• DJ Spooky on Role of the DJ in Times of WAR
• Lyrics of the Week: Braintax
• "WAR" Reports
• "War" Poem + WAR TOP TEN Chart
• Stevie K Sells Studio Equipment: Prices/Details
• QBert Mural in Ireland Tagged
• Bay Area DJ Profile #014: Goldenchyld
• SHOP News: 11/5, Turntables By The Bay vol. 3 Vinyl and Skratch Comando CD

DJ's Control Medium & the Message According to DJ SPOOKY

Billy Jam: Can you briefly tell us your history?
DJ Spooky: Well DJ Spooky is all about live-time, real cultural transformation. Hip hop with no rules, no boundaries, no knucklehead bling-bling stuff. And I always try and search out for music, those styles that just say a different situation as possible. So some of it’s hip hop, some of it’s electronic—it’s all music. You know, my whole thing is about—let’s put it this way, it’s below-14th Street hip hop. In New York. Downtown, underground, overground.

Billy Jam: What do you consider yourself: A DJ, producer, activist...?
DJ Spooky: I’m an artist. You know, at the end of the day, you know, I’m a writer, a musician, and an artist. Somehow, just using the turntables, using the computers, all that stuff is just how, you know, 21st-century aesthetics is just kickin’ it. But, you know, there’s so many ways that you can just look at that screen when you’re online, when you’re dealing with your writing, with your art, whatever, and just make it flow in any direction. I just take it and I run with it .

Billy Jam: If you were living in another time what would you be doing do you think?
DJ Spooky: I’d probably be like a satellite engineer or something like that.

Billy Jam: So you were in town for this Digital Independence Conference.
DJ Spooky: Yeah. I gave a talk, I took old spoken word stuff with Marshall McLuhan who’s one of my favorite theorists on all this stuff. And just flipped it in a way that…He was talking about the idea of living in a global village, in the mix. And to me DJing is the universal language. I go to Japan, I go to Brazil, I go to India, I go wherever, and everybody sees the same record but flip it. I’ve been listening to a lot more Indian music right now. But to make a long story short, the Digital Independence Conference was just different producers and artists who were outside of the mainstream but still have an impact. So they asked me to give them a keynote speech so I took Marshall McLuhan and remixed it. For my speech................ ........ ..... .................The medium is the message, you know what I’m saying? Just, you know, flip it. That’s why I did a mix with Bush and stuff a while ago. We sort of live in this culture where we gotta have some kind of what they call a public discourse, right? To be a DJ, it’s the new CNN because that stuff’s definitely ain’t going out on FOX or Clear Channel or anything else. So you gotta get the message out in different ways. Somebody used to say “Hip hop was the CNN of black music.” The DJ is seriously the internet of youth culture.

Billy Jam: So what was the reaction from folks at the Digital Conference?
DJ Spooky: People were really into it. The major issue is as speech is being converted I want to always make sure to expand my parameters, update the formula and kind of reach new people. If I’m already preaching to the converted, you know, that’s not where I want to go. I want to really take it outside the box, so to speak. The lefts and the people who are progressives in our culture right now, especially with this year of elections, we need to kind of think outside the box. And if anything the Republicans have been so good with the media, we need to either create our own media or take over theirs, you know?

Billy Jam: So how do you infiltrate the Republicans?
DJ Spooky: I went to the Republican Nomination Convention in 2000. That was wild. They had a shadow convention and I gave a speech at that. And I also had a DJ mix. You know, John McCain came out, Jesse Jackson, a couple of other people. And it was sponsored by Arianna Huffington who I believe just ran for your governor. You guys have Schwarzenegger, it’s straight out of a movie, right? So it’s all a movie. I look at that and the idea that once you get in that way I gotta flip the script, rewrite the script. Edit out different characters. Bring in new voices.
....…Take over the media and remix it, you know.

