Had a fantastic time seeing Mr. Scruff DJ at Wrongbar on Friday, January 15th. The event was completely sold out, which doesn’t happen that often here in Toronto for DJ shows. Scruff played a great blend of classic funk, latin and some bass heavy beats.

The place was rammed to the top, but just enough that you could maneuver around. Crowd was in good spirits, as i’m sure many people had been waiting to see the man play for a while now – he hasn’t been back to the city in a few years.

Scruff brought along his own VJ and sound engineer. The sound was extra crisp if I may say so myself. Wrongbar owner Nasty Nav told me that he thought it was one of the best nights of music in his venue since it opened a few years ago. That’s pretty awesome!

The highlight for me was getting to meet him very briefly. He told me that he’s a big fan of what Jason Palma is doing here, which is quite a well deserved compliment for the Torontonian who runs the fantastic Higher Ground Radio show amongst many other activities in the area of rare-groove music.

I have been inspired by Mr. Scruff for many years now. If I can say he’s done one thing great, he’s figured out that keeping things simple is the way to success. His visual brand is largely made out of primitive drawings that he’s done himself, and his beats sound full yet aren’t too complex as to make them inaccessible.

His DJing isn’t focused on long evolving mixes, but rather cutting it out and jumping to a new record or even a new style on a whim. Over the course of a night, not many DJs could possibly come close to covering as much ground as he does. Add it all up and you have a producer who has been maintaining a solid career for a while now. Cheers to Scruff!

Mr. Tunes is busy this year with his Daily Creations project.
Download his new release Nagano Car Rental.