Disconnected Podcast 016: Sccucci Manucci
The day the first release on Sccucci Manucci records arrived at Disconnected HQ we got in touch with the man behind the label and begged him for a mix. Here it is, enjoy.
Hiya Sccucci, thanks for the podcast, its been on repeat at Disconnected HQ. How you doing?
Hi guys, I am very well thank you, enjoying the blazing sunshine. Really glad you are enjoying the mix!
Can you tell us a bit about yourself away from music?
My name is James Vorres and I am 26 years old. I was born in Oslo, Norway. I am half Greek and half English (birth place was just a geographical factor). I currently live and work in London, but I studied Music Production in Manchester. I enjoy spending time with friends and family, watching football and eating good food!
And what’s your background in music?
I’ve been a DJ since the age of 14. I began DJing as a turntablist, scratching and beat juggling funk, soul and hip hop, with a bit of jungle and drum and bass thrown in for good measure, entering and winning a couple of competitions on the way. I progressed onto mixing house, techno, disco and garage as I grew older… going clubbing and DJing in clubs underage I guess was the main influence for that, along with having an older sister with a great taste in music and plenty of CDs to pilfer!
After a glittering career in Tesco and in the Civil Service, I decided to go and study music production and music business at the College of Arts and Technology in Manchester. Whilst I was in Manchester I got involved in the Dubstep scene and produced some tracks with my friend Nathan Somerville under the alias of the “Bam Bam Dealers”, where we had some success and couple of releases, one most notably on Dutch imprint Sirkus Recordings. Off the back of that we did a lot of DJing up and down the UK which was great fun.
But, as my studies finished I realised I might have to get a proper job (which no ‘music’ type likes to admit) and Manchester was probably not the best place to be looking. So I moved down to London and started an internship at Juno Records and now I am in charge of Label Marketing for Juno Download which is Juno’s digital sister site!
What are your motivations behind the record label?
Simply a love of music and vinyl I guess.. It’s something I have always wanted to do.
We love to see a commitment being made to wax, is that important for you?
Yes, it is very important to me. When I started DJing, you could only use vinyl, there were some CD systems, but they were terrible. So from the age of 14 I started spending every penny I earned or got from birthday’s and stuff on vinyls. I loved digging; I used to go to Middlesbrough, Leeds, Newcastle and Manchester on the hunt whenever I had enough money. I loved going into the shops, getting the spiel from the vinyl pusher behind the counter, reading the shops notes on the sleeve, picking up my choices and having a listen to them… at that time you could even buy vinyls in HMV!
But when I was probably 18 or 19, I had a couple of hundred vinyls stolen from a gig in Newcastle along with my turntables. The experience left me a bit jaded, I was mortified that so many hours of digging had been taken away from me by some scallies who probably didn’t even know the value of half of the vinyl’s they had nicked. I had some really rare funk 45s stolen along with some limited press DJ shadow stuff, some 1st pressing Detroit techno records and god knows what else. I didn’t DJ for awhile after that.
When I started DJing again technology had moved on a bit, CD turntables were getting really good, so I went down the digital road, downloading tunes and burning them for gigs. I guess I was a bit apprehensive of the same thing happening again, but I never quite made the same attachment with the CDs I was playing as I had with the vinyl’s I had played, they felt like throw away items… only good for a couple of sets. But I guess that was also driven by the dance scene at the time which was all about playing the latest tunes, you couldn’t play anything older than a couple of weeks old. I guess it’s hard to commit to buying vinyl if the tracks are only going to be played a couple of times!
When I started working for Juno, my outlook changed again… I was surrounded by thousands of vinyl’s everyday, I could literally smell them, so 12” by 12” I started to buy vinyl again, just gunning for the stuff which was released solely on vinyl… then one or two vinyl’s turned to 20 or 30 and here I am where I started off… addicted to vinyl!
I strongly feel these days releasing something on vinyl is a great way of quality checking your own output. Because it takes so much effort to put a vinyl out and there are various risks involved, whoever decides to put out the vinyl has to have done their homework or really believe in the music they are putting out. And I’m not having a dig at digital labels here, there are some fantastic digital labels out there, it’s just a shame that you have to spend so much time sorting through the utter shite to get to them.
Can you tell us a bit about the artists that are releasing with you?
Well the main aim of the label is to link a single well known artist with some lesser known artists. The well known artist will hopefully cast some light on the unsung talent which is out there. Eventually, we would like to do a single artist EP.
So, on the first release we had the Francis Inferno Orchestra as the head honcho. I had originally tried to sign “You and I” a year ago, but David Griffiths at “Under the Shade” had beaten me to it. FIO had promised me another bomb for the first release and he duly obliged.
Jonno & Tommo aka Jonathan Venables and James Thompson are friends of mine. I work with James T here at Juno and he also runs the wicked deep house label “Ornate Music”.
Scott Featherstone and Tino are also good friends of mine. Scott took me under his DJing wing when I was 16 and got me playing across the North East. The circles track was made all the way back then. As soon as I started the label I knew I wanted to release the track, it brought back fond memories for me.
And the Portuguese wonder kid “Ramboiage” I stumbled upon through soundcloud. He had some dope edits up there, but “Pretty Baby” stood out for me. I messaged him and he was onboard in a flash. He is a great guy and he has a wicked taste in music, definitely one to watch in the future!!
What can we expect from Sccucci 002?
I am very excited for the next release. I have managed to pull together 4 great artists for the second release. Time and communication permitting we will have “Jacques Renault” headlining the EP. In support, we will have “Zoo Look”, who have just released a great EP on Tenth Circle. “Casino Times” have provided us with a bomb of a track, these guys are ones to watch check out their soundcloud page for a feel of the diversity you can expect from them and “Picture House” a Leeds based producer who came through with a blinding “Grind House” track.
Can you tell is what to expect from the mix?
The mix is a collection of tunes that I have been playing out and like to hear when I am out, as well as a sneaky peek at the Casino Times tracks from the next EP. A straight up mix of deep grooves and beat down disco I guess. It was made with the sunshine in mind.
What’s next for you?
We are thinking of running a label night here in London.. we might do like a roof party or something along those line and try and get some of the artists down for a good old piss up. I am talking with a couple of my friends who promote parties here in London, the Forl!k guys throw a wicked a party.. so I would love to do something with them.
As for me personally, I have recently got my home studio up and running again after a year or two out of action, so maybe a track from myself or collaboration on one of the forthcoming EPs.
Nice one James, thanks for the mix…can’t wait for the second release
My pleasure.
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