DJ Phixion - Music producer, rare record digger, and 90s hip hop enthusiast - Noise of the Broke Boys Episode 018

Noise of the Broke Boys Episode 018

DJ Phixion shares his music production process and the inspiration behind his recent album, Cinemadeck. We talk about DJing, turntablism, and the artistic relationship music has to other mediums.

DJ Phixion's album, Cinemadeck is used as a backing track to this entire podcast. Peep his Bandcamp site to hear and purchase the full album:
https://djphixion.bandcamp.com/

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A broke degenerate hooligan documents conversations about being a Bboy, Breakin', Hip Hop, Dance, Art, Music, Creativity, Innovation, and the slow subtle crumble of society in audio form.

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now on to the show

[Music]

in this episode I meet with my boy DJ

fiction we were both part of the same

group of delinquents back in school at

that time I was amazed to find out that

he was also an amazing DJ and music

producer since then he has traveled

around and lived in several countries

including the Netherlands and Luxembourg

he recently released a new album called

cinema Dec that I absolutely love I put

the entire album as a backing track to

this episode but I encourage you to

listen to it in its entirety without my

annoying voice over it included a link

to the album in the description please

enjoy the episode with DJ fiction hello

everybody welcome to the end of the

world show international edition today I

got a very special guest his name is DJ

fiction what's up man how you doing good

man how are you good to be here I'm

great man

so you're out there in Luxembourg right

correct dope so we could talk about that

later but what I what I know you just

came out with a brand new album cinema

deck I checked it out it's one of the

dopest shit's I've heard in a long time

you've been making music a long time man

so can you tell me a little bit about

like what was the inspiration for this

for this musical project cuz I know you

haven't really put something out in a

while right it's been a while but like

just like yeah that's probably because

it's just the way I live like I moved

around hella the last like six seven

years yeah and yeah it was just it was

more because of that but the inspiration

behind this specific album is like

old-school movies like sixties movies

especially French movies Italian movies

that kind of shit I really like that

shit like Fellini movies or jean-luc

Godard Francois Truffaut this kind of

shit so the inspiration for that was

like around 2015 I started watching like

hell of these movies like hella

okay then I was just thinking to myself

like there's a lot of good music in

these movies yeah there and also the

quotes and stuff and I had it in my mind

to make kind of like a concept album and

then revolves around these and yeah

pretty much like even the name the name

of the album by cinema deck like in

France and here in Luxembourg as well

like the theater theater it's like retro

theaters right where they show

old-school movies and shit really okay

these are called cinema Tex cinema Tibet

so then I just took dick like a

turntable yeah yeah and dude like a

little what combination ding okay that's

tight that's tight oh yes so you you

said that they're they're like 50s

movies is around the era that like like

let's say like late 50s to like late

sixties yeah because it's it sounded

like that you know when I was listening

to it I would hear you know some kind of

old-school stuff you know it has that

that the recording quality from that

time and so that's what I was thinking

it was probably that you know what I

mean

I mean it's also the music I sampled

right like a sample hello jazz and funk

and shit like that yeah yeah I would say

the vast majority is from the 60s ya

know it was nice because I would hear I

heard a few breaks that you put in there

that I was familiar with and then I

heard a lot of stuff I've never heard

I've never heard of and I was kind of

like yo did this guy sample this or did

he make this like what's going on so

like I mean it sounds like you obviously

sampled a lot of that stuff so it's like

you really had to do a lot of digging

I'm guessing obviously sure movie stuff

like so when you're Lizzy - I mean

uh-huh

so when you're like watching some of

these movies you're hearing you're

you're just like going that's a dope

track I'm gonna try to find it and like

how do you how do you I guess pull it

out are you able to find the track

pretty easy like how's your diggin

process for that

so like most of the music is not sampled

from the movies but some of it is how I

dig for shit I mean is like how anybody

else does right I mean like go to record

stores discogs.com is like my fuckin

okay I'm buying hello shit on there

but also just like hell it fools upload

shit on like final RIT blogs ok just

fine a hellish it like there but

basically like digging um and just undid

the shit the old dudes used to do you

know I mean like premier or Pete Rock or

like the dudes that I admire like DJ

shadow DJ Krush yeah cam and you just

find out what they sampled from years

and years of before you know like who

sampled calm now everything everything

is outed right like now every is people

find the shit but before you didn't have

anything like that you had to just find

it yourself

yeah maybe a little bit based on an

artist or a label or something like that

of the sampled artists and then you

could kind of like dig a bit further to

give it further old shit like this is a

maybe obscure album by this artist or by

this label that nobody sampled let's

yeah yeah and then with the movies is

the same shit I mean hella old like

there's this one dude it's Dimitri from

Paris ok came out with the album in the

90s called the sacre bleu that kind of

is sort of the same thing said he

doesn't sample so many French movies he

samples American movies examples have

like Audrey Hepburn and shit like that

had music from those movies as well so

that was kind of like an inspiration for

me as well mmm so you were kind of doing

the like the reverse of that of what he

was doing even though he's French

funnily enough but yeah and I'm American

but so you're pulling on how to front

you're pulling out French movies ok

that's tight no I mean getting getting

inspiration from like other people like

that is really dope I mean and like what

I really liked about the album is that

it really I could really tell that you

were digging for it and I feel like it's

somewhat of a lost art at least from

what I see on like the mainstream radios

and stuff and it's like it's kind of sad

because I think maybe because of a lot

of copyright laws and stuff that that is

getting like kind of pushed to the

underground a little bit more now but

it's like it was super refreshing to

hear that because I was like yo this guy

put so much time into digging like I can

tell this is like

you know you were had you had the like

the early 90s type of like digging

attitude in that in that in the whole

album is what I was feeling as Lisa it's

pretty much my whole my whole idea like

all I've ever wanted really with music

is just to sound like mid 90s like crush

and shadow like I always just went for

that that kind of aesthetic why nobody I

mean people still do sample I mean look

at like hotline bling right that was