Billy Jam: What do you think of the music industry’s reaction to filesharing?
DJ Spooky: Well a lot of the record industry’s based on a really old business model. Where they still think some consumer’s going to spend $18.99 to buy an album where they’ll only like one song. I’m really a fan of iTunes, Kazaa, Mindwire, all that kind of stuff where it’s people getting into a specific track or a specific thing they’re into and you can still lose the knuckleheads who still buy the $18.99 CD. By the end of the day it’s all about one track, maybe two tracks of an album. And the rest you can just leave.

Billy Jam: Consumers are just getting back at the record industries that have been screwing them over for years.
DJ Spooky: Yeah. I’m with that.

Billy Jam: So has the war in Iraq been a kick in the ass for artists like yourself?
DJ Spooky: Well, obviously we really, truly hope that the American occupation of Iraq as a warning sign that America our gift to the rest of the planet is the true acceptance of multiculturalism in a real way. And I think if you look at Iraq—a lot Americans, the problem is people don’t travel. They don’t get a chance to get another perspective. And everybody goes, “Oh, why does everyone hate us? Why are the mad at us?” I think Iraq’s going to be a real eye-opener as it slowly turns into a Muslim Vietnam. It’s just going to be a very ugly situation and with no exit point.

Billy Jam: Who are these people that are supporting Republican power?
DJ Spooky: Corporations and big money. They’re a small minority but they own a lot of the resources and they own a lot of the politicians.

Billy Jam: Do you think the ordinary person is just led to support Bush?
DJ Spooky: What about democracy? How do we respond to the idea of democracy right now? I’m much more intrigued with the idea of trying to resuscitate what used to be called democracy. As now, shareware culture.

DJ Spooky has a lot of new projects in the works... including his His first book - Rhythm Science - and his first film - a remix of a D.W. Griffiths film, Birth of a Nation. ...which will (as well as its regular release) be available on the Internet as a "remixable film". For more on these and lots more stuff including downloadable MP3's and lots of very interesting stuff check his cool site: djspooky.com

Lyrics of the Week: Braintax

Your're like a pork-chop salesman at the Muslim shop
I'm like a hippie in a drought with a brand new crop

Braintax off title track from 2001 album Biro Funk (Low Life), which has been getting tons of play at Hip Hop Slam lately.

DJ's of MASS DESTRUCTION CELEBRATE SUCCESS OF WAR CD

DJs Of Mass Destruction (producers of the Hip Hop Slam compilation WAR (if it feels good, do it)) performed at the BANDS AGAINST BUSH!! benefit at the Ashkenaz in Berkeley on Feb. 13th to a packed house that included Lil Larry, Sean Penn, and Dennis Kucinich (all united in their opposition to Dubya). For that performance the DJs of Mass Destruction ever-changing lineup included DJ Pone (aka The Embedded DJ), 4AM, Angela "LadyBug" Louie (read her WAR poem on WAR page) and members of Cat Five. A few days later the DJs of Mass Destruction (including members DJ Pone, 4AM, DJ Killabush and Munkifunk) performed live on KZSU Stanford during DJ Stirling's and Crisco Jones' shows with studio/photo assistance from KZSU DJ The Dead Kenny G's to celebrate the fact that the WAR album had reached the top of the station's Top 30 chart that week. To check out what anti-WAR records the DJs OMD and other Hip Hop Slam DJs have been spinning lately go to the WAR page.

The WAR album has been getting airplay at numerous other stations including WSOU in New Jersey, KZUU in Montana, KPFA in Berkeley, KTUH in Hawaii, and on WFMU New Jersey where it also climbed to number one on the station's Top 30 chart. This is what WFMU Program director Brian Turner wrote about "WAR": "If you compare 1969 to 2004, the voice of reason in music amidst the fucked-uppery of America in the talons of the Powers That Be seems a bit underwhelming these days to say the least. Artists are a bit more interested in protecting their own copyrights and making sure they are on Durst's cell-phonebook list so they don't miss out of Hef's next shindig. Thankfully, Hip Hop Slam and Billy Jam see the virtual bomb of free expression and sampladelic Altamont that will bring an end to all the musical nonsense and bring early retirement to all the deserving yobs. And as if that's not enough, they take the torch from Steinski whose audio hijinx with Bush Number One was an inspiration to us all, and run like hell with the new WAR (if it feels good, do it) comp. WFMU radio thrives on mess-media antics such as this, and considers it true genius and poetry. You should too." - Brian Turner

