David Bowie’s “The Next Day”, his first album in a decade is online in full for your listening.
0:00 – The Next Day, 3:25 – Dirty Boys, 6:26 – The Stars (Are Out Tonight), 10:23 – Love Is Lost, 14:20 – Where Are We Now?, 18:30 – Valentine’s Day, 21:32 – If You Can See Me, 24:45 – I’d Rather Be High, 28:30 – Boss Of Me, 32:40 – Dancing Out In Space,
36:00 – How Does The Grass Grow?, 40:36 – (You Will) Set The World On Fire, 44:08 – You Feel So Lonely You Could Die, 48:46 – Heat
An Interview with Zeb “The Spy From Cairo” on his Infectious Arabic groove
Zeb The Spy From Cairo. Photo by Derek Beres.
One of the amazing things about the deeply Jamaican music called Dub is its ability to act as a conduit. From its early days as stripped down versioning of popular Reggae tunes to its indoctrination into late 80 / early 90s UK Soundsystem & Dance Music culture, to its current massive mutation (with the “Step” planted firmly in its behind); Dub has shown itself to be not only a musical art form that stands strongly on its own, but also a vehicle of sorts that can transport and connect disparate musical universes. And it’s at the unique nexus of Dub and Arabic music that the Spy From Cairo sits the most comfortably.
The Spy From Cairo aka Zeb is the kind of musician that fits perfectly in with the downtown NYC music scene – Italian by birth, Gypsy by heritage, and New Yorker by residence, he has been closely associated with the Turntables on the Hudson scene for close to 12 years – producing dozens of albums as Zeb, the Spy From Cairo and the Organic Grooves project, as well as remixing for everyone from Baba Maal to Tosca to Billie Holliday to Novalima, steadily garnering a worldwide collective of fans and followers.
The Spy’s new album, “Arabadub” is perhaps his most realized vision of deep Middle Eastern and Jamaican sounds coalescing into something that sounds right and natural – because it was conceived and produced in just that natural way. There are no samples used on the album, and Zeb has programmed everything, as well as playing traditional Middle Eastern stringed instruments called the Oud, Chifteli and the Saz himself. Check the opener “Alladin Dub”, with its echoed out skanks, pulsing bassline, and majestic strings – and the deepness that is “Taksim Square”, complete with swirling, psychedelic accordion. Other highlights include the tense four-to-the-floor stomper “Desert Tears”, the rolling dub of “Sons of Hannibal” with it’s beautiful Middle Eastern vocal chants, the nostalgic “Egyptian Pulse” with its Steppers sound and melancholy vibes, and the dancehall vibes of “Prince Ahmed” – sounding like 3AM Kingston wrapped in a Bedouin Tent!
MundoVibe’s Editor, John C. Tripp, interviewed Zeb on his lenghty history in New York City’s ethnic dance underground and his trancendent Arabic dub that is rousing belly dancers worldwide.
MundoVibe: Your involvement with fusing rhythm, roots and electronics stretches back many years, from the East Village’s Organic Grooves and Turntables on the Hudson to many parties and albums and beyond. How did you first become involved with this influential music scene in New York?
Zeb: I was here (in New York) mainly because I played guitar with a band called The Indians which were signed to Polydor back in 89. The Indians had a very short life mostly because in the early 90s many on the major labels went through a lot of infrastructure issues and many people lost their jobs including the chairman themselves which led to the dropping of many bands including us.The eople had a minute or two of “glory” though because our tunes were used for the soundtracks of the movies Kalifornia and Reality bites.
After we got dropped we soon split and I found myself pretty much broke and kind of lost not knowing what to do next. I then took a job in a place called Bar 16 making espressos and it was then that i met Sasha Crnobrnja (yes the name is spelled right) and we started talking about music which led to the great late 70s and early 80s of the Italian club scene and names like the clubs Baia degli angeli, Cosmic, Le cigalle, Typhoon started to come up.Obviously DJ names were next – Baldelli, Loda , TBC , Mozart etc. So.. we started thinking “Hey! That stuff would be just great in New York these days huh?”
Next thing you know we spoke to Bar 16 owner and asked if we could do a weekly party involving DJ and live musicians promoting what we called Cosmic Music. Bar 16 happened to have a basement (only used for storage space ) which was actually an old Persian Hooka smoking lounge ( great uh? ). We cleaned it up and started a party in it called : Organic Grooves. The rest is pretty much history as far as the underground music scene in NY is about.we lasted over a decade and became a bit of a cult for many eople. Organic grooves kind of died out ( actually WE let it die) after 9-11. Many things were changing in NY around that time and we felt it all too well, mostly because most people in the collective were not from the US and we all had some kind of trouble with immigration and the fact that we had an interest with the East (middle east in my case) made us like some kind of terrorist supporters you remember Bush’s words ? “You are either with us or against us !” That’s what we had to deal with back then, sad huh?
Anyway I was happy to have left a mark in the NY scene and 5 organic Grooves albums by then! It was at that point that the “natives” (Nickodemus ) took over and started Turntables on the Hudson. TOTH was similar to Organic Grooves but a bit more tailored for the US. Nickodemus’ taste for the eclectic (and mastering of the turntables ) kept it fresh, Mariano was more of a straight ahead party “monster”. Last but not least people like Nappy G and me provided that live feel that people liked and missed so much from the defunct Organic Grooves. Having said that , I wanna give Giant Steps their credit too for doing that DJ/live musician thing even though Giant Step was more of a jazz funk thing and we had a lot more styles involved in the mix.
MV: What are some of the projects you’ve been involved in over the years that are most important to you?
Zeb: Frankly every project is important to me. I must say that I work alone most of the time so, the only collaboration I’ve been involved with is Nickodemus. Together we remixed some pretty big names like Billy Holiday , Natasha Atlas , Omar Faruk and a bunch of others I can’t even remember. Actually more recently Nick and I had the honor of making a tune with Afrika Bambaataa which ended up on Nick new album “Moon People” ( I still have to do another remix of that tune though). I have also kept close contacts with Sasha (now Inflagranti) and we put together an album called OBLIO which pays homage yet again to the Cosmic era we miss and respect so much. Sasha own label Kodek will be releasing that sometimes in the near future.
MV: With this long history in music, what has been your vision or trajectory over these years?
Zeb: This could take me forever to answer so I’ll keep it relatively short. Mainly, my object was to learn how to play more instruments (I play five now ) and to be self sufficient as much as I could. That’s why I pretty much do everything in my tunes ,including the mastering and sometimes even the artwork. As I’ve shown in the last couple of albums, I decided to focus almost exclusively on Middle Eastern music and especially on the Oud, the Arabic lute which I love in ways that I can’t even describe.
I believe that the eastern culture has been grossly misunderstood and I am there to make things straight if i can with music. Reggae and especially Dub is ALWAYS in the agenda for me too, because i like it and it has the spiritual element that marries so well with the middle eastern sounds. My goal as a musician has and always will be to make music with hope and beauty which we need so much these days to get over all the problems which this World seem to be so full of.
MV:P You have a longstanding relationship with DJ Nickodemus, first with Turntables on the Hudson and second being on the Wonderwheel Label. How has that friendship enabled your musical journey?
Zeb: Nick probably knows me better than i know myself by now.. =) I know he is a big fan of mine and he totally supports EVERYTING I do. I have always been happy to donate my music to his label Wonderwheel has definitely helped me a lot to reach more and more people. I just wish it will become bigger soon though because it is still relatively underground and it deserves better — I deserve better too..
MV: How did your upbringing influence your music?
Zeb: Actually my father used to wake me up when i was 8 in the middle of the night with a bunch of friends and made me play guitar for them while my mum was cooking and they were singing ( that at about 5 am ! ) Then my mum would join in and sing beautifully , harmonizing with my fathers voice.( after serving that food of course =). this is just an example of what music was to my parents ( way to go Gypsies uh? ). I don’t think i need to add anything to this.I’m just a “product” of that lifestyle i guess.
MV: For your album, “Arabadub” you programmed and performed everything on “Arabadub”, what was your desire to create on this album?
Zeb: I love arabic music and love dub ! I’ve wanted to do a record like this for a long time but i wanted to master all the instruments i play on it so i took my time. I really wanted it to sound EXACTLY like i envisioned it.actually i din’t play ALL the instruments on it though ( i wish. sigh! ). The orchestra parts were offered by Sultan strings ( turkey ) and the few Nay parts ( the bamboo flute ) played by a Tunisian friend of mine. Everyting else i played myself : The oud , The saz, The cifltelly, most of the darbouka ( some are samples.oops! ) and I programmed ALL drums and played the bass and the few synths parts. I am very happy of the outcome and it seems that people who hear this record get it instantly. It is exactly what the title says and i believe i did it respectfully to both worlds ; the Jamaican and the Middle Eastern.
