He refuses to be put into any type of box, although he could easily fit into many with his recent remix of Meleka’s Miss Me sounding like it could be filed next to some of dubstep’s favourites, his 140 Mixtape featured grime MC’s like Ghetts, Badness, Snakeyman and No Lay although was funky as hell and more recently the Who Said Funk EP is full of funky laced beats voiced by the most soulful of songstresses. Nardene Scott gets to know one of the most hardworking producers in the game, Swindle and finds out what tricks he’s got up his sleeve for the new album, why his Plan B would be the same as Plan A, just without the pay check and his newfound love of wartime jazz.

When did you first get into music, was there an experience that pushed you into music?

Its difficult, to tell the truth, its all been very gradual so I can’t remember if there was a time… Actually, I was working in a bank, I quit my job because I just always struggled with being part of any type of establishment, whether it be school or a workplace and by that time I already felt like if I put everything into music then it would continue to support me, so I quit my job and the rest is history.

What instruments do you play?

I play guitar, keys my favourite instrument and drums; I started keyboard lessons at eight, then I picked up a guitar when I was around ten and the drums were through high school. I don’t have a drum kit now, I’ve got some bongo’s that I mic up.

You’ve gone from grime beats to funky flavas so how many different genres are you interested in pursuing or maybe collaborating with other producers?

However many, I like to think there isn’t really such a thing as a genre, it’s just music in different languages, so anything that I can translate I want to get off my chest then I’m more than happy to do it, whether it be grime or dubstep or funky or neo soul, it doesn’t really matter to me.

Can you think of an album that has had a massive influence on you?

Loads, Herbie Hancock Headhunters EP, Dr Dre 2001, Quincey Jones Q’s Jook Joint, Jay Z Blueprint 1, Nas Illmatic. There’s so many, Lauren Hill The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu New Amerykah...

What was the last album you bought?

It’s a silly one, I warn you now, Jazz Guitar Greats. I can get down with those chords on that 20’s and 30’s wartime jazz, it’s something I’m new to, I’ve always been like funk jazz but I’m just getting into this.

What’s the deal with Swindle productions? Have you got any plans to release any other artists through Swindle Productions?

Yeah, I release my own music under Swindle Productions. I’m not sure at the moment because obviously it says Swindle Productions so if I release an album and it’s got other productions on it I’d like everyone to get full recognition for what they do, so the plan is to set up some sort of label at some time but in the meantime get my own thing going.

So, what’s the plan for the new album?

The new album at the moment is just everything Swindle, so all the things that you would have heard on The 140 Mixtape on Who Said Funk, The Airmiles EP just all combined into one big mash of music.

How do you like to work in the studio, do you have any rituals or OCD tendencies?

I’ve got to have some joke, even though we do have a laugh and we mess around in the studio; it is work, time is money in the studio and even when I’m having a laugh its usually to get a point across or to bring up the morale, to get everyone working to their full potential. That’s the most important thing for me really, just catch a vibe. I like studios sessions with loads of people not people that aren’t participating like you’ll never catch me in the studio with 20 rudeboys smoking weed and girls on Alize – its just straight work.

Who has been your favourite person to work with in the studio and who ideally would you like to get into the studio?

Nadia Suliman is one of the best vocalists I know, A.L is amazing in the studio even if she’s not recording, if she’s in the studio everyone is smiling and on the perfect vibe. I want to get Dot Rotten in, Wizzy Wow, we might do a production collaboration or maybe a vocal of his on the album, I try not to plan too much. You see everyone that’s just on a positive vibe who’s trying to make music for the right reasons that’s who I want to work with, not the robotic I want to do this and we’ll structure it like this, nah man, just forget the rules.

How long does it take you to work on one song from start to finish?

I’ll normally write the tune at home, musically, send like the rough bones to an artist then we’ll  run the parts, get the arrangement right and get the song done. It’s normally about two days maximum. I like to work really fast, people always tell me they’re always surprised about how fast I want to work. If I call someone and say I want to do a tune, I don’t want to be calling about it in a month, I’m like lets do it today, extremely impatient. If I call someone and they don’t call me back within the day you may as well call it dead mate, no time to wait.

You’ve done a number of solo shows on BBC 1xtra as well, are you really into the DJ side of things too?

Yeah I do play out a bit, mostly out of England, so Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Poland and also places like Bristol and Leeds. I’ve only ever played in London like three times in my life.

So what do you play in your set?

I get booked at dubstep raves but I don’t play a lot of dubstep, I play like mostly 140 stuff  like myself, Mensah, Joker, Terror Danjah, Rudekid, Teddy but I like to put some weirdo things in there as well, like Fake Blood, Mars or a bassline track.

So if you weren’t successful in music what would your Plan B have been?

I always thought to myself, I can either make music everyday and put it out, or make music everyday and be a wasteman. This isn’t gunna stop for me, regardless of what’s going on in my life. I still have a need to create music that’s always gunna happen I can’t see that ending ever.

Who Said Funk is out now and you can follow Swindle on Twitter @Swindleuk and Facebook SwindleProd

Tags: A.L, Dot Rotten, Funky, Grime, Jazz, Joker, Mensah, Nadia Suliman, Rude Kid, swindle, Terror Danjah, Wizzy Wow