BEGG TO DIFFER

ForGEt eclectic, forget balaeric, open-minded or across the board: they re merely lazy tags for half-assed, student-friendly, piss-weak music from ex-grebo rockers (remember Pop Will Eat Itself?) who should really know better. This may be a trifle harsh Bentleys Rhythm Ace are far from being the worst offenders but the commercial success of so-called alternative music while an artist like Si Begg continues to languish in relative obscurity is a crime.
He may sound unfamiliar, but you might have heard of his Cabbage Boy, Bigfoot or Buckfunk 3000 pseudonyms, his Noodles label, the Mosquito imprint he runs with co-conspirator Cristian Vogel, techno terrorist Neil Landstrumm, Dave Tarrida and Matt Consume. If you are still in the dark, then get your hands on the debut Buckfunk 3000 album, First Class Ticket To Telos which links every strand of contemporary music, from rock (Si cites Negativland as a major influence), jazz and funk to gritty electro, minimal techno and yes, happy hardcore in Begg s own unique way. A work that puts every other musical magpie to shame, . . . Telos is a categorisation-defying dense sound collage.
I m not just an electronic artist: I use machines because it s easier, but I want to do all kinds of music and do them well, offers Begg. At the same time, I don t want to suffer from the Global Communication syndrome, where I end up cloning music from different genres. There is a danger of coming across like a jack of all trades, but I want to blend all the best bits of all music into one big SiBeggism!
If the Harrow-based producer wants to reach a stage where his music becomes a genre in itself, why the myriad of confusing pseudonyms and side projects? Why not attribute the whole glorious mess to Si Begg?
I d like to make all my music as Si Begg, but the record labels that release my music all want exclusive deals under different pseudonyms, that s why I only record for Eukatech as Bigfoot, Ninja as Cabbage Boy and Language as Buckfunk. I never set out to make a certain type of music, it s all to do with tempos and different speeds. There is something to be said for a good groove, and maybe I should concentrate on one type of music, but I get bored so easily. It must have something to do with TV culture.
To explain that last remark we must go back in time to Begg s formative years in Leamington Spa, where the small screen ruled in absence of a local musical scene. He claims that television played a part in the development of his musical interests and his awesome cut n paste style delivery.
I used to channel-hop a lot and make what looked like collages. I also found out about electro through seeing breakdancing on the telly, but I was too young at the time.
In true maverick style, Begg was turned on to acid house a few years later not through necking pills, but via the airwaves from the God-like John Peel.
I got my first taste of acid house in 1988, he continues, but because I was hearing it on a tiny radio with no proper bass I didn t link it to clubbing: I thought it was just some kind of weird electronic music.
A few trips to Coventry s legendary Eclipse club at the turn of the decade helped Begg make the connection, especially when DJs like Doc Scott, Derrick May and Sasha played on the same bill and mixed up house, techno, breakbeat and hardcore. This celebration of all styles shaped the beliefs Begg still adheres to nowadays, in his recording and spinning duties: listen closely to Telos and you will hear the unlikeliest sounds brittle Detroit melodies, disco filtering, raw electro bass, funky guitars and dark hardcore sounds while a move to London in 1992 to seek my fortune! helped Begg make the necessary contracts, and get the gigs.
Telos is very dense music: it s full-on craziness from start to finish, but I ve never been a musical purist. Freestyle DJing is my favourite style: even when I play a techno club I push it out as much as possible. I also try and play live as often as possible, and make each show completely different. I usually end up playing one 40-minute piece, a live remix of my stuff, and if it s not as good as someone DJing then don t do it. Every type of music has something going for it, and although happy hardcore is seen as the devil s music because so many young people like it, it has so much more energy than so-called experimental music.
These sentiments bring us back to the notion of eclectic, open-minded music: stick a wah-wah guitar over a breakbeat and everyone s a winner.
I don t really like big beat , but it s effective, confesses Si. I ve heard it all before though it s like good hip-hop without the juicy bits, and I hate the way the DJs on that scene drop in a bit of electro in their sets just to stay diverse.
Si and his extended electronic family are no strangers to the whims of the media: much of Begg, Vogel and Landstrumm s finest work has been ignored by the UK music press, and Si believes the experimental nature of their material worked against them.
It s annoying when the industry locks you out and doesn t listen to you. Our problem was that we were making very different techno, but were still getting reviewed on the same level as a Jeff Mills track.
Despite operating in isolation, Begg plans to release a Mosquito compilation CD, tour with Ninja Tune, record an EP as Bigfoot and put out stuff no-one else will touch on his Noodles label. In the meantime, do your ears a favour and buy a first-class ticket to Telos, for some primetime future (buck) funk. n
First Class Ticket To Telos is released on Language on 23rd February.