MP3: Basically for people that might not be up on you and might not be familiar with your name or your music, when did you start making beats, putting out records and when did you first start that stuff jumping off? Blake9: I started DJing in ’97, started making beats in 2000, yeah, about 2000. I bought a Korg Triton thinking that was going to be the… The ticket. Yep. Thought that was going to be the ticket but I soon realized that everything I made on that thing sounded like Swizz Beats. Yeah, totally. That’s no good. So I actually sold that a bought a SP-1200 with the money that I got from that and then from there I pretty much just kept making beats. I had an MPC20000 and I kind of just kept making beats and I put out my first record in 2001 with Comel and another MC from this area called Pasha and that was the "Say What" 7-inch. That was the debut but we didn’t even have really a name. That was more along the lines of me being like, “Hey, I want to put out a record." Comel from Time Machine, how I met him was Jason and I—Jaysonic from Time Machine we had met at a nightclub in DC and started chopping it up and he was like, “You know, I really want to start getting into making beats,” and this, that and the other thing. And I was like, “Hey, cool, why don’t you come by my house. I got an MPC,” and he knew how to kind of tinker around with it.

So he came over and we’re hanging out, we got to know each other pretty well and he was like, “Hey, you know, tomorrow night we’re going to hang out at my house. You want to come over and mess around?” I was like, “Cool.” So that day I had made a beat on MPC and I brought it over to his place to be like, “What do you think of this?”

And I brought it over, put it in, loaded it up, started playing it and I was just like, “So what do you think of this?” And Jason was like, “Ahh,” and all of a sudden this little voice from the other room goes, “Damn, that shit is sick,” and I was like, “Okay.” And that’s how I met Comel, he was like, “That beat is so dope.” So I gave it to him and he actually did the MCing on it and that became "Say What."

And then I did the Jaysonic seven inch, which is another one. I did the Stoerock 7-inch which is the producer from Time Machine, which was an instrumental 7-inch. Got you. And this is all on your own label? Yeah, that was on my label that I had called Irish Car Bomb Music and I stopped that because shortly after…another crazy story is right after 9/11 hit, I had submitted a mixtape to URB [magazine] and it was reviewed in the September 2001 issue that came out, I guess, like mid-August. And then I was like, “Yeah,” you know, people were hitting me up and it was really cool and then all of a sudden 9/11 and it was nothing.

I mean, it was almost like I dropped off the face of the earth and the funniest thing was is about the same time I had a 7-inch coming out with Jaysonic called "Apple Pie" and it was just basically about how American life was kind of fucked up, with parents getting divorced and kids rebelling against their parents and just the normal typical everyday BS that goes on. And it was like at the end of it he says, like,“Who wants to be a jerk from America?”

So at the height of all of this, like, patriotic stuff—I’m getting ready to put out this 7-inch. So I’m freaking out, whatever, and long story short is I just switched the name to CandleWax Records and the debut release on that was like a mix CD that I had done with a friend. And ever since then we did the Spilt Milk and Deluxe Laminated, The Acorns and every other project that’s been since then. But, yeah, I deaded that first label just out of paranoia. Business-wise, yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, thinking the Feds are going to come down and bust me or whatever. I mean, I was just all paranoid and young and just was like let me go ahead and switch this over, so I switched it over and that was that. That was like in 2003 I ended up switching the name over to CandleWax Records. Right on. And now, I mean, obviously you use the SP and you’re definitely into the samples and stuff like that. I mean, for somebody out there that hasn’t heard any of your stuff how would you describe or categorize your style? Well, I mean, from what I get when people talk about our music or Nine:Fifteen or any of the stuff that I do is, of course, I always get the classic, “It sounds like old school.” A lot of people say Tribe Called Quest. I don’t really hear that but some of my really bigger influences, obviously, Madlib and he’s probably the biggest influence on me to be honest with you. And of course, like, I heard 9th Wonder and those kind of guys but mainly Madlib. But, I mean, if I had to compare my style, that’s kind of a hard thing, you know. Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. But at the same time people say we sound like Tribe Called Quest. Yeah, I think that’s just like the sort of “insert golden era group here” That’s a staple. That’s right. It’s what most other Caucasian suburbanized kids that hang out at the underground Hip-Hop can relate to, you know. Yeah, that makes sense. So how did you hook up with the Count? I had been hearing a lot about what he—like, his music and just him as a person and a friend of mine had done an interview with him for a website that he was trying to get going called Mass Appeal and he somehow got in with Count Bass D and interviewed him. And so I read his interview and this is right before Dwight Spitz came out. Yeah, that’s a good record. And but yeah I was stoked. As soon as my friend did this interview, I went out and pretty much scarfed up everything I could on Count Bass D and, like, what he was doing and, like, Art For Sale and some other stuff and I just wrote him and email, I was like, “Hey, can I send you a whole gang of stuff that I’ve got?”

