"You do know that this is a handsomely paid interview?"
Unless you have fallen lifeless somewhere thru the cracks you’ve more than likely witnessed Cambridge come Londoners The Nextmen, also known as Brad Baloo and Dom Search, at one of their many sweaty styled-out club sets, festival-stopping performances or heard their incendiary mixtapes on the neighbourhood ghetto blaster. This eclectic production duo have carved another shiny gem from London’s lovely low-end underbelly with a mix of electronic music styles in the form of their fourth studio LP ‘Join The Dots’ due to hit the streets in August.
Dom spoke to altsounds about their name, collaboration & festivals.
[altsounds] LEGEND HAS IT THAT YOU MET OVER A MAGIC MUSHROOM DEAL THAT FELL THROUGH DUE TO THE PRICE. IS THAT A MYTH?
[Dom] No, it's true. Don't be dealing with Brad when it comes to serving up!
[altsounds] WOULD YOU EVER HAVE A BED THAT IS A MODEL OF A LIFE-SIZE FERRARI WITH HUNDREDS OF TRAINERS IN THE BOOT?
[Dom] No. I've got a blow-up mattress in the boot of my boring VW Golf though. There are some muddy wellington boots too. Does that help?
[altsounds] UK HIP-HOP IS SEEN AS BEING THE POOR RELATION OF THE US VARIETY. IS THIS CHANGING?
[Dom] Yes, that is no longer true. And it's only been the view from certain quarters anyway. Chester P is one of the best rappers there's ever been. UK hiphop needed to come with it's own incarnation that might go a little further into places outside its own culture and it's been doing that by absorbing other music and becoming it's own influence. Great to see UK rappers all over the charts.
[altsounds] DOM SEARCH AND BRAD BALOO YOU CHANGED YOUR NAMES TO. ARE THESE WHAT YOU HAVE ON YOUR PASSPORT AND WHAT OCCUPATION DO YOU LIST?
[Dom] We are Dominic Betmead and Bradford Ellis. We're Producer/DJs.
[altsounds] WHERE DID THE NAME NEXTMEN COME FROM?
[Dom] We knew we'd always be coming with something different, changing it up every step, and the name embodies that idea. And it doesn't seem to date, which is splendid.
[altsounds] JOIN THE DOTS COMES OUT ON AUGUST 10TH. HOW HAS YOUR MUSIC CHANGED OVER TEN YEARS AND FOUR ALBUMS?
[Dom] The first one 'Amongst The Madness' was initially going to be an instrumental ninja-tune style beats record but a load of NYC rappers heard it in an early form, via our label 'Scenario', and wanted to get on. We thought 'why not?' and suddenly we had a full-vocal full blown HipHop record in front of us. Production wise it was much more of a traditional HipHop approach. Sample some vinyl, cut up the break, steal some drums from someone else's tune, write a bassline, put it all together, make a cut-chorus (we miss those) and the give it to a vocalist. Record them in some shit studio somewhere and it's job done.
Number two, 'Get Over It' was us moving forward. It had the first glimpses of songwriting and a more electronic sound at a variety of tempos. We love it, but it was definitely a departure.
The third, 'This Was Supposed To Be The Future' was again a move away from what many would consider to be HipHop. More confidence in songwriting and arrangements, more collaboration (rather than just rapping over a beat), more individuality, more influence from the direction our DJ sets were headed in. Number four, 'Join The Dots' is even more of a mix. We've been wanting to make more dance music for a while now and this is the beginning of that phase. Big tracks for big dance tents, late-night reggae numbers, some more experimental stuff, that's what it's about.
[altsounds] WHO HAS BEEN THE BEST AND/OR EASIEST ARTIST TO COLLABORATE WITH OVER THE YEARS?
[Dom] Oh we wouldn't want to single anyone out, we've enjoyed working with all of them. There is one artist, PHR, that you've never heard. He blew our minds but for one reason or another has never appeared on a record. Perhaps he's too posh.
[altsounds] ANDY CATO OF GROOVE ARMADA IS ALSO FROM CAMBRIDGE. DID YOU MEET AT SCHOOL BY ANY CHANCE?
[Dom] I (Dom) was actually a school friend of Tom Findlay. We were operating as DJs on the party scene way back in the day. He's older than me, the same year as my brother, and was in a few bands around the time I was playing in local clubs. I worked on two GA albums, then last year at a gig in Athens Andy and I decided to do a collabo...
[altsounds] OK. WHAT IS THE WEIRDEST VENUE YOU HAVE PERFORMED IN? LIZ TAYLOR'S EMPTY POOL OR OR A MOSCOW BUNKER?
[Dom] The pool wins, mainly because it was painted black and ten minutes into our set a fifty-person pillow fight broke out.
[altsounds] THERE ARE MORE FESTIVALS IN THE UK NOW THAN YOU CAN SHAKE A STICK AT. IF YOU HAVE A HANDY STICK WHICH DO YOU CHOOSE TO DO AND WHY?
[Dom] Glasto because it's an institution. Winterwell because it's like a brilliant house party in a tent. The Big Chill because it gave us our best moment on stage ever.
[altsounds] SO WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT FOR YOU. COMPOSING OR LIVE MUSIC?
[Dom] Equality! We love late night sessions in the studio just as much as playing out in clubs and tents.
[altsounds] WHAT IS THE MOST STUPID QUESTION YOU HAVE BEEN ASKED BY A JOURNALIST?
[Dom] This one.
[altsounds] THERE IS NO QUESTION 13. BAD LUCK.
[Dom] Superstition ain't the way!
[altsounds] AND WHAT DO YOU WISH THEY HAD ASKED?
[Dom] You do know that this is a handsomely paid interview?
Dom spoke to altsounds about their name, collaboration & festivals.
[altsounds] LEGEND HAS IT THAT YOU MET OVER A MAGIC MUSHROOM DEAL THAT FELL THROUGH DUE TO THE PRICE. IS THAT A MYTH?
[Dom] No, it's true. Don't be dealing with Brad when it comes to serving up!
[altsounds] WOULD YOU EVER HAVE A BED THAT IS A MODEL OF A LIFE-SIZE FERRARI WITH HUNDREDS OF TRAINERS IN THE BOOT?
[Dom] No. I've got a blow-up mattress in the boot of my boring VW Golf though. There are some muddy wellington boots too. Does that help?
[altsounds] UK HIP-HOP IS SEEN AS BEING THE POOR RELATION OF THE US VARIETY. IS THIS CHANGING?
[Dom] Yes, that is no longer true. And it's only been the view from certain quarters anyway. Chester P is one of the best rappers there's ever been. UK hiphop needed to come with it's own incarnation that might go a little further into places outside its own culture and it's been doing that by absorbing other music and becoming it's own influence. Great to see UK rappers all over the charts.
[altsounds] DOM SEARCH AND BRAD BALOO YOU CHANGED YOUR NAMES TO. ARE THESE WHAT YOU HAVE ON YOUR PASSPORT AND WHAT OCCUPATION DO YOU LIST?
[Dom] We are Dominic Betmead and Bradford Ellis. We're Producer/DJs.
[altsounds] WHERE DID THE NAME NEXTMEN COME FROM?
[Dom] We knew we'd always be coming with something different, changing it up every step, and the name embodies that idea. And it doesn't seem to date, which is splendid.
[altsounds] JOIN THE DOTS COMES OUT ON AUGUST 10TH. HOW HAS YOUR MUSIC CHANGED OVER TEN YEARS AND FOUR ALBUMS?
[Dom] The first one 'Amongst The Madness' was initially going to be an instrumental ninja-tune style beats record but a load of NYC rappers heard it in an early form, via our label 'Scenario', and wanted to get on. We thought 'why not?' and suddenly we had a full-vocal full blown HipHop record in front of us. Production wise it was much more of a traditional HipHop approach. Sample some vinyl, cut up the break, steal some drums from someone else's tune, write a bassline, put it all together, make a cut-chorus (we miss those) and the give it to a vocalist. Record them in some shit studio somewhere and it's job done.
Number two, 'Get Over It' was us moving forward. It had the first glimpses of songwriting and a more electronic sound at a variety of tempos. We love it, but it was definitely a departure.
The third, 'This Was Supposed To Be The Future' was again a move away from what many would consider to be HipHop. More confidence in songwriting and arrangements, more collaboration (rather than just rapping over a beat), more individuality, more influence from the direction our DJ sets were headed in. Number four, 'Join The Dots' is even more of a mix. We've been wanting to make more dance music for a while now and this is the beginning of that phase. Big tracks for big dance tents, late-night reggae numbers, some more experimental stuff, that's what it's about.
[altsounds] WHO HAS BEEN THE BEST AND/OR EASIEST ARTIST TO COLLABORATE WITH OVER THE YEARS?
[Dom] Oh we wouldn't want to single anyone out, we've enjoyed working with all of them. There is one artist, PHR, that you've never heard. He blew our minds but for one reason or another has never appeared on a record. Perhaps he's too posh.
[altsounds] ANDY CATO OF GROOVE ARMADA IS ALSO FROM CAMBRIDGE. DID YOU MEET AT SCHOOL BY ANY CHANCE?
[Dom] I (Dom) was actually a school friend of Tom Findlay. We were operating as DJs on the party scene way back in the day. He's older than me, the same year as my brother, and was in a few bands around the time I was playing in local clubs. I worked on two GA albums, then last year at a gig in Athens Andy and I decided to do a collabo...
[altsounds] OK. WHAT IS THE WEIRDEST VENUE YOU HAVE PERFORMED IN? LIZ TAYLOR'S EMPTY POOL OR OR A MOSCOW BUNKER?
[Dom] The pool wins, mainly because it was painted black and ten minutes into our set a fifty-person pillow fight broke out.
[altsounds] THERE ARE MORE FESTIVALS IN THE UK NOW THAN YOU CAN SHAKE A STICK AT. IF YOU HAVE A HANDY STICK WHICH DO YOU CHOOSE TO DO AND WHY?
[Dom] Glasto because it's an institution. Winterwell because it's like a brilliant house party in a tent. The Big Chill because it gave us our best moment on stage ever.
[altsounds] SO WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT FOR YOU. COMPOSING OR LIVE MUSIC?
[Dom] Equality! We love late night sessions in the studio just as much as playing out in clubs and tents.
[altsounds] WHAT IS THE MOST STUPID QUESTION YOU HAVE BEEN ASKED BY A JOURNALIST?
[Dom] This one.
[altsounds] THERE IS NO QUESTION 13. BAD LUCK.
[Dom] Superstition ain't the way!
[altsounds] AND WHAT DO YOU WISH THEY HAD ASKED?
[Dom] You do know that this is a handsomely paid interview?