OLD SCHOOL BAY AREA RAP CLASSIC ADDED TO SHOP

Old school Yay Area rap classic 11/5's CD Fiendin 4 Tha Funk, which was first released back in 1995 on DogDay Records, has just been added to our online SHOP this week. Also added are Turntables By The Bay vol. 3 LP/vinyl (Various Artists) and the CD full-length Incredible DJs by Spain's top turntablists Skratch Comando on BOMB Hip Hop.

DJ Drank's Greatest Malt Liquor Hits (the critically acclaimed CD collection of the hip hop historic and controversial St. Ides radio commercials done by top name rappers of the day - early nineties), which is hard to find, is still available at a few select spots including here. The CD has gotten a ton of amazing reviews including this one from the Village Voice: villagevoice.com/issues/0315

HIP HOP SLAM's STEVIE K IS SELLING STUDIO EQUIPMENT

Stevie K, who has mastered virtually all of the the Hip Hop Slam releases among countless other projects, is selling a good deal of his production equipment that is being listed here first. If you see anything of interest to you Email him at rocketmixer@yahoo.com.

SMOKE-FREE STUDIO EQUIPMENT FOR SALE! EVERYTHING IN MINT CONDITION!

Mackie 24.8 Studio Console with Meter Bridge — $1,750
Ensoniq ASR-10 with SCSI, fully expanded memory, 8-output audio expander, and Zip Drive — $1,100
Joe Meek VC1 Studio Channel Mic Preamp — $475
Roland SC 880 (Sound Canvas) — $350
Roland R 70 (Rhythm Composer) — $350
Alesis S4 (Piano Module) — $250
DBX 266 Compressor / Gate — $80
DBX 266XL Compressor / Gate — $125
Lexicon Vortex (Digital Morphing Effects) — $125
Digitech TSR 12 (Multi-effects) — $150
Digitech TSR 6 (Multi-effects) — $75
Digitech RDS 800 (Digital Delay) — $100
ART Multiverb LT (Reverb) — $50
BBE 362 Sonic Maximizer — $75
AP Re’an 48 Patchbay (2 available) — $50 each

BAY AREA DJ PROFILE #014: Goldenchyld

DJ Name: Goldenchyld

Hometown: San Jose, California… currently living in Oakland.

Trademark saying or philosophy toward your music/life? I don't really have a trademark saying but I do have a philosophy of sorts. If you take a look at someone who you believe to be successful (whatever you believe that word to mean) you should then look at yourself and see that you have two arms, two legs, and a brain just like that person. There's no reason why you can't be every bit as successful as the next man or woman in your own way. Never doubt yourself.

Groups that you have been a member of: Fingerbangerz, the Unit, NC Collective.

How would describe the music you spin? Hip hop, Experimental, Breaks, Soul.

Discography (including albums, mixtapes, and tracks/contributions to compilations and other artists' releases): Double Jointed, Deep Concentration 3, Shiggar Fraggar 2000, Turntables by the Bay series (Schizophrenic DJ), Cuts on Metamorphasis (by Fuse One), Return of the DJ 5, REMIX The Dyna Wheels Project, NC Clothing's Hip Hop Heads Vol. 5, Scratch Attack Vol. 1 Used Soul, Ear Infections (coming soon) , and the new Finger Bangerz album VI-R-US. There might be some that I am missing but thats all I can think of for now.

DJ battle history (solo & team): DMC 2001 SF Champion, ITF 2000 Western Hemisphere Team Champs, Allies All Star Beatdown Competitor, Various Zebra Records Dj Battles, and a bunch of other local bay area battles.

