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Exclusive Interview: Specialist Moss talks Madd Again Sound
Ahead of Madd Again Soundsystem’s live show at Liquid Steel, we caught up with vocalist and long-time Zed Bias collaborator Specialist Moss to talk soundsystem, the love of music and a brand new dance set to hit UK parties.
Hi Moss, thanks for chatting to us. How did Madd Again! come about?
Zed Bias and Trigga were already linking up in the studio and I’d known Zed for over 10 years. I was up in Manchester in the studio and Trigga and Killa Benz were there. We started vibesing and we just had this mad energy! Zed and Trigga said “yeah let’s do this thing man”. It was just a natural vibe.
Madd Again, Jus Now, Major Lazer and a whole load of other crews have been mixing Caribbean and UK Bass influences for a while now – why do you think this has become so popular?
Most of this UK music originates from Reggae. We all grew up on the soundboy flex. Reggae doesn’t really get the credit but if you take Jungle and Garage a lot of that is bassline orientated. It’s having its time now and because these sounds have merged it’s not so hardcore. Its just music that makes you move. When you hear the beat drop and that drum beat you just have to move!
The Fader described Madd Again’s standout track ‘Duggu’ as a dance craze waiting to happen – can you tell us a bit more about that?
Well I’d already done a track on that riddim with Zed. We were all in the studio, Zed dropped the instrumental and we all just started vibesing and Duggu was born. It’s a sound for everyone – big people, young people. We’ve got a video coming soon so that’s when you’ll see the dance.
You guys are part of an ever growing scene emanating from Manchester. Why do you think there’s such a buzz around the city at the moment?
I’m from London but I’m always up in Manchester – it’s my second home. There’s a load of talent there and no one is really trying to be commercial. Everyone is just making music so everything that’s coming out is natural. The people are always ready to hear something fresh which means artists can make music they want to make rather than following a particular sound or scene. People are more together and because London are always seen as the trendsetters, they go hard.
The new album Madd Ting Vol. 1 is sounding fire! What can we expect from Saturday’s live show?
Boy, just bare vibes, bare energy! All of us love what we’re doing so with Zed on the decks and us on the mic, everyone’s gonna be happy and bubbling. We love getting that energy off the people.