Dazikue

Interviews
Surra
Moonstarr
Dazikue
Guida De Palma

Links:
Bugz in the Attic
Goya Music

DAZIKUE
As a member of DKD, Bugz in the Attic and Bitasweet Records, this man should need no introduction to broken beat heads. Well known for projects such as Misa Negra, Blacktonez, Da Lunartiks, Everyday People as well as an endless stream of projects that are consistently sending trainspotters scrambling towards the dj booth. Genuine, down to earth, and with a clear focus on what is important, Daz was nice enough to entertain me as we discussed everything from the early beginnings of the broken beat movement, to the inner workings of the Bugz in the Attic crew, to the climate in the room during Future Rage. Read on....

BBR: What's up Daz... i'm definitely excited to chat with someone who has played such a heavy role in fueling my passion for music for the past 7or 8 years!
DAZ: Thank you, thank you.

BBR: So how was San Fran?
DAZ: It was really cool, i had a good time out there as usual... the whole crew hit me with the hospitality and all that. I was real happy!

BBR: Did you find any vinyl in the shops?
DAZ: Listen, you know what... i didn't even have the time, as soon as i flew in i had a few hours to eat, then i had to get down to the club. I left the next day for Seattle so i didn't even have enough time to go to my boy's spot... Amoeba and dem places. Yea that's my place, every time i go down there.. Amoeba... i always find something there.

BBR: Nice... i didn't get over there, but the selection of Brazillian gems at Groove Merchant was sick. I spent hours....
DAZ: Yea man thats how it is down there.

BBR: One of your current projects is DaLunartiks? Tell us a bit about that...
DAZ: I'll tell you about DaLunartiks.. that track is about 2 1/2 years old! DaLunartiks was a partnership i did with this guy called Alex from East London. Its a house type style, very much on the commercial house tip. I worked in his studio in the East end of london, and what the idea was... look lets try something out, lets see if we can do a track which is aimed at a commercial house, big warehouse style... something that would appeal to that crowd.. yet still have a broken beat vibe to it. When i put that together, it was more like an experimentation to see what we could come up with, and it came out way better than expected. The first tune was Higher. I don' t know if the label was really big enough to handle it... i rekon if it was a much bigger label you would hear a different story. A lot of the djs on the underground loved it, but as far as being a commercial hit, it wasn't. But it hit the spot. I did another track called Estoy Loca... that one came out really really good. At the moment it's my favorite DaLunartiks tune. Hopefully this will get a bit more commercial success, that's what i was aiming for really and truly, keepin' it partyfied y'know?

BBR: So the interest in getting into more of a commercial arena is there?
DAZ: Well in terms of the UK anything kind of works to get into the charts y'know what i'm sayin? I've seen so many different genres going into the charts, so it's kind of wrong to say "commercial". But commercial for me means... not to be too clever... and keep it so that the main public takes an interest in it, because that will fuel interest into the other things that we are doing. So it's more about trying to educate them, but in a clever way, y'know? Introduce them to something that's a little different, but something that is familiar to them... then they catch on to the other stuff. Then they can go deeper into the whole genre.

BBR: Absolutely... and as a dj i need those transition tracks to ween people over in a dancefloor setting as well.
DAZ: Definitely! Its not about selling out or anything. But... i know guys who do production of straight up pop music... its not my bag, but i have big respect for these producers because they do it because they love it. The way they produce it, it's very well produced. For me, it's not so much about doing it just to make money. I'm not in it to make money. I'm in it to make a living yes, but to make massive amounts of money is not my main priority because i love the music that i'm making, y'know? I don't do nothing that takes me away from that. I can't say "yeah i'm going to go do pop music now". I can't do pop music! I wan't to. I can't do it! It's not in my blood.

So i do music that i love, the way i want to make it. Usually that comes through in the way i make my music. Its the same for these guys that make pop music, they do the same thing. They love it and you can actually feel that! On the other hand i know a lot of guys who have done it just for cold-hearted money making... and those people don't last long. They have one hit and they dissapear, because they did it for the wrong reasons. When you make music you make it from the perspective that you love making music. And the music that you make is representative of yourself and your personality. So i try to do it in such a way that i like what i'm making, but it still can be reached by other people. For the uninitiated, hip-hop heads, house heads, when i play them the broken beat and all that... they really like it! They ask me where they can get more.. because they aren't exposed to it.