MV: There are no samples on the album, was this a challenge to avoid? Why no samples?
Zeb: Actually there are a few samples but VERY few to even mention. I’ve been working with samples for so damn long.i just had enough.. this is why i keep, learning new instruments. After all.I am a musician uh?
MV: How did you go about arranging the music? What came first and was there a lot of improvisation before laying down a track?
Zeb: First of all i had to come out with a melodic idea which was obviously the arabic music so i’d look for traditional and classic arab tunes and “make them mine” by rearranging them with the Oud ( which i wanted to keep prominent in every track ) and the other instrumets like the Saz and Ciftelli. Then the orchestra parts had to be recorded and dulcis in fundo i laid down the reggae drums and bass line. When i had a strong foundation of the song I would make spaces for the Oud solos and the dubbed out parts ( let the tape delay do it’s thing.. ). I just made all of this sound easy but BELIEVE ME it was NOT. Arabic music notation is very different from western and it is great challenge to mix reggae 4/4 to a typical 1/5 or 1/7 arabic rhythm. That’s also why i had to play all the stuff live ( samples simply wouldn’t cut it.. ). I also pretty much re/wrote all the tunes in different keys to match the simplicity of the reggae sounds. All the tunes melodies came from traditional middle eastern music but by the time i was done they were MY tunes you can believe that!
MV: If there’s an overall mood to “Arabadub” it’s pensive and expansive. The beats are very heavy and deep and the accompanying instrumentation of strings and your oud playing create a counterbalance that is wistful. How did you go about balancing the heavy bass with your instrumentation?
Zeb: It pretty much came normal as i know Dub and heavy bass very well by now.. The Oud is a very deep sounding instrument and it was a time difficult to mix with the dub bass though..also the strings arrangements have a lot of depth so, i had my challenges here and there but i’m very happy of the outcome and as i answered previously i think i got the right balance. I think that i honored the Oud pretty well throughout the record which was my intention all together.
MV: Your principle instrument is the oud, a traditional instrument. Yet you have a deep involvement in digital music production as well. This is something you’ve been doing for sometime so what was the inspiration to fuse the two? There are certain producers that have worked with Arabic music in a dub context, most notably to met Bill Laswell. Where you influenced by his productions or others?
Zeb: I simply believe that there are NOT enough people doing what i do. I like and respect Bill Laswell and people like DuoOud or Jeff Stott but we are all different and i believe that there is plenty of room for more producers/musicians with an interest in The OUD. This instrument has been ignored for a long time and it has a great past!! why not give it a great future??
MV: Where did you learn the oud? Did you study under anyone?
Zeb: I picked it up by myself by listening to countless hours of Oud Taksims ( improvisations ) from the best players like Farid al Atrache and Ryad Alsunbaty to more recent players like Naseer Shamma and Simon Shaheen ( His brother Najib actually help me out a lot with picking the right style of playing ! ). The Oud has always been around in my life for one or another reason.. there was one hanging on a wall in my house when i was little but it was unplayable and all beat up so i played guitar in the earlier years.. i started to focus exclusively on the Oud 7 years ago and i abandoned the guitar all together to just focus on this amazing and honorable instrument!
MV: Do you find yourself having to defend your music to traditionalists or are they understanding of what you are doing?
Zeb: Interesting question indeed!! Well.. Classically trained arabic musician will NEVER go for what i do which is good so i don’t have too much competition..hahaha. The fact that I’m not really an arab is enough reason to turn off enough people but I also have big admirers from the Middle East JUST BECAUSE i’m not one of them but have so much respect for the Oud and their music. All in all, whatever people think isn’t gonna make me quit with my explorations in music.Real musicians from the west and the east understand that! The best music always came from those who were not afraid to mix things up after all right? One example was Mohamed Abdel Wahab , a great composer and innovator of arabic music which actually wrote music for none less than the great Um Kalthoum. nuff said!
MV: What was your exposure to music like growing up? It seems that you must have had a wide exposure to various rhythmic and experimental genres of music.
Zeb: I grew up in Brixton and Portobello road in London ( in the early 80s ) and was exposed to West indian ,Idian, Arabic music. The Brits were always keen on mashings things up, so to hear a hip hop beat with a sitar loop was quite common even back than to me. I think i grew up in the best country as far as experimental music goes. thats why we had Transglobal Underground , Loop Guru, Talvin Singh etc. The US are a bit more conservative about music to my opinion but don’t worry..I’m here now..hahaha
MV: Have you always had it in your mind to release solo records and what was the process in getting to that point?
Zeb: I ALWAYS wanted to do solo records..I know what I want and have little patience explaining to others so I just go ahead and make the music that speaks for itself.
MV: On your solo release “Secretly Famous” you featured vocal tracks yet other than “Thicker Than Hooka Smoke” and “Haboob” there are no vocals on “Arabadub”. Why the change to limited vocals?
Zeb: I think that vocals can alienate some people ( not everyone speaks arabic.. ) so i decided to let the music speak this time. Thats why i tried to add more depth and cinematic effect to it. I think there is enough melody in Arabadub to speak loud enough about -hope, love and beauty- the only 3 words i want people to hear in this record.
MV: What does your current live performance consist of? How do you recreate the songs of “Arabadub” live?
MV: Well.. the old laptop and midi controller show with live Oud and darbouka.and when i’m lucky i’m graced by some beautiful belly dancer flying around me like a butterfly.
The much loved soul and blues singer-songwriter Alice Russell releases her fifth solo album, ‘To Dust’ her first solo album since 2008’s acclaimed ‘Pot Of Gold’
(courtesy of Tru Thoughts) Alice Russell is natural, pure natural talent, a natural presence, a force of nature. Whether on a big stage with her 16 piece band, charming a crowd of 4000 into staying out dancing in the rain (as she did at Montreal Jazz Festival) or rocking out an intimate club set with a stripped down 6 piece band, she’s a singer who demands attention. Unfazed by taking to the spotlight after a sober Amy Winehouse or joining Roy Ayers live for ‘Everybody Loves The Sunshine’, there’s no wonder her powerful soul voice has attracted rave reviews from numerous national and international publications and praise from fans as diverse as Gilles Peterson, David Byrne, Dennis Coffey, Massive Attack’s Daddy G, and Groove Armada.
‘To Dust’ is the first solo album from Alice Russell since 2008’s acclaimed ‘Pot Of Gold’, marking the next step forward in a remarkable career which has seen this down-to-earth, diminutive Brit universally acknowledged as one of the best soul voices of our time. Whether on a huge stage with a 16 piece band, charming a 4000 revellers into staying out dancing in the rain (as at Montreal Jazz Festival) or rocking an intimate club, Alice’s raw talent and charisma command attention and affection. Unfazed by taking the spotlight, singing with The Roots in Philly, or joining Roy Ayers for ‘Everybody Loves The Sunshine’, it is no wonder she has attracted worldwide media support, and fans as diverse as Gilles Peterson, Jamie Cullum, Dennis Coffey, Massive Attack’s Daddy G and Groove Armada.
Highly in demand as a vocalist, Alice has recently guested on Talking Heads leader David Byrne’s solo LP, to add to collaborations with Mr Scruff, Quantic, DJ Yoda and Nostalgia 77. But it’s her solo records with longtime musical partner TM Juke that she is best known for, and they have borne some of the most arresting blues soul since the glory days of Aretha. “We’ve both got a very open approach to writing songs,” Alice explains of the prolific relationship, “Our influences run from Sarah Vaughan to Bach, Kate Bush to Arvo Part, and J Dilla to Alice Coltrane. We love everything from dirty, squelchy dubstep to old school soul. We nudge each other in the right directions.”
‘To Dust’ sees Alice exploring every letter of the soul lexicon and beyond to create her own dynamic sound; from the punchy, Prince-esque strut of “Hard And Strong” to the epic intensity of the title track, which could easily be the next Bond theme. Through the heartstring tugging “I Loved You”; the sonically smooth yet emotionally raw “Twin Peaks”; to the pulse-quickening build of “Let Go (Breakdown)” and psychedelic social consciousness of “Citizens”, Alice Russell is never less than scintillating as she displays emotions so real you feel you could reach out and touch them, and a voice of unparalleled versatility. The idiosyncratic structure of the record, peppered with interludes and reprises, makes for a unique listen and a satisfyingly whole ‘album’ experience.
