The Luton Music Blog talks Wonky Bass, Phill Collins & Serious Summer Tunes with Craig Watkins.In this addition of the Luton Music Blog I am profiling Luton Dj Craig Watkins, who is one half of Bournemouth based Dj duo Crack Your Skull. We’ll have a little look at how he got into doing what he does and a few cheeky little recommendations for you to brighten up your start of your summer with some truly fantastic dance tunes. But enough of the formalities and on with the story!
Craig is one of these people with a quite marvellous lexicon which is very much Luton. A conversation with Craig is often very animated, exciting and constantly drenched in unique urban slang, from calling Luton the unique LTN to chucking in phrases like believe & trust it’s a mantra hard not to smile at. But even though now Craig is dropping tunes to huge crowds all over from Bournemouth (which he refers to Bourney) Reading, Bristol and even London it all had humble beginnings. Those beginnings fall flatly on the feet of Phil Collin’s & Co of Genesis. “I just listened to them religiously as a kid, I don’t know why!” Gushes Craig but it didn’t stop there as he single handily went through his Dad’s record collection listening to the likes of Pink Floyd & Led Zeppelin.
But University was where Craig found his love for his current musical passions of Jackin’ baseline beats and Tech-house. Bournemouth didn’t have the usual hardcore & indie venues Craig was into upon leaving the shelter of Luton town, but dance music was BIG. So the education began in ernest, “I started going to dance music nights and was completely blown away by some upcoming dj’s that were clearly really into their bands but still loved a good bit of disco.” And this unique party vibe really got under Craig’s skin being immersed in this happy exciting and importantly innovative dance culture. “It was crazy and pretty fun, seeing these awesome dj’s and thinking, I can do this.” So by hitting it up most weekends till 6 in the morn and seeing some of the finest Dj talent in the world in Bourney Craig had a plan, a drunken plan formed with partner in Crime Steve Bennewitz, the other half of Crack your Skull.
“I just brought a waste pair of decks we asked around local dj’s for some tunes, and we started to practice. We were shit at first, but 3 or 4months down the line; we were starting to get the hang of it.” There it was the primitive start of Crack Your Skull, but the guys got directly involved in the scene which was blossoming in the town. Helping out promoter’s and just pushing Crack your Skulls own unique jump up party style as well as consistently releasing online mix tapes via file share websites and pushing it all though every social-networking site you can ever dream of. It worked and they started getting sets here and there slowly building a rep at Bourney and even back in Luton where the duo started to play with wobbly brothers Boa Boa & Victoria Wreckem.
But still Craig has much love Luton “is fucking cool everyone away at uni comes back home and gets together. Old friends all meet up and discuss what’s going down musically.” So bi annual love in’s of Luton's returning population occurs around Easter, Christmas & the Summer where everyone is down the Edge is rammed and often dancing to a huge spazzy mish mash of tunes ranging of late from Dubstep, Wobbly baselines & the traditional indie stompers.
But good music is passed about through friends online or otherwise and a real word of mouth ethos has built up. So much so a Dark party blog has sprung up with host of dedicated musicians & Dj’s laying out tips for all. Luckily Craig was more than happy to help me with some tracks; unfortunately he gave me a fair few so this is the slim line version of start of the summer anthems. But Enjoy the Youtube gems ive managed to pull out for them!
1. Yeah Yeah Yeah’s – Zero (Erol Alkan Remix) [CDR]… Erol takes this indie dance floor smash and makes it a club banger. Karen O’s vocals make me want hit my head off a wall with pleasure.
2. Tiga - Shoes (Djedotronic Remix) [Different / Pias Recordings]… Tiga’s new album drops well soon and Shoes is the first single taken from it. This remix leaves in vocals, turns up the beats and creates a dancefloor roller.
3. Felix Da Housecat - Kickdrum [Nettwerk]… P. Diddy’s best mate in House finds club form with this bass heavy monster.
So that’s a little run down of Craig Watkins and what he is about at the moment, from Genesis to the revelation of Bourney it’s all help Craig turn into a pretty bang on dj, and what’s next for Crack your Skull? “Summer promises to be pretty fucking huge at the moment, got gigs & festival slots lined up all over the place and a big show with the Luton Guys at KOKO in London, it’s definitely looking up.” It certainly is so expect some mad bass heavy summer monster coming to Luton over the summer; you never know you might just D.A.N.C.E
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