Interview: Grindah and Beats of Kurupt FM

Pirate radio dons Kurupt FM play Bristol twice in the next fortnight, with appearances at the Tokyo World festival and the launch party of In:Motion 2015. We caught up with MC Grindah and DJ Beats – stars of the hit reality TV show People Just Do Nothing – to discuss spirituality, VIP areas and how the internet has changed everything. 

Three years ago you were hardly known outside Brentford. Now you’re on TV and headlining big clubs like Motion. What happened?

Grindah: The only thing that changed is that you lot finally clocked on. So for that you lot should pat yourself on the back. Well done Motion for booking us.

Beats: Took your time.

G: Yeah but don’t be rude cos otherwise they might lower the fee.

B: Are we getting a fee?

G: I am. But I’m investing some of it back into the station so you’ll gain out of it in the long run.

B: Ah sick! Safe for that.

G: You’re welcome.

You’ve been preaching the true gospel of garage and jungle for a long time. Ever considered changing tack to win over the masses?

G: Nah we will never change what we do. When something is this good you should just keep doing it constantly and never change.

B: No need for change when it ain’t broken.

G: Exactly, we don’t even listen to anything else apart from Kurupt really.

B: If Kurupt ain’t on in the car Grindah makes us sit in pure silence.

G: It’s for their own good. Not having any of that modern post-2003 bollocks confusing their brains.

What’s the worst Johnny-come-lately genre: dubstep, funky or electro-swing?

B: Who’s Johnny?

G: He’s a figure of speech. The answer is all of them. They’re all the worst.

B: Yeah, joint bottom.

G: They should all get crushed but house mainly cos of the butters garms they wear…

B: Yeah, fully grown men with samurai haircuts wearing their girlfriend’s vest and tiny shorts.

Disgusting.

What can you tell us about the Champagne Steam Rooms concept? Is it as sophisticated as it sounds?

G: It’s about taking it back to the old school UKG Champagne lifestyle, the finest UKG beats and bars and everyone dripping head to toe in the finest Iceberg and Mosch garms.

B: And dripping in sweat as well cos it’s always so packed out.

G: That’s where the steam rooms bit came from.

B: Wordplay… Also you lot heard of VIP areas? Well, we got one of those too…

G: Nothing more sophisticated than a VIP area.

B: Literally nothing… I can’t even think of anything.

G: I think that answers your question mate.

Sticky, Zed Bias, Scott Garcia…all great producers in their own way. Do any of them come close to Decoy’s raw talent?

G: Nah, those lot are cool but at the end of the day Decoy is the real powerhouse of UK music. He made a tune five years ago – Get Out the Way – and it’s still getting played to this day.

B: Mainly by us.

G: Exactly. Certified by the best in the scene.

Brentford businessman Chabuddy G is your sponsor and tour manager. How much of your success do you owe to him?

G: None.

B: Yeah none. He just comes along and vapes on stage and tries to meet girls.

G: He knows talent when he sees it, I’ll give him that much.

B: Yeah and he also paid for a lot of the flyers, travel and online promo campaign…

G: Oh yeah, well then I’ll give him a little bit more then… but that’s it.

Bristol’s pirate radio scene seems to have been killed off by the internet. Do you have any tips for how it could be reborn?

B: Kill the internet. Find the wire and cut it.

G: The internet ain’t a wire. It’s in the air.

B: Is it??

G: Yeah they made it into a sort of gas I think. That’s what wifi is.

B: Fuckin’ hell. It’s like it’s evolving… getting more powerful.

G: Nah, I wouldn’t worry about it… The internet will blow over soon like most other fashion trends.

You come across as deeply spiritual people. Just how important is Rastafari to the Kurupt FM ethos?

G: It’s key to our relaxed and easy-going approach to life.

B: We’re not really mentally spiritual. Like religious or anything. More physical.

G: Yeah, we’re physically spiritual.

Our editor dreams of becoming a garage MC like Grindah. What does he need to learn before he starts spitting bars in public?

B: Tell him not to bother.

G: Yeah don’t embarrass yourself mate. You will instantly lose when there’s people like me on the scene.

B: And tell him not to try and get into DJing either.

G: Yeah, stick to being an editor, whatever that even means.

B: “Oooh I know how to do spell check…”

G: Wossat?

B: Fuck knows.

G: To be honest that’s advice to anyone – if you’re an up and coming MC or DJ or whatever…stop now cos you will get crushed by the Kurupt militia! Black Ops!

B: Trust me. Modern Warfare!

Kurupt FM play Tokyo World, Eastville Park on Sat, Sep 26, and the In:Motion opening party on Fri, Oct 2. Visit their Soundcloud to hear more.