The name A.Skillz is usually associated with the name Krafty Kuts, understandbly so because it was through his work with Krafty on the highly acclaimed party hip hop/uptempo beats album that we've come to know the 22 year old's fascination with funk laden b-boy grooves. Not only that but their remixes of artists like Fort Knox 5, Afrika Bambaataa have earnt the pair kudos with the hip hop and breakbeat crowds and have featured on many a dancefloor around the globe.

Lately however, Adam A.Skillz has been making a name for himself playing headline gigs around the world and stunning the crowds with his selection of party infused hip hop with technically brilliant turntablist tricks to boot. His recent release for Fingerlickin' sees him take the funkiest sounds from the label - classic tunes pulled from the FLR vaults, upfront tunes and a couple of exclusive remixes from the Trickatechnology album - all mixed into one neat little package called Freshtraxxx. RA caught up with A.Skillz to chat about the album.

- What projects have you been up to recently?
I’ve put out my recent single on the Insane Bangers series, Money Banger/Hot Dogg. I’ve also been doing a remix of a Fatboy Slim tune with Krafty Kuts and of course I’ve been doing a load of gigs off the Freshtraxx CD which incorporated a tour in America and Canada - loads of stuff really! I've also been involved in moving my studio sticking bits of foam on the wall. I'm also in the process of compiling and mixing Export 2 which will be the follow up to the Drumattic Twins CD. The idea behind it is that it's a Fingerlickin' compilation that isn't exclusive to Fingerlickin' tracks.

- We tend tio associate your name with Krafty Kuts. Is there a notable difference in your sounds?
It's funny you should say that because Krafty came around yesterday to help with the Export 2 compilation that I’ve done and he said that I've found my own sound. Krafty is more of a breakbeat head whereas I’m more of a hip hop head - the Trickatechnology album was more suited to my sound.

- Freshtraxx has a snowboarding theme associated with it. Have you been able to do much snowboarding while touring the album?
A little bit. When I played Snowbombing in Austria, I went skiing rather than snowboarding. Justin from Soul Of Man is really tight with the Freshtraxxx crew and the album was something he had an idea to use as a sound track to the slopes. Did some snowboarding last year - I loved it! I started off as a beginner and I hope to progress to the next level and get off the baby slopes.

- Do you think the art of sampling is now a forgotten one that people have come to use many of the same samples over again?
Yeah, it does seem like it. If you listen to chart music nowadays, the tunes that were once cool to sample now get completely regurgitated into so many things - pop, R&B, hip hop etc. I think people are getting lazy and they're just buying pre-packaged funk compilations and re-sampling the same things.

- Fingerlickin is constantly chaning it’s label output to suit the trends in breaks, do you still feel that there is space in Fingerlickin for the Fingerlickin Funk sound?
Ummm that's a weird one! It seems like I’m the only one on the label doing what I’m doing. Jem who is the other half of Soul Of Man pushed for the Fingerlickin Funk stuff to be a side label and make it separate from the traditional Fingerlickin' sound.

- Do you record for other labels other than Fingerlickin?
Not really, I'm exclusively signed to FLR. All my original material is released on FLR but I tend to swap remixes with mates on other labels.

- It’s already been 3 years since Tricka Technology, when can we expect another album from you and Krafty?
I'm not currently working on another album with Krafty - he's been working on his own album. Mine is a bit behind but I'm midway through finishing it, and I've been doing that whilst doing other projects like Export 2.

- Where do you draw inspiration from when writing tunes?
I listen to a lot of other producers that go back to older funk stuff - Fort Knox 5, Flow Dynamics, All Good Funk Alliance. All the soul stuff, Tower Of Power, Parliament, James Brown, Earth, Wind & Fire, Stevie wonder - all these people have inpirsed me to make the music that I do.

- Do you have any favourite tunes from the album?
Some of the tunes are not new tunes, some are really old. I do like the Plump DJs "Funk Hits The Fan", and the Osmosis tune. I put the mix together with Justin from Soul Of Man and I hadn’t even gotten some of these tunes until I did the album. We got together and tried to put down the funkiest stuff from Fingerlickin' but if I had to choose, I’d say my favourite would be the Drummatic Twins - Mind The Gap.

- Top 5
- Insane Bangers - Money Banger/Hot Dogg
- Fort Knox 5 – Slick Chubb
- All Good Funk Alliance – Super Jamm Flow Dynamics remix
- Ali B vs Jungle Bros – Beats On A String
- Plump DJs – Funk Hits The Fan (A.Skillz remix)

FingerLickin' presents Freshtraxxx is out now on Inertia Recordings.

A Skillz Australian tour dates
Thursday 13th Apr - Crown and Sceptre, Adelaide

Friday 14th Apr - 33 1/3, Esplanade Hotel, Melbourne

Saturday 15th Apr - Fuzzy's 360, Hordern, Sydney

Sunday 16th Apr - Monastery, Brisbane