KODER, SPAM BEFORE SPAM WAS SPAM

One thing today’s scene needs more of?

Cross-genre collaboration.

One thing today’s scene needs less of?

Scaredy cats, man.

Which local Brockley shop deserves heritage status?

The Brockley Barge. But it’s not a shop, it’s a Wetherspoons.

What took you off the Brockley streets?

My mum sent me to New Zealand for six months with my uncle when I was 17. I was walking around New Zealand with a screw face.

What happened when you came back?

You can go New Zealand and change, but that doesn’t mean the person that’s looking for you ain’t looking for you no more because you decide to have a spiritual awakening. But I came back with a mission to get out.

Who’s your biggest op now?

Unfulfilled potential.

What was your first studio experience like?

I’d go to my auntie’s and use the Windows mic that came with Windows computers; put it next to the speaker so that the mic could pick up the beat and my voice. I’d record it into the Windows sound recorder then burn it onto a CD.

What was the step up from Windows?

My uncle Dennis heard what I was doing and he’s like, “yo, you know that you’re sitting in a music studio now?” And I’m like, “what?” — I thought this was just some big people speakers, but I was sitting in a music studio.

How did you get the music you created out there?

We were sending out records on MSN and spamming everyone before spam was a word. You’d know when you were viral when your song got sent back to you by a random contact.

Damn. Viral on MSN? Any other pre-algo success metrics?

When you got on the bus and all the pretty girls at the back were playing your song. They didn’t know your face but you ain’t got the confidence to just be like “yo, that’s my song” (laughs).

How did you get your name out there if it wasn’t attached to your face?

I learned a lot from a friend I had called Ashman. He would do some shit and say his name after. “Ashman! Ashman!”