News
Tucker & Bloom Interview with Native Magazine
We we're recently interviewed by Nashville based Native Magazine about the founding of our company, the development of it, and the difficulty the interviewer, Jon, had finding our facility.
Interview with DJ and Producer House Shoes
What was it like growing up in Detroit? How did you first get exposed to DJ culture?
When did you decide that you wanted to pursue it?
I had been collecting records since I was about 7 years old, but when I went over my man O-Love's crib in high school, he had mad unreleased joints on vinyl. I always had the drive to be the first to get up on new releases then spread them to my friends as early as 6th grade. When I saw that the labels dropped white labels months in advance of proper release it lit a new fire and had me in the shops 4-5 days a week looking for new joints. I began playing records on WSHJ, our school districts radio station.
LAFAYETTE CONEY ISLAND. Or Guilty Simpson.
How's life on the road? Any horror stories?
The road is good. It's an honor and a blessing to be able to travel the world and play the music I love... The downside is being away from my family. Thank god for FaceTime. The horror stories come pre-Serato, having records destroyed by negligent baggage handlers. Lost a lot of heat.
I don't.
Now that you can download an ipad app and become a "DJ" and folks can rip samples directly from youtube to make beats what separates you and your records from the next kid in line?
At the end of the day, all that matters is that you make heat. I don't care if you got a trashcan and some chicken bones. If it's fresh that's all that counts.
What do you have planned for this year? What's keeping you pushed?
This year is all about Street Corner Music, my new label named after my record shop alma mater. Finally going full steam ahead with the releases. I started a series called The Gift on my site, Djhouseshoes.com, showcasing what I deem as the new drop of producers. With limited vinyl releases along with a gang of other projects from Danny Brown, to Knxledge, to Jimetta Rose, I have a release schedule reaching well into 2015. I'm having fun with it. Nothing is more important to me than the physical documentation of great art and I'm blessed to have built the platform.
Keep up to date with House Shoes on his website, Facebook,and follow him on twitter
Interview with artist Tall Black Guy
Interview With Photographer Shawn Theodore XST
I was first introduced to photographer Shawn Theodore aka XST (pronounced exist) on Instagram and we quickly hit it off. Shawn is a really talented photographer (on and off the iphone) and over the short time we've been aquatinted (how old is instagram anyway?) I have seen a definite narrative develop through his photos. He interacts with the street folks we pass by and spends time hanging in the mostly overlooked nooks and crannies of Philadelphia. With all the disconnection that the internet has brought with it his photos leave me feeling connected to the people and places of Philadelphia. He has stories for almost every photo and believe me he has taken a lot of photos. We caught up recently to discuss his photography, the streets of Philadelphia, and the wild things he's seen while doing one in the other
Interview with DJ DAY ( Piecelock 70 )
DJ DAY has toured the world many times over as a solo artist and with fellow musicians Aloe Blacc, Exile and People Under the Stairs. Amongst numerous accolades, he was nominated for Song of the Year awards both by the BBC and The Village Voice and his music has been licensed for commercials by DC Shoes, Red Bull Music Academy, Rane/Serato, and numerous full length feature films. Day recently returned from from touring Russia, Europe and New Zealand to finish and release his new album Land Of 1000 Chances on Piecelock 70.
Interview with Andrew Morgan of Peoples Potential Unlimited Records
Peoples Potential Unlimited is a record label based in Washington DC, specializing in archiving and releasing rare and obscure dance music from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. We caught up with Andrew Morgan, the man behind the PPU label to see how it all came about.
DJ Cash Money Interview
The Bag Messenger: How did you first get into music?
Cash Money:I have always loved music.Music was always being played in my household growing up.From funk,jazz,soul,gospel on to pop music.My Mom & Dad are totally responsible for my ear for good music..It was albums & 8 tracks back then...
The Bag Messenger: What made you want to become a DJ? Who we're the folks you we're looking up to when you first started?
Cash Money:When i first started djing i would say the radio jocks on WDAS (Georgie Woods, Doctor Perry Johnson,Doug Henderson and Jocko)..When hip hop started then it was Grand Master Flash...I didn't live in New York so i started listening to the hip hop dee-jays here in Philly (Grand Wizard Rasheen,Grand Master Nell,Grand Slam Dj Jam,Cosmic Kev etc..)
