Skratch Bastid, real name Paul Murphy, has lived in Toronto for two years, but it still feels like the Haligonian has never left. With a slew of shows in the city every year, it's apparent that the Halifax DJ prodigy will always have one foot in the east coast, even when playing shows around the country.
"There have been some people who have been coming to my shows for 10 years now, so I have pretty loyal fans," says Murphy.
But after 10 years, sometimes things can get a little stale playing the old wheels of steel, which is why a change was needed when Murphy arrived in Toronto. "When I moved down here I wanted to start having concept shows to do something different with DJing, like a collaborative DJ experience where I could do something different than just playing music for the crowd...something unique."
January 23 marks the first Halifax appearance of Scratch, Skratch, Scratch at the Paragon as part of its inaugural TRNTBLSM Festival (Kid Koala plays Friday night). The hip-hop supergroup was formed in an effort to create an improvisational experience with DJ Starting from Scratch and beat-boxer Scratch (ex-The Roots). The oddball side project has already proven itself in other cities to be one of the more progressive DJ performances.
"It's pretty spontaneous and only partly rehearsed," says Murphy of the ever-evolving showcase. He points toward the inherent nature of the DJ---play songs to excite the crowd, guide the dance floor--- as one of the reasons for the collaboration between the performers and fans. In doing so, the act takes on a remarkably jazz-like style of improv, adding new dimensions to the standard DJ appearance.
"If someone shouts a song, you never know, you might hear it," Murphy laughs. "That's the fun thing about it. You never know what's next and neither do we."