fucking huge and that was fucking yeah

your sample right nothing else I don't

know if it's because a copyright or

because people's tastes have changed you

know people like now more synthetic

sounds which also do I also do like

compose some shit and like yeah there's

one track that has practically no

samples I can think of on the album but

still I like that grainy that you get

from it's kind of like a nostalgic type

of sound you know like right now it it

was very moody what and that's what I

liked about it it was um like I mean it

would yeah I guess similar to like a

movie really like you you get like these

moody tracks in it I was like okay this

is tight you know and it really feels

like you're going through like a whole

like a whole storyline almost you know

what I mean is that kind of what you're

going for pretty much exactly you nailed

it like even before I had the idea to

sample like specific dialogue and have

it in order throughout the album to make

a storyline what I mean but that was

just way too fucking complicated and in

the end I kind of scrapped it but still

I have that idea in my mind that I could

have done that like could have made a

full-fledged like chopped up my own

story from all these other movies like

imagining 20 movies that you sample all

these different lines and all these

different languages but yeah you can

make a cohesive story out of it yeah and

then set it to music

it's can opera in a way yeah like hip

hop yeah yeah no that's tight yeah I've

always liked those kind of like albums

that have some sort of kind of storyline

or whatever like what immediately comes

to mind is on the album that Dell did

with

mmm Dan the Automator remember that one

it was a home run

yeah yeah it was like super weird kind

of story but it was like it was like I

kind of I kind of dig it yeah or like I

know Kendrick Lamar does a lot of like

concept type of stuff like that he's got

some kind of storyline that like loosely

connects everything I always liked that

because this this that the single tracks

like our good standalone but then when

you listen to the whole album you're

like oh I get it dude he yes he has he

you know you you put a lot of like

effort into like really pulling the

listener in I mean it reminds me sort of

like you know like Pink Floyd used to do

stuff like that where they would like

the wall exactly yeah ya know the it's

like the you you put their record on and

it goes from beginning to end and it's

like man this was a whole story and

every single song kind of like bleeds

into the other and stuff it feels it

feels like you're on like a I don't know

like a like a Disneyland kind of like

ride or something code through the whole

like the whole album it's it's dope yeah

so I really dig that that's tight

thanks man that's definitely kind of the

approach I had I missed back in the days

how to use to have a cohesive album that

people would listen to you know cover to

cover like nowadays it doesn't seem like

that's the case I mean now it's like

kind of more single tracks yeah I think

everybody just puts out single tracks

most of the times but I missed I liked

the album format I always liked it yeah

yeah yeah albums are like perfect length

really for like a listening you know

like you sit down it's usually about an

hour to you know 45 minutes to like an

hour which is kind of like what I try to

do with podcast to but it's like perfect

to sit down listen to some stuff and

just you know take yourself on a ride

and stuff but yeah a lot of people don't

do that anymore which I miss I mean with

wit plank with vinyl especially you have

to do that right yeah yeah like a record

and just listen to it right you sit

there I mean I'm in my head like digging

for samples and shit but I have you know

a bunch of records from like you know

90s guys and shit like that and yet you

just have to

you gotta just sit there and listen to

the fucking thing you gotta have all

your you know sense is kind of focused

on that yes so actually so like while

you're listening to music you're saying

you're like digging so like what's that

process like what's going on in your

head I guess what makes a sample kind of

stick out to you are you kind of like hi

Jay how are you just like so I'm not

like musically trained that's the thing

yeah yeah I played I played piano for

like I don't know five six years as a

kid look that was a long fucking time

ago I don't remember it but I don't know

you just kind of hear something like a

little phrase you know a sequence of

notes or not even just like some kind of

you know a feeling really and and maybe

you can you know manipulate it a bit

like a lot of samples doesn't sound good

at the speed it's at you know so you

just slow it down oh shit now it sounds

good like a good example of that is do

you know the survival of the fittest by

mob deep oh yeah

like there that sample was only just

discovered recently like what it what it

is and it's like fucking ten times

faster you would never recognized it oh

okay

but another another thing is like you'll

hear so this maybe could work but maybe

I have to chop it up and like rearrange

it or whatever okay what are you doing

that in your mind as you're listening

not really you kind of just hear it and

you're like maybe that I can use this

okay maybe like you'll end up using one

out of ten it's just like it's that's

why it's called digging gram you're just

digging for shit and most of it's gonna

be worthless yeah ya know when I was

younger and I would do that I had a lot

of like just trash track you know trash

like records just that I heard like one

little piece of a thing and I was like

exactly but yeah it's like a ton of

stuff that's just junk though but you

wait you're waiting through shit

basically I mean yeah but you think

about it in another sense I remember I

think it was DJ Shadow that

instead from already recorded music that

has already sold right it's already

someone at one point thought this was

good so if you're making music from

music that somebody at one point thought

was good your shits probably gonna be

good too right mmm I mean how could it

not

mmm I see in a weird way yeah that no

that that that's tight no you know what

that reminds me of like um what's his

name Bob James oh shit yeah yeah like

cuz that guy what his his music was just

it would always like every two seconds

or whatever it would like change the

whole mood of it and I remember there's

like a couple songs he has that so many

people have just sampled from and I was

like like Nautilus not exactly and it's

like I did not know that that was the

same song because this guy song sounds

so much different from this song but it

was a track that you can sample yeah I

was like holy crap dude that's dope so

no but that makes sense I mean like and

I know that a lot of times you'll you'll

find an artist that has yeah like you

know say like premiere sampled something

and you go okay let's check out this

whole this artist's whole distant

discography and then find a lot of other

stuff that's just kind of hidden in

there and or whatever or like say like

in James Brown's a case like you know

his band like they had their own albums

and stuff so you go and check them out

and stuff or like they're just the

drummers and stuff like there's a lot of

like just hidden gems out there for sure

but it's a problem needs to find it I

