Live mix from WOBBLE’N'DUBB

Exclusive interview with JUICE ALEEM

Juice Aleem is at the top of his game – he’s worked with Flesh and Gamma, Coldcut, Hextstatic and Evil 9, amongst many others over the past 20 years… and now he’s finally gone solo. He has studied his art long and hard, and it shows in every aspect of his solo album, Jerusalaam Come (the title in itself, spelt in this way, is immediately intriguing and hints at his desire to engage the listener’s mind right from the start.)

Juice Aleem is just one of his many alter-egos. Others include Norbert Psyche, Wolf McGinty, Jerusalaam El, Alpha Prhyme, and Aleem Juice, to name but a few. Intrigued to find out what his real name was, I asked him to divulge. He told me that only people who fall into one of the following three categories know his real name:  1. those who are willing to part with generous amounts of money directly into his bank account; 2. girlfriends who he’s with for a certain period of time; and 3. his mum. Failing to qualify for any of those categories, the name Juice Aleem will have to reign supreme.

Lisa: Right then, it’s the day after you played at Wire with Anti-Pop Consortium, how are you doing?

Juice: I’m good thank you. A little frayed around the edges, but I’m good.

Lisa: And you’re straight off to London now?

Juice: Yep, back to the grindstone, back to doing other things, got another gig tonight…

Lisa: Cool. First of all I wanted to talk a little bit about how you started off MC’ing – where you were when you started writing your lyrics, and how you started doing this live?

Juice: Well, I’ve been at it for ages – forever forever forever! But, I suppose, taking it seriously, it began when I formed groups with various different people, and just realised that I actually have a talent for it – in regards to, not only the music I was listening to and wanting to make, but also how you talk and how you look at the world and how you’re able to vocalise that. People say, “Oh, that’s pretty cool!” or “I like the way you said that,” or, “I never thought of that,” and you think to yourself, there may be something in this. And that’s the kind of thing that pushed me forward in regards to making this a profession. Obviously then, there’s going to bigger and better studios, and getting tunes played on the radio, and having various levels of success in different areas. Each time, that success is going forward, and going upwards and outwards, and that’s what’s allowed me to keep doing it.

So… it’s been a long while! It’s been about 15 years or so on a level, like you say, professionally… But even before that, you know, since I was a child. I didn’t always think about it, but I used to sometimes hit soundsystems and stuff as a young teen, and get forwards and re-winds and stuff. People would ask: “Hey come back again!” You’re like: “yeah, yeah, yeah, but I’ve got school tomorrow, I can’t do this.” It just kept going from there. Obviously then, once you’ve put records out that are official, that are on actual record labels, then you realise you’re in a different realm, in a new, exciting and sometimes scary realm… it’s all upwards from there.

Lisa: Ok. You’ve worked with a lot of people, a lot of different people in the past as well as on this album that you’ve just released. Who would you say has really pushed you forwards and has really influenced you in what you do?

Juice: There’s no one… there’s no one particular influence in the people I’ve worked with… My formative years were pre- any of this. They were spent listening to Public Enemy, Jungle Brothers, Ultra Magnetic MCs, Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman, Dennis Brown, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, David Bowie, Talking Heads, Yellow Magic Orchestra. That’s what made me who I am. I’m not saying I’m fully formed, because you’re always growing, you’re always striving for perfection… But it’s like, the people I meet now, it’s more a case of, as they say, steel sharpening steel, and Man sharpening Man. So you’re meeting each other as equals. Even if the person I work with is bigger than myself, and has a bigger name, and a bigger cache to his name, what it is, is that I’m still meeting them and giving them an input too. So even in working for Coldcut – which is influential – but they asked me to come to them, if you know what I’m saying. So it’s not that my name’s as big as theirs, it’s me adding to what they’re doing, and they’re adding to what I’m doing. So it’s a combination.

I’ve done my apprenticeship. You know, like I say, those were my formative years, those were the years doing things for free – opening nights, doing things in promotion, handing out flyers, appearing here, there, everywhere, travelling up and down the country, “OK – here’s ten pounds, is that alright?” No it’s not, but thank you anyway! You know what I’m saying, I’ve done that, I’m trying not to do that anymore! I’m trying to meet people on a level now. So last night, with Anti-Pop, they know a lot of people that I know, I know a lot of people that they know. I’ve worked with Beans before, from Anti-Pop. We’ve all done the groundwork, we’ve all studied our craft, we’ve all found out what the background to this art form is. Our influences are very similar, but constantly expanding, and they don’t influence you as such – other than influence your sense of achievement. I tell you what’s beautiful – knowing people like, say, Roots Manuva, and seeing him get his Mercury nomination, and thinking like, hey, maybe  I can do that as well, or maybe my friend can do that, maybe Blackitude can do that, or Mike Ladd… You know, these are my friends, do you understand? So it’s not just like I’m learning from them, I’m learning from them as a friend. Like I say, steel sharpens steel, man sharpens man, mind sharpens mind.

