DJ Food on fax!The fantastically skilled Strictly Kev is one quarter of Ninja Tune's four-jockey turntable collective, DJ Food. We noodled a fax interview to his home in London in the hopes of learning something about the roguish DJ's inner self--a kinder, gentler Ninja, perhaps--but what we got back was drier than a pack of salted Kettle chips. "But don't take it seriously," scribbled the cheeky Kev, who is also responsible for the design of most of Ninja's cover art. "I don't."
Age: 26 Job: Full-time graphic designer, part-time music bore & official Ninja rim boy. Official title: Lord High Emperor for Satan or Applemac Daddy. Why do they call you Strictly Kev? It's a long & boring tale involving Amsterdam, [Coldcut's] Matt Black, the Triple X Festival in '93 and too much time on our hands. And why not Puritanically Kev? Come on--it hardly trips off the tongue, does it? What do you do in the daytime? Cleaning, domestic chores, general Mac-ing about. And I listen to Ollie Teeba talk about the Herbalizer and hip hop. What is the most venal sin you have ever committed? Please! My kingdom for a dictionary! Describe your music in one sentence. DJ Cheese meets Photek in the toilets at a Slayer gig. Please describe your looks in a single-stanza rhyming poem. Oh come on! This isn't Boyzone, you know. What were you doing 10 years ago? Writing graffiti, learning to scratch mix and listening to Coldcut. What would you like to be doing in 10 years? Putting together a book of my design work, producing solo and having Coldcut working for me. What is the dumbest thing you have been asked about Ninja Tune? Who is DJ Food? If you were shuttled to the moon and could take three records, which would you take? 1. The The Soul Mining (Some Bizarre) 2. The Gentle People Journey, Aphex Twin Remix (Rephlex) 3. David Sylvian & Holger Czukay Plight and Premonition (Venture) What would be the shittiest thing about living on the moon with only three records? What would I eat? What would I play them on? Where would I buy more records? Who is the man with the master plan? George Lucas. But will we ever see all nine episodes? Or Norman Foster. Who's got the skills to pay the bills? The guy from Toronto who excitedly informed us he would "blow" us if we went down to his club on a Sunday night. Who's public enemy number one? Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Terminator X and the S1W's at last count. What do you think when you read the words "turntable genius" printed next to your name? I'd think: that person has obviously never seen/heard Q-Bert, Scratch Picklz, Xmen, Beat Junkies, Kid Koala, PC, Ollie Teeba, Mixmaster Morris and another 100 DJs before me. What is the most difficult thing to do on the decks? Fry an egg. Word association: Enema art: Load of old crap. Mantronix: King of the bleeps. Remixology: Judas Priest's "The Ripper" ...live! Wu-Tang: Er... Montreal: Jeff [Waye, DJ Wig], Phil, Gnat, Eric [San, Kid Koala], Victor [Schiffman, promoter], Disquivel, snow, French. DJ Food: The entire recorded output of every record label ever & a sampler. Imagine you are at gunpoint. What are your last words to the planet? Go see Mars Attacks! It's blinding! Strictly Kev spins with Up, Bustle & Out's Stevie Baer & Task, Riz Maslin, DJ Wig, DJ Gnat and special addition Springheel Jack, plus some "mystery guests" at Ninja Tune's second Montreal Stealth Party on Sunday, Mar 23, 9:30pm-3am. Groove Society, 1288 Amherst. $15 adv/$18 door. 859-9055 |
Name: Strictly Kev