Sami: So, guys, to start off in the usual fashion, how about you introduce yourselves and tell us where you're from...?

M: My name is Mark, and I'm from West Chinnock in Somerset (that was easy!).

E: Yeah, I am known as Eshamanjaro aka Dah'quinta Shedlight aka The Velvet Wurzel. You'll find me wandering the hills in the pouring rain... that's right.

S: Sorry, Merka, did you say you were born in a (Chinook) helicopter?

M: I wish... and dream... In fact (well, nearly), the village was named after the helicopter... but only the west rotor blade

S: That mean they have to keep the changing the name of the village as the rotors go round?

M: They have a pretty bad reputation for crashing, that's possibly why!

S: Right, you guys have spent a long time in the studio, and now the album's about to drop... Aside from that, what else has been going on in there?

M: Well, we made a shrinking ray!

S: Did you use any of your vintage technology this time? A little bird told me you have a 1960s Oscilloscope in there to measure the phatness of your basslines...

M: It used to be a massive bird before we deployed the shrink ray!

S: So, what was the typical studio process involved in making the album - other than vintage oscilloscopes and shrinking rays? Did you work together on the tracks or was it just split down the middle - Merka on beats and Esha on vocals? Did you get ‘close'? Are we going to hear the pitter-patter of tiny feet soon?

E: More or less even, I reckon - Merky made a basic beat (basic as in ‘to be enhanced later', rather than ‘a child could have done it'), I'd go off and write some lyrics to it and then we'd come together to make the whole thing a whole thing. Does that match your recollection of events, Mark? It was so long ago I've almost forgotten! As far as ‘closeness' or inappropriate touching is concerned, nothing happened. I find that eating ten or so Jamaican patties every session is a pretty effective passion-killer!

M: It was more than more or less even! You never touched the keyboard, and I never touched the mike, but there was nothing typical about it as it wasn't really an album process.

S: Really? That surprises me - as a body of work it seems really cohesive and flowing.

E: Considering we have almost nothing at all in common musically, we did work together strangely well. Even when it came to the one musical influence we did have in common, which is jungle/drum and bass, when it came to the crunch we were still at totally opposite ends of the spectrum.  All these tunes that were classics for me Mark hadn't heard, and vice versa.

M: I think we were different people in every way except for what we made together, which was odd.

S: Yet another marriage analogy! So, which one of you wears the trousers in the relationship?

M: We share the trousers, don't we, darling?

E: We share respect, bro!

M: That's the one thing we do have in common, I think - respect for the other overcomes any differences.

S: So, Esh, to my ears, your take on hip-hop is pretty ‘non-urban'. When it comes to rhymes, who or where do you draw your influences from? Do you see yourself as spearheading a movement in UK hip-hop that isn't just focussed on urban ghetto life and hoody-wearing? Because in some ways I think this album could be described as almost bucolic.

E: To start with, I don't really see myself as spearheading anything! Bucolic's a nice word, though, so I don't know. Lyrically I draw influence from absolutely everything that is relevant to me at the time, and that can vary a lot from day to day or year to year. I was living in Haringey (North London) when we made most of the tracks, so I wasn't exactly saturated in greenery, but my family roots, back a couple of generations are rural, and I respect my forebears who worked on the land, so I suppose that has an influence. Read ‘Digging' by Seamus Heaney - he illustrates my approach, I think.

S: Aaaah, good old Haringey. I've lived there myself. I should probably mention for the benefit of non-Londoners that Haringey is mostly famed for its myriad Turkish restaurants - I was going to ask what fuelled the album's production but since you said Haringey, I'm guessing it was mainly kebabs.

E: Not kebabs! PATTIES! They're the fuel every recording artist needs. They're nutritious and they clear the airwaves!

S: I thought the patties were just to keep Merks at bay, haha!

E: No, no, that was just a happy side-effect!

M: The Happening Beigel Bakery in Finsbury Park changed my life. The area's really gone downhill ever since they stopped selling apple crumble...

S: Aaah, I know the place. I could never work out why it was called ‘The Happening'. Did they mean ‘trendy and cool' or was it something more sinister and Steven King-esque, like some sort of ghostly manifestation.

M: I think it just meant ‘non-stop'.

E: How could I forget that place?  Those crumbles were food for the soul! I'm definitely going with the supernatural option - how else could they make so many baked delicacies every hour unless there were poltergeists involved?

S: Maybe you should offer a free copy of the album to whoever can demystify ‘The Happening'...

E: Or maybe we should just give one to all the staff at the bakery. Worldly and other-worldly...

S: They could definitely do with some better tunes there! Maybe after the second listen they'll start making patties! But anyway, we should probably move on from baked goods and get back on-topic. What's the plan next? Tour? Record a follow-up? Retire to Wales?

E: I've already retired... assuming I even started at all. Merka's the man with the plan.

M: I hate to plan anything even remotely realistic - it's both my strength and my weakness.

E: Definitely a strength for you, I think, mate.

M: Esh thinks he's retired, but all things change!

S: OK, so just a couple of last things - the artwork for the album reminds me of my favourite teacup which has Hokkusai's ‘The Wave' printed on it. I find it very relaxing. What was the reason for picking it?

E: At risk of sounding a bit pretentious, a persistent theme in eastern art seems to be all about the whole rather than the individual and the unity of things; and that's a good reflection of our attitudes on the album, I reckon.

S: OK, so: Quickfire round. Which muppet are you?

E: Well, you know the two old men that used to sit in the balcony saying 'it was short... I liked it'? Maybe they were an inspiration for the album too?

M: I'd like to think I was Fuzzy Bear on the piano, but I live in a bin, really.

S: Sweet or savoury? Marmite or Nutella?

E: Savoury, but with some spice, man... like Patties!

M: Nutella pancake: just perfect.

E: You know, you can hide a lot in a pot of Nutella! I guess you could with marmite too, but you wouldn't want to smoke it afterwards!!

M:  Marmite and poached egg: the ultimate fast breaker!

E: Are you serious?

S: I got really stoned once and ate a whole jar of Marmite just scooping it out with my finger...

E: Are YOU serious? Wow!

S:Hell yes! I never joke. Not about Marmite anyway.

E: How do they make it?

M: That's Top Secret information!

S: I think they need a lot of marmots to make Marmite.

M: No, everyone knows that it's left-over beer.

S: OK, so, let's wrap this up as I think we've probably covered baked goods and marmite in about as much depth as possible. Guys, it's been highly entertaining, and I look forward to catching up with you again soon, and over a beer this time! Good luck with the album and everything! Peace!


Mystic Man & Eshamanjaro 'In Heavy Weather' is out now on CD & Download.

You can buy it in the Fat! shop HERE Or through any respectable music retailer...

Watch out for the 'In Heavy Weather' Dubstep remix EP out in September!