A Thing Or Two With Reanimator

2004’s Music To Slit Writs By showed a capable producer with nice sample selections, sequencing know-how, and great overall song construction. Music To Slit Wrists By held up easily against other ballyhooed beat-tapes of ’04, but somehow went unheard by many. The production didn’t test or demand your patience, which is respectful for even the most accomplished of producers. Four years later, and with a new project, The Ugly Truth, having been out for a few months, WTTM spoke to Reanimator about a thing or two on beatmaking, his history, and current well-kept career.

Give our readers some background on Music To Slit Wrists By. How long did it take to complete? What are you most proud of regarding that record?

Music To Slit Wrists By is a record that I originally released in 2002. I had about 2 years worth of songs that, over the course of a year, I pieced together to create this 80-minute mix of music. The thing that I'm probably most proud of is the fact that people enjoy it. I get comments from people who aren't necessarily into hip-hop say how much they enjoy listening to it, which is nice.

What do you think when you listen to it now?

When I listen to it know, I'm surprised by how much effort I put into the small details, like the effects, timing, and overall mix. Now that I'm working on more songs with lyricists, I often times don't spend as much time on the small details because I know that there are going to be vocals over the top to serve as a focal point in the music. With an instrumental record, it has to stand on it's own, so the small nuances really matter. My main focus was not letting certain repetitive phrases go on too long without changes - which has always been my complaint with a lot of instrumental albums. You can get away with that more so when working with vocals, but my vision for this particular album was to have it constantly be changing.

Will you ever press it on vinyl?

I've toyed with the idea. It's doubtful at this time, unless a demand grew for it. This album, since it's original 2002 release (which consisted of me having 100 copies with me that I would give away, some of which are still sitting on shelves in my basement) has had a few intermittent marketing pushes from various sources. Probably the most successful one is the current push that Sage has been giving it since people recognize some of my work with Sage and my new album with Prolyphic. I would almost prefer to put out 45s with standalone versions of certain songs.

What equipment do you normally use?

These days, the bulk of the work is done on the PC - like the chopping and piecing together of samples - I normally use Sound Forge and Acid. I used to use an Ensoniq ASR-10, but it became too limiting, too quick. I don't use any MIDI devices (I never really liked trying to configure that stuff) - but, I use a Fender Rhodes Electric Piano, a Wurlitzer EP-200a Electric Piano, and a Korg MS-10 Synthesizer. The sound of older equipment blends well with sample based music and the nice thing about the Rhodes and Wurlitzer is that they have such a nice sound on their own that I don't have to even play it that well for it to sound good. Sometimes I'll just hit one chord and it will warm up a song.

How long does it normally take for you to make a beat?
That varies heavily. The problem with sample-based music is that your songs are only as good as the records you come up on. If I haven't come up on any good records, then I'm not making any good songs, so there can be some droughts. Luckily right now, I'm in a decent state because I bought a collection of records off of someone a few years ago and I still haven't gone through all of the records, so I have a bomb shelter of possible material. This is what a lot of the Prolyphic & Reanimator, The Ugly Truth, came out of. Also, another issue is that there is a certain amount of trial and error when piecing together samples. Like, I can have a good song going that has 1 nice sample, but it could be years before I come up with a nice complementary sample to put with it. I don't like to do songs that just have a single sample looping for 4-minutes and some seconds, so the process can take a while. A lot of it is also luck that you even try to match a couple samples that go together well, but I'm sure that there are similar cases with all types of music composition.

What's the process like? Do you start with the drums, or a main sample, or loop or what?

I usually start with some main samples, like a catchy loop for instance, and just put any random break with it to get a groove going. Then I figure out what key the music is in and start thinking about what I can transition in/out of it and what sounds I'm "hearing" - like if I think that a trumpet would sound good over it. For stuff like one-shot samples like stabs and stuff, they can always be re-pitched pretty easily to add some flavor. Then I start auditioning pieces over it and chop up other samples to create counter-melodies.

How did your collaborations with Sage Francis and his record label begin?