So I did and he emailed me back, “Yeah, I got the package. You know, it’s cool.” And then I never heard from him again for a long time and then I just kind of was like—one day I was like, “You know what would be really cool is if I did a record with Count Bass D,” and this was right—it was kind of, like, in the lull right before he was getting to put out BEGBORROWSTEAL, I think it was just getting ready to come out and way before he signed Fat Beats. And so basically I just emailed him and pretty much negotiated the situation with his wife. Are you happy with how the record came out and how it was received? Definitely. I mean, I think, personally, I mean, I could have mixed it a little better, but this record was the first record I had done on my current set up now and I didn’t really know it. And the fact that I had dragged some beats over from my old set up to this and, like, had somebody master it and blah, blah, blah, you know, it’s just I could have mixed it a little better but, yeah, I thought the record was really great. I mean, honestly it’s been a really great thing because it’s gotten a lot of attention and kind of gotten my name out in the front a little bit and as well as gotten his name, you know what I mean. People tend to focus more on him when they review it but I mean, for me, I feel like it was a success. He’s still in the papers, or he’s still in the magazines because of this record and I’m starting to get my name out because of it. So… Yeah, definitely. I liked that record a lot. I thought all the beats were real tight. Cool. Thank you. Now, I mean, obviously, you have a slightly old school approach on the production tip, as far as using the SP or whatever…Is that exclusively you’re using that or are you messing around with the computer-based software programs as well? I don’t touch the computer at all. However, I do have Logic Pro and I need to tap into those resources because I paid $1,000 for a program I basically use as a recorder. To be honest with you, I’m not really big into the computer interface. I don’t really think that I would really get into it. A lot of my friends have tried to encourage me to make beats and they’re like, “It’s so much quicker,” but for me I don’t really think it is because I’m used to doing it the way I’m used to doing it. I feel you. Recently I’ve been incorporating my MPC2000, which is basically, I’m sampling everything in the SP and then resampling it into the MPC. Nice. And a lot of the beats that are going to be on the next Nine:Fifteen project, which is our album, not the next 12-inch, but our album, are pretty much all done that way except for maybe with the exception of one or two that are just full on SP beats. But everything up until now has just been completely SP with me sampling my Novation Bass Station for bass lines, you know what I mean, that’s all I use. Nowadays, I mean, it’s sort of been an ongoing thing, but vinyl, whether in hip-hop or otherwise is starting to sort of disappear especially with, like, Serato and Final Scratch and this and that. Does that bother you or worry you at all seeing as you put out so much wax or are you just saying, “F*** it, I’m just going to keep doing the wax?” Well it definitely bothers me a little bit because I have a little bit of a personal connection with vinyl because that was pretty much the first medium as a kid growing up that I ever would listen to music from. And when I first started DJing it was records and it was always about records and when I first started DJing I wanted to be a club DJ and then I soon was like, “This music is—it’s cool and I see what’s up with it but I’m really into the independent stuff.”

So I started collecting a lot of indie vinyl and that’s where I really started getting attached to it and then I worked at a record store so, yeah, I’m really going to be sad to see—I’m really sad to see what’s happening. I do appreciate the technology but I just don’t really see it. Like, it just doesn’t mean as much to be because it’s like you don’t have anything to hold on to. Yeah, it seems very transparent, I would agree. Yeah, I mean, like, I appreciate Serato and I think it’s an awesome tool but I haven’t broken down and gotten it, number one because I just don’t have $2,000 to pretty much get started, you know what I mean. You’ve got to have a really good laptop and then the program itself and then you’ve got to start collecting all the records. It’s just like I feel like I’d be going backwards a little bit. But once I do get the money I probably will get it. Yeah, yeah, sure. It’s funny because I’ve interviewed a zillion DJs and producers and I always ask them what’s their take on that and literally like every single guy that I’ve asked has been like, “Oh, yeah, I’m all about the Serato" or like "I didn’t like it at first but then once I got into it…” The only dude that’s been like, “I’m only vinyl. I only f*** with vinyl,” was Premier. He was like, “I don’t even mess with that.” I thought it was interesting. Like, I see the value in it. It’s definitely good for a DJ who travels around the world. But for me who does local gigs, I mean, yeah it’s a pain in the ass and I’ve got to walk a couple extra blocks. But at the same time it’s just a whole other… Aesthetically and feeling-wise, it’s a lot better I think to rock the records. Well, yeah, to rock the records and then the whole sound issue. You know what I mean? The mp3s don’t give you that bottom like a record would. But at the same time it’s like mp3s sound really clear. And then on the other hand you can get a really good sounding .wav file but then you’re just taking up gobs of space. So, I mean, I honestly see the benefits of it. I [just] don’t come from that era. And I mean, I will commit when I have the opportunity to but right now it’s like I have a lot more other things to spend my money on than that. Right on. So what’s the next project on deck? That’s the Nine:Fifteen album or what? That’s going to be the Nine:Fifteen 12-inch, which is three songs, one of which we have up on our Myspace page, “RIP”. And it’s recorded and I’m actually mixing it and coming down to the final stages with that and getting ready to send it to the guy who does the mastering for me. And that’s three songs and three instrumentals and that’s going to come out really soon, actually, probably shortly after this interview gets posted. And then we’re doing our album and then I have a whole gang of stuff on my VS-890, the device I use to record that I’m trying to put together like a little EP and see if can’t shop it around, see if I can’t get somebody to put it out in like a collaboration with me or just to see if I can just get somebody to pick it up and just pocket the loot. That’s sounds good, man. Yeah, and then we’re working on our album, Nine:Fifteen, got an album, Comel’s got seven beats already and he’s starting to write to it and I’m already halfway done with the second Acorns project, which is for you Bay area cats who know about the Forest Fires Collective. Yeah, FFC, for sure. Yeah, man. So that’s going to come out with me Mad Squirrel and we got some fire. I love working with that dude. He might be crazy as hell but he’s a ball of inspiration, too. Yeah, I like his style definitely. He’s got an original voice for sure. Yeah, I want to hook him up with 2Mex and Paul Barman. I could see that being pretty out of control. You know? So where can people find you at online? It’s candlewaxrecords.com and, you know what I mean, and we’re on pretty much—we’re on iTunes, Napster, eMusic. We’re also on undergroundhiphop.com. We’re on pretty much all your independent online joints and hopefully most record stores but that’s really about it. You can find me in Virginia somewhere between work and the studio. Right on, man. Excellent, well, yeah and thanks for taking the time to do this, man, I appreciate it. Absolutely, man. Thank you.

Listen to Blake9 songs here