Clubbing

When Mr Scruff isn't busy touring the world with his tunes, he's setting up camp in the studio.

He's spent two years working on new material, and returns to Falmouth with an eclectic mix on Saturday 15 March 2008.

As a result there will be several single releases this year, and possibly an album too.

Mr Scruff and his vinyl

Initially inspired by the Two-Tone sound, the now legendary Ninja Tune DJ, Mr Scruff is famed for his epic six-hour sets and his sense of the comic.

His DJ'ing sets are a mixture of deck-related wizardry and animated tom-foolery and will leave even the most hardened of anti-dance music critics grinning.

"I discovered a stack of my father's original Blue Beat 7"s, including several Prince Buster songs that had been covered by my then favourite band, Madness," remembers the DJ.

"I suddenly realised that the new music I had been listening to had roots that reached far back, and this knowledge inspired me to explore the wider musical world which had just been revealed to me."

Cartoon world of Mr Scruff

And so the DJ's epic musical journey had started...

It was at the young age of 12 that Scruff discovered the art of mixing.

"A friend of mine played me some of his uncle's electro records, notably the Streetsounds LP "Crucial Electro Volume 2"," he smiles.

"At first, I assumed that the reason for there being no gaps between the songs was to fit more on the vinyl-it did not occur to me that the mixing was a creative part of the presentation, and had been carefully thought out utilising the experience and skills of a DJ."

Scruff ploughed all his weekend job earnings into buying vinyl.

In the mix with Mr Scruff

"By this time I had a good knowledge of electro, hip hop, house, & 80's soul, and was busy expanding my knowledge of blues, disco, funk, soul, reggae, jazz, african and latin music."

By the mid '90s Scruff was enjoying regular gigs in bars and clubs.

"I became a frequent guest at Headfunk, alongside residents Chubby Grooves & Tom Simba (who went on to form Groove Armada with Andy Cato). This night mutated into Eardrum, a DJ/jam night that I was resident at alongside Chubby, Mark One and Andy Votel."

Scruff never has a definite set. To try and pigeon-hole him to one type of music would be a sin. That is part of the attraction of this famous DJ.

"Over the course of a night the music can include blues, jazz, soul, funk, '60s R&B, disco, boogie, deep house, reggae, ska, rocksteady, dancehall, electronica, electro, hip hop, african, latin, drum & bass, breakbeat, and any combination of the above. The only real criteria is that the music has to have soul," he says.

Mr Scruff's gramophone

Mr Scruff is heading to Falmouth for a gig at The Stannary at Tremough on Saturday 15 March 2008.

Complete with all the magical ingredients that make up a great scruff night - visuals, animations, the tea shop and the most eclectic set you are ever likely to hear, check out Mr Scruff in Falmouth.

Doors open at 7.30pm with the gig starting at 8pm. Tickets are priced at £10 Over 18s only available from both the Woodlane and Tremough FXU offices. Click on the link below for more information about Mr Scruff: