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INTERVIEW

DD: I really enjoy these strange, stretched out moods you create. How would  you describe your music?

Not sure really how to describe it. Several people have mentioned that it has enhanced their drug experiences. I strive to incorporate the dreaminess of shoegaze, creative use of samples like Disco Inferno / Laika / Moonshake, quirky song structure of Polvo backed with old school and modern beats. So far it’s been hit and miss, but perhaps in time everything might come together a bit better. Every finished track is on soundcloud regardless of the outcome.

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DD:You’re from Everett, Wa – nice to find a local! What artists from around here are you into? How about in other parts on the world?

All of these can be found on souncloud:

thunderclap headache from Seattle is brilliant and has great diversity, if you aren’t really feeling one there are probably 10 others you will

Fearcut from Olympia has an interesting sound

A Gap Between out of Portland is ridiculously smooth

Gloam down in Vancouver always has something unique going on

Crazy Old Bat puts out lots of extra creepy bass-heavy tracks.

Probably no need to mention how great Hudson Mohawke, Rustie, etc… are so I’ll stick with lesser knowns from soundcloud. Following 400+ artists/labels/blogs and every one of them are talented and wonderful in their own way! Some faves off the top of my head:

Young Montana? / Stephen Farris / Daylight Rain / Ohsaurus – all of Grappa Frisbee / S. Maharba / Lockbox / Al_pd / brokenchord / Say My Name / Sly Vintage / Impossible Nothing / Drugg / Old Arc / oa koak

DD: What got you interested in producing?

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A lifelong obsession with music and a gnawing feeling in the stomach that had to be dealt with. I’ve always had the interest but failed using just a drum machine, or picking up an actual instrument. Huge amount of respect for those who can pull it off live, but my interests lie solely in putting sounds together on the laptop from scratch without sampling another artists work. Of course there is nothing wrong with sampling the work of others, just made a decision not to go down that path and keep focused on trying to create new sounds.

DD: What plans do you have as an artist for 2011?

An ep is about half finished for a net label. If they are satisfied with the results it should be out in a few months hopefully. Spending lots of time building up a library of random noise samples. Might end up using all sampled sounds for awhile. There are so many people on soundcloud that have the Brainfeeder / 8 bit / blunted hip hop beats mastered that I will just enjoy what they are doing and not duplicate it. Since 2010 was my first year producing wanted to keep it real simple. 2011 should involve more learning and watching more youtube production videos. Really need to get the beat skills improved.

DD: What’s the best show you’ve seen in your life so far?

My Bloody Valentine 4.28.2009 at the WAMU theatre. My all time favorite band by far. Dream come true to finally see them live, and of course the sound level was overwhelming which added to the enjoyment.

Best overall artistic performance would be the Faust show I was fortunate enough to attend. Anytime a member of the band ends up buck naked wielding a chainsaw by the end of the show you know it’s been a good one.

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A very close honorable mention for artistic performance would be any number of Caroliner Rainbow shows.

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DD: Last words? 

I really love this blog. To find someone that was writing about the people I follow and listen to every day was really cool. Here’s to much success for Disco Droppings in the future! We are all so fortunate to be able to create and then instantly share with others. The beat scene has been a wonderful breath of fresh air the past few years because besides grime, hip-hop had pretty much died for me long ago.

A huge thank you to my wife who has always supported me and is for the most part pretty patient when it’s only going to be “20 minutes” to finish some part of a song. Thanks to all who listen and create!

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More songs from Gronxkey 

– jimijaxon 

getting into the odd brains of duo Hype Williams. First heard them on the Benji B show for Radio1, live set put me in a trance and I passed out. Now i’m listening their “One Nation” album and this FACT mix (perfect for what I’m feeling). Now signed to Hyperdub Records

http://www.mixcloud.com/FACTMixArchive/fact-mix-216-hype-williams/

You gotta accept that things change, and sometimes you feel the empty space of what’s not there so brightly anymore. The music is always constant.

– jimijaxon

Taking you to another place, Midwess style. dude’s very kind to share these songs for free, enjoy and get to know the man below..

INTERVIEW 

DD: I’m listening to Phases V 4.0..at about :20 it really hits! Very smooth, whatchadoin right now? 

M: Thanks dude, I put a lot of time and thought into my tunes, glad you like it. Right now I’m relaxing after work and catching up on some music-related goodness. It feels really good to finally release Phase V 4.0. I had been working on that track on and off for a few months, owing mostly to demanding work/life schedule, and I’m really happy with how it turned out. Things are exciting right now musically on all fronts.

DD: How do you feel about yourself artistically compared to say, a year ago? 