The Bag Messenger: What was looking for music like in the beginning? How we're you getting hip to records?
Cash Money:Music was easier to find back in the days..There used to be this warehouse that the a guy called Grand Slam DJ Jam knew about..First of all Slam had the most break beats in Philly...Til this day he has stuff that i still don't know..Well he took me to this warehouse and all the records were like 35 cents.....We found multiple copies of everything...I was taught how to dig for records by DJ Grand Slam DJ Jam....
The Bag Messenger: Has being a professional DJ for this long changed the way you listen to music?
Cash Money: Absolutely, Because i have the chance to travel to different countries.It has opened my life to other kinds of music...Every country was influenced by James Brown..So you would find an artist from another country doing a funky ass version of a similar sounding James Brown tune..
The Bag Messenger: What's the key to packing for a successful tour?
Cash Money: Computer now....I don't put records under no plane...They ride like a passenger..."REAL TALK"...
The Bag Messenger: Any travel horror stories?
Cash Money: I remember flying from Germany to Manchester, England and i went to grab my bags and record cases.I realized that my record cases were feeling very light in weight..One case had some tape around it with the word defective written on the tape..This is how they spelled it "defktive"...The promoter that picked me up was so pissed off over this situation that he went crazy on the people behind the desk....I told him i couldn't do my shows without my records...
The Bag Messenger: What was the Plateau? How were those parties?
Cash Money: The Plateau was a place out in Fairmont Park that everyone went to on Sat.& Sunday...People would have different sound systems then would have some great djs' & mcs'...You would just sit in your car or walk down to where the music was...Everyone who had any status in the city was there...
The Bag Messenger: How did you decide to flip your turntables vertically (to "battle style")?
Cash Money: Well first of all it's not called "Battlestyle"..It's DJ Cash Money style or Grand Wizard Rasheen style....I learned from Rasheen and the world learned from me...
The Bag Messenger: How do you feel about current DJ culture?
Cash Money: I love the fact that we have so many up and coming dee-jays..The problem that i am having with the new kats is they are learning from the computer..They are using sync buttons..So if you ask them to blend 2 records together without the computer.They can't do it..I think technology is being created much faster than we can produce good dee-jays....
The Bag Messenger: You've got a bunch of collections going. Can you describe what do you collect? What are some of your prized pieces?
Cash Money: I have been a collector of everything for years...I was collecting records and toys etc way before ebay was around...I might one of the craziest oddball collections around today...I think some of my prized possessions would be my radio spot collections..They were never for sale..They were for radio stations use only...I have pretty much every blaxploitation,kung fu etc ...If you do not know what radio spot records are?These are the commercials for the movies..They come on a 45 record form...
The Bag Messenger: If you we'rent a DJ what would you do?
Cash Money: If i didn't dj i would have tried to play basketball somwhere...
Vinyl Snobs with DJ Marcellus Wallace and L Dula
Our friend Marcellus Wallace and fellow record digger L Dula were recently guests at a live record culture event called Vinyl Snobs. The DJs brought a stack of their favorite records to share with the crowd and frankly talked about their experience in the bins. Both are heavy in the game and genuine music lovers. Its about as close to being at a friends apartment going through records as you can get on the internet and as a bonus you get you hear Marcellus Wallace plays his copy of A. Vuolo & E. Grandes Desert, an italian record that essentially doesn't exist. Zoinks!
INTERVIEW with Skeme Richards
Maybe it's the hopping on and off planes or the constant drone of song requests but something about the DJ world can chew a mans passion for music up before a great majority of folks get their foot in the game. Want to be a DJ? It's 90 percent Radio Shack and U-Haul with a splash of librarian and a touch of talent. Not many are cut out for the long haul, but trust me when I say that Skeme Richards was built for this. He lives to travel, collect, and play records. The passion he exudes is palpable and with more years under his belt than most he's got every right to hand out cigars and wax about the past, choosing instead to have both feet firmly planted in the nitty gritty of this mess, holding the torch to guide the way and all whilst searching for the perfect hamburger. -THE BAG MESSENGER
THE BAG MESSENGER: When did you first get into collecting and at what point did records enter that picture for you?
SKEME RICHARDS: I would have to say unofficially I became a collector around the age of 6 which was during the beginnings of the Star Wars craze and until this day I still own every figure that I received as a kid. Records have always been in the picture for me starting with getting a Show n Tell Record Player and Viewer in 1970’s but as a young adult record became important in 1981 which is when I first started to DJ and was able to buy 12” on my own.
