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Extra Credit with DJ Zimmie
Black Market Brass - N.B.T. + "Undying Thirst" LP
Check out the latest single from Minneapolis, Afrobeat outfit Black Market Brass! The complex polyrhythmic percussion, driving bass lines, dizzying guitar interplay, rolling keyboards, and room-commanding brass give us a preview of what we have in store for the release of their upcoming album "Undying Thirst" out on Colemine Records 02/28/20.
The Token Jazz Hour
Breaking The Ice: DJ Platurn
Dust + Dignity Kickstarter
Philadelphians and lovers of record culture! Our friend Junior of Record Breakin Music is helping to put together an art exhibit exploring the relationship between music, album art, and social justice. The project involves some incredibly talented DJ's/record collectors ( Cosmo Baker, Rich Medina, Skeme Richards, King Britt, and Junior ) and is on KickStarter now. They are offering some great prizes (including a few of our bags). Head on over and support these good people doing good things!
Dust + Dignity is an educational experience promoting dialogue + advancing social justice through the exploration of the relationship between music and visual art. In March 2016, we will curate an exhibit featuring an audio tour with over 100 vinyl albums covers -- hand-selected by five of Philadelphia’s most prominent DJ-Vinyl Collectors: Cosmo Baker, King Britt, Rich Medina, Skeme Richards, and DJ Junior.
Today, we are experiencing an outing of the racial ignorance that has long existed in our city, country, and surrounding world. Born out this injustice and in response to the ignorance is art. In art, we find sound. Music keeps us together; it heals and connects -- it motivates and celebrates. Lyrics give life to our souls, the melodies align our hearts, and the rhythms stoke the fire our movements. Often-overlooked is the powerful connection between an album’s music and the accompanying album visual artwork that binds it all together. From Gil Scott Heron's "Moving Target" to Kendrick Lamar’s highly-acclaimed 2015 release, "To Pimp a Butterfly", the evolution of album artwork has transmitted the dynamism of music and social injustices. Curators: Bruce “DJ Junior” Campbell Jr. - recordbreakin.com, Angie Asombrosa-Cuurlzzz.com, Sarah Mueller - cineSPEAK.org, King Britt - kingbritt.com, Cosmo Baker -cosmobaker.com, Rich Medina - richmedina.com, Skeme Richards - hotpeasandbutta.com
SOCIAL MEDIA:
Instagram: @DustNDignity
Twitter: @DustNDignity
Facebook: facebook.com/DustNDignity
Risks and challenges
The Dust N Dignity Production Team + Collectors are full of wildly passionate expert artist-educators, movers + shakers, world-class djs, artists, event planners, and long-term residents + lovers of our great city of Philadelphia.
We are all incredibly excited about the opportunity to bring this first-of-its kind exhibit and events series to our city. We know that it will bring together the rich diversity of our communities and showcase the vast treasures of these vinyl connoisseurs.
Thus far, this been a joyful journey and we can't wait to see it come fruition. We've been blessed with great support from local business owners, the Painted Bride, and the record collectors themselves. We know it won't be without challenges but we feel that we got this down. We'll keep you posted with updates all along the way.
In advance, that you for your support! We could not - would not do this without you. Much love, the D+D Team.
Interview With DJ and Producer Doc Delay | Piecelock 70 Records |
Who is Doc Delay? What do you do?
Doc Delay is my super-hero name. A branding from my graffiti days in the early 90s. I'm a producer, lifetime DJ, and fan of music.
How long have you been making music? What started it all for you?
I have been manipulating recorded music since I was a little kid. I played piano and guitar most of my life as well, but i didn't really start making songs until about 1994.
What is your production set up looking like these days?
I share a studio with a friend. It's pretty serious. We have a lot of outboard gear. Tube pre-amps, old mics, synths, transistor organs, vintage drums, ect.
From what I've seen you have a good amount of analogue gear, what are some of your favorite pieces?
I really like the old effects and combining them in different chains. I have a Maestro G-2 that I use almost too much, but my favorite piece of gear is a 1967 Gretsch Country Gentleman. The sounds i get out of that thing are amazing.
Are you sampling drums or them playing live?
Depends. Sometimes both. Sometimes I don't use drums at all. I'll just record a bunch of layers of percussion individually. Recording drums is tough. I have been getting pretty good at it, but every drummer plays different.
What does an average day look like for you? How often are you in the studio?
