An interview with SPX aka 12 Inch Thumpers13th February 2008 - interview copyright of Frenzy Jake Cusack and Nick Pratt are the guys you'll know from their 12 Inch Thumpers days... now they're going under the SPX guise, but you'll still know what to expect! Frenzy caught up with them in advance of their gig with us on March 7th at Dusk Till Dawn where they tell us about their new band with Kutski and much more. 1. Hi Nick and Jake, it’s been a year since we last spoke so what’s been going on with you guys? We’ve heard on the grapevine that you’ve started to take your band to the next level. Can you tell us a bit more about that, and is Kutski still involved in the turntables? The band’s album is now in the closing stages of being finished. All the tracks are written and recorded and now we’re getting them mixed and mastered. Kutski is on the album, yes. Most notably on a UK hip hop kinda track with killer scratching which he is, without question, the best in our scene at. We’re looking at a showcase late April time for the release of a 4 track EP.
2. So are you guys still producing records, and in particular hard house music as a partnership or is that something now consigned to the history of raving days gone past? If so what kind of stuff do you now make? We are engineering for Andy Richmond’s label, Dirty Stop Outs, in Ireland under ‘SPX’. We’ve played quite a lot over there in the last few years and built up some good friendships. It’s kinda chunky more traditional Hard House with some tech stuff thrown in from other artists. The website is www.dirtytrax.com and the singles are available there. 3. You've both produced and released loads of tracks on different genres on different labels. How do you come up with ideas for a track and is it quite a difficult process producing those concepts into something people will actually dance to? Wow, that’s quite a question. Erm, different tracks ideas come from different sources. If it’s a song, then usually a concept of the track helps first, helping to map out the vocals whilst playing a guitar or piano etc. If it’s a dance based track then usually it’s a riff or bassline or some beats. There’s no real hard and fast rule. Whatever gets your juices flowing best I reckon.
4. What have been your best moments to date in your musical careers, including your DJ’ing – we know you’ve DJ’ed all over the place so you must have some crazy memories from those times? Our first track getting signed was an amazing buzz and playing the first 12” press provoked some really cheesy grins from behind the decks. We’ve had some pretty messed up nights too. Playing with Jason Nawty was always a good experience and I remember him breakdancing across the stage in Enigma Superclub in Carrickmacross whilst we were on the decks. Those were magical and happy days. 5. When was, and excuse the pun, but the last time you really crossed the line? Haha. Probably last night in my bedroom. I still have the slap to prove it…
6. I remember a gig you did for Frenzy back a couple of years ago, when you told me it would be your last DJ gig? What happened to make you change your minds? We have departed from the 12 Inch Thumpers' label now and the band is taking up more and more of our time. As we’ve known and respected Marc from Frenzy for quite some time now, we agreed this one-off. 7. Frenzy used to be labelled as a bounce club, although nowadays we’re a little more wide-ranging than that. We still think bounce is great fun though! Back when you two were releasing vinyl for 12 Inch Thumpers it was all the rage. Will your set for Frenzy be bounce-based or do you guys play outside of that range when doing a hard house set? We can play anything really from funk and rare-groove to drum and bass. Most people wanna hear the 12 Inch Thumpers and other classics when we play out so it depends on the crowd really. We’ve got 2 boxes full of stuff though so that can change depending on what the vibe is.
8. Jake, one half of 12 Inch Thumpers is Welsh for those that don’t know… but how Welsh are you really? We canvassed some other Welsh people and they told us that the most foolproof way to tell is by asking the person to spell that really long Welsh town’s name. Could you try and spell it for us? We asked Frisky to do this and she couldn’t so let’s see if you can beat her! No comment, I’m English...! Jake's not around right now, but I'm sure he'd get it right! 9. Heaven forbid... but let’s just pretend for one sick moment that your house is burning down… what are the three items that you would save apart from yourself of course? Three of our back up USB disk drives!
10. Finally, what should the Bournemouth crew expect from you at the next Frenzy date 7th of March at Dusk Till Dawn? Just a fun old-school Hard House vibe with fat basslines and the usual Frenzy energy. No pretentiousness, no attitude. Party people need only attend! SPX aka the 12 Inch Thumpers will next be appearing for Frenzy on March the 7th at Dusk Till Dawn nightclub. Check out our forthcoming hard dance events for more details. Photos courtesy of Charlie Raven. |
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