THE BAG MESSENGER: You collect a wide range of stuff, what are some of your favorite pieces?
SKEME RICHARDS: That’s always a tough question for me to answer because as a collector I only acquire things that I have a personal attachment to, things that I remember or have a connection to growing up, it’s all about quality over quantity. But as for favorites number 1 on the list would be my 1981 Stern Muhammad Ali pinball machine, out of 2917 made less than 50 are known to exist and only about 10 are mint (which includes mine). Any of my 1970’s GI Joe with Kung Fu Grip figures and definitely my vintage movie poster collection especially the Shaw Brothers Kung Fu posters and pictures collection. But I collect so much from old race tracks and train sets to vintage magazines.
THE BAG MESSENGER: How has nightlife evolved since you got in the game.
SKEME RICHARDS: Night life has made various transitions over the years, when I first started going out to parties / clubs in Philly to hear R&B, Hip Hop and Dance Classics it was primarily a Black audience going to Center City, then in the early 90's I started seeing more diversity in the crowds but we all shared the love of good music. No matter if it was "popular" music on the radio or underground hit's, good music was everywhere around us and the DJ's stressed playing good music, the club owners spent good money on amazing sound systems and wanted to hear it and they wanted people to dance to it because that’s what makes a party. Fast forward to the present and all that has changed, DJ's only care about their paycheck, club owners only care about how much they are making at the bar and the partygoers only cares about getting drunk. And to top it off the music has become more segregated similar to how it was with Hip Hop in the 80's where only "urban" people listened to it.
THE BAG MESSENGER: What's up with Hot Pea's and Butta? When did you guys start?
SKEME RICHARDS: Hot Peas & Butta officially started in 2008 and it was a way to present people with good Funk, Soul and Rare Grooves on 45 while showing rare footage to tie the whole night together which Supreme La Rock and myself have been doing with guest DJ's ever since. Once Elroy Jenkins our graphic designer got involved it took the visual aspect to another level and since then we've done gallery exhibitions, worked with the Black Dynamite Sound Orchestra, created comic books all in between traveling the globe doing parties in Japan, Germany, Switzerland, London, Los Angeles, Seattle, New York and countless other places.
THE BAG MESSENGER: You're on the road a lot traveling sometimes for months at a time. What's the key to a well packed bag?
SKEME RICHARDS: It took me along time to figure it out but it really all comes to not only the flexibility of the bag and it's layout but also in how you fold and roll your items. Most people put socks in their shoes but I usually line the outsides with mine, bulky clothes should definitely be kept to a minimum while every corner and pocket should be utilized. I can use the same bag for a weekend getaway that I could use for a week long stay, but when it comes to being away for a month, less is definitely more for various reasons especially if you're a collector and planning on returning home with gems you've found along the way.
THE BAG MESSENGER: What's the oddest thing you've picked up on a trip and flown home with?
SKEME RICHARDS: I've come home with a lot of items from records and toys to sneakers and art which are usually concealed and packed well but the oddest thing would be two 1970's giant Shogun Warriors in the box. I didn't want to pay to ship them home which is what I normally do with large items so I tied a string around both boxes and carried them like a suitcase. If you know me then you know I keep my collecting habits somewhat quiet in public but I got a lot of strange looks and equally as many "hey what's that?" from people who wanted to hold hour long conversations which tends to drag out flights that are already long enough.
THE BAG MESSENGER: What are some of your favorite places to play?
SKEME RICHARDS: Some of my favorite places to play are those with not only a great sound system but those with a great vibe, a certain aesthetic and people who really appreciate the music. The Room (Japan), Club Asia (Japan), Madame Jo Jo's (London), Plan B (London), Lo-Fi (Seattle), Echo (Los Angeles), Le Lido (Switzerland), Bohannon Soul Club (Germany), Sound Holicity (Korea) and LPR (NYC) with special mention to Table 50 in NYC which doesn't exist anymore.
THE BAG MESSENGER: Best burger so far?
SKEME RICHARDS: I’ve had great burgers around the world but I have to say the most consistent with excellent quality of beef and great bun has to be Fathers Office in Los Angeles. I think it's the bacon jam spread that they use on it which makes it perfect and it never fails.