BBR: More than once, i've heard comments about a broken beat "beat" of sorts developing. I know it's a pretty abstract question but do you think people have gotten away from the kind of experimentation that was there in early days of Main Squeeze and Visions?
DAZ: I don't think it's ever stopped really and truly. It's not really a matter of experimentation, more like a natural progression. The music has been made for a long time, we'll say 1995-1996... and what has been happening is that we are now able to break out of the mold of what the music industry is saying we should be making. We've got the ability to do it independently so we're not constrained by what the music industry or the music labels say that we have to make. We can do whatever we want to do. It's a mistake to say that we dont make hip-hop, or house music, or soul music... y'know. Its just that we are doing it in addition and also as part of the whole music that we are making. The broken beat music that's being made is just another way of making the music that we feel. We are all influenced by each other. All of the producers know each other and work in the same area. I don't know if it was so much influence... maybe that we were all just bored to death by the music that was coming out at the time.

BBR: What were some of those first projects you see as the foundation?
DAZ: If you look at the early People catalog.. you'll see that's where the history starts. The music from the West London scene. People #1.. early Likwid Biskit "All new Uhhmm"... all the early Restless Soul stuff, early New Sector Movements, early Bugz stuff... Like Bitasweet #1, Visions #1... it all happened at the same time! Yknow...like minded people.. and we were doing broken mixes on different tunes before that anyway. A lot of it was influenced by Masters at Work, and the whole NuYorican Soul thing that was coming out on Nervous Records.. and there's a few other bits and pieces that kind of showed the way. Plus the breakbeat thing that was going on for a long time... the jazzy breakbeat thing.. and prior to that it was the acid jazz thing. In the area that we lived in... we love music... so we take different music and just mash it up... especially in West London it's always been like that y'know?

BBR: What was the reaction to early Likwid Biskit and Neon Phusion stuff? How did that fit into the club scene at that time?
DAZ: Well... [laughs] i wasn't making music for people to dance to. But the reaction from people was either it was ignored... or we were getting really crappy reviews in all the dj magazines. Saying we were making goatee stroking music or we were all up our own asses and we were making music for ourselves and not for the masses and all that. I think they totally got it wrong. The music we were making was so different than what they experiencing from the straight up four to the floor house, y'know?

BBR: They had no idea how to deal with it!
DAZ: They didn't know how to deal with it! They said it sounded like one long intro! [laughter] It got to me, but in the end it didn't, really and truly, because you know what? These were the people that we wanted to get away from.

BBR: You were doing something right...
DAZ: Yeah, we were doing our own thing... we had an infrastructure set up with Goya for the distribution, the mastering, and the manufacturing... and we didn't have to pay a penny for the whole deal. That really helped us out a lot to establish our careers. I also have to big up Mr. Phil Asher and Patrick Forge because they took it on the worldwide scale and showed the world what music was being made! They were playing the soulful house things, and at the same time, playing our stuff and exposing it to the world when they did their international gigs. So from that the interest came from the outside in. Japan took it up really hard... then Germany.. and New York, Philly... Hmm what's this goin on here? Here's something really different! Then all of a sudden it kind of infiltrated into the UK.

BBR: So the growing interest from outside forced people in the UK to wake up to it in a way?
DAZ: Yea i think it did. You know in terms of this music in particular, i think what happened was kind of unusual, as far as how dance music normally gets noticed. Because it's always within the community, its very London centric.. .the drum&bass and the jungle stay London-centric then it spreads out... the two-step garage was London-centric and then spread out. This was very different.

So what's happened is the broken beat scene has got little pockets... here, there and everywhere. Probably not big massive pockets but obviously if you put them together it makes quite a big following to the music.

BBR: What are your thoughts on what you've seen of the broken beat scene here in the states?
DAZ: Its the same thing i feel all over the place. Everywhere you go there are towns that have these pockets of a few hundred that will come to the club on a regular basis, y'know. I've been all over the states on the Bugz in the Attic tour, and it was really interesting to see these small units. And a lot of the guys who did it, did it off their own back. They were like "we love the music but we can't hear it, we don't know where to go.. so we're just going to start our own club. I'll tell you the biggest surprise was Austin Texas! They're growing out there. I met this guy Tyler at Titonton's place in Cleveland. He told me he was starting this night in Austin.. and all i'm thinking of is like the Blues Brothers [laughter]