Since we opened the new spot last August, I've been in there about 3 days a week on average. I usually have a plan when i arrive and i hit the ground running. Sometimes it goes as planned, sometimes it takes a weird turn and ends up being something totally different, It's never a waste of time
The latest release "Morgan" is a bit hard to define musically. With spacey rock elements, synthesizers, vintage vocal samples and hip hop style drums. What was it like creating the project?
That record is something I have been trying to make since the 90s. I always wanted to make a sample based album but was never really given the opportunity until Morgan came out. By that point I had almost moved on from sampling altogether. Too many squandered opportunities due to the legal limitations of that medium.
This was your first "album" correct? How did you link with Piecelock 70?
I have a few earlier EPs, but yes, that is my first full length. I have and will always make pretty deep DJ mixes. Thes from People Under the Stairs was a fan of those mixes and he gave me the opportunity to make an album.
I read somewhere that your neighborhood in Brooklyn played a part in the creation of the album. How is that?
It was actually one street that was a corridor between my apartment and the studio where i mixed the record. The walk was where i listened to everything i was making, so i named the album after that street. The neighborhood got super expensive, and the studio closed as i was wrapping up the record. It was really a goodbye to that era, but my new studio is in the same neighborhood, so i still walk the same route. doh!
Where are you looking musically for inspiration? Is it important for a producer to be a DJ?
Being a dj has given me an interesting insight musically, but i wouldn't say it's important to production. If you make pop music i suppose it could be. if you are interested in producing a unique product, knowing whats out there could never hurt.
Are you still digging for records? Can you recommend something the people might not be up on?
When I think of "digging," I associate it with early mornings at flea markets and road trips. What I do now more closely resembles casual record shopping. Stuff still falls in my lap from time to time. I was just in Cape Cod, and stopped at a thrift store on my way home. There was a mint Village Callers LP in the bins for $2. I recommend that people get out and interact with folks in their community. Every town in the US has an old music legacy. Find the older generations and listen to their stories. If you do that, the records will find you.
Most ridiculous "in the field" record find?
I'm not sure how to quantify that. Is that a rarity thing, a crazy story, or value? I bought Skull Snaps from a homeless guy across the street from my apartment for $0.25 once. I found a really weird vietnamese bootleg of The Meters first LP that was brought back by a veteran of that war. I once bought a hip hop collection that required two trips completely filling every empty area of my Honda prelude. The muffler was dragging on the asphalt, it was so heavy. I bought a collection from a drug dealer's ex-girlfriend who failed to notice the $1400 in cash stashed in between album covers.
What's the worst thing to happen to you at a gig?
Getting dragged out of the club by a cop, and having my face smashed against a tree.
iTunes or Serato crates? How is your digital music organized?
I like to organize Serato crates by crowds who i affectionately name things like,"Fat Girls" or "Art School" or "Fraggle Rock"
Favorite love song?
Thats a tough one. My friends did a cover of James Brown's "Try Me" at my wedding.
Whats next for Doc Delay?
I'm working on a new album with my insanely talented friend and neighbor, Zack Martin. We never really set out to make it any particular style. We just started writing music and it's lead us in the direction it wants to go. It's a huge leap for me technically, stylistically, and musically. Some of the best stuff we're making is a result of compromise. That's something you never learn making beats.
Check out Doc Delay's latest record MORGAN here, follow him on Soundcloud, and Facebook.
Record Label Spotlight: The Paris DJs
Long long ago in a distant land, record labels looking to release music would sign a group or solo artist to a development deal, groom them, and expect the eventual pay off. The music industry was never an easy nut to crack, and in 2014 it is harder that ever for indie artists to even make a dent. Sure, the tools are all there. Artists can list on Bandcamp, iTunes, Soundcloud, YouTube, but the road map has long since been thrown away. You've got to make your own way in this world, maybe you'll find enough fans who support what you are doing to tour. Perhaps you'll even make a little money. It's a numbers game. Up and coming French record label The Paris DJs have the numbers on their side. With hundreds of DJ mixes and weekly releases from artists, they have organically developed a world wide fan base and have millions of downloads of their releases...all with virtually no promotion. How does that work? We recently caught up with label manager Djouls about the collective and how they get things done.
What Is Paris DJs ?
