1.How old were you when you first started messing with
music and how did you get into producing beats?
Damn,
hmmm lemme think . . . well my mother is an opera singer and
when I was coming up she had me in the performances as an
extra since age 17months and so I was always around music.
I’ve been banging on the piano since I was old enough to
reach the keys. I started piano lessons at age 6 or 7 I
think. . something like that. I was young. Hahaha But in
the 6th grade, my dad gave me a guitar for my
B-day and I just began teaching myself how to play.
Listening to the radio and imitating what I heard.
Then I
met this guy in HS named James Klink. He and I hit it off
and started writing together and I’d sing and play acoustic
and he would hold it down on the lead guitar side. Believe
it or not I got started doing rock and alternative. Been in
a few bands, but James and I were always the core for a few
years. One of the classes I took was music technology my
junior year of HS which pretty much sold me on the whole
MIDI/Mac set up. Then during my time in NY my homie
bought me a copy of Reason 1.0 and it was a wrap after that.
J
2. What type
of gear are you working with right now and if you had an
unlimited budget what would you be working with?Well.
. . I use Reason 3.5 with the iMac G5, Logic Express 7, MOTU
828 Audio interface, AT3035 mic, Event 20/20 monitors,
Alesis Power amp, Sonic Implants samples, Zero G stuff, a
whole gaggle of sounds. Fun Fun FUNBudget!!?? HA I’d have
the Oasys, Roland Fantom , I’d buy and MPC4000 cause I LIKE
IT and I have never owned an MPC surprise surprise, uh….
Avalon Compressor/MicPre, A Eurodesk Firewire/analog board,
that new G5 Quad, some kick ass outboard effects, that nifty
Lexicon Reverb with the big ass obnoxious remote, a U87 or
some other monster in that phylum, some nice BIG Genelec
studio monitors, the whole Sonic Implants library, 2 sets of
Shure Drum Mics, and every plug-in known to man. And that’s
just in my “at home” studio. AHHAHA
3.What is it like for a
female in this production game, what’s the disadvantages and
what’s the advantages coming from your view point?Disadvantages
are many. First of all, guys saturate this industry on the
production side so getting thru the initial “no I don’t want
to date you” is frustrating. Guys don’t seem to take female
producers seriously and really hold the bar a lot higher
because of our lack of a penis. Which is so incredibly dumb,
but I deal with it. The advantage is that there aren’t many of
us so when one comes a long, people are more likely to pay
attention, but you MUST bring you’re A game at all times
because kats LOVE to hate these days. I mean REALLY.
Jealously is a bitch. Oh and I LOVE it when they know they
want to bob their heads. . but they fight it. HAHAHAHAHAHA
What the hell is wrong with yall!!?? I guess I make guys feel
like less of a man because they get intimidated by my tracks,
and the fact that I could probably book their chick. J
4.Has your production style
changed over the years and are you influenced by what is
happening in the music market?Absolutely.
But I have never really changed, just give them what they want
without compromising my creativity. I love to be able to just
do what I feel like, but when I first started out, I was doing
what I felt and it happened to have a soulful/hiphop type vibe
to it. But some dumb guy from Baltimore was trying to squash
me down because he said “You are not Hip HOP” I never
said I was trying to be. So just because I don’t Boom Bap with
headphones and a backpack, im not hiphop??? Bend ova dude,
neither are you. That sh!t erks me to no end. These purists
Hip Hoppers who think that just cause the world has never
heard of the stuff they listen to makes them cool, and the
rest of us poseurs. I happen to LIKE 2% of the stuff on the
radio. Which is way more than they like. LOL And yes, the
evolution of the generally accepted production style and what
is considered “Platinum Quality” has caused a revolution of
wannabe “producers” and “beatmakers”. Just cause they have
discovered the roll button on the MPC. I have had to “dumb
down” my production style to appease the Hip Hop Gods, because
when I’m just doing me, the tracks are complex and dramatic as
hell. Hahaha. But I’m beginning to think the standard has
gone down in the past few years because everyone is trying too
hard to be hot and popular. People can tell.
5.How much does software
play in your music making and what software programs are you
working with?Very
much. Like I said up there in ? 2, I use Reason 3.5 and Logic
Express 7. I use them together a lot of time because some of
the sounds on Logic sound fatter then some on reason and vice
versa. And if I want to add something to a recorded vocal
session just to put that final touch on the arrangement, its
easy peezy japaneesy.
6.I understand you did and
internship, who was it with and what did you came away with
from that experience?I
actually worked with a house music producer named Ernie Lake
at the former Reel Tyme Studios in NY. And actually, I ended
up doing most of my learning and listening in with DJ Eddie
Baez, with whom I’ve lost touch but I heard he is off the
map. Too bad, that dude is talented. They taught me a lot
about the house music “formula” and house arrangement.