THE BAG MESSENGER:You've got a lot on your plate, how do you stay productive on the road?
SKEME RICHARDS: I'm always inspired by what I see when traveling especially when in Europe, everything from being in railway stations to art, fashion and people just riding bikes through the streets. All of these elements keep me mentally taking notes so once I get back to the hotel it straight to the computer to jot these things down but that then leads to coming up with ideas to build around those inspirations which leads to back and forth emails with Elroy Jenkins or Supreme La Rock and it steamrolls from there.
THE BAG MESSENGER: Favorite slept on flick?
SKEME RICHARDS: Favorite slept on flick I would have to say Seijun Suzuki's 1966 Tokyo Nagaremono (Tokyo Drifter). It's a Yakuza film with a great storyline, shot visually well with amazing scenery and it's definitely a starting point for where Quentin Tarantino draws inspiration from on a lot of his films.
THE BAG MESSENGER: Any last words of advice for the people?
SKEME RICHARDS: Do what you believe in and believe in what you do, if you're an artist live that passion to the fullest, compromise to get what you need or want but don't sacrifice your art nor creativity just to please the masses. Buy into quality not into quantity.
Keep up with Skeme on www.hotpeasandbutta.com and on twitter @hotpeasandbutta
INTERVIEW with DJ,Producer, and designer QUESTION
This interview has been sitting on the shelf for longer than I care to disclose and for that Iapologies. In mydefenseI can only say that when Dj Marsellus Wallace first reached out to me aboutinterviewinghis friend Question I really didn’t have any idea who the man was. Mike (Marsellus Wallace) is deep in the record game and so when he told me Question was up on his stuff it stood as a very strong co-sign.
As is usually the case for me, beginning writing is the toughest part, and thus introducing a man I have yet to meet had me caught up in a furry of unfinished drafts. I did the social media thing in attempt to get to know him and we did the email thing a few times, but I still felt like like my writing was doing his work a disservice.
Question has his hands in a myriad of projects at all times and is a veteran in multiple fields. He’s a talent as a producer, designer, and as a DJ, and is constantly working in each of those respective mediums. Just watching the flow of material from my computer screen was enough to have me second guessing myself. Should I use this blog post to feature the new album or cover the podcasts he’s been doing, or should I focus entirely on some of the new album art he’s cranking out? I wanted the timing of the post to work for both of us, but what has now dawned on me is that the flow of projects won’t stop, the design work won’t be less impressive, and the best thing to do is just lay it out. So here it is. The timing was a bit shaky, but I’d rather you get there eventually than never at all.
-THE BAG MESSENGER
THE BAG MESSENGER: When did music first come into your life?
QUESTION: I’ve been exposed to music pretty much as long as I’ve been alive. My mom sang in a church choir and pops had a nice record collection so I was plugged in at an early age.
THE BAG MESSENGER:When did buying records enter the picture for you?
QUESTION:I bought my first record in 1983 and I STILL got it til’ this day. It was Renegades of Funk – Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force. The collection didn’t get thick til’ I entered high school, that’s when I pretty much spent lunch money to buy records.
THE BAG MESSENGER:How did you first discover hip hop?
QUESTION:I’ve got Afrika Bambaataa to thank for that! After Planet Rock came out, there was just no turning back for me.
THE BAG MESSENGER:When did you get your first set of turntables?
QUESTION:I didn’t get my first pair of 1200’s until I was in high school. Before that, I was on some super budget belt driven joints!
THE BAG MESSENGER:Any early experiences you care to share?
QUESTION:I got my first gig doing house parties with my pop’s home stereo amp and speakers for $20 bucks, and I was 15 at the time. I had to bring an electric fan to put on top of the amp or it would over heat and the party would be over! I kept saving the money I made to get better equipment. It took some time, but it was worth seeing your hard work pay off.
THE BAG MESSENGER:How did you get involved with design, and production?
QUESTION:There’s two things that has remained consistent in my life and that’s music and art. When I was a kid, I used to draw for hours while listening to music. Both crafts have been with me ever since. I worked in radio from 94’-99’. My college years consisted of doing live radio mixshows on the weekends, while I went to school in the weekdays. I left radio right after I got my degree in Multimedia and Graphic Design and started working full-time in the action-sports industry. I started my own design consultancy in 2002, and I’ve been blessed to work with everyone from industry leading skate companies to lifestyle and streetwear brands. As for music… I was always fascinated with beats & sampling in general. I picked up my first sampler which was the ASR-10 back in 95’. I learned how to sequence on it and the keys was a bonus since I knew how to play. I moved up to the MPC-2000 and I was hooked from then on. I started doing remixes at first, then started working on my own sound. I still use my mpc but i’ve migrated a lot of my production to Ableton Live in late 2009.