We're quite unique. We're a label with dozens of releases every year, we've got media on the web with millions of downloads without any promotion, a group of DJs at the Glastonbury festival, and we offer services to artists & labels. We do a lot of things... and basically Paris DJs is the brand. How did the collective start? Here is the official run down. Activists on the musical web since 1996, Djouls & Grant Phabao launched, in 2005 and with the help of former Radio Nova music director (1987-1997) Loik Dury, the ParisDJs.com website, because there wasn't (and there still isn't) any media here in France about "black music" in general - which is what we were producing (and still are). Willie Hutch had just died at the time and nobody was talking about it so we decided to do a mix about Willie Hutch, which was the first mix of our podcast of mixes (now 432 episodes). Eight years later, Paris DJs has become a core institution of that same musical web. A genuine alternative media of music you don't hear on the radio, the site offers news, portraits, interviews, commented discographies, free singles and exclusive mixes. Those mixes have been greatly responsible for Paris DJs' notoriety, with their original artwork, detailed tracklisting and professional mastering. More than 430 mixes have been published up until now, generating more than 3.8 million downloads, without any form of promotion, only through word-of-mouth! The remixes from multi-instrumentalist/producer Grant Phabao have also been going all around the world, with nearly a million downloads of reggae reworks of George Clinton, The Herbaliser, Erykah Badu, Q-Tip and many others, AC/DC included! In 2012 the media website became a label, and started releasing a new single, album or compilation every week. Djouls & Loik are in charge of the artistic direction, famous French illustrator Ben Hito takes care of the graphic direction and Grant Phabao is the one dealing with the audio production process. In a little bit more than a year, Paris DJs released 4 roots reggae albums with Jamaican legends from Studio One (The Lone Ranger, Carlton Livingston, The Jays and The Silvertones), 4 afrofunk & tropical grooves compilations with artists from the whole wide world ("Dis is good for you", "We are the fire inside your mind", "Rise of the troubadour warriors" and "Have you ever been to electric afroland?"), two hip hop compilations ("Take the chains off your brains" and "Spirituality & the supernatural"), and nearly 50 singles. Many artists participated in the project: Shawn Lee, Jungle Fire, Horace Andy, Franck Biyong, Afrodyete (The Breakestra), Doctor L, Lee Fields, Adrian Quesada (The Echocentrics, Brownout), Ocote Soul Sounds, Mop Mop, Goat, Jungle By Night, The Grits, Brownout, Bio Ritmo, Todd Simon's Ethio-Cali Ensemble, The Funk Ark, The Herbaliser, Radio Citizen, musicians from Antibalas, from Fela's Egypt 80, from The Poets Of Rhythm, from The Souljazz Orchestra …. just to name a few. All those releases are available in digital format, on Bandcamp and JunoDownload, and for the compilations and some selected singles iTunes, Amazon, Deezer, Spotify, etc.
What sorts of music are the Paris DJs known for playing?
We're big on the afro, reggae, and funk scenes, and "black music" in general, but not exclusively. There is good music in all kinds of genre. We like soulful, groovy and psychedelic music, but again, not exclusively. If we're asked to do a program of music we're not experts of, we know and have access to the right experts of that kind of music and can make it happen.
Are you still buying records ?
Yes ! Mostly vinyl, but some CDs too. Every month. We receive a lot of free records because we're also an influential media, but that doesn't stop us from buying cool records, and supporting our friends and collaborators. Record stores are a part of our ecosystem, we try to buy from them in Paris regularly.
What is the appeal of 45 RPM records?
WE LOVE 45s. We recently had to do a radio show, 3 hours long, with Loik, Grant Phabao and myself, and couldn't really prepare the thing, or bring lots of records, so we decided that Phabao was gonna play his own tunes from CDRs, and Loik & myself would play 45s. Because it's so easy to carry, and so cool to play. You don't have to think much about which track you're gonna pick from the record ! Recently friends from The Souljazz Orchestra went to Paris DJs to spend a free evening, we listened to 45s all night long ad they loved it - because who doesn't like 45s really ? We've pressed a handful already, and 6 new ones are coming this summer...
What was the label's first release ?
Our first mix was one about Wilie Hutch. Our first free single was a reggae remix of George Clinton approved by the Dr Funkenstein himself. Out first digital release on Paris DJs was a digital single of Grant Phabao and The Lone Ranger paying tribute to Steve Jobs, called "The Iphone Connection", which was an update of an old 1982 tune from The Lone Ranger called "The Walkman Connection". Our first physical release was a poster for the "Dis Is Good For You" compilation. Our first vinyl LP will happen this summer.
