"There was no script at all. There was a plot outline from Shane, because we were playing characters in his film, but he didn’t give us any written dialogue"
Until a couple of months ago it seemed Scor-zay-zee - a fiery rapper with buckets of distain for the establishment - was destined to remain one of the best kept musical secrets in Nottingham, with a swathe of tunes that instantly became UK underground hip-hop classics. But then he decided to quit rapping for four years - until Shane Meadows went and released a DVD featuring Scorz and Paddy Considine mucking around at an Arctic Monkeys gig. Now the whole world knows his name, he’s writing tunes again and he’s back to reclaim his spot as Nottingham’s primo rapper...
Becoming a film star isn’t exactly the standard route musicians take to get noticed….
No it isn’t. When I first got the part I didn’t think it would help me musically in any way. But soon after we started filming my role was made bigger, and they bought elements of my music into it. It sparked off a load of ideas for new tunes and gave me a push. At the end of it I was rapping in front of 50,000 people at Old Trafford.
So how did you originally get the part?
The director of the first main feature film I did (Big Things by Mark Devenport) rang me up and told me that Shane was auditioning. So I went along and did an audition with Paddy, and they really liked it. I then ended up rapping to them as well and they rang me back the next day and asked me if I wanted to go to Manchester to film the week after. At first I was just cast as a roommate for Le Donk, but because I could rap they thought it was a good idea to take me to the Arctic Monkeys gig and see what would happen.
How long ago was Le Donk and Scor-zay-zee actually filmed?
It was about two and a half years ago and was shot over just five days. We did four days in Manchester and then one day’s extra filming. It was part of Shane’s five-day feature ethos, where he wanted to go back to his old guerrilla filmmaking days and do something almost totally improvised on a tiny budget. I think he just enjoys making films off the cuff and throwing himself into it.
Two and a half years is a long time. Bet you were gagging for it to come out…
Yeah. To be honest though, I forgot about it for a while and I only thought of it again when the press for it started about six months ago, with Shane and Paddy doing Jonathan Ross and me doing Radio One. It was then I realised that the film was going to be bigger than first expected.
How much of it was scripted?
There was no script at all. There was a plot outline from Shane, because we were playing characters in his film, but he didn’t give us any written dialogue. Paddy just improvised and I bounced off him. So when I went up to the Arctic Monkeys and asked them if I could plug my keyboard in on stage, I really didn’t know who they were – I’d heard their music, but I’d never actually seen a picture of them. The whole film is like a set of destined accidents really.
Tell us about the acting you’d done before this film…
Well, I started out making films with Sarmad Masud, a friend who’d made some music videos for me back in the day and we did a short film called The Night We Killed A Fox. Then I did another couple of shorts with him and I was cast in Big Things. It was from there I got the chance to audition for Shane. So yeah, I need to big up Sam and Mark for giving me the opportunity to kick it all off.
So, when can we expect your debut album to finally be released?
Hopefully around Christmas or New Year. It’s called Peace To The Puzzle and we’re just tweaking a few bits here and there. It’s nearly finished, but we keep mucking around with bits of it. I’m also still writing tunes which could make it on there if they’re better than the ones we’ve already recorded.
Do you have a first single lined up?
There’s a song on there called Love Me, which is about where I disappeared to for five years when I stopped rapping. It’s a hip-hop tune with a jazz feel to it. We sent it to some big radio stations and they liked what they heard and said they’d playlist it, so we’re just waiting on the mastered version to come back.
Are any older songs like Heroes Die or Great Britain going to be on there?
Probably not, I want to put out something completely new. But you might hear some of those old tunes again still - I’m redoing Great Britain with a band for a live session at Maida Vale for Radio One.
Who’s been working on the album with you?
Nick Stez has produced every track and there aren’t any guests scheduled on there at all at the moment. I think I’d like to keep it that way and save the guest appearances for the second album and keep this one tight. I’m thinking about the follow-up already as I have lots of ideas.
When we last interviewed you five years ago you’d decided to give up rapping. What’s changed since then?
I think I just needed time to recuperate. You know when you do something day-in day-out you just get sick of it? But then one day, four and a half years later I was sitting in my bedroom and I got the pen out and wrote a rap. I never stopped listening to hip-hop music, I always have it on the radio at home, but I just needed time to become inspired again.
What are your plans for acting in future?
Well, I’m going to try and get an agent as it would be nice to have someone looking out there for me. I’d love to be in the next The Sopranos or The Wire or something. That might sound far-fetched, but so did the idea of doing a Shane Meadows film when I first started.
Le Donk and Scor-zay-zee is out on DVD in shops now. Peace To The Puzzle will be released in early 2010.
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