Tim James Returns!

exclusive interview and track - cheap as chimps

Exclusive interview with glasgow's finest underground Dj and Producer. Signed by Bad Advice and with much props from Ministry of Sound hmu loves him and we think you will too.

So we've had a few chats but we thought we'd ask him a few questions so our lovely hmu listeners could get to know the man himself. This is when HMU interviewed Tom aka Cheap As Chimps

HMU: where did you get the name cheap as chimps?

CAC: My dad came up with it..i was pretty influenced by the basement jaxx sound when i first started making music and i wanted a cheeky, light-hearted name to fit the quirky style of the music. After all, music should be fun so i didnt want a name that was too serious... also, my 9 year old brother featured on one of my first tracks 'speaker dirt'..he's a cheeky little monkey so the name just stuck..!

HMU: so you won ministry if sound competition last year - did you find it helped a lot in thrusting you into the public eye?

CAC: totally - having a name as big as ministry of sound behind you makes you stand out from the heap of other bedroom djs/artists out there..my first artist EP was also sold exclusively by ministry of sound download for a while so that helped boost my profile. People take me a lot more seriously too when I mention Ministry of Sound. Sad as it may be, the music business revolves a lot around name-dropping. but my competition mix took a LOT of preparation to make sure it would get their attention..and to KEEP your name in the spotlight you have to continue to make that effort. Nothing comes for free.

HMU: would you recommend potential djs get on that?

CAC: as far as i know, the dj competition was a one-off - but there are competitions like that all over the place..Everybody and their grandma is a DJ these days so winning a competition like that is a perfect way to set yourself apart from everyone else. obviously, the more competitions you enter the more likely you will win..finding the time is the problem though!

HMU: wot is your favourite club banger (would absolutely make your night out) and your most loved chill out tune?

CAC: Banger - Rico Tubbs - 'Gangsters'...no track should be without the odd gun shot sample! it never gets old! Chilled out - still house but its progressive house from the 90s. totally perfect for a beach setting : Medway - 'Resurrection' HMU: itunes or beatport? CAC: Beatport. I always buy wav quality files. It's nice to know i have the sub-bass there if i should need it. Stompy and Junodownload are good too. HMU: vinyl or cd? CAC: There is no denying that vinyl is cool. but it costs more than buying singular tracks and then burning them to CD. When i first started djing I didnt have the cash to buy both vinyl decks AND CDJs, so I went down the cd route and now i wouldnt consider using anything else. I like making edits of my tracks too, so I need the tracks to be in a digital for that too.. HMU: allen and heath or pioneer (mixer)?

CAC: Oddly, i bought my allen & heath after getting a recommendation in the VIP toilets at Fabric. (Just to explain, I was down in London cos Sasha was playing in the main room and i was catching up with a few friends in the toilets as it's for both men and women, they have a sofa and you can have a conversation without shouting!) Anyway, some random dude started having an in-depth discussion with a friend of mine about the virtues of the allen & heath mixer versus other mixers on the market..all the chat about low frequency oscillators kinda went over my head at that time ...but I gathered that they were well-built mixers that would guarantee a very high sound quality.. Anyway, I opened DJmag later that week to find that Allen and Heath mixers are John Digweed's mixers of choice. That kinda sold it to me. I bought my allen and heath xone:32 as my first mixer and its never let me down. The pioneer mixers are good too but we all have our preferences! HMU: headphones?

CAC: Sennheiser. My neighbour was a sennheiser salesman. enough said. HMU: sandals or flip flops?

CAC: flip flops. HMU: tim james or hennessy?

CAC: I'm gonna have to go with tim james. he gave me my first big gig at Subclub and has always played quality tunes whenever i have heard him play. HMU: favourite club you've played in and why?

CAC: The Flux gig @ Subclub - no contest. not the biggest crowd i've played to but the soundsystem is just unbelievably good fun to play with and everyone was totally up for a good time. Until (one day!) I play at Fabric, it will probably be the best soundsystem i get my hands on! it felt like an honour to be behind those decks too, considering the caliber of Djs that have played there HMU: craziest story from a night out (remebering its on the radio!)? CAC: I was living in copenhagen. had untold amounts of jaegerbombs and mojitos and fell asleep on the bus home. The bus driver woke me up at the end of the line. It was 5 in the morning and it was another 2 hours until the next bus back. With nothing else to do, i had a walk around the place. I wondered what was shimmering behind the trees ahead of me..It turned out to be THE SEA. I was about 2 hours away from where i lived and I was right next to the airport..I ended up trying to find the entrance to the airport cos a storm was fast approaching (no joke!) but it turns out that airfields are pretty big things!...i wandered around disused airhangers next to the ocean to no avail. got soaked and then after and hour of aimless wandering i turned back and got the bus home. Unfortunately I did the same the following week but the bus was going north, not south that time! At least i saw some scenery. HAC: where can we find you in the next coming months? CAC: In the studio mainly - aka my bedroom. I have a few label offers and i it would be good to get some more tracks out soon. Then I can relax for a while and get back on the DJing side of things.

listen up! 'The way I feel' will be out on Mindtravel recordings (Italy) in the upcoming months! Also the Greenskeepers remix of 'Hold my hand' will be out soon too.. Check out Tom's myspace for the latest tracks: www.myspace.com/cheapaschimps

Posted at 02:03, 14th March 2009