For starters, tell us who you are, where you are from, and when did you fall in love with Skratching?
My name is Emma Holmes. but in the scratch world I am known as DJ Short-E. I am from the UK. I fell in love with scratching in the year 2000 after getting some decks for mixing and seeing some of my friends and brother scratch.
Who or what are your influences? When did you first hear or see someone scratching?
Music: 90s / Golden Era Hip Hop. Soul and funk that has been sampled for hip hop.
Scratch DJs: Qbert, D-styles, Babu, Mista Ed.
The first scratching I heard that I consciously remember as knowing it was scratching was Beastie Boys – Jimmy James.
My brother was the first person to show me some scratching in the flesh and I was instantly hooked and decided there and then that I wanted to learn that skill. Thanks bro!
I love what you are doing with your website! What led you to share your knowledge and experience?
Thanks so much!
One day I found myself in Finland visiting some friends. I really wanted to try and create my own business around doing something that I loved. I came up with the idea of “Studio Scratches” which was to record bars of scratching for music artists albums / tracks. I actually had zero interest / enquiries from anyone for this service, but as I started putting out practice scratch videos on YouTube, people started asking me how to do certain scratches. I recorded a demo tutorial video and it got a such a good response that I decided that it might me a good idea to do something along those lines. I found learning to scratch quite difficult so thought that if I can make it easier for others then that has to be a good thing. I really like sharing information and helping others generally so I think it comes from that.
What’s one thing you can tell someone about Skratching that you wish you knew when you first started?
Don’t get too hung up on techniques or the names of techniques. Experiment. You are unique, no one can scratch like you. Have fun, relax and remember to breathe!
What equipment do you use? Do you have a favorite piece of gear?
• Technics 1200 mk II
• Rane TTM 57 sl
• Butter rugs Slipmats / d-Styles Tablecloth v3 Slipmats
• Shure M447 needles / cartridges
• Sennheiser HD25 headphones
• Genelec 6010a Speakers
• Scratch Live / Serato Scratch on an 11″ Macbook Air
I really love my mixer!
What was the last song you listened to?
San Francisco Knights by People Under The Stairs.
Do you have a favorite record you love to use for Skratching?
Superseal is usually what I reach for first. It’s a classic!
What style(s) of music do you enjoy spinning?
Hip Hop, soul and funk, but I always think that good music transcends genres so I never rule anything out.
Do you have any skratch tapes or other work we can check out? Where can we get it?
Yes I have a store full of beats and digital scratch records here:
http://studioscratches.bandcamp.com
I also have some free mixes here:
http://djshort-e.podomatic.com
Where can we connect with you online?
Main site: http://www.studioscratches.com
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/StudioScratches
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/studioscratches
Any last thoughts? Shout outs?
Thanks for this interview.
Sincere thanks to everyone who has helped me on my scratch journey.
It’s great to see new people getting into scratching with turntables and vinyl despite the popularity of digital / midi setups.
I appreciate everyone that watches my videos, leaves me a comment, sends me email, buys my beats and generally supports what I do. THANK YOU so much!
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams, live the live you imagine. Be Deliberate!
