Dizmack is the paradox that is me
On a typical cold English January afternoon. I met Dizzy or Dizmack, in number 62 barber shop on Gold Street, Northampton town centre. After getting his trim (by Lawerence the barber WHO I AM NOT! RELATED TO) Sorry I have to address this, stop coming up to me asking me if your trim looks ok on nights out I’m just gunna say it’s dead! Anyway…… Dizzy took me and my friend/photographer, Latrice to a studio not too far from the barber shop. IN Spiral Studios is a work in progress but lot of the work has already been done by the owner, @big_lz12 (instagram) It is nice to see a studio of such quality being built in Northampton.
After we settled in everyone was fully relaxed, puff puff pass if you will.
Recently voted BBC Northamptonshire’s one to watch 2018.
Dizzy made everyone feel at home and plays a great host. He has that welcoming aura about him that makes him easy to talk to.
I started the interview in simplest way possible.
WHO IS DIZMACK??
Diz Mack: Dizmack is the paradox that is me.
Bit of a street kid reformed, quite smart and it works with music.
Diz Mack comes from Designer Kid because I liked my labels as kid.
Mandem know me from the road that’s it really. When I was first coming up there were no real mc’s, I mean you had juiceman and a couple other drum and bass mcs but that was it really.
Then you had the mandem, lickle j, Hussla, myself and a few others so that’s just the come up really.
Misfit: ok cool, so you have this new EP out – Spectrum. Tell me the thought process and journey behind that.
“IVE ALWAYS BEEN A CONSCIOUS ARTIST”
Dizmack: it’s been a mad ting, so I have Aspergers, I’m on the Autistic spectrum. Spectrums is like two songs stretched over six. So you got Naughty, Say no more and the tune with Izzie, DNA. They are like your bouncy gritty side, where I talk about what I used to do what I used to be involved with.
Then you have Space, How About That and Train of Thought (feat George Foster). That is a real mad one, I was having an autistic day and I had another tune that was on the Naughty kind of vibe. So I wrote this song with my producer, Zak the Lad and for like 6/7 months it had no hook. Then Zak spoke with Jamel Edwards from SBTV and I got a message one day, like check this. It was the hook for the song, George Fosters vocals fit perfectly. So we went got the video for that shot in Copenhagen and boom.
The craziest thing about Spectrum is that it dropped it on the 29th December the 19th anniversary of my Granddad’s passing and two weeks after my Grandma’s passing. So it’s got a lot of meaning, this release.
Spectrum came about from depression. I’ve been doing music on and off for 20 Years! But I was never happy with what I was doing or putting out. The sound quality or content, to me, they just sounded like really good demos.
So I locked myself away in the yard, depressed. Meditating just doing me and then I found Acupuncture, so I decided I’m going to take this music thing seriously.
While I study and get this side of my life sorted, I’m going to get this music thing popping.
“Depression is where therapy came from”
Misfit: So you mentioned depression talk to me about that as someone who suffers with depression myself, I’d love to know the process you have dealing with it and how it helps you create music?
Dizmack: While being depressed, I wrote therapy it was like a twenty minute verse broke down into four parts.
Part one and two are out on SBTV.
Dizmack: I sat on a video on for the first part for about a year before I released it. Its mad suffering with aspergers, depression and anxiety, I can go on a rollercoaster of emotions that can help my music with the way I put (it) together, the way my mind works.
Misfit: you mentioned acupuncture tell me about that.
Dizmack: I’m on my way to becoming a doctor, I am a qualified acupuncturist. Once I have finished this third year of study the next step is my doctorate.
Its like on the label I am the weird geeky one. You got Narstie for the gas, Izzie is the young one, Tremz created the scouse trap sound and the Twinz on their stuff. It’s like I came from a world with family members who were addicts like serious addicts but that’s a part of life. I’ve always been smart but growing up it wasn’t cool to be a smart kid. I have to use all of this to better myself, its like with acupuncture the better I become at music, I can’t change being on the spectrum, I have this for life I just have to use it in a positive way.