Tru Thoughts have signed ‘To Dust’ for territories including the UK, Americas, Australasia and Japan; reuniting Alice Russell with the label that introduced her to the world, where she released her first three albums, as well as myriad collaborations (including the BBC 6Music Playlisted “Look Around The Corner” single and LP with Quantic and his Combo Bárbaro earlier in 2012). A short, sold-out upfront tour in Nov/Dec saw Alice and her incredibly entertaining band premiering the new material. A full ‘To Dust’ tour will follow in April 2013 – dates TBA soon.
The first single, “Heartbreaker”, is out now, highlighting the crisp, cutting edge production and eclectic influences which nestle alongside a love of vintage soul and gospel at the core of Alice Russell’s style, a sound honed with co-writer/producer TM Juke. Showcasing Alice at the top of her craft – and with a video starring Harry Shearer (The Simpsons/Spinal Tap) which has had 50,000+ views – it has gained BBC 6Music and Radio 2 play and tastemaker love from The Fader, Rankin’s Hunger TV, Okayplayer, NTS, KCRW and more. Recent radio features include a BBC 6Music Lunchtime interview and sessions on Loose Ends (BBC R4) and Monocle 24, with more features upcoming including Jamie Cullum (BBC R2), Craig Charles (6Music Live Week) and Huey Morgan (6Music).
‘Take The Space Trane’, out 4th February, is the new album from producer, composer and musician Mark de Clive-Lowe in collaboration with the Rotterdam Jazz Orchestra. Joining forces for the first time here, they deliver big orchestral jazz grooves with a nod to club productions for a modern, experimental take on the big band sound. The LP brings together bespoke compositions alongside existing cuts from across MdCL’s prolific career, plus a cover of the jazz standard, “Caravan” – all realised with traditional big band arrangements and instrumentation.
Japanese-New Zealander Mark de Clive-Lowe is a complex producer, keyboardist, composer and DJ. He embraced the piano at age four, soon becoming an accomplished Jazz musician. Before moving to LA last year, MdCL spent a decade in London where he honed his production skills working alongside the likes of Bugz In The Attic and Jody Watley. Having deployed his varied talents on more than 250 releases – both his own and in collaboration – he released his 14th solo album ‘Renegades’ on Tru Thoughts last year, featuring luminaries including Omar, Tawiah, Pino Palladino and Sheila E; continually touring, with his live improvised music shows, DJ sets and self-promoted jam night, Church (LA/NYC), he is becoming increasingly recognised as a lynchpin of the international live scene.
The idea for this project was born when MdCL met the trumpeter Rob van de Wouw at an improv festival where he was performing, in Rotterdam; on hearing him play, van de Wouw asked if he would guest with his big band. Having played in big bands back in high school in New Zealand, while cutting his teeth as a jazz pianist, MdCL seized the opportunity to revisit it from this whole new standpoint: “Big band was the sound of dance music in the ‘20s and ‘30s so to apply that aesthetic and sound to my own music was going to be fun”, he says.
In preparation, MdCL selected some of his own releases to be adapted to the band, wrote two new compositions especially, and chose one classic jazz standard – made most famous by Duke Ellington – to round out the repertoire. The RJO’s arranger and conductor, Johan Plomp, then created the arrangements, bringing the big band voice to the tunes. ‘El Dia Perfecto’ (originally out on Universal Jazz in 2000) was an obvious vehicle for this kind of project, with its horn-like melody lines and harmonies; but when he chose vocal cuts like “Money (Don’t Let It Catch Ya)” and “Relax…Unwind” – originally voiced by Bembe Segue and Abdul Shyllon, respectively – it was impossible for MdCL to imagine the big band arrangements. When he heard them for the first time, he says, “it was unreal! He’d taken the vocal melodies and harmonies and transposed those to saxophones, trumpets and trombones.”
The new compositions that MdCL wrote for the project allude to the different influences and thread the concept together. “Blues For Six” has an old school bluesy swing intro and then goes into an Afro 6/8 groove. The title track, another new one, is a melding of the ‘60s Coltrane and McCoy Tyner feel with a UK brukstep rhythm – the avant-garde aspects of the jazz tradition head to head with the driving beats. The album title is a play on Duke Ellington’s big band classic “Take The A Train”, “but with the modal jazz influences a la John Coltrane and undercurrent of beats and electronic elements, it just made sense to be ‘Take The Space Trane’!”, MdCL elaborates.
The band had a half day rehearsal and then hit their first show at Amsterdam’s Melkweg. The next day was the second show, from which this album is cut (subject to some edits for the confines of the CD format). And the next time they performed this repertoire, it really divided the audience: “Some older big band music fans were walking out in disgust (“that’s not big band music!”) while the younger music lovers were revelling in hearing something totally fresh… Nothing like ruffling a few feathers!” says MdCL.
Change The Beat: The Celluloid Records Story 1979-1987 collects two discs worth of classic sides on the Celluloid label, spanning major contributions from early in the era of recorded hip-hop, experimental dance music, and world music fusions.
Celluloid Records embodies so much that we love: classic early DIY hip-hop, punky disco, world music electro fusions, French new wave and more. Formed by Jean Georgakarakos in Paris during the late ’70s after a decade co-running French record shops and the spiritual jazz label BYG, the label gathered steam following Karakos’ fateful early ’80s trips to New York. After a chance meeting Bill Laswell who had himself landed fresh in the Big Apple from Michigan, Karakos began releasing the full spectrum of Laswell’s early work, from the avant-rock cacophony of Massacre to his fluid, dance/post-punk production outfit, Material.
Strut Records will pay tribute to Celluloid with a two-disc retrospective of this brilliant and eclectic label. You can pre-order Change The Beat: The Celluloid Records Story on limited 180 gram vinyl right now on the Strut webstore. There will also be a full 2CD and digital release.
Tracklisting
12″ Vinyl Double Album (STRUT102LP)
Shockabilly – Day Tripper
Ferdinand – Télé, après la Météo
Mathematiques Modernes – Disco Rough (Long Version)
Modern Guy – Electrique Sylvie (Full Length Version)
The Last Poets – Mean Machine Chant / Mean Machine
Winston Edwards|Blackbeard – Downing Street Rock
Futura 2000 feat. The Clash – The Escapades of Futura feat. The Clash
Material – I’m the One (Dance Version)
Time Zone – Wildstyle
Manu Dibango – Abele Dance (’85 Remix)
Fab 5 Freddy – Change the Beat (French & English Rap)
CD Double Album (STRUT102CD)
Shockabilly – Day Tripper
Massacre – Killing Time
Ferdinand – Télé, après la Météo
Mathematiques Modernes – Disco Rough (Long Version)
Thomas Leer & Robert Rental – Day Breaks, Day Heals
Snakefinger – Living in Vain
Winston Edwards & Blackbeard – Downing Street Rock
Lightnin’ Rod – Sport
Futura 2000 feat. The Clash – The Escapades of Futura feat. The Clash
Time Zone – Wildstyle
Deadline – Makossa Rock
Bobongo Stars – Koteja
Toure Kunda – Amadou Tilo
Nini Raviolette – Suis-Je Normale
Modern Guy – Electrique Sylvie (Full Length Version)
Sapho – Carmel (12“ Mix)
Ginger Baker – Dust to Dust
Last Exit – Big Boss Man
Mandingo – Harima
Manu Dibango – Abele Dance (’85 Remix)
Time Zone – World Destruction (Original 12″ Mix)
Material – I’m the One (Dance Version)
Grandmixer D.St – Home of Hip Hop
Beside with Bernard Fowler – Odeon (Dance Mix)
Fab 5 Freddy – Change the Beat (French & English Rap)
The Last Poets – Mean Machine Chant / Mean Machine
A Classic Interview with Global Beatmaster DJ Nickodemus on the Roots of New York City’s Underground Dance Scene
This interview originally appeared on Junkmedia.org. John C. Tripp is the Editor of Mundovibes.com
DJ Nickodemus
By John C. Tripp
Within the rarefied group of DJs that cut their teeth at New York City’s weekly Giant Step parties of the mid-1990s is Brooklyn-based DJ and Producer Nickodemus. At Giant Step, Nickodemus proffered his eclectic mix of acid jazz, hip hop, house, reggae and abstract beats to an appreciative crowd that was as varied as his music: heads, hipsters, hippies and aficionados all together under one vibe. The Giant Step period was a unified and uplifting one for the New York City scene in the early 90s, before Giuliani made it a crime to dance. When Giant Step’s weekly parties came to an end (since rechristened to much acclaim with DJ Ron Trent), Nickodemus hooked up with the Organic Grooves crew and DJ’d many a one-off event. He also began producing music with collaborators Carol C, Jay B and Osiris.