mean I've been doing this for like you

know 13 14 years you know you do this

over time it becomes almost second

nature you don't even think about it

anymore you're just like alright here's

this here's this you just start

connecting the dots until the point

where yeah you kind of almost know where

to look now No so does that change the

way you listen to just music in general

like so when you're on the radio you're

like picking out okay what was this

sample from or like what is this drum

doing or whatever I mean that just comes

from learning music production right

okay yeah I can't listen to any music

anymore without thinking in my head

without like they do this how I was this

mixed how was this produced how was this

program bah bah bah yeah without

breaking it apart and finding all the

components of it ya know I've like I've

been like trying to do that too I kind

of do that for dancing anyways because

like it's just good to it's a good level

it's a good way of adding like depth to

the way you dance because you can you

know say dint you can follow like a

baseline and then you can follow like a

drum pattern or whatever and yes when

she turn that and I noticed that that

skill transfer is really well to music

because now you're listening for those

same things that you would have been

listening for in dancing but you're now

going like okay now how did they

actually make that that little neat

pattern or whatever you know this is the

the snare is doing this doot doot doot

or whatever so a site no but yeah it

really it it it deepens the way you

listen to music is what it sounds like

it's kind of annoying at the same time

too like I probably pissed hello people

off like they'll be listening to some

song like this these drums a week like

they should have done this they should

have yeah so do I do a lot of people go

like oh let's not talk about music with

you is that yeah it's just it's just

something that happens I mean when you

when you start to I guess yeah they'll

kind of deep into something that may

it's probably the same for everything

right you probably have a full sore like

how I entered like video production

should they get break apart everybody's

YouTube channel like yeah and I mean

that's I guess part of the artists I

mean and I know a lot of times when I

look at like a painting even I'll go

like okay you know I like to try to take

a step back and just go like okay take

it in what it is what it is and then go

into and like look at how they did some

brushstrokes on it or whatever how the

colors are composed but like you can't

help but do that because you're trying

to figure out how they made what they

did and you know you know I guess that's

a that's part of the artist quality I

suppose you know I do it with dancing it

just just comes with the territory

yeah it does but it

I think it makes the conversation about

that particular content even better

because from are you talking to right I

mean it's best if you're talking to

someone who knows as much or even more

than you do right

well even someone who doesn't know like

I mean cuz I don't know that much about

music but I really like hearing your you

know what you have to say about it

because it's it's making me realize like

oh yeah this stuff goes a lot deeper

than I thought you know what I mean and

I'm hoping that oh you know open-minded

people would gain the same kind of

interest into that because I mean music

is just soaked it's so complicated and

and just listening to you know just a

song on the radio I mean just the like

the primal instinct of yourself is to go

like oh yeah like this this is something

that groove - it's kind of like you shut

off your your conscious mind and just

let your subconscious like soak in the

mood or whatever but then if you do let

your conscious kind of like take it into

you're like man this is really

mathematical in a way you know what I

mean it's very scientific it's cool like

that you know and we're just talking

about production I mean that's all I

know

I don't know any fear right you don't

know any theory at all like like I said

I used to play piano

like I know basic chords scales like

circle shifts this kind of shit but I

don't know anything beyond that like

okay well I mean I feel like that's

that's a good starting point that maybe

not people don't even know I mean it's

like yeah I would say that's as basic as

you get oh yeah sure sure but I know a

lot of people that wouldn't even know

what you're talking about

you know what I mean scales and circle

of fifths and stuff and you know and I

guess even how that relates to like

harmonics and stuff so yeah yeah sure

I mean like I say like well when I

produce a track I practically always

start with some bass like not not basic

instrument but like a bass like

foundation sample and then maybe I'll

compose

of that so I know I'm already starting

with a key that I didn't think of right

okay

yeah I could I could tune the sample to

a key that you know let's I want this in

fucking I don't know I mean you can only

tune it to certain keys that it's

already harmonized with right anyway

I usually never start from scratch let's

say you know I mean yeah I don't need

something but that it someone probably

doesn't even know what you're talking

about in terms of like pitch shifting

into like a different scale and stuff I

mean back when I was like a high

schooler and I didn't know anything

about music and I would go and grab like

a song like I would try to make little

mixes and stuff and I would grab a song

and like I didn't know how to do

anything and so it would always sound

kind of weird because it would always go

from like this key to a different key

and and so it was just my you know high

school mix or whatever that I was trying

to make and you could tell that there's

something wrong with it

but you musically don't understand it

and that's probably me nowadays I mean

you don't even have to like you got

hella programs and shit that will just

identify the key for you and like you

could just harmonic mix so breezily yeah

that's true that's true yeah so do you

use a lot of like plugins and stuff what

programs you use actually so I just

produced using FL okay L studio 20

that's what I use since the jump I used

it since like FL five or something but

yeah I tried all kinds of other ones I

haven't tried Ableton that's the one

that everyone uses now yeah I started by

using Ableton actually and that's I

tried Pro Tools I tried sonar at Cubase

Reaper I mean they're all pretty much

the same from what I can understand it's

just whichever one you'd like yeah I

really like about FL is the piano roll

it's like super intuitive too

- both with like instruments and with

with drums but you know for sequencing

but and then yeah of course hell of

fucking mixing and and and yeah

production Suites yeah well games so do

you know a lot about like sound

engineering

oh so that's one thing I don't really do

like sound design like designing the

instruments and the voicing no no no

what do you do like you master your own

stuff yeah yeah okay so that took like

hello time to learn as well yeah but

it's a art form

obviously I'm never gonna get it as good

as a treated room in an engineer yeah by

hand I'm cheap man I mean it sounds good

to me so like I mean I don't have like

the best equipment but like the room

really matters like this room has hella

