Full Phat: Cream of The Crop
SF: The Skinny meets one of Scotland's local artists on the up, Full Phat<br/><br/>PQ: ""After a while I started making tracks just for enjoyment and stopped chasing it so hard""
| 05 Feb 2008
If you live in Glasgow, chances are you'll have seen Full Phat performing at one time or another; either rocking out at Subcity's block parties, facing off against the face-shredding Animal Farm in the Soundhaus, or manning the action at his own Obese nights. For a number of years now, Full Phat, also known as Moss, has been providing the city with weekly doses of fidgety rhythms, lean beats and fat bass.
He was introduced to clubbing by mix-tapes from nights like Fantasia, which his older brother would pass on, and started to produce music after being inspired by what he heard. "I'd just mess about on my dad's computer," he tells us. "I'd make silly noises then put them together." Though that's pretty much all you need to do to have a hit single in the current musical climate, the world didn't beat a path to Moss's door straight away, and it would be a few years of hard work before music became a viable past-time. "Between the ages of about 15 through 19 I was constantly just sending stuff off to labels, constantly writing tracks and making demos. After a while I started making tracks just for enjoyment and stopped chasing it so hard." In this period Moss was introduced to the wheels of steel; his brother brought a set of decks, and he began mixing tracks. "When I started out I wanted to be a hip-hop DJ, but my hands just weren't fast enough, so I thought, fair enough, I'll just stick to house then." He's honed his skills for many years, filling illustrious venues such as the Sub Club and The Hive in Edinburgh, as well as turning out a weekly show on Subcity digital radio.
About two years ago, when producing was playing second fiddle to the Obese events and show, both of which showcase his predilection for fat new grooves and classic house, labels began asking for tracks and contacting him. "Mostly through MySpace... people started requesting stuff or saying 'where can I get that track, I'd like to play it out the club'," he explains. Not that Full Phat is some bling-toting billionaire producer who thinks he's P. Diddy; he still works full time as a chef, despite forthcoming releases on respected labels like Refo Rec and Flatpack Traxx. He also features on Bad Advice Music's forthcoming 12", which features tracks from scene leaders such as Nick Maurer of The Greenskeepers and Nate Manic, alongside Fat Burdy, Full Phat's chunky cut of Baltimore-inflected bass and scuzzy, retro synths. It's a hands-up dancefloor anthem guaranteed to make you shake, and it's one of his most accomplished crowd-pleasers to date.
Whilst MySpace has made it much easier for artists to make the transition from local popularity to global recognition, Full Phat epitomises how much work has to be put into music to make a successful career: "I spend most of my spare time making tracks and putting nights together. On my days off, that's pretty much all I do. I'll have people say 'd'you want to come round for dinner,' and I'll be like, 'nah, I'll just do some music'." His forthcoming 12"s should help propel Full Phat towards the success he deserves though, and move him from Glasgow's local scene to at least a few more dates across the country. He's got the potential to make it very big though, with a combination of technical expertise and unpretentious, devastating tunes. Full Phat's refreshingly laid-back about the future though, and doesn't plan on releasing an album any time soon. He tells The Skinny that he just wants to use the singles "to get heard and maybe get some more gigs off the back of it".
Make no bones about it, this boy's on the way up, with killer tunes and DJ sets to back him up. Check it out before he leaves all this behind. Large!
He was introduced to clubbing by mix-tapes from nights like Fantasia, which his older brother would pass on, and started to produce music after being inspired by what he heard. "I'd just mess about on my dad's computer," he tells us. "I'd make silly noises then put them together." Though that's pretty much all you need to do to have a hit single in the current musical climate, the world didn't beat a path to Moss's door straight away, and it would be a few years of hard work before music became a viable past-time. "Between the ages of about 15 through 19 I was constantly just sending stuff off to labels, constantly writing tracks and making demos. After a while I started making tracks just for enjoyment and stopped chasing it so hard." In this period Moss was introduced to the wheels of steel; his brother brought a set of decks, and he began mixing tracks. "When I started out I wanted to be a hip-hop DJ, but my hands just weren't fast enough, so I thought, fair enough, I'll just stick to house then." He's honed his skills for many years, filling illustrious venues such as the Sub Club and The Hive in Edinburgh, as well as turning out a weekly show on Subcity digital radio.
About two years ago, when producing was playing second fiddle to the Obese events and show, both of which showcase his predilection for fat new grooves and classic house, labels began asking for tracks and contacting him. "Mostly through MySpace... people started requesting stuff or saying 'where can I get that track, I'd like to play it out the club'," he explains. Not that Full Phat is some bling-toting billionaire producer who thinks he's P. Diddy; he still works full time as a chef, despite forthcoming releases on respected labels like Refo Rec and Flatpack Traxx. He also features on Bad Advice Music's forthcoming 12", which features tracks from scene leaders such as Nick Maurer of The Greenskeepers and Nate Manic, alongside Fat Burdy, Full Phat's chunky cut of Baltimore-inflected bass and scuzzy, retro synths. It's a hands-up dancefloor anthem guaranteed to make you shake, and it's one of his most accomplished crowd-pleasers to date.
Whilst MySpace has made it much easier for artists to make the transition from local popularity to global recognition, Full Phat epitomises how much work has to be put into music to make a successful career: "I spend most of my spare time making tracks and putting nights together. On my days off, that's pretty much all I do. I'll have people say 'd'you want to come round for dinner,' and I'll be like, 'nah, I'll just do some music'." His forthcoming 12"s should help propel Full Phat towards the success he deserves though, and move him from Glasgow's local scene to at least a few more dates across the country. He's got the potential to make it very big though, with a combination of technical expertise and unpretentious, devastating tunes. Full Phat's refreshingly laid-back about the future though, and doesn't plan on releasing an album any time soon. He tells The Skinny that he just wants to use the singles "to get heard and maybe get some more gigs off the back of it".
Make no bones about it, this boy's on the way up, with killer tunes and DJ sets to back him up. Check it out before he leaves all this behind. Large!