From the inner cities of Portugal’s Caldas da rainha, a young man invites us to take a ride on his vehicle of groove, beats and scratch. A turntablist champion at the age of 18, DJ Ride has been gaining praise and strength from all his endeavours, his new album ‘Turntable food’ represents a turning point in his career and the future of Portuguese music.

Tell us how your adventure with music began?

It all started when I was 8 years old, I used to have piano lessons, I had no equipment at home, no computers or instruments so I was very limited with my creativity, at the time I preferred playing football than going to school. Later on in life when I’d watch TV I’d see these rock bands and would be mostly watching out for the sound technician, I was fascinated by the machines and the control of sound. I wanted to learn, the internet helped to get the knowledge I needed, I saved up money and bought my first mixer and its been one step after another with music and scratch since then.

What sort of musical upbringing do you have?

It went through many stages, above all is was very autonomous, what really got me into this scene was scratching. I realised the potential to use the turntable as an instrument rather than just playing records, I wanted to be a musician with a turntable rather than just a dj. When I started out I used to practice with just one turntable hooked up, getting the scratch techniques right. Where I grew up in Caldas da rainha the scene is small so I started doing parties with a local hip hop group which got me into various types of music, funk, rock, punk, soul, rap, this then gave me a broader outlook on music which gives me my musical upbringing.

How did you get into turntablism and what or who are your influences?

I used to watch the turntablism battles, DMC, ITF, IDA, like most I also watched the scratch movie. The potential for using turntablism as an instrument came from working with contemporary bands which were not necessarily associated to hip hop or scratching, I achieved this with groups like Rocky Marsiano, Spill, The Gulbenkian orchestra and even with Terrakota, so I saw the potential early on to take the genre further, not only being the dj behind the scene but actually getting involved with the creative process. What I love about the turntable competitions is the challenge of my creative self and where I can stretch it to, through these expressions I’ve gotten notoriety and got my name out there.

When did you decide, im going to make an album??

I started producing with basic software years ago, I’ve always had lots of ideas since taking the piano lessons back in the day so it was an objective of mine to get my music heard and make it accessible to everybody. I was waiting for the right time to release this particular record, I’d been working on it for the last 3 years so this last year was all about the finishing touches and getting the guest vocalists in to finish off the tracks.

Do you think that music chose you or you chose music?

Both I think. I chose music as a career at some point in time but I believe in destiny and this definitely had a lot to do with it. There were so many coincidences that happened and the energy that I get from music and scratching is just unexplainable, its something you feel, its been like a puzzle coming together gradually. Music has opened many doors for me from meeting some of my best friends to entering competitions and even getting me a girlfriend so It’s a two way street. Its made me a different person, given me objectives and purpose in life.

How does everyday life living in Portugal affect your creativity?

Its positive mostly but like anywhere it has its negative aspects as well. I live both in Lisbon and Caldas da rainha at the moment and they are both very different, Caldas offers me peace and tranquillity, there’s little confusion and chaos which is great to relax from time to time, the air is cleaner! Lisbon is more urban, fast paced and cosmopolitan so both places affect my music in different ways. The more chill out stuff is influenced by my home town and maybe the raw beats and scratching comes from the capitol. Portugal on a whole is great, its always sunny, the people are friendly and warm but on the other hand its full of ups and downs, consistency is an issue, one month you can be loaded and the next your counting the coins in your pocket. I think its more difficult to be successful here, people like to make things difficult and they only support you if you start making a name for yourself, things still get done here, there just harder to do than in other countries.

I’ve heard your music played on ipod’s from London to Northern Norway, How do you explain this new breed of artists rising up from Portugal and gaining success?

I think we have a lot of talent in Portugal, the standard is up there with any other country, you can tell from the production and music exchange, nowadays lots of people listen to our music whilst a couple of years ago it was not so accessible. The sound quality helps to get people’s attention, myspace and the global village has helped too, internet downloads and the need for new music is driving the scene and amongst the people that still listen to commercial tunes there are more and more people looking for good quality music. This search for new music helps any artist get heard so if the creativity and the quality is there coupled with this then it’s a matter of time before more artists get a name for themselves and put Portugal on the map.

What can we expect if we take the ride?

I always try to offer people something different, beats with groove, I like new music, experimental stuff, lo-fi, disco, funk, my album turntable food offers a lot of eclectic music and flavours and at the same time leaves expectancy in the air. Music for different moods. Pick It up on itunes.

Words by James Wall