fucking echo I should like put like

hello like foam and shit on the walls

okay yeah I wonder if that I wonder if

that actually helps make it um have more

of a nostalgic sound almost you know I

don't know but I do try to like listen

to it in different environments like

headphones car yeah this that whatever

whatever I mean it's it might sound good

on the monitors but it might sound bad

somewhere else yeah it's weird how that

happens yeah it's just you'll play it in

your in your headphones and you're like

oh this sounds dope and then you'll go

in your car whatever you like man

headphones are the easiest by far to

make sound good as yeah experience yeah

yeah yeah

so so when you're when you or when

you're working on mastering a track is

that like part of your workflow or you

know they should be done at the very end

like you've already done you're done but

the production you done with the mixing

and you bounce it as a final wave stereo

wave and then you just master that yeah

yeah but when you're in that mastering

phase are you going like okay let me get

it perfect in the headphones and then

let me get it perfect in the car let me

get it perfect on like a cent a whole

sound system in like an auditorium

whatever the the monitors like these

these

speakers the studio monitors that's what

I you totally get it perfect on that oh

I see okay and so that ideally you wanna

like the flattest sound you know the

flattest frequency response which is

you're not gonna get unless you have

like I mean sound you know come bounces

back and forth all over the place right

so yeah you're not gonna get the best

sound unless you have a treated room and

really like treated speakers everything

has to be that's why you would pay a

mastering engineer like thousands for

this right yeah yeah it's it's crazy

unless I was gonna get like returned

like on my money yeah I don't know I

just don't see the point

so you you sell I know you obviously

sell your music on Bandcamp but do you

do like a lot of shows and stuff man not

for a long time like I used to but that

was like Haley years ago deejay live but

yeah I should get back into it like but

that's a thing like I mentioned earlier

like I moved around a lot man like in

the last 10 years I lived in like yes

Sweden Netherlands Belgium yeah

San Diego Netherlands again and then now

here in Luxembourg and like just so many

times I had to find sell my equipment

over and over and over you know yeah so

I remember you you were gonna ask me

like yeah like what's it like to you

know does living in a different country

like influence your art and yeah for

sure it does just because of the

inconvenience of moving around all the

damn time

so so what areas you've I mean you're

from San Jose right and then you lived

in Amsterdam for a while and then the

last time I saw you in Amsterdam yeah in

Amsterdam and then now you're in

Luxembourg were you in anywhere else

between there yeah yeah I lived in San

Diego for 3 years % yeah San Diego

that's right and so I mean like what

stake what's been taking you in those

areas I guess jobs man just don't work

so it's just working and so then you

know I like to I like to travel and and

live in different places and shit like

that it's fun I mean it's inconvenient

as all hell and yeah pain in the ass but

it's cool yeah yeah and so it you think

it influences like the music you make

because yummy for sure because sometimes

like when I was in San Diego I had like

no money and I had to just make the shit

with what I had you know yeah I couldn't

buy the shit I wanted now I practically

have everything I want

so she'd become easier now it's also

depends like what kind of people you

meet right like what kind of you know

music with other heads you know

different kinds of people all over the

place right yeah yeah and be my

influence so do you do have you done any

projects with other people so a bit but

not that much I had back in San Jose who

recorded some shit over some of my

tracks real talented musician here I was

going out to Paris for a while it's like

only two hours away by train and there I

made some some friends and we kind of

work on some shit together kind of more

like jungle music like you know like

early mid 90s like Bristol German with

way more syncopated break beats for any

size

that and then I met this one Japanese

rapper dude be otha goes by our whitey

and we worked on a little bit of some

shit together but usually for the most

part I'm just like a standalone yeah

person okay I'm just like a control

freak I think in the end like I need to

have like full creative control over all

my shit yeah that's like it's hard to

it's hard to not do that because it's

like what you it's like what's your

workflow dictates you know alone so then

when you're working with somebody you're

like oh I want it look like this but

then yeah it's sometimes hard because

the vision is like not quite matched up

it I relate to that because like a lot

of times when you're doing like dance

stuff like and you're trying to make

like some routine or whatever or like

you know do some kind of battle or

whatever you're like working with a lot

of people and it's like everybody has

their own idea of what's gonna happen

and it just doesn't quite come together

but what you always have to do I think

is just like go okay I'm I'm open to

like taking everybody's thing cuz this

isn't this isn't my thing this is

everybody's thing you know what I mean

yeah so it's it's it's it's hard to get

over that that fact you know or accept

it you know what I'm saying yeah so uh

are you working on any new projects

right now so just now

yeah just put out the album like a month

ago mm-hmm

and now I think I'm just gonna actually

focus on on DJ mixes for a little while

okay I just got this this this mixer you

see right here this is like a super rare

vintage Vestax from like 1990 and it's

got some cool shit this is the same same

mix our DJ Krush uses okay dude is like

my fucking idol my hero okay

so I think I'm just already put out a

couple of DJ Mix's recently but but I

think I'm gonna focus on that a bit and

I mean I'm kind of tapped out now for

production because I just put the shit

out yeah it's like starting from zero

which is cool at the same time like oh

shit I I can make like something yeah

yeah tabula rasa yeah it's I mean you

you hustled hard to get the thing done

and now you're kind of like okay let's

like take a second to breathe let that

music kind of get around and then work

on your next thing how actually how long

did it take you to put together that

whole album cinema day yeah it's kind of

hard to say because like some of the

tracks I made back like in 2015 oh he's

16 okay and I just had them I just

didn't do anything with him I just had

to sit and then some of the tracks I

made just like six months ago

okay we're like four or four months ago

so you could say it took like five years

but that's not really accurate because

like you know helot like I would I think

when I first moved to Luxembourg I

didn't work on music for like a whole

year I was just running around traveling

you know I was back in Europe was like

oh shit let me do this go here have fun

get drunk blah blah blah yeah so I yeah

you know I don't know total time some

tracks probably have like 30 or 40 hours

of work into them whereas others maybe

like less than 10 but like the whole

