Introducing… T_A_M

Bio
Name: T_A_M
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
Genre: Leftfield Hip-Hop/Post-Dubstep
Similar Artists: Rustie, Joker, Pedestrian
Contact: Facebook, Twitter
Events: Debut release July 3rd

From the roots reggae and dub traditions of Mungo’s Hi-Fi and their Scotch Bonnet imprint to the Detroit-via-Glasgow chip shop output of the entire Numbers stable, the bass heavy end of underground music in Scotland is currently looking the healthiest it has in years. In particular, with acts like Hudson Mohawke and Rustie now working with artists on a global stage, it has mined a fairly colourful vein in a strange mutation of leftfield hip-hop. Not that the bleak and, let’s face it sometimes crushing, sounds of groups like Arab Strap don’t deserve their place in the nation’s cultural history (they definitely do) but when regularly living with some of the worst weather the British Isles has to offer, you just need something with a little more bounce to it sometimes.

Maybe it is a direct reaction to the aforementioned drab weather, maybe it is just coincidence, maybe it’s something to do with all the E-numbers in that glowing beacon of national pride that is Irn Bru… Whatever it is, it seems to be working.


A young producer out of Aberdeen who is starting to turn heads with his production is T_A_M. At just 22 and having only been experimenting with production for a short couple of years already his beats show him to be both eccentric and resistant to any one particular sound. Across his Soundcloud page there are excellent forays into numerous territories. From the colourful bit crushed synths of ‘Shine You Out’, which bears some of the hallmarks of the style made popular by the likes of Joker and fellow Scotsman Rustie (fans of whom will certainly take to T_A_M’s sound) to tracks like the beautifully subdued house of ‘My Life Is Held Together By Bluetack’ which mines a similar groove to the likes of Pedestrian and Maribou State. ‘Sticklebricks’ is another definite highlight, taking an eastern inflected percussive gait so loose it barely feels connected shuffling over two warm bass surges to create a unique rhythmic stagger.

Throughout T_A_M’s productions it is this sense of space and patience that seems to be the unifying element of his style, regardless of which loose fitting genre tag you may wish to hang upon his work. Never overloading a beat or rushing get to a bombastic drop (‘Gargamelodramatics’ might just be the result of someone screwing a “chopped & screwed” beat whilst sat in a sauna) but at the same time never too po-faced to deny the sheer fun of an unnecessary gunshot sample (a staple of the live performance) it seems not only there no sound he won’t explore and he’s in no rush to get there either.



With his first release expected on July 3rd via fellow Aberdeen native Lockah’s Tuff Wax imprint, a label with a healthy history of signing offbeat and innovative producers (check out Bones & Money’s ‘Black Diamond’ or anything else from the Aberdeen Truth seven inch series) and also having aligned himself with regular collaborators Yoin & Zubuntu’s Bake Haus club night T_A_M is certainly an innovative young producer worth keeping an ear on in future.