Are you guys promoting any new releases?
In 2013 we put out 52 releases. In 2014 we're not releasing quite as much, but we have a bunch of vinyl releases coming. Then in September I'll start putting out something new (an album, single or compilation) every week once again!!
What equipment are you guys working with in the studio?
We'd rather not say much. We use many tools, from old school amps and compressors to brand new plugins.... From old, foreign, exotic instruments to bass, keys, drums, guitar, etc. And if we need a bigger studio to record something specific, we have many places we can work.
What prompted the recent crowd funding release?
Well for years we've put out amazing digital stuff. In 2013 many labels and distributors approached us wanting to make a deal. But ALL the deals we were offered were crookeries. Since we don't want to work just to make other people rich and not be able to live from our music, we decided to keep on doing everything ourselves. Through distribution, there's a 1€ margin on an album. Directly to stores, that margin is 4€. And directly to the consumers/fans, that margin is 8€. That means that selling 300 copies directly is the equivalent of selling 2400 copies through a distributor. But reaching out to 2400 people has a publicist/promo cost, while reaching out to 300 we don't need anyone.... Did you know that it was The Grateful Dead who invented the direct-to-fan concept, way back in 1984? We don't have much cash, so the crowd funding was the obvious way to go. We picked the best tunes we had put out digitally for the last two years, and re-packaged them as a 6x7" box set and a double LP. Already everyone is asking us when we're going to be releasing the next campaign! We might not go through crowd funding in the future though, it kinda only works once.The second time your close friends and family will say they already helped you the first time...
Who does the label's illustration work?
That's a guy from south of France called Ben Hito. He has been around since the 80s, and he's one of the 10 best illustrators in France. Shepard Fairey from OBEY says "Ben Hito is not the French Shepard Fairey, on the contrary I'm the American Ben Hito!". During the summer of 2012 I was asked to do the George Clinton website by his manager who's a friend. He sent me towards Ben Hito to help me with the design/graphics. I met this amazing guy and fantastic artist and gave him the keys to all Paris DJs' image (which I was doing myself before). We have a lot of fun together, he's so great. Of course he has a cost, but working with him brought Paris DJs to a brand new level worldwide.
What do you have planned for the future?
We're doing so many different things around music it's hard to guess what the future will bring us. What I tell everyone is that, considering all the artists we already worked with, and considering the quality of our production, ideas, and sound, our goal is to work with people such as Prince or Stevie Wonder! (and many others until then, of course). But roughly, we hope to become a direct-to-fan operation for us and other bands in the near future.
What's Next for Paris DJs?
We have the Grant Phabao Afrofunk Arkestra album coming, with guests from Fela's Egypt 80, from Antibalas, Jungle Fire, Brownout, Breakestra, The Souljazz Orchestra, Franck Biyong, Sandra Nkaké, Les Frères Smith... We have Grant Phabao tunes with RacecaR, a very talented MC from Chicago who lives a block away from our studio. There's also a Paris DJs Soundsystem FUNK compilation that's nearly finished... Also a series of 50 free mixes which I can't tell anyone about yet, and many new collaborators (singers, rappers, vocalists) waiting for Phabao to deliver new riddims or instrumentals for them to sing on!
Keep up with The Paris DJs on their website , on Facebook, and on Soundcloud
Tucker and Bloom for Third Man Records
We recently collaborated on a limited run of our North To South Messenger bag and Deluxe North To South Messenger Bag with our friends over at Third Man Records! The bags are available in limited quantities at the their Nashville record store and in their web store for the holidays! We are honored to be making bags with them and have got to say that they turned out lovely! Go and get em they'll be selling fast!!
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.
Looking For Galt MacDermont
Elusive composer Galt MacDermont has become a bit of a hip hop icon over the years. With an extensive catalogue of cinematic music and a hit musical under his belt it seems he's withdrawn from the limelight and praise of his past works and has been avoiding contact with his remaining fans
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!
Hot Peas and Butta Behind The Red Door Episode 6
Our friend Skeme Richards over at Hot Peas and Butta just released a new Behind The Red Door mix making this the sixth in the series. Running the sultry end of the funky music spectrum the mix is slow burner and up tempo alike, grooving musically and punctuated with forgotten film clips. Really what more could you ask for? Below is the latest episode as well as a player with episodes one- five ready to go. Enjoy