concept of what I was trying to do I

thought of that years ago okay so it's

it's been kind of like something that

has been in the back of your mind too

you know put together eventually okay

yeah no I feel like I'm kind of like

that with with with like painting you

know cuz I like paint I like to paint

too I'll have like an idea of something

and I'll start like a lot of times I'll

start painting something that's like

it's a like just a concept of what I'm

trying to go for and then I'll just

never finish it and I'll just kind of

like hang it up and stare at it to make

myself like you know cuz it seem like

it's yes sorta yeah no that's very true

cuz yeah you're what I would always try

to do is just have it there look at it

you know everyday just look at something

and go okay let's let that kind of soak

in my head and see if I can come up with

anything cool to do with it you know cuz

I think a lot of it is always just cuz

I'm really good at just throwing out

random ideas and stuff but it's not

composed into anything that makes any

sense so but I have to always keep those

ideas in the forefront of my mind or

else I just forget about them so that's

why I'll try to just paint like a

concept of something and just hang it up

or whatever and then like look at it and

go okay that maybe I could use that with

something else that I come up with sure

or like with dancing I do that too I

mean with dancing it's like I'll have

like a cool little move that I made but

I'm like man there's no way in hell I'm

ever gonna use this alone so I just kind

of write it down and hope that this is

what I call like frankensteining shit oh

yeah yeah you just like take bits and

pieces from shit you made that's all not

really good let's say on its own yeah

yeah like Frankenstein that shit

together and put it into one thing now

it's pretty good would you would you say

that there's a lot of tracks that you've

made that are like that oh yeah all the

time

hell at times are like I'll find some

sample or something I try to use it I

try to make a track out of it nothing

ever works so I'm say I fucked this it's

not gonna work then like four or five

years later I'll have another track I'm

like you know this needs something else

and then I'll go back and go through all

my old man I have like you don't even

know like a whole library of chopped up

samples like the thousands bro

Wow and then I'll just like keep like

listening to them after this one this

one's holy shit

whoa this is like already in tune or

like oh this like fits harmonically

somehow or like this fits rhythmically

or whatever if I my tune it right or if

I chop it yes suddenly becomes useful

that's that's really tight and that's so

similar to us to what I do it's it's

kind of crazy how similar that is it's

how do you keep track of those things I

mean like you say you got like thousands

of stuff like Joey it's like I fell into

the program every time you sample

something and you just like drag it into

the playlist or whatever it'll save it

as a separate wav file and then that wav

file is named whatever your sample was

named and I'm like a fucking meticulous

Nazi motherfucker when it comes to

labeling music okay I'm super meticulous

about all of it's all catalogued and

everything so all that shit is just yeah

boom right there you would think that

like so back in the day right you had to

like sample directly from vinyl into

your MPC or sp12 or whatever whatever

but now what I do I don't know I you

could do that but I just record the

whole record as a wave then I label it

and I import it into FL to chop it up or

whatever okay so you have the whole the

whole song and then you have all your

other chops okay that's tight I don't I

don't record a sample on its own like

you would have done back in MPC days

yeah yeah okay no that'd make that make

sense

and and so then like the way that I do

like when I when I'm doing kind of this

this whole Frankenstein process with

like dancing it's like I'll make a move

and I'll just write down how it started

how it ends on a piece of paper and I

save that and you know I know that it's

like junk moves but I'll just you know

kind of go on with my life and then once

in a while I'll get I'll start making

another thing and then I'll end up kind

of in the same position and I'll go like

oh yeah let's look back at that move

that I used to do or like that I was

working on back then and just try to

like Frankenstein it in into it because

I know that my

body is in a similar position as it was

in that move so let's see if I can like

somehow put it together or like change

something so that it fits together but I

honestly don't have a really good

process of like remembering that other

than just writing it down it's hard

it sounds I'm way harder with what

you're talking about it's I mean I know

a lot of people will record themselves

and sometimes I do that but that works

yeah but then you got a crap ton of

footage that you gotta go I mean you

gotta go back and actually like watch

that shit ya know but yeah I don't I

don't really have time for that so it's

more like I try to associate like a mood

to it or like a some kind of feeling to

it so then when I'm doing something it

in that same feeling it triggers that

and I go oh yeah let me try these like

colors and shit you know my yellow

notebook for like this kind of feeling

this is my green notebook whatever

whatever ya know I used to I used to

categorize stuff all the time like that

because if I had a move that I thought

would make it would be really good as

like an introduction to like a you know

say like because when you break you kind

of you're standing up and then you'll go

on the ground I'll go like okay this

makes sense for one of those types of

moves or like if another move where

you're going from the ground and

standing up or a way to like end your

set or a way to start it or whatever

something in the middle

I'll categorize it that way but these

Frankenstein type of moves like you

sometimes lose track of them I man I got

so many notebooks of stuff that I look

at it and I go like oh man

I kind of remember how to do this but I

don't remember how to do this so it's

hard like I really that's where the

footage would come in handy yeah yeah

yeah but I've never been good at like

categorizing like recording myself so

but ya know it's it's it's a process but

III honestly think that that process

makes some some gold sometimes you know

what I mean I mean I would say most of

the stuff I've ever made what came from

that process anyway and it was that's I

think that's the only way to really do

it I mean no one's gonna just shit out a

golden egg right yeah yeah

have you ever shit out one golden egg on

you never works that way yeah it's

always just like months and months of

you know try this just trial and error

you know try this try that try this try

that maybe something will work what whoa

yeah so it's kind of like a playful way

of like creating stuff I mean at least

that's how I approaches is like I'll

play I'll just play around with

something and exactly I have a wild ass

idea just try it out you know and

somehow after like you know God knows

dozens of hours of work you just sit

back in actually sounds good yeah yeah

so it is is that how you know that a

track is done when you could sit back

and go like oh pretty much yeah yeah and

then you're listening to the whole thing

