JULY 2008/INTERVIEW/AFTA 1
You first put out your AFTATHOUGHTS Vol.1 album back in January, how did the LP come about?
It was a collection of beats that I’d made over the past year; really the biggest process was putting it together, but how it came about was pretty organic as in I was creating whenever I felt like creating, but regarding getting it released it was just those last two months that I really buckled down to get everything finalized. That was pretty much it man, just the want to have something of mine out there for people to listen to.
We read somewhere that you said the procedure almost happened on its own with the music taking its own direction;
Definitely that’s how the creative process always is, letting it happen and not having any particular expectations for how something’s gonna turn out. That definitely is what it is with the album.
And that record (AFTATHOUGHTS Vol.1) is getting a release via Japan’s Circulations imprint on CD and vinyl format in August. How did this come about?
That’s right; it’s the same label that Muhsinah dropped her Japan release on so that’s exciting. They just hit us up looking to put that out so I’m looking forward to that, most definitely.
Until now it was only a digital release is that correct?
Right, it was just digital first through cdBaby then I got it on iTunes so I’m happy now because I definitely always wanted something for people to have and to hold and we’re looking to put out a 12” too so that will be available for the DJs and everybody.
On the release of Aftathoughts Volume 1 Flying Lotus came out in support of your sound; obviously the two of you share certain stylistic tendencies but were you already connected with him before he heard your work?
Yeah, we share a lot of mutual friends and we’ve met and talked before; I’d already heard his music before and we’d already been in touch and you know people had already told him about my stuff. I’d say we’re sort of in the same vein – we’re both part of that Los Angeles collective that’s bringing the new fusion sound.
You’ve recently relocated from LA where there’s that ever growing scene of abstract beat makers, to New York – what prompted that decision? How’s New York been for you so far?
It’s been an adventure! The way that I got here was that I got a one way ticket to play at the Triple C launch party and two weeks after being here the energy just felt right, I’d been well received and had made a lot of connections with some folks that I’d been waiting to meet and that had been waiting to meet me so it just felt like the right thing to do and everything kind of fell into place for me to be able to stay here easily without having to get a regular job! It’s given me the freedom to create and do what I need to do basically.
What do you think of your other contemporaries? Aside from the LA scene have you checked out much of the European beats scene (the Up My Alley label, Fulgeance and Powell in Paris, Hudson Mohawke and Rustie in Glasgow etc…?)
Yeah I’ve checked out Hud Mo and Rustie, I’ve been back and forth on line with Hudson just before he released his record. We’ve all kind of been in touch in a way, when it’s a particular movement like that with a few key players I think vanity kind of brings us all together really! I stumbled upon a lot of these cats just through my own journey and trying to make my own music and trying to find like minds, so yeah I can see how it could spread out and how folks would be handling it on the other side of the world as well.
So who would you tip to shine from that scene – obviously people like Samiyam and Fly Lo have been around for some time now but who’s your favourite?
I like a lot of folks for a lot of different reasons and what I like about the whole scene is that although cats are all on a similar wavelength everyone’s got their own individual sound and everyone’s bringing something different in their own right, so definitely Flying Lotus from the get go gets a shout out, Ras G, Hud Mo of course, Muhsinah – I’ve been digging on her tracks recently, her production is off the hook. Those folks all inspire me in a way that I hope I will inspire them as well, but of course our inspirations our drawn from further afield than that select group of people.
The radio seems to be an important aspect in your development as an artist, both when you were growing up as well as when starting out. Tell us a bit more about that.
Yeah I would definitely say it was; especially growing up developing my hip hop roots I mean I was bumping a lot of West Coast stuff, Ice Cube, NWA stuff like that! But then I took up a appreciation for every kind of music really, I got into East Coast stuff too and throughout my journey it’s kind of changed, these days I’ve been digging a lot of down tempo stuff, a lot of electronic music, jazz, anything really.
Yeah mentioning that from your DJ sets and mixes there seems to be an interesting combinations of old and new music...
Yeah, I think there has to be an appreciation of all of those different elements because in the end it’s all incorporated into the music, whether it’s Santana or something completely new, everything relates to the end product – it’s good to be immersed in a lot of different things.
In terms of early influences we’ve read that you listened to a lot of soul growing up as well?
