Preparing to release his solo material this year, the 29 year-old's talents are a bit mind-boggling. i-D recently caught him on camera doing his signature DJ set - involving live drums and pads that are set to play songs in sequence, it's really something to watch.
We had a quick chat with Mr. McKenzie to find out why he drums upright, how he got his break and the toughest thing about his job.
My first gig drumming was with...
Daniel Bedingfield. Yeah, he was the first. It was
straight out of school at 15 or 16 years-old.
The most fun I’ve had as a drummer is…
With
Tinie. That was a strong, emotion, vibe-y relationship. Being around the same
age, listening to the same kind of music... we’re just connected.
I stand up when I play because...
I went away to Europe for two
years on tour and when I came back home, all of the young drummers were
sounding very different. Drumming had evolved into something that I wasn’t
aware of. It kind of freaked me out a bit. I thought ’I need to stand up and
change the whole vibe’. The drumming/ DJing is quite technical,
there’s quite a few things to it all. The long and short of it is that I’ve got
the songs that people are familiar with,or songs that I’ve done or remixed, cut up, on my pads, and I place them over 6 pads and I trigger them off. That it’s
basically but there’s a lot more to it. There’s a lot of preparation.
My influences include…
I grew up playing gospel and
jazz bands in school and I did steel pan, so there’s Caribbean influence. I
really love Coldplay and Mumford and Sons and then I love Meek Mill. It’s a
broad thing.
I want people to be like ‘That’s MckNasty’
Watch Me Beat My Drums. It’s says a lot.
It’s revolutionary. It says what I intend to do, it says a lot about me as a
musician but it shows my ability as a singer. I suppose drumming isn’t always
seen as a melodic instrument so to try and evoke some melodic vibe in there
that’s distinctly mine. I play other people’s tunes when I’m DJing so I want
people to be like ‘That’s MckNasty’.
All 9 of my siblings are involved with music, but...
It’s still the same family set-up. The more everyone gets into what
they’re doing, the more they might be absent, plus we have families and partners. It’s not the
same now as waking up on Christmas Day and being together. But we don’t sit round
and talk about record deals! We all share the same passion and love it.
Do I have plans to work with my brother...
Maybe. At some
point. Tinie and Lab together? That would be epic.
The toughest past of my job is that...
I’m a bit of risk taker so
everything is quite tough. To do this, to do MckNasty and come away from what
I’ve known and what I’ve done and something I have a love for... to come away from that and take this
jump, that’s the biggest risk so far. But I don’t see it as a risk, I see it as a
jump and a leap to what I should be. When you’re touring with people, it’s not
on you. But now it’s just me; it’s hardcore.
Tinie and Lab together? That would be epic.
The most shocking thing I've seen on tour is...
Onstage and we had these
moving risers and the keyboard risers fell down during the show. It's like, ‘Do we stop?
Do we carry on’? The same thing happened to Natasha [Bedingfield] at the Scala. She came out,
doing the catwalk, and the drop was… I wanted to help her, she’s so lovely. But we
carried on playing. She got back up and carried on. Superstar.
The mixtape 12.12.12 is available from here
Follow MckNasty on Twitter
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