Interview

Ghetto Mullet

Kev Guy & Ben Carver

added: 7 Jan 2009
interviewed by: Marco Gandolfi

Ghetto Mullet is an experimental hip hop electronica outfit created by Kev Guy & Ben Carver. Their debut EP Sunday Morning Hangover was released in November 2008 on Big Teeth Records.

Despite the fact that they live near one another, this album was produced "virtually", meaning all the actual production where to artists worked together took place via the internet, using VOIP services and email.

MN: How did you both meet and how did the idea of Ghetto Mullet start?

Ben: We were introduced by a mutual friend who said that he believed if hooked up we would produce some kind of fruit; I, naturally, wasn’t convinced and after actually meeting Kev I wondered if our mutual friend had in fact been on drugs when we made his comments, however, it turned out to be correct! We discovered we had and shared geek-like desire for technical things, computers and gadgets which still to this day baffles our women! We also started bouncing musical ideas around, Ghetto Mullet wasn’t our first project, there were a few others, but it was the first that seemed to possess a life of its own. Kev came up with the name and started firing me over beats and breaks with ideas to work with, then I began to weave them into other 'noise pollution’ that seemed to fit the concept of the Mullet!

MN: How long have you been involved in making music?

Kev: I’ve been making music to some degree since I was 17, my first interest was in the bass guitar, I’ve played in a few bands, often something in the punk genre. I’ve always had a love for Hip Hop and started producing in a band called The Black Milk Collective, mainly working with samples and keys and an MPC machine. Ghetto Mullet has been such an inspirational project for me, our first EP, 'Sunday Morning Hangover’ has given me faith in our ability to create a desirable sound.

Ben: When I was 14 I used the money I earned from my milk round to buy my Technics 1210s! I still use the same ones now, they are 17 years old! DJing naturally progressed into production for me, I also took to the MIC as my confidence grew. I first released an album on vinyl in 1991, I was one of the main vocalists, DJs and producers for a Hip Hop outfit called New Wave Poets. Since then I leant to play the guitar and sing folk songs. I really enjoy making my own samples; we were both involved in a project a few years back called Urban Poets, one review stated that it was 'heavily sampled' this really pleased me since I had made all those sounds myself and hadn’t actually 'sampled’ a thing.

MN: Is it true that the Sunday Morning Hangover EP was produced over the internet rather than the two of you actually meeting?

Ben: Well, it’s like this, we used to try really hard to get together and make tunes, but what with me being a family man and Kev working unholy hours in the city it was hard to find time; the paradox is that when we did get together instead of actually getting down to music business, we would end up 'geeking around’ on the computers, downloading stuff, installing software, marvelling at a new gadget or engaging in some other irrelevant time wasting activity. We were at our most productive when we met up online using Skype and started producing music, in the end we accepted this anomaly and that’s the way we do it!

MN: What do you listen to and what influences you

Ben: So much music these days bores me, so I like anything that is different without trying too hard. Flying Lotus/DJ Shadow is a major source of inspiration for us. I love anything that has a funky Hip Hop beat, I do like vocal Hip Hop stuff as well as the instrumental vibe, I do find what people talk about irritating though, that can influence what I like and dislike.

Kev: I listen to all sorts of music to many to mention. Metallica's Death Magnetic album is getting the most plays at the moment. I’m really looking forward to the Hudson Mohawke record that’s due out soon.

MN: Do you have any intentions on playing live?

Kev: We made our EP not really knowing what our live act would look like, it’s something we’ve talked about and something we plan to do. We’ve got ideas about our live act, I think it’s something we must seriously sort out if we want to make a gain in our following. We’re working on our first Ghetto Mullet album, I think we look to play live for the album release and see how we go from there.


MN: What's next for Ghetto Mullet?

Ben: Well as mentioned before, an album! We were toying with the idea of another EP, but then we thought, what the heck, let’s do an Album! We always want to be value for money, so that’s one reason that EPs are an attractive proposition for us, but an album has a 'fullness’ to it that will give us a chance to express ourselves and develop our sound, because let’s face, Ghetto Mullet is still a growing idea and nothing near a 'finished concept’.

Sunday Morning Hangover is out now on CD or to download via itunes or a multitude of other MP3 download sites. Visit: www.myspace.com/ghettomullets

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