Fresh, ho ho ho, off the back of a firing 12" split release on Sunil Sharpe's Earwiggle imprint with fellow Midwestern man Paul Birken, Freddy Fresh gives us up four of his musical inspirations for Bodytonicmusic. From a fierce Aphex Twin live set from 1993 to a 'day in the life' video of the immense warehouse where Freddy has his dayjob, have a watch through four of his heroes below.

CDIII - Get Tough [Prelude]

This came out in 1983 on the New York disco label Prelude records owned by Marvin Schlacter (9 years later produced my first techno album D.W.F.S. - Higher Conciousness for Marvin's Adrenalin record label) This record was engineered by the legendary Art Polhemus (Blues Magoos etc..) it is one of the most creative early Hip Hop singles out there what with the crazy siren efx and vocoders. It also commemorates my very first trip to the South Bronx in what would be a regular pilgrimage for me each summer to the Boogie Down where I would absorb the legendary Hip Hop cultures growing stages. Hugely influential for me.

The Analog Session (Alexander Robotonick & Ludus Pinsky) - Fun Fare I had been a fan of Alexander Robotnik since first hearing Problemes D'Amour on Italy's Fuzz Dance label in 1982, This video shows what real producers can do with real synthesizers. To this day I still use Modular synthesizers and electronic hardware. It makes me happy to see that seasoned producers like Alexander still have the magic as well as the funk to make these machines sing. And can hold there own with todays producers.

**My Day Job" I got in the music business in 1983 working as a DJ and in 1985 I worked at Xanadu Records in the Bronx getting paid in vinyl instead of cash. I became a veteran record "digger" along the path while I also began poducing dance music. As samples make up an important ingredient in my music Ive always been on the eternal search for beats and breaks. After making my books Freddy Fresh Presents The Rap Records I came across the mothership of all beat digging paradise. An unmarked warehouse in Minnesota where I currently work as a vinyl sales specialist selling only the rarest of the rare. I made this video one day (The entire video is 40 minutes long so I just edited it down to a few minutes) Its a brief look at what I do day to day now when I'm not touring or teaching at the music college. I truly am in a diggers paradise. All the songs in the video were found digging here.

Aphex Twin Live in Paris, 1993

1993 was a very important year for me as I began Analog Record in 1993 and Aphex Twin charted 3 of my songs in one of his top 10s. I was a massive fan ever since I reviewed his first 12" in Streetsounds Magazine Canada as I was a record critique and just beginning to do my very first 12" singles at that time. This video is also important in that 1993 was my first overseas DJ gig and it was also in Paris France. The raw energy in these early performances was mesmerizing. One year later I DJd at a Rave in Wisconsin with Richard James and my career basically took a life of its own in these early years.

The Midwest Whippersnappers EP is out now and available direct via (Bandcamp)[http://earwiggle.bandcamp.com/album/paul-birken-and-freddy-fresh-midwest-whippersnappers-ep] and from (Juno)[http://www.juno.co.uk/ppps/products/471458-01.htm], (Clone)[http://clone.nl/item25211.html ], (Rub-A-Dub)[http://www.rubadubrecords.co.uk/music/techno/midwest-whippersnappers-ep] & all good record shops.