I met Sage in 2001 I believe. He played a show in Milwaukee with Slug, DJ Abilities, and Sixtoo that my friend was promoting. I recorded the show and saw Sage the next day with Sixtoo and went to a record sale. I gave him and Sixtoo a copy of the show, so that's when we initially met. Then, when he was starting work on A Healthy Distrust, I had showed him an idea and he liked it. The working back and forth worked out well too. I would give him a rough song idea, he would record some rough vocals over it and send me the acapella and then we would develop the song, e-mailing it back and forth with ideas and comments. Then, he introduced me to Prolyphic via a couple acapellas that he wanted me to play around with and that was the beginning of The Ugly Truth.

Who are some of your all time favorite producers?

In no particular order...Marley Marl - I cringe at some of his scratching, but the production was always great. Bomb Squad - The true masters of piecing together lots of samples in an innovative way. Dr. Dre - Some people are surprised that I cite Dre as an influence, but his studio mixing skills and attention to getting timing right always seemed a step ahead of everyone else.

As a producer, what subtleties do you listen for when you hear a beat?

I don't necessarily listen for it, but I get annoyed when a sample isn't sync'd up well with a drum machine. I always listen for new/clever ways of transitioning in and out of samples. I listen closely for how people are mixing there instrumentals down. Sometimes when layering samples, the sound can get really dense, so I always appreciate when someone can create good separation and depth with their mixes - RJD2 has always impressed me with his mixing with how he can go between a big full sound and a breakdown without feeling like the song's main sample just fell out of the mix.

What do you want people to get out of your new project with Prolyphic?

I just want people to appreciate the combination of good lyrics andgood music. We tried a few things that are atypical of hip-hop records, like long outros, a song in 3/4 time, etc. to try to create something interesting that most listeners might not have been exposed to before.

What's next for you as a producer?

I've been showing some beats to Sage lately - I've been on some weird synthesizer thing recently with a lot of those. I was hoping to create another instrumental record, but I'm not sure what I want to do with that yet. I've been trying some live performance concepts in my basement that my dogs seem to enjoy, but I'm not sure that it's ready for a real audience yet.

**Here's a taste from Reanimator's Music To Slit Wrists By, "Socially Positive (Reprise)", an extended track full of signature change-ups and solid sequencing.

***To purchase Reanimator's latest project, The Ugly Truth, on Strange Famous Records, please visit this link: http://www.strangefamousrecords.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6&products_id=301

Khan Is King

King Khan isn’t a genius but he thinks he's one, which is why his show is bananas. Purple underwear, great musicians, boobs (twice!), and Jello Biafra typified his stop at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall on July 11th, ‘08.

The crowd was rambunctious, adding to the spectacle of Khan’s live show. In addition to an active horn section, and a workhorse of a drummer, the overall musicianship was solid. Garage-sounding-Gospel, with touches of Punk, Soul, and Psych, the band neither sounded derivative nor gimmicky (like they, and bands like them, sometimes do). Khan was Kool Keith-esqe at times, donning purple underwear, a plastic cape, a Cleopatra headdress, and carried a cobra-headed cane for a long-set that felt brief. In the spirit of the scenery, Khan allowed kids to jump on stage, dance and go nuts, before violently shoving them off. It was great crowd interaction. And at the sake sounding smitten over a hype show, I must admit that the mystique surrounding the band is well deserved. Complete with a Samoan-looking dude who’d dance onstage in a cheerleader outfit and many costume changes, Khan and the band were tremendously sharp for such a mangled show.
Khan mostly performed songs from his latest quasi-best-of comp from Vice, The Supreme Genius Of King Khan And The Shrines--adding to that a few songs from his King Khan & BBQ Show albums. Although my favorite song off the Vice release, a cover of Bo Diddley’s “Crackin Up”, wasn’t sung, the entire evening was very, very dynamic.

Dig the lush, lazy groove of this Bo Diddley cover, "Crackin' Up", off The Supreme Genius Of King Khan And The Shrines (Vice, 2008).


The evening screeched to a stop when the revered Jello Biafra (of Dead Kennedys and Melvins fame), hopped on stage during the encore, belting out Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel” along with Khan and the Shrines. The version was slightly sped-up, more loose and, in typical Shrines’ style, had horns and booming bass that made it a Punk/Funk rendition. It was like Bowie minus the sexuality and double the energy.

This was King Khan and The Shrines' first tour in the States. But through his recent exposure and mounting rep, they're opening doors for many more tours to come. Don’t miss this unique show that hits all its strange marks.

