DJ Shadow: Strength, Issue 10
(taken from bay area, part deux)
Years before becoming popular in his native United States, the Solesides’ most visible member DJ Shadow was a household name in the UK thanks to his release on Mo’ Wax and was even credited with creating the then burgeoning "trip-hop" movement. His 1996 landmark album Endtroducing… was a critics’ and fans’ fave alike on both sides of the Atlantic for its lush cinematic vibe and innovative use of samples. Just back from a tour of Europe with Radiohead, Shadow chops it up:
How was it touring with Radiohead?
It was different ‘cause I did mostly arenas and also ‘cause people are a lot more familiar with the material out there ‘cause it’s done (sold) about three times better. I went gold out there, so I can be a little more creative than when I was on the Jeru tour here in the States, which was a more hip-hop tour.
Now you’ve been called hip-hop and trip-hop and a few other things, but do you label your music?
No, not anymore because more and more, especially after "High Noon" and the stuff I’ve been doing recently, I just don’t feel like it’s hip-hop or trip-hop.
Now you originally started out on the reel to reel, cutting and splicing. Is your music today a direct continuation of that style?
Yeah definitely.
What keeps you going or inspired?
I love music, so the best thing that can happen to me, inspiration wise, is hearing another good record. I love old music and I particularly love funk as a genre, but I don’t really sample it that much and I don’t really have any interest in sounding retro. It’s the same with hip-hop. I don’t want to go make an ’85 era electro West Coast record just because that’s what people are feeling at the moment. You know what I mean?
Yeah, but doesn’t it all depend on how you use your samples? Like Beck is totally retro, but he sounds current.
Yeah, but he chooses his references very carefully and he’s never so specific. Like he never throws all his weight behind just one thing like the Cold Crush thing. You didn’t see him coming out wearing an old sweat suit or anything. He mixes that while he’s wearing a country and western shirt and a narrow jacket or something, some ill combination.
I’ve heard you’re selective about doing remixes. Have you done many remixes over the years?
The only ones I’ve done remixes for, besides the old Hollywood Basic label ones, would be Depeche Mode. When I was growing up, I used to listen to a lot of things that involved sampling and other things that involved a high degree of technology; things like Depeche Mode and Art of Noise, a lot of Trevor Horn produced stuff and a lot of synth stuff ‘cause I would hear a lot of the same synth sounds in an Egyptian Lover record that I was hearing in a Depeche Mode record.
Do you think that hip-hop today has become somewhat segregated or subdivided into little camps?
Yeah, like on the North American tour I noticed that every night there was a completely different crowd. There was always a contingent there only to see Jeru and there was always a contingent there only to see my shit.
Do you think that hip-hop has changed?
I feel that at a certain point once it all became about the money or the hustle or getting over or rather pimping the music by any means necessary to get over, it changed.
What do you think of today’s popular rap?
I’m old enough to remember what everyone I borrowing from now and it just doesn’t have the same spark to me. All the mainstream stuff today, I just can’t tolerate it.
What are you working on these days?
Besides the Solesides group project, the main thing that’s occupying my time is the UNKLE record which is James Lavelle’s (head of Britain’s Mo’ Wax Records) group and it’s a chance for me to work with vocalists.
Do you like to skate or snowboard?
I’m pathetically inept at both.
So what do you like to do in your spare time when you’re not making music?
When I’m not doing music, I’m just buying records. That's what I love.
(taken from bay area, part deux)
Years before becoming popular in his native United States, the Solesides’ most visible member DJ Shadow was a household name in the UK thanks to his release on Mo’ Wax and was even credited with creating the then burgeoning "trip-hop" movement. His 1996 landmark album Endtroducing… was a critics’ and fans’ fave alike on both sides of the Atlantic for its lush cinematic vibe and innovative use of samples. Just back from a tour of Europe with Radiohead, Shadow chops it up:
How was it touring with Radiohead?
It was different ‘cause I did mostly arenas and also ‘cause people are a lot more familiar with the material out there ‘cause it’s done (sold) about three times better. I went gold out there, so I can be a little more creative than when I was on the Jeru tour here in the States, which was a more hip-hop tour.
Now you’ve been called hip-hop and trip-hop and a few other things, but do you label your music?
No, not anymore because more and more, especially after "High Noon" and the stuff I’ve been doing recently, I just don’t feel like it’s hip-hop or trip-hop.
Now you originally started out on the reel to reel, cutting and splicing. Is your music today a direct continuation of that style?
Yeah definitely.
What keeps you going or inspired?
I love music, so the best thing that can happen to me, inspiration wise, is hearing another good record. I love old music and I particularly love funk as a genre, but I don’t really sample it that much and I don’t really have any interest in sounding retro. It’s the same with hip-hop. I don’t want to go make an ’85 era electro West Coast record just because that’s what people are feeling at the moment. You know what I mean?
Yeah, but doesn’t it all depend on how you use your samples? Like Beck is totally retro, but he sounds current.
Yeah, but he chooses his references very carefully and he’s never so specific. Like he never throws all his weight behind just one thing like the Cold Crush thing. You didn’t see him coming out wearing an old sweat suit or anything. He mixes that while he’s wearing a country and western shirt and a narrow jacket or something, some ill combination.
I’ve heard you’re selective about doing remixes. Have you done many remixes over the years?
The only ones I’ve done remixes for, besides the old Hollywood Basic label ones, would be Depeche Mode. When I was growing up, I used to listen to a lot of things that involved sampling and other things that involved a high degree of technology; things like Depeche Mode and Art of Noise, a lot of Trevor Horn produced stuff and a lot of synth stuff ‘cause I would hear a lot of the same synth sounds in an Egyptian Lover record that I was hearing in a Depeche Mode record.
Do you think that hip-hop today has become somewhat segregated or subdivided into little camps?
Yeah, like on the North American tour I noticed that every night there was a completely different crowd. There was always a contingent there only to see Jeru and there was always a contingent there only to see my shit.
Do you think that hip-hop has changed?
I feel that at a certain point once it all became about the money or the hustle or getting over or rather pimping the music by any means necessary to get over, it changed.
What do you think of today’s popular rap?
I’m old enough to remember what everyone I borrowing from now and it just doesn’t have the same spark to me. All the mainstream stuff today, I just can’t tolerate it.
What are you working on these days?
Besides the Solesides group project, the main thing that’s occupying my time is the UNKLE record which is James Lavelle’s (head of Britain’s Mo’ Wax Records) group and it’s a chance for me to work with vocalists.
Do you like to skate or snowboard?
I’m pathetically inept at both.
So what do you like to do in your spare time when you’re not making music?
When I’m not doing music, I’m just buying records. That's what I love.