like okay this thing is ready to get

mixed like well I do the mixing

throughout the production I shouldn't do

that but I do that okay I think mixing

for me is it's not if I work okay but so

then yeah you sit back and you're like

okay this makes sense I can start you

know maybe mastering it or whatever yeah

I can bounce this yeah okay that's tight

no wow so yeah so is that you think

sometimes takes forever like sometimes I

have a track like got a had in a back

burner for years okay

yeah man so like I I just you know this

last probably a year and a half or

whatever I started getting like more

into music production and like literally

everything I've ever made is that it's

like it's shit that I just saved I yeah

you know and I just will listen to it

and go like okay hopefully someday

this'll like turn into the dope I have

an idea I like I want to make some kind

of album someday but like and I kind of

have an idea of what I want to do but

all these tracks that I potentially want

to use there it's like they're probably

at like 25% to 50% of what I actually

wanted

to be but I think it's on to something

and so I've just been kind of like I'll

play it once in a while to just listen

to and go ok see if I have any good

ideas with it but it's like they're all

just like unfinished projects in my mind

so and I'm afraid that it never will

become that and I never will put out an

album but I'm hoping that someday I do

it but most of the stuff I do isn't

sample it's all it's all like a

composition yeah but like in terms of

the instruments and shit what are you

using because they're all electronic or

are you trying to get like real

instruments it's all electronic I have a

keyboard over here it's an akai it's a

61-key whatever whatever mpk yeah yeah

and I have a smaller one too that I can

travel with sometimes take it when I'm

traveling or whatever just to like pull

what about the voicing the voicing of

the instruments it's all like yeah it's

it's all I'm trying to like find like

good samples of stuff to use that but I

don't know I honestly just compose some

stuff and if the notes sound trying to

sound like yeah that that that's hard

because that's getting into like sound

engineering and I'm not good at that at

all

you know I got some friends that are

better at it but it's like you know that

that's my idea is to like take the

compositions I've made and then you know

someday come back and then really like

work on the voicing of it because I

think that's where the big gap is really

in what I do so I don't know I'm curious

I'm trying to like understand like who

are you trying to sound like if you told

me a I'm trying to like emulate this

dude or you know kind of you know I'm

not trying to sound like anybody really

like because I approach music kind of

like when I hear something that I like I

go why do I like that and then um so

I'll try to like dig deep into like the

song is it is it's just this chord

progression that I really like is it

this instrument the way it's sounding

you know a lot of really

gone back into a lot of like old like

90s rock music like Nirvana

nothing I'm like sure oh man I just love

the way that they did the guitar work on

this or something and it's like so I'm

like basically when I see that I go okay

how do i how can I make that same

feeling myself and so just what I do is

I really study the way they made that

track and then I go okay this is the

part that I do like about it let me see

how I can make them I said like how I

can I can create like a feeling like

that but in terms of artists dude

honestly I love all sorts of artists

dude all types of music I mean it's not

just hip-hop music or whatever for me so

there's a lot of times I'll listen to

like a country song and I'll be like oh

man the way this guy sings this like

this little this course or whatever I'll

be like man I love it and like you know

just try to figure out why I love it so

much and then you know try to figure it

out I don't know I can't really sing but

it'd be dope if I could that's that's

one other thing but you know I don't

know so so essentially every time I make

like a new track it's just it's a it's a

concept of trying to recreate a feeling

that I heard that I really liked so yeah

literally everything I make sounds

different I think I mean cuz I couldn't

pin a style to it you know I imagine

that's probably like how Kanye West or

whatever like approaches artists like

him they just have so many different

sounds that are like attached to them

you know what I mean or like who else is

similar to that Keith I was gonna say

maybe

I mean maybe even Pink Floyd like it's

like it's hard to pinpoint like what

exactly their style is I think you know

I don't know but you get what I'm saying

oh you know who woulda Tyler the Creator

like we don't listen to his I never

really listened to too much and stuff I

know uh just like a bit I liked his

music is just kind of like it's I feel

like he doesn't have his style is to

kind of like have it open I think you

know in a way where it's it's hard to

pin something to it you know like how

you hear some guys is like okay these

guys do like trap style music or

whatever this is more like a low fight

type of style or whatever it's hard to

pin it to to those guys you know so um

it's good to incorporate all kinds of

different different styles in your shit

for sure yeah like I can give him even

me I'll throw in like drum and bass and

shit like I can I can just tell that

when they were making the song it was

inspired by something kind of

off-the-wall you know what I mean yeah

yeah I mean shit look at even like De La

Soul or something or Called Quest's back

in the early 90s so like you know hippie

rap yeah yeah it is

yeah we're like you ever listen to like

fucking brother Lynch or like AK some

Kool Keith it's like horror movie shit

yeah it is it's it's kind of crazy yeah

those guys yeah they're like yeah they

tell some crazy stories yeah I mean

engine but like a brother Lynch I just

imagine him and his buddies sitting

around like you know like like okay

we're like gangster rappers but what's

even crazier than like killing people

eating them yeah yeah dude yeah they

they go they go they take it a step

further for sure

so actually so who would you say are

your favorite artists right now I mean

obviously you're saying like what were

you saying premiere no all right now

yeah I don't listen to too much

contemporary music like I'm I'm too busy

still digging like what came out in the

90s I mean I feel like I'm never gonna

be done okay especially like hella

Japanese shit man like fucking Japanese

producers from the nineties are so good

and they're really around - yeah it's

like just some random label that only

put out like five or six records and

that was it and yeah you never heard

anything from these fools again but

Danna some good shit yeah but like who

still makes good music now like the only

contemporary producers I can think of

are more like electronic not so much hip

hop hip hop to me like like it's

probably I don't know I sound like a

dickhead or something but like hip hop

to me died like a long time ago like

what comes out now is not hip hop to me

it's like some other thing it's trapped

it's whatever it is that it's something

kind of yeah it's it's it's it's morphed

into something different I mean like I

I've always said that like hip hop

