NATHAN "TUGG" CURRAN AT THE RHYTHM STUDIO - LONDON SCHOOL OF POPULAR MUSIC
As
a special preview to his masterclass at The Rhythm Studio o n May 10th
2008 (see video footage below), Nathan Curran popped in for a chat about his busy life as a
drummer, DJ and producer.
You've
played with some big name acts, Basement Jaxx, Kano, Lady Sovereign,
Reef and lots more, which gigs have you enjoyed the most?
They've
all been great in their own individual way. I suppose the best, and I
think it's the best gig in the world, is Basment Jaxx because of the
vibe, and all the team that I work with on that are absolutely
phenomenal and just really nice people. But they've all been good - if
I really want to get rocky, get sweaty and get my head down then the
Reef thing was great and it's more organic, you're not using a click
all the time. Lady Sovereign was a really good fusion, mixing up
grime, playing it live with the pop thing and the same with Kano
really.
What are the most important things to consider as a drummer with a dance act like Basement Jaxx?
I
come from a DJ background as well as being a musician, I think when you
are performing and working with dance acts you have to have a knowledge
of dance music and that comes through DJing and mixing records
together. It's all about beats and mixing beats together. Sometimes,
because I'm playing on top of backing tracks with a click, there are
beats going on underneath but if you play the wrong kind of beat over
the top it clashes. So you need to have an understanding of dance
music and you need to be able to play minimally and tight with the
click track.
Is your work with Basement Jaxx purely a live thing or do you get the chance to record in the studio with them too?
Yeah
I have recorded, I did two tracks off the Kish Kash album which was
their 3rd album. The title track Cish Cash, with Siouxsie Sioux from
Siouxsie and the Banshees, and the big hit which was Good Luck, which
were the two rocky tracks on the album. As far as any future stuff,
there're bits and pieces that I do for them but it depends on what
direction they want to take it. Kish Kash was a rocky album so it
needed some live drums on it.
Do you prefer a live gig or a studio session?
I
love both. I do prefer to play live in front of an audience and
perform. As studio work goes I do like it a lot as well. With me I
get in character for the session - if I'm doing a Funk or RnB session
I'll sit low on the seat and I'll just get in character for that vibe,
or if I'm doing a little Indie gig kind of session and they're young
kids then I'll sit up really high. I like to spend as little time in
the studio as possible, I'm usually done after a couple of takes
because I think once you get up to about ten takes you're losing the
vibe of it. And that's why I get a lot of session work, because I'm in
and out, and producers save money.
Which drummers or bands inspired you?
JJ
Cale is a big influence of mine, also Prince on the funk thing I just
think is phenomenal. And all the old classic bands like The Meters. I
love Zepellin for the rock thing, and a lot of the old Motown stuff and
the Atlantic Records thing. I love everything really, I wouldn't say I
have a favourite artist cause there are so many great artists out there.
You're also a busy DJ and producer, how did you get into this side of your music?
That's
all through being a DJ and buying a computer and Logic. If you're
drummer and can mix beats then you can make beats. With the computer
programmes you have to read up on them and learn about them but I just
phoned a friend up and said, "How does that work?" and then just
progressed it from there.
You are involved in a new band called Them Is Me, how did this come about?
Them
Is Me is really the ex-members of Reef. I was in Reef for the last
couple of years just before they broke up. Its Gary Stringer (vocals)
and Jack Bessant (bass) and I brought in my guitarist friend who worked
with me on Lady Sovereign. Jack and Gary have been writing the album,
we've had lots of rehearsals and done an album at Rockfield Studios.
All the gigs we've been doing have been sold out with about 50 people
outside trying to get in, and that's without any national press, so on
that side of things it's good, but it does have a lot to do with the
fact that it's riding off the back of the Reef thing.
What's coming up for Tugg in the next few months?
I've
got lots of studio sessions coming up. I'm working with Craig David
over the next couple of weeks and there are a few gigs with Kano soon.
I've also got some showcases with Double 0 Zero who are an English band
but they live in America, a kind of Beck poppy sort of thing. I did
their album a few months back. Jaxx probably won't happen until the
beginning of next year and there's the Boardriders surf tour booked in
with Them Is Me all over the UK.
NATHAN CURRAN MASTERCLASS FOOTAGE AT THE RHYTHM STUDIO, MAY 2008
Nathan performs Basement Jaxx hit Good Luck.
Nathan shows the importance of being able to play to a click track and demonstrates some funky displacement grooves.
Nathan performs Go Go classic Tribute To My People
To check out Tugg's own productions visit:
