DodgyHip Music

Welcome to the DodgyHip Music space...
As I’ve been on here a while now and settled in, I thought it was time for a change of profile and new intro. The new layout & design comes courtesy of my fantastic Mrs - RE-303 (also known as Rebecca). The background image for the profile is cleverly pilfered from my website dodgyhipmusic.com . Give it a regular visit as it’ll be getting more stuff added at some point. Cheers to Colin at Boys On Fire for setting it up.
Anyway, just in case this is your first visit to my page this is what I’m about... I’ve been DJ’ing since ’89 when I got my first (and only) 1210’s from Cloud Electronics in Sheffield.
I say first and only 1210’s ’cos I’ve still got the same pair. Yonks later and they still work like new and look tops - even with the usage they’ve had over the 15 plus years, this is why I’ll never stray from Technics decks - a worthy testimonial I’d say.
I was only 16 when I got ’em and they cost a fortune for me then. I’d had a mixer (a Realistic contraption with no frills included) bought for my birthday about 6 months before, which sat unused for an agonisingly long time. I’d already got a hefty record collection for a kid my age - I’d been obsessed with collecting better and more records than my mates from a crazily young age. I can’t remember for definite what my first record was, but it was either The Prince by Madness on 7", The Specials debut LP, or Too Much Pressure by The Selecter.
Of course, I didn’t have a very hi-tech set up at that point - it really consisted of a record player with built in speaker that turned into a kind of suitcase when the lid was on. I’m not 100% sure but I think it had a 78rpm setting - useful for speeding up John Bradbury’s (drummer with The Specials) breaks to D & B proportions I guess. That tinny speaker got it’s fair share of abuse though, cos any spare money I had when straight into more chonk.
When the early ’80s Two Tone scene ended it felt like a big deal - looking back now I’m pretty sure it was - and there wasn’t much music (Talking Heads being an exception) that really got me for a while. Until I heard White Lines that is...
Ya know those records that you wait all day by the radio for so you can tape them (putting it on play-record+pause to do it quicker and with a bit less of the "clunk" sound that was impossible to avoid when the taping started), well this was one of those for me. Being a kid in Sheffield, I had no idea whatsoever about drugs, crack, smack or gack, so never really knew - or gave a thought - about what they were rapping about; I just dug the Liquid Liquid groove (the band sampled for the bass in the track, who I understand are still going and working with DFA). I listened to the tune so many times I still remember the words now - even the uuuuuuuuurrrRRRAAA’s that were grunted by the Grandmaster.
The need for "un-normal" (I’ll not say underground cos at that time there wasn’t really a ground to be under) musical addiction went the same way it did for countless kids my age in England, along the (white) lines of…
Beat Street-Breakdance-Bambataa -Kraftwork-Chaka Khan-Captain Rock-Schooly D-LL Cool J-Cash Money & Marvellous-Average White Band-Freez-Mantronix-George Clinton- Doug Lazee-Doug E Fresh-Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Will Smith-Rick James-D Train-Prelude-Paul Hardcastle-Herbie Hancock-Just Ice-T La Rock-Def Jam-Master Ace-BDP-2 Live Crew- Public Enemy-NWA-De La Soul-Dee Lite-KC Flight-Detroit-UR-Red Planet-LB Bad-Master C & J-Trax-Todd Terry-Ron Allen & Hayden Andre-Plus 8-WARP-Rhythmatic-Unique 3-Erik Van Broek-Acid Jesus-Orlando Voorn-Sven Van Hees-MAW-Black Dog-B12-UMM-Future Sound Of London-D Jax-FNAC-Air Liquide-Strictly-Junior Boys Own-Swag-Switch...
You know the drill. All the dope music that boys nod their heads like divs to (well, not JUST boys, my BeX does too - but she looks cute - not divvy).
My DJ career started on pirate radio - as a lot of the Sheffield crew did - as DJ Jammer. I had quite a popular show due to the music I played (many of the above names being spun). This led to me playing at a lot of the all-nighters in and around Sheffield AROUND ’91-93. I didn’t really have a regular residency until Scuba, which was one of the best nights Sheffield’s seen. It ran for 6 years I think, and was set up by Jamie Wilkins, Chris Duckenfield, Alec and Paul from Toko, and I played alongside some of the top names in underground house (biggest deal being on the same bill as Larry Heard).
So, with all this music shaping my cranium I’ve always felt I was in a positive position when it comes to producing my own material. But other than a few stints in Richard Brown’s sweetly titled Tippy Tappy Bollocks studio in Wakefield, I never really applied myself as I should have or made a big strive to progress. I’ve always suffered from too many ideas to humanly contain in one head, but not the patience for learning how to tweak those god damn knobs (stop tittering) for myself.
As things are now, I’ve been battling with my aversion to reading the help files for music apps, and putting together a bit of kit at home so that I can learn the boring bits of making tunes, in order to produce the cool bits that us fellas judge each other by. Serious stuff. But not a million miles away from my Littlewoods catalogue bought suitcase-deck days.
I’m now working hard at getting these ideas and audio instincts out of my head and into Cubase under the name DodgyHip (old friends will know where the name comes from...). There are four tracks here and they’ll be changing whenever I take the time to post new stuff. I don’t know about how other people work, but I’ve got a maybe a dozen tunes on the boil that I know will be worth your listening time - once I get them all completed that is. The music I put on here’s gonna be house all the way – no downbeat stuff, no trend following, just the kinda house music I think works in a club.
Well, that’s it for the reading bit. So press play on the player and bump my play number up, if you wanna hear a mix I did a while ago as well you can listen here on RE-303’s site. If you’re into my tunes or you dig the mix, let me know or friend request me, and I’ll reply pretty sharpish.
Keep bumpin
Damien.
Out NOW on Clean House Music from Stompy - link:
DJ Sulli "Anonymous - DodgyHip’s Dropped On The Head Remix"
Also out now as a digi download on Odori via Beatport:
Klaus "Dis Dat - DodgyHip Remix"