With a new track from one-time Caveman repper MCM just released, and a new podcast available to grab by clicking here, we checked in with Headcount Records’ Pneumatic to check their plans for the year…

What are you trying to achieve with the Headcount label?
“I originally set the label up to provide an outlet for the music that my mates and I made and at the moment that’s still what it is. Now the foundations have been laid I just want to keep putting out dope tracks and reach a wider audience. The way I look at it is, there’s a chance that if I didn’t do this then some of this material might never be released, which would be a massive shame. So we keep on moving forward – and because of all the new people we meet and work with along the way the headcount gets bigger and better.”

How did you go about tracking down MCM for the new release?
“This is the High Wycombe connection. I don’t know what it is about High Wycombe but there must be something in the water. It’s a pretty small town but the amount of sick hip-hop I came across while living there gave me the inspiration to do something about it. MCM is a local head and I got to know him after moving to Wycombe from Warrington when I was 17. I was aware of Caveman due to some mates who put me onto them and it was cool to get to know him. So it wasn’t that I tracked him down – he was just one of many talented heads in Wycombe I met.”

Why should someone who was into Caveman all those years ago check out MCM’s new track, ‘Rhymes Equal Actual Life (REAL)’?
“If you were a fan of Caveman back in the day then you’d be interested in hearing what he’s doing now: his lyrics are on point and his own production is immense. He represents hip-hop in its purest form and I’m sure he will be doing this shit regardless of wether people are checking for him. His main concern is the music. He just wants it to sound sick. He spits with the same twang as he did with Caveman, probably due to the fact that he’s been doing this for so long – he has his own sound and ethos. The funk is in his DNA!”

Tell us a bit about C-LONE, who also appears on the track?
“Another High Wycombe emcee. I rate C-LONE as one of the best in the country. The battle lyrics and punch lines which he spat when we would cipher back in the day just shocked us – proper ill shit. He has some concept tracks which I’ve heard that stand up to some of the big hip-hop joints that came out of America in the ’90s. I hope a lot more people get to hear them soon.”

If money was no object, who would you sign to the label and why?
“If money was no object I’d be paying you guys to put us on the cover of HHC every month! It could get boring/repetitive/wrong for some readers so I’d be buying up Pete Rock and Premo beats for Illustrate and C-LONE and getting the likes of Scorzayzee, Reks and Ghostface to do posse cuts on Rinse Dog and MCM beats. All in all I think it would be real good.”

What else do you have planned for release on Headcount in the next six or so months?
“More dope music. We’re negotiating with a PR company to get some national radio exposure for some of our tunes. This is taking time but it’s one of the routes that I want to go down. I want to continue pushing the artists we already represent and bring in some new names that I’ve gotten to know recently. We also have some very established UK names attached to some future project which I’m happy about as it’s come around naturally. Just keep checking www.headcountrecords.co.uk for info and links and also the MySpace and Facebook pages give people info and free shit before anywhere else.”