Five Things wth Katalyst

I grew up in a household where the hi-fi played a central role. The music played was sometimes questionable but the system it was played on was always pretty amazing. I was never encouraged to do anything that was artistic in any sense so I went against the grain there. It was always gonna be that way. Can’t beat the rush of creating, really.

2.Inspirations

This is a hard question to answer as so many people inspire and it’s always hard to pick only a few. One of my fave artists of all time is Eugene McDaniels, because he wrote amazing music but also because some of his lyrics were so political and socially conscious. Just amazing. Geoff Barrow, who I work with on Quakers, is also another inspiration. I was a massive Portishead fan even before we became friends, so to be working with Geoff in any capacity is surreal.

3.Your Crew

The people I work with are always changing. I saw someone describe me as a serial collaborator, which made me laugh. At the moment, part of my crew is my Quakers crew, Geoff Barrow and all the MCs we collaborate with – Guilty Simpson et cetera. Stones Throw are part of that crew also. Then Steve Spacek, who is part of my Space Invadas crew; Nat Slade, who is coming to perform at Vibes [On A Summer’s Day]… Leeroy Brown will always be part of the crew as he’s an old friend and collaborator, as is Mr. Clean.

4.The Music You Make And Play

Hip hop and soul are the musical styles I create. I’m working on hip hop with MCs such as Guilty Simpson and Quakers, both of which are indie hip hop, so expect some new material in that genre from me. Basically all my crew [at Vibes] will be playing hip hop, soul, funk, blues and reggae. We’ll bring a lot of new unreleased music to play, exclusives! There will be several MCs and singers featured throughout the set also.

5.Music, Right Here, Right Now

Music is music; it is ever-evolving and the industry and landscape is forever changing with technology as well. It’s a shame music to some extent has lost its value, but I’ll keep doing what I do cause I love it and do it for that reason. So the financial obstacles are sometimes there but the passion will win out over them in the end.