What Does Toddla T Want His Own Toddler to Listen to?

Toddla T is a British dance music force to be reckoned with. In five years, the DJ and producer has made a name for himself as the biggest supporter of reggae, bashment and dancehall since David Rodigan. He’s got a show on Radio One, has released two excellent albums, expanded his live crew from one to four people, and managed to both shack up with and subsequently have a baby with Annie Mac, making them the Jay Z and Beyonce of dance music.

We caught up with him for a post lunchtime chat. He’s recently released a track, “Pandora’s Box”, solely via social media with Roses Gabor for BACARDI Beginnings; a platform to give up-and-coming music talent the opportunity to be mentored by established acts and showcase their sound to a wider audience.

Noisey: Congratulations on your Carnival stage. How did you think it went?

Toddla: It was incredible. To do a stage at carnival is the ultimate. I’ve been going since 2007, coming down on the train from Sheffield. The first time I ever went I DJed in a pub during the day. It was so quiet, the soundsystem drowned out the sound in the pub. To go from doing that to having my own street and a stage was a moment for me. The music that’s represented and the melting pot of what Britain is like on that day is what inspires me a lot of the time. It was one of the best days of my career.

What do you reckon was your standout Carnival tune?

Oosh. So many big tunes. It was good to have Atumpan perform “The Thing” on our stage. That tune’s been around for a minute, but it bubbled and bubbled and got re-released, so we were honoured to have someone like that on our stage, who pretty much had the Carnival record.

Your own remix style involves adding new vocals on to original tracks. Is that the sort of thing you’re looking for?

I’ve always liked it. J Dilla used to do it with his remixes, bringing his mates from Detroit in. They needn’t have been big names, but it took it into his world. I’m not saying everyone should do it, it’s more effort isn’t it? It’s not going to make or break a remix, but sometimes it’s that extra 10% effort that’s quite impressive.

I liked when you did that D Double E re-edit of “Hold Yuh” by Gyptian. What’s been your favourite remix that you’ve put out?

I really liked the 2 Bears one I did. I literally just used a backing vocal. I got Trim, Scrufizzer and Trigganom on it. That was a case of taking a little piece and bringing it together to make it into something I’d play in a rave or on the radio. Everyone smashed it, they murdered it. I was stoked with it.

Do you reckon there’s a particular track where the remix is better than the original?

I don’t know if “better” is the right word to use. There are ones that are more successful, the one that I always refer to is Moloko, “Sing It Back”. The La Roux and Skream “In For the Kill” track is another good example. That took what that sound was from a little club into the mainstream, completely by accident.

You’ve got Roses Gabor on your new track, an artist you’ve been behind for a while. Who else do you think is worth getting behind at the moment?

There’s an outfit called Jus Now, made up of Interface from Bristol and Lazerbeam from Trinidad who’ve come together through a mutual love of bass music. They’ve started making loads of music that fuses their love of soca vibes and Bristol bass that’s completely organic and so individual, but it completely makes sense. Their tune “Tun Up” is getting re released with some different things on it.

Oooo, sounds exciting. We featured it on our Carnival playlist a while ago. Who else have ya got?

Do you know Woz, from Bristol? He’s really cool. He’s in his own lane, he’s got loads of different influences- garage, bass, house, reggae, everything. He’s a Bristol kid who's making music that sounds like noone else. I’m always interested in stuff like that. There’s a hip hop act from Sheffield who I’m really rating called Clubs and Spades. That’s two producers and two MCs. They’re ripping up old school breaks and making it sound interesting and fun. The two rappers are really clever with wordplay, but with a very Yorkshire kind of twang- it’s very individual.

Cool, we’ll keep an eye out for those. As a DJ you’ve expanded too, from just yourself, to Toddla T Sound with Shola Ama, Serocee and DRS. What drove the decision to add the rest of the crew?

I’ve been Djing nationally and internationally since 2008, and I felt like it was time to do something a bit different, not only for myself, but for the people who come to my shows too. I never really wanted to do a live show as such. I don’t consider myself a musician, I’m a DJ and a producer. I’m not going to go on stage and pretend to play a guitar when I can’t but I wanted something that has the same ethos as what I’m about, which is a selector and a DJ. I wanted to add a kind of live element to it, with my own material. The team I approached are good friends, and the people I work with the most. They’re my crew, my mob.

That’s cute. Final question then. You’re an international DJ these days but you recently became a dad. What are the albums you want your own toddler t getting into first?

Whatever’s on in the house to be honest. A lot of radio, a lot of 1xtra. A lot of house, soul, rap. I was secretly hoping he’d like reggae first, because of the bass.

Fingers crossed. Cheers Toddla!

Follow Tamara on Twitter: @TamaraRoper