Oneman interview

The latest in our series of interviews features DJ Oneman, one of the most hardworking DJs out there. He is the only DJ to appear on Mary Anne Hobbs BBC Radio 1 show without releasing a single record, which basically means he has made his name through great tune selection and pure skills on the decks (if you don’t believe me check the mix below the interview).

Firstly tell us a little bit about yourself.

Im DJ Oneman, 24 from Streatham in South West London. I started out playing UK Garage but now span across all aspects of UK Underground Dance music, mainly forward beats from London.

You’ve managed to make a name for yourself as a dj without having to muddy your hands in the world of production. Did not having your own dubplates make it harder to get the bigger gigs early on?

Not really harder, because i think i was doing something new anyway, even though i was just playing released records, i still mixed the new up with the old, putting a new spin on things, i dont think anyone else was doing that at the time, which is why i think people were into my style so early on.

What/who inspired you to start playing records?

DJ EZ and all the DJs off of south london pirate radio like DJ Dan da Man, G Money, Hatcha..

How do you think Serato has affected the scene?

I think Serato is the best thing to happen to DJing in years. i prefer serato to CDJs and ableton for many reason really. the first one being that i can still use vinyl, even though i’,m playing MP3s and WAVs it nice to use vinyl. i prefer the 1210 to the CDJ anyway, i like how its bigger, you got a big plate, big pitch shifter… compared to those tiny little CDJs i hate them! since ive been using serato ive been playing a lot less of the older stuff, and more new dark house/funky stuff amongst it all.

At the minute all the scenes that used to be so separate, garage, dubstep, funky, hip-hop, grime, are all colliding together in a really exciting way. Where do you think things will go next and do you think there is a brand new style just around the corner? Hot Flush seem to be the contenders for igniting that fire at the minute.

I’m really happy with the state of UK music at the moment. Its like everyone is switching up their vibe a bit, you’ve got the dubstep guys getting more percussive and going down that ‘future garage’ route..  theres house producers trying out dark broken stuff at 130, the whole ‘purple’ sound is really coming into its own too. I can see stuff slowing down slightly for me, im playing loads more 128-135 stuff these days, where as about 2 years ago i was on pretty much all 140 and the pitching up all my old garage records to mix in with;

Who are your favourite producers of past, present and future?

Past: Groove Chronicles, Anthill Mob, Steve Gurley, MJ Cole, Zed Bias
Present: Joy Orbison, Jay Weed, Fis-T, Doc Daneeka, Deadboy
Future: Only time will tell!

Any final words?

Yeah. Big up to everyone who has bought my Rinse CD [Rinse 11], everyone who comes to see me play live and everyone who listens to my show every week on Rinse FM 11-1am!

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