Paths of Rhythm (Formerly Once A DJ)

Remote CTRL
  • 4.5 (8)
  • Music Interviews
  • Updated Biweekly

Paths of Rhythm is a conversation series about the journey a life in music takes you on. Hip hop is the starting point for a lot of these conversations, but the show ranges across house, drum and bass, radio and more — and it's not just DJs. Hosted by Adam Gow, each episode talks to DJs, writers, photographers and sound engineers about their passion for music and where it's taken them. Guests have included Carl Loben (Mixmag), Photographer Eddie Otchere, DJ Rap, Rob Da Bank, House Shoes, Cutmaster Swift and many more.

  1. Jul 16

    Scotty Hard on engineering for De La Soul, Gravediggers and more

    Paths of Rhythm is a Remote-CTRL production. If you're looking for audio or video production, then check out https://remote-ctrl.co.uk to see how they can help. Other ways to support the show Follow the show on Spotify or Apple PodcastsAny feedback or questions? Hit up https://www.instagram.com/pathsofrhythmpodcast/ This week I'm sitting down with a guy whose name might not be as famous as the records he made, but whose fingerprints are all over some of the most important hip hop of the last 35 years: Scotty Hard. Scotty grew up in Vancouver on a diet of classical guitar, jazz camp and free jazz shows, then fell hard for punk, no wave and the Ornette Coleman school of harmolodic funk before Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions convinced him New York was the only place left to go. He landed at Calliope Studios — the 24-hour home base for the Native Tongues, De La Soul, Stetsasonic and Queen Latifah — with almost no formal engineering training, learning by the skin of his teeth on sessions that ranged from editing Tone Loc's mink-coat 900-number ad to filling in on De La Soul Is Dead when the regular engineer didn't show. That one shift turned into a decades-long run with Prince Paul, which led him into the orbit of Gravediggaz, RZA and the Wu-Tang Forever sessions, New Kingdom, the Stereo MCs and PM Dawn. We talk about how he found his footing as the guy trusted to give creative input rather than just push faders, the eleven-minute Lisa Stansfield remix that became bigger than anyone in the room expected, and mixing the second Gravediggaz record and Wu-Tang Forever in neighbouring rooms at the same time — including the day RZA walked in and asked him what exactly he was doing in there. We also spend a good chunk of the conversation on his long, deeply loyal relationship with Ka, one of the most singular and uncompromising voices in hip hop, and on the accident that left Scotty with a spinal cord injury and how he's kept making some of the best music of his career since. We close out talking about his new record with Steven Bernstein, Ultra Resonance / Resonation Trio, which takes the hip hop chop-and-flip approach and applies it to acoustic jazz. This is a long one and every minute of it is worth your time. Topics covered: Growing up in Vancouver: classical guitar, jazz camp, and opening for Ornette ColemanThe no wave and punk funk scenes that pulled him toward New YorkLanding at Calliope Studios and learning to engineer with zero formal trainingHis first-ever session: editing 2-inch tape for a Tone Loc adGetting the call to fill in on De La Soul Is Dead and starting his run with Prince PaulMaking beats on the SP12 and S900 synced to 24-track tapeKnowing when to offer a creative opinion and when to just be the engineerThe Lisa Stansfield "Been Around the World" remix that blew up bigger than anyone predictedNew Kingdom and being "too ahead of its time"How Gravediggaz came together and meeting RZAMixing the second Gravediggaz record and Wu-Tang Forever at the same time in LAWhat actually made Gravediggaz sound so dark and eerieThe challenge of mixing records you didn't record yourselfHis parallel life in jazz: Teo Macero, Medeski Martin & Wood, and Sex MobWorking with Ka on Days with Dr. Yen Lo and why Ka refused to compromise his artRemembering Ka and the Legacy Open Studio celebration of his lifeHis car accident, his spinal cord injury, and adapting his life and work around itSurprising mic choices that worked for rappers who didn't have "perfect" voicesHis one piece of outboard gear he'd tell any beatmaker to buyHis new album, Ultra Resonance / Resonation Trio with Steven Bernstein