“Because its country we never got our recognition”
Misfit: I want to get your views on the scene and where does Northampton stand in all of it. We have yourself, Izzie is making waves and set to have a huge year. Rawza is doing his thing, building his base and you have a few others like J kaz creating a buzz. There are also singers like Jamie Benkert doing stuff on the pop side of things. Let me not forget Slow Thai.
When we were younger there was never really any buzz about Northampton I mean if you were about you knew we had Military Mindz, Section 3 and Jah Troopaz to name just a few. Now it seems the rest of the UK is starting to pay attention.
Dizmack: Because it’s country, we never got our recognition, we never had bad boy studios, we only have that now because mandem are building them. The levels of the younger guys you mentioned like Rawza and Izzie, the levels are way high. It’s nice to see because Izzie is family, at 21 he’s able to do music as his job, got shut down shows, be on big boy stages and rep the town. Slowly but surely it’s getting there but we still don’t have the open mic nights etc.
Its hard to build your fanbase at home.
Misfit: Why?
Dizmack: everyone who would support you is doing the same thing as you. I noticed no one really paid attention to me until I got the co-sign from BIG Narstie, then people started to pay attention to me.
Northampton doesn’t tend to follow, look at Illy, his levels are way higher than the town recognises.
Misfit: Do you think you guys will be the ones to bring Northampton to forefront?
Dizmack: that’s Izzie, he’s the one that will put us on the map, grime, urban or whatever you want to call it. Izzie has everything in the palm of his hand and his work rate will get him there.
Misfit: I want to move to something I was reading last night. Michal Dapaah has upset members of 6’7. They feel he’s made a joke of the drill scene now. My question is where do you think we are currently with how music is put out, is it about quality and pride in your work or about making money?
Dizmack: Its hard to find the balance now. Being on a label now, doing things seriously its hard to keep your artistic integrity and also provide and sound or a project to put out for the public.
I see it myself now going to perform shows I know certain things won’t work in certain places. I’ll say myself I am lyricist, when I go out I wouldn’t want to listen to me, I’d want to listen to your Giggs’ or 6’7’s of the world.
It is all on social media now, you could buss a joke and be an over night sensation. I get it when people are frustrated but he has never said this he is a rapper he said that he is a comedian, he’s not going to be dropping mixtapes and albums.
Misfit: What is your 2018 looking like?
Dizmack: I have my next project to come out 357. 357 is the acupuncture formula for emotions. I was going to call Spectrum 357 but with the way Spectrum was coming together, I decided to have this one called 357. It has more of a melodic vibe to it. I was supposed to put out Spectrum in August.
That went a bit left, my granny being ill, going into hospital the day my pre-order went out. Doing shows coming back from the shows straight to the hospital. The whole process of getting Spectrum has been a full range of the spectrum emotions wise. I have a lot of content to put out this year so stay locked in and watch what’s coming next.
Misfit: What is like being apart of Dice Recordings, do you feel like you can get to the next level?
Dizmack: Most definitely but they’ve always been my people from day, so its more a family more than anything. For example, I put out Space last year for a free download on SoundCloud and Narsite heard it and told me take it off that’s a single for the EP, so its little things like that I wouldn’t have done before learning from Narstie and developing my sound, I feel like I am getting somewhere now.
We were then interrupted by the arrival of the Naughty North twins, who introduced me to the sweetest smelling tangerine bud. I had a brief conversation with them about a passion they have for bikes. A culture that is growing up and down the country within ‘Urban’ communities.
After sitting down and speaking to Diz it makes me smile writing this, that someone I have been saying for years and years is a genius lyrically is now getting the recognition and exposure he deserves.
If you want to find out more about Dizmack follow him on Instagram
@dizmack
Spectrum is available on Spotify and Apple Music
All visuals curtesy of @latrice_vgrant on instagram go check him out
My next blog will be something different the title is
girlfriends come and go but your barber is forever.
Stay tuned please comment, like and share.
Peace Love and Soul
Misfit
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