Behind The Scene: Bobby Martini

This one took a while to bring to fruition, but (no offense to Axel & Scotty) I think it’s the best Behind The Scene so far.

Bobby was kind enough to even temporarily disregard ill family in order to complete this interview.  (Sorry, ladies–he’s taken.)  And I believe when you read it, you’ll be able to know a little more about one of the rising stars of the mashup scene.   Things get a little goofy sometimes, but it’s only because he’s the first interview to insist on snorting coke off a hooker while answering questions.

I’m just kidding.  He found that disgusting and distasteful so we slit her throat.

He brings 4 artists together at once.

His wife is actually a Lady, and scandal keeps him from being a Lord.

He is the SMASH ROBOT known as Bobby Martini, and we were damn lucky to get him.

Thanks, Bobby! 

First of all, we must confirm your downness with a three-pronged series of opening questions, Robert. And, per usual, if you cheat to find out the answers, we will feel it instinctually and will launch a smear campaign against you so vicious it will make Dick Cheney weep and ask for leiniency on your behalf.

1) True or false : you don’t see nuthin’ wrong with a little bump n’ grind.

Well, that all depends on who does the bumping and grinding, doesn’t it?? I know R. Kelly doesn’t mind but thats just his opinion.

2) And now, for the short essay portion of the quiz–in 15 words or less, describe the breaks.

Easter, Xmas, Thanksgiving – a blow for Kurtis as he never gets time off.

3) Lisa Lisa : Cult Jam :: JJ Fad :

Tricky this one. I think this is a firm of lawyers I used once. Got me off with a suspended sentence (which was nice). Could have had something to do with an Arabian Prince but I could be wrong (my memory isn’t what it was you know).

Two out of 3–Tricky was in Massive Attack and not JJ Fad. Please confirm or deny rumors your birth name is actually Robert Martinovich and you are a descendent of the Cosmpolitans.

I can’t really say anything without my solicitor but I can confirm that my full name is Roberto Horatio Martini III, former business and performing partner of Sammy Vodka (RIP) with whom I had a succesful cabaret show in both Blackpool, UK and Las Vegas. US

How is/was the scene in the UK different from the scene here in the US?

Obviously the scene is bigger, and probably always will be in the US. I think we could benefit from more radio support in the UK. There are a few DJ’s playing mashups and remixes on stations like XFM but we need more. I know Sirius has played my work in the US and I wish more digital radio stations in the UK would play more bootlegs – I guess they’re a bit worried about the repurcussions, I don’t know. The mashup scene in the UK was quite a bit bigger 2-3 years ago but really died down after that. It’s a real shame that Mark Vidler’s ‘Mashed’ album didn’t do better. I know he put in a lot of work into it and it would have been great for the whole scene if it had really done well.

If there is one piece of advice you can give aspiring mashuppers, what is it?

Don’t spend a fortune on software unless you have tried mashing on something free like Audacity (other great software available I’m sure). Just because it’s expensive doesn’t mean you will be any good. If I bought a Bentley it wouldn’t improve my driving! Oh, and one other point – for christ sake don’t take any notice of key matching software/features – if you can’t tell if it’s in tune with your own ears, you probably shouldn’t be doing it.

It’s obvious by your site you love Peter Gabriel; who’s your 2nd favorite artist?

That’s a great question, I don’t think I’ve read an interview where someone has asked who their 2nd fave artist is – superb !!!!! Well, I’m a bit of a closet ‘Bluegrass’ fan for years – no, really, I am. I think its the fact I watched ‘Deliverance’ about 50 times on video as a kid that started it. Plus the pure musicianship that some of these guys have is remarkable. In view of this I would have to say my second fave artist is ‘Alison Krauss and Union Station’. Strange choice you may think but I have a very eclectic taste. That woman can play a fiddle, let me tell you and some of the guys like Dan Tyminski, Ron Block and Jerry Douglass in Union Station are just amazing performers. Also, Alison Kruass’ voice is like that of an angel. I don’t think I have ever heard anyone sing so pitch perfect live ever. I wish I could get hold of some acappella’s of her but I suppose that’s going to be pretty unlikely. I think the scene could benefit from a few ‘bluegrass mashups’ !! I just want to mention one other person that could overtake Ms Krauss though and that’s Nerina Pallot – Britains best kept secret ‘talent wise’ for years. Love her work big time and again would like to mash some of her tracks. She’s nearly my second favourite, nearly….

And now, a few words about your friends and contemporaries–Cheekyboy.

One of my all time faves. Master ‘pella ripper. Outstanding bootlegger.

