The Scratch crew had a wee chin wag & felt the best way to get to know the family is for each to chat about one another.. with no further ado let me introduce to you the good people behind ‘Scratch’..

For those of you that don’t know about Scratch let us give you a lil’ insight…started back in the day, June 1996 in sunny Kings X, London. Picture the delights of a seedy club, 450 people squeezed in, a system ramped up with whatever speakers we could beg, borrow & steel. Music & Art on equal plateau from the likes of Mad Skillz, Cash Money, Anti-Pop Consortium – Graff exhibitions from Sharp, VOP, Etch, Fallen Angelz, Mode 2 – B-Boys from Second 2 None, Born 2 Rock & Super8 visuals from Eyecon…Scratch was born busy. Clearly too small & smoky we jumped ship next door as soon as the Scala closed it’s cinema & opened the club…with a proper stage & insane system Scratch@Scala was born. Now we got serious..welcome Eminem, Pharaough Monch, Kool Dj Herc, Afrika Bambaata, Black Eyed Peas, Macy Gray, Saul Williams, Co-Flow, Mix Master Mike, Roots Manuva, Fallacy n Fusion, Ugly Duckling, Big Daddy Kane, Supernatural, Dilated Peoples, Mud Fam, Madlib, Slum Village, Arsonists, Charlie Chase..the art stepped up too, taking over the huge walls of the bar we painted direct on to the brick work with supporting canvases from the likes of Banksy, She One, Shok 1, Req 1, Robbie Bear, 123Klan, Solo One, Chu…HAPPY DAYS. Running alongside London, Lyley ran Scratch Edinburgh with the Swedish Gangster soon to drop Scratch Gothenburg we were clearly ‘INTERNATIONAL’. Shows / tours continued with more heads on board including further live madness from the likes of Jurassic 5, Q-Bert, Public Enemy, Run DMC, Breakestra, Jazzy Jeff, Roxanne Shante, Marley Marl, Lootpack, Quasimoto, Biz Markie…we toured the globe, dropped comps on Rawkus, chatted on Radio, waved on telly and popped up in various trendy mags.

Fast forward nearly 17 years & we’re still here..older, wiser & still up for fresh shit!!…on the journey we’ve hooked up once again with our great friends at B-Side, Wale’s an old skool pal who we hung out with back in the Camden Town days of the mid-90′s..we sold Kangol hats & played with drum machines whilst Wale styled fresh threads for the kool kids. Now we’re delighted to be re-united in some fresh new projects with B-Side’s Creative Director Angelo Carnielo & boss man Wale..firstly our Scratch the “B-SiDE” project..3rd Fridays at Notting Hill Arts Club. This is a supa-fresh ‘future music’ night where we collaborate with new labels such as Five Easy Pieces, One Handed Music, Eglo, Exit, Lex, Ghetto Funk & showcase new live signings…every month we release a 7″ flexi-disc pressed in San Fran & given away exclusively FREE to the first 100 though the door…good looking tunes, great fun night!

Scratch is still rocking Kings X, Camden & Notting Hill and now about to drop an  exhibition with B-side’s Angelo Carnielo at the Londonewcastle Project Space in Redchurch St, Shoreditch from Thursday 6th – Sunday 16^th Dec under the title.. B-Side presents “SCRATCH EXPO 17″.. Scratch from ’96 & beyond. This will be a rare chance to see where we came from & where we’re heading with exclusive pieces presented by Shok 1, She 1, Rough, Inkie, Elph, Many Styles Crew, Etch, Moneyless, Kid Acne, Lyley & many many more..the gallery show will premier a mini-doc of Scratch and have an ongoing soundtrack from a feast of musical guests, photographers & creative heads…drop by & say hi.

Now meet the family…

Lyley.. “let me introduce Matt Smooth..”

Matt smooth aka the smooth operator is the heart and soul of Scratch. In the early days Matt honed his skills organizing local jams, djing and playing drums, mostly to him self in the mirror. His dedication soon paid off and in ’96 Scratch was born in the heart on London’s Kings Cross.  Together with inseparable partner Rob Mac they ducked and dived, doing what ever it took to secure next months sizzling line up. With their vision these now legendary nights show cased a comprehensive who’s who list in the world of hip hop from the US and around the world. As well as running Scratch Matt Smooth and Rob Mac focused their creative talent on producing music in several bands including Speeka and Gum Drop for the likes of the Tru Thoughts & Ultimate Dilemma label. Matt is also a big vinyl head and can be found digging in the crates around London record shops. In addition Matt’s daily routine consists of wearing fine threads, unaware of his status as a London fashion guru nothing gives him more pleasure in the mornings than deciding what combination of t-shirt and trainers to put on. Matt’s worldly wisdom has been enhanced by numerous dj spots around the globe including Mumbai, Vegas, Oz & the British Snowboarding Championships in Switzerland where his remarkable style of snowboarding is a thrill to watch. In all seriousness Matt’s presence alone is enough to give any event a fun fueled injection and without the man there would be no Scratch. Therefore massive respect and props are due for the Scratch luminary that is Matt Smooth for making it all happen.

Matt Smooth.. “over to Richy Pitch“

Richy Pitch is one of the founding daddies behind the Scratch mothership – a true gent & talented git with a history of computer addiction.. Show the man a ZX81 & he’ll rock a beat on that shizz while programming the next Fifa ’13. We go back, I mean right back to Highfield School in the 80′s..arguing over Malcolm McLaren vs Grand Master Flash (he bought the tape & i bought the 12″)..it was a battle even then. Days turned in to years & hobbies turned in to careers..Richy now has an exceptional collection of phat self produced 12′s on NYC’s 7Heads and an awesome Ghanaian inspired album on BBE, later joined the Gorrillaz Soundsystem & the rest is history..BUT he never left us, the Scratch family salutes Ricardo coz without him we’d be far too skinny..with him we’re FAT LARRY..a friend & partner in crime..ROCK THAT SHIT RICH!…damn, nearly forgot his beat-making book soon to drop ’12/’13 ..fresh is the (written) word.

Tomski.. “say hello to Lyley“

Lyley’s an OG Scratch player since ’96 looking after Scratch Edinburgh alongside Ritchie Ruftone (recent runner up in the DMC world finals). A massive vinyl head he’s indulged his passion working in record shops for years as one of the founding members of ’Underground Solushn’ records with shops in Edinburgh and Barcelona. Art, design and music are his forte. These days when he’s not taking care of Scratch design, including all our motion graphics & original Scratch logo, he’s busy working on directing a film about vinyl ‘To Have & To Hold’. Oh and he’s a very tall man.

Richy Pitch.. “all about Tomski”

Tomski is a slightly newer, fresher faced member of the crew and it’s great to have him on board to keep us oldies in line and School us on the Nu School.! We all got to know Tom via his excellent Altered Vibes record label, Mr Smooth and fellow Scratch originator Rob Mac even released some fresh music via the label, under the name ‘Gum Drop’. Tomski has been involved in music for a long time now, starting his career off on Nick Luscombe’s XFM show. He’s now a vital member of the crew, helping to book fresh acts and produce original and exciting live shows for both Scratch and B-Side…something he does on the daily with PD3! Oh and he’s a Badboy DJ too!! Take a bow Tomski!!!

More details on:

Blog - http://scratch96.blogspot.co.uk

Twitter – scratchsince96

Facebook – Scratch EXPO 17 - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Scratch-Expo-17/119933194825210