Lisa: Now, I know you’ve got to head off soon, but could we quickly talk a little bit about the album you’ve just released. You discuss a lot of things in it, there’s a lot of deep issues in it, and a lot of political issues…

Juice: Oh, you said the ‘P’ word!

Lisa: Ha ha! But you talk about cultural identity and that sort of stuff too. I was wondering if you could run those themes past me…

Juice: You’d have to be a bit more specific, in the space of time we’ve got!

Lisa: Ha ha, OK. I’ll pick one theme specifically, which I think is quite an interesting one, which is how you seem to be… how to word it… maybe… quite sad about how Hip Hop is portrayed today in the UK, and – what’s that tune of yours? Kunte…

Juice: KuntaKinteTarDiss. Yeah, be careful how you say that!

Lisa: I know, it sounds a bit suspect! But in that you also talk about how Hip Hop is saturated by egotistical men, and how perhaps that’s not what it’s about in reality…

Juice: I mean, that track, it is five minutes long, and it has about 400 years worth of stuff in there, maybe even more.  So yeah, Hip Hop is one of the things it’s talking about, but it’s more about… I mean, it’s talking about media saturation in a few lines, but it’s also talking about how people who haven’t studied their craft are boosting up and highlighting people who maybe aren’t on the top of their game either. Now, if you really think that person is the best MC, maybe you need to go back to Hip Hop class! Go back to basics. To master your craft you have to be able to do various art forms, and be able to simplify it as well.

Take Picasso – when he got to the height and pinnacle of his career, he was able to do anything. He was able to do the Renaissance style, he was able to do surrealism, impressionism – he was able to do everything. From when he was young, he was literally a genius. But, do you know what he did when he got right to the peak? He went back to African primitivism. All that simplified stuff that people know? That was his version of cave paintings, and those real simple masks that you find in Central Asia, South and Central America and Africa. He went back to that, to the source of Humanity, do you understand? So he took it back to the root. Simple, clear, bold lines. And you can really feel it, you know, it’s raw and visceral.

Lisa: That really is what you get from your album, just a sort of raw and individual assertion of what you are, and who you are as a man.

Juice: Well this is it, this is me, this is me. For better or for worse. If someone can show me and tell me where I’m wrong, I’d love that. You know what I’m saying – if someone could agree with me, I’d love that too. But even better than both of those, is being able to debate it, and that’s what I’m trying to do. If there’s anything that I hope for, it’s for people to broaden their horizons, and to debate, and to think about things. They don’t have to agree with me, but just to think about it. That’s what I’d love. And that’s what even the album cover is about, and the title. People say, “You don’t spell Jerusalem like that,” Exactly. Have a think about it. [Siren sounds] Hold on, I’ve gotta go! Ha ha! No, that’s really what it’s all about, so it’s good that people are picking up on it. But sometimes, almost too much as well, because that’s the one song that everyone focuses on…

Lisa: I think that’s probably because it is perhaps the most straightforward one on the album, the one that’s more obvious what it’s about. You listen to it once and you get a feel to it, whereas some of the others you have to listen to a bit more…

Juice: True, true. I hadn’t thought of it in that sense. Because actually the way I write isn’t always obvious, and I didn’t realise that. And I made a concerted effort with a couple of the tracks on this album to be a bit more, “this is what I am saying today, this is how I feel.” But the reason why that one was so poignant is because, I was kind of ranting. It’s what I do on my own, at home, in my living room, after watching the news. I think, they can’t do that, you can’t invade that country! I talk to myself and I have this rant. Oh my God, they’re increasing the taxes again! The way people drive today! That was that song. It’s like, hold on, let’s not turn myself mad, let me express this and give it an outlet, and maybe there’s some people out there that agree with some of this. Not all of it, but maybe some of it, you know.

Lisa: Well, we should probably leave it at that, so you can get some food and head off, but thanks very much for coming to meet me, it’s been great.

