The Nudge is one of the most recent signings to Grand Central, but has been involved with the label for a few years as a fan and eventually as the promoter and resident DJ for the weekly ‘Friends And Family’ night. Originally from Salford he immersed himself in music at an early age: “….what is distinctive about Manchester is that no matter what part of town you live on - everyone is into music, in a band…scallies playing the bongos or bass guitar at parties.” He started off playing house parties in Salford, that were “…heavy..we played chess, smoked and listened to tunes” A professional loop-digger that boasts a deck in every room of his house, he was bitten by the break hunting beast in 1994 and was bit hard.
At 15, he was buying Happy Mondays, Stone Roses and Inspiral Carpets and then when the House scene exploded in Manchester he rode that ship until it got “saturated and sour’. He stumbled upon Hip Hop at the right time as Mark Rae had just started Fat City and it had fast become a centre for all things hip hop. The bug was by way of ‘The Ultimate Breaks And Beats Series’. For the uninitiated it’s one of a collection that came out in the mid 80’s to early 90’s of original funk tunes looped together compiled by a mystery, now legendary producer. After hearing this, the fever hit and he was dubbed ‘Breaks Boy’ by Fat City as he enthusiastically went back for all 25 in the series.
His influences in music come from unexpected places. His Dad DJ’d Disco and had introduced him to legends Gwen McCray, Slave, and the “awesome” Fat Back Band. On his first trip to West Africa in 1998, driving from Ghana to London in a truck, he got introduced to Ali Fhar Katouri by a kid selling tapes in Timbuktoo, Mali. In turn, he exchanged him a James Brown tape. His musical awareness was further explored in Eastern Europe on his second trip, driving from London to Cape Town in a black cab. When he got home two years later, his mum and best mate met him at the airport with a change of clothes - and took him to one of the last ‘Counter Culture’ nights run by Fat City and Grand Central. That same night he was offered a job with the club and was soon the promoter of the new improved and more intimate ‘Friends and Family’. Through this he met Grand Central artists like Aim and Funky Fresh Few - they’d talk records and it was only a matter of time.
Advised by Mark Rae he bought a Akai MPC 2000: “I didn’t have a clue, I didn’t read the instruction booklet…. just threw it over my back, its still there on the floor where it fell!…but I had a general idea what leads went where.” Pulling out loops that he knew hadn’t been sampled before, advised by Mark Rae on ‘arrangements’ and consulting Mike Ball from Dual Control about more technical aspects like ‘EQ-ing’ he learnt his craft. After a year and a half, he presented a finished demo to Grand Central and ‘The Nudge’ was signed by Mark straight away.
His debut 12” ‘The Quickness’ showed two very different sides of The Nudge, a double A side in actual fact. ‘The Quickness’ has a deep, bassy beat with a dirty street rap provided by underground US rap outfit The Rusty Pelicans: “I wanted a hyped 80’s hip hop tune”. Nudge’s beats were sent to Milwaukee, to be listened to by the Pelicans, who loved it and sent back the rap. Manchester’s G-Cut, “…a proper whizz at breaks and beats”, cut the scratches over the track. On the flip, ‘Window Pain’ dispels any box that The Quickness might have placed him in. It’s a fat “smoking, dance floor tune”, The Nudge’s version of Kool And The Gang’s ‘Summer Madness’. This inventive and warm electro track was first tested at Friends And Family by The Nudge, where the crowd response prompted Mark Rae and GC A&R man Darren Laws to include it in their sets. As a result, DJ Yoda, Peanut Butter Wolf and Madlib became fans of The Nudge 12” as they made trips to the club. ‘Window Pain’ features a keyboard solo from Joe Ward, “…from the moment he walked into the studio I knew he was perfect…carrying this huge 70’s keyboard with big coloured knobs and fat, chunky wooden panels, he only needed to do it 3 times before it was perfect.” In The Nudge’s own words “Window Pain is soul for the dance floor.” And there’s plenty more where that came from.
At 15, he was buying Happy Mondays, Stone Roses and Inspiral Carpets and then when the House scene exploded in Manchester he rode that ship until it got “saturated and sour’. He stumbled upon Hip Hop at the right time as Mark Rae had just started Fat City and it had fast become a centre for all things hip hop. The bug was by way of ‘The Ultimate Breaks And Beats Series’. For the uninitiated it’s one of a collection that came out in the mid 80’s to early 90’s of original funk tunes looped together compiled by a mystery, now legendary producer. After hearing this, the fever hit and he was dubbed ‘Breaks Boy’ by Fat City as he enthusiastically went back for all 25 in the series.
His influences in music come from unexpected places. His Dad DJ’d Disco and had introduced him to legends Gwen McCray, Slave, and the “awesome” Fat Back Band. On his first trip to West Africa in 1998, driving from Ghana to London in a truck, he got introduced to Ali Fhar Katouri by a kid selling tapes in Timbuktoo, Mali. In turn, he exchanged him a James Brown tape. His musical awareness was further explored in Eastern Europe on his second trip, driving from London to Cape Town in a black cab. When he got home two years later, his mum and best mate met him at the airport with a change of clothes - and took him to one of the last ‘Counter Culture’ nights run by Fat City and Grand Central. That same night he was offered a job with the club and was soon the promoter of the new improved and more intimate ‘Friends and Family’. Through this he met Grand Central artists like Aim and Funky Fresh Few - they’d talk records and it was only a matter of time.
Advised by Mark Rae he bought a Akai MPC 2000: “I didn’t have a clue, I didn’t read the instruction booklet…. just threw it over my back, its still there on the floor where it fell!…but I had a general idea what leads went where.” Pulling out loops that he knew hadn’t been sampled before, advised by Mark Rae on ‘arrangements’ and consulting Mike Ball from Dual Control about more technical aspects like ‘EQ-ing’ he learnt his craft. After a year and a half, he presented a finished demo to Grand Central and ‘The Nudge’ was signed by Mark straight away.
His debut 12” ‘The Quickness’ showed two very different sides of The Nudge, a double A side in actual fact. ‘The Quickness’ has a deep, bassy beat with a dirty street rap provided by underground US rap outfit The Rusty Pelicans: “I wanted a hyped 80’s hip hop tune”. Nudge’s beats were sent to Milwaukee, to be listened to by the Pelicans, who loved it and sent back the rap. Manchester’s G-Cut, “…a proper whizz at breaks and beats”, cut the scratches over the track. On the flip, ‘Window Pain’ dispels any box that The Quickness might have placed him in. It’s a fat “smoking, dance floor tune”, The Nudge’s version of Kool And The Gang’s ‘Summer Madness’. This inventive and warm electro track was first tested at Friends And Family by The Nudge, where the crowd response prompted Mark Rae and GC A&R man Darren Laws to include it in their sets. As a result, DJ Yoda, Peanut Butter Wolf and Madlib became fans of The Nudge 12” as they made trips to the club. ‘Window Pain’ features a keyboard solo from Joe Ward, “…from the moment he walked into the studio I knew he was perfect…carrying this huge 70’s keyboard with big coloured knobs and fat, chunky wooden panels, he only needed to do it 3 times before it was perfect.” In The Nudge’s own words “Window Pain is soul for the dance floor.” And there’s plenty more where that came from.