The man is something of a legend in his own life time. Not only has he won the World ITF Championships back in 2001, he has also had the good fortune and I imagine fulfilling every aspiring DJs dream of playing a alongside some of US hiphop’s most elite DJs. Blunted takes a little time to catch up with the DJ Woody in anticipation of his gig in Oxford on the 21st November with Free Range.
Here’s a little preview of what to expect from DJ Woody, something to keep your head nodding whilst you read this interview -
Download: DJ Woody Mini Mix
Yes Woody how you doing?
Extremely well thanks.
Introduce yourself to the fam out there –
My names Lee Woodvine aka DJ Woody, the Peter Kay of turntablism.
When did you start DJing?
I got my first pair of turntables back in 1992.
How do you think you progressed over the years in the game?
Everything I’ve done during my career has come from my original goal of becoming a good all-round DJ. I’ve gone from jamming in a bedroom in Lancashire to rocking crowds of up to 50,000 with some of hip hop’s most respected names; the goals stay the same it’s just the goalposts that shift.
In 2001 you won the World ITF title and made history as the first European DJ to do so. What did that mean to you and how did it affect your career?
Looking back obviously I’m very proud, I took my brand of turntablism to it’s creative centre, San Francisco and brought home the bacon, the previous years winner was A-Trak of Kanye West fame. In 2001 myself and Plus One (Scratch Perverts) started a wave of European domination in the battle scene. Career-wise at this point I was still in my day job at Granada TV, but the following year after I took my 2nd World title and was subsequently presented with a lot of opportunities so I took the plunge and I haven’t looked back since.
You’ve done a lot of work DJ Vadim and ‘One Self’. Can we expect more from this project in the future?
One Self, I honestly couldn’t tell you I know Vadim is doing another solo LP, Yarah Bravo is working on one, Blu Rum lives back in the US now and I’m busy on my own projects so certainly not in the foreseeable.
As for work generally with Vadim well we did over 400 shows together so obviously we keep in touch, I did scratches for his last solo LP ‘The Soundcatcher’ and no doubt well do other stuff in the future.
3 highlights of your career:
- In 2005-2007 I help Vestax to design the worlds first ever turntable musical instrument, the Controller One, this takes melodic vinyl manipulation to it’s obvious conclusion and enables you chose your root note and play full scales. I’m currently using the Controller One in my work with a 20 piece big band jazz orchestra for some shows next year.
- Aside from the battle success I’m actually more proud of the fact that I invented quite a few new scratches and beatjuggle techniques at a time when most people were stuck in a rut, I even had Qbert on the phone asking how to do my ‘Woodpecker’ scratch.
- I’ve been lucky enough to play some dope festivals from the Big Chill to Spain’s massive VinaRock but one performance that gave me goose bumps last year was when I was asked to play at a summer jam in Crotona Park in the Bronx, one of Hip Hop’s original locations. I was introduced by Grandmaster Caz and played alongside DJ Red Alert, Jazzy Jay and Lord Finesse, apparently I was the first white guy they’d ever asked, but more importantly I DJ’d with the people who invented Hip Hop, to the people who started it, in the location where it was born!
3 disappointments:
- I’m disappointed that I never got to rep the UK in the World DMC competition as I think I could have brought it home, but I felt strongly that the competition needed some kind of judging criteria and so boycotted it after 2002.
- In 2002 I toured the States with Madlib and other Stones Throw artists, we had a New York show where Madlib was supposed to be hooking up with pretty much every important NY producer you can think of Pete Rock, Premo et al. However the night before the show some politics went down which meant we had to cancel the gig, gutted.
- I was lucky enough to perform on 2 John Peel sessions at Maida Vale which was obviously a massive privilege but I wish I’d have had the bottle to try and have a proper chat with the great man.
Favourite meal:
Previously steak with stilton cheese n caramelized red onions, yum, but I gave up red meat so I’m on some sushi shit right now.
Favourite clothing label:
Adidas, for reasons outlined in the next question.
Favourite artist/act:
An impossible question but one act that I can honestly say have altered the course of my life immeasurably would be RUN DMC.
I imagine most people reading this interview are now ready to get a good listening dosage of Woody. What can you recommend from your back cat?
Go to my Myspace and I’ve put 2 of my mix LP’s ‘Bangers & Mash’ and ‘A Country Practice’ online to download for free, there’s some other too. Check out One Self’s ‘Children of Possiblity’ LP, the new Bomb the Bass LP or Aquasky’s new Breakbeat Bass mix for a taster.
For more info on the man himself, check out his website - woodwurk.com. To see the man himself, plus a lineup to make a grown man weep (Friction, Dillinja, Spectrasoul, Benga, Youngsta, Caspa & Rusko to name but a few), make sure you head to Oxford Carling Academy for Free Range presents The Shogun Assassins Tour on Friday 21st November. To buy your tickets in advance click here.