BBR: a mechanical bull...
DAZ: Yea! and a wire cage and everything like that! I was thinking... wow you're brave [laughter]

BBR: So what happened?
DAZ: Well that was a while ago... and he was like yea.. there's no one there at the moment, but we're just going to do our thing. So i went there a year later.. and the place was so jumping! There was like three or four hundred people. They built up something from nothing! and that's what i'm feeling from a lot of places around the world and America as well. So its growing, and what i'm feeling is that the idea of incorporating it with other genres, like with hip-hop and r&b and all of that.. and i can see that mix is going to be starting with America once they catch up with what's going on. I know that in Philly they know what's going on... and a man like Vikter Duplaix has been championing the whole scene, and King Britt. Everyone in the Philly scene knows what's going on. I know a man in Atlanta that knows what's going on, i know a man in New York that knows whats going on. But, what i've found in America is that the club scene is not as advanced as the club scene in Europe... or especially in London. In London you go down to a club, and the people don't care about the weather or whatever they will come out and it will go on until 4am.

BBR: I noticed that... 4am on a weekday...
DAZ: Yea doesn't matter. People come out on a Sunday to go to Co-Op and the place is packed. Or you go to the same area and every other door there's a club going on with people waiting to get in.

BBR: From my experience, the London music scene is so very different than here in the states. You guys getting more vacation time or what?
DAZ: [laughter] I don't know man, people just go out. People just want to let their hair down... it's always been like that from when i started going out... people start going out on Thursday and don't stop until sunday or something like that, as much as they can afford it, y'know what i'm sayin. Its just always been that way here in the UK from the warehouse jams in the early 90's and even before that... from all the old school jams in the 80's and 70's, all the Northern Soul joints and all that. So Americans make the great music... but we make the great clubs [laughs]

BBR: So what's jumping off at the moment? What have you been hitting?
DAZ: There are a couple of places i like to go to, Co-Op number one. I can never be dissapointed with Co-Op... Never EVER. Blacktronika, Charlie Dark's thing... it's such a great vibe there... it's so free and open, and not stuck to one genre, they just play everything.. everything.

BBR: I love that... almost like you're eavesdropping on someone's record collection.
DAZ: Exactly! It's always exactly that y'know?

BBR: Rich Medina and King Britt throw nights like that here sometimes, and i'm all about it.
DAZ: And Karl Injex does a monthly in New York.. and its such a great night. Its very close to what i'm talking about. There are lots of really great clubs in and around America. I'm just saying that... it's a growing scene. People are still discovering the music... and more and more people are starting to understand what's going on.

BBR: Who do you see as musical visionaries past and present?
DAZ: You know who i'm feeling right now? I'm really feeling them right now... Sa-Ra! They produced a Pharoah Monche tune, they are producing a lot of people. They did something with Common, Bilal now, and a few other well known cats. Those guys seem to be people that are doing some stuff, really and truly. Dego, IG, all the time kill it for me... y'know all my partners Seiji, Orin.... whenever they bring up something, i'm always in awe. Kaidi, Marc de Clive Lowe, all of my peers i'm always in awe of. Mad Lib i love... From the past i can talk about old school producers like Leroy Hutson, Leroy Burges, Dexter Wanzel, anything on the early Roy Ayres productions. There are so many influences in my life... from the 80's i would say Jammin Lewis, Nick Martineli, electro guys like Africa Bambatta... the list goes on and on and on and on and on....

BBR: Could you speak for a bit on some of the process working with Dego and Kaidi on the DKD project?
DAZ: For the DKD we were all in the studio. In terms of the process of making the music it was so easy. Everything would be all plugged in, i'd bring up the beats... i build the beats... so i say "yeah i like this loop, lemme chop it up and let's do something with it" and usually it will be straight loops and we'll work from something like that, then add to it afterwards... then the guys just get on the keyboards and i just record straight! "that's it lets go" and we just let them go. When you have Dego and Kaidi in the same room you know that magic is being made... and it's all very easy. It was just so easy and magical at the time. The arranging came easy as well... the hard bit is the finishing off. That took the longest. See we are all working on other projects... especially me... i was working on 10 projects at the same time. So it could have been finished earlier. The process of making the music is really easy, it's just the finishing that's hard part.

