Interview: hBd

China DMC Champ tonight @ The Shelter - By Morgan Short, Oct 23, 09



In fervid anticipation of the big Hip Hop show down at The Shelter tonight, SmartShangahi stopped by The Lab to talk to club manager/promoter Gary Wang and the 2009 China DMC Champion, hBd.

Champion Sounds sees a full line up of eight acts from Shanghai, including The Lab crew and hBd himself, along with DSK from Yunnan, and Germany's numba one Hip Hop DJ, DJ Hype. Along with the music -- old school Hip Hop, Soul, and Funk -- The Shelter has also invited German graffiti artist Zeb.Roc.Ski to do a mural on one of their walls. That went up last night.

Also, thanks to their lovely new state-of-the-art ventilation system, an evening at The Shelter will now be like rolling around on a bed of roses with Coco Channel in the Swiss Alps. So fresh!

For more on China's 2009 DMC champ, check him out on MySpace here, Douban here, and the best possible way for more hBd, would be to head down tonight and see him with The Lab crew tonight.

***

SmSh: So what's happening at Champion Sounds on Friday?

Gary: Basically, we closed The Shelter on Thursday. The spray cans were still stuck in customs but the guys were all here waiting for the cans. It's a German guy called Zeb.Roc.Ski, which is a big name in graffiti.

SmSh: Are you guys keeping it forever or painting it black again once they leave?

Gary: Well, we're going to keep it until December or so. So on Friday, there's a bunch of guys coming in -- DJ Hype and Jim Dunloop. They're going to play a two-hour set of classic Funk and Hip Hop. And hBd will be there playing, as well as DSK, an American living in Yunnan. He's going to play with an MC from Berlin. He's a really good DJ, a lot of fun. He's a hater, basically... [Laughs].

But yeah, and the Lab crew are going to play as well... so there's seven, eight acts.

SmSh: So, hBd... China's DMC Champion, 2009... maybe you could talk a bit about your background. Where are you from? When did you start scratch DJing?

hBd: I'm from Shanghai. Shanghainese. And I started DJing in 2004 in Japan.

SmSh: How did you like Japan? Seems like some of the world's best scratch DJs are coming out of Japan these days.

hBd: I liked it a lot. Very good. In Japan, I just went into a DJ shop and I asked them, "if I buy these turntables, will you teach me how to play." And they said, "yeah sure." So it started from there.

SmSh: What DJs got you into turntablism? Who were you listening to that made you want to play?

hBd: When I began DJing, I had a guy teaching me how to play called KEN-ONE. He came second in the DMC Japan Solo in 2000. He's a very good scratch DJ, so he taught me how to scratch... I learned everything from him.

SmSh: When did you move back to Shanghai?

hBd: I moved back in 2006. When I talked to my friends about where to play, and was told to go to The Lab. I knew Gary because he's a famous DJ in Shanghai, and I asked to join The Lab crew. We started doing events with the crew like, "Back to the Roots" at 4Live.

SmSh: So how often to you practice? Do you have a strict regiment

hBd: Yeah, I play everyday but it's not like.. "practice". I just play around. It's not a strict thing where I have to play for two hours, three hours. I just play when I'm interested.

SmSh: In 2009, was that the first time you competed in the DMC?

hBd: It was my third time. I was in 2007, 2008, and 2009. The first time I was really new, and I just tried my best. The second time was the same -- I was still new, trying to have fun, but the third time, I was really looking to do something and win it. I prepared more at home before hand.

But I won and went to London which was really cool. It wasn't my first time in England. I was in Manchester before learning English. It was my second time and good to be back. The London DMC finals were really good. So many good DJs. I really liked the Japanese DJs and I'm friends with them. In China, there isn't so many people into it, but when I went to London, it was like "wow, there's so many people..."

But I'm going to do it next year. The guy who won this year was DJ Shifty from America.



SmSh: Is he good?

hBd: Yeah, he's good...

[Ed's note: Check out the 2009 DMC results at their webpage right here.]

SmSh: Since you won the China DMCs have you had a lot more opportunities to play? Fame and glory?

hBd: Yeah, not too much actually. Now, I just have more friends asking me to play their parties.

SmSh: [Laughs.] What's next for hBd?

hBd: Well, Friday night is a big party at The Shelter. We've got all our friends coming so that's going to be great.

***

The Champion Sounds is tonight at The Shelter. Along with hBd is DJ Hype, Jim Dunloop, DSK, and the Lab crew. Cover: 60rmb.
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