THE BAG MESSENGER:Did those two come into your life, through hip hop, or were they things that you picked up along the way?
QUESTION:Somehow I knew I was going to do both. I have identical high respects for design and music in general. As for beat production, a good friend of mine named Soulo was in a group called The Sound Providers and he inspired me to put my music out there. Another key figure is my man Freddie Joachim who actually opened me up to digital production, both these guys have helped me craft my sound.
THE BAG MESSENGER:How would you describe your production style?
QUESTION:My music is primarily a mixture of obscure jazz samples, heavy beats, and live orchestration. I was heavily inspired by jazz music and it was just natural for me to go that route. I also have a lot of soul and funk influences, and that pretty much completes my sound.
THE BAG MESSENGER:What does your production setup look like these days? How has it changed?
QUESTION:My current setup is pretty basic – mpc2500, macbook pro, my record collection, and my drums, but I recently picked up a vintage 73’ Fender Rhodes piano in mint condition.
THE BAG MESSENGER:Where do you find inspiration, be it for design, or production?
QUESTION:Pretty much everywhere. For design, I sometimes dig through my record collection. Album cover art always sparks ideas, then I end up playing records all day haha! Oddly enough, I tend to listen to full albums when I’m designing. I’ll hear something and stop working immediately, pull the record back and start chopping samples on the spot. If i’m deep in a project and hear something, sometimes i’ll just write the song name on a postit and stick it on my screen so I don’t forget to go back to it later.
THE BAG MESSENGER:Has Serato changed the way you get down? Are you still buying records?
QUESTION:Serato is definitely a convenience. It’s a blessing for people like me, I wouldn’t want to lug a rare record around or cue burn an only copy. There’s a certain discipline you get from digging crates and collecting. I don’t think I can ever stop buying records. I’ve edited my collection massively in the past decade and only kept what I consider “essentials”. I just don’t have the room so I gotta cut the fat.
THE BAG MESSENGER:What kind of things are you looking for these days?
QUESTION:Nothing in particular really. Lately i’ve been picking up a few obscure joints like Les Baxter’s 101 Strings, some 60’s psyche funk. There’s only a few spots to dig around SD, but I love diggin’ at the swap meet. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure!
THE BAG MESSENGER:Any interesting digging related stories? Favorite finds?
QUESTION:Most random digging story. I was in New York in the les and I ran into this guy sitting on a crate of records so I asked him if he was selling, he replied “only if you’re buying!” The man ended up being a collector who is about to lose his home. He walked me into a store front filled with records from floor to ceiling. I was there for at least 3 hours. I ended up buying extra baggage to haul my findings.
THE BAG MESSENGER:What is the Beat Kitchen? How long has that been going on? Who is involved?
QUESTION:The Beat Kitchen is a collaborative project with DJ Charlie Rock (Rock Steady Crew / Dojo Soundz). Charlie and I go way back, he used to come out to the jams I’m spinning at and i’d do my set while he kills it on the dance floor. We wanted to do a once a month event that primarily focuses on the music we liked. We play everything from golden era hip hop to afrobeat, bossa nova and funk. The Beat Kitchen started it in January this year, and runs every 2nd Saturday of the month. We’re still trying to build up the night and it just keeps getting better.
THE BAG MESSENGER:What is Analogue Studies?
QUESTION:Analogue Studies is a music hub that holds my blog, current releases, projects etc… I launched it in 2009 as a networking tool, basically another way for my fans and like minded individuals to connect.
THE BAG MESSENGER:What are you working on now?
QUESTION:I’ve got a few collaborative projects in the works, and another album for an early 2012 release.
THE BAG MESSENGER:What can we expect to hear from you in the future?
