Mr. Scruff
| Mr. Scruff | |
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| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Electric |
| Website | mrscruff.com |
Mr. Scruff (* 1972 in Macclesfield , England , real name: Andy Carthy ) is a British DJ , musician and tea merchant. Carthy studied art publishing at Sheffield College of Art. He has been a DJ since 1994, first in and around Manchester and later across the UK.
His stage name is derived on the one hand from his unkempt beard, on the other hand from his drawing style, which has become his trademark.
Career
Mr. Scruff's debut Hocus Pocus was released on the small Manchester label Robs Records. This was followed by more singles and the debut album Mr Scruff , which was released on Pleasure Records. After a short collaboration with Mark Rae , he switched to the larger Ninja Tune label, whereupon the albums Keep It Unreal and Trouser Jazz were released.
In his most successful piece, Get a Move on , he uses samples from Bird's Lament (In Memory of Charlie Parker) by Moondog . The song was used in several commercials, such as Volvo and France Telecom . The song also uses parts of Shifty Henry's Hyping Woman Blues .
Each of his albums features pieces about fish, whales, and other marine life mixed in with recordings of children's stories and commentary from nature documentaries to create a surreal and goofy atmosphere. The artwork of his albums as well as the design of his music videos are known for their comic-like and whimsical touch; Scruff draws his cartoons himself and calls his style "Potato Style". In addition to designing his own projects, he has also drawn cartoons for music magazines such as Jockey Slut .
In 2004, Mr. Scruff released Keep It Solid Steel Volume 1 , the first in a series of compilations by various DJs on the Ninja Tune label called Solid Steel . In November 2006, Ninja Tune confirmed that Solid Steel Volume 8 will be recorded by J Rocc. Part nine will be from Mr. Scruff for the second time. Other Solid Steel mixes have been released by other Ninja Tune artists, such as The Herbaliser , Hexstatic , DJ Food, and Amon Tobin .
He has also done a number of remixes and has produced pieces for other artists - most notably Niko's Echo of Quiet and Green for her 2004 album Life on Earth . Niko returned the favor by collaborating on Come Alive from the Trouser Jazz album .
The track Kalimba from the album Ninja Tuna is included as sample music from Windows 7 .
In 2000 he started selling tea at the Manchester Club, where he was a resident. When this was going very well, Carthy decided to establish his own tea brand under the name Make us a brew .
Discography
Albums
Studio albums
- 1997: Mr. Scruff (Album) ( Pleasure Music )
- 1999: Keep It Unreal ( Ninja Tune , UK:
gold) - 2002: Trouser Jazz (Ninja Tune, UK:
silver) - 2005: Mrs. Cruff
- 2008: Ninja Tuna
- 2014: Friendly Bacteria
Mixes and Compilations
- 2002: Heavyweight Rib Ticklers (DJ Mixalbum, Unfold Recordings )
- 2004: Keep It Solid Steel Volume 1 (DJ Mixalbum, Ninja Tune )
- 2006: Big Chill Classics (Compilation Album, Resist Music )
- 2008: Southport Weekender Volume 7 (DJ Mixalbum - Disc 2 mixed by Mr. Scruff, Concept Records )
Singles
- 1995: Hocus Pocus ( Robs Records )
- 1995: The Frolic EP Part 1 ( Pleasure Music )
- 1996: The Frolic EP Part 2 (Pleasure Music)
- 1996: Limbic Funk (Pleasure Music)
- 1997: Large Pies EP ( Cup of Tea Records )
- 1997: Is it Worth it? ( Grand Central Records )
- 1997: Pigeon ( Echo Drop )
- 1998: Chipmunk / Fish / Happy Band (Ninja Tune)
- 1999: Get a Move on (Ninja Tune)
- 1999: Honeydew (Ninja Tune)
- 2001: Get a Move on / Ug (Ninja Tune)
- 2002: Beyond / Champion Nibble (Ninja Tune)
- 2002: Shrimp! (Ninja Tune)
- 2002: Sweetsmoke (Ninja Tune)
- 2003: Sweetsmoke Remixes (Ninja Tune)
- 2003: Giffin (Ninja Tune)
- 2005: Chicken in a Box / Spandex Man (Ltd. Edition, Ninja Tune)
- 2008: Donkey Ride / Giant Pickle (Ninja Tuna 01) (Ninja Tune)
- 2008: Kalimba / Give Up To Get (Ninja Tuna 02) (Ninja Tune)
- 2008: Music Takes Me Up (Ninja Tuna 03) (Ninja Tune)
collaboration
Mr. Scruff with ...
- DJ Spooky - Murderah Style appeared on the compilation Tribal Gathering 96 ( Universe , 1996)
- Mark Rae - How Sweet It Is and Gotta Have Her both appeared on the compilation Central Heating ( Grand Central Records , November 25, 1996)
- Tony D - Flavor featuring Mark Rae , Mark 1 and Mr. Scruff, from the album Pound For Pound ( Grand Central Records , September 15, 1997)
- Mark Rae - The Squirrel was released on the compilation Central Heating 2 ( Grand Central Records , April 17, 2000)
- Peter Nice Trio vs. Mr. Scruff - Harp Of Gold from the compilation Out Patients ( Hospital Records , May 30, 2000)
- Fingathing - Just Practice, from album The Main Event ( Grand Central Records , November 20, 2000)
- Quantic - It's Dancing Time from the compilation Shapes One ( Tru Thoughts , 2003)
- Quantic - Giraffe Walk, from the album One Off's Remixes and B Sides ( Tru Thoughts , February 6, 2006)
- Swell Sessions - No No from the album Swell Communications (2007)
- Quantic - Donkey Ride ( Ninja Tune , May 12, 2008)
- Roots Manuva - Nice up the function ( Ninja Tune , February 2009)
- Kirsty Almeida - Pickled spider ( Ninja Tune , April 2011)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b exclaim.ca: Interview with Carthy from March 2009 , accessed on October 20, 2014
- ↑ egoFM: The story behind Make us a brew , accessed on October 20, 2014
- ↑ Music Sales Awards: UK
- ↑ http://www.ninjatune.net/ninjashop/index.php?cat=0&type=EP&by=6&code=ZEN12221#ZEN12221
Web links
- official homepage
- Mr. Scruff at MySpace.com
- Interview with Carthy
- Interview with Mr. Scruff
- Tea brand Make us a brew
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Mr. Scruff |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Carthy, Andy (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British DJ and musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1972 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Macclesfield |