Yeah I did but the funny thing was that my family wasn’t very musical in the sense that they put me on to jazz or soul or anything like that, most stuff I discovered on my own, and probably a little later in fact when I started really experimenting with music. When I started chopping stuff up for samples was probably when I really got into soul.
Reading through your biog you get the sense that you view music as something sacred; how do you approach music and what is its role in your daily life.
I would say it’s sacred in the sense that it’s almost like a form of meditation, like any kind of creation where you really sit down and focus all your energy on letting something positive channel through, especially with music; more than it being sacred though I really feel it’s a gift and the process of making music for me is like standing back and letting it happen so I find that it helps me focus and get a really good perspective of where I am with my life, how I’m feeling emotionally and everything that I believe in really – it’s like a translation of all of that.
So what’s been your involvement with truth seekers radio and Santana Westbrook?
Those are my folks man, Santana was the first cat who showed me love on the radio actually; he hit me up randomly through MySpace because he goes through there looking for music to play on his show so he hit me up to let me know he was feeling my music and invited me over to the show to bring some of my music, some of my own selections and from that day forth we started a friendship and I had an open invitation to the radio show, becoming a part of that myself until I moved out here to New York.
Taking it back to Aftathoughts Volume 1, tell us a bit about some of the individual tracks – our favourites are probably Escape, Banilla Beans, Quest, Stellar Suzie and of course the ‘hit’ Honey Dip.
Ha! Yeah, the ones you mention are all along my more electronic creations vibe and are probably some of my favourites as well, especially Escape and Banilla Beans – that one was one of the first to be added to the equation of the whole mix and the inspiration for that derived from a few things, actually vanilla bean ice-cream and a friend of mine who goes by that name! It’s just the little things that inspire the different styles of music, I may hear one song one day and be inspired to take something in that direction, then decide to just freak it in a different way, it’s nothing that’s really plotted out, sometime’s it’s a case of sitting back and listening after it’s finished and feeling the surprise that it’s even there and that I even made it!
You’ve said that you wanted to get people back into feeling instrumentals and something that struck us on listening to the record was that although it is entirely instrumental it almost feels like it has a vocal running through it.
Yeah that’s what my purpose was really – like the sound track to your life or something. I wanted to make something that people could enjoy on the headphones or on the big speakers and something that could inspire you to do your own art; whatever it is that you have a passion for. I just wanted to let the music speak and for people to put their own words to it, their own vision and I think we’d all kind of lost the appreciation for that with all the regurgitated and duplicated material that gets love on the radio and that people are force fed these days.
Moving on then from the instrumentals we’ve read recently that one of your next projects is to work on some collaborations with some vocalists...
Yeah I’m looking at doing a collaborative album in fact, I haven’t set a specific date for it yet but hopefully sometimes in the fall. I’m hoping to work with a few folks that I’m picking and choosing seeing who I can really connect with because I think at the end of it it’s really it’s not just about a business collab. But I want to really connect with a few of these artists on a deeper level and let the music kind of make itself, so that’s definitely in the works. I’ve mentioned her already but I’m doing a few Muhsinah mixes right now and I’m definitely looking to collaborate with her and some other folks that I’ll let people know more about later on! What’s really in the works right now though is my own EP which I’m looking to drop in September following the Japan release, and which is most likely going to be a free download.
As well as working on your own new material you’ve also been collaborating on some production for Peter Hadar and Chester Gregory for their forthcoming LPs recently, what has that been like and what can we expect to hear?
Yeah, Peter Hadar has been getting a lot of love and with Chester we just wrapped his stuff up last week so he’s looking to release that next month and there are some cool tracks on there. Those are some of my first collaborations and I’m definitely hoping they’re not my last. I’m really glad to see those boys are getting the love they deserve too.
You’re planning a European tour in the autumn, what are your expectations of that? Have you played in Europe before? Where can people catch you playing?
It’s going to be my first time visiting Europe, it’s in the works right now and I’m just trying to get everything together, get my music right and yeah we’re probably going to do a little mini tour, hitting London, probably France and a few other little spots – nothing too major but warming up the European scene a little bit and connecting with some of the folks I know out there. I’m looking to get a few things going out here this summer too, I’ve had some offers from folks that want me to be involved in their stuff so look out for that too.
