Joe F & Bowlcut
Joe F has been into drum and bass and jungle since the days of tapepacks and raving at Bagleys and The End. His recent label Bowlcut has a wicked release and remix with Kyrist and Dread Mc. We catch up to find out more.
Thanks for taking time out. Love the latest track, it really great!.How are you all coping with the COVID-19 situation right now?
Hey, I’m good thanks. I joke to my Mrs I’ve been social distancing for years so it hasn’t been really affecting me too much. My thoughts are with everyone who has been affected though. I’m doing a live stream with Goat Shed on 6th June and will be raising money for MIND as I think it’s easy to overlook how much this whole epidemic has affected some people.
Go back to when it first started for you, what made you fall in love with jungle and dnb and tell us about your favourite jungle tracks.
Ah mate, just how old I am will be obvious now. The Prodigy - Experience changed my life. Tunes on there like Out Of Space and Charly introduced me to a whole new world of amens, rave and a way of life I was too young to go raving to. My mate at school had an older Sister we all fancied and she was always listening to Helter Skelter and One Nation tapepacks on the train to school. We got chatting about The Prodigy and we used to share an earphone each on the way in to school and I got familiar with the whole Dj’ing, MC’ing and rewind culture without having been to a rave. Tunes that stood out were Terminator by Goldie, Doc Scoot - Here Come Here The Drums & Lord Of The Null Lines by Hyper On Experience.
Who inspired you musically growing up?
Bad Company for their crazy releases during the late 90’s, Andy C and Mampi Swift for showing me to how to double drop a tune and Stevie Hyper D on the Mic. It’s cray to think how big of an MC/Artist he’d be if he was still around.
Tell us about the DJ competitions you won and your residencies.
Sure thing. I got bullied into entering a DJ competition by an Ex Girlfriend that was being hosted by Normski at Bar Vinyl in Camden. I thought I had no chance as I was playing DnB but I used to mix vinyl really quickly and it allowed me to showcase the diversity of DnB in the 20 mins I had in each round. I hadn’t really DJ’ed out before that so winning in-front of Agents, peeps decades older than me and Normski himself was a bit surreal. It allowed me to DJ in a bar in Camden for the next decade and I picked up a residency at a night called THEM which is still going strong at Corsica Studios. It’s more of a Techno night these days but back in the day we’d have Dillinja on the lineup with SBTRKT. Jack who runs the night is ahead of the curve on picking up new talent for the night so I’ve shared the bill with some artists who have gone on to be huge. He now runs Container Records in Brixton and THEM is over a decade old. I haven’t DJ’ed in time as this clothing lark has gone bigger than I ever expected.
Who inspired you musically and who inspires you musically now?
I come from a musical household and we’d all rather listen to tunes than watch trashy Tv so music has always been massive for me. My Dad played in a band when he was at school so he was always playing the drums and encouraged me to explore music. I grew up listening to Rock N Roll, Jazz & Blues music. I grew up having discovered Rave/Jungle at a young age so looked up to artists like Roni Size, Goldie and Andy C but also artists like The Stones, Bowie & Prince. It was a good balance I think. The same artists inspire me today but artists like Alix Perez, Noisia & Break are smashing it.
What made you set up a label and what have been the highlights and low points so far?
I’ve always been a Junglist and I should’ve done this time ago. I’d rather do it too late than not at all and as I’m not looking to produce or DJ I can sit nicely in the background and let the music and the artists shine. Its their time, not mine. The highlights have been discovering new artists and hitting up some of my favourite artists for remixes. The low point is that these tunes deserve to be played on massive soundsytems at festivals so I’m hoping they’re still relevant next year when everything has hopefully got back to normal.
Which have been your biggest releases so far.
The 1st tune comes out on 5th June so it’s got to be that. It features a new artist from Bristol called Tall Order. He keeps sending me tunes that are out of this world and he hasn’t released a tune yet. Him and Dread will do some damage on Hold Your Corner and Kyrist has killed it on the remix. T>I has remixed the second release which is by Objectiv and that’s been getting a lot of love on the live streams.
If you had £10k what would you do with it and why?
I’d use it towards paying someone to help me out as there just aren’t enough hours in the day.
Tell us about your favourite fesitval experiences and which festival are you missing the most this year?
I used to love Glastonbury when you could jump the fence. (Sorry Glasto, I was only young) The sense of unity at UK Festivals is second to none. Its that feeling of being in a field with thousands of other people and being there just for the music, I’m feeling nostalgic already. One festival experience? When Keith Flint (RIP) jumped off the stage and gave me a sweaty hug and kiss at the end of The Prodigy’s set. I could feel the love he had for the crowd and he was a hero of mine growing up.
Tell us about Joshua Brooks.
I ran the bookings and promo for the club in 2012 for about a year before it got bought out. We were lucky enough to win Best Small Club in DJ Mag and it’s where the Chemical Brothers had there residency whilst at Uni so it had a real special feel to it. It gave me a real insight into how to promo full-time and what works booking wise and what doesn’t. The competition in Manchester alone was nuts so it was nice to be recognised by a national publication. Highlights were booking Disclosure for a very small fee, Swamp 81 takeovers and letting DJ Q do his 1st ever ‘All Night Longt’ at the venue.
What's in the pipeline for the next 6 months?
Just to keep smashing the label as much as possible, to keep it growing and get the new artists out there and well known.
Long term goals?
To be an inspiration to other DnB labels in the scene.
Tell us about MC Dread and the link up there.
He’s just a G. I used to hit him up when I started Bowlcut Garms and we’ve been friends since. Him and the My NU Leng guys are real humble.
And Kyrist?
She’s an artist who I’ve had my musical eye on for a while. I think she’s going to just get bigger and is equally as good a Producer as she Is a DJ.
What's the inspiration behind Bowlcut garms.
It started off as a bit of an in-house joke amongst friends. One of them used to sign off Whatsaap messages with ‘see ya BBC’ which was short for Bumbaclart. I made the BBC/BumBaClart tee and gave one to Sam Binga, one to General Levy and another to Steves from Kurupt FM and it went mad from then on. I’ve been riding a wave since 2016 and I don’t want to get off it tbh.
You have a full time job working for some big names right?
I’m lucky enough to run Bowlcut Garms full-time. It’s gone into Selfridges and Asos but I want to keep the exclusive feel I had when I launched I will only be selling it from my own website. It’s been a pleasure, mostly, dealing with the big-boys but time to take it gully again. I’ve done artwork and Merch for Critical Music, Champion, Kurupt FM and Scott Garcia which I’ve massively enjoyed.
Which 3 people do you think are role models in dnb?
Andy C, Friction and Goldie.
Which 3 people do you think proper keep it real?
Kasra, Break & Dillinja
MCs. We love them. Which MC do you wanna give props to?
Shabba and Skibba, the late and great Stevie Hyper D and Det.
Top 3 tracks in your bag right now?
Shy FX - Balaclava ( Skeptical Remix) Gardna - Good Time Not A Long Time (watch The Ride Remix) & Objectiv - Peck Yard (T>I remix)
Lastly, any shouts and thanks?
Shouts to Badger from Critical Music, Tall Order for having mad skills, all the other artists I’ve got to work with so far, Amy from Shogun and Matt from Mr Thunders who’s always pushed me to make things happen.
Many thanks and all the best for 2020 and beyond!
Interview by Missrepresent May 2020
