Mr. Scruff Explained

Mr. Scruff
Background:non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth Name:Andrew Carthy
Birth Date:10 February 1972
Birth Place:Macclesfield, Cheshire, England
Origin:Greater Manchester, England
Years Active:1992–present
Website:www.MrScruff.com

Andrew Carthy (born 10 February 1972),[1] known professionally as Mr. Scruff, is an English record producer and DJ. He lives in Stretford, Greater Manchester and studied fine art at the Psalter Lane campus of Sheffield Hallam University. Before he could make a living from his music alone, he worked as a shelf stocker in the Hazel Grove branch of Kwik Save.[2]

His stage name was inspired by his scruffy facial hair as well as his trademark loose-lined drawing style. He has been DJing since 1992, at first in and around Manchester, then nationwide. He is known for DJing in marathon sets (often exceeding six hours), his eclectic musical taste, his love of a "nice cup of tea," and the quirky home-produced visuals and animations associated with his music. In an interview, he said, "It's about putting a lot of effort in and paying attention to detail. I get annoyed if I don't take risks. I'm very hard on myself."[3]

Career

In his twenties, Mr. Scruff's first 12" vinyl, "Hocus Pocus," was released on the small Manchester-based label Robs Records. Subsequent singles and his first album (Mr. Scruff) followed, released on Robs Records subsidiary Pleasure Music.[4] After a brief spell working with Mark Rae, he moved to the larger Ninja Tune label and subsequently released the albums Keep It Unreal and Trouser Jazz.

His most notable hit, "Get a Move On!", is built around "Bird's Lament (In Memory of Charlie Parker)" by Moondog[5] and has been used in several commercials, ranging from Lincoln and Volvo automobiles to France Télécom and GEICO insurance. The song also samples Shifty Henry's "Hyping Woman Blues" and led to a renewal of interest in Henry's compositions.

In 2004, Mr. Scruff released Keep It Solid Steel Volume 1, the first of what is intended to be a series of several DJ mixed compilation CDs for Ninja Tune's Solid Steel series of artist mixes.[6] These mixes are designed to recreate the eclectic genres one would expect to hear at a Mr. Scruff club night. In November 2006, Ninja Tune confirmed that the eighth Solid Steel record would be mixed by J Rocc and the ninth would be Volume 2 from Mr. Scruff. Other Solid Steel mixes have been released by fellow Ninja Tune artists including The Herbaliser, Hexstatic, DJ Food, and Amon Tobin.

He has a wide array of remixes to his name and has also produced tracks for others – notably "Echo of Quiet and Green" for sometimes-collaborator Niko on her 2004 album Life on Earth. Niko returned the favour by appearing on the track "Come Alive" from the Trouser Jazz album.

Having performed regularly at The Big Chill Festival in Eastnor Castle deer park, Ledbury, Herefordshire, Mr. Scruff was asked in 2006 to select the tracks for the compilation album, Big Chill Classics.[7]

July 2008 saw the release of Southport Weekender Volume 7, a double album released in the Southport Weekender series, recorded in a purpose-built holiday village in Southport, Merseyside. The first disc was mixed by German nu jazz DJs Jazzanova, and the second was mixed by Mr. Scruff, whose contribution is a mix of soul music.[8]

In 2008, a new independent record label, Ninja Tuna, was founded, a collaboration between Mr. Scruff and the Ninja Tune label. Mr. Scruff's most recent singles and the album Ninja Tuna were all released on the new label.[9]

A US-only release of the album on MP3 came with 10 additional tracks from the Ninja Tuna recording sessions, under the title Bonus Bait. A CD version of this supplementary album was released in the UK in February 2009.

On 19 May 2014, Ninja Tuna released Mr. Scruff's fifth studio album, Friendly Bacteria.

Style

Artwork

Mr. Scruff's album and single cover art, music videos, merchandise and his official website are noted for their whimsical cartoonish look; the cartoons are drawn by Mr. Scruff himself in what he calls "potato style." The images and animations are also projected onto large screens during his gigs.Scruff also drew cartoons for music magazines such as Jockey Slut in the 1990s.[10]

Tea

Mr. Scruff began selling tea from a small room at the Manchester club, the Music Box (where he was resident DJ around 2000), with the proceeds going to charity. When he started touring, Mr. Scruff took the enterprise with him and gained a reputation for being the DJ with the teashop. When appearing at festivals, such as Big Chill and WOMAD, tea stalls or tents were erected and were open for the duration of the festivals. Mr. Scruff subsequently started an online tea company, Make Us a Brew, and produced his own range of fair trade teabags which used to be sold in department store chains Selfridges, Waitrose and Booths.[11] His official website still sells branded tea-related paraphernalia including teapots, mugs and tea towels, but the tea is no longer sold as the Make Us a Brew company was dissolved in September 2013.[12]

He was the joint owner (with his manager Gary McClarnan) of Teacup Kitchen, located in Thomas Street, Manchester,[13] though this closed in March 2020 with the first COVID-19 lockdown and never reopened.[14]

Fish

Most of Mr. Scruff's studio albums contain tracks about fish, whales and other sea-life, which cut up recordings of voiceovers from children's stories and nature documentaries to create surreal and silly stories.[15] They began with the track "Sea Mammal" (featuring a sample from Boogie Down Productions' track "Part Time Sucker"), released on the single "Hocus Pocus" (1995).[16] It is also the opening track on Scruff's first album. This was followed by "Wail" (as a homophone for "Whale"), also on his first album. Keep It Unreal (1999) featured the tracks "Shanty Town" and "Fish," the latter of which features samples from the likes of David Attenborough and David Bellamy. The album Trouser Jazz (2002) closes with another cut-up track, "Ahoy There!", noted as featuring an appearance from "Albert Ross" (albatross).