Go Home Productions

Who ? LOL. Created one of the best mashups ever “Paperback Believer” – simple, yet awesome on so many levels (the mashup, not Mark !)

Colatron

This guy is the one to watch – seriously.

Party Ben

Fantastic live sets. Hard to beat.

Scotty Johnson

Fuck me – he’s the guvnor isn’t he. The Godfather of mashup podcasts, if you will. Love this man ! I don’t know anyone else knocking out a show featuring so much top, varied work, from so many different artists, week after week. I think he has no life, in fact I KNOW it !!!! LOL

2 Many DJs

One of the first ‘albums’ to be put on the old mp3 player and still there to this day – awesome.

Copycat

He’s the daddy – he really is now. Top man. Great bootlegger and all round clever bastard.

Give the home reader of the Isle a little bite-sized biography of your life and times.

Born in the UK in 1970. Raised on big band music and learnt the drums from the age of 5. Became a huge fan of 30’s & 40’s Big bands like Ambrose & His Orchestra, Duke Ellington and Glen Miller. First record I bought was Tubular Bells, followed by Saturday Night Fever. Joined a number a of bands in the mid 80’s mainly playing keyboards but soon became front man/lead singer. Last band left bitter taste in mouth, mainly due to the different influences of the band members. For example : I was into a lot of 80’s soul Alexander O’neal, Joyce Sims, Earth Wind & Fire as well as Peter Gabriel, Genesis etc whilst our main songwriter was heavily still into the new romantic groups such as Japan & Bauhaus. Our lead guitarist was a big time Athraxx fan. You can imagine the sound we were churning out, can’t you?

After the band split in ‘93 I decided to go back to my ‘roots’ as it were and imerse myself into the cheesy world of lounge music. Re-stocked my collection of Burt Bacharach, Martin Denny, and Les Baxter (to name but a few) from vinyl to CD and became a loungecore DJ for a few years gigging under a false name.

Met a wonderful woman, bought a house, settled down, got married. Been happy ever since. Tried my hand at a bit of comedy writing, had an accident, laid up for a while, got bored, tried my hand at mashups. Here we are now!

What was the first mashup that you ever heard? Were you hooked instantly?

I’m ashamed to say that I was very late in the day catching on to the mashup scene. First one I saw/heard was on the UK satellite channel Q (jukebox channel) where they used to have a slot called ‘Q Mix’. ‘Eminem vs Britney’ and ‘Shakira vs Bee Gees vs Britney’ are two that spring to mind and I was completely blown away. I was always on the lookout for more after that but never even thought about doing it myself. In 2005 I came across a mash/mix by Diffusion called ‘Bargain Hunt Booty’ that really appealed to my sense of humour. I checked out his other work and loved it. Soon came to realise that he was also a bloody good remixer as well as a funny guy. Anyway, a friend of mine told me about Mashuptown and I checked it out.

What first made you think “Hey, I can do this!”?

Probably after I downloaded some software (I think it was Audacity?) and after playing about and doing some stupid mashups (that will probably never see the light of day) I realised I could create something pretty cool. The first one was ‘Kill Bill In The Air Tonight’ (recently tweaked by the way so pop along to the website everybody and check it out !!!) followed by Christina vs Michael Jackson ["Ain't No Other Man Till You Get Enough"] and Pink vs Evelyn ‘Champagne’ King ["Pink Champagne"].

Who were/are you using for guidance as sort of a hero-worship figure in the scene?

Nobody – Hero worship is only worthy of someone who can make a serious difference to the world like curing cancer, ending world poverty or stopping cruelty to children and animals. As good as a lot of people are in the mashup scene, I don’t think any of us have managed that yet ! I’ve always done my own thing. I’ve never tried to copy anyone’s style – I think that would be a huge mistake.

What sort of reaction are you looking to get from your mashes?

Mmmmmmm………difficult to say really…….just a positive one I suppose. Sometimes when I’m doing a mash I’m very conscious of doing the original track justice. Case in point was my recent ‘Four by 4′ mashup which mashed Depeche Mode against Pussycat Dolls. My main concern when doing that mash was that Scotty Johnson would like it !!! He’s probably the biggest DM fan around and for a lot of fans a fusion between them and PCD is sacrilege. He loved it, thought it was my best work to date so that was cool – and a relief. I’ve always done my mashups initially for me and me alone. My wife suggested doing a website, so I did. My website work reflects my musical tastes, preferences and artists I admire. If people like my work – great, if not – fuck ‘em !

