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17 Sep 2012

 

 

mcnuclearphoto2012


MC Nuclear is releasing his debut album Snakes & Blaggers for free in July so we caught up with him to get the lowdown on what to expect and what he's all about.

Please introduce yourself...
Hello, my name is MC Nuclear. I like to shout rude words at my TV screen while playing video games. I'm not real keen on vegetables.

How did it all begin?
It all started for me when I realised how powerful the microphone actually was. I remember thinking to myself “Why raise your voice to ten people when you can talk to a hundred?”

I know you're very much into hip hop, but what lead you to MC over drum & bass as well?  
I've always loved hip hop from an early age, but when I heard drum & bass for the first time, it made me feel something different. It has that kind of “sitting in a bath full of petrol whilst smoking a ten deck” feel about it.  I knew I wanted to be a part of it as soon as I heard it.  I remember when I first started getting into drum & bass.  My pals and I decided to set up a mixer and some beaten up old turntables down at the local youth club. We got the drum & bass pumping then started shouting some outrageous lyrics down microphone.  You should have seen some of the faces on some of those people!  They just wanted to play a quiet game of pool! 
 
You’ve done some tracks with a few different producers lately, tell us a bit about them...
Recently I did the vocals for a track on Citrus Recordings called So Sharp by two really cool Russian producers called NRanges and Uberman. It did pretty well in the drum & bass charts on Beatport.  We’ve had a lot of good feedback coming from others and some big DJs have been supporting the track as well.
 
 
I've also been working with a great producer called Maztek.  We have a track together called What We Bring forthcoming on Renegade Hardware.  There are a few other dubstep bits coming out on Dubzilla and Subculture, so keep your eyes peeled.  I'm working on a few other really cool projects as well with some great producers you may know, but I can't say to much about that right now.

Are there any producers in Drum & Bass you would recommend keeping an eye out for at the moment?
Definitely! I would say keep a lookout for Maztek, Nranges & Uberman, iLL-Haze, as well as Vidual.  I would also recommend Deepah Beats UK.  These guys are all coming out with some serious tracks right now. Let's just say you wouldn’t want to play their stuff to your grandparents.

You have a debut album coming out in July, tell us a bit about it.
My first album Snakes & Blaggers is coming out on July 16th and will be a free download for all.  It has a little bit of everything thrown in there, from hip hop to drum and bass, some dubstep and even a little bit of grime.  It has taken me a while to actually get the whole process done.  I've been hassling people for tracks, writing the lyrics, recording vocals, re-recording and doing the mixdown.  
 
It was particularly difficult to accomplish because I'm dyslexic and find it hard to concentrate.  I find a plastic bag that just blew past my window much more interesting than doing my homework.  My lyric book looks more like a sketch book really.  There's probably more immature drawings in there then lyrical content.  
 
It's been really hard work for me because when I started creating Snakes & Blaggers I didn’t know the first thing about putting a track together, let alone a whole album.  Luckily the iLL-Haze boys stepped in and helped me out a lot.  I couldn’t have done this with out them so thank you!  The album isn’t very mainstream at all, more underground and focused on the world we live in today.  
 
My mum always used to say, “if you don’t have anything nice to say then don’t say it at all.”  I think this is another one of those cases where I've done the exact opposite of what she said.  Catch me in the club with a black eye soon, haha!  If you want it just go to my Soundcloud from July 16th.
 

What are some of your favourite acts that you’ve performed with so far?
I have no favourites.  I feel truly blessed to have worked with some really great artists I've rolled with so far at such an early age.  A couple of years ago I would never have thought that I would be performing with some of the people who I grew up listening to on my tape player in school.
 
What's one of your most memorable shows so far?  
I once did a set at a 12-year-old's birthday party for a favour to a friend.  Most of the kids must have been thinking “I didn’t think there was going be a clown at this party”, but I'm sure a few of them walked away that day asking mum for the latest drum & bass CD.  That’s got to be a win, right?

Do you think that MCs are starting to get the respect that they deserve on stage?
I think MCs have always carried respect, but have also learned to respect the DJ a lot more. It's like becoming more of a team player, therefore we gain a lot more respect in return.  There are many MCs that give the rest of us a bad name, but I think a lot of them are taking their role much more seriously now.  They are helping the DJ to execute his job properly and connect with the crowd at the same time.  It's good when you hear an MC that knows when to shut up and let the mixing do the talking.  Without the mixing, what's the point in having a DJ?  We would just be standing there doing karaoke without the DJ now wouldn't we?

Apart from the above, what would you say makes a good MC nowadays?
Originality is key!  An MC that can sound unique, fresh and stand out from the others is the most important thing I think. I believe in this day and age it's so hard to find a style and flow that some one hasn’t already claimed or mastered themselves.  If you can come with something different, then you're on the right track. 

Do you have any advice to give to up-and-coming artists?
Well, everyone else is the opposition, so no!  I'm only joking.  I'm still an up-and-comer myself so I'm still learning a lot.  What I would say is try and get as stuck in as possible.  This is a hard scene to make your way into, so don’t try get your foot in the door, kick off the hinges and go help yourself to the food in the fridge.  Treat the microphone like an angry ex-girlfriend and stay as far away from it as possible if you’ve had one too many, haha.
 
Download a Free copy of the album Snakes and Blaggers: 
 
 
MCNUCLEARCOVERPHOTO
 


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