HASHFINGER - EXCLUSIVE GUEST MIX
This months RadioEject™ is brought to you by a good buddy of mine 'Hashfinger' hailing from the streets of the hills of Bradford in West Yorkshire(WY) in the North of England. Hashfinger is a local dude with a lot of potential, the past year or so he has been keeping heads bobbing with his free ep beat/soundscape mixtapes.
Hashfinger was a full time member of the Sinoptic music label from Yorkshire (which has recently closed it's doors), Hashfinger was once a member of the young hiphop crew 'Missing Peoples' alongside Angry-Nik(Majorkuts) and the infamous battle rapper 'Lunar C'. Hashfinger has worked with many of the rising stars of the WY hiphop scene from JnD, The Chinstrap penguins and Lunar C.
I met young Hashfinger while painting up some warehouses with Majorkuts a year or so back, Hashfinger is a very quiet and respectful individual, always cool and well mannered with a lot of insightful questions while I was painting away. Many a times at the WY cyphers the graf artists and beatmakers seemed to converge in the back room away from all the hustle of the big mc ego's...we'd be in the back sampling favourite strains of the month. Always a pleasure to see Hashfinger quality producer/dj and good friend. It's a pleasure to have Hashfinger at Ejecto's and RadioEject™.
Eject: So then fellah hows tings boss?
Hashfinger: Yeah not bad mate, bit cold in this yorkshire snow but keepin' on haha!
Eject: First all of all big ups for the mix boss!! It already seems to be heating up the Radio plays(Track was uploaded before interview) nearly a 1000 listens in under a couple of days, how you feel about that mate?
Hashfinger: Yeah its going really well, I didn't expect it to do so well mostly because i haven't really released anything like this before. Everyone seems be liking it a lot though man which is sick!
Eject: Ah sick sick...Ye was nice to hear some of the full tunes of the tracks you had sampled in previous beat tapes, what was the reason for playing these in this stylee?
Hashfinger: Well I've wanted to do something like this for a while, since i started collecting samples i've always marked up some tracks as just good beats and not something i would sample so its good to finally get them used haha! A lot of the time when I'm sampling I only use a small part of the track as well so its good to hear the whole track that the sample came from, I know when I've heard other mixes similar to this and discovered tracks that a classic sample has come from I'm buzzing!
Eject: I know you and Majorkuts(Ejecto's photographer and allround loonatic) work pretty close together when creating your mixes and music, do you find this collaboration process useful to how you work...or like his driving does it leave you stressed out and wishing you'd caught the bus..haha?
Hashfinger: Hahaaaa yeah major kuts is a creative beast of a stress head, its always useful to have someone telling you when your making some wackness! He's got a good ear on him though to be fair.
Eject: You've built up a nice little reputation up north and in the WY hiphop scene for your mixes and production, how do you see the WY developing in the future?
Hashfinger: Hopefully it will just get bigger man, more exposure for everybody and all that. I think it's sick that this area is being brought to peoples attention because of good music. We've got all sorts of styles and characters so there's something for all tastes haha!
Eject: So are your plans to stay up north and keep doing your bit for the local scene?
Hashfinger: Yeah man just gonna build from where I am now, there's a lot of sick people I wanna work with and I'd like to be a lot more active as a DJ.
Other than that just building equipment up for my setup which is never ending!
Eject: Musically you pick some eclectic choices for tunes to sample and play, what are the reasons for this eclectic taste in gem picking?
Hashfinger: Haha well it's got a lot to do with the variety of music I collected to sample from. Its always more exciting to sample rare, obscure stuff thats unheard of - so when looking for new stuff to sample thats what i looked for. When I'm sampling I'm just looking for anything sick, it doesnt matter what it is or where its come from really - if it sounds dope its getting used haha!
Eject: We're you brought up with a diverse type of music around you when you we're growing up?
Hashfinger: Yeah my parents were in to all sorts of stuff from classical to punk-rock, I was made to play the violin and piano at a crazy early age but I'm not sure what influence this had.
Eject: What was it that initially got you into hiphop culture, I know you did a bit graffin' back in the day ....u ever fancy painting again with us?
Hashfinger: Ermm I think its mostly major kuts fault haha. I got into skateboarding and just got exposed to it from there really. Yeah I've painted a bit but I haven't put the practice in to paint with your lot though! Its sick just going round abandoned warehouses and mills though, it can be a good laugh.
Hashfinger: Just what Im better at I think. I got into beat-making early and just carried on doing it and trying to make better beats. I got into scratching a few years later when I was at uni and picked that up pretty quick cos its a lot of fun.
Eject: Your diverse picks of gems show that you can work outside of hiphop, do you see yourself producing other types of music in the future other than hiphop? Lunar C does country maybe?
Hashfinger: Haha I think so man, I've tried a lot of different tempo's and styles already. At the moment I'm trying to develop my beats, Ive been trying all sorts of new stuff and have been listening to a lot of new music which is inspiring me to make some bangers! I think its an interesting time for hip-hop at the moment, theres a bit of a golden age revival as well as new stuff like the trap beats coming through.
Eject: Heard you've just into the MPC ...hows that going for ya?
Hashfinger: Well I bought an MPC, made a few beats on it and then got a maschine. The MPC is sick and its fun to work with samples on, but the process is really slow - it takes ages sorting out samples and transferring stuff. The maschine is the way man, its easy to use for any genre - the software it comes with is really intuitive and has all sorts of sick sounds. I could big it up all day man, its the business.
EJECT: What we're your feelings about our buddy ExP closing the doors on sinoptic do you think it was for the best in the long run or cut down a bit short?
Hashfinger: Its a shame man, I have mixed feelings really cos I was on the label from the start when i was first making beats and stuff. It has done me a lot of good in some ways cos since it closed I've been working hard to develop a new style and I've tried a lot of different things which i wouldn't have before and they have definitely made me a better beat maker. It's sad for WY hip hop though!
Eject: Do you have any tips for young beat makers and producers out there who are just getting into the hiphop culture?
H: Make beats all the time and listen to a lot of new music.
E: Anyway boss I don't want to bore you here with questions man, do you have anything else to say about anything interesting, any shout out , requests and that?
H: I request that you wrap up some of that haze haha! Shouts to everyone checkin the mix, my music and ejectos!
E: Safe safe boss, right mate I'm out to raid the cupboards of cereal!! Big up's for the mix...and hopefully some of you lucky guys will get the chance to see Hashfinger live...maybe at an Ejecto's night in the very close future!!
H: Yeah get another night on man! Thanks for getting me on the mix g, PEACE!
E: One love rudeboy,see u soon bro!! EPeace - Eject@Ejecto's
- @Junior_Bear_Paw im gunna book tomo...could get bdawg to drive the tins over like....but cheaper paint int dam
- @Junior_Bear_Paw 2nd venue is squat style bunkers...so also gunna need paint g!! all out this one!!
- @Junior_Bear_Paw its either weds,thurs or fri...cos i might need to paint allday fri like...would like to do a burner at the venue..
- @Junior_Bear_Paw ye man few rush jobs sneaked in...one tricky one ...but im cinfident i can smash it! looking at dam now,may get fri flight?
- @Junior_Bear_Paw allgood g, chilling b4 a heavy wk, hoodies bk tomo...graf,design graft all wk...still need t book dam too
- @Junior_Bear_Paw holiday jacker?