DJ Format

DJ Format, otherwise known as Matt Ford, is mad for music. Ever since the release of his debut album Music For The Mature B-Boy back in 2003 he’s continued to lead the way in funk, soul and hip hop. Having worked with some big names like Jurassic 5, Simon James and Sureshot La Rock, he’s coming back to Norwich to play some supercool tunes for us to get down to at The Talk this month. I spoke to him about beat matching and who his favourite DJ’s are.

How did you first get into DJing?

When I first heard hip hop records in the ‘80s , scratching was such an integral part of most songs I loved so I naturally wanted to try it myself. I got my first budget turntables & mixer when I left school at 16 and within a few months realised I needed to upgrade to Technics 1200s and I never looked back!

What sort of music were you into as a child and a teenager?

As a child I was just listening to whatever music I heard my parents playing, or whatever general pop music I heard on the radio. When I was 10 I discovered Madness and got obsessed with them and started to form my own tastes from there. I really got exposed to hip hop properly thanks to Run DMC, LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, Public Enemy and the Electro compilation series when I was about 12 or 13.

How do you feel about Serato and other modern DJing tools?

I respect the minority of DJ’s who use Serato creatively, rather than the majority who use it because they are either too lazy to carry record boxes or don’t buy records for whatever reasons. A lot of the other technology I see people using is just doing all the work for them. It quantizes & matches beats so they aren’t doing anything! I guess there are many types of ‘DJ’ so to each his own.

Do you still beat match? That seems to be a dying art form, unfortunately.

Yes, absolutely. Mixing is the first thing I learnt as a DJ, before I even attempted to scratch. Although I play many genres of music, I always do it in a hip hop style with mixing & scratching.

What artists have you listened to most through the years?

Probably the household names who have a prolific catalogue of music throughout the years, like KRS-ONE, Run DMC, Beastie Boys, A Tribe Called Quest, James Brown, Herbie Hancock and Kool & The Gang.

Is it true you were once Jurassic 5’s bus driver? How did that come about?

Yes! My old friend Mick ‘Blue Eyes’ organised J5’s first UK tour and needed someone reliable to drive the bus, look after the guys and take Cut Chemist & Nu-Mark to as many record shops as possible along the way. It was probably the best two weeks of my life at that point in time! I got to watch & learn from them every night, and it was an important part of my own development as a DJ and producer.

You supported Grandmaster Flash here in Norwich last year; what was that like? Nervewracking?

No I’m used to supporting DJ’s & artists I respect so it was a pleasure. I didn’t actually meet Grandmaster Flash that night in Norwich but I recently supported him again in Worthing and he was in quite a friendly mood that night. When he discovered I wasn’t using a laptop he enthusiastically looked through my entire record box, pulling out lots of 45’s and asking me about them. It was a great experience being asked about my own choice of breaks & beats by one of the pioneers of hip hop culture that inspired me to do this in the first place!

What would you say your most precious record is in your collection?

It’s really hard to answer that because I have records that are worth almost nothing financially that mean the world to me, and I have records that are worth a lot of money, but I’m not sure how to quantify what is the most precious. My favourite hip hop records from the late ‘80s are probably my most treasured but they are easily replaced if lost or damaged. I have a test pressing of an unreleased 12” by MC Shy D from 1989 that is very precious to me because there isn’t another known copy in existence. I could never replace it so I guess that makes it very precious…but it’s not my favourite record.

Speaking of which, how many records would you say you own?

I don’t actually know for sure because I’ve never attempted to count them at any point over the years! I don’t just collect records for the sake of collecting, I try to just collect records that have a purpose, whether that means for DJing, sampling or just listening to at home. I don’t like having records just for the sake of making my collection look bigger so I constantly get rid of records that I no longer play or intend to sample. I maybe have about 5,000 but that’s just a rough estimate.

Is there any chance of Thesimonsound producing more music?

Absolutely. The Simonsound is Simon James first & foremost and he has continued to make music since we released Reverse Engineering together a few years ago. When I joined forces with The Simonsound we didn’t want to let people know about my involvement because we were scared that our music would be pre-judged as ‘funky hip hop’. We wanted to let the music speak for itself and believed that people would discover it on their own if it was good enough. In hindsight, we probably shouldn’t have been so stupid; we should have exploited my fanbase a bit more and let them just judge the music for themselves. At least it would have reached more people that way. We’ve still got two or three songs together that we need to finish at some point. I think they are really promising but we just need to put the finishing touches on them when we have the time and inspiration.

What has been your most memorable gig thus far?

It would have to be the 2 shows at Brixton Academy supporting J5 back in 2003. Myself & Abdominal had been supporting them around the UK & Europe for three weeks and the tour ended with two consecutive sold out shows in London. I started warming up the crowd by playing a 30 minute set of hip hop & funk before Abdominal joined me onstage and had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand within seconds! It was an amazing feeling as a virtually unknown opening act winning over 5,000 people like that. My favourite gigs nowadays are small or cool bars or clubs where I’m right there on the same level as the party people dancing, rather than being up on a massive stage in a dauntingly big venue. But I’ll always remember that tour with J5 as a perfect time.

Are you working on recording anything new now?

I released The Foremost (an album with Philadelphia legend Phill Most Chill) about 18 months ago; I don’t have any plans for another album just yet but I’ll continue to make and self-release 7’s from time to time. I realise that the music I make is a dying art form so it doesn’t get so much coverage in the music press; I just do it for my own satisfaction and hope that there are enough like-minded people out there still interested in hearing it.

You cross genres quite happily; rock, hip hop, psychedelia, jazz, blues, funk, soul, electronica. Are there any genres of music that you really don’t like?

Yes, I pretty much hate all house music, drum ‘n’ bass, dubstep, pop…anything modern really! The only hip hop I actually like is either old stuff from the ‘80s & early ‘90s, or new releases that sound just like the old stuff I grew up with. I mostly enjoy music from the late ‘60s & early ‘70s, all sorts of genres. It was a very creative time for music in general and the golden age of studio equipment & recording techniques.

Who do you find inspirational as a DJ?

I love DJ’s like Mr Thing & Rob Life because they have great records, some classic and some unknown, and always cut them up with such skill & precision. They also find the perfect balance between entertaining the people who like to watch, and the people who like to dance; that’s something that’s very hard to get just right. I also take a lot of inspiration from DJ’s who don’t really play classic records that everyone knows & loves. It’s much harder as a DJ to take a chance and play records that nobody knows because nowadays most people in clubs don’t want to hear a DJ’s exciting new vinyl discoveries, they just want to hear the same old songs.

What is the essence of being a great DJ?

Hmmm…maybe I just accidentally answered that question with my last answer! Everyone has a different idea of what makes a great DJ, but I personally try to keep in mind all of the things I mentioned above. I want to keep people dancing but not by playing classic or famous songs all the time. That’s too easy. I want to discover new ‘old’ records and present them in a way that people will hopefully enjoy them despite not having heard them before. I like to cut & scratch a little bit but not so much that it kills the dance floor & becomes a nerd-fest.

Hot Damn presents DJ Format supported by Chrome and Just-1 at The Talk on 19th September. Tickets from ueaticketbookings.co.uk.