j. phlip​ - !​@​#​$​%​^​&​ (Dirtybird Records Interview)

Mp3: j. phlip​ - !​@​#​$​%​^​&



Dirtybird Records Interview: J Phlip
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Who you wit and where you from?

Right now I’m in my messy room on Haight street wit my laptop … my Mackie 624’s … a 22oz blue moon … and a peanut butter jelly sammich MMmmmmmmmm….

I’m came from Champagne! Haha… Really though, I was born in Los Angeles, the first child of a Bub, an amazing self-taught live sound man/ex-party-animal-roadie for REO Speedwagon,etc, and Carol, a miniature-sized adorable overprotective and hardworking mother. Shortly after I arrived to this planet we moved to a special little place called Champaign (yes like the bubbly stuff I love to drink) where they raised me and my brother. I don’t think that small city in Illinois would have been quite the same without the Phillippe’s around.

When did u start DJing? Tell us the story.

In 2002, when I turned 19, i became obsessed with pitch controllers and faders and eq knobs. I had already completely lost myself to music and pretty much anything that could connect my ears with anything else in my life. Frequencys, phases, and oscillations connected my ears with math. Subwoofers, 124 bpm, MC’s, shows, and dancefloors connected my ears with partying and friends. My keyboard, the stereo in the basement, and my favorite pair of headphones that I stole from my dad connected my ears with my solitary self. AES, choir, and band connected my ears with school. I knew this was the next thing I needed to satisfy my ears… and I needed to get my hands on my own gear as soon as possible. For 100 bucks I picked up a terrible pair of belt drives and a mixer and I never wanted to leave my room (except to head to Chicago to hit up Gramaphone of course.)

After a few months practice, the bar that I cocktailed at in downtown Champaign was ready to take the tray out of my hand and throw me behind the decks for a night. I was nervous … as I have always hated the feeling of being along in front of a crowd. I’m not sure if it was due to the coronas i was buzzin off of or the free jager bombs everyone was giving me (oh god I cant believe how many of those things I used to drink) but I felt completely comfortable … more than comfortable … i loved it. I discovered that with playing records I could be completely in my element with the music and i could bring everyone else to that place too…. and thats exactly what i wanted to do.

How did you get on dirtybird?

I won this DJing contest … oh wait no …oh ya I used to date that guy who hooked me up with … wait … no … I graduated from Dirtybird bootcamp … wait no i failed … um … oh ya …. i produced a good track that they decided to sign after dropping it at the 2008 Winter Music Conference. Well that … and I am a dirtybird at heart.


How did you come up with this bomb track, Rumble Rumble?

Well I was upset about this boy (great musical motivation!) and I was determined to write something really low and bassy and dark and harder. Many of the tracks I had previously produced had come out a bit fluffy and soft. I was not in a fluffy mood going into this one. I wanted to finish the track and send it to Barclay and the boys before WMC, because it was my fourth year going and I really wanted to hear one of my own tracks there. That was my #1 goal…

I started out wanting to use some more unique sounds in the beat, something different than just drum samples. I sampled some pop can sounds and chopped up some vocal whispers and giggles that I had recorded into my headphones. I was diggin’ it so i continued on with the other elements of the tune and then thought I had hit a wall when I kept getting the god-damn “computer too slow to play song” message! OMG I wanted to throw the damn thing out of the window! So then I had this idea to rewire Reason into Ableton, start recording the individual tracks into Ableton, and then deleting them out of Reason. This ended up really helping out my piece-of-shit computer. I had no idea how to use Ableton … so I learned. (Which turned out to be pretty cool in the end because now I like to use that program too!) I really don’t know how I got sequencing together when it was practically impossible to play the song back to myself, but it all came together somehow. When there’s a will there’s a way, right? And it was all way worth it when I watched the crowd freak out to Rumble Rumble the first time it ever got played at the Dirtybird party at Studio A! And then the next night at the P. Diddy party hehe.

You have the chops as an accomplished DJ but you are new at producing.
Is it easy to make the transition?

Uh no, not if you wanna be on dirtybird… JUST KIDDING! I LOVE YOU GUYS!

Producing is fun because it creates a new way to express myself musically … but can be very frustrating at times.

For all the new producers out there. What software do you use?

PROPELLERHEAD REASON 4.0 AND ABLETON LIVE 7 … uh but not according to them shhhhhhhh.

But my advice would be to pick something and start making music on it … if you wanna make it you’ll figure out how to make it on whatever you got!

Claude VonStroke said he would shave his beard if you could drink him
under the table. When is this showdown going to happen?

HA! Ok so I know he’ll never let it go that I failed Dirtybird bootcamp last Miami. So I think we should have the showdown in Miami this year, 2009 that is. I want him to have to play the Dirtybird/Mothership party beardless! - thats right - I AINT GOING DOWN THIS TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!