Sampling, staying up late, hooking up patch bays, and running
all over NYC looking for the damn patch bay. Lol Ernie is
best known for his Grammy Award winning production that he and
his former partner did on KC & Jo Jo’s annoying smash hit “All
My Life”. The production was top notch though so that’s
what’s up. The radio just used to play that song into the
GROUND.I also learned that NY moves very fast. The business
waits for no one in this city.
7.If you had the chance to
produce any artist in the world who would you want to work
with and why?Wow.
That’s a good question. . . artist??? I don’t really have one
in particular. Maybe do some collabs with P!nk. Just cause I
have always liked where her head is. Also Eminem, Common,
EVERYONE. Why not!!?
8.Who are your musical
influences and why? What is it about them that you Like?Quincy
Jones, Mozart, and Timbaland. Q just because he got his break
doing the soundtrack/film scoring thing and that’s really what
I want to do when its all said and done. Besides that fact
that he has written and produced some of the dopest stuff I
have ever heard. I actually downloaded the original version of
“Soul Bossa Nova” . . . yes the Austin Powers Theme.
Mozart,
just because of his chord changes and the passion with which
he wrote his music. Not to mention that he really didn’t read
music. I do read, but mild dyslexia trains me to just
memorize and play by ear. Oh yeah and he was a crazy guy. I’m
a lil mad . . . and I don’t mean angry Tim. . . ah Tim. The
Kik patterns. Signature sound. That’s what he has. I’d shit
myself if I could work with him. I’ll be prepared with a box
of Depends.
9.How do you feel about the
state of hip hop music in general now days? How Do you feel
about the beat game, do you think production is getting hotter
or worst?Ehhhh
. . . me personally, I think tracks are getting more
interesting and coming away from the sample thing because kats
use samples as too much of a crutch these days. Like ok, the
first or second sampled joint you do is hot but, in my lil ole
opinion, just using samples is like just cooking with salt.
Its going to taste good and the different drums or whatever
will definitely enhance the flavor, but can I get some cumin,
some curry, some thyme??? Like homemade?? I don’t know. I
guess cause I started out composing original joints and just
started sampling like in the past few years, I’m biased. And
I am not a close minded person who thinks that real “hip hop”
tracks are only 2 steppy sample loops with dirty snares. I
know when I make a sampled tracks, I try to beef it up and out
do myself.
I love the
Rza’s Wu Tang production, but that’s out the window in this
new market run by Lil Jon, Just Blaze, and Timbaland. 311 put
it best, “you’ve got to come original”
10.How do you keep your
production fresh and not ending up sounding the same all the
time? I’m very picky. And I try to
listen to all different kinds of music in phases. Maybe I’ll
listen to Drum and Bass for 2 weeks while doing my admin work,
email etc. Then maybe another week, I’ll listen to trance,
then ambient, classical, or guitar music. Everyone is
influenced by their surroundings. One summer, I listened to
nothing but Seal, STP, and Incubus. I wrote some pretty
interesting alternative and rock stuff that year. And when you
heard the songs, you could kinda tell. So I guess I keep it
fresh by just keeping my mind flowing with different vibes.
11. You
play guitar, do you incorporate live instruments with your
midi gear and How do you think live instrumentation effects
today’s midi computer base Music? Oh hell
yeah! Live instruments always send production over the top.
Especially when its MIDI based. A guitar lick does a lot for
a song. Some live horns, drums, percussion. That why I love
Sonic Implants sounds so much because they have taken the time
to record live instruments and they make them into a playable
MIDI format.
12. Are
then any hot artist you’re working with right now? Do you have
any other project planned that you want people to know about
Well, im working with a young boy
named Lil D. We are trying to help mold him into a viable
artist for the Pop/Hip Hop market as well as help him advance
his craft and get heard. We are doing all original production
for his album project, which will be his first
Also, we are working with a seemingly unknown but Blazing hot
veteran in the rap game, Kaliko. This female emcee is the
epitome of talent and she is hated by many for her raw lyrics
and “I don’t give a f**k attitude”. She has been compared to
MC Lyte and her music can be heard on MySpace as well as the
John Waters Cult Classic “Cecil B Demented” Kaiko is ready,
more than willing, and Highly able.
Next projects include some NY house music that we will be
submitting to JellyBean Benitez thru my a producer friend of
mine. And also some film and TV projects. Stay tuned LOL
13. What
is the music scene like where your at Its ok.
People still have the wrong mind frame. More concerned with
them selves and the I I I, me me me bullcrap. The hiphop
scene in Balitmore could stand a lil more professionalism and
organization, but it is what it is.
14.
Where do you see hip hop going in the future and where do you
plan to be Within the scope of that big picture? I
see it becoming the basis for all future music because
popularity and undeniable catchiness of the production and the
songs make it almost impossible to ignore. Even politicians
are trying to throw rap into their campaigns in hopes to
somehow convince that audience that they are “Down”. HMMM
where do I fit in . . ?
1.