At Organic Grooves, Nickodemus befriended Mariano, an Italian percussionist, forming a friendship and musical partnership that seems fateful. The two envisioned an event that would represent their musical sensibilities of mixing styles and chose the then-neglected banks of the Hudson River for “Turntables on the Hudson,” an outdoor summer party that vitalized the New York club scene with its uplifting and eclectic mix of house, Afrobeat, salsa, dub and hip-hop. “Turntables on the Hudson” has entered the pantheon of the must-attend parties, hosting an uplifting and joyous music selection by DJs and live music with a regular crew that includes DJ Nat Rahav, Mariano, percussionist Nappy G and special guests such as DJ Osiris and the Jinga Pura Samba Drum Troupe.
But “Turntables on the Hudson” is only half the picture; for Nickodemus, there’s also his work as a producer and label cofounder. In 1999, he founded Rhythm Love records with Nat Rahav, featuring their production work and as well as that of others who comprise the Rhythm Love family of DJs, producers and live musicians. The label launched “Turntables on the Hudson,” a compilation featuring the same uplifting, eclectic vibe as the party. There have been a select number of 12″ singles, an EP and two additional volumes of “Turntables on the Hudson,” the latest just released in November. The much anticipated compilation features songs by NYC artists who have contributed to the event, including Osiris, Ticklah, Zeb the pleb, BellHops remix of Groove Collective and new RhythmLove artists Little Jay, Metaprofessor and Puerto Rico-based band Local 12. The CD also features some of the party’s favorite anthems, including Carla Alexandars “Simba” and Raj Guptas remix of Robin Jones’ “Royal Marcha”.
Nickdemus also contributed to DJ Ron Trent’s debut mix CD on Giant Step records with the 12″ single, “Free Souls”, featuring the phenomenal talents of Mino Cinelu, Mitch Stein and Jay Rodriguez and the co-production of Osiris. Nickodemus and Osiris have also recently remixed the song “En Fuego”, featuring Marc Antoine with Troy Simms on guitar. On top of this, Nickodemus has been touring with Mino Cinelu to Europe and Africa as well as DJing a regular gig at Vienna’s Sunshine Club.
With all of this buzz of activity, I had a surprisingly casual meeting with Nickodemus at his home studio in Brooklyn’s Park Slope and then later at Bergen Street Beat, the cafe he is a partner in. Talking music with Nickodemus is a history lesson in New York City’s recent club culture, since he’s been active on the scene since the 1980s, when his sister snuck him into shows at the Roxy where she worked. Hip-hop is the cornerstone of Nickodemus’ musical tastes, and that’s where this interview began.
Mundovibe: I remember seeing you breakdancing last summer at “Turntables on the Hudson.” One night you had a bunch of old school stuff going on…
Nickodemus: Oh yeah, percussionists and we had some breakers. I tried to fuse all of these percussionists with B-Boys and breaks with world influence.
That’s what I like about what I heard. Would you say you came out of the old school in terms of your early influence?
Definitely. Hip-hop, old school. My sister was really inspirational for me. She used to work at these clubs like the Ritz, the Red Zone, all of these old school clubs, and used to sneak me in at like twelve years old. So I had an influence from reggae, house and hip-hop, everything really.
So, you went from being involved in the hip-hop culture in Long Island and hooking up with Giant Step as a DJ?
Yeah.
And you were one of their house DJs?
Yeah, from ’95 to ’99; whenever they stopped doing weeklies. It was nice, it was a good experience. I got to jam with a lot of good musicians and DJs. Really got to be out there and be able to think differently and not have to fit a format of hip-hop. They were really open to anything as party promoters. They never said a word to me, they were like “do whatever you want.”
Would you say that you are part of a crew now? Obviously you are not just a DJ. Is it a loose conglomeration?
Yeah. After years of being down with different people who were into the same thing, you sort of figure out who the real heads are and you go through a lot of different crews. I feel cool about the crew I’m with now. We go by the Rhythm Love Sound System. It started out of myself and Mariano, who’s cool cause I kind of mentored him as a DJ and it feels really cool to see him take it to this whole level and really do well. Everyone’s really good DJs and they have their own little specialties. When we throw parties, we just generally have some of these guys spin, depending on what type of party and what kind of vibe we want to throw down. So, Nat Rahav and me started the label, Rhythm Love records.
And, so far, you’ve had two releases?
Yeah. Two compilations and “Turntables on the Hudson”, our party on the River. We finally have our own forum. I was doing parties for years in all these little spaces. Just random, totally random, and then finally we found a spot where we could do it on a weekly basis, which was the first time for me since Giant Step. I did Organic Grooves for a while, but it was more sporadic. So it was great, we finally had our own thing to push and nurture. And it worked out nice. It blew up right away. Throughout the years people who’d always been kind of like-minded in music and in DJ style—we just hooked them up into the circle.
So, there’s a lot of sharing.
Yeah, and that’s how the compilation came out, because we tried to get tracks from these people. And a lot of people had never even produced before, but they were like “here,” and it just amazed me: ‘how’d that happen?
It’s amazing. If you actually say, “hey you can do this” and put someone up to it.
It was a platform for a lot of people, and they rose to the occasion. Like Nat, who never really DJ’d out, he never produced a lick in his life and now he’s spinning out, he has all the technology for making beats, and he’s flipping out really nice stuff. And that’s in two years.
How about yourself? When did you get into production?
I guess around ’94 I started getting my first exposure. I was with this group called Diversity, a very “Native Tongue” hip-hop group. They never really made it, but they were really, really fresh. I guess the market wasn’t ready for that, it was moving into the gangster shit, so they fell to the wayside. But those guys would bring me around the studio. That was my first exposure to it. And then I bought a sampler one year, around ’96 and just started messing around.
And, in terms of your tracks, you’ve been contributing to compilations, released your own stuff.
Yeah, I’ve done a little of everything. Depending on what kind of track it is, maybe we’ll put it out on [another] label, not our own. Or, maybe we’ll put it out on the label. It’s all mixed up, just spreading the vibes out.
One observation I’ve made is that it seems like now, in terms of hip-hop, the underground has shifted to Brooklyn, with all of the activity that’s going on. It’s a whole different vibe.
It seems that way, and I hope it stays that way. I see so many people that start like that, and they wind up selling their ass out quick. But, I like the scene, the way it’s been going. It’s nice, a lot of different, innovative things happening like more instrumentation or spoken word-influenced. All of these things are great.
Hip-hop has pretty much become a world phenomenon. So, it’s interesting now that it’s merging with other styles. How did that all happen for you?
Mariano and DJ Nickodemus
Mariano and Nickodemus
For me, since I’m a DJ, I guess that a lot of tracks that I was getting had that hip-hop element and it was right about the time I had turned hip-hop off in my head. Sort of the end of the native tongue era when all this gangster music got really commercial at one point. For example, Naz’s second album, if you compare it to his first. That time, right in between there something drastic happened. I can’t put my finger on it, because I’m not that heavy into it. I just know that I was like ‘OK, there’s very [little] hip-hop that I can deal with now, what else is out there?’ I started hearing all of these amazing hip-hop influenced beats, just instrumental, without all the words that really weren’t going anywhere. It was good, because it definitely opened my mind to a whole new style of hip-hop, or interpretation of it. And, sure enough, hip-hop was still doing it’s thing here, but you had to search a little harder to find it, or the right people were holding it down.
This was going on mainly in London?
Yeah, in London, in France, even Japan with DJ Krush who’s stuff was phenomenal to me. So, these things that fuse hip-hop with jazz and hip-hop [with] just straight instrumental stuff, so there was this whole acid jazz scene. I loved it; it had the elements of jazz and funk that I liked, and it also had the elements of hip-hop that I liked. And here they are together. You know, if you want to hear some lyrics and some content you can always check out hip-hop or you can check this out for a vibe. That’s when I started really getting into that whole vibe.
That was while you were with Giant Step?
Yeah, right before I started with Giant Step. A lot of my friends were jamming musicians, so we were always jamming it out as well. It all just started happening very naturally. It was cool.
It’s kind of going full circle in a way, cause a lot of this came out of this area anyway. It’s kind of ironic, ’cause that seems to be the circle, something comes out of New York or the States and it goes to Europe and gets recycled.
