Ex Pat Files: Freq Nasty: Breaking Big in London

New Zealand artists Concord Dawn, MC Tali, Nathan Haines and Mark de Clive-Lowe have all made waves in the highly competitive British dance music industry recently. At the same time South London-based ex-pat Aucklander Darin McFadyen, aka FreQ Nasty, has become one of the international breakbeat scene's leading producers, even if he is still relatively unknown back home.

That Kiwi awareness could soon change with the release of his second album. 'Bring Me The Head of FreQ Nasty' features guest contributions from reggae legend Junior Delgado and leading London hip-hop MCs Rodney P and Roots Manuva. It also boasts album artwork by Tank Girl and Gorillaz artist, Jamie Hewlett.

Born in Fiji, McFadyen moved to New Zealand when he was three. "I used to play drums at school and played bass and guitar in bands up until I was 18," he recalls. "My first contact with samplers was when our keyboard player got a sampler for playing strings and stuff like that. I was like, 'Hang on a sec, you can do more with this'."

McFadyen left New Zealand in 1990 when he was just 19, travelling to Australia, Asia and America before eventually settling in London.

"Back then most of my favourite music came from London," he continues. "There were a few people in New Zealand playing house music, which I thought it was cool. It was like 'broken house music.' But by the time I left New Zealand, the two biggest things going on for me were hip-hop out of New York and the acid house/ underground dance explosion. So London was the place for me to be, I put my sampler in a bag and flew over."

In 1999 McFadyen released his debut album, 'FreQ's Geeks & Mutilations' through London label Botchit & Scarper. 'Bring Me The Head of FreQ Nasty' sees him moving to leading Brighton-based dance label, Skint Records. Skint is also home to the illustrious likes of Fatboy Slim, Dave Clarke and X-Press 2.

"Skint have a small label ethos still, even though they've got major label distribution," says McFadyen of his new, Sony-affiliated home. "They deal with their artists on a small label level and obviously as an artist, that's a very attractive proposition. To be able to work how you want but still have your record company have the clout that you need them to in order to move your records to the next level. And I also like the other artists that are on the label.

"It's turned out for the best. A lot of the others have been signed by Skint since I was signed. I think I was the start of the new Skint in a way. Norman (Cook, aka Fatboy Slim) is still there of course but heís also branched out in a lot of different directions."

As a DJ and producer, McFadyen mostly specialises in breaks (a genre championed here by the likes of Timmy Schumacher, showcased recently on Kog's 'Return of the Boom Shwack' compilation), although he prefers to call it ìurban futurist music.î

"So much of dance music is technologically driven so I guess that's the futuristic part of it," reasons McFadyen. "And a lot of this music comes out of, and has always come out of, the big urban scenes. You get that throughout the history of dance and electronic music and dance and soul music full stop - going back to Motown and Detroit and that kind of thing. The big cities, mechanisation and the need for people to release the pressure that's built up working in these large industrialised urban cities seems to produce a particular form of art and music, and theatre and film as well. 'Urban futurist music' sums it up neatly for me. It's a widely, all-encompassing term for my music, which is not just breakbeat."

In fact, McFadyen broadens his sonic palette on 'Bring Me The Head of FreQ Nasty' to embrace other sounds including dub and ragga, which could even be an influence from the times he has spent in reggae-mad New Zealand.

"For sure, there's a strong reggae, dub and dancehall flavour on the album," he agrees. "Nobody was really doing that sort of thing much in breakbeat, although there's now a few more doing it, like Aquasky who are working with the Ragga Twins. And I'm doing a lot of stuff at the moment which mixes house time to breakbeat, which is quite unusual. Especially the remix I've done for Kelis recently which is like breakbeat meets dancehall meets hip-hop vibe."

And while McFadyen enjoys returning to New Zealand on DJ tours every year or so, with his next visit planned for early next year, London remains his musical home.

"The thing about London is fusion," he explains. "Everywhere is fusing with other things all the time. Scenes in South London are fusing with North London, or just lots of the same sorts of scenes fusing together in different parts of London.

"That fusion element makes London so different to me from all the other big cities in the world. New York has a similar kind of thing but if you look at somewhere like LA the only things that seems to have fused together musically there in the last 20 years are rock and rap and those are two of the biggest genres in the world. It's hardly the most subtle fusion you could come across, whereas you know the history of London.

"I actually notice that when I go to any city other than London or New York, but even New York doesn't have the scene that London has, I start getting bored. I hate it! I'd love to think that I could live somewhere else. I went to Barcelona recently and stayed there for a while, thinking I could live there but after a week or two, I was 'Oh my lord, I think this is it! What's going on? I'm not going to discover anything new now!'"

McFadyen has also stated that he finds London's inclement weather and harsh, grey, claustrophobic surroundings more creatively inspiring than New Zealand's golden beaches and wide open spaces. "I find London more inspiring in terms of art," he argues. "I'd rather live in Auckland, Sydney, the Pacific Islands or Asia but when I go to big cities like London or New York, I'm stimulated culturally. If you go to a place like Asia, some of its big cities are amazing and cool but the fusion tends to be on a lot less of a street level.

"The futuristic end of a city like Hong Kong tends to be more of an economic-driven thing, whereby you get these massive futuristic buildings and this crazy clash of new and old culture. But the fusion of the two doesn't seem to produce much of an artistic basis as it does in London, New York or even Tokyo."

However, McFadyen has been impressed by the New Zealand-made electronic music he has heard over the past five years. "I haven't heard a lot of stuff recently to be honest, but I always rate Pitch Black's stuff."

"I think they're amazing. I haven't heard any new stuff by them for a while but I've got to catch up with those guys when I'm in New Zealand next. I was also at one of the AotearoaNZ nights at Fabric and I heard some really good stuff. There's some really nice stuff coming out of New Zealand. Stinky Jim sent me some stuff from his label and I've heard bits and pieces of Concord Dawn and P-Money, which are really well produced. And Timmy Schumacher and Chris Chetland (aka Baitercell) are putting stuff out on Aquasky's Ill Passenger label. It's great to see them getting some work outside of New Zealand because that's what they really need to do."