Mr. Scruff has stated that he is unlikely to record any further fish-based cut-up tracks. However, marine references continue in his work, including the track "Shrimp" from Trouser Jazz and the title and cover art of his albums, especially Ninja Tuna (2008) and its companion release, Bonus Bait (2009).

Hot Pot

Mr. Scruff and Treva Whateva (his Ninja Tune label-mate and friend from Stockport) recorded a weekly hour-long radio show (with frequent guest, Jon Hill), some episodes of which can still be found on samurai.fm.

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Mix and compilation albums

Singles

Collaborations

Mr. Scruff has collaborated with:

Several of Mr. Scruff's records also feature guest vocalists and musicians. These include Sneaky (from Fingathing), Roots Manuva, Niko, Braintax, Alice Russell and Danny Breaks.Both Scruff and Roots Manuva have expressed an interest in recording a full album together, though the artists' schedules have prevented this from happening.

Covers by other artists

Song appearances

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://errol.oclc.org/laf/no2007115209.html Mr. Scruff – Linked Authority File
  2. http://www.contactmusic.com/new/home.nsf/webpages/mrscruffx22x09x04 Mr Scruff – No Pies For 200 Yards, Video
  3. Web site: Mr Scruff Interview . Interview . BBC.co.uk (BBC Norfolk) . 12 May 2009.
  4. Web site: About Mr. Scruff . "About" page . Mr. Scruff . 18 February 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170630155707/http://www.mrscruff.com/showscreen.php?site_id=9&screentype=folder&screenid=428 . 30 June 2017 . dead.
  5. Web site: Mr. Scruff – Get A Move On / Ug . Database entry . Discogs . 18 February 2008.
  6. Web site: Keep It Solid Steel Part 1 (album) . Product listing . Mr. Scruff . 18 February 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081228000100/http://www.mrscruff.com/showscreen.php?site_id=9&screentype=folder&screenid=212&shopaction=showproduct&product_id=97&categoryfilter=* . 2008-12-28 . dead.
  7. Web site: Big Chill Classics (album) . Product listing . Mr. Scruff . 18 February 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170630154716/http://www.mrscruff.com/showscreen.php?site_id=9&screentype=folder&screenid=212&shopaction=showproduct&product_id=27&categoryfilter=6 . 30 June 2017 . dead.
  8. Web site: Mr. Scruff – He Wants Your Soul . Music article . three d world . 12 August 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080801232256/http://www.threedworld.com.au/content/view/6343/58/ . 1 August 2008.
  9. Web site: Mr. Scruff: Ninja Tuna . Catalogue entry . Ninja Tune . 12 May 2009.
  10. Web site: Mr. Scruff Official Forum . Forum thread: "Tell me about your cartoons" . Mr. Scruff . 18 February 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111007102208/http://www.fantactics.co.uk/showscreen.php?site_id=9&screentype=folder&screenid=431&forumaction=showposts&forum_id=38&topic_id=466 . 7 October 2011.
  11. Web site: Mr Scruff Interview . McKeever . Gerry . 25 November 2008 . The Sunday Mail . Reach plc . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081227030209/http://blogs.sundaymail.co.uk/adriftintheabnormal/2008/11/mr-scruff-interview.html . 27 December 2008 . 11 December 2008 .
  12. Web site: Make Us a Brew Tea Company Limited . companieshouse.gov.uk . 7 July 2017.
  13. http://www.visitmanchester.com/what-to-do/caf%C3%A9/MAN-101111_teacupkitchen Teacup Kitchen
  14. Web site: Northern Quarter cafe vanishes after a decade in Manchester . . 23 Feb 2021 . 20 Aug 2023.
  15. Web site: More cuddly tunes from Manchester's favourite fishmonger . Editors Review: Mr. Scruff – Trouser Jazz . BBC.co.uk Collective . 18 February 2008.
  16. Web site: Mr. Scruff . Biography . eMusic Europe . 17 December 2008.
  17. Woo, Rob. "Return of Mr. Scruff", Exclaim!, December 2008.
  18. Book: Roberts, David . 2006 . . 19th . Guinness World Records Limited . London . 1-904994-10-5 . 371.
  19. Web site: Desert Island Discs: Victoria Wood . Radio show . BBC.co.uk (Radio 4) . 15 December 2009.

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