Juice: Thank you very much, thank you for having me. And I hope people listen, and hopefully they’ll go and buy the album, Jerusalaam Come, but also support other art forms, other music and other artists out there, and give them a listen too. This is not just about me, it’s about expanding yourself, each person. As they say, ‘for each one to teach one’. So if you learn something, pass it on to the next person, if you hear some good music, let another person know. If you see a good film, let another person know and go to the cinema with them. Because in this climate right now, a lot of arts are going to suffer, and I’d hate to see that happen. Because without art, we aren’t a culture – you aren’t a civilisation without art forms. We’re going to lose ourselves and become, for want of a better word, savage.

Lisa: Let’s hope that doesn’t happen!

Juice: Yes, let’s hope that doesn’t happen! But, thank you. Peace. Blessing.

Special thanks to Joe Maitland

Lisa: I’m backstage at The warehouse Project with Wisp, how’s it going? You’ve just finished your set haven’t you?

Reid: Ah yeah, it was great, a good night.

Lisa: What’s it like playing here in the UK, obviously being from the US – is it very different?

Reid: Yeah, it’s very different, people actually dance here, whereas in the States, everybody just kinda wonders  what software you’re using – I mean, not everybody, but it’s generally the case.  But over here, people dance which is good.

Lisa: So people don’t really dance in the US?

Reid: No, I mean it’s more of a sort of social event, where everybody comes to talk and hang out, and it’s cool , you know, I’m fine with that, but it’d be good to get people dancing a little more!

Lisa: People seem pretty up for it tonight don’t they!

Reid: Oh yeah, definitely! They’re crammed in there for sure!

Lisa: What’s it like playing alongside Aphex Twin of all people?

Reid: It’s a bit daunting! I played tonight obviously, in Manchester, and in London I had to play after him, and I was… sweating basically! But it was good, it’s gone really well. Everybody’s really welcoming and everybody seems to be in the same sort of mindset, so it works out well.

Lisa: Tell me a bit about where you grew up – how did that influence your music? Was it to do with your surroundings?

Reid: A little bit. I live in  a city, but it’s more like a small town with big city problems – it’s called Niagra Falls New York, and it’s run-down, there’s not a lot going on there. I grew up there, I was born and raised there, and there’s nothing really. There’s no real record shops, there’s one record shop, and he’s just kinda like a nutty old guy! Living in a city like that, where you have nothing, you’ve got to go outside of the city, using the internet or going on long-distance trips, to find records and new music and stuff. But it’s been great, because I kinda pull all of this stuff into where I live, and it’s just me and a couple of my friends, and there’s not a lot of people around to bother you or influence you, other than what you’re really interested in. It is a bit of a downer, because the city’s a bit of a slum, but for the most part, it’s OK.

Lisa: But you’re still living there, so it can’t be that bad?!

Reid: Ha! Well I’d like to think that, but eventually you know, I’d like to move out of the area, but for the time being, it suits its purpose. I get to come over here and do shows and stuff, so I can’t really complain.

Lisa: So, tell me a bit about your main influences – I mean, Aphex Twin is blatantly a big influence, but is there anyone else that’s notable?

Reid: Well the Aphex Twin influence is pretty obvious, I never deny that!  A lot of people get all uptight about it, like, oh you’ve gotta be original, or whatever, but it’s always just been music I’ve been really into. Outside of those kind of influences – I grew up listening to a lot of Tangerine Dream,  really synthy music, Vangelis… Then there’s the whole video game aspect, I’m really interested in video game music. And I listen to my fair share of industrial music, Skinny Puppy, and all that… There’s still music I listen to, but as far as influences go I’m not pulling from strictly music, there’s a load of other things.

Lisa: I read somewhere that you draw a lot of influences from books, is that right?

Reid: Yeah, a lot of literature, mainly mythology. Obviously when you tie mythology into anything music-related the Tolkein influence comes up, albeit he was a big one for me, but there’s loads of other novelists like Borges… Anything to do with magical realism I’m really interested in, anything that has its roots in mythology I’m really drawn to.

Lisa: Are you reading any good books at the moment?

Reid: At the moment I’m reading a fantasy series called “A Song Of Fire And Ice”, and I’m reading the collection of Jorge Luis Borges’ work, which is just like magical realism, short stories, that kind of thing.

Lisa: It’s quite interesting that a musician would say that they get quite a lot of influence from books, how would you say that works, I’m intrigued!

Reid: Well, it’s more-a-less being left to your own devices, I mean you have music to listen to all the time, and sometimes you just need to take a break and do something else. Some people have different hobbies, you know…

Lisa: So is it just something that helps you to get into the zone you need to be in to write your music?