    Scotty Hard on engineering for De La Soul, Gravediggers and more

  2. Jul 2

    KnowleDJ on Vegas, Touring with pop stars, the power of the mic and more

    Paths of Rhythm is a Remote-CTRL production. If you're looking for audio or video production, then check out https://remote-ctrl.co.uk to see how they can help. Other ways to support the show Follow the show on Spotify or Apple PodcastsAny feedback or questions? Hit up https://www.instagram.com/pathsofrhythmpodcast/ This week I'm joined by KnowleDJ — and this is a slightly different one for the show. He's the first Canadian I've had on since about episode two, and he's built a career that doesn't really look like anyone else's. He grew up in Kelowna, a small city in British Columbia, started out as a hip hop promoter to pay his tuition, and got talked into DJing by a club owner who wanted him to do college nights. He was a "hip hopper for life" who couldn't stand the idea of playing anything else — until the money, and then the music, changed his mind. From there it's cruise ships playing to wildly diverse crowds, an economics degree feeding into how he thinks about the whole game, and eventually opening for the Backstreet Boys, Ice Cube and Ariana Grande, and running the after-parties for No Doubt's Sphere residency. What I really wanted to get into was the thinking underneath all of that. We talk about cultural deference and why you have to prove you've done the digging before a crowd trusts you. We get into ADHD, diet and the idea of conscientiousness as a cheat code. He walks me through the worst gig of his life — a Vegas set he says was sabotaged, which blacklisted him for years — and the fate-tipping opportunities that came after. There's a genuinely moving stretch about Fat Man Scoop, who mentored him and passed away the very night Knowledge told him he'd played "Be Faithful." And we finish on the economics of it all: why he built himself a "category of one," what blue ocean strategy and ikigai have to do with DJing, and why, with his book The DJ Diaries on the way, he still believes music is the answer. In this episode we get into: Growing up in Kelowna and going from hip hop promoter to open-format DJReading diverse crowds on the cruise ships, and learning that people hear music differentlyShowing cultural deference — proving you've dug deep before a crowd trusts youRebuilding the No Doubt set from scratch, and the real story behind "Don't Speak"ADHD, diet, and conscientiousness as a cheat code (the OCEAN model)The brain science of doing hard things, and telling yourself a realistic storyLearning the mic, the art of the warm-up, and getting over stage frightThe worst gig of his life and being blacklisted in VegasOpening for Ariana Grande, Backstreet Boys and Ice Cube — and reading GA crowdsFat Man Scoop's quiet, huge influence on hip hop — and a tragic full-circle momentThe economics of DJing: supply and demand, a "category of one," blue ocean strategy and ikigaiThe DJ Diaries, what's next, and the idea of the "otrovert"

    KnowleDJ on Vegas, Touring with pop stars, the power of the mic and more

  3. Jun 18 ·  Bonus

    Reissue: DJ Nu-Mark (episode 34)

    I thought I'd re-publish this one for any of the heads who missed it first time round. He doesn't really need an introduction round here — one half of the production team behind Jurassic 5, and honestly one of the best DJs I've ever seen live. I got Nu-Mark on to talk about his new book Amunu, which is part Persian cookbook, part memoir, part travel guide, and really a celebration of togetherness — family, food and music all woven together. What I love is how much ground we covered getting there. He told me about the mum who raised him with total freedom (and who, 24 years ago, told him to start making Middle Eastern beats — advice he's only just taken), about growing up half-Iranian in the States during the hostage crisis, and about buying 20,000 records for $500 as a teenager, a haul that ended up powering 85–90% of those early J5 productions. We got deep into the group: how it became Jurassic 5 when there were six of them, why he refused the single deal that everyone else signed, the fact that the UK recognised them before the US would, and the whole first EP being made on an eight-track. He's wonderfully honest about confidence too — something he says he's still working on — and about losing his father, and how it was putting his dad's old records on that finally let him cry. We finish on Lesson 6, two record collections meant to meet, and the kebabs-on-site book launch in LA. A proper one, this. In this episode: His mum, Nowruz, and the Middle Eastern beats advice he ignored for 24 yearsGrowing up half-Iranian during the Iran hostage crisisThe alphabetised 35,000-record collection (and the $500 haul of 20,000 records that built J5)Making peace with a tough upbringing, and music as therapyLosing his father, and the records that brought it outDrumming, Brazilian rhythm, and house parties that ended on slow jamsBum Rush Productions, $2 on the door and the 40 ounce posseWhy it's Jurassic 5 when there were six of themTurning down the Blunt single deal — and signing Kanye at Correct RecordsThe chemistry with Cut Chemist, and the art-first philosophyBreaking in the UK before the US, and touring like a rock bandRetaining the publishing, the long life of "What's Golden", and a surprise Pandora hitThe whole first EP made on an eight-trackThe Interscope era alongside Dre, Eminem and 50 Cent, and the Scott Storch sessionsGoing solo with the toy set, and building his own ecosystemHow Amunu came together — and the LA launch

