Top Buzz – Interview with Patrick (MC Top Buzz)

What is your full name?

After taking legal advice, no comment.

Your age?

34

How long have you been with Top Buzz?

This is our 4th Christmas coming up.

Were you an MC before this?

Yes, Michael and myself used to have a Soul and House night for 5 years, called Funky Express, but there was too much badness and too many drugs. I needed a change. One of my friends came from an Acid Rave and we looked at him, laughing at the state of him, he asked us what we were laughing at and said “I’m going to take you somewhere!”. I’ve never turned back.

How did you go about forming Top Buzz?

Well, I first went to Heaven Rage and when I returned I said to Michael, you’ve got to come to these Raves, there is such a friendly atmosphere. He was still doing the Funky Express and I used to go down there just now and then, because I wasn’t really getting into it. He went down there one day and said “Yeh, that’s for me”. After going out for about a year we met Jason, Michael had the decks from Funky Express but I couldn’t really mix or anything, then we Amnesia at Rage one night when we were there. This was 4 years ago at Christmas. We gave them a tape and after being booked we went up to Coventry. We went on at 10 o’clock and got took off, went on again, and took off again, and when we finally played we rocked the place. I wasn’t even doing MC’ing back then, just going on the decks although I couldn’t even mix.

The week we got the job with Amnesia Michael went on holiday to Ibiza, so it was only me and Jason. I would say a few words on the mic but it wasn’t much. After a while I still couldn’t mix so I decided I would just stick to the MC’ing.

Would you MC to any other kind of music?

Yeh, I think I could MC to anything at the end of the day, following a pattern and the beat, not just Jungle. I’ve done Soul and Reggae before.

What would you say to those people that say MC’s spoil the music?

It does! If there not doing it properly. It’s a blend, an MC has got to know his tunes, then they don’t spoil the music.

You never hear Patrick MC over a mix, and that’s the way it should be, the DJ should be recognised as part of the act as well. If a record has been on for a while I know I can’t start another lyric.

Is there anyone in the business you don’t like?

I don’t like Dance Planet, Icks, that’s the only person I don’t really like.

Is there anyone who doesn’t like you?

Yeh, loads of people man, people who don’t like to listen to the truth, I lost 12 bookings in Doncaster for something I said on the mic, it was a joke, I couldn’t believe it, this guy shouted out “We want some Hardcore!” I shouted back “Hardcore is for faggots”, a joke! Graham at the Warehouse just can’t take a joke. They have hired us again and expected all the handshakes, we were just doing a job and getting out of there, the place was rammed and we went down well. He took the piss over a load of rubbish!

Magazines such as Mix Mag say that Breakbeat/Jungle is dead, what do you think, and why did you do the interview with them, when all that segregation of the music has done is damage the scene?

Well, they just wanted to see what the Hardcore scene is all about, they asked us to do the interview not the other way round. Every club we went to was buzzing that night and was packed, I’ve always known Mixmag as a Garage magazine, and only just realised they used to be a Hardcore mag. We were in America last year and were surprised to find a back drop from Mixmag in there, Sasha was playing that night which was why, but we were even more surprised when the MC shouted out, “here is some Hardcore”, and on came Sasha, why they didn’t just say what it was, Sasha, a UK House DJ, they are selling it wrong.

Would you say Breakbeat is dead?

What Breakbeat needs is vocals, a lot of people sing to my lyrics, they can relate to them.

Do you like the scene at the moment?

Yeh, I still like it.

Is there anything you don’t like?

Prices are ridiculous, by the police, councils, sound and light, everything, people should just look at the future, not just now.

What do you think about the prices DJ’s charge, doesn’t that count for them as well?

I don’t know about other DJ’s but Top Buzz are worth the money, there are three of us and if we didn’t charge what we do it wouldn’t be worth getting in the car.

What is the best event you have ever played at?

I enjoyed myself the most at Fantazia, Donington Park, it was my birthday. The sound quality wasn’t great, but it was my birthday so everything was good for me. When we were at Mr. Smiths (a club in Warrington) with the Prodigy, that was wicked.

Who do you think puts on the best events?

Universe used to until they went bankrupt, Fantazia, until they lost the respect of the punters because of the New Year’s Eve thing. Obsession, who are still going strong, the last one they did was very good.

Would you MC for any other DJ’s?

I have done, I’ve done Rider because he’s my hero, and Fabio, I would always ask them before I went on their set but really I’m just with Top Buzz. At the end of the day I haven’t got a strong voice and I find it a strain, to do other things would be too much. People don’t understand when I ask for the mic to be put up, it’s because I’ve got a weak voice and don’t want to have to shout, the end result is the same.

We know you have your own unique style but where do you get your lyrics from?

I make them up (a pile of books appear) this is what I have wrote over the last few years.

What inspires you when you write?

Life, last year I made 220 lyrics.

How do you remember them all?

I’ve got little cards, not with the whole lyric on, just the title to give my memory a job when I’m MC’ing. I actually have the card with me on stage, I’ve already written 6 this week. What makes me happy is when white people come up and say “Rude boy, yeh man, I like your lyrics”. I know that black people can understand it easier, so if the white people like it I know they really appreciate it.

Do you MC for the DJ or the crowd?

The punters are the most important people at the end of the day, I MC for the crowd.

Do you do illegal raves?

No, not at all, we are a registered company. The last one we did was Lechley for a kick man and one by the same organisers a couple of weeks before, in a warehouse down the M4. We hadn’t planned to play, we just went down for the event and when we got there everyone wanted us to play.

What is the best thing about being a MC?

Making people happy is the best thing, I do get a buzz when someone says I’m the best MC in the country.

Tell us about your DJ’ing?

That was a joke, I couldn’t mix so decided to stick to the MC’ing.

What do you think about big events?

They’re a joke, you can’t turn them up, 4,000 people is enough, all this 30,000 rubbish is too much. All my close friends know I don’t like them, the Tribal Gathering was good, every system was pumping out but the last one in the same venue just wasn’t the same.

What are your plans for the future?

Having a No 1 hit record, we have made a few tracks and we would like to break though into the charts, help the music by giving it exposure. Vocals would help that cause, definitely needed.