I manage to catch up with Spyro who speaks openly on a year of personal highlights, vinyl comebacks and the acquisition of a career-defining Blue Peter badge:
"2010 was a wicked year for me obviously. I got to fly everywhere, do shows all over Europe, not even just with Tinchy - I'm with Coda Music now so managed to get quite a few bookings all over the UK and play in cities and venues I'd never been to before. I also got back into making tunes again in 2010 and hopefully you'll be able to actually purchase them one day (laughs). Oh and Pitch Controllers, yeah that was a big, big look - really proud of it actually. There's not many DJ collectives about so it was a good thing for all of us involved. I did some more TV too, got on Live from Studio Five with Tinchy and even Blue Peter! It was kinda weird the first few times I was on but I'm used to it now."
Blissfully unaware of the privileges his Blue Peter badge entitled him too, I reminded Spyro that he could get at least half-price, if not free entry to hundreds of UK tourist attractions:
"Nahhhh don't lie?! You serious?! Ah I didn't even know that!"
Now armed with this information, If not in the mix or on radio, you'll be most likely to find Spyro at Alton Towers and/or The London Dungeon.
Since 2010 was such a comeback year for grime in many ways, I also asked for his opinions on the year's biggest artists and releases:
"Ah for me you can't look much further than P Money but D Double had a big year too and I've got a lot of time for Kozzie - I just know when someone's gonna be someone and he will be someone in grime, he's got a lot of potential. Tunes wise, Woo Riddim was massive. Can't forget POW 2011 either and I really, really liked the Game Over Remix too. On a final note, I've got a lot of time for Swindle - he's one of the best producers around at the moment."
Picking up his final point about Swindle, I thought it poignant to ask about the slow but steady re-birth of grime vinyl, with labels like Butterz putting out a good number of quality releases on 12''. Often regarded as one of the most gifted DJs in the scene, it was interesting to get his views on the topic:
"Ah Vinyl is definitely a good thing, its one hundred percent the best idea i've heard for a long time in grime but whether it'll last or not is a different question. A lot of DJs at the moment like me and Terror Danjah for example, prefer to use Serato for our sets so incorporating vinyl is quite difficult but the concept itself is a really good one."
Moving on and looking to 2011, I was keen to find out whether or not Spyro felt he could top the last twelve months:
"2010 was live but I wanna be everywhere this year. I wanna be more out there as a producer, I wanna get out to more places as a DJ and generally just get myself and my name in as many places as possible. Like I said before, I'm gonna be jumping on a lot more production bits this year - hoping to work with P Money and possibly MIK on a few tracks and I think me and JME are gonna do something. I did quite a bit of stuff for his album so I'm hoping he'll bless a few tunes for me!"
He was also positive about the prospects for the genre as a whole in 2011, making the link between the 'New Wave' and the more established producers who've been steadily and in some cases, emphatically returning to the fore, both of whom he sees playing a bit part in the continued expansion of the scene:
"I think 2011 is gonna be a big year - the door is definitely open for the 'New Wave' guys to make a big mark it but it all depends on what they bring to the table in terms of releases, projects etc. At the same time, some of the instrumental guys like Terror Danjah, J Sweet, D.O.K and that are all coming back and making a big noise too so you just don't know. It's kinda weird seeing old and new elements both coming to the fore in a way but it can only be good for grime."
An encoraging end to a thoroughly insightful interview. Biggup Spryo!
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