    Reissue: DJ Nu-Mark (episode 34)

  4. Jun 11

    Cut Chemist: The deepest of deep dives

    Cut Chemist has been on my list since the day I started this podcast, so getting him on for Episode 85 was a real full-circle moment. He's someone whose records genuinely shaped how I dig and how I think about putting samples together, and across this conversation he traces the whole arc — from kicking along to a Bobby Darin concert in the womb, to a McDonald's straw on a snare drum, to Star Wars soundtracks, to the moment hip hop landed for him in 1983. We get deep into the Hollywood scene that raised him, the Rhino Records parking-lot quarter bins where he and his friends amassed beats nobody had touched, and the Jungle Brothers album that made him realise he could make "a record made out of records." From Unity Committee into Jurassic 5, sharing the production chair with Nu-Mark, the all-45s leap into Brain Freeze with DJ Shadow, the solo tightrope of The Audience's Listening, and right up to his candlelit listening parties now — this one's a masterclass in following the unfamiliar. It's long, it's nerdy in all the right places, and I couldn't have asked for more from a guest who's influenced me this much. In this episode we cover: His earliest musical memories — parents, live drums, Carpenters and a deep sci-fi soundtrack obsessionDiscovering hip hop in 1983 via KDAY, breakdancing, graffiti and the elements one at a timePublic Enemy, Bomb Squad and why Main Source is his production templateThe Jungle Brothers album that turned him into a samplerLearning gear the hard way — reel-to-reel, Roland S10, MPC, the Pro Tools learning curveForming Jurassic 5 out of Unity Committee, and the east-coast heart in a west-coast cityPre-internet sample sleuthing and the legendary Rhino Records quarter binsFirst DJ gigs at 15, learning to cut, and the up-and-down fader style that became his ownQbert and the 1996 X-Men vs Scratch Pickles battleA digging philosophy: is the juice worth the squeeze?Sharing production with Nu-Mark, building Lesson 6, and breaking in Europe with Mr FormatThe Rare Equations mix, the Number Song remix and the all-45s origins of Brain FreezeOzomatli, Brazilian and African digging, and constructing a set like a compositionThe Audience's Listening at 20, The Garden in Brazil, and the Italy trip that changed everythingThe Good Life Cafe education and record shopping with Biz MarkieStable Sound, the Bandcamp subscription, and his candlelit psychedelic sound bathsOn Keb Darge, on Edan, and the Expert of None shows coming next