QUESTION:I’m preparing to work on a live instrumental project with my good friend Freddie Joachim. We’ve been talking about this project for some time now and it’s going to be interesting as it unfolds. Stay connected:
Diamond D Interview
When it comes to hip hop or records in general, you would be hard pressed to find anyone much more legendary and at the same time humble than Diamond D. From his beginning in the South Bronx as a DJ for Jazzy Jay, Diamond released a slew of hip hop classics on his own as well as with D.I.T.C, and went on to record and produce grammy nominated hits for The Fugees and Natalie Cole. He took time out of his day to catch up with us about records, his history, and future undertakings. -THE BAG MESSENGER
THE BAG MESSENGER: How did you first get into music? When did records come into the picture for you?
DIAMOND D: I first got into music through my uncles Gary and Kevin, and than started collecting records at eleven years old
THE BAG MESSENGER: How did Ultimate Force come about?
DIAMOND D: We all grew up in the same projects in the South Bronx. Myself, Master Rob, LMD, Show N Tell and Charlie Rock. Eventually it turned into just me and Rob.
THE BAG MESSENGER: What did you learn from your first deal that you were able to bring to Mercury for your solo deal, and than Tommy Boy for the D.I.T.C deal?
DIAMOND D: I learned to KEEP ALL OF YOUR PUBLISHING! I had nothing to do with the Tommy Boy Negotiations
THE BAG MESSENGER: How did D.I.T.C come about? It was you and Lord Finesse to begin with? What kicked things off for the crew?
DIAMOND D: We we’re just neighborhood friends who came together. Master Rob and I released “I’m Not Playing”, and than Showbiz and I helped produce Lord Finesses’ first LP. Than I produced Showbiz & AG and Fat Joe’s first singles. Finesse brought in Big L and Buckwild, and than Buckwild brought in O.C
THE BAG MESSENGER: Where were you guys shopping for records? Was it strictly record shows and dealers, or were you making road trips, and hunting down leads?
DIAMOND D: Back than it was all of the above, and really the same rules still apply.
THE BAG MESSENGER: Any favorite finds, or crazy digging related stories?
DIAMOND D: I found a mint copy of Funky Drummer on King Records for $2 in Detroit this year. There are too many digging stories to get into. LOL...one word “Roosevelt”
THE BAG MESSENGER: How was working with the Fugees? How did winning a grammy in 1996 change your life?
DIAMOND D: The grammy brought me more recognition and more money, but my Grammy nomination for Natalie Cole’s “Daydreamin” three years ago meant more because it was my song directly, as opposed to me being a part of a Grammy award winning LP.
THE BAG MESSENGER: Has your production setup changed over the years? Are you still using a MPC 2000 XL?
DIAMOND D: I’m using a MOTIF ES8 and MPC 3000. Basic setup…Protools and Logic
THE BAG MESSENGER: How much time are you spending in the studios these days? What are you working on?
DIAMOND D: I’m in the Lab often. I’m working on a new LP, I’m producing with different MCs and I’m also producing a project for an artist out of New Orleans called Big Rec.
THE BAG MESSENGER: You spend a lot of time on the road, what’s the key to packing for a tour?
DIAMOND D: Pack light, and leave room for merchandise…and diggin of course.
THE BAG MESSENGER: What are you listening to now?
DIAMOND D: I thought that was big of Kanye and Jay Z to release “Otis” and take hip hop back to the essence. A soul loop and a kick. Raw!
DJ APT ONE INTERVIEW
Tucker & Bloom caught up with DJ APT ONE of the Philadelphyinz. Easily spotted by his moustache, APT ONE is well known in Philadelphia as a force both behind the turntables and the mixing board. Read about how he first got into music, what he’s been busy working on, and the origin of the name Philadelphyinz (rumor has it the name has roots in the Mayan calendar). Embrace the man behind the handlebar moustache, and read on.
-THE BAG MESSENGER
THE BAG MESSENGER: How did you first get into music?
DJ APT ONE: Some of my early memories involve my parents singing to me before I’d go to sleep. I used to love to improvise my own songs. I remember my dad singing Mississippi John Hurt’s “Irene Goodnight.” But he tactfully removed the verse about jumping in the river and drowning.
My dad is a huge music nerd. I still go home and burn CDs from his collection. He went to SXSW with me this year – it was awesome. I got a call from him over the winter where he said “yeah I think there are a few dozen shows I want to see in Austin this year, I’m gonna go.” He has a really good grasp on what I do in music – it can be awfully hard to explain DJing and production to people who grew up before that was a thing.
