5 Minutes and A Mix: DJ Yoda

Wacky and credible seldom go hand in hand. Wacky and incredible even less so. Step forward the anomaly in the form of cartoonish hip hop and D&B turntabilst DJ Yoda to amaze and invigorate with his unforgettable movie samples and bizarre AV show. A DMC scratch winner, one of  Q magazine  “Ten DJs To See Before You Die”,  Yoda has released a series of mix-tapes, toured the globe with Goldie and the Scratch Perverts and picked up a Independent Music Awards for Contemporary Classic Album so it’s fair to say that the man has achieved a lot since leaving Warick University back in the 1990’s. So with this achievements in mind we caught up with the pop culture loving rogue ahead of his performance at the Hare and Hounds in Birmingham this Friday for Jam Hot to discuss his upcoming festival appearances, new talents and his favorite breakfast cereals as he delivered an exclusive mix for us!

Hi Yoda, hows it going?

Medium to well thanks. The sun’s shining and people seem to be daydreaming about festival season being nearly upon us. How does your festival schedule look this year, do you have much lined up? Busy as ever! Got some big ones like Glastonbury and Bestival; some foreign ones across Europe, and some cool smaller ones across the UK. I’m looking forward to it! 

You’re famous for your AV sets, what’s your favourite video clip you’ve included in a recent mix? There’s something new every week, but this week I’m enjoying scratching up footage of 80s WWF wrestlers. On a similar note what’s your favourite place to search for video clips for your A/V sets? YouTube! Everything in the show comes from YouTube now, as it’s just an infinite bank of samples. But I have my secret nooks and crannies within YouTube that I won’t reveal. It’s like record-digging back in the day, but digital now…We’ve noticed you’ve been putting out a lot more original music the last couple of years rather than just focusing on the DJ and AV shows, what are your plans for that in 2013? I just released my latest artist album “Chop Suey“, and I’m constantly working on original music production stuff, so I’ll always continue to put that out alongside my mixtapes and video work. Also, it seems you’ve started doing some DJ gigs in more intimate club settings like your upcoming show at the Hare & Hounds. How does something like that compare for you personally to your bigger A/V shows in places like Koko? I love the balance of sometimes playing to huge crowds and sometimes playing in really intimate clubs, it helps keep everything fresh for me. It affects the music and videos I play too – as some things work better with a huge crowd, other things are more for when you can see the whites of everyone’s eyes in the crowd. Continuing with the DJ sets, what’s tunes are working really well for you right now? I’m enjoying a lot of new trap and hip-hop stuff – so artists like Heroes X Villains, Jay Fay and Brillz on the electronic side.

On the hip-hop side Action Bronson, Durag Dynasty and Pusha T are doing great things at the minute. Finally, we know from your twitter that you’re an aficionado of unusual breakfast cereals, what’s tickling your tastebuds at the minute?

Literally right now? Rice Krispies Multi Shapes in Strawberry! Also enjoying Limited Edition Froot Loops with Marshmellows. 

Birmingham based readers can catch DJ Yoda performing live Friday May 17th for Jam Hot at  The Hare and Hounds, Birmingham. For more information and tickets click here. For those of you not in the Midlands check out his exclusive mix for us below!