Duncan Beiny, aka DJ Yoda, began a mission over a decade ago to put a smile back on hip-hop’s surly face. This aim has been achieved with some of the most inventive mixtapes you can drop into pockets.

Interview with DJ Yoda

By Paul Tarpey - 25/9/2014

“I think audiences can see through someone who isn’t genuine. When DJs hop on a bandwagon it’s not gonna give them much longevity as an artist. The ones that last are just honest about their musical tastes.”

These mix-tapes allowed his influences including funk, reggae, big band swing and country & western to snap playfully at you as you partied. Soon though his interest in other media was shaping what was becoming a unique and humorous style as the Indiana Jones theme was cut with dubstep or the Muppets’ Theme with 1930’s swing. When he began producing his own material featuring some diverse and adventurous collaborations his reputation grew even further, but determination to test himself and please his audience created an itch that only video could scratch.

Yoda began to pioneer a revolution that has seen him using cutting edge technology to mix visuals on top of his DJ sets. It has led to a series of legendary AV shows that have had his audiences both mesmerised and dancing.

His extraordinary ‘How To Cut and Paste’ series of mixtapes, original material such as Chop Suey and astonishing audio-visual sets have seen him described in Q as one of the ten DJs to see before you die and as one of the best three DJs in the world by Hip Hop Connection.

He arrives with a new AV show at East Village Arts Club on November 9th and we chatted to him about his style and what to expect at the gig.

Can you explain the romance of the mix-tape and why it still appeals as a format?

I think the concept of someone selecting songs for you is just a perfect expression of individual taste! A collection of your favourite songs can be as unique as your DNA - so it’s really personal and special to have someone do that for you.

A lot is made of your sense of humour and self-effacing approach, how aware were you that this would be considered that unique?

It wasn’t something that I sat down and designed - that’s just the music that I like and enjoy. I always thought that music was a way to have fun, especially when you’re DJing in a club on a Friday night or at a music festival. That doesn’t strike me as a place to be overly-serious or even depressing! So finding music that puts a smile on my face just makes sense to me.

Not everything works! But I do pride myself on trying to find a way to include anything that I think is cool. So if I see something that I like in a movie or something, then I WILL find a way to include it in an AV show. I try and include everything that’s on my radar. So if there’s been an important news event or football match on the day of my gig, you might find that popping up in my show.

To what extent is technology influencing your approach or just catching up with your ideas?

I change my technical set-up regularly, only because the technology is changing rapidly, and every year things arrive that give me ideas of ways to improve my show. I never use new technology just for the sake of it. It’s more a case of asking myself whether I can do something new and interesting with this new stuff.

How does working on your own original material change your approach?

Creating original music isn’t that different to creating mixtapes or DJing for me - all creating is just taking bits of your favourite influences and blending it all up to make something new. It’s more literal when you are sampling, but it’s exactly the same for anyone sitting down in front of a piano or a guitar. Everything’s been done before, so all you can do is express yourself individually through your influences.

Are there collaborations that have surprised you in terms of what has eventually been created?

Constantly. I try to collaborate every year with someone new, but something I’ve just finished has been the most rewarding thing like this I’ve ever done. I put together a band and came up with an album all in the space of a week! We’re called Breakfast of Champions, and you’ll be able to hear the music very soon.

When did the audio-visual style first evolve in your mind and what were your hopes and worries about how it would work?

Before the technology allowed me to cut, mix and scratch visuals, I was already trying to include movies into my DJ sets. I did some performances where I worked out a DJ set to soundtrack certain movies (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and The Goonies!), and I would always include audio samples from movies into my mixes. I never really worried about how it would work!

I feel like the technology is in it’s infancy - I can’t imagine what I’ll be able to do in even 10 years time, but I’m excited about it!

How easy is it to watch or listen to fresh material as a complete piece and not want to deconstruct it in terms of how you could use it?

Not easy at all! Once in a while I hear or see something so perfect that I don’t want to rip it up to shreds! But that is rare. If I go to the cinema and someone mentions “scratch” or “DJ” my ears just prick up straight away.

How do you read an audience when visuals are involved?

I try to design a set so that you can either sit down and watch without dancing, or ignore the screen entirely and dance. That way everyone is happy. It’s a careful balance.

How has the responses to your shows changed over the years?

Musical genres come and go, and audiences react differently in that way. Yes, it’s a balance to entertain and also challenge myself, but that’s what I’m addicted to, and I wouldn’t change it for the world!

Will there be things to surprise people who are getting used to surprises in your new shows?

People should always expect the unexpected.

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