've grown up in London, how has that affected your music?
Mystro: I grew up with people who were a lot older than me. Not everybody was doing the right thing but everybody was quick witted and knew what they wanted. That made me understand that I should learn about the business more, rather than just being an artist. On top of that, it made me push and want to master what I was doing. I didn't focus on just wanting to better UK artists, I wanted to better American artists, I wanted to sound as good as someone over there, so I could be put anywhere in the world and still do the right thing.
ILM: What do you think it takes to make an impact on the UK music industry today?
Mystro: In the UK I think it's all about who you know. People always say to me how come you're not bigger than you are? You should be way bigger than you are! All that kind of thing. But I just make the music. I don't run around trying to be everybody's friend. Not that I'm not friendly, haha! I just don't know everybody like that. I'm happy making the music and getting what I can out of it; travelling the world, touring and building up a following like that. It keeps my feet on the ground. If you want to be massively famous and in the charts, then you're going to have to attack it in a different way.
ILM: So you're happy with where you are now?
Mystro: I'm quite happy releasing music that I'm going to be proud of when I'm eighty or whatever! Just keeping it like that. I'm not trying to force anything out just to get it in the charts.
ILM: I'm sure that approach will have a lot more longevity...
Mystro: Yeah, I guess so, cos you kinda throw yourself out there when you're doing anything to get noticed, to have the big pop track and what not. And if it flops then it's even harder to get noticed again. I think it's more about how you handle the business. For me, I'm living off of it, I'm keeping a roof over my head, and that's because I understood what kind of service I can provide and how to make a business out of that. Instead of just thinking about rapping and rapping and rapping and rapping...
ILM: As long as you've maintained your style and not sacrificed who you are, there's nothing wrong with that.
Mystro: Definitely. And don't get me wrong, I think with the right exposure, the kind of music I make could get into the charts. But I don't know everyone. I'm not friends with all the top radio DJs, I know there are PR companies that you pay to get you more exposure, but I think that if it happens organically, if it happens naturally, it's probably better for you.
ILM: In terms of UK music at the moment, who are you into?
Mystro: There's a few in terms of the hip hop scene who are really pushing it. There's Black The Ripper, Ramson Badbones, obviously Jargon, Skandal. Then a few vocalists, Miss Baby Sol, she's on the EP. Maverick Sabre, he was on the EP orginally but he got signed so we had to take it off!
ILM: How about older artists, artists that you always find yourself going back to?
Mystro: James Brown! I think he influenced almost everything we know in terms of Black Music. I listen to quite a lot of different styles. There's a Latin band that I always listen to, particularly before a show, called Ira Kere. They're a pretty old Latin band from Cuba. They've embraced Cuban styles but thrown in classical, rock, funk and boogie. They bought that in but still made it sound Cuban. A friend of mine introduced me to them, they've got some real energetic stuff. Hip Hop wise it would be The Roots, Redman, MF DOOM, Jay Electronica, Ludacris...a good mixture. That way I don't get bored, keeping it wide like that. That's probably why I feel like I can rap about anything.
ILM: Best not to put yourself in a box...
Mystro: Yeah, that's the thing. When I first came out people were like this is a punchline MC! He's got jokes! I felt like, ok, maybe I don't want to be pigeonholed. That's when I started trying to develop. I started trying to speak about things rather than rapping about rapping and how good I was, which is kind of how you start out. The whole battle side of things, you have to adapt.
ILM: In terms of producers recently, which have been some of the freshest beats you've heard?
Mystro: Oh, Labyrinth man! Labyrinth. The guy that does that Tinie Tempah stuff. I really like what he's doing. He's young as well! I tell a lot of my friends overseas that to me, he's brought together the sound of the UK right now. Whether you wanna say London or the UK...especially with Pass Out. I feel that embodies everything the UK has been churning out over the last fifteen years. From the hardcore era, going into drum n bass, jungle drum n bass, the sort of sounds from garage going into dubstep and grime. Pass Out for me, you can hear reggae in it, hip hop in it, dubstep in it, drum n bass. This is all stuff we listen to here on the streets. He's found the right way of doing it. It's not too corny and it's not too light, it's still pretty heavy. To reach a number one with that sort of sound, I really like that. So Labrynth is definitely up there!
ILM: Who else...
Mystro: Another guy I like is Black Einstein, his name is Colin Emmanuel. He's a producer and he's got a band as well, The Black Einstein band. A lot of people say some of my best work is with him....so yeah, that's interesting! Then there's Alan Mawdsley that I've worked with, in terms of that hip hop sound, he's done stuff with Roots Manuva, he's probably got a stronger sound. Then Beat Butcha as well, he's really good.
ILM: What are your future plans?
Mystro: The Digmund Freud EP is what I'm pushing at the moment. My plan is to get my name out there a lot more. I've got an album ready, it's called Mystrogeon! Basically, Mystrogeon is like oxygen, but you'll need it a lot more! The first thing is pushing my name. I don't want to just drop the album and have no-one know about it. I'd rather build anticipation, to the point where I feel like the amount of people I want to hear it will get to know about it. After that I'll keep doing albums, one a year, maybe two. And obviously all the mixtape stuff. Maybe a bit more presenting, I've started doing an online show; Mystro Investigates: spinetv.net/videos/video/shows/mystro-investigates
ILM: Two albums a year?! That's a lot! You must be making music a lot?
Mystro: Yeah, I'm more writing a lot. I've got recording space at home. I do a lot of work with other producers like Yes King, Black Einstein. I'm currently working with The Bee Keepers from Bristol. Continuously churning out material, whether it's featuring or my own stuff. I feel like I've mastered crafting a song to my standard. A lot of people come to me when they're working on a song with a concept that might be a bit different or maybe a bit harder to handle for an average rapper. That helps man. That definitely helps my confidence.