What differentiates a good mashup from a great mashup?

That’s such a hard question because it’s all down to personal taste. Some would say it’s when a mash combines songs/styles from completely different genres. If I were to mash Aphex Twin with Sarah Brightman then that might be someone’s cup of tea big time – others may hate it. A lot of people like the glitch pop style. I’m not a huge fan, I’m not knocking it at all, it’s bloody clever but it’s just not me, but a lot prefer this type of mashup and probably wouldn’t care for most of mine which, on the whole, usually feature only 2 different tracks. For me, a great mashup one that has a nice, clean sound and completely and utterly turns both tracks on their heads and the end result is a song that could easily stand on it’s own – even as a single release. I’m not going to give any examples but plenty of people have done this - in my opinion.

So when is the Sarah Brightman vs. Aphex Twin coming out?

I’m saving it for my Christmas Special album “Hymns & Hers”

Anyway, you said you started off with what are in my mind, two of the best mashes to date–Ain’t No Other Man ‘Til You Get Enough & Pink Champagne, so I want to start there and do a little discography. What made you pick the relatively unused tracks of “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough” and “Shame” to put against these contemporary mashup standards?

I can’t take credit for the “Don’t Stop” choice. That was my wife’s suggestion. I had the Christina pella and was struggling with a match. My wife said out of the blue, ‘you know what will go with that, Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough’ – she was right ! I think it hasn’t been used much because it doesn’t have a lot of instrumentation available for the verse, which makes it hard to mash. Loads of Karaoke versions to pick from but they are all dire. An enjoyable mash to do and I still think it stands up well today.

With ‘Shame’, that was easy. It’s such a fantastic track and I had been wanting to mash it for while. Loads of instrumental bits to use and, as by complete luck, my mp3 player was on shuffle and played ‘Shame’ & then ‘Get the Party Started’ – lightbulb went on – voila !

“Since U Been Song 2″–another classic. I have a theory this is inspired by Kelly’s jumping up and down during the chrous bringing back memories of jumping up and down to the Blur track–false? True?

False(ish) – Again, that was easy. I don’t know why but when I first heard ‘Since U Been Gone’ it immediately reminded me of ‘Song 2′ and I was surprised no-one else had mashed them. For some strange, spooky, reason though, this was technically a very hard mashup to produce as the software I was using developed a very noticable clicking noise caused (with no explanation) by Kelly’s pella. The exact same thing happened recently with my Girls Aloud v Kelly Clarkson mash and , in both cases, I had to start from scratch again. Perhaps, Kelly’s trying to tell me something ????

ToToM put Nelly Furtado against herself to some decent effect in the past years–you used a more upbeat track in Shakira & Wyclef’s “Hips Don’t Lie”. Did you have the “Promiscuous” a capella and wondered what you could do uniquely with it apart from all the other booters out there?

If I am trying to do something with a particular pella or instrumental I make a real effort to NOT listen to anything new that somebody else has done with that piece if I can help it. I don’t want to be influenced in any way. I hadn’t heard anybody elses ‘Promiscuous’ mashups, but the Shakira track was not the first choice, it was an old Will Smith/Jazzy Jeff track (can’t remember which one). It just wasn’t gelling like I wanted it to but I came across the Shakira instrumental and just tried it quickly and it worked really well.

“Wicked Because Of You”–you take a depressing Kelly Clarkson song about her childhood and take what had been a beautiful song in “Wicked Game” and throw it together in a real tear-jerker. I think it’s one of your most slept-on tracks and yet every time I hear it I die a little inside. So: why do you hate laughter?

Haha – I’m quite a depressive person some times. Actually, that’s not quite true – I’m probably more melancholy than depressive but I like to break away from the dance mashes now and again and try and do something a little different. I did the same thing recently with ‘Easily Hurt’ – if you listen to Lionel’s lyrics, they are just to sad for that very cheery, feel-good tune. I wanted to depress it down a bit LOL – Anyway, you reckon I hate laughter – you haven’t checked out my ‘Eminem vs Theme from Pot Black’ yet, have you !!!!

And why is it every single Kelly Clarkson single just fits into just about every mash of her I’ve ever heard? It’s like bootleggers are Scouts and you all have to get Clarkson badges or you’re stuck in Weebalos.

Trust me, her pellas don’t fit just anything. I have about 10 aborted mashups that I started of hers because they go tits-up big time at the chorus. Shame really, because I had a really good mashup between her and Talk Talk that would have been a blinder……but it wasn’t !