It was a collection of beats that I’d made over the past year; really the biggest process was putting it together, but how it came about was pretty organic as in I was creating whenever I felt like creating, but regarding getting it released it was just those last two months that I really buckled down to get everything finalized. That was pretty much it man, just the want to have something of mine out there for people to listen to.
We read somewhere that you said the procedure almost happened on its own with the music taking its own direction;
Definitely that’s how the creative process always is, letting it happen and not having any particular expectations for how something’s gonna turn out. That definitely is what it is with the album.
And that record (AFTATHOUGHTS Vol.1) is getting a release via Japan’s Circulations imprint on CD and vinyl format in August. How did this come about?
That’s right; it’s the same label that Muhsinah dropped her Japan release on so that’s exciting. They just hit us up looking to put that out so I’m looking forward to that, most definitely.
Until now it was only a digital release is that correct?
Right, it was just digital first through cdBaby then I got it on iTunes so I’m happy now because I definitely always wanted something for people to have and to hold and we’re looking to put out a 12” too so that will be available for the DJs and everybody.
On the release of Aftathoughts Volume 1 Flying Lotus came out in support of your sound; obviously the two of you share certain stylistic tendencies but were you already connected with him before he heard your work?
Yeah, we share a lot of mutual friends and we’ve met and talked before; I’d already heard his music before and we’d already been in touch and you know people had already told him about my stuff. I’d say we’re sort of in the same vein – we’re both part of that Los Angeles collective that’s bringing the new fusion sound.
You’ve recently relocated from LA where there’s that ever growing scene of abstract beat makers, to New York – what prompted that decision? How’s New York been for you so far?
It’s been an adventure! The way that I got here was that I got a one way ticket to play at the Triple C launch party and two weeks after being here the energy just felt right, I’d been well received and had made a lot of connections with some folks that I’d been waiting to meet and that had been waiting to meet me so it just felt like the right thing to do and everything kind of fell into place for me to be able to stay here easily without having to get a regular job! It’s given me the freedom to create and do what I need to do basically.
What do you think of your other contemporaries? Aside from the LA scene have you checked out much of the European beats scene (the Up My Alley label, Fulgeance and Powell in Paris, Hudson Mohawke and Rustie in Glasgow etc…?)
Yeah I’ve checked out Hud Mo and Rustie, I’ve been back and forth on line with Hudson just before he released his record. We’ve all kind of been in touch in a way, when it’s a particular movement like that with a few key players I think vanity kind of brings us all together really! I stumbled upon a lot of these cats just through my own journey and trying to make my own music and trying to find like minds, so yeah I can see how it could spread out and how folks would be handling it on the other side of the world as well.
So who would you tip to shine from that scene – obviously people like Samiyam and Fly Lo have been around for some time now but who’s your favourite?
I like a lot of folks for a lot of different reasons and what I like about the whole scene is that although cats are all on a similar wavelength everyone’s got their own individual sound and everyone’s bringing something different in their own right, so definitely Flying Lotus from the get go gets a shout out, Ras G, Hud Mo of course, Muhsinah – I’ve been digging on her tracks recently, her production is off the hook. Those folks all inspire me in a way that I hope I will inspire them as well, but of course our inspirations our drawn from further afield than that select group of people.
The radio seems to be an important aspect in your development as an artist, both when you were growing up as well as when starting out. Tell us a bit more about that.
Yeah I would definitely say it was; especially growing up developing my hip hop roots I mean I was bumping a lot of West Coast stuff, Ice Cube, NWA stuff like that! But then I took up a appreciation for every kind of music really, I got into East Coast stuff too and throughout my journey it’s kind of changed, these days I’ve been digging a lot of down tempo stuff, a lot of electronic music, jazz, anything really.
Yeah mentioning that from your DJ sets and mixes there seems to be an interesting combinations of old and new music...
Yeah, I think there has to be an appreciation of all of those different elements because in the end it’s all incorporated into the music, whether it’s Santana or something completely new, everything relates to the end product – it’s good to be immersed in a lot of different things.
In terms of early influences we’ve read that you listened to a lot of soul growing up as well?