Here's the OG version of Diddley's "Crackin' Up" for heads who wanna hear the original.


***For more info on King Khan And The Shrines' current tour, and to purchase The King Khan Supreme Genius Of King Khan And The Shrines, please visit: http://www.hazelwood.de/kingkhan/index.php and http://www.myspace.com/kingkhantheshrines .

The Eleventh Hour: Interview with DJ Eleven

Globetrotting partyrocker DJ Eleven is, above all things, a workhorse. The Oakland native has played from LA to London, and pretty much any locale where a nightlife exists. He’s also played alongside many masters, including DJ Premier and Grandmaster Flash. In his spare time, he’s written for Wax Poetics, XLR8R and contributes a monthly column for UK magazine, Hip-Hop Connection. The Village Voice and The New York Times have also touted his mixtapes and acclaimed parties, respectively.

Besides being jealous, I’m glad to see a Bay Area cat achieve such success. The Rub, a booming website he runs with DJ Ayers and Cosmo Baker, consistently provides mixtapes and podcasts which gets heaps of visitors daily.

Eleven hustles hard, but was kind enough to lend us his time for an interview. Here’s our talk after he had just gotten back from playing Europe.

Let folks know about your Bay Area roots.
I was born in Redwood City but grew up in Oakland. My parents & all of my siblings live in the Bay. I came up DJing in the Bay Area with my crew, Local1200. And, I moved to New York almost 9 years ago. But, I try to get back to the Bay any chance I can.

What’s the general reaction to Bay Area rap when you play it elsewhere? What Bay Area joints do you play out often?
In New York, the reaction isn’t good at all. Most club goers in New York still don’t give a shit about any hip-hop that isn’t from New York. But, through much of the South, the Midwest & the West Coast, the reactions are much better. I think the joint I run the most often is Too $hort “Blow The Whistle’”.

What country or countries have embraced your sets the most?
I just got back from a European tour and on that run, I was really blown away by the crowd in Helsinki, Finland. It was my first time there & they were so live. I’ve also played to phenomenal crowds in London & Buenos Aires, Argentina.

What made you decide to become a DJ? Tell us a bit about how you got started.
I’ve always loved music and got into DJing during college. My first semester of my freshman year, I was able to get a radio show on the college’s station. So, that was really my introduction. From there, I started playing records at parties around the school and, before long, I was hooked.

What mistakes or misunderstandings do you often see young DJs doing?
The three most common mistakes I see young DJs making, are all kind of based on the same thing. 1) Playing an opening set at a party in fifth gear. 2) Not understanding the arc of a club night. 3) Expecting things to come too quick.

The commonality among all these mistakes is basically being young. Haha. It takes experience to realize that people don’t want to walk into a club at 10:15 and be bombarded by hard house or the same hits from the radio. It takes time to realize that club nights/parties that work the best are the ones that have an arc to them. And, last, it’s not immediately obvious that making a living as a DJ, or having any sort of longevity, is a patience game and takes time & dedication.

You’ve written for Pitchfork, Wax Poetics and XLR8R. How did you begin as a writer and when do you find the time? What article(s) of yours are you most proud of?
The first magazine I ever wrote for was 4080, based out of the Bay. As I recall, someone who was working there asked me to review an album. From there, I kept taking any chance I got to do some writing, usually for little to no money. It was always more about enjoying the process and getting to talk to folks I wouldn’t necessarily have had a chance to.

For that reason, the article I wrote for Wax Poetics on the history of Bay Area is one of my favorites. I also write a monthly column for an English magazine called Hip Hop Connection, which I really enjoy because I can talk about ANYTHING I want. Downside to that is the hate mail.

Talk a little bit about your involvement in The Rub and what other interesting projects do you have in the works?
The Rub is made up of myself and my partners, DJ Ayres & Cosmo Baker. We started the party in Brooklyn just shy of 6 years ago. And, in that time, it’s grown so much bigger & more successful than we’d ever imagined. It’s taken us all over the world! And, it’s still the best party I do.

Other than a couple quick trips, such as a short tour opening for Too $hort & a quick run thru Asia, I’m staying put in New York a lot more in the coming months. I’ve been on the road very heavily in the last year & a half and now want to spend some more time recording & working on new production. And, they’re might be a new mixtape or eight, too.

