Q: how long have you been making beats?A: making beats since 2005, doing music in some form since I was a kid.
Q: you have quite an unusual sound, how do you usually make your beats/what equip do you use? talk me through the process.
A: I think my approach is pretty traditional..searching for loops and breaks, sampling, using hardware..recording everything to cassette..sometimes the execution can get pretty experimental. I do most the work on the sp 303 or the 202, got an old school DX Oberhiem..technics 1200..shitty mixer. I pretty much run everything into a double cassette stereo..i'll throw in the radio sometimes. I try to do all my shit as live, one session as possible but sometimes I get real into editing on the stereo..pausing the tape and coming back in..you get that cool tape overlap..i'll get real into the interlude shit with that.
Q: what/who are some of your inspirations musical and otherwise?
A: Its really all over the place.. everyday shit is the main thing..the world gets me real inspired, feed off of everything, positive and negative. i love music..always trying to find something fresh! jazz, funk, soul..always loved 90s hip hop, ill get into all kinds of shit though.
Q: please talk a bit about the live sets you perform, what types of places do you play? do you recreate material from your tapes?
A: It varies..i've been doing a lot of sets at galleries, friends art shows, parties..trying to get into more venue type of settings. I have recreated stuff from the tapes but usually i'll just rock whatever i've got on my sampler. Problem is I make beats and then I delete them..i can only hold so much on one sampler. I have borrowed a few 303 and loaded them all up for longer sets.
Q: you play some drums, can you tell me about any projects you are/have been involved with as far as that goes?
A: I've been playing drums and piano a lot longer than the beats..done a lot of different types of bands, some really serious, some never amount to anything, def spent a lot of time just improvising with musicians. Me and my friends had quite a few punk bands in high school. Right now the only active band im in is with my friend jony.. myspace.com/deepseadivers , were starting to get gigs but its really just all my roommates getting rowdy most the time.
Q: what got you into art/design and painting?
A: I've been drawing all my life, my parents are hippies and always encouraged the arts. After high school i was taking music and art classes at community college, not sure which direction to take..i got really turned off by digital music production when trying to learn about protools..i took my first real painting class with an amazing painter Chester Arnold..he was the first real painter i'd met and thats what really got me started with painting.
Q: do you have any upcoming releases in the works?
A: I've got a lot of tapes i've been sitting on for awhile, me and my buddy have been working towards a split 7", hes a real legit dude, ran my tapes into a bunch of gear and got them soundin real good so im excited about that. Always working towards something with my homie cody..he taught me everything about beats and needs to be heard! myspace.com/bluezr I'll be putting some downloads up on his site in the near future www.bluezr.biz .. also trying to put some tapes out myself..I've got a whole tape of stuff that is more experimental and pretty questionable..that will be called "Question Mark"
Q: what are your plans for the future with music/art etc.?
A: Well I've got a semester left at SFAI..after that im really just trying to push everything, get some gallery shows, release more music, keep doing everything but step it up a bit.
Q: who's your favorite artist right now(audio or visual)?
Edouard Vuillard paintings.. been listening to Tyrone Ashley - Funky Music Machine a lot...EPROM Be PF.
Q: anything you'd like to add?
A: thanks cory for doing this!
LINKS: myspace, facebook
mark is king!!!
ReplyDeleteyou should hear what he's up to now
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