The academy of Vinyl Addicts had about a million sessions to bring you guys a whole new kind of interview. Why a 10 page interview, when all you need is 25 26 letters to know  a person from A to Z. Inspired by DJ Koco’s  'A- Z Mix Show' we bring you the Vinyl Addicts A To The Z interviews. This month it's time for Digger With Gratitude extraordinaire Rare Dave.

A. Alcohol – good way to start the alphabet, my only words of wisdom would be that the older I get the longer handovers seem to last… if I get real drunk on a Friday night, I will feel like shit all weekend… oh and scientists have proven that mixing drinks doesn’t get you any more fucked up….

B. Brand Nubian – everything up to and including “Word Is Bond” (the Buckwild mix is face melting) is essential for anyone into 90’s rap music… “Punks Jump Up…” has to be one of the best records ever made, I also like the consistent artwork for each LP.

C. Chelsy Davy – who?  I can only assume this is some skank with a face like a baboons arse, I don’t really keep up with this media whore stuff.

D. DWG – Well, we formed like Voltron a few years back (not really, that would have been weird)…. Our goal was to ‘do stuff with rap records and make things’ Chr!s is kind of the overlord/technician, Sureshot La Rock holds things down in the USA with his contacts and DJ Shaker cleans the toilets and makes the tea… and I do as little as possible due to work, family and educational commitments… which brings me nicely on to….

E. Education – I got 4 years of study to step up my professional game… god only knows how I will manage it, lets move on….

F. Fish & Chips – I’ve eaten some fucking good fish and chips in my life, the Magpie up in Whitby is a good example.  Its all about the following criteria; a) batter quality, b) no bones in the fish, c) chip size and moisture content – but ultimately it falls down to the mushy pea quality.  Word of advice to anyone from overseas wanting to buy fish n’ chips in the UK – avoid any not coastal restaurants, especially those selling kebabs.

G. Guinness – who sets these questions?  I’m not feckin’ Irish, well maybe a bit… great drink though, like a meal in a glass.  Shaker lives on this stuff.

H. Hometown – I’m near enough to London to get there quickly, but far away enough to avoid the bullshit. 

I. Indy’s – “Temple Of Doom” all the way, I reckon the new one will be shit, especially as Ford is now 20 years older – if it’s still set in the 1940’s I’ll be pissed.

J. Jaffa – A seedless orange, also a great snack in the form of a “Jaffa Cake”, do these exist outside the UK?  They started doing orange ones, now you can get lime and raspberry shits, pretty dope if you have some friends round you want to impress.

K. Kids – got two, that’s enough for wifey and I at the minute… my daughter has no idea what a CD is, but knows what records are – lets hope it stays that way.

L. London – a great city, everything you could possibly need is there – I think it’s a lot bigger than most other cities as it seems to expand into the ‘burbs.  Used to have great times digging in the West End….

M. Mr. Bongo’s – the classic 90’s hip hop record store, started off in a small wooden store in Lexington Street, then moved onto a larger spot round the corner in Poland Street.  They broke so many dope indies and recognised that rap records were collectable, the staff in there are all talented DJ’s and beatmakers in there own right, it was a sad day when they closed down…

N. Netherlands – great builders the Dutch, primarily due to the low lying / flat landscape and land reclaimation techniques developed to avoid flooding.  Only been to Amsterdam once, it was good, experienced the cafes, hit Fat Beats and Anne Franks house. 

O. Olympic Games – in 2012 they are coming to the UK….dunno if it’s a good thing or not, Londoners are being taxed extra to help fund it, the regeneration of shity areas is good though I guess.

P. Postal Office (UK) – better watch what I say here, lets just say the dudes at the top are not very popular with the guys doing the deliveries – this has resulted in striking which delays my mail….

Q. Questions – Hang on a minute, I do the answers… ever heard Pal Joey’s remix of “Questions and Answers” by BDP… fucking dope, only on a white label the sort of thing Bongo’s used to stock.

R. Rare Frequencies – A tape I compiled a few years back (before the mp3 boom)…. I spent months going through about 100 old radio tapes from ’90 – 96 picking out all the exclusives and literally dubbing on my old stereo…. the highlight was the unreleased Tragedy selections and the unreleased Big Daddy Kane track “Sing My Song”….

S. Special Projects – That’s what we do at DWG, there’s still more to come, its just very hard trying to fit things in with kids, full time jobs and other commitments, I wish I could do DWG full time….

T. Tim Westwood – legendary UK hip hop DJ no matter what anyone says, his Capitol rap show was bananas, especially the rap exchange with Marley Marl and the ‘break to the beat’ competition.... dude must be pushing 50 now....

U. UK Rap – I’m not an avid follower of UK rap records, its almost a genre in its self, but London Posse, Blade, Katch 22, Demon Boyz, Hijack, MC Mello, PD3 and Caveman all sit nicely in the collection.  The Tuff Groove releases are also essential....

V. Vinyl – It’s gotta be the most annoying thing to move house with, heavy yet needs to be treated with care.  I have too many records, but you probably already guessed that… think I need a big purge in 2008.

W. “War Rap” – a track off of the Unique EP we released.  This guy is a legend, such a shame he never made it at the time, I’m sure there’s a lot of guys in a similar position who never got the break they deserved.  Even after almost 20 years the guy managed to rap most of his LP down the phone…which is pretty impressive being that he didn’t even have a copy or had heard a copy since it was recorded!

X. X-large – is this a question or a statement?  I’m trying to cut back on XL garms, as an aging white male father who wears a suit to work everyday I am becoming more and more disconnected from fashion every moment.  I have a massive head though so I always need to rock an XL hat.

Y. Yogi Bear (and Tim Scratch) – “It Is What It Is”…. Great 12”, made it onto the DWG poster… there’s two slightly different pressings… Yogi went on to join Cru who were signed to Def Jam.  Tim Scratch runs a successful eBay business selling bubble wrap.

Z. “Z” – the mark of Zorro innit.

….any last words?

Yes, congratulations if you have read this – and remember collecting wax should be fun, buy them, play them and enjoy them!

Ps. Did you lie or gave us false comments in this interview?

…. You can be the judge of that!