 Fresh from producing tracks for American Hip-Hop stars Masta Ace and Trife, UKMusic caught up with London’s Quincey Tones as he talks about his thoughts on the current UK music climate, and his recent remix album release gaining praise from all angles.
Q Obligatory intro time as ever. Who’s this Quincey Tones, and why should we listen up?
A I'm a producer comin’ out of London and if you like good hip hop, or in fact just good music, then you should listen up 'cause hopefully you’ll agree there's gonna be plenty of that good stuff comin' in the very near future. I’ve worked with UK artists such as Lowkey, Yungun and Deadly Hunta and Americans such as eMC, Little Brother, Planet Asia, Apathy, Trife da God and have a LOT of stuff coming up.
Q You’re still a relative newcomer to the production side of things. When did that big break come?
A Well, I’m always lookin’ to do bigger and better things so I wouldn't necessarily say my big break has come yet. I mean, I can certainly point to a whole number of things that'd contribute to that big break coming one day. Such as the joint I did with Illanoyz from the Bootcamp Clik & Trife da God. That definitely got me a lot of radio airplay out here and got my name circulating among MCs. There's no doubt that the amount of work I was getting definitely picked up after that track.
Q How much of the previous music experience do you incorporate into your current dealings? Do you feel it has helped you with your inspiration and knowledge?
A Oh for sure. My long background in music has played a huge part in what you hear in my production today. I still work with most of the musicians I was workin’ with like 8/9 years ago when it comes to live instrumentation. Just being around such talented
people on a regular basis inspires me every time I get in the studio and with me still being involved in projects outside of hip hop; I’m constantly learning off others.
Q Since you made the switch from guitarist to producer, your name has been linked with a number of UK artists and US. How did these collaborations come about?
A Basically it was down to persistence. I just kept on sending my beat CDs to labels, managers, whoever I could really. It certainly got easier once I was getting a few tracks droppin' on various albums. Lowkey’s manager hooked me up with him and also Yungun on the UK side, so we've been doing a few tracks together here and there since.
Q How did go about getting your sounds heard and admired by artists such as Trife, Brother Ali, Little Brother and Masta Ace?
A Well Trife, Ali and Little Brother were all a bit of luck really 'cause they were all features on other albums I was workin’ on. I've done other stuff with Trife since and I hope to work with Brother Ali and Little Brother again too. As for Ace, I hooked up with him when he was in London. We kept in touch and I would send him beats every now and then. Luckily he was feelin’ what I was working with. We’ve been workin’ together since.
Q How would you describe your style?
A Varied! I produce all sorts… my manager got me to make some sample free show reels ‘cause people were asking for stuff for games etc and he was like “damn, there’s no sample in this?”. I produce non-hip hop stuff, work with musicians, play a lot of percussion and bass myself, use synths etc. Most of the stuff you hear tends to be soulful stuff and real melodic and real nice samples etc. I’ve got all sorts up my sleeve though – street sh*t, RnB sh*t, little more jiggy sh*t, someone even picked this rock track that might have a real big rock dude on the hook… that’s still unconfirmed though, hence no name haha…
Q What’s your views on the current music climate in the UK. You’re not shy of connecting with homegrown artists, but how do you see the current scene?
A There's still a lot of good music coming out but things seem to have gone backwards on the hip hop side. A lot of club nights have called it a day, radio stations have folded and magazines have folded. But at the same time, grime's doing well. I don't know, I'm not a market analyst, but it seems like a weird environment – some good stuff, some bad. But I think if you've got a good team behind you, you can be successful. You can maybe even do alright on your own when you're young, but when you've got a mortgage and kids, you better get a job haha.
Q You’ve made comments in the past about the nature of UK’s Hip-Hop and it’s sometimes close-minded approach. Was this in any way related to your initial desire to go after the US artists?
A Yeah it was. Naturally I felt quite disheartened by the fact that I just couldn't get my music heard out here so I wondered if I might have more luck overseas. I'm pleased that now things seemed to have changed and I’m able to work with more homegrown talent, probably because of my works for US MCs.
Q You’ve noted it’s got better of late, why’s that? Is the scene still a ‘who you know’ rather than a ‘what you know’ environment?
A I mean, it's changed for me but I think that's because I have beats droppin’ on albums with well respected rappers, which probably makes people take a bit of notice. Things like myspace may actually end up makin’ it harder for any up and coming producers with quality 'cause to find the good, you generally have to go through so much really bad stuff and I don't know that most rappers have the time or patience to do so. Which
is a shame 'cause I’m sure there's loads of talented people out there not getting heard.
Q You recently released God’s Gangster upon the world. What was the inspiration?