Reid: Yeah  big time, it allows me to channel a lot of the ideas I have. I don’t want to sound silly about it, it’s not like I’m sitting around writing music and am like “ooh, who could I draw from now?” and “ooh, how can I write a novel in music?” It’s not really like that. But when you read like that, you can’t help these peripheral influences from seeping in to what you do, and the mood you’re trying to set. It’s just a big part of the music that I write and what interests me in general.

Lisa: So tell me a bit about where you’re planning to go now with your musical career, have you got any side-projects going on or anything like that?

Reid: Yeah, I’m  always writing music, you know, it’s pretty much all I do! So, I have the Wisp material, which obviously is being put out on Rephlex. I’m sending Grant at Rephlex loads of material all of the time, different stuff. It’s easy to get pigeon-holed  when you have one style of music that’s popular to a certain crowd, which I’m fine with, but I’m definitely up to other stuff. Like I said, I’m into old school, really synthy, soundtrack-based music from the 70s – Sorcerer and all that stuff [Sorcerer was a film by William Friedkin, for which Tangerine Dream wrote the soundtrack]. And then there’s a few other side-projects. The main one I have is at home with my good friend Alex, it’s called Overlap, and it’s more textural, more sound-design orientated. The software we’re using is a little more open-ended, you know, open-source basically.

Lisa: My friend that you spoke to at a gig in Leeds once told me that you write all of your tunes in Fruity Loops, is that true?

Reid: I wouldn’t say that I write every single track specifically in Fruity Loops, but it’s been a big part of the construction process since the program came out – I mean I’ve been using it since version 2, and I’ve stuck with it over the years. It’s had its downsides, and felt a little restrictive at times, but it also gave me the room to open up, and to learn the software very intensely and intuitively. It’s kinda become an extension of  me… I’m able to put ideas down really fast, and then work on them in other software, but then always come back to it and do the construction part of it in that software. So yeah, I’m definitely a fan of FL…  Fruity Loops! I won’t even call it FL Studio!

Lisa: Ha ha! Well I think we’ll leave it there, but thanks very much for joining me tonight, we’ll go and enjoy a bit of Aphex Twin I think, he’s sounding good!

Reid: Please do, he’s killing it out there! Thank you very much!

GUESTMIX BY ANT ORANGE (all unreleased material) :
1. Untitled
2. Dig It
3. Pampy
4. It’s On
5. Stayshan
6. Fonk (Tha Nod Factor)
7. What’s Your Flavour?
8. New String

03. Oxynucid – The Doog (Oxynucid Post-Jazz Remix) [Centrifuge]
04. Guvnor – Krush Style
05. Mos Def – Quiet Dog [Cool Badge]

[conducted 28/06/09. Originally published on www.singleflush.com on 30/06/09]

I caught up with Andy backstage at the East Dance arena on Sunday.  He tells me how he finds planning sets boring; talks about his most recent album, “Ninja Tuna”; and whether there are any more fish songs on the way… He also asks me to pass on my regards to the Welsh Love God…

LR: So, how are you finding Glastonbury so far?

Scruff: I haven’t properly acclimatized yet, I’ve only been here about an hour and a half, it’ll be nice to get out there and have a bit of a wander around. Good weather as well!

LR: Yeah, you’ve got here just in time for the sun!

Scruff: Yeah, well I’ve spent the whole weekend up in Manchester – some mates have been helping me out with the garden, so I’ve been getting myself a bit of a farmer’s tan too!

LR: So you fit right in here! Your set tonight is quite a long one isn’t it?

Scruff: Yeah, I’ve got two and a half hours, which for a festival is pretty good. Last time I had an hour and a half, which is cool, but it’s good to get stuck in properly. Especially on a Sunday, you want to play a few different kinds of music, play some mellow stuff and some full on stuff. It’s good to get into it, relax, and have fun without having to look at your watch. I’m a deck-hog you see, so it’s good for me to have err… 150 minutes to play with. That took me a while to work that out there, you can tell it’s Sunday!

LR: Yeah! So, how do you plan your sets? How do you go about planning one this long especially, is it meticulously planned or ad hoc?

Scruff: I don’t at all, I just pack a load of records and see what happens. I know what I brought with me and I put them all in tempo order, and so I just go through the box. I’m not a band, y’know, I’ve got the whole history of recorded music at my fingertips pretty much. I’ve got a lot of inspiration from just making stuff up, just getting the atmosphere in the tent, just playing stuff and seeing what goes down well. When you’re in a good mood and you’re on it when you’re DJing it’s really good just to pull stuff out of the hat and see what happens. That’s always a really good situation to think of ideas, rather than doing it at home, and thinking ‘oh yeah, I’m going to do a really clever bit of mixing here’ – like that it just becomes a sterile, technical exercise.

