Hot Air: Episode #6 Peckham Cuts talk to Joe Europe

When you think of cutting dub plates a few scenes might spring to mind. Maybe you’d think of old Jamaican sound system culture, with sound boys cutting their own unique versions of tracks to slay other systems in a sound clash. Or maybe your mind might wander to the halcyon days of jungle with producers cutting their latest tracks to acetate to drop in the club that night. Both of these are very much images of times gone by. So it may come as a surprise that the art of cutting dub plates is alive and well in 2017, and Peckham Cuts is a prime example of this. Dominic Jones runs Peckham Cuts out of a small unit in a shopping arcade just off Rye Lane. The tiny space feels like some kind of mad scientist’s laboratory, cluttered with all sorts of paraphernalia but the centre piece is a Technics record deck and a cutting lathe that he uses to create the magic. I caught up with Dominic to find out about his musical journey and get and intricate low down on the art and science of cutting dubs. Over the years I’ve been lucky enough to interview a lot of exciting, dedicated and switched on people involved in electronic music but I think Dominic has to be one of the most enthusiastic and knowledgeable people I’ve spoken to yet. We go pretty deep into the science in parts so please bear with us, and there’s a picture of Dominic’s set up on the website if you need a reference. This is the hot air podcast with me, Joe Europe, for the Ransom Note.