As Mr. Scruff frantically packs up his gear backstage (as frantically as one can pack their gear with a Budweiser in one hand), my mind wanders around the universe for questions to ask when my time to shine finally arrives.

“Why is a guy who professionally brews his own tea and adores ale drinking a Budweiser?” I wonder. “Is Budweiser available overseas? Is Budweiser considered a delicacy for dudes from the UK?”

“His beard doesn’t seem the least bit unruly,” I observe. “In fact, it’s barely there. Where is the hair on his body that helped give him the stage name of Mr. Scruff? Do I really want to know?”

“Did this dude really manage to fit ‘I Say A Little Prayer’ by Aretha Franklin into his set?” I asked aloud to myself (my brain was overheating from all the introspective questioning).

Eventually, the gear was packed away and Mr. Scruff was three cans of Budweiser deep. Backstage at the Red Bull Music Academy stage, one by one my questions were answered (for the most part). The thing about the body hair? We’re leaving it open to speculation for the ladies. As Mr. Scruff tells it, he brought everything with him to record his first single except for a name for himself. When asked what he wanted to label the original recordings, in a flash decision his original moniker of Funky Scruff became Mr. Scruff. By the way, Mr. Scruff did actually sneak ‘I Say A Little Prayer’ by Aretha Franklin into his jazzed-out, sample-heavy set — good work on pleasing the natives. By the way, the Budweiser thing? Yeah, I still don’t get it. Here are the rest of those deeply meditative questions I pondered in action…

You definitely won over some hearts in the crowd by messing around with that Aretha Franklin track. Your love for all things Detroit is well documented, but it’s been a few since you’ve been played here. What’s your perspective on finally returning to the city?

Mr. Scruff: Musically, Detroit and Manchester are twin cities, you know. There are people who love electronic music and there are lots of people who love soul music in both cities. On that same note, a lot of Manchester music was very important to the early techno scene. There is a ridiculously long history of quality music in both cities and when it comes to Detroit, I’m obsessive about all of it … from super early soul to ghetto-tech and everything in between. I need a slap on the wrist for not spending enough time here…

One of the ideas within your music that sets you aside from the performers this weekend is the sense of humor littered throughout your work. It doesn’t really seem like you take yourself too seriously.

Mr. Scruff: I enjoy music. Music, to me, can cover a wide range of emotions — both the emotions of the music and the emotions of the listener. It’s like when you meet a person. I’d rather meet someone who is bubbly, chatty, had a sense of humor, wasn’t too serious and put you at ease. That’s what I try to do with my music and that’s the music that appeals to me. I like music that says, “Come to me! Come over here and enjoy this!” I don’t think it’s a real conscious philosophy because it’s just what I’m drawn to. I do like introspective music as well … [and] the production [on Mr. Scruff material] is really quite heavy, but it’s filled with lightheartedness as well. In the end, I want to make music that people can enjoy and go out and have fun to.

But everyone knows you can’t force a dance party.

You’ve got to go with what you feel and trust your instincts. I never know what I’m going to play, but I’ve got a real sense of what’s necessary at that given time.

I know sampling is a big part behind how your songs are put together, but is live instrumentation something you use during your recording process as well?

Mr. Scruff: Depends. I love the heaviness and repetition of sampling … so when I work with live musicians, I like to have that same approach and not get too fussy, not get too fancy, not get too clean. Sampling music is a real hybrid of live and electronic music because you take something that was quite organic and turn into something quite mechanical and repetitive. If you listen to the White Stripes, that’s very mechanical live music but quite wonky as well. That’s live music that has a mechanical element to it. You can tell those musicians have heard a drum machine before, attempted to copy it and got it a bit wrong which ended up leading to something absolutely amazing.

Words by Ryan Patrick Hooper with photos by Dustin Downing