You gave us a nice little Public Enemy mix of yours (to be posted soon!). Talk about why PE’s music is so important to you?
PE’s music was crazy influential to me when I was in high school, so part of it is that it was important to me at an important time in my musical development. The Bomb Squad was doing production that was light years ahead of anyone else & so dense. And, the combination of Chuck D & Flavor Flav on the mics was magic! It’s really amazing to me that so few of their joints are part of the canon of hip-hop “classics”.

Thanks so much for your time man. We'll let you get some rest. Peace.

***The Rub’s 6th Anniversary Jam goes down at The Southpaw in Brooklyn, NY July 5th.
***For more info on DJ Eleven, visit www.DJELEVEN.com or visit Eleven's myspace.
***Check The Rub for updates, music, and more from Eleven.
****Eleven will be back in The Bay this month on the 17th@ Levende in SF and the 18th@ Luka's in Oakland. Support.

Three, Two, One: A Final Say With Bob James

Wax Poetics added to their ever-expanding empire this week by launching their online digital store. To set things off, they chose an article on Bob James by yours truly. Click the image below to read it:

I usually have qualms about posting my non-WTTM work on here (I just did it in my previous post, I know), but I'm proud of this one. It's a three-parter where Bob talks about the myths surrounding his work, breaks down his best albums and the most sampled tracks off each, while contextualizing his own importance within hip-hop's history.

I'm flattered that Wax Po chose it as their lead article for the big launching of their digital store. And as far as I know, it's probably the most in-depth, hip-hop related interview you'll ever read on Bob James.

"D Stands For Dignity"

"D stands for dignity", explained Chuck D when asked about his absence at Flava Flav's Comedy Central roast last year. As one of the few rappers that I've respected all the way to my adulthood, I can honestly say it was an honor to meet and talk to such an admirable guy.

Here's a recent interview I did with him for the skate publication, Slap Magazine. Although the piece barely scratches the surface on Chuck's importance and longevity, it was one of the few times I was in awe while conducting an interview. I played it off proper, but truth is, the whole experience was super surreal.

**Check back in a few months where we'll be relaunching WTTM, kicking things off with an extended, in-depth interview with Chuck D (with a slick foreword by Nate Nothing), complimented by an exclusive Public Enemy mix by DJ Eleven of The Rub. Believe the hype.

See The Way She Walks, Hear The Way She Talks...

Besides her awing stint with the Velvet Underground, Nico, born Christa Paffgen, mostly made slow, dim, devastating music. The Marble Index (1969), Camera Obscura (1973) and The End (1985) are sharp examples of her heedless position towards mainstream acceptance through the years. Former VU member and frequent producer John Cale was also probably instrumental, and likely supportive, of her uncompromising ways.
It’s said that Bob Dylan was one of many famous men (Jackson Browne, Jim Morrison, Serge Gainsbourg and Iggy Pop) who fell for her while their histories converged in the late ‘60s and ‘70s. Whether the story is true or mere myth, Dylan did give Nico a song he wrote, which she sang on her 1967 solo debut LP, Chelsea Girl. The album is sunny compared to her later work, while the song, “I’ll Keep It With Mine”, features Dylan’s words with Nico’s voice, ushered along by dark, vexed violin stabs.

"I'll Keep It With Mine" is below. Standout line; in typical self-aware, world-aware, Dylan style: “I can’t help it if you might think I’m odd, when I say I’m not loving you for what you are, but for what you’re not.”


Nico’s first recording, “I’m Not Sayin’”. A chipper 45 that omits the corniness of Gordon Lightfoot’s original, while adding her signature gloominess.


Amazingly, there's footage of the video they made for “I’m Not Sayin’”. It’s rough around the edges, but one can see why everyone was so enchanted by the femme fatale. You'd Better Watch Your Step...

Lemme ax you a ?uestion

At the risk of sounding like a blatant self-promoter, I spoke to
?uestlove a couple weeks ago, and the article is now hot off the presses. You can get it by picking up a copy of The Metro where they're available, or bypass all the ads and typos, and just read it here.

Soft-spoken, funny, and eloquent, ?uest talks about the Bay Area, records, rap, and his well-kept career. Respect.