    Cut Chemist: The deepest of deep dives

  5. May 20

    Eddie Otchere - The Spirit Behind The Lens

    Paths of Rhythm is a Remote-CTRL production. If you're looking for audio or video production, then check out https://remote-ctrl.co.uk to see how they can help. Other ways to support the show Follow the show on Spotify or Apple PodcastsAny feedback or questions? Hit up https://www.instagram.com/pathsofrhythmpodcast/ This week I'm joined by Eddie Otchere — a name that might be new to some, but his work absolutely won't be. Eddie is the photographer behind some of the most iconic images of 90s hip hop, jungle and drum & bass, garage and grime. He was Metalheadz's official photographer, shot Wu-Tang Clan, Aaliyah, Biggie, Jay-Z, So Solid Crew, Estelle, Chronixx, and pretty much every rapper you cared about coming up. His work is currently exhibited at the V&A East, and he's spent the last 30 years documenting London's black music and dance culture. Eddie grew up in Brixton, Stockwell and Vauxhall, falling into record collecting at Groove Records in Soho when he was so small he couldn't see over the counter. He picked up his first camera in the late 80s — a Praktika left behind by a friend's granddad — and went on to build one of the most important visual archives of UK club culture. This is a long, deep, wide-ranging conversation, and one I came away from genuinely feeling like I'd learned something. I hope you do too. Topics covered: Growing up in South London and the village mentality of the areaEarly days at Groove Records, Red Records, Dub Vendor and the record shops of SohoGetting online in the mid-90s via Direct Connection in Stockwell — and how hip hop became the global languagePicking up a Praktika camera and falling into photography alongside record collectingWhy being analog matters in a "post-fact" world of remastered records and retconned historyThe Canon EOS 10 and learning to shoot in pitch-black clubsShooting jungle raves, Metalheadz, and protecting young people from tabloid demonisationHow Red Bull, smoking bans and changing crowd behaviour shifted the look and feel of clubsThe art of the loop — Alchemist, Dilla, No I.D. and chasing perfect samplesWorking with Wu-Tang as teenagers and learning to build a body of workPhotographing Aaliyah, Biggie, Jay-Z, Estelle and ChronixxAround the early days of grime and why he gravitated toward So Solid in South LondonDrum & bass being run by women, and the importance of Chemistry and StormThe General Levy "cancellation", gatekeeping, and protecting a cultureThe V&A East exhibition and the tension between DIY scenes and academic curationLee Scratch Perry, dub museums, and what music history should look likeMeta glasses, AI as a personal agent, and digital asset management for photographersHis advice for new photographers: intention is everything

    Eddie Otchere - The Spirit Behind The Lens

  6. Apr 30

    DJ Mag's Carl Loben: "Everyone had to leave their DMs at the door" — 2 Tone and beyond

    Paths of Rhythm is a Remote-CTRL production. If you're looking for audio or video production, then check out https://remote-ctrl.co.uk to see how they can help. Other ways to support the show Follow the show on Spotify or Apple PodcastsAny feedback or questions? Hit up https://www.instagram.com/pathsofrhythmpodcast/ This week I'm joined by Carl Loben, Editor-in-Chief of DJ Mag and a man who's spent more than three decades chronicling dance music — from blagging his way into gigs as a freelance writer for Melody Maker in the early 90s, to running DJ Mag for the last decade. I wanted to sit down with Carl because he's seen the whole arc from a vantage point most people haven't: Two Tone gigs at Hammersmith Odeon (where everyone had to leave their DMs at the door), an acid house epiphany at Glastonbury, the drum & bass evangelism that defined his 90s, and a publishing career that's covered the rise of the superstar DJ, the bottle-service era and the digital revolution from the front row. We get into Carl's own DJing journey — the false start, the freestyle rooms in Hackney, the international gigs that came with the editor's chair — and the labels he's built along the way: Westway with Barry Ashworth from the Dub Pistols, and Jack Said What with Irvine Welsh and Steve Mac (the underground house Steve Mac, not the pop one — there's a great story in there). He's also really frank about the shifting cultural landscape: the whitewashing he and Ben Murphy set out to address with their book Renegade Snares, the wellbeing reckoning that's reshaping what DJ life looks like, and the sea-of-phones problem that's quietly killing the dancefloor. In this episode we cover: Growing up between Beatles, Buddy Holly and Two Tone, and his first gig at 13 (Madness, Hammersmith Odeon)His acid house epiphany at Glastonbury and the unsung heroes the history books missedThe Hackney freestyle rooms, becoming a drum & bass DJ, and almost painting himself into a cornerBlagging his first reviews for Melody Maker and what life was like as a 90s freelance music journoWhy Melody Maker went down the toilet and how he ended up at DJ Mag full timeInternational gigs in Brazil, Ecuador, Poland and China — and learning why touring DJs burn outThe cult of the superstar DJ and the hangover from rock and rollWestway Records, Jack Said What, and the realities of running a label after the vinyl crashRenegade Snares, the whitewashing of drum & bass, and the genre's reckoning with diversityWhy digital was a blessing and a curse, and what happens when 20,000 tracks a day hit SpotifyThe wellness shift, the sea of phones, and his advice for new DJs trying to break through