The first record you ever bought? Sir Mix-A-Lot - My Posse's on Broadway.

Most influential record in your life? Blackbyrds - Action.

When did you first DJ? Probably at the age of 11 or 12.

What made you want to be a DJ? Just being exposed to it early on. One of my best friend's older brother used to cut it up all the time at his crib so I just used to watch and learn from what he did. So after that I used to watch other dj's from around the way like dj Rhythm, and dj Ruthless. Those guys were running shit where I was from when I was getting into it.

What is your most memorable performance of your DJ career? I'd have to say DMC San Francisco 2001. It was pretty crazy. It was like one of the last shows at Maritime Hall which was one of my favorite venues, and I swear I couldn't see anyone or hear anything but the music, and it was the only time that I really felt like I was in my own little zone. Plus it was nice to win it at home.
How do you transport your records and/or gear to gigs? In record cases, and or record bags.

Do you play CDs ever at gigs? Nope.

In your opinion who is the best DJ of all time? Man....seriously I don't think there is just one. But let's put it this way...If you take the party rocking ability of Z-Trip, mix that with the cleanliness of J-Rocc, and the skills of Shortkut, with D-Styles' cuts, and the creativity of Cut Chemist, and threw in some of Kool Herc's, and 45 King's record collection, you'd have yourself the best dj of all time in my eyes.....

Best website or way to find out more about you? www.fingerbangerz.com We just relaunched it by the way so check it out.

Shout outs: To my crew the Fingerbangerz, Hip Hop Slam, NC Collective, Zebra Sound, and the whole damn YAY! Also don't forget to pick up the new Fingerbangerz album entitled VI.R.US! PEACE!

QBERT MURAL IN IRELAND "STROKED"

Tall Paul Lowe reports from the Dublin that the Insomniacs Tour 2004 which recently landed in the Irish capital, may possibly have been the best gig of the year. "It is going to be a very hard gig to top," said the Hip Hop Slam Ireland representative of the gig that Declan Ford & Wide O Productions organized. "Check the mural of QBert done by Irish artist Cool C.....Unfortunately some mother fucker stroked it and the bouncers never seen anything," reports a justifyably angry Paul, who also took the photo of the tarnished QBert mural in the Irish capital.

SKEPTIC DRUID, HIP HOP SLAM's GREEK CORRESPONDENT, REPORTS ON "NOISY STYLUS"

Just a couple of weeks before Christmas, me and my crew, Phase 3, organized a turntablism event which was really fresh for the whole scene here in Greece because we had the Noisy Stylus crew from Germany performing live. The 4-dj team is one of the most well-known turntablism crews in Europe. They are 2x world DMC team finalists and they have so far released plenty of breaks and 12'' records. So we booked them -with a more friendly way than a management staff- 'cause we had an on-line connection about one year before.The event took place in a concert club in Athens where we moved many turntables, samplers and mixing desks by our own just to be sure for the sound and for any unexpected situation (you know, shit happens sometimes!!). After a successful sound check,the people started comin' in the club but unfortunately we expected a bigger audience amount because it was the first time that a so well-known turntablism crew visits our country. But anyway we were very happy cause the whole thing was so warm and friendly and Noisy Stylus have so much will to rock the turntables this day. They performed about one hour and their show contained excerpts from their 2 routines that gave them the German DMC team champs title for 2 years continuous. After that they started freestyle scratchin' over some beats of Tobeyer's recently released break record Pizza Breaks. Greek djs and members of my crew (containin' myself hehe!) take over the scene after that and started scratchin' along with the Noisy Stylus for about one hour, too. During this freestyle scratch jam, some b-boys and b-girls rocked the party their own way and style and everyone seemed to have a good time in there. That really was a happy end of the year 2003 here in Greece! Happy new year you hip-hop junkies!! Peace, Skeptic Druid

Contact the reporter in Greece — skepticdruid@hotmail.com