Toddla T just doesn't stop.
Sure, he might bring the tempo down a notch but the ceaseless flow of ideas is never completely stemmed. The Sheffield DJ recently made the leap to the esteemed Ninja Tune stable, with work on his second album taking him far beyond the Steel City.
Now living in London, Toddla T was invited out to Jamaica to work with Major Lazer. Introduced to the core of dancehall, the meeting had a profound effect on the producer who promptly booked himself a flight straight back out there.
Seated backstage at the RockNess festival, Toddla T hold court and reveals more about his forthcoming second album and what hooked him on the dancehall drug in the first place.
An edited version of this feature appeared in Clash Magazine, but with new single 'Sky Surfing' due out on Monday (August 30th) we've decided to publish the entire interview.
- - -
You’ve just signed to Ninja Tune, how did that come about?
I was looking for a new deal for me next record and I was shopping around a few places. I’ve got a relationship with Big Dada and Ninja Tune because I’ve worked on stuff with them before, like Roots Manuva stuff. We’ve always had a bit of a vibe. When they found out I was looking they invited me out, we met up and it just seemed really natural. They’re just really good people. It seemed perfect – we get on great, they’ve got a great sound and my manager is close to them which always helps.
Were you a fan of the label before?
I’ve always respected it. I never looked for every single release or anything but I’ve always kept an eye open. 20 years old this year as well.
You’ve been working on new material.
Yeah. Straight from when I finished me last one. The first one was done when I was living in Sheffield, this time I’ve done it different. I’m living in London now, which is a lot different to work in than Sheffield. I’ve been travelling all the time, I’ve been to Jamaica on it twice, I’ve been to America. I took it all back to England then went up to Sheffield to get it mixed, so it’s got an international dynamic. I’ve got loads of stuff already.
What’s Jamaica like?
I’ve been twice. It’s incredible. The first time I was like “why have I not been here before?” The second time I was out there with Major Lazer, just helping them out. I did some stuff with them and then did my old stuff. Some of the music I made has ended up on the first single, called ‘Skysurfing’. It’s gonna come out through Ninja. That came about through people I met in the studio with Major Lazer, we just started making music together. It was a great thing to come back with!
Was there much of a dancehall scene in Sheffield when you were growing up?
Nah. When I was like going out and coming out there wasn’t any clubs playing dancehall. There were these underground parties where people played dancehall and that’s what made me see it and like it. If it wasn’t for that kind of thing I wouldn’t be producing. Because of the whole dubstep scene people can get their head round it a bit more now. People think it sounds similar, even though they’re different.
Is that background something you hark back to?
It all depends on the people and the party like. People say “oh do you prefer the main stage here, or the tent there?” well it all depends on the crowd. It could be ten people or ten thousand, so long as they’re into it that’s what I love. It could be pop or underground, so long as I get a good energy off it I couldn’t really give a fuck.
What drew you to digital dancehall in the first place?
When I first started going out to these parties the times I thought were the most exciting was when they played all the new Jamaican stuff. The rhythms from Jamaica just did my head in. All the producers had their own style, and I’ve always looked at that and thought it was amazing. I just took it from there. But that’s just one aspect of what it’s all about.
How did the Roots Manuva collaboration come about?
Basically what happened was is that he moved to Sheffield a couple of years ago. He married a Sheffield girl, and I met him in a studio in Sheffield. I was helping to do engineering work on his ‘Slime & Reason’ album, so I kept doing that and I was also working in a trainer shop at the same time. I wasn’t full time music! He came in to buy trainers all the time, so I knew him through serving trainers. One day he asked me if I had any beats and I was like “wicked man, plenty of beats!” So I took him round my dad’s house to show him a few tracks and a couple of those went on the album. Then I engineered another two. ‘Slime & Reason’ had about five tunes I was involved in, so when it came to getting him on my album it was a text message. It was pretty simple.
What’s he like to work with?
Some people you kind of have to push. With him, you just wait for him to think it through then what come out his head is just genius. It’s more just waiting. You don’t have to do owt – just leave him be and it’ll be amazing.
For the second album are you conscious of trying something different?
I wanted to go a bit deeper on it but it’s not working so far. The first one is totally cartoony and daft, and this one is ending up the same. At the end of the day, I just want it to be better. If it sounds the same, fine – I just want it to be better.
The cartoon element is a big thing in Jamaican music.
Totally. Especially at the parties, you’d see folk dressed up. There was a stage in dancehall during the 90s when it was like that, with Shabba and his great big fucking Jamaican flag outfits. It was hilarious, it was amazing.
Is the album finished now?
Nah. I’ve got about 25 tunes but I want to refine it, take it down to ten. The stuff I did in Jamaica, you can hear in places that it’s not British – it’s a lot more full on. Wayne Marshall is on the first single, I’ve got a tune with Roots Manuva again, I’ve got a tune with Roisin Murphy. A lot of singers from back home. The same sort of thing really, just a bit more advanced.
With that range of sounds what keeps the whole thing together?
I guess maybe the producer. I do my thing, really. When you produce a track you don’t want each one to sound the same, but there is a sonic element. You could have a jungle record or a soul record, but it’s all got the same sonic sounds. The song might be different but the same sound is there.
Do you feel a part of the communication between Jamaica and Britain?
I don’t feel a part of it at all. It’s something which came and slapped me in the face when I was 14. One, because it’s an absolutely amazing music form and two, because Jamaican culture is such a massive thing in the UK. It’s just so prominent. I didn’t have to find it, it came to me. I didn’t invent it, I didn’t go looking for it, it came to me.
Were you always concerned about having your own sound?
Definitely. I didn’t want to just make reggae records, or raga records. I still don’t think of myself as just dancehall, I mean when I DJ I don’t play any. I play a lot of Hi-NRG house, garage and jungle. It’s all got a ragga thing but I’ve never just sat and played Jamaican 45s. But when you sit and listen to a Jamaican record it’s still some of the most exciting music in the world.
So have you been dropping your own material in?
I have but not masses amounts. I just love music so if something excites me I want to play it. Some of my material is just so old I’m bored with it. I do try and play something, but it’s not like a full set of my own shit like Skream or Benga.
Do you use the dancefloor to judge your own material?
To a certain extent. You’ve got to do what you do. Something Fake Blood said to me which I always thought was amazing was ‘you’re either with me or you’re not’. So if you’re not into it then sorry, but it’s not happening! I don’t believe in doing anything I wouldn’t normally do but I can always accessorise it. What I play is so different anyway I can just go here for a bit, go there for a bit but I never do something I don’t want to do.
Toddla T's new single 'Sky Surfing' is out on August 30th