That’s the cool thing. I wish a lot more of the people here who were into hip-hop could hear this other stuff that’s happening, that really came from hip-hop in a lot of ways. And came from soul and jazz, where hip-hop came from. That’s why I like playing or producing; I love to catch those elements and educate in a way. I’ve always been into just opening people up into new styles of music and new things, as I learn and get into it. It’s fun because you see it go somewhere else in the world and transform into Indian hip-hop and then, ‘boom’, it’ll come back as a whole other thing.
It’s amazing how rapid it is now. I guess it has good and bad, because a lot of people are always onto the next thing.
Yeah, I hear what you are saying.
When you put your music together and you’re pulling from a lot of areas, that’s something that is personal for you.
Oh, definitely. I pull from hip-hop, I pull from jazz, I love Eastern music, from India from the Middle East, I love African music. All of these things, as you get older you just start feeding your soul with all of these sounds and when you start to make something it just comes out in the most true and natural way. And when it does, you’ll have, like, a very Afro Beat sound but then it’s a hip-hop beat, yet it’s like Eastern vocals. How did all of that happen, I don’t know, you don’t have to label it.
It’s funny, I’ll tell you a little story. We were just in Puerto Rico and we recorded these musicians. We made the beat here and we went down there with the 8-track. It’s kind of how we do it to record musicians, we just move around, like go to Cincinnati and record some jazz cats who are off the meter, and come home and reboot it, move things around. So, we went down there and we asked these legendary musicians, this guy Juancito Torres and Polito Huertas. They used to play with, like, Eddie Palmeri and all these cats. And we asked them to jam on our track, and we played the track for them and they were like ‘what the hell is this?’, we can’t play to a clave that’s like ‘dat, dat, dat, dat, dat’. That’s Brazilian, you can’t play to that. I’m like ‘I’m not trying to make a Latin track, I’m making a track’, you know?
They’re traditional, right?
Very traditional.
Was this an insult to them or was it like ‘what is up with this’?
Yeah, it came off at first like they were trying to say ‘hey you can’t do this, you need to educate yourself before you step to us.’ And I was like, ‘if you want to talk about it, I can tell you the rhythm, but this is a different rhythm I’m not trying to fit into a category and just because you are Latin and you play in a very Latin style doesn’t mean you can’t jam to, say, a reggae beat, you know?’
I guess it happens a lot more in, say, Brazil where there’s more of that going on. In Puerto Rico it seems like it’s really pop drabber.
More interesting. Beside the fact that he was like ‘hey, you can’t do that’, I think he just couldn’t really feel it. He wasn’t used to hearing stuff where the clave was anywhere else. And we had to be like ‘check this out’. I played him a couple other tracks trying to get him to feel the swing. And he got it, he’s a master so he was like ‘kabaam’ and he did it. But it was really interesting, because I thought he was insulting me, but he just couldn’t feel it.
But as a fellow musician he grabbed onto it.
Yeah, he grabbed it.
So, that’s your procedure, you lay down your beats and go live and improvisational with it.
Yeah and from there we may take parts of it and sample it and refreak it, or we’ll take the whole take, just the way it came, which is my favorite technique. I like, ‘OK, are you feeling this beat. What are you going to do over it, and then after you’re done, that’s it. I just like to do one take; what they feel over it, not what I want them feel. I can give them some guidance and then what happens, happens. That’s how I like to do it, but sometimes there’s no chemistry, so you’ve got to doctor it or chuck it.
You do this a lot?
Yeah. Almost all of the tracks I’ve done have had either vocalists or a percussionist or a horn player or a flute player. Generally, I like to try to get guys who are schooled in this type of music, so they can lock into the beat. There’s not too many chord progressions; it’s very lateral for them, but they understand it. It’s not traditional—eventually we’ll start making “electro salsa”, or who knows, but right now we’re doing straight-up dance tracks.
This is all stuff that you can then press or you can work into your mix or whatever?
Yeah. So, the last thing we just did. I’ve been on tour with Mino Cinelu. He’s a really sick percussionist; he used to play with Miles and Sting. So, we’ve been collaborating a lot. I’ve been doing beats and scratches on his music, and he’s doing vocals and percussion on my music. It’s a really nice exchange. He just did this really nice track called “Free Souls” to be released on Giant Step, and it’s the hip-hop beat, the funk bassline, the Afrobeat, he flipped a whole Eastern style cause he knows that’s what I love. It just came out nice, it’s a nice global fusion.
Where do you draw the line where it gets to the point where you’re just watering down too many genres? Do you ever get that kind of criticism?
I think I’m allowed to get away with it because I’m hip-hop (laughs). But if anyone wanted to really challenge me on it, I can represent. I know enough about a lot of the music that I could say ‘hey, this didn’t come out of, I had this record collection. I listen to this music.
That is conveyed in the final thing, because it’s not just slapped on.
Exactly, and if someone felt it isn’t, then they’re a true expert in that area and I humble myself to them but this is what I do. Eventually, I’ll hopefully be a master in a lot of different styles, extremely deep into everything. But, we’ll see (laughs).
Could you have done this in another city, or do you think that it’s the whole multicultural aspect of New York coming through?
I think there’s only a few cities where this can exist, you know? San Fran might pull it off, I wouldn’t even say LA. I mean, you can create a scene anywhere and people will get into it because it’s exotic to people or they just feel it. Let me try to think of a place that was totally out of the ordinary and it worked… Take Vienna, for example… Sunshine Club. That’s my other main place, besides New York. I go there plenty of times. Even now with all that stuff with Jˆrg Haider. There’s a huge Turkish flush in the workforce.
Look at the vibe over there, it’s not very multicultural like New York. Just the way they treat immigrants from Turkey, there was a big resistance to foreigners, and I’m glad that Europe blew up their spot. Europe boycotted and was like, ‘no way, this isn’t happening.’ I was there for a huge protest against Haider in the Heidenplatz, where Hitler gave his famous speeches and it was pretty intense—it was like a complete opposite thing coming out from the speakers from only sixty years ago. It was amazing, there was an amazing turnout to protest this guy. But what I was saying is that from a city that’s not nearly as diverse as this city, there’s actually more music coming out of there that’s world influenced than here. So, I don’t know if it’s really the population, it’s just a matter of what you expose yourself to.
I’ve found that it’s easier to get exposed to it via the Internet.
No doubt. Music shouldn’t be so limited, as long as you respect the traditions.
Have you ever just put out something that traditional. I was thinking Up, Bustle & Out, which is both traditional and has hip-hop beats.
Yeah, those guys are far out. They’re definitely a big influence. When I heard their first album, I was just stunned. They kicked it hard. They went all around South America and they funked it up.
Obviously you do a lot of gigs all over the place. You go to Europe more than the States?
Yeah. I’ve only been to a few places in the States, and they’ve been really small parties with little to no money. But Europe is the place. All of my music is selling in Europe. When I started DJing there in ’96 in Vienna, they loved me because I had that hip-hop sensibility of DJing: mixing and cutting it up, but using all of this current stuff that they were all into and there weren’t too many people doing it like that over there. And I just made a good mark and was able to return. I made some really tight connections with friends, and that’s it. Now, it’s like one of my favorite cities to spin. I’ve been in Paris—the Parisian scene is off the hook, it’s incredible. Almost all of the licensing for my tracks are in Paris, with random compilations like Buddha Bar. These guys are all hip to this world sound dance music.
Are there any people that you want to mention that you work with?
Yeah, sure. I work heavily now on production with Osirus. He’s a friend from growing up, and we just meet perfectly, our minds meet perfectly on the production tip. We just did a 12″ for Giant Step, we doing another 12″ on the hip-hop tip. For this latin project I brought him to Puerto Rico. We have a whole bunch of projects. He also has some solo stuff that’s going to be amazing on our label Rhythm Love.
Beatsmith par excellence, Kenny “Dope” has been making records since the late 80s. His distinctive style, both on the decks and in the studio, comes from the way he applies a Hip Hop-centric approach to both making and spinning music. He became a house hold name through his partnership with the diminutive Little Louie Vega. As MAW, the pair has provided a benchmark for producers around the world, in terms of their eagerness to push the creative envelope and embrace different styles of music. Their productions and remixes have propelled them to the top of the tree, and instead of resting on their laurels, MAW always look to take things one step further. Recently, the pair have spent time focussed on solo productions, which has given their audience a chance to re-familiarise themselves with the work of Kenny and Louie as separate musical entities.