nowadays it it's it looks so different

than what it started out as but it kind

of like follows this in the tradition of

hip hop in the sense that every

generation of it has tried to do

something different than the generation

which I would say follows kind of the

hip hop tradition you know of like we're

not biting nothing you know like we're

making our own thing so like I I

refrained from saying it's not hip hop

but I do think it looks completely

different than what it used to be you

know what I mean we're in wearing like a

new John or a sort of but exactly you

know it's now it's I feel like it's if

you were to say hip hop is not

necessarily a genre it's like an

umbrella

genres and so you got is trash style of

hip-hop

you got this like 90s style like a

golden era type of style yeah you know

now there's like the loaf I shit and

then there's you know I don't know the

old-school stuff you know but you know

whatever the fuck they do like yeah

rapper's delight' yeah that kind of shit

so all that stuff sounds so different

and you can tell that there was like a

generation and then that influenced the

next generation and then the next

generation but between those generations

you're like man do they really jumped

between them so I yeah I I don't like

saying it's not hip-hop but I don't

think that it sounds anything like what

it isn't it what it used to be so to me

like like like even the basic structure

changed a lot like now the beats per

minute are super slow you know

before hip-hop was always like what 93

85 to like 1 105 or something like that

and that was it and then now it's like

fucking like 60 70 beats a minute and

you're like double time high hats all

the time yeah yeah it's you know what

trap music is so weird to me because

it's like it almost has two tempos to it

you know what I mean it's half time it's

happened exact time yeah and so it's

cool because when I listen to it I'm

like all right this is like some shit

that you're just like chilling too but

then also it's like oh this kind of gets

hyped though but I don't know

that's why musically it's interesting to

me and when I first heard it I was like

and this is some stupid shit but a

little bit it kind of grew on me in in a

weird way so I don't know but yeah it's

it it's weird because like the hip-hop

dance was breaking and a lot of new

music yeah a lot of the music now you

can't really break to it now I mean it

all just slowed down over the yeah yeah

yeah I mean you can dance you can dance

to it but doing like traditional break

style moves you can't really do due to

it so it's it's a it's a weird subject

because it it is in the vein of hip-hop

but it's also like I mean for sure they

become something different you know

but yeah no I don't know I I dig it it's

they're doing what they're doing you

know it I'm excited to see where it goes

from there you know in like 20 years

like what's gonna be happening people

man fuck knows man I mean you couldn't

like predict people say that shit's

cyclical right and sometimes I see it

like even like I remember in the 90s

electronic music or like the early 2000s

as well it was all just a rehash of

disco music like straight up it was just

disco music yeah yeah yeah and then now

like not now but okay what like five six

ten years ago you had like vapor wave

and that shit became LM big and that was

just a rehash of like later 80's disco

music and especially like the Japanese

city pop shit which is good I love city

yeah so like this is a there is a

cyclical aspect to it and especially in

these genres like hip hop and electronic

music where you're sampling all the time

reusing shit

I think the cyclical nature of it is

more of the feeling or the the mood of

it you know what I mean because like

disco for instance it has this like kind

of party like dance with you know the

ladies or whatever kind of feeling and

then like they kind of went to you know

to like like in house music in a way is

like kind of the same sort of thing you

know it's got that same kind of mood to

it or like you know I don't know really

just dripped down disco yeah it is they

came from the gay clubs in Chicago yeah

what they were just like yeah it's just

strip it down and make it just pure for

to the floor shit yeah yeah yeah but

yeah it seems to me like people go oh I

missed that mood I missed that feeling

and then now new artists are going like

let's try to recreate that mood with

this new shit that we got you know what

I mean yeah sure that's what I see with

the cyclical nature of it which I think

it's tight but like I don't know like

what trap is maybe from nothing maybe

it's totally like a new thing but I

don't know where they got this idea to

make it like all half time to make the

like these like really staggered

syncopated especially with the high hats

and snares yeah yeah I don't know where

I came from

I don't know where it came from either

but to me it seems like like maybe

dubstep kind of like influenced it a

little bit in the way that they do these

kind of drops and stuff like cuz what

about music as well yeah yeah I mean

dubstep was always interesting to me

because what would happen is like it

would do this crazy build-up and then

right when it drops it slows everything

down it's kind of like the opposite of

what you were thinking was gonna happen

you know what I'm Sam like and it's like

a traditional techno song it probably

just start getting crazy you know what I

mean

but it's like you know the drop is like

you know a transformer sound and it just

kind of slows down the beat kind of

disappears or in a way and I feel like

trap music took that same idea sort of

and then maybe extended it and made it

more of like a you know a rhythmic kind

of wait I don't know but yeah it's it's

an interesting style of music yeah but I

could see that there's pieces of other

stuff that are kind of in there I don't

know I think honestly someone probably

was just messing around and then it just

[Applause]

caught on so I don't know who knows

what's next yeah maybe a rehash of the

of the 90s hopefully well you know what

actually to be honest low-five music is

really blowing up in the last like

couple years and I really think that

that has huge influence from the 90s you

know what I mean yeah it does it's kind

of like I would say that's like a

continuation of like the early 2000s

like nujabes and Dilla those are like

the godfathers of this genre right yeah

yeah yeah people often put my music in

that genre but I think it's like yeah

not quite but

the thing with like lo-fi music is yeah

you have that really low fire aspect

right we're like the shit sounds like

it's actually mixed badly purpose yeah

or like has this really like tape

quality like where the fucking time

of the pitch you know of the sample or

the whole song even starts to go off

right yeah so it sounds like this wobbly

like riverboat you know yeah yeah I

think it's specifically made to sound

old and and I guess in a way that it it

makes it sound more nostalgic sort of

exactly which is why I'm going okay not

the 90s is when you would have been

listening to something on a tape like

that and so it may it reminds me of that

and they got like kind of you know some

like chill like hip-hop beats or

whatever so but it it seems to me like

it's it's kind of some derivative of

that style of music yeah you're probably

right

[Music]