    DJ Mag's Carl Loben: "Everyone had to leave their DMs at the door" — 2 Tone and beyond

  7. Apr 16

    "We were limited to 30 minutes of funk" - how Debo established a worldwide funk and boogie brand

    Paths of Rhythm is a Remote-CTRL production. If you're looking for audio or video production, then check out https://remote-ctrl.co.uk to see how they can help. Other ways to support the show Follow the show on Spotify or Apple PodcastsAny feedback or questions? Hit up https://www.instagram.com/pathsofrhythmpodcast/ This week we're heading to the West Coast to sit down with Debo (Ivan) — the man behind Funk Freaks, one of the most authentic funk communities operating anywhere in the world right now. Born and raised on the west side of Costa Mesa in Orange County, California, Debo's story is one of music as lifeline. From breaking a needle on a Sesame Street turntable at five years old, to getting his hands on a beat-up pair of mismatched Technics at age 12 — after his older brother borrowed them from a friend who was heading to prison — to teaching himself to mix at 4am before school every day for six months straight. The obsession was always there. We talk about what makes Orange County's relationship with 80s boogie and funk so deep-rooted and distinct from LA, the lowrider culture that kept this music alive for generations, and how Funk Freaks went from backyard boogies and house parties to a nine-year residency at the legendary OG Mics in Santa Ana — and eventually to chapters across Europe, South America and beyond. Debo also opens up about the blood, sweat and tears it took to break the stigma of "cholo music" in bars and clubs, his year living in Barcelona, touring European funk bars with nothing but a tourist visa and a crate of records, and how all of that led to opening the record shop and launching the Funk Freaks label. A genuinely inspiring conversation about community, culture, creativity and the power of music to change the direction of a life. In this episode: Growing up on the west side of Costa Mesa and how the environment shaped him Learning to DJ on a borrowed mismatched pair of Technics and a busted crossfader The Stanton DJ-in-a-Box moment and the mother who matched his first paycheck The Beat Junkies influence and applying hip hop technique to funk records Backyard boogies, house parties and the stigma of "cholo music" in venues OG Mics — the Santa Ana residency that became the capital of funk in Southern California Living in Barcelona, buying Euro funk pressings for cents and building the international network How the Funk Freaks chapters work (think: graffiti crew ethics applied to record collecting) Digging road trips from New Orleans to New York to Baltimore and why California is slim pickings now The Funk Freaks record label — limited pressings, DJ tools, and the story behind the Colors movie recreation Why there's no such thing as overpaying for a record that means something to you What the DJ's job actually is — and why Europe gets it right Links: Funk Freaks Instagram: @funkfreaks Remote Control (production): http://www.remote-ctrl.co.uk

    "We were limited to 30 minutes of funk" - how Debo established a worldwide funk and boogie brand

  8. Apr 3 ·  Bonus

    Throwback Episode: DANNY DANN BEAT MANN (RIP)

    The Bronx legend responsible for Dusty Fingers and Schoolyard Breaks, a true scholar, a man with some great stories, Danny Dann Beat Mann, rest in peace. He was a north start for me from day 1 so it was great to get him on the show. RIP a true king of digging.

    Throwback Episode: DANNY DANN BEAT MANN (RIP)
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Ratings & Reviews

4.5
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

Paths of Rhythm is a conversation series about the journey a life in music takes you on. Hip hop is the starting point for a lot of these conversations, but the show ranges across house, drum and bass, radio and more — and it's not just DJs. Hosted by Adam Gow, each episode talks to DJs, writers, photographers and sound engineers about their passion for music and where it's taken them. Guests have included Carl Loben (Mixmag), Photographer Eddie Otchere, DJ Rap, Rob Da Bank, House Shoes, Cutmaster Swift and many more.

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