Q Interview

He's the best. Ever. Now that we've got my bias out of the way, here's my interview with legendary turntablist DJ Qbert. He was coming to Baltimore for a gig and this was for the Washington Post Express.

Did the QFO have the impact you envisioned?
A lot of people are finding out about it and stuff. People are picking it up. It's out there now. People are reinventing it and making different versions of it now, now that the idea of it is out there.

What were the initial reactions to the QFO?
They were like, 'Wow, I want one.'

Did you design because it was portable?
Definitely because it was portable. It's something that can go in your car, go to a picnic or something, just have fun anywhere with it.

I heard you've said it can be taken to the beach. Have you really taken it to the beach?
Yeah!

Talk about the Kut Mobil.
Originally that was my Range Rover and I put a whole system in there--a turntable, a mixer and I hooked it up to the speakers in the car and everything. But that was just too bulky and that was the reason why I invented the QFO. Now, I just have the QFO and you can still hook it up into the system in your car, but it's not as a ridiculous of a huge studio in your car anymore. It's just very simple.

What will come next after the QFO?
Probably something even more portable. Like a smaller version of the QFO. Like a 45 version. Like 'Here, pass it. Let me do a scratch.'

Are you spinning on the QFO this tour?
I'm back to my roots, which is two turntables.

Who is spinning on this tour with you?
I'm not sure, do you know?

If you are the sole act, do you feel added pressure?
I always feel pressure when there are other DJs. Like it's a battle. No matter what it is, I still have to do my best in any situation.

Talk about your one handed DJing.
The one handed stuff has taught me how to do new things that I do nowadays. I even have routines where I'm doing one-handed stuff on both turntables now. Like one hand is doing something, the other hand is doing something different on the other turntable. Let's say my left hand is making a drumbeat and my right hand is scratching. Kind of like a piano player. One hand is doing the rhythm section and the other hand is doing the solo.

Your DVDs go behind the scenes about how to do scratches, equipment set up, etc. Do you ever feel like you're giving away secrets? Do you worry about creating turntable monsters?
That's absolutely what I want. Because everybody has a different personality, different fingerprints, different way of writing-- thats what I want to see. I want to create monsters. I want to create something that will inspire me and everyone else.

Have you spun on the DVD turntables?
We have a pair of those. We're sponsored by Pioneer. They're a lot of fun too. I'm more of an analog guy. I love vinyl and I love the whole rawness of [it].

Do you use final scratch at your shows?
Not me. I'm trying to be original and stay with vinyl. I just love the analog sound. I like it raw and street and dirty.

Scratch music has come down in popularity after hitting a high point in the 90s. How have you dealt with that?
I've always known it as an underground art and for me, it's always going to be an underground art. Even if it goes mainstream, there's always the underground true heads that are still there. That's pretty much where I'm at. It's like breaking. There's a lot of b-boys that have stuck with it. It became very popular and it died out, but the true heads are still there. It never did the died out thing. That's kind of where I'm at. It's always fascinating to me, it's always growing.

There's a lot of people that consider you the best turntablist in history? How do you react to that?
I think they're not educated enough to know that there's a lot of guys out there that are ridiculously mind blowing in their own way. I'm definitely not the best in this. If you're always just looking at apples, there's always oranges and bananas out there and shit.

What are your plans for 2006 and beyond?
I want to do another movie and album. I just want to keep it a surprise right now before the album comes out.

Tell us about The Breaktionary.
It's a new record that I made. It took four years to make. It's 250 b-boy breaks on 4 records. I rock the party like for 4 hours straight with breaks.

You can do 4 hours straight with four records?
Yeah, but you need doubles for that.

Why haven't you gotten down with a bigger company or major label over the years?
It's the fact that [Thud Rumble] can do whatever we want. We're not signed to a label where we'll have to do something for a certain amount of years. It's kind of like prison, you know? You have to do it. That can ruin your creativity. Because if they want it at this certain time and it's like, "Uhh man. I don't feel like making an album 'till later." You can't rush an album.