It’s been a long eighteen months since UK’s legendary Krafty Kuts graced our shores but thankfully the drought is about to end when he returns to Villa Saturday May12th to unleash an arsenal of big fat bass, epic chords and beat smashing rhythms upon the dance floor. Not one to sit back and take a back seat, Krafty Kuts has been putting the finishing touches on a new artist album and managed to take out the ‘Best DJ’ award for the fifth time whilst his album ‘Against The Grain Classics’ took out the ‘Best Album’ award in the 2011 Breakspoll awards. The man behind Krafty Kuts is the exceptionally talented Martin Reeves who Teknoscape’s Glen Canning had the pleasure of chatting to as he recuperated from an epic weekend halfway through his Australian tour.

Wow, I’ve just realised it’s been 18 months since I spoke to you last, where has Krafty Kuts been?

Ha ha ha basically travelling the world non-stop and trying to in between finish off an album and keep up with making new tracks to play out, travelling the world, DJing and writing music there’s been very little time for my family and friends, I’ve been pretty full on! Signing artists, listening to music, focusing on everything Krafty and I’m just starting to see the fruits of all the hard work. This (Australian) tour has been crazy; all the shows have been tremendous so far.

What has been the biggest challenge you’ve had to face in the past 18 months?

Putting this album out! It’s been such a massive challenge of clearing samples, royalty splits, artists changing what they want to do and it’s just been a logistical nightmare for the past 6 months. I kind of finished in January, it was done and dusted but then you’ve got the artwork, clearing samples and all those kind of things that have just been putting it back and putting it back and I had a moment last week when I decided I’m not going to put up with any bullshit in my life and I’m only going to work with people who can deliver the goods and do what they say.

You are one of the few artists to regularly offer tracks to download for free, have you decided that you might as well use it as a promotional tool as people are going to download it for free anyway?

You’ve just hit the nail on the head! No one’s ever said that to me before, I’ve had people say ‘oh you give away music and I think that’s great’ but they’ve never actually said why and the reason why is what you just said, well it’s a few reasons but that’s definitely the main reason. The other reason is I’m always getting pestered for my edits. So a) I keep my fans happy and b) its going to get plastered on the internet by people if I don’t by someone recording my DJ set at a club

People’s attention spans are getting shorter and shorter when it comes to everything including music and this is where your quick change, mixed up and smashed sideways style of playing is ideally suited, is this something that shapes the way you play?

Well the thing is right, you’re always going to get a lot of different audiences, people that come to a Krafty Kuts show know that they’re going to have fun; they’re going to go out and have a great fucking night. If different for different DJs for example the Plump DJs and Stanton Warriors would play a lot of their own tracks and they’ve got their own unique sound whereas I love to play a mash-up of all different styles, breaks, d’n’b, a little bit of electro, bass music pretty much so when you come to see Krafty Kuts you get a wash of all these different flavours and I just think it makes it really interesting. I think that when you go out to see a DJ you want to hear something fucking exciting that pushes the boundaries, makes their own intros, plays like fifty records in two hours you know, wow that’s exciting, that’s why I pay good money to see a DJ do. I don’t want him to sit there looking at his laptop cheating by mixing on Ableton which he sets at one tempo and just plods along, that’s not what people should be paying good money for!

Since we last spoke you’ve managed to win another swag of awards at the 2011 Breakspoll including the Best DJ yet again and Best Album for Against The Grain Classics, you’re a freakin’ machine!! You’re obviously doing the right thing by the fans for them to keep voting for you.

I think you’re right, it does rub off, I think my fans look up to me and they see me as a good guy and I think that’s why I have such a huge following here in Australia because they see me as a real person. The Aussies aren’t stupid; they respect people like that over here.

Last time you played was your eagerly awaited crack at Villa where you’re returning to in 2 weeks time; did your first gig there live up to your expectations?

It’s amazing though with Krafty Kuts I’m all about my fans, my crowd and you were slightly distanced so I’m wondering if the DJ should be set up on stage? Don’t get me wrong, the fucking atmosphere was lively and I had an amazing night! I remember looking around and it was pretty rammed.

What’s Krafty Kuts going to bring to the floor this time around?

I know the music that I’ve got is going to tear the place apart because the shows here have been fucking unique, ridiculous. The Ivy I did yesterday, 3 hour set was another level, best show I’ve done all year so I know Perth will be exactly the same so I’m really looking forward to it!

By the time I get to Perth I would’ve played 16 shows on this tour and I’ll be nailing a set that’s flowing really well so it’s great that Perth is the last show on my tour because it gives me the opportunity to go out with a massive bang, I can party, I can let my hair down and have a few drinks, I don’t have to worry about packing bags for the next day so Perth for me is going to be the ultimate!

DON”T MISS OUT ON KRAFTY KUTS @ VILLA MAY12th 

For more info head to http://www.boomtick.com.au/201205121302/events/boomtick-pres-krafty-kuts/ or hit up the event page on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/events/410029572357100/

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