so you said yeah you're not working on

any new projects but you're just doing

more like DJing now yeah just digging

digging for for other tracks to mix and

like setting up set lists and shit like

that

okay are you gonna try to do any more

like DJ shows I mean now with fucking

not yeah yeah actually you know what I'm

curious like I've been seeing like a lot

of like DJs that are going on yeah

virtual social media and they're doing

just mixes and stuff and like I thought

about doing that I would need to buy a

camera but yeah I thought about that I

mean yeah I could do that ya know that

that'd be tight no I think there's one

dude from Japan DJ Coco have you seen

this fool no he's crazy man he's

incredible like he only uses 45s okay

and and nothing else apparently and

the dude is just incredible his mixing

skill his like you know blending his his

selection is just bananas I'm thinking

like this motherfucker must sit all day

till I come up with these these sets you

know he's got to live that life I mean

yeah he's nuts man check him out he's

like incredible sick Coco against KOC oh

yeah what is he on YouTube or where can

I find him on Instagram Instagram okay

yeah that's where I see a lot of people

doing it he's crazy man he's got like

this one like fuckin like he's blind in

one eye so like you just like see this

fool doing it likes one eyes like old

white looking in the other direction but

like his hands and everything is so fast

oh shit and so this is he does he does a

lot of mixing does view a lot of

scratching or yeah a bit not so much man

scratching like that's one thing I

really like kind of em I mean it's not

totally dead but almost like right you

wanna go I don't hear anybody really

scratch anymore which sucks because they

do it I mean they sweeping it in and of

itself it's become like just like a

novelty like you'll go on Instagram and

you'll find like twelve-year-old girls

that'll out scratch like the DMC

champion straight up but no one

incorporates it into their music anymore

back in the day you would have had some

some scratch hook like the you know DJ

premier the 7/3 whatever but now yeah I

don't know yeah no I I definitely missed

that I remember I used to try to scratch

it it's like it's a art form in itself

dude yeah for sure I loved watching

those old bat those like battles

what is it championships with like

Googlers yeah because it's like dude

this shit is crazy I remember they used

to throw a few shows like in Sacramento

when I was a kid of like the same kind

of thing like they would just bring some

DJs in and do it and I was like god damn

this is crazy and it was all like before

like cerrado and stuff and so yeah yeah

just like you you couldn't just tap a

button and be like okay here we go like

you know what I mean I can know where

that shit is on you you see guys with

like they'd stack their records all on

this on the thing so that they can like

mix it and they throw that one off in

and they keep going I was like dude this

is crazy the process is so it's so crazy

I just haven't thought out like yeah you

just planned that shit like practice

practice practice practice practice and

then you got your nice little yeah do

you think you can do any kind of

scratching like that I know you do some

scratching but I scratch but I'm back

dude nowhere near the level of anything

yeah do you ever try to do that that's

like I never tried to do any like crazy

shit like you oldies like crab into the

flare into this no no I was always just

like how do I make scratching into part

of my productions okay okay like that's

what I always wanted to do okay like in

the beginning when I first started like

back in college like in Davis yeah like

in oh three or something yeah you would

be DJing the parties I think that's how

I met because you were DJing and then

you started scratching or some shit and

I was kind of like oh this motherfucker

knows what's up cuz like most DJ's like

wouldn't do that but I was like oh this

fool has some technique and I think

that's why I started talking to you

maybe we're like are you like playing

something that like some off-the-wall

like kind of music and I was like yo

this dude was digging for this like it's

not just some fucking Nelly song or

whatever you know yeah I always did try

to do that yeah but yeah that's how I

started out with DJing parties and shit

in Davis and then I also like I was

learning how to scratch but then like

super quickly I just went you know what

I just want to make my own shit I'm not

interested too much now I'm getting back

into the DJing shit but like

like as soon as I shift it into

production that's all I wanted to do

yeah so it was like okay like such as

for production I just need to know

something so okay I kind of just yeah

yeah that's dope so you used outs right

when you started producing

maybe oh six oh seven okay yeah that's

probably when I first heard your music

actually yeah I don't know probably ya

know trying to remember cuz it was like

Annie I don't you I think probably

through Andrews yeah I think it was

through aunt

well I know I think I met you Adam one

of his parties and you were DJ ah like

yuanbao I think we're DJing or something

ah I was probably the Halloween party we

threw no I don't know you before that

yeah maybe I don't know yeah that was a

long time ago but yeah I I definitely

remember you know what I probably met

you before that but I didn't know you

were DJing but I I really I remember a

moment when I was at one of those

parties and I like heard the DJ just

play something crazy and I was like holy

shit dude who's DJing this shit is dope

and then I looked over to wherever you

were and I was like oh shit I know this

dude and I think I talked to you and I

was like bro you know what's up like you

know what I mean like I had an immediate

realisation that it wasn't some fucking

just regular ass person just DJing you

know what I mean it wasn't you know well

anyways dude we're hitting about an hour

right now so we should probably close

this show out soon do you have where can

people find you yeah any fucking music

platform Spotify turns title band camp

YouTube whatever whatever youtube so

it's DJ fiction pH IX IO n is that right

yep yep like we were talking before like

what were you saying

I picked that name because I wanted a

name I could scratch yeah you know I

couldn't make up I couldn't use my own

name I couldn't make up some other name

otherwise I would never be able to find

something saying it but I

name like shit let me find fucking you

know whoever jaew the damager you know

Fat Joe or somebody saying that shit

that could be fiction you know ya know

that's some old-school shit for sure

it's like a lot of people used to do

something like that because you can find

you can find a record or whatever that

says that word exactly yeah I know I

need someone that went by chemical or

whatever there you go same kind of

values I just used Serato I mean you

could just have your home where you'll

record whatever yeah now it's a lot

easier you couldn't just do a little

Mike shout-out or whatever you needed to

like find a record that you can actually

like scratch or whatever now it's Serato

you can kind of do whatever the hell you

want which is which is tight I think it

makes for some I mean shit I have

Serrano right here so what the fuck am I

you know I don't change Serato at all I

think it's it's not pushed it's pushed

the world of like music production into

like its realms it could have never gone

to so I really like that you know it

allows like the I think it extended the

life of turntablism you know what I mean

for sure for sure man you know regular

techniques 1200 you know whatever that

could have been man it wasn't for Serato

yeah people were just using controllers

and CDJs forever yep yep yeah exactly

and so you know it allowed like it

almost aloud like turntablism to go more

into like a mainstream in in a way I

think I mean not that it wasn't

mainstream in the 90s but it was a sort

of dying out out a little bit you know

so but yeah I would save I can't buy the

early 2000s I mean

was I mean still had like fools like

Babu and shit like that

mm that's true battle records yeah with

all the steel ones super seal that's

dope so everybody check him out

DJ fiction cinema deck it's a really

dope album there's like what 15 tracks

16 tracks something like that no is it

me okay

okay yeah yeah really dope I've been

trying to play I think my phone turned

the music off but I'll make sure I put a

playlist on this whole podcast so you

guys can check that out thanks for being

on dude

this was great thank you amazing man

hopefully I'll get this out this podcast

out pretty soon

dope hey thanks for listening guys peace

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