BBR: So did you realize what was going on during the making of "Future Rage"?
DAZ: With Future Rage, even in its rawest sense, when it was made, yeah? When it was really raw... without being arranged or mixed down or anything... at that moment when we listened back on it... everyone in the room looked at each other, and knew something special was being made. "WOW! this is something that we never expected" From then on Dego, Kaidi and i were always talking about "Yo we're doing this album within a week Yeah? Do all the tracks... 12 tracks in a day.. right right right right". We were always talking about knocking out a track within a few hours or so. Which i have done, which dego has done, which Kaidi has done, but we've never done it together. From the time we did Future Rage, we booked the whole week for the studio to get all the bits done. And the bits that weren't done were done at Dego's and the Bugz studio.

BBR: So are you having trouble getting that thing out?
DAZ: The problem has always been money and all that. yknow. As independents we're always relying on money to get stuff properly sorted out.

Well sounds like it's going to be out on FiveSix in the states...
DAZ: Really? You know better than i! [laughs] If thats going to happen i want it to happen... that music deserves to be heard. I want to make sure that, even if we don't get any money up front or anything, because thats not the main priority, i really do want the music to be heard by the people because i think it deserves that.

Absolutely. I'm looking forward to taking my hand to the visual side of things for sure...
DAZ: Wait, that's King Britt's label isn't it?

BBR: Yeah.
DAZ: Oh right right, i knew about that... I was well happy for that to happen. King Britt will do it justice!

BBR: Is there anything in particular that frustrates you about the music industry?
DAZ: Not really... just the realization that you can't rely on the music industry, you can't rely on anybody but yourself. If you have an understanding of the whole process.... with me i can do the business side, but i don't wan't to do that, i just want to make music... i want to be creative y'know? It's really difficult to do both of them at the same time, and i've seen people do it and they burn up really and truly. Both are full time jobs! It's just a matter of what you want to do. I don't want to do it, i've got a man like Mikey General, he's our business head and he deals with all that. I don't even know if it's coming out in America!!! [laughter] I'm not involved with that, y'know what i'm sayin? I've just done the album and i gave it to my man to sort out. I've done 3. I gave the Joy Jones album to Mikey to sort out, and i found out he got licenses and all that.. and i'm happy! As long as its all moving forward.

In my mind everybody is moving in the same direction... they are kind of forgetting about the major labels. Major labels can only do so much for you, yeah? Even now they're getting less and less of an influence. It's a whole new market. The whole way of marketing music has turned on its head and the majors are slightly behind. They were independent back in the day... in the 60's when the whole pop, rock and the whole popular music culture started turning... and they had to build themselves up. A lot of people out there are educated on how the music business works now and i think there's another chance for independents to come through. The music business used to be running on ignorance. The way they make their money is through the other guys ignorance. Good deals are made from people who know their business, and the really bad deals are made by people who do not know their business. I've seen loads of bad deals where people just sign the first time because they want to make a record, not realizing that you can negotiate these deals! They just sign their life away on the dotted line for the most minimum amount of money! So now we are schooled up... we are older and wiser... all of us have gone through major mistakes, yeah? and have seen what it's all about. With me i'm free with the information... i've talked with kids and told them the reality of the situation... i told them not to do it! [laughter] No bullshit! Go and get a job as a road sweeper! [laughter] But i'll tell you if you really want to do it, don't expect to earn any money for a really long time. Learn your business, so no one takes a piss out of you at all.

BBR: On that note, what's going on with the Co-Op label?
DAZ: It hasn't stopped its just that we are all very busy people. The Co-Op label is whole of everybody in the group. We haven't really concentrated on it. I think it's fair to say that we should be putting out more stuff on it as a crew... but we have to establish ourselves before we can actually establish a cooperative label as such. But it hasn't stopped, we'll still be doing stuff on it. I think we need to make our own paths as Bitasweet records or 2000 Black as People or Visions. Once we know what we're all about individually, i think Co-Op will be a stronger label for it. But the compilations are still going on. Exclusive tracks from the labels... that's the way we'll run, and we'll be carrying that on. I dont know when the next one will be... but when someone says "are we going to do another album?".. we will all drop what we are doing and put something together. It's not that hard.. probably more a matter of timing than anything else. Once Co-Op starts growing.. i think it will be a very very powerful entity.