A Well, originally I was gonna do the American Gangster remix, but there were just gonna be hundreds and people would be fed up with the lyrics. Me and my manager were like “we’ve got to switch it up”, he was chatting blue ocean strategies and sh*t, he needs to be a lecturer or write a book or something haha. So we came up with this real dope idea and got to work on it, but we weren’t gonna have time to do the idea justice. This was like 80% of the way through the music, but then there was all sorts of other stuff to sort out. So we switched it up at the last minute so we can do “the real dope idea” properly at a later date. So we were like “how can we differentiate it?”, and that’s when we came up with reflipping the samples and using different vocals. We were already real late as far as AG remixes (as we’d been working on the other idea) so I wrapped that up real fast. I had nearly all of the samples so just flipped them. Obviously I spent a bit more time resequencing and adding stuff etc, but I turned the whole thing around FAST. We just wanted to get it out. I broke a bass string so was playing around the missing string haha. My manager was like “yo, it’s getting late, I want it mastering by [whatever the date was]” and I managed to squeeze in sax and guitars and synths on the same day haha, it was hectic. I’m real pleased with how it came out though, some rappers have been mad like “yo, why’d you have to put that on the mixtape, you should have sent it me first”. I got that quite a few times about Mastermind actually.
Q How have people reacted to that? What do you think made your version stand out ahead of the many other mash-up albums that seem to accompany every Jay-Z release of late?
A The reaction’s been great on the whole. There’s obviously been a few Internet haters, but with most of them it was pretty obvious they hadn’t even checked it. One dude was like “I’m not feeling these blends and not feeling the mixing, I’m a better DJ”. Luckily there were some sensible people around who were like “ermm… they’re not blends, they’re new beats and it’s NOT mixed, there’s NO DJ” haha. Overall though, a lot of people have been showin’ love and are really excited to hear what else I’ve got coming next. Top US DJs (including Mims’ DJ) have been vouching for it, Excalibah had tracks pretty high in his Hip Hop chart, Hip Hop Connection said it’s one of the few Jay-Z remixes they’re feeling, 2dopeboyz (which is ran by some of the people from HpHopDX) said I flipped the remix thing on a whole new level and it’s even ended up on Russian and Lithuanian sites! Just bringing a whole new look to the remix craze instantly made people interested. It's nothing like any other Jay-Z remix album you've ever heard, the main reason for that being that Jay-Z isn't on it haha. But still, people may find a certain familiarity with it 'cause there are hints of samples they might recognise.
Q All it takes is a quick browse at your MySpace to see the upcoming projects. Do you ever find yourself stuck in a rut with regards to finding fresh ideas? How do you maintain consistent quality without recycling old material?
A I think everyone suffers from a lack of creative inspiration every now and then but thankfully it never lasts too long for me. Like I mentioned earlier, I think it helps to surround yourself with creative people 'cause it definitely rubs off on each other and I find myself trying new things and trying not to fit whatever I do into a certain mould.
Q Possibly the most notable entry is the three tracks you’re working on with eMC, which puts your name next to Marco Polo and possibly DJ Premier. Were you surprised when the production request came through?
A I wasn't surprised at all with out sounded bigheaded, I was definitely honoured to be workin’ with and alongside such legends of hip hop but I know Ace doesn't care if you're a big name or totally unknown, as long as the music is quality then that's all that matters. This album is huge for me 'cause I’m one of the most unknown producers on there but I love that. It's a great test for me to see how my beats stand up to the others on the album. The joint with Little Brother has already been very well received, it was the number 1 rated track on HipHopDX for four days straight. Hopefully when the album drops next month my other joints on there will be well received too.
Q Which UK artists are you looking to target in ’08?
A I'd still love to do something with Klashnekoff and Skinnyman ‘cause they’re some of the rawest spitters around. Also Bashy and Kano, I really like how they bridge grime and hip hop. There's a few others that have come up through the grime scene too. Who else? umm, Amy Winehouse, I’d love to work with her, I really hope she gets things sorted out ‘cause she’s an incredible talent. I like Mr Hudson as well. I'm sure there's loads more but I’m also happy to be workin’ with Yungun more this year
Q Any parting words?
A Yeah, big up to my manager Rish over at Major Notes Music, those dudes are crazy on the business side but so real with the music as well. Hit Rish up at
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for any info on beats etc. Also big up to my brother Mike, my boy Ben at Think Tank and of course ukmusic.com and yourself for the interview. Big up to all the people that have supported my music over the years, you guys keep me going. Also, pick up that eMC, the whole album is crazy. Last but not least, hit up my myspace: www.myspace.com/quinceytones. When you’re there, click the big picture of Nas to download God’s Gangster for free and let me know what you think...Peace and thanks.
Interview by : Andrew Milner
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wicked to see UK producers on the scene ! big up dont stop wot your doing 
