‘Four turntables and two mixers, three men, 5000 records.’ – DJ Prime Cuts on the Scratch Perverts’ DJ show.

The Scratch Perverts – Plus One, Tony Vegas and Prime Cuts – individually are three of the world’s most talented turntablists. However, like most things, the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts. As the Perverted trio they break out of the mould of the technically obsessed turntablist, DJing music that entertains.

Collectively, the three have picked up too many championships to mention and have done more scratching than flea-ridden dogs in a mosquito cloud. That said, the lads know how to rock a dancefloor.

‘We try to make sure we don’t just disappear up our own arses,’ explains Prime Cuts. ‘If you’re like heads down scratching for half an hour, then you look up and the whole of Australia is just standing there look at you saying “What the fuck, we came here to dance, stop scratching”.’

Despite pushing each other in the studio with friendly competition, the lads have found that a true focussed dynamic during they’re sets is the best way to rock a crowd. The Perverts’ regime has all three of them performing at once, with spontaneity and originality between sets important factors.

‘It’s all three at once; it’s a team thing. That’s the way it goes. It’s never individual, it’s all about the crew. Really, it’s about the crowd; they’re the most important part of the equation. We have to perform the best as we can for them, and that’s as a team, not trying to outdo each other. We try to keep it as off the cuff as possible with an element of risk involved – it’s never pre-choreographed. No one quite knows what we’re going to do, including us.‘

‘When your in a club it’s about the moment and the vibe and trying to build the evening into a great night out for the people who have been kind enough to come and see you – just to make it the best night possible. You don’t sit down and think about it [like an album], you just vibe it and go to your bag and think now is the time to hit them with a real banger. We just try and keep the atmosphere as high and octane-fuelled as possible; the whole thing is to just make the party atmosphere the best.’

As DJs the Perverts’ focus is truly on the crowd, however the trio are looking to push the listener a little further with their album, which should drop sometime this year.

‘Hip hop is an energy music. It is a music form that celebrates all other forms of music just by its very nature in the way that it takes from other music and puts it in a hip hop form. Our album is a hip hop album but in the broad sense of the term; we’re trying to take from all different styles of music that we’re into and we’re feeling and that surround you when you’re living in London.’

‘I think with music the real go is just to convey yourself and the influences you have in your music, and what it is you’re about as a person. If you can do that with a level of honesty then people can see that and get into it. We’re trying to do an album that’s taken influence from a lot of different types of music that we as individuals are into, and translate that and channel it into our own thing.’

‘That said, I have an insane Portugese man that lives below me and he plays an awful lot of Salsa and he dances a lot to it. But I hope that influence doesn’t find its way into our material – nothing against salsa. He’s a waiter at a local restaurant and he’s totally insane, but that’s another story.’

In addition to working many different styles into their own unique hip hop sound, the Perverts are aiming to transcend the turntablist label and come into their own as musicians with the album; Prime Cuts promising varied sounds and a range of big name and unknown vocalists and MCs.

‘We’re not doing a hardcore turntablist album, we’re trying to really concentrate on the music and construct an album that people can sit down and listen to for an hour ‘n’ a half. We’re trying to do something that’s different and maybe a bit unexpected, but something that people can relate to and hopefully strike a chord with a lot of people. I know it’ll be a real mish mash of styles and at the end of the day we come up with some original Scratch Perverts’ music.’

“We’re just trying to make the best music we possibly can, I think people are going to be really, really excited by it.’

Scratch Perverts happen @ The Globe, Canberra, Friday 10th January.
DJ Plus Ones Champion Sounds is out now
More info – www.scratchperverts.com