BBR: Well it sounds like the fact that everyone collaborates is one of your biggest strengths and at least part of the reason the success has come. But with Bugz, do you ever run into a too many cooks phenomenom? I know a lot of troubles arise out of even having more than 2 people throwing a night!
DAZ: [laughs] Well... can i say.. it can get into that situation.. but we work it out. Bugz in the Attic is up to 9 of us in the crew yeah? But not all of us do the remixes. Some of us do the beats, Kaidi is always doing his thing in terms of the music, and a couple people do the arrangements.. so usually there is about 4 people doing different jobs. I mix down most of the tunes. So everybody knows what their roles are within the crew. We all can produce, we all can dj, but certain people will get the job because they are really good at what they are doing. I think orin, seiji, and mikey general are amazing djs so they will get the dj jobs. I've been djing for over 20 years now so i do that sometimes. We'll go on tour with a couple guys and an mc. On a remix project it will be 4 of us maximum. Whoever brings up the best beats and the best grooves for the remix, they will be the one we go through.

BBR: Do you have a line of artists around the block lining up to have a Bugz remix? How does that work?
DAZ: Labels have approached us. In terms of individuals we're cheap.. but in terms of a unit.. we're pretty expensive... there's quite a few of us to feed [laughs]. They will get something special no doubt, we will make sure of that. Anything that we do we will make sure that it's really special, something that is hearfelt from all of us. And we'll go so far as to test it on the people at Co-Op, and have demos at Co-Op to see what the reaction is. Then we'll take it back to the drawing board, y'know what i'm sayin? Luckily enough we really haven't had to go back to the drawing board for any of them because the reaction has been great. But yes we get approached on a frequent basis for a Bugz mix but if they haven't got the budget we can't really do it. Plus we are trying to cut down because we are trying to concentrate on the album right now.

BBR: You're not going to bang that thing out in a day?
DAZ: [laughs] That one is going to take a few days actually! Seiji is very japanese in his approach to work. So he's very meticulous and he wants to make sure everything is right. I'm more like the vibe man... like vibey. same with Kaidi.. we just break it down..."yeah that'll do" [laughs]

BBR: Most artists are their own worst critics. Which of your own productions are you most critical of.... Which ones are you most proud of?
DAZ: Me personally, i think the mixdown on the Amy Whinehouse, In My Bed could have been a whole lot better. I think it was very weak. So much so that i wanted to be at the mastering and they didn't call me up [laughs].

BBR: That was a big one at Movement this year in Detroit.
DAZ: Yeah... and its really funny to see that everybody LOVES it as it is. Me? I could have gone back and mixed it down again. Also, the Amp Fiddler i think if we had a bit more time we could have made it a tighter arrangement on that. But i'm still happy, i like that a lot. The ones i'm most proud of are, Vikter Duplaix Looking for Love, and the Macy Grey. That was the first time we kept the same direction. Usually what happens with remixes we go in a direction, but then we go into another beat .. we go into a detour. The Macy Grey was the first time we got the vision and we realized the vision.... "yea we want a p-funk kinda style"... and it worked out really well. That's the way we wanted it from the beginning and it turned out that way. I'm very proud of that remix.

BBR: So do you ever hit a wall? Are there a lot of unfinished Daz tracks sitting on your computer?
DAZ: Nothing goes wasted with me mate. So something that you might hear that's a bugz remix might have been a Dazikue remix or something like that. But i'm not going to tell you what one's what [laughs]. I've got beats that didn't suit the track... but as beats by themselves... they're TOUGH as hell. But you have to make sure they actually fit in with the tune. We criticize ourselves and say "No that doesn't work"... "That keyboard line doesn't work"... then we go back on it and sort it all out.

BBR: What is your favorite thing about what you do?
DAZ: I'll tell you what. I'm so priveliged to be doing what i'm doing at the moment. I've been surrounded by music since i was 5 years old yeah? From the time my mom took me to a party and sat me by the dj box i dont think i really turned back. I never thought i would be making music, i thought i would be djing. But now i'm involved in making music, and it's such an experience from top to bottom. I don't think it can replace anything. There's nothing else for me that has that satisfaction. Put it this way... i'm not making much money at the moment, i'm making a bit of change y'know... slightly keeping my head above water... i'm just paddling my way through.. but i wouldn't change it for the world. Djing and making music is such a pure satisfying thing.

BBR: Speaking from the dj perspective... when i'm approached by someone with that excitement in their eyes, to talk to me about something i just played... it really has a big effect on me every time. From a producer standpoint i imagine it would be even more the case.
DAZ: Its exactly the same. And i'm