LR: So it’s much more about pleasing the crowd, and kind of feeling their vibes?

Scruff: Yeah, it’s like a conversation. You don’t plan conversations – well, I mean you might have planned a few questions to ask me, and you know, I might have planned a few options to start off with… You just make sure you come with a very strong introductory record and make sure the one that you finish with has got a big fan-fair at the end of it, and whatever happens in the middle, happens. I just think planning stuff is so boring. It’s been such a nice weekend in Manchester and, you know, am I going to just stay inside listening to records or am I going to go outside and get some of this rare sunshine?! The weather won out this weekend!

LR: So, how many of your own tunes do you play in your sets?

Scruff: To me, my own stuff is just another record in the box. I know some people expect me to play some of my own, so I’ll play one or two, but generally it’s just if the mood’s right I’ll play it, if not, there’ll be something else that suits the mood better.

LR: Your new album, Ninja Tuna, is on a totally different record label to Ninja Tune, is that right? I mean, it’s to do with Ninja Tune obviously, but it’s your own label?

Scruff: No, it just looks like mine! But because I put out the album then about eight singles off the album in about nine months, we thought it was enough to sort of give it its own little sub-label, which is just my own take on Ninja really. It’s just a nice visual way to tie in all the releases, so people can associate them with the album. They still do all the hard work, I just do all the cartoons, you know, the fun stuff, and they do all the number crunching stuff!

LR: Sounds good! Who was your favourite person to work with from the new album, because you worked with a lot of different people didn’t you?

Scruff: Yeah, well everyone that I work with is someone that I’m inspired by, and get along with, you know, they’re mates and they’re really talented people. I’d like to work with them all again. I’d say Andy Kingslow [http://www.myspace.com/akingslow], who was my main collaborator in the studio – he’s a great instrumentalist – and I’d say he was probably the most important in helping shape the sound of the album. I tend to work with a lot of different artists. I mean, the last time I worked with Roots Manuva for instance was ten years ago, on the Keep It Unreal album, so maybe once every ten years we’ll get together and do a tune!

LR: Are you going to be able to see him play later or are you clashing?

Scruff: Yeah, I think we’re clashing, which is a bit gutting really. But I’m sure we’ll cross paths again. The festival season is young, so I’m sure I’ll see him in various states of drunkenness in several fields over the summer!

LR: So, any other plans for the rest of the festival? This is the last night I suppose, but is there anyone you want to see?

Scruff: Yeah, well I’ve just been to see Amadou and Mariam on the Pyramid stage, they were great fun. I’ve had a wander round, but after we’ve done a line check and had some food I think it’ll be time to go on.

LR: You’re not going to see Tom Jones then?

Scruff: I think he’s on quite soon actually…

LR: Yeah, that’s where we’re going next!

Scruff: I just bring so much stuff with me; it takes hours to set up. So I might hear the Welsh love God from here, but I won’t get to see him unfortunately!

LR: What are your future plans then, short term? Any more releases in the pipeline?

Scruff: Yeah, I’ve got a re-issue of Keep It unreal coming out on Monday, so tomorrow… although I suppose this won’t go out for a few days so, ahem, I’ve just re-released Keep It Unreal, which has been re-mastered and has six extra tracks on it from the original sessions that haven’t been out before. And after that, I’ll just get back in the studio, you know, have some fun. Probably get a few more tour dates this autumn. I’m looking forward to getting back in the studio, but I’ll just wait for the weather to get a bit worse first. My studio’s in my basement, so I don’t like the thought of getting in there on a baking hot day when I should be outside trying to get the blue shades out of my skin and get myself a little bit pink! The studio’s for hibernation – I’ll do a few tour dates this autumn, and then switch the drum machines back on!

LR: Are you planning any more songs involving fish?

Scruff: Probably not, I’ve done five so far!

LR: So you think that’s enough? I suppose people might start thinking weird things if you did too many more!

Scruff: Well I think people think weird things already! I just don’t want to string something like that out longer than it’s comfortable. If I get some really good ideas, then fine, but y’know, I’ve done five songs about fish, how many more can there be without re-treading old ground? When I was making them it was fun, I was creating something fresh, but now I think I’ve gone as far as I can go with it. It’s kind of a format, you know, spoken word verses and daft sing-a-long choruses. You never know though, I might find a different subject, acorns or donkeys or something…

LR: I’m looking forward to it! Well, thank you very much, and best of luck with your gig in a bit.

Scruff: Enjoy Tom Jones, say hello to him from me! I’ll be stuck in here sound checking, but I’m sure it’ll be worth it for later.