Yeah I did but the funny thing was that my family wasn’t very musical in the sense that they put me on to jazz or soul or anything like that, most stuff I discovered on my own, and probably a little later in fact when I started really experimenting with music. When I started chopping stuff up for samples was probably when I really got into soul.
Reading through your biog you get the sense that you view music as something sacred; how do you approach music and what is its role in your daily life.
I would say it’s sacred in the sense that it’s almost like a form of meditation, like any kind of creation where you really sit down and focus all your energy on letting something positive channel through, especially with music; more than it being sacred though I really feel it’s a gift and the process of making music for me is like standing back and letting it happen so I find that it helps me focus and get a really good perspective of where I am with my life, how I’m feeling emotionally and everything that I believe in really – it’s like a translation of all of that.
So what’s been your involvement with truth seekers radio and Santana Westbrook?
Those are my folks man, Santana was the first cat who showed me love on the radio actually; he hit me up randomly through MySpace because he goes through there looking for music to play on his show so he hit me up to let me know he was feeling my music and invited me over to the show to bring some of my music, some of my own selections and from that day forth we started a friendship and I had an open invitation to the radio show, becoming a part of that myself until I moved out here to New York.
Taking it back to Aftathoughts Volume 1, tell us a bit about some of the individual tracks – our favourites are probably Escape, Banilla Beans, Quest, Stellar Suzie and of course the ‘hit’ Honey Dip.
Ha! Yeah, the ones you mention are all along my more electronic creations vibe and are probably some of my favourites as well, especially Escape and Banilla Beans – that one was one of the first to be added to the equation of the whole mix and the inspiration for that derived from a few things, actually vanilla bean ice-cream and a friend of mine who goes by that name! It’s just the little things that inspire the different styles of music, I may hear one song one day and be inspired to take something in that direction, then decide to just freak it in a different way, it’s nothing that’s really plotted out, sometime’s it’s a case of sitting back and listening after it’s finished and feeling the surprise that it’s even there and that I even made it!
You’ve said that you wanted to get people back into feeling instrumentals and something that struck us on listening to the record was that although it is entirely instrumental it almost feels like it has a vocal running through it.
Yeah that’s what my purpose was really – like the sound track to your life or something. I wanted to make something that people could enjoy on the headphones or on the big speakers and something that could inspire you to do your own art; whatever it is that you have a passion for. I just wanted to let the music speak and for people to put their own words to it, their own vision and I think we’d all kind of lost the appreciation for that with all the regurgitated and duplicated material that gets love on the radio and that people are force fed these days.
Moving on then from the instrumentals we’ve read recently that one of your next projects is to work on some collaborations with some vocalists...
Yeah I’m looking at doing a collaborative album in fact, I haven’t set a specific date for it yet but hopefully sometimes in the fall. I’m hoping to work with a few folks that I’m picking and choosing seeing who I can really connect with because I think at the end of it it’s really it’s not just about a business collab. But I want to really connect with a few of these artists on a deeper level and let the music kind of make itself, so that’s definitely in the works. I’ve mentioned her already but I’m doing a few Muhsinah mixes right now and I’m definitely looking to collaborate with her and some other folks that I’ll let people know more about later on! What’s really in the works right now though is my own EP which I’m looking to drop in September following the Japan release, and which is most likely going to be a free download.
As well as working on your own new material you’ve also been collaborating on some production for Peter Hadar and Chester Gregory for their forthcoming LPs recently, what has that been like and what can we expect to hear?
Yeah, Peter Hadar has been getting a lot of love and with Chester we just wrapped his stuff up last week so he’s looking to release that next month and there are some cool tracks on there. Those are some of my first collaborations and I’m definitely hoping they’re not my last. I’m really glad to see those boys are getting the love they deserve too.
You’re planning a European tour in the autumn, what are your expectations of that? Have you played in Europe before? Where can people catch you playing?
It’s going to be my first time visiting Europe, it’s in the works right now and I’m just trying to get everything together, get my music right and yeah we’re probably going to do a little mini tour, hitting London, probably France and a few other little spots – nothing too major but warming up the European scene a little bit and connecting with some of the folks I know out there. I’m looking to get a few things going out here this summer too, I’ve had some offers from folks that want me to be involved in their stuff so look out for that too.
posted by blackathena at 5:53 pm
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