DJ HUDSON INTERVIEW

A few months ago we here at Tucker and Bloom held a contest to find the perfect lazy afternoon mixtape. The rules were simple and open ended. The mixes were to be Brazilian, Soul, or Jazz based, not to long, and devoid of distracting drops ( for a good example of this google DJ Clue). The DJ with the best mix would receive one of our North To South Messenger bags,world wide acclaim, and all the parades that accompany it. We went through a lot of fine mixes before awarding the first place prize to DJ Hudson also known as Alex Moitt. Hudsons’ winning submission was outstanding, and left us itching to know more about the man behind the mix. What did he eat for breakfast the day he recorded it? Who did the cover art? What is life like now that he’s won? We recently caught up with Alex to find out more about his life, and to find out how the North to South bag was working for him.

-THE BAG MESSENGER

THE BAG MESSENGER: Name, Where are you from? 

DJ HUDSON: I’m from Leicester which is in the Midlands in the UK. I’m trying to think of something Leicester is famous for… um, the Elephant Man (the deformed one, not the dancehall one) is from here. 

THE BAG MESSENGER: When did you first get into design?

DJ HUDSON: I’ve always had an interest in design which came from an interest in record sleeves at an early age but as a career I got into it when I worked in marketing for a website. 

THE BAG MESSENGER: How long have you been working as a graphic designer? Where do you look for inspiration?

DJ HUDSON: It’s been about 8 years now. I work in the public sector so most of the stuff I do is quite conservative in the look and feel but my style is quite retro so my inspiration comes from going round second hand shops and getting old books, magazines and records. I do get inspiration from anywhere at anytime – if something catches my eye I often think about incorporating it into a future project. 

THE BAG MESSENGER: How did you first get involved with DJing?

DJ HUDSON: Like most DJs my age it starts with the family. My Dad has (or had as I’ve ‘borrowed’ the bulk of it) a large record collection which I took a massive interest in from an early age. Also I’ve got aunts and uncles who all had a lot of records and I was often going through what they had. I started playing out at places around the time I went to college and there I met like minded people who were putting nights on which led to me being involved in a hip hop and funk night which ran for a few years and led to sharing billing with a lot of good acts and DJs.

THE BAG MESSENGER: We’re you always collecting records? What kinds of things are you looking for these days?

DJ HUDSON: Yes, I used to go record shopping with my Dad every other Saturday so I started buying records really early on. I think by the age of 8 I was buying good  records. Before then, I was buying records by people whose names I recgonised from the family’s collection that were generally rubbish. I don’t buy as much as I used to but I go to the second hand shops every now and then. I’m always on the look out for disco, funk, hip hop and anything that catches my eye. The last new records I bought was a DJ Platurn remix of Midas Touch and a GAMM release of an Erykah Badu track that’s on the house tip. There’s some good reissues out that I’m planning on getting, like the Soul Jazz reissue of the Roy Ayers Uno Melodic LP and the last few Jazzman releases. 

THE BAG MESSENGER: How are you liking the North to South Messenger Bag?

DJ HUDSON: The Messenger Bag is treating me very well. I use it mainly to keep my stuff in for work and there’s been a few times where I’ve taken it out on a record finding mission and it’s the perfect size for that too. 

THE BAG MESSENGER: Has Serato changed the way you get down?

DJ HUDSON: The obvious things such as not having to carry a back breaking amount of records and being able to play things that are not on vinyl, as well as virtually having doubles of everything are a plus. 

THE BAG MESSENGER: What do you listen to for fun? How has becoming a DJ affected the way you listen to music? 

DJ HUDSON: I’m into all sorts of stuff so for recreational listening I like to keep it varied so as well as listening to hip hop, funk, soul, disco and the stuff I play out I listen to jazz, old rock, reggae… anything good really. Recently I’ve been listening to a Jay-Z mix by DJ Ayres, The Aquarius album by Brazilian legend Joyce and Shuggie Otis’ Inspiration Information. Because I’ve been DJ’ing since I was a teen I don’t think it’s affected how it’s listening to music. 

THE BAG MESSENGER: Every DJ has a horror story or two….what is the worst thing to happen at a gig?

DJ HUDSON:Nothing too bad springs to mind. I’ve had nights where only one turntable is working, stuff like that and people making odd requests – recently someone asked me for some Bon Jovi and last week someone came up and asked if I play any ‘you know, like, songs??’ But recently a friend of mine, DJ BFG, was telling me that he was playing somewhere and he turned round to see a woman in the booth taking a piss. That’s just wrong. One request I had from an overweight thug years ago was to play ‘some fookin white music’, I think I played either The Specials or Harry J’s Allstars ‘The Liquidator’ in response to that and then I think he got kicked out the club.

THE BAG MESSENGER: What are you working on now? (design wise or dj wise)

DJ HUDSON: Design wise I’ve been meaning to do some nice bits to decorate the walls in my house (saying it here commits me to do it!) but I’ve not got any design projects outside of what I do at work. DJ wise I’ve got a regular weekend slot at a bar that I play at a couple of times a month which is trucking along nicely and when I get the time I want to get a couple of mixtapes done. I’ve done three breaks/sample mixes over the last few years so  I’m planning on doing another one in that series using only children’s records. I don’t know if it’s going to work but keep an eye on my blog, toiletries.wordpress.com, as I’ll be putting up whatever I come up with there.