M: I feel confident, I feel happy. I feel like my sound has matured and arrived somewhere original and downright pleasing — art for art’s sake. The big difference has been abandoning genres and pre-conceived notions and just making stuff that I think sounds tight. A big part of that was feeling comfortable actually letting go. A year ago I was bedroom-producing drum n bass, jungle, dubstep and trip-hop under a different name and that was sort of my main gig. I originally started The Midwess as a side project to make badass artsy beats for a local Cleveland MC. Looking back, you can hear that intent reflected in the sturctures of some of those earlier songs. The idea of an MC collab never fully flushed out for one reason or another, and The Midwess became my solo baby where I could mashup and free form all these beats and ideas I had floating around. My style of production tends to be extraordinarily time-consuming and meticulous, so all these ideas eventually got processed and re-processed until they started to form songs. Not just beats, but songs, and surprisingly to me, songs that started to ‘gel’ and coalesce into a sound I really liked. They didn’t really fit into any specific genre, but I knew they sounded good so I released them. Been happy ever since!

DD: SOOOOOO. What do you think of Adventure Time?

M: Um…is that a TV show? I don’t watch a lot of TV, but I know an animator for the Regular Show on Cartoon Network. He’s a pretty cool guy and has a sandwich blog (http://mysandwichchronicles.blogspot.com/) where he extensively reviews sandwiches. It’s awesome.

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DD: Haha sandwich blog! That’s sweet. Who are some artists you’re really loving right now? 

M: Been diggin the new sounds from Mount Kimbie and James Blake a lot a lot. Also been jamming to some old school 1930’s-60’s jazz/swing/doo-wop stuff. We have a great radio station here in Cleveland where 70+ year old DJ’s spin the old goodness 24/7 commercial free. That era was such a high point in musical production and quality and it really makes for some great and unintentionally wonky cruisin’ music, highly recommended.

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Overall though I love my soundcloud crew. There are some really fantastic and talented artists on there, and it’s all ground-breaking all the time. Far too many to name but Repeat Pattern, Akryte, Bugseed, Handbook, MuSs℃k, Dungeons and DJ’s, yahnLOOKEpicard, AL_PD, The Get, Monotrenaut and Chocolate Girl are a few of my favs.

Far to many to mention dude….farrrr to many! Some of these peeps I’ve known and produced alongside with for years, they feel like extended family.

DD: It is a very special thing. If you could put together a dream lineup of artists to collaborate with, who would they be? 

M: Me and Will Smith. Just the two of us.

Anything beyond that is purely speculative but would probably involve Time Exile on sound design, Deru on ambience, Flylo on live drums, vintage Oizo on synths, Madlib with a bunch of dusty jazz samples and myself drinking scotch.

Really though I’m ecstatic to collab with anyone I fancy. I recently got a remix offer from an underground idol of mine, and I’m super excited to work on it. Keep your ears posted.

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DD: mmm you have fine fine taste. What impact would you like to leave with your work as an artist?

M: Music is such an awesome thing and its given so much joy to me over the years.  I want to give back.  I want to push genres and make people think.  I want to rock your socks off.  You know those rare and select songs you can listen to over and over again and still get floored by?  I want to make those for people to listen to and genuinely enjoy.  Its as simple as that.

DD: Any final words? It’s been very nice chatting with you, keep me up to date on your new productions and I’ll have you back on Disco Droppings soon! 

M: Thanks for the opportunity bud, its been a real pleasure.  The underground music scene is phenomenally exciting right now, hosting music and talking about it is where its at!  I think more than ever we’re getting back to what music really is: the art of thinking and emoting with sound.  I mean that both from the technological perspective of sound design and the insane amount of accessibility and freedom to share it with anyone instantly.  You can wake up with an idea, produce a fresh genre-bending song, upload it and get feedback from other artists and listeners that day.  And that is effing awesome!  The level of development and sheer speed of musical evolution and has never been this exciting, ever.

Think about past and current pop music… any genre, doesn’t matter.  By the time that song gets to your ears, its probably been written year(s) ago, produced, approved, released, and finally promoted by someone enough who thought “I can make a buck off this” for you to ever hear it in the first place.  Thats not exciting. Thats not free and genuine ass kicking art, and its certainly not music to make you think.  I remember years ago I used to drive an hour to a tiny record store on the east side just to get my teenage mitts on underground hardcore/death metal because it was the only place that had a solid selection of music.  I was so drawn to that sound because it was such a free and genuine artistic expression that kicked my ass and made me think.  That kind of feeling was hard to come by.  That level of excitement ya know?

Things are so radically different these days, and it’s really pushing the art form in a great direction. What you hear in the underground is pure thought and expression, music for music’s sake and its always exciting because its changing and growing every day. This is where it’s happening, this is where it all begins: the current and future sounds of the underground. Don’t be afraid.

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Stay fresh!

http://soundcloud.com/the-midwess

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Midwess/215279475153134

– jimijaxon