The ethos of sampling, digging (searching) for samples and the whole Hip Hop culture that surrounded it was more than just the music, it encompassed various other elements such as graffiti, fashion and breakdancing. and Run DMC and Eric B and Rakim who were my main influences at that time. Around ‘87, it was artists like the Beastie Boys, L.L. It crossed over into England with this massive wave of artists in the late 80s.

When I was first getting serious about music, hip hop was making its way over from the US. You could be completely independent, which is what I totally loved. You were suddenly liberated from needing a drummer or a guitar player. It was my first piece of musical technology.

My first experience of independently producing my own music was when I was given an Atari computer by Pete Waterman (a prominent music mogul in the 80s) and I bought an Akai s1000 sampler to go with it. How did you get into it and how did it influence you? The sample can be anything that you’ve ‘sampled’ from another track a rhythm, a melody, a beat, vocals or speech, which you then manipulate, edit, chop up or loop to fit creatively within your work. Sampling in essence is when you include an element of a pre-existing recording by someone else in your composition. As it’s a subject that has a personal resonance with Jason we wanted to dive into its history, its influence on Jason and its relevance and legacy within the music industry today. His music has always been heavily influenced by his early interest in hip hop and sampling. After establishing a successful career working as an in-house engineer his career shifted to focus on producing and engineering for the Dub Pistols. Producer and musician Jason O’Bryan joined the team at Abbey Road Institute London as a senior lecturer in 2015.

What software do rap producers use