THE FOUR-SIDE SAGA
by Tim Barr
"Who is he?"
Tom Jenkinson
"Better known as?"
Squarepusher,
(although he also does a nice line in EP's as The Duke
Of Harringay too.)
"Where's he from?"
Blur country - Chelmsford - originally, but relocated
to Harringay recently, thus the _nom de tune_.
"He's one of them Hackney types then is he?"
Yup, his neighbour Richard 'Aphex Twin' James has been
round begging for tracks for his Rephlex label.
"Will he get them?"
Probably, although Warp, Ninja Tune and R&S are all
ready to slug it out over a long-term deal.
"Prompted by what exactly?"
His remix of DJ Food's 'Scratch Yer Head' in the
'Refried Food' series, a pair of cracking EPs on his
tod and a sprinkling of bowel-quakingly good live
appearances.
"What's does he sound like?"
A three-way jam between Charlie Parker, Buddy Rich
and LFO. Inside a computer. And speeded up to 45
rpm, natch.
"What's he look like?"
Baby-faced 21-year-old cherub with the beginnings
of an Aphex-style beard.
"So why's he the black dog's bollocks?"
Because he makes ferocious, dynamic jazz-tinged
breakbeat at a time when drum'n'bass is sliding
towards washed-out cocktail fusion.
'That whole jazz-jungle thing is just soundbite
culture stuff,' he reckons, 'it ignores the
complexity and the cerebral input of the music.
Jazz has a considerable history and all these
incredible pioneers.'
He's also the first of a new breed of junglist
chopping up his music instead of sampling
records.
"Musical background?"
Played drums and bass in local bands as early
as 12, after immersing himself in his dad's
collection of jazz and dub albums.
'My old man had a massive record collection,'
he says. 'I was listening to shitloads of stuff
like Augustus Pablo, Charlie Parker and Miles
Davis, and because I played the drums, I was
checking Art Blakey and Buddy Rich, too. But I
never really liked rock music so it was
difficult finding a group to fit into.'
"So when did he see the electronic light?"
After hearing 'LFO' by LFO when he was 15. It
converted him from jazzhead to technohead
overnight. The decision to convert his bass
twanging into an electronic format was 'a
logical progression'. A love of the
'completely inspirational' Carl Craig followed
soon after.
"What's in his sample store?"
Practically bugger all except his own
instruments.
"Prize vinyl moment?"
His latest offering, the 'Alroy Road Tracks'
EP, as The Duke Of Harringay.
"Future funk foodstuff?"
Singles and (possibly) an LP for disc
emporium Ambient Soho's Worm Interface, LPs
for Rephlex, Warp and loads more.
"His musical philosophy in one sentence?"
'I like music that alters your brain in some
sort of way, a music that's mindful of the
history of jazz, music that takes you
somewhere else."
(from NME 6 April 1996)
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ERkki
TampHexster, pHinland
trerra@uta.fi