On meeting Kenny Dope Gonzalez, it is easy to feel a little intimidated, due to his large frame and his tremendous musical achievements. However, on speaking to Mr. Dope, any initial fears are allayed. He is a relaxed guy, who, with reason, is confident of his own skills as a producer and DJ. At 13, he found music, after initially wanting to study art at school. He was born to parents of Puerto Rican origin and grew up in the working class district of Sunset Park, New York. Kenny believes that this Brooklyn suburb s musical melting pot and diverse cultural mix has had an important impact on his development.He has realised through travelling and studying the history of music that if I lived somewhere else, my music would be so different . The ethnic mix of the Sunset Park area exposed Kenny to many different styles of music from a young age.
Currently, Kenny spends two or three weeks in a month where he travels the world to DJ. He would prefer to cut this down to one or two weeks, but while I feel I want to go out and play, I must do it . As a DJ, Kenny feels his role is to both educate and give people a good party, where he likes to play a range of music. He feels it is his job to break music and play stuff that other people don t , for whatever reason. Kenny says I listen for sounds that the average person won t hear and he believes this gives him the edge over many of his
contemporaries. I asked Mr. Dope whom he respects in terms of other spinners. He says my little sister can mix and therefore there s only a select band of DJs who impress Kenny. He cites Gilles Peterson and Keb Darge as great selectors, and when it comes to technically gifted DJs, Louie Vega, Jazzy Jeff and Cash Money impress him.
The development of music technology is changing the way in which DJs work. Kenny feels he was forced to put vinyl down much against his wishes. However, as a jet-setting DJ, he was fed up with losing records or for them to turn up late. He believes you can t use the next man s records and therefore he was pushed into a corner to play CDs , but admits with CDJ s he can do just about anything he d want to do with vinyl. As a label boss, he feels the downloading culture is doing huge damage to the music industry. He s says it is a touchy subject , where kids are caught up with downloading new stuff and therefore won t want to buy the finished article. He feels there ll always be a market for vinyl collectors, but as far as CDs go, he thinks the situation is dire. As he puts it, Why buy a finished CD where you like one or two out of ten songs, when you could download ten tracks you really love for $10?
Kenny enjoys spinning in Japan, as the crowds are very knowledgeable and he feels he can play anything to them. He also has a lot of time for coming across the water to Europe, with particular favourites being England and Italy. He says you ve embraced us since the beginning, and I ve got mad love for England . When quizzed about the clubs over here, Mr. Dope says he s really impressed by how people are so open to soul music . He was surprised by that he found this a few years ago on early visits to the UK. In the US, he feels for a long time that soul music was for people of colour . Kenny admits there was one stage when he was spending so much time in London that he almost bought a house, I wish I had done, it would be worth a lot now !
With a record collection rumoured to be over the 30,000 mark, I asked Kenny about his favourite spots to pick up vinyl. He says he checks dustygroove.com every week, as they make it easy for him to keep up to date. He feels let down by many of the shops he s visited around the world, people who know the style of tracks I make should be able to sell me records , and he believes people don t sell you records in the way the used to anymore . Kenny served his musical apprenticeship behind the counter of WNR Music Centre aged 15, where you knew your 30 customers and so ordered records for them accordingly. However, Mr. Dope says he always checks out Vinyl Junkies when in London, as he normally finds something there, and being a music addict, Kenny admits I m always curious to find new records !
Kenny says that the records in his vast collection are an important inspiration. He is critical of young producers today who have not studied the music of the past, and make stuff that is so minimal . He says that just listening to stuff by Pete Rock, Marley Marl etc can inspire something different . When it comes to producers currently making House, there are only a few who are currently exciting Kenny. He is impressed by the likes of Kerri Chandler and Osunlade,who have good grasp of what works musically.
It is blatantly obvious from hearing a couple of bars of one Kenny s records, that he has made the beats. Programmed with an incredible vitality and strength, he believes they ve become his signature because he s very criticalwith the sound and that his Hip Hop background gives it the edge . He admits that originally, he used a different drumkit for every single production, down to even using a set of dissimilar beats on vocal and dub versions of remixes! When working in the studio with such luminaries such as Roy Ayers, George Benson and Jocelyn Brown, Kenny feels things work in the same way as when he just sits in the studio and manipulates samples. Incredibly, the vocals and musical parts for some of their most famous tracks such as You Can Do It (Baby) which featured George Benson, were recorded in one or two takes. Mr. Dope believes the reason why him and Louie were able to do this was because the artists they work with trust our musical judgement and realise that MAW want to capture their vibe and take it to the next level . Understandably, considering the array of talent that MAW have worked with in the past, the list of people that Kenny would still like to collaborate with is now very small. He wishes that they d been able to do something with Fela on the Nu Yorican Soul album before he passed away, and would love to work with Stevie Wonder, but feels Stevie is hard to touch .
As remix dons, Kenny and Louie have waived their magical production wand over tracks by a huge rang of artists. Kenny says every one was a challenge and as they wanted each remix to be better than the previous one, the more we progressed, the harder it got . They booked studios for weeks at a time in order to complete mixes, where Kenny would make beats in one room and Louie would then add more components in another. Tracks would then go back and forth, and they often had two or three remixes on the go at once. Kenny picks out remixes of Lisa Stansfield, Alison Limerick and their own revision of You Can Do It (Baby) as a trio of his personal favourites.
On the compilation front, Kenny has put out a few choice selections over the years. He enjoys compiling them because he feels it is just an extension of him playing records. He admits that his Lifestyles compilation caught a lot of people off guard , but he wanted to release it to show there is good music out there if you are willing to listen with an open ear .
Understandably, Kenny has a special relationship, with his long-term production partner and friend, Louie Vega. Kenny feels their partnership works because we are completely different types of people , this isn t just musically but also from food to women to clothes& . He believes that when they work alone we can hold our own , but when they link up, they have something special . Kenny cites scheduling as the biggest difficulty for them at the moment with regards to spending time in the studio together. He s not sure how we managed to do the amount of stuff we did together in the past , but crazy deadlines probably had something to do with their productivity.
Louie s Elements Of Life album has finally seen the light of day, and his Vega Records label has been very productive of late. Not to be outdone, Mr. Dope has one or two things up his sleeve. He wants to release between three and five albums this year, including a Broken beat styled album, a soulful house longplayer and a live-based soul and funk album for his Kay Dee label. Kenny now feels comfortable and so finds he spends a week chilling after touring , but he still has the zest to make new records a reality. He has achieved a great deal, but is still hungry for more.
Argo’s passion for djing began back in the early 90’s in NYC while checking out the weekly Giant Step parties, Soul Kitchen, and assorted funky bizniz at S.O.B.’s. Around 1995 in Philly, the hands down favorite party and source of inspiration was King Britt’s Back to Basics. It was at these clubs that Argo was exposed to some of the initial phases of a worldwide improvisational jazz meets dancefloor phenomenon which was to be the major stepping stone for the sound currently known as “broken beat”. The amalgamation of sounds found in this music inspired his direction as a dj: to make musical mappings between disparate traditions, by exploring, innovating, educating, and experimenting.
In 1997 he hooked up with the a Philly crew called MilkToast and opened for various funk/groove bands including Brooklyn’s Justice League, Galactic, and the Jazzyfatnasties. He became a resident at a night called HomeCookin’ where he mixed and scratched live with the jazz and hip-hop group, Fathead. At Silk City, abstract trip-hop and downtempo jazz set the stage for a weekly party called Dippin’ where he dropped records along side of hip-hop icons, Schooly D, and dj Kid Swift. It was around this time that Argo was guesting at Crasta’s Nebula parties at Club 1415, Cozmic Cat’s Groove Lounge, Soul Samba, and had a weekly internet show which was broadcast live on Media Bureau Networks.
Argo has spun on radio stations WKDU, and WPRB, kept a Saturday residency at the long running Grass night at Silk City and has organized large outdoor summertime events in the park for the past 2 years in both West Philadelphia and Center City. He has been a recurring guest at Blake’s legendary Don’t Fake The Funk, NYCs weekly broken beat party, Royal Flush at Coz, and has opened up for artists such as Goldie, Fauna Flash, Mj Cole, and Titonton.
Argo was a co-founder of Mud People. These were packed, late-night, underground warehouse parties which took place in an intimate lounge setting, scattered with plush couches and filled with sound. Various multi-media was mixed realtime with live cameras which were fed into a video projector and multiple television sets. A graphic designer by trade, Argo was instrumental in the visual side of these events as well as the creation of all printed promotions.
