RAD 2, P15, February 1989, magazine digitised by Wellington City Libraries
TP starting from scratch: Wellington's best DJ cuts out for the USA
By MIRIAM LAUGESEN
“I always remember my first night because I really messed up. There was a record going, and [hit the start/stop button, but it was on the same record. The record just goes rrrrrr... and died. I thought oh no — the equipment has broken down, I was standing there panicking and the mic was still working, and everyone was looking at me, ready to spit at me. The DJ is down the other end of the bar laughing his head off, and kind of casually walks over and reaches over the console and pushes the button, and the record starts up again. I almost gave up at that stage, I thought no, I’m not cut out for this.”
Eight years after that night at Dr John’s, TP is glad he stuck at it. His classmates at school put him on the “most likely to fail list”, and people in the club scene gave the young DJ a hard time, which just made TP say “Man, I’m going to get you.” He soon proved his ability by pulling in the crowds at Dr John’s (now demolished) in Courtenay Place. Because the club was an unlicensed venue, TP says other DJs “didn’t consider me a threat. It had a label — ‘the kids place’. What they didn’t realise was that there was a scene happening there that wasn’t happening in any other club. Dr John’s was party!”
TP aired his talents on radio when Dr John’s briefly sponsored Radio Active’s Uncut Funk Show. TP joined founder Mighty Mic C behind the turntables and stayed on as co-host for four years, pioneering rap, funk and hiphop in Wellington, He says the best part of the show was when the show’s most fervent listeners — little school kids — rang up with requests. But the Wednesday night show became difficult to maintain, as TP had to rush down the hill to Exchequers to start work at 10.00pm, and he gave up radio for full-time club work.
The move from Dr John’s to Exchequers in 1984 (initially just midweek) meant some changes. “I had to become a professional when I started at Exchequers — it’s still all that party and stuff here, but working at a licensed nightclub with an older age group means you can’t afford to specialise too much.”
There are two types of people at Exchequers, says TP. The dancers go to dance and listen to the music. The drinkers go to get drunk. By about 1.30am the drinkers have gone home and the dancers take over.
TP has catered to the Exchequers’ clientele, but has his own agenda, which rules out some music. “I won’t play Top Ten that isn’t black or danceable — it’s all a question of what I can get away with; basically as much acid, rap and good commercial black stuff as I can.”
TP is often frustrated by people who say all rap music sounds the same. Each group is different, though rap music has changed since he began DJing. The rap music of 1988-89 is “more melodic and not so electro anymore. Instead of trying to get every cut known to man in one song they’ll stick to a basic theme.”
TP is still one of the few DJs around who raps as well as mixes, live in a nightclub. He raps less now than he used to, but once it was a regular part of his “show” at Exchequers. When he last went overseas TP-was surprised to find that many clubs in Sydney have no microphone and few DJs do any rapping in America.
Last week, TP left Wellington again — this time for a new life in America. He’s looking forward to it, but realises that “you're nothing in America” and that he’ll be starting afresh. Overseas competition is tough, with success depending not only on your skills as a DJ but on your contacts. To TP, that’s a challenge. “I'll go into a club and someone will let me on their mic, and that’s the last they’ll see of it. I’m like that — I just go out there and say, thanks man, then I try and waste them terribly. That’s shocking, but if you ain’t good enough, someone else will be.
“There are people out there who are trying to get on my case and tell me I haven’t got it. In the rap scene people should support each other but it’s the opposite. I go around and support as many young kids as I can. I tell them to keep on rocking man, keep on going."
“I always remember my first night because I really messed up. There was a record going, and [hit the start/stop button, but it was on the same record. The record just goes rrrrrr... and died. I thought oh no — the equipment has broken down, I was standing there panicking and the mic was still working, and everyone was looking at me, ready to spit at me. The DJ is down the other end of the bar laughing his head off, and kind of casually walks over and reaches over the console and pushes the button, and the record starts up again. I almost gave up at that stage, I thought no, I’m not cut out for this.”
Eight years after that night at Dr John’s, TP is glad he stuck at it. His classmates at school put him on the “most likely to fail list”, and people in the club scene gave the young DJ a hard time, which just made TP say “Man, I’m going to get you.” He soon proved his ability by pulling in the crowds at Dr John’s (now demolished) in Courtenay Place. Because the club was an unlicensed venue, TP says other DJs “didn’t consider me a threat. It had a label — ‘the kids place’. What they didn’t realise was that there was a scene happening there that wasn’t happening in any other club. Dr John’s was party!”
TP aired his talents on radio when Dr John’s briefly sponsored Radio Active’s Uncut Funk Show. TP joined founder Mighty Mic C behind the turntables and stayed on as co-host for four years, pioneering rap, funk and hiphop in Wellington, He says the best part of the show was when the show’s most fervent listeners — little school kids — rang up with requests. But the Wednesday night show became difficult to maintain, as TP had to rush down the hill to Exchequers to start work at 10.00pm, and he gave up radio for full-time club work.
The move from Dr John’s to Exchequers in 1984 (initially just midweek) meant some changes. “I had to become a professional when I started at Exchequers — it’s still all that party and stuff here, but working at a licensed nightclub with an older age group means you can’t afford to specialise too much.”
There are two types of people at Exchequers, says TP. The dancers go to dance and listen to the music. The drinkers go to get drunk. By about 1.30am the drinkers have gone home and the dancers take over.
TP has catered to the Exchequers’ clientele, but has his own agenda, which rules out some music. “I won’t play Top Ten that isn’t black or danceable — it’s all a question of what I can get away with; basically as much acid, rap and good commercial black stuff as I can.”
TP is often frustrated by people who say all rap music sounds the same. Each group is different, though rap music has changed since he began DJing. The rap music of 1988-89 is “more melodic and not so electro anymore. Instead of trying to get every cut known to man in one song they’ll stick to a basic theme.”
TP is still one of the few DJs around who raps as well as mixes, live in a nightclub. He raps less now than he used to, but once it was a regular part of his “show” at Exchequers. When he last went overseas TP-was surprised to find that many clubs in Sydney have no microphone and few DJs do any rapping in America.
Last week, TP left Wellington again — this time for a new life in America. He’s looking forward to it, but realises that “you're nothing in America” and that he’ll be starting afresh. Overseas competition is tough, with success depending not only on your skills as a DJ but on your contacts. To TP, that’s a challenge. “I'll go into a club and someone will let me on their mic, and that’s the last they’ll see of it. I’m like that — I just go out there and say, thanks man, then I try and waste them terribly. That’s shocking, but if you ain’t good enough, someone else will be.
“There are people out there who are trying to get on my case and tell me I haven’t got it. In the rap scene people should support each other but it’s the opposite. I go around and support as many young kids as I can. I tell them to keep on rocking man, keep on going."
No comments:
Post a Comment