THE BAG MESSENGER: How did the philadelphyinz come about? Where does the name come from?
DJ APT ONE: Oh man. I get this question a lot and there’s no real quick answer so here goes.
So in 2005 I was doing some parties where I had a string of my buddies that I grew up with in Pittsburgh down in Philly rocking with me. Philadelphyinz is sort of a portmanteau of the words “Philadelphia” and “yinz.” Yinz is the equivalent of “y’all” in Pittsburghese, which is a really strange dialect of English with all kinds of weird words. You don’t really hear it outside of Western PA, Eastern Ohio and West Virginia. It’s pretty wild. Anyways.
Ultimately, Skinny and I struck up a partnership this way – we hadn’t DJed together much since we were in high school but he had moved to NYC from St. Louis and I had him down DJing a bit and we really clicked. We used the name for the party because it had these two geographic influences – it was Pittsburghers in Philly. We didn’t really expect to have the party continue for so long and we certainly didn’t intend to name ourselves that – nobody can spell the fucking name and most people have no clue what it means. Other people started referring to us by the name of our party and after a while we just stopped fighting it because people knew what it was and the name was out there. Skinny and I have played in dozens of cities as Philadelphyinz and we run a record label together and still do that party (and others like Hot Mess) together til this day. I love that dude like a brother – as in “that’s my dude but i wanna put him in a headlock half the time.” I think he’d say the same about me.
THE BAG MESSENGER: When did you get involved with production?
DJ APT ONE: I’ve been producing since the early 2000s, and it was just a natural progression from DJing. I spend a lot of time producing – making remixes for other artists, making edits and remixes for DJ use and making my own original production. I have had a lot of success with my edits and the RCMP records I’ve been doing the last couple years and I have dozens of tracks ready to go when they find the right home.
THE BAG MESSENGER: We’re you always involved with collecting music?
DJ APT ONE: It’s all about Jerry’s Records in Pittsburgh. One of the biggest all-vinyl stores in the world. It was on my walk home from high school. I’d grab some pizza or some Chinese and just post up there for hours.
THE BAG MESSENGER: How has serato changed the way you get down?
DJ APT ONE: I’d be lying if I said it hadn’t changed the way I do my thing, but I am probably on the more puristic side of digital DJ culture. I held out against switching to digital until 2007 and I watched the way the tail was beginning to wag the dog, and I decided that although I had to go digital in order to play the music I was making (and save my lower back from destruction), I’d try to stay very focused on keeping my musical identity as somebody who trusts his own musical instincts. Having access to such a huge volume of digital music makes it easy to be lazy or be a trend fucker. I’m a digger and I like funky music, and I gotta remember to keep those things core to my identity.
THE BAG MESSENGER: Do you still buy records? What are you looking for these days?
DJ APT ONE: I do- I mostly look for good disco, house or funk gems and look for sample sources. I’ll pick up anything I think I can play and if it’s cool but maybe not playable, I’ll edit it. I also collect a few esoteric things – Pentangle-type British electric folk, old Bob Wills style country. Weird shit.
THE BAG MESSENGER: What do you listen to for fun?
DJ APT ONE: My favorite thing to listen to for fun is Andre the Giant and Butter on 105.3 WDAS on Sunday nights. I love listening to cats who have been playing funk, soul and hip hop for like 40 years play that shit live in a nightclub. I love listening to how they treat particular records and I always come away from that show with a new respect for certain classic records and what they can do if used effectively.
THE BAG MESSENGER: What would you be doing if you weren’t a DJ?
DJ APT ONE: I’d be in grad school. I dropped out to do this full time. I had an itch I couldn’t scratch and I knew that if I didn’t take my chances as a working DJ and producer NOW, the window would close and I’d regret it later. Grad school’s not going anywhere and as far as I know I’m not getting dumber as time goes by.
THE BAG MESSENGER: What are some of your places to visit? Favorite crowds to play for?
DJ APT ONE: The best crowds I’ve played for (outside of Philly) are most definitely Providence, DC, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh and Cleveland. I don’t know what it is but folks in those cities always go bezerk! My favorite crowd to play for is probably the gay, black over 30 crowd but I’m not picky – anybody who is open and down to have a good time is my kinda party person.
THE BAG MESSENGER: What’s the key to packing for the road?