Today Argo runs Broke & Beat Radio with dj 99. A weekly archived, online radio show which features the very latest in broken beat and neo-soul. As many as 400 listeners per day tune in from all over the world including the UK, Japan, France and the Netherlands and is ranked high in all the major search engines. Broke & Beat radio has received support from friends at Giant Step (NYC), Compost Records and IntoSomething (Munich,Germany), RythymLove Records (NYC), Freaked.co.uk, the Acid Jazz Listserve, Cosmic Sounds Records, and Soma Records, as well as receiving press in UK magazine, Straight No Chaser. The show has aired guest appearances by Rich Medina (Philly), Nik Westion (London), RhythmLove’s Nat Rahav (NYC), and is the home of King Britt’s Full Circle archive.
Mundovibes spoke with Argo on his DJing activities and the Philly scene.
Mundovibes: First, I want to give you big props on Broke & Beat radio. It’s been a source of great music for me, and I’m sure for a lot of people.
Argo: Well, thanks.
MV: You’ve got a strong presence on the web, so you’ve probably got an international crew that’s checking you out?
A: Yeah, we do. The traffic is constantly growing. We have a core group of users but it’s like anything: you toss the stuff out there and it’s really hard to get a specific read on exactly how it’s going over. We get occasional feed back, but that doesn’t necessarily give an accurate assessment of the big picture… then i’ll see people putting us at the top of their list, next to fuckin’ Gilles’ show or something. Thats a nice feeling.
MV: It’s definitley influencing a lot people’s listening habits.
A: Yeah, it seems like that.
MV: How do you get your guests to submit sets for Broke & Beat radio?
A: A lot of the people are people we’ve met, people we know. We don’t really take submissions from random people. It’s more like people we contact or know already. I have a list of people who’ve promised sets. It’s one of those things, like ‘the check’s in the mail.’ It’s tough to get onto the top of people’s priority list. I’m definitely on the lookout for getting more guests in there. Even when I run into people, and I touch down, it’s still difficult.
MV: Would you say it’s making an impact in the states or in Philadelphia. Do people check it out there too?
A: Most of our listeners are from the US. It fluctuates quite a bit, but there’s a lot of people coming from Japan. First the US, Japan, the UK then France. The “broken beat” thing is definitely an underdog over here though.
MV: It’s not even registering with a lot of people here.
A: Yeah. Even in New York. I short while ago i touched down with Hiro, who does a night called Royal Flush in New York and it surprised me to learn that his crew was one of the few acts in town that were focused on broken beat. I guess just because it’s the big apple i figured there would be more of a positive response to it but it doesn’t sound like that’s the case.
MV: Well, I’m here in Chicago and we have Groovedis, which is a big promoter ‘broken beat’ is here. Although, it doesn’t mean there’s a lot of people spinning it that much here.
A: It’s a different world: the nightclub world and the ‘home listening’ world are completely seperate for a lot of people. There’s this kind of fantasy PR land of names and personas that some people need in order to motivate them to show up. Jazzanova played here in Philly on a weekday and packed the place with a crowd that consisted mostly of people i had never seen before in my life… which was bizarre.
So trying to do nights that focus on lesser know genres or trying to bring lesser known artists to town is not a piece of cake. I get the impression that people think the broken beat scene in Philly must be amazing. There’s some great things happening and a huge amount of talent in this town: Ivan Ross just released a track on Skin Deep, Rob Paine of Worship throws the hot reggae party Solmonic Sound System, Alma Horton plays fairly regularly, the Black Lilly thing and Rich Medina’s night is pretty off-the-hook, and you have Vikter and King. But, as far as going out and hearing somebody drop a significant amount of broken beat: it aint’ gonna happen.
MV: It’s either hip hop or house, it seems.
A: Yeah. Rich’s nights are really good. He plays a lot of Fela (Kuti) and he’ll drop broken beat in his sets but it’s very house centered. I’m talking about his ‘Afro-Rican Vibes” night.
MV: The point is that broken beat is kind of a post-club vibe.
A: Yeah, but it doesn’t have to be and it shouldn’t be. Broken beat is so hot in a peak hour dancefloor setting and there is no reason why there shouldn’t be more of it here. I try and do as much as i can because I know it’s possible to blow the spot with it, and so few people are doing it. King Britt is one. He had a night called ‘Harmony’. The selection was dope: it was all over the place from classic acid jazz and trip hop tracks to house and the latest broken biz. We would all show up, lurk in the shadows, try to name the tracks, and he would drop the latest broken CD-R jammies for us music geeks.
MV: When was this?
A: This is the past six or seven months. But, the turnout wasn’t as big as you would expect. You would think, like ‘OK, King Britt has a weekly, of course that will blow up’. Not so. It’s a shame too because people around the globe would love to be able to go check him out on a weekly basis but for some reason the crowd wasn’t there. He’s a really tight dj — technically as well as from a taste standpoint.
MV: He represents, in so many ways, the new school of Philly soul.
A: And he’s been pushing that sound here for a long long time. Back to Basics was the jam. Anyone who was into acid jazz or into this stuff now looks back longingly on those parties, ’cause there really hasn’t been anything else quite like it. Like anything though, things kind of run their course and new crowds start to dominate and push the old out. I often wonder where all those back to basic acid jazz heads went.
MV: They stopped going out, and then the next generation just didn’t latch onto it.
A: It’s not like it’s been all downhill since then. There was a Saturday night called Grass in that same club, called ‘Silk City’ that i was lucky enough to be a part of. Grass had a three year run and it was a mix of drum’n’bass, trip-hop and assorted jazzy dancefloor stuff. That was one of the longest running parties in Philadelphia at that time.
MV: Well, let’s back up and get some background on you. You’ve been immersed in this scene for some time and how did you get turned on to it?
A: I’ve always been a big fan of music, jazz and soul mostly, but it was around ’95-96′ when I really started latching onto things like Metalheadz, UFO, Krush, Jamiroquai, Dego, 4 Hero. So, a lot of the influence came from that. Another inspiration was going to the Giant Step parties up in New York, seeing DJ Smash and Chillfreez, Groove Collective. And just really getting into that ‘live musician versus dancefloor DJ vibe’. Then it was probably around ’99, I went on a record quest with backpack to London, and that trip musically knocked me for a loop. This was right around when the Neon Phusion album had just hit the racks, and I was like ‘what the hell is this jazz stuff? It doesn’t sound like Acid Jazz.’ I just knew it sounded completely different from Acid Jazz — Uptempo techno tracks with live drum sounds. I picked up every Laws of Motion and Main Squeeze record I could find. And then I really started finding out about these guys: the I.G. (Culture) and the whole People crew. And I’ve just been on a mission since then.
MV: To expose the music?
A: Yeah, to find out more about it… see if i could turn people on to it. I can kind of understand why it didn’t blow up right away. A lot of that early Main Squeeze stuff can be hard to get your head around and really latch onto in a dance floor setting. That influences what DJs buy, the stock in stores, the amount able to be pressed and the availability which directly effects the popularity of the music. I did seem to notice a certain point that experimentation was kind of dulled down generally speaking.
MV: Did it become a formula?
A: No i wouldn’t say that, i don’t really have a negative take on it. But it seemed like there was a period of time where there was an effort to make things more dance floor accessible. It’s hard to make a blanket statement like that, but it definitely seemed to me like ‘Wow, they’ve taken these broken sensibilities and made something that people could dance to’. But the people still don’t want to dance to it! (laughter). That’s is so frustrating. This stuff is so bangin’, it’s so danceable, it’s like ‘they did you a favor, they cut out a few of the beats. What are you a fuckin’ moron?’ (laughter). But people seem to need the thumpy-thump or something they recognize, and this is every dj’s struggle — it’s just a universal dancefloor thing i guess and not really something to complain about. You have an obligation as the dj to make it happen so…
MV: So, you’re kind of on a mission here in a sense.
A: I guess the mission is more of a symptom of a passion for the music. I’ve definitely pushed this sound. We’ve done a number of things here. One was starting a series of free outdoor parties in the park in center city and west philly. We did a number of these events over the years: July 4, 2000 was our first one. It was really crowded, so many people came out and there were dogs running everywhere, frisbees, a drum circle and plenty of ice cold ones. We wanted to something of an outdoor jazz thing and it really took off.
MV: Do you go up to to New York to spin?
A: I went up not too long ago with the ‘Royal Flush’ cats. I got to play with Titonton when he played up there, which was very cool. I’m on that tweaky minimal Nu Era, techno tip right now.
MV: How do you contrast New York with Philadelphia since they’re so close.
