by SCOTT C

Still a novelty to many, the addition of a scratch DJ to a live band is, like any combination of disparate instruments, bound to transform and evolve over time. Montreal’s Microtone Kitchen, a project two years in the making, inverts the equation with turntablists Killa Jewel, Praiz, Midas, Pandazal and DJ Mana joined by keyboardists/guitarists Know One and Atsu, placing the turntable up front, not off to the side. The Mirror spoke to DJ Mana and Killa Jewel right here in Montreal.

Mirror: You’re a product of the battle scene, and have kept active furthering your skills as a turntablist. Why is this particular concept so close to your heart?

DJ Mana: When I was battling, the focus was on my technical skills and my ability to move super fast on the tables, but for the past two years I’ve been studying piano, microtonal theory and Indian music. Music is not just rhythm, and that’s what turntablism always focused on. In terms of tonality, it’s always been hard to make the turntables sound musical, but now we can tune our samples and harmonize our scratches so we know what bandwidth of frequency we’re using, so that everything compliments each other in harmony, rhythm and melody.

M: Having lent your turntablist skills to productions with Robert Lepage and Vanessa Rodrigues in the past, would you say that this is completely different from simply adding turntables to live instrumentation?

Killa Jewel: Yes. I’ve scratched with jazz bands and rock bands, but this is different because we’re using the turntable as the primary instrument as opposed to it being the accompanying instrument.

M: So is Microtone Kitchen a reaction to the sidelining of the turntable?

DJM: It’s not a reaction as much as it is a natural progression. There’s other people doing this kind of stuff anyway, we’re not the only ones. I think we’re the only ones in Montreal, but outside of that there’s Southern California’s Ned Hoddings, with Ricci Rucker, D-Styles and Mike Boogie, and Birdie Nam Nam from France. We’ve added keys and guitar to the mix, which are fundamentally tonal.

At Kop Shop on Friday, March 24, 10 p.m., $7

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