BONAFIDE EXCLUSIVE: CHOPPED HERRING INTERVIEW

Chopped Herring as an organisation is difficult to introduce. The website is a mish-mash of subterfuge, where facts, fiction and jokes merge into one. Indeed this tongue-cheek approach, matched by a passion for music, is why the label and head honcho, Pro Celebrity Golf, came up on the Bonafide radar. The record that acted as the calling card to the output was Three Sinister Syllables, an epic, crate digging delight that took over two years to produce, and for underground heads (I’m talking those that run on deep, forgotten subway routes rather than your fairweather Kings Cross to Picadilly Circus lines) and vinyl fiends, cemented Chopped Herrings reputation and underlined Pro Celebrity Golf as a person who lives and breathes hip-hop, from when he wakes up in the morning until he collapses over his decks in a sampling filled reverie.

He says he loves to write and rarely gets to do, so hopefully this interview will give him a platform to school us in the world of the Herring.

Where does the name Chopped Herring come from?

Keep diggin’!

After spending two years on Three Sinister Syllables what have you learned about yourself and what you do?

I’m a bit of a control freak.

What do you hope the listeners learn from it?

Maybe that hip-hop music is a wide-ass genre with multiple characters and personalities. That there’s more to hip-hop music than just hip-hop music itself. That spinnin’ can be an artistic form and not JUST a form of entertainment. That hip-hop music can and should contain the full range of human emotions. That Yak Ballz and Alec Guinness can be juxtaposed and sound mad NICE! That referencing is where it’s at – for example, when Woody Allen’s character in Manhattan mentions La Grande Illusion or when he goes to see Bicycle Thieves in Stardust Memories find those films and watch em, and when Black Sheep sample Mashmakhan, go cop the Mashmakhan LP (preferably for less than a quid!). Connect the dots and see the full picture. Put simply, 3SS is an ornate and intricate way of saying ‘I love hip-hop music’ and it maybe should inspire other such odes to hip-hop from the listener.

“The forum is the future of the record label. While the old record shop was a place where locals would gather to buy their joints and hang, the forum is a place where cats from all over the world can share their passions.”

How has the internet changed things for Chopped Herring since 2001?

In terms of reaching THE Chopped Herring Audience it’s been a revelation. It turns out that the biggest audience for Herring exists in mainland Europe. I dunno if it’s the European love for pickled and cured fish that’s at the root of this, but Euro cats are the ones that are currently supporting Chopped Herring Records and allowing it to progress. Without the internet I could never have (directly) reached these OCD underground hip-hop collectors.

It all started not with a kiss but with Ebay. I’ve been selling wax on The Bay since ’99 under various ID’s, the most advanced of which is Bruceforsight. Through sales of second-hand DOPENESS on the net I managed to hook up with lovers of vinyl all over the globe. It’s these aficionados that have become the mainstay of the (new) Chopped Herring Records customer base. In building a trustworthy rep for selling second hand record sales I facilitated the move from using distribution companies to selling direct to the customers. I just moved with the times. Admittedly in the inimitable Herring steelo of moving very, very slowly, but there was movement!

The other significant development that the internet brought is the (often maligned) forum. The forum is the future of the record label. While the old record shop was a place where locals would gather to buy their joints and hang, the forum is a place where cats from all over the world can share their passions. This has created a more global and groundbreaking hi-hop product. But ya know, technology is only a tool. I get a buzz out of using a new technology to sell old records and using old records to sell new records. It’s comparable to sampling a crackly 70s break and using processed drums over the top. The link with the past through technology screams to me, more than anything else, HIP-HOP MUSIC.

Chopped Herring seems rightly proud of it’s rare vinyl sales, how do we get kids into vinyl? Or even SHOULD we?

Yeah there’s this wack reaction against vinyl out there these days. An anger exists about a reluctance to embrace the digital format, just cause it’s NOW. Well lemme tell you, I ain’t embracing any ice cold, invisible medium. I want the warmth and solidity of VINYL to snuggle up to on a cold winter’s night! Then there are certain kids that feel left out cause they never had that love affair with vinyl. But yo kids, you can get down. There is still time. It’s not all over yet! I think it’s a matter of wanting to learn, the old school way. Dope artists should inspire the recipient with a desire to dig (physically), to look back and study the past masters – the music, TV, film,art,clothes and steelo’s that inspired the artist to make great shit. An appreciation of the past is essential, at least that’s where I’m coming from.

In relation to hip-hop, if you dig ‘Mecca and the Soul Brother’ or ‘Step In The Arena’ you dig VINYL. Hip-hop’s history is more linked to vinyl than any other genre; the manipulation of records for scratching, the sampling, the digging culture, all these things are vital to hip-hop music. When vinyl dies hip-hop dies! For me and for the cats that dig my label, the PAST is definitely a significant tense.

Is there any record you have discovered that you haven’t been able to release on Chopped Herring due to licensing issues?

Well MC Paul Barman’s Thought Balloon Mushroom Cloud EP had a bunch of legal issues which meant I could only drop 50 copies on white label only. Apart from that I haven’t had a problem yet. But there’s still time!

How does Manchester’s love of hip-hop compare to love for the genre in NYC?

It’s been six years since I was last in Manchester so I may have to pass on that one. Diplomatic to the max, ha! But let’s put it this way, NYC is the home of hip-hop music and culture but the grass is always greener, so that breeds super-fans from outside of the Tri-Boro area too. I think the love for hip-hop music is pretty much universal and like the Hokey Cokey (or as the Americans say Hokey Pokey),that’s what it’s all about….

Top five hip-hop records

This is gonna be fairly predictable. The complete Hip Hop album is a rare-ass commodity. There are only a handful to choose from really, but heeeeeere we go:

• Main Source – Breaking Atoms
• Beastie Boys – Paul’s Boutique
• De La Soul – De La Soul Is Dead
• Diamond D - Stunts, Blunts & Hip Hop
• MF Doom – Operation Doomsday

Keep up-to-date and win wax at the Chopped Herring Facebook page.

Interview by Adam Hutcheson

Filed under: DJ/Turntablism, Rap, UK hip-hop, Uncategorized by J.G.