A: In what way?
MV: Is New York more receptive?
A: Well, it’s definitely apples and oranges, because New York is so much bigger. All of the friendly peeps i met up there recently seem to have a certain amount of frustration and were itchin’ to come to Philly to see what was going on here. I didn’t notice the broken beat thing being all that different, as far as the crowd that comes out. You have a certain ratio between heads and people who don’t care that is pretty similar. The overall dynamic in Philly is different though. New York has got the borroughs happening, whereas in Philly the bulk of the nightlife is just Center City. There are lots of great little vibrant neighborhoods in areas of South and West Philly that are refreshingly different from Center City, but Center City is where the majority of the club life is. It’s tough to have a consistent venue and try to build a following anywhere else, in my experience. However a friend of ours takes over a dive bar in West Philly, brings in some self powered speakers and those parties are a blast! But unless you’re doing something in a warehouse space, or throwing a one-off renegade or something, it’s tough.
MV: And then you’re talking about a different kind of music.
A: Yeah, most of the North Philly warehouse parties are more of a rave or hip hop scene. I’ve been to some B Boy battles that have been pretty amazing. But it seems with broken beat you are stuck in the middle as a promoter: you can’t get the young raver warehouse kids out since a lot of them aren’t of age, and and older crowd may be less accepting of more experimental stuff. Our target audience always lies somewhere in the middle, so you really have to supplement it with house and variety. Its important to keep some education in your sets. Gotta give the people what they need, along with what they want.
MV: Well, with Broken Beat radio, that’s something where you don’t have to compromise?
A: That was actually the reason we started it. Stephanie 99 and I started a night called “Broke and Beat” which was a bit of a learning process. I don’t know why I didn’t see the signs sooner but you have to be a little flexible instead of trying to force your way into peoples’ heads saying, ‘Broken beat. It’s amazing. You need to get with this. We’re doing a whole night of it’. You have to present them with ‘There’s a really hot party. Everybody’s going’. and put a cool slant on it, get the right people involved, promote the hell out of it and then drop the broken beat on em’ at the end of the night. Gradually you pull people over to your side.
So, at any rate, when we started that night it was pretty slow. It was a Wednesday, and this place is just far enough from center city that you need a car or take a cab. And it rained. We had some Afro beat drummers come in and set up their drums. We did this broken-beat-slash-live-afro-beat thing a number of times, and it was hot, but it was a tough day of the week to make happen crowd-wise.
So the radio show motivation came out of the feeling ‘this sucks. I’m so over dealing with these fucking club owners, I don’t want to have to twist peoples’ arms to come out. There’s so much stuff that i’m buying every week that I want people to hear, and so what if we have 10 people listening to us on the web?’ So we just did our thing… and it turned into something a lot bigger than we imagined.
One other thing that I’m currently doing is are Mud People parties. That’s with a couple of different cats. One of the guys, Lorne, has been one of the group of us acid jazz pushers here in town and his taste is impeccible. You can hear his latest track on http://www.fromphillywithlove.com. Edwin you can catch on the radio show and his sets speak for themselves. So the Mud People plan was to give a moving party an abstract name, push the house thing a little bit but more geared toward organic and rootsy, and have no boundaries, don’t define it.
Mud People is probably the most successful thing that I’ve done to date. We started with Fauna Flash but the ownership of the club changed hands. So, we wound up setting up shop in this warehouse space that is called Media Bureau.
MV: I’ve heard of them.
A: They used to do online broadcasts and video streaming and now they do more web design. But it’s a huge warehouse, like half the block. So, they have an office area and then there’s a huge space that looks like a thrift store exploded. There’s couches everywhere and they have TV sets and a video projector and a huge soundsystem. We had a disco ball and funky lights and I made these looping video collages, since they have a video mixer where we could overlap different images. And we had our little lipstick cam on the DJ booth. It was kind of like a Ninja Tune kind of thing where we were playing with all the different video. The vibe in there was so thick and we’d go until 5AM.
MV: And this was an underground event?
A: Yes, this was all BYOB, just a house party but like a club. It’s the same place where Rope a Dope records is now. They moved above the space, so basically that whole area is for music: Rope a Dope, us doing Mudd People and then Rich Medina lives on the third floor in this amazing apartment. And then King Britt’s Five Six Media is there. We did a few parties with Rope a Dope records as well; they threw a party with the artist collective Heavyweight, with them painting live. But, the sad ending to that story is the cops showed up one night and we got raided. There were about 6 cops and a licensing inspector and they came in before the party started. They had some questions about the flyer: it said something about a ‘booming sound system’. It was all subjective, grey area bullshit but when the inspector came in and started shining his flashlight around saying, ‘if you’re charging a cover and opening it up to the public, you’re all of a sudden held to this other standard. So, they can’t do parties and charge a cover there. Since then they shot a DVD there for Charlie Hunter but it was invite only and no cover. But not any five in the morning, drunkin’, rockin’ out parties anymore. But it was really good for a while.We just moved to Fluid nightclub and it’s been a couple of months since the Media Bureau.
Argo’s Guide to Philadelphia’s Dance Music Culture
Cue Records
617 S. Fourth St.
215-413-3525 http://www.cuerecords.com
This is one place that is a must stop for all. Downstairs is one of the dopest hip-hop selections in the city. They have a used jazz and soul collection that rivals the best. Staff buyer Dj Botany 500 has impeccable taste and will dig you up that original Dom Um Romao on Muse if you buy him a cheesesteak.
Some of the other genres they carry include, Dub, Jungle, Breaks and a solid assortment of current nu-jazz. Another nice thing about Cue is their back stock. Records by Compost, Far Out, Laws of Motion, Schema, Stereo Deluxe etc that may be scarce in other places but are still here collecting dust. (I know they still have 2 copies of the Total Science remix of Vikter’s Messages)
One final note… Cue is going to be cleaning shop with a 5 year anniversary %50 off sale soon. So keep your ear to the grapevine, show up in the morning, and get ready to throw some elbows.
611 Records
611 S. 4th Street
215-413-9100 www.611records.com
Essential stop two doors down from Cue with a different vibe. They focus a bit more on house, techno, and jungle. You probably have more of a chance at finding that elusive Goya promo (and things of that nature) here, than anywhere else in the city. All the very latest deep and funky house. Plenty of four to the floor mixed in with bossa tres jazz, osunlade, guidance, afro art, theo parrish etc. Take your time in here….
About the Beat
1106 Pine St.
215-351-2328
Definitely a store to check out if you’re on a shopping spree for current dance tracks. No promises though because the shop just changed owners so go down there and steer them towards Archive and 2000 Black.
Armand Records
1102 Filbert St.
215-592-7003 or 215-592-7973
Great spot for everything from house and nu-jazz, to hip-hop and dusty reggae 45s. Joey Blanco, Paulie Paul and Kenny Meez are guaranteed to hook you up with the latest jamz. Make sure you wear earplugs for the loud booty music on the system if you want to stay any length of time though.
Sound of Market
15 S. 11th St.
215-925-3150
Great place to find domestic house, with an occasional broken piece that goes unnoticed. Really good prices on current and classic hip-hop.
Recordkingdom
813 North 5th Street http://www.recordkingdom.com
A warehouse full of soul jazz goodies… i imagine a visit being similar to being invited into the wine cellars of Chateau Mouton Rothschild. Not open to the public however you can check them out online at the above url.
Philadelphia Jazz Record Exchange
608 S. Fifth St.
215-925-7892
A Philly institution with great prices on used jazz and soul. Pharoah Sanders to Lorez Alexandria to Cymande… you know the deal.
Princeton Record Exchange
20 S tulane st, Princeton NJ
One of the largest selections of 2nd hand vinyl around. Plenty of sweet jazz and soul nuggets hiding in there. Lots of pricey rare jazz if thats your bag. They do order current Ubiquity titles and other “dance” records, but it’s not their strong piont. No listening booths…
Plastic Fantastic
26 W. lancaster ave, ardmore PA
If you have time to sort through stacks and stacks of 2nd hand vinyl you may get lucky. My search for the 1st Dream Warriors LP ended here.
Full length documentary about MEL CHEREN and WEST-END RECORDS feat. bits & pieces by Danny Krivit, Louie Vega, Nicky Siano, Joey Llanos, Kevin Hedge, Barbara Tucker, Joi Caldwell, Tony Humphries, Johnny Dynell, Louis Benedetti and some of the greatest West-End Records Releases
“Got the Hunger?”
Buy at 
John Tripp Creative 