Swingingman: Their Feet Don't Touch The Ground

FBC are one of Edinburgh's best-loved hip-hop crews. With several satellite members, they memorably appeared at T in the Park in 2004, but it was core MCs Solenoid and Norton who, together with Copenhagen-based producer Boogie B Rhomboid, dropped the impressive debut LP 'Foul Maginus' in 2005. After a brief hiatus recording with Rhomboid in Denmark, they now return with their new label Swingingman Records, dedicated to bringing the best Scottish and international hip-hop to a wide audience. The first release saw Norton & Solenoid parodying clique-y jazz dives under their new name, The Landing Party. Here, Norton talks to The Skinny about Swingingman's sound, and their plans for the future.

"The label's name, Swingingman, comes from a Black Flag album -'My War'. The track's called Swingingman," explains Norton. "It tells the story of a modern man driven to suicide." He quotes the lyrics: "I'm the swinging man / And my feet never touch the ground / Now if you love me / You'll cut me down / But if not, I'll still be hangin' around." It is good to see that FBC have lost none of their punk edge.

Swingingman's first release, the 'Welcome to Jazz Club EP', is a lot more relaxed than FBC's guitar-edged, punk-funk sound. I ask Norton what changed between the recording of 'Foul Maginus' and the new EP:

"The Landing Party is a whole new project, with Messr. Boogie B Rhomboid at the panels. It was written in a studio in Copenhagen, it wasn't thrashed out in a sweaty practice room in Edinburgh. Solenoid and myself were on holiday, visiting Boog, so we were quite relaxed, but we only had five days to write and cut it. I guess because we were abroad, having fun, it just felt more laid-back." A hilarious tale of snooty jazz fans in a crummy, rip-off dive with crazy staff, 'Welcome To Jazz Club' is an inspired bit of madness, with some hilarious rhymes from both MCs: "The first rule of Jazz Club is bring money / The second rule of Jazz Club is no Brummies," – totally priceless, and an interesting tangent from FBC's more edgy productions. "It came from sitting about run down bodegas in Copenhagen," reveals Norton. "These places are just pure bad taste, like the Penny Black has just been moved to some boy's front room. When you half shut your eyes, you could imagine some of these characters being broken down jazz musicians."

Also featured on Swingingman are a plethora of MCs and producers recently discovered and signed by Boogie B, Norton and Solenoid, like VS Dot: "VS-Dot is in Ft Lauderdale, Florida," explains Norton. "Boogie likes to dig through the virtual crates, and found this dude on Soundclick, He's got quite a cerebral flow, but dealt with a real cut. I don't think he's packing a full lunch. He writes all his own shit and Boog polishes and twists it a bit."

Another transatlantic signing to Swingingman is Dr. Oscify: "He's got a flow that's just off on one, sheer momentum," enthuses Norton. It seems the powerhouse behind the label is Boogie B Rhomboid, the FBC's founder: "He kick started the whole FB thing 6 or 7 years ago," says Norton, "But he moved away before it got on stage."

I ask Norton how far he thinks Scottish hip-hop has come in the last five years. "In terms of recognition, nowhere," he says matter-of-factly. "We get some airplay in Scotland, anyway, and some DJ support. It ain't constant, but they show us interest. It's up to us to keep giving them new stuff to play. On the whole support is good, but any urban artist north of Birmingham needs more coverage," he concludes, echoing a statement made to the Skinny almost a year ago, around the release of 'Foul Maginus'. He adds that the download and online market for music is vital to the survival of labels like Swingingman: "It is the easiest way for any indie label to get their tunes in your walkman, in terms of cost and distribution. Anyone can tell you that it is the biggest thing to happen to the music industry since sliced bread or CDs."

Drawing to a close, I ask where Norton sees FBC and Swingingman in five years time. "FBC is going through a transition just now," he says. "We had moderate success for three years; keeping so many members together for so long can be difficult though. We are still gigging and writing, we played some new material when we supported Souls of Mischief in October. Swingingman is gonna keep pumping out quality releases. We ain't looking to have a huge stable. We offer consistent quality from folk you can rely on to have something interesting to say, and to say it with gusto."