DJ APT ONE: Pack efficiently and make sure you have easy access to all your esoteric DJ electronics so you can take them out beforehand at airport security. It saves you a lot of time. Also, do anything in your power to avoid checking a bag.
THE BAG MESSENGER: Every DJ has a horror story or two….what is the worst thing to happen at a gig?
DJ APT ONE: This is another question that a short answer doesn’t do justice.
I was DJing a Beautiful Decay magazine release party in NYC with Burnso. Must have been 03 or 04. He and I had a group called Myron Cope Experience up until 05 or so. We played a set with lots of Kraftwerk, Black Moon, Barry White and probably Aaliyah acapellas over Ante Up. We rolled deep on wax with mashups before anybody called them that (and before Serato made it silly to bother mixing two records together live for 3 minutes).
Anyway, we get done playing our set and these guys from Madball come on after us and DJ. They just slam in a bunch of hardcore records. I had no idea who they were or what DMS crew or anything was. I still know pretty much zero about hardcore. Never really cared for it or knew anybody who did when I was young. I found out after the fact that these guys are pretty much legendary head cracking motherfuckers.
Our boys from Philly who came up were friends with my buddy Dos Noun, who was also performing. These kids were complete degenerates, and they start getting flipped out like “THIS MUSIC FUCKING SUCKS PLAY SOME RAP” etc., They’re climbing up into the booth and getting in these Madball guys faces.
All of a sudden I see Dos get sucker punched by some hardcore dude and the dance floor basically turns into a big riot. We gotta go rush to get our boys’ backs. Big rumble goes down, nothing too serious, but then half the Philly kids get thrown out of their own show and this dude Rooney is in front of the old Downtime in the middle of 30th Street in Manhattan waving a crowbar at his best friend’s manager for kicking them out. Several of the guys who were on “our” side were dust-head criminal miscreants that I would never vouch for in real life but basically we had no choice. They are basically waiting outside the club for their own managers and these DMS dudes until cooler heads prevailed and the left. It was ugly.
We rode the train to the Bronx with 5 damn crates of records at like 5AM covered in blood and beer. My friend Annie was vomited on in the club at some point. Real human wreckage. We go way the fuck up in Riverdale near that IHOP everybody knows. So we copped some 40s at a bodega and crushed em. Then we get to Annie’s apartment – it’s the size of a shoebox and me and Burns had to sleep head to toe on the same tiny futon. There wasn’t even floor space for one person. Burnso copped a can of Spaghetti-O’s at the bodega and ate the thing cold and farted the rest of the fucking night
That last part is the real horror story. Game over.
THE BAG MESSENGER: Where do you find inspiration to do what you do?
DJ APT ONE: The streets of Philly. The bar around the corner from my crib in West Philly has a house band that plays George McCrae’s “I Get Lifted” almost every week when I’m waiting for the 9PM trolley to the gig – that’s all the inspiration I need.
The DJs in this town blow my mind. Watching Cosmo Baker or Brendan Bring’em rock it is inspirational in and of itself. I also get a lot of inspiration from watching my homies do what they do – all my friends teach me a lot about music when I watch them play. You can’t suck and make it in Philly.
THE BAG MESSENGER: What are you working on now? What can we be looking for in the future?
DJ APT ONE: I just cut a remix for my boy Nick Nack from Austin, and I’m working on getting some of my huge collection of bootleg funk and disco edits out there on wax and digital with my boys Eleven and Cosmo from the Rub and my homie DJ Audit out of Canada. I have a project with a bunch of ex-P-Funk members that will hopefully see the light of day soon as well.
I have a lot of cool stuff coming out of Young Robots camp (my label). We’ve got a new single from one of my groups, RCMP, as well as records by Skinny Friedman, New York’s Pumpkin Patch, Relative Q (also of RCMP), Detroit’s Frankie Bank$, Dash Speaks and myself in the next year, so stay tuned. YoungRobots.com all day baby.
THE BAG MESSENGER: What do you think DJ culture is going to look like in the next ten years? (Will the DJ become more of a performer or less?)
DJ APT ONE: I can’t really say what is in store for DJ culture. Digital DJing tools have really made the game less about what music you have and more about what you do with it. There will always be toolish DJs out there who promote their asses off, and that doesn’t bother me, but if Philly has taught me anything, it’s that often times, the cream rises to the top. The people who can present a unique musical aesthetic to a crowd will always make waves.