akira the don
akira the don from crack village is going solo. for a bit. ireallylovemusic gets the low down on the mans plans for world domination.
Hello Akira.I have heard the demo tracks. They are fun-tastic. Aren't you worried about Streets type comparisons?
Thank you Mark, they were a great deal of fun to make. And to answer your question, no, not at all. Comparisons are not things to be worried about.
How is Akira solo stuff going to differ from your full crew Crack Village stuff ?
Well, Crack Village is the sum of its parts. The Akira Stuff is also. So it's just a lot more of me. I suppose it does sound completely different also. I have a strong Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine influence which isn’t shared by the rest of the Crack.
Who else features on the solo joints? Sure I hear baby Bo in the mix?
All my friends. Baby Bo sings on 'London', Kool Kid Fresh is on 'Oh! (What A Glorious Thing)', P Mo and lots of children are on 'Back In The Day', which is a very new one, Birddogg scratches on most of the stuff and co-produced 'Patrick' and some dope super new stuff like 'The Singer', which I just this minute finished recording. And Debt are on a track, and so's h jones x and Mothboy's doing stuff. And other people. Lots.
You have lifted influences from various familiar places... How did you go about making the beats and noises? Was it all Fruity loops?
'London' was the first proper song I made myself, and that was a Gary Glitter loop fucked about with in Fruity with some fruity machines making noises and nice fake strings via midi keyboard. I use Acid for arranging and vocals and stuff. As I went on I tried different stuff, like - shock! - guitars and battered old keyboards I bought off the Kingsland Road market and the TV and decks and stuff. Recently me and Birddogg have been doing tune challenges where he'll come over with piles of vinyl and I'll pick three random slabs to make a tune out of them, or vice versa. Recently we made super lushness out of Jim Steinman and some choristers and Andy Williams.
Would you do a pop star/Akira tacky pop duo to get the full on "journo goes pop star" trip going? And, if so, then who would be the lucky receptor?
You mean like the Pet Shop Boys? They are awesome and I am doing a version of 'Rent'.
Actually, Birddogg and myself are doing a dodgy voice-synth/decks duo called either Birddon or DonDogg. We will wear nice wigs, and Bird will not smile.
Gay dad's Cliff Jones, who has often been mistaken for you in recent times, I believe, didn't seem to cope to well with the negative vibes in the fellow press - how will you cope with the typical mauling that you are probably about to encounter when your sounds are released for your peers to hear and smear?
I liked Cliff Jones, even though he did rip me off, and Gay Dad had some great songs, and a marvellous ambition, which they were foolish not to realize - all that Alice In Wonderland stuff. And, knowing how the whole music writing thing happens, I won't take any of it personally, even if it is very personal. Anyway, I am sure they will all love it, because it is good.
If Akira the Don becomes a prima donna pop star, what full fat extras are going to be dropped onto your TOTP riders?
Nice weed, ice water, big stereo. Crackers. Applewood Smoked. Comics.
Does Akira have a similar background to the character known as Adam Alphabet .. if so .. you still grooving on the push bike?
Yeah. I was grooving on my stolen bicycle, until someone stole it.
Or did that all get a bit too close to the edge at times?
Sometimes buses would try and run me over, and I'd run up on the pavement, and if you're not going at a fast enough speed that shit can fuck you up.
Tell me how hip hop became such a driving force in your life. You seemed to have been an old school indie fan (Moz/Carter seem to get your kudos if memory serves me well) then had a "road to Damascus" experience. Mine was Malcolm Mcclarens 'Buffalo Gals', and Duck Rock album, and then later on Run DMC/Public Enemy in 86. Suspect yours is 36 Chambers? I don’t get the Wu thing myself - so need to understand what you hear that I don’t get.
I heard 'White Lines' on Now… 3, I believe, it had a pig on the front, and it was a favourite of mine when I was very small. Then I got 'Marquee Metal' from a boot sale, and that had 'Walk This Way' on it and I learnt all the words. And my Dad had Ice T's 'OG' and I was well into that, with all of it's Bush slagging and what have you. Then I nicked 'Death Certificate' by Ice Cube from Woolies and listened to the whole thing over and over for months, until I knew it all. It upset my mother very much. Then came Dre and Snoop. I didn't actually get into the Wu till quite late, but when I did it was over. The Wu were the ultimate band.
In your weekly online rants-n-raves last year, you seemed to be on a personal journey of mega proportions. Dropping the pills, dropping a lot of attitude, getting more healthy, growing a beard... you know important stuff. What spurned this life change? What did you achieve in the process, apart from the beard? And, are you happy with the results?
Or, have you now regressed and gone back to the old ways of yore and can’t remember the origins of the urge to change?
I think I just did everything very early, left home early, was homeless, ran about the country trying to get my shit on… I did all the stuff people do at uni when I was 16, did the whole London media thing when I was, like 20… like, I did all that stuff that bands do when they start getting a bit hype then, just as me, a bullshitter, and you know, that shit gets tired pretty quick if you're not a complete loser. But I think my beard is my biggest achievement, it so awesome right now it brings tears to my eyes just to think of it.
You seem to have a life that many people dream of, suspect you are only just beginning to realise this. What would you put this down to. Luck, skills or good blagging and balls'o'steel?
You're right, on both counts. I have a wonderful life. I rent a dope flat with a dope PC and a keyboard and a guitar and pens and paper and an easel and some nice plants and loads of good films to watch and books to read and good friends and a great job and the ability to render my bullshit as stuff that's good. I think luck and good blagging and balls of steel have helped a lot, and naivety, being brought up in relative isolation, and being born short, and short sighted. But I was lucky enough to have always know what I wanted to do and to be, sort of, since as far as I can remember, and most people I find are not that fortunate, and must wander for many miles before they stumble across their pebble.
Now that you have a solo groove going on, where do you see your forthcoming adventure leading you too in your dreams?
My dream, which is a plan also, is to put out this album, and tour a little, the me and Birddogg are going to buy a cottage in the middle of France with a half acre of land for 30,000 Euros and do it up a bit and make a nice little studio and pool room and place to paint and raw and make stuff and do writing, and make two albums and loads of mixtapes and music and things, and release them and singles and MP3s and things, then come back here in the Spring and play shows and do Crack stuff. The amazing thing is, we can sell fucking CDs on ebay to pay the mortgage, and rent it out half the year. I don't know why everybody isn't doing it.
I look forward to watching the fun and madness progress, and hope to one day share a drink or 3 with your good self. Thank you.
I will have a water with lots of ice and lime and a straw, and I will look forward to it. Thank you.