To date I have my Clarkson badge…..I also have my Gabriel, Pussycat Dolls and Furtado badge but I still have to work for my Beastie Boys medal !

You mentioned your wife was a partial inspiration behind Ain’t No Other Man Till You Get Enough; is Lady Martini behind any of the other songs you’ve put out?

Yeah – ‘Professional Milkshake’ – I had the pella and was pulling my hair out trying to find a good match when the good Lady herself suggested ‘Professional Widdow’ and she was, as usual correct. I had an email from a girl in Holland the other week to tell me that the video (available on my website, thanks to Wadsworth) was played at a Beyonce concert she attended – which was cool.

Shout Beep–seriously, what the fuck, man?

Seemed like a natural choice to be honest. I had previously mashed PCD with The Human League and thought another 80’s mash was called for. ‘Shout’ is an anthem, all about expression, free speech. ‘Beep’, with the beeps all the way through it, is a metaphor for censorship, so the contrast of the two was perfect. Actually – thats all a load of bollocks, the pella fit the tune – end of.

Lately, with the past few mashups, you’ve gone from doing A + B to A + B + C + D. Is there any specific reason for this or are you just deciding there are elements that absolutely have to be in the song?

With ‘Four by 4′ the initial song featured just the Depeche Mode pella and the PCD instrumental and sounded good but needed filling. The Ultra Nate riff fitted really well and the mash was done but it still needed that ’something’ and that ’something’ was originally just going to be the rap part of ‘Feel Good Inc’ but the rest flowed well, so I added it and finished it. It was the biggest pain in the arse mash I have done because it took ages and I was sick of hearing it by the time it was done. Scott Johnson liked it, though, and I didn’t want to dissapoint the Worlds Biggest DM fan !!

With ‘Chemical Brothers Get Stoned With Spears’ the same thing applies. Joss Stone and CB were done and dusted but I wasn’t 100% happy. I added Britney at the last minute and I think it’s really improved the mash – big time. My next few mashes are pretty much A+B’s again but the odd one of two might feature more. For example I have just completed Timbaland v Kelis v Tears for Fears and it works a treat.

Imagine the scene: for the first time in his history, Bobby Martini rocks the scene at Bootie LA. Yours truly is there. You have the standard hour set–but you can only play ONE of your tracks! (dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn) Question: which track in your discography do you pick to play and sub-question: what does the setlist look like in total?

No! I know you are taking the piss!!!! OK, I’ll play along.

The track I would choose would be ‘Toxic Starlight’ for the following reasons : It’s one of my first and it still stands up really well today. I still get feedback from people about it and I was recently contacted by Guillame from The Supermen Lovers to say how much he liked it – which was extremely fucking cool !

With regard to the rest of the set……..mmmmmmmm……that’s really hard because I have som many on the old hard drive and it’s difficult to choose because my faves change from week to week but here is a rough list :

Creasos – Clocks Bitch 2006
Cheekyboy – Bodyrockers vs Oakenfold & Brittany Murphy
DJ Schmolli – Don’t Cha Want My Milkshake
Supakon – With Love Through The Grapevine
Ben Double M – It’s Not Right But It’s The Legacy
Mighty Mike – Sunshine Starlight
Voicedude – I Love California
Copycat – Fade To Pretty Vacant
Divide & Kreate – Not My Song
Simon Iddol – Sympathy for the Eastern Sugar (loving this one at the moment)
Ben Double M – Salvador Senorita
DJ Schmolli – She Works Hard for the Cash

As you can see, an eclectic mix. Not thought out very well and probably not in that order. I have, no doubt, pleased some people and really pissed off others – sorry about that. Those are the tracks I’m listening to a lot a at the moment and I really think they are good !!

What tracks do you have in the works? Can you divulge for the Island listener?

1 x EP featuring all new Peter Gabriel works (may turn into an album, just have to wait and see)2 x Albums (both a long way off but on the way) More mashes including the following artists : Nelly Furtado, Madonna, Alan Parsons Project, Marvin Gaye, Timbaland, Cameo, Jamelia, Hilary Duff, David Byrne, Chicane and others.

MEA CULPA! Bobby Martini, the rest of the interview is yours–plug whatever you’d like. Rant about whatever you like. And thank you.

I just want to say a few things……firstly, anyone out there stealing other people’s mashups and calling them your own – stop it you wankers! This includes radio stations – you know who you are !!!Secondly, if you like someone’s work, tell them. I really enjoy getting emails from people saying they dig what I do – it makes it worthwhile. Most of us bootleggers do it for nothing so pay us in comments pleaseeeeee !!!!