Head-honcho at Eglo Records Alexander Nut kindly took some time out of his busy schedule to chat to us about his first CDR experiences, reflect back over Elgo's growth the past six years, and to hear what vinyl he has been stockpiling for Croatia. CDR will be chatting further with Alex in the Knowledge Arena at Dimensions Festival next week.

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‍Rinse show keeping well? How long's that now been? 6yrs? 7 even? How does radio support/aid you as a DJ and with Eglo?

Yeah the show is doing great, I'm into my 8th year on Rinse now, it's crazy! Time sure flys by. My Rinse CD came out in 09 but I'd already been doing the show for a couple years before that. For me Radio, Dj'ing and running the labels are all intertwined, mainly because it's what I'm passionate about and it's what I spend the majority of my life doing, but also because, it was thru doing the show that I came into contact with all the guys who started out on Eglo. Which has developed into something great. Radio is obviously a great place for breaking new tunes... and running the label enables you to put of the new music that really inspires and excites you.. which means having some nice dubs! Which your responsible for cutting!

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When Eglo came to be back in '09, did you dream of releasing tracks by our elders Kaidi and Dego? Or headlining festival main stages and boat parties? Is this normal now?

In 09 I had no idea that we would be doing so much amazing stuff, working with the people who laid the foundation for us to build in the first place. Thats really something special for me. If you had of asked a teenage me in 1995 what I wanted to do I might have told you just that tho.

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What responses to Eglo's first artist album: (Queen) Fatima's longplayer?

The response has been great... but I wouldn't expect anything less cause its a brilliant record. I'm really happy with how everything panned out, from the root to the fruit, cause that has been a journey. When your friends create such incredible art, it's a privilege to have been involved.

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When and where did you first hear about or attend CDR? What do you recall?

I remember it crystal clear, I bumped in Mr Beatnick one evening whilst walking along Curtain Rd back in 07. He asking me what I was up to, I said nothing.. and he took me to CDR. I had heard about it but had never been... I was really impressing at what was going on, the little scene that was bubbling in the and the standard of the music that was being dropped.... any excuse to be in Plastic round them times and I was in.

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Returning back from overseas festivities, as Eglo's lifespan now reaches 5 years, from little finger to thumb, what are some of the current excitements/challenges you're encountering? How you managing to hold down having the thrills and paying the bills?

Grafting is nothing new for me, I've been wearing a lot of hats and juggling a lot of responsibilities these last few year... the plan is to slow it down a little and enjoy it all a bit more... we've spent all this time building a garden and watering the plants.. now I want to sit back and admire it a little. Croatia is good for that too. We've got album projects from Kirkis and Shafiq Husayn from Sa-Ra, another release from Dego and Kaidi, and I have some new stuff dropping on my other label HoTep... between that any everything else I do it keeps me pretty busy. So I'm not thinking about too much outside of that right now.

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Who/What has been on heavy rotation on your audio player of late (but not made it into your DJ sets?)

Listening to this Olatunji 'Drum Shots' album right now., which is great.. been digging a fair bit recently as I've been really enjoying playing straight vinyl sets lately... I've been listening to a lot of the 22a guys, Henry, Tenderlonius, Al Dob, Reggie Mamode etc. A lot of Chaka Khan, I'm loving evening on Analog Africa, Awesome Tapes, a lot of the Soundway and Sofrito Reissues, stuff like that, they've definitely been keeping me going in 2014. I still probably listen to Illmatic and Gangstarrs Hard To Earn once a week too, just the same I did as when i was 13. To be honest if its in heavy rotation its going in the DJ set, cause thats how I play... what ever I'm feeling at that moment in time.

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What's happening with your own music making? Please talk us through the track you last [cmd] ‘S’d ? ([ctrl] ‘S’ to PC users) [in other words, last project you saved]

Errrm, next question. One day you might hear some proper music from me, one day. Maybe.

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What do Dimensions Festival attendees have in store for them when you represent next week? Is Croatia becoming a home away from home?

Well, I've been stock pilling a lot vinyl which I'll be bringing out, I can't wait to play cause the soundsystems out there are great, and everyone loves to party in the sunshine and heat, I know I do anyway. Gonna be playing a lot of latin, highlife, disco, funk, afrobeat, hip hop, soul, and maybe some straight up old school rhythm and blues. We'll see... Croatia is great, I never got to do the whole Ibiza thing, so for me, this is like, I've been playing out there for around 5/6 years now, so it's nice to see how it's grown.

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Finally, have you any advice or words of warning for producers/musicians developing musical works in progress to play at CDR?

Be yourself, make dope music, don't worry about anything else until you really need to.

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Catch Alex Nut in the Knowledge Arena at this year's Dimensions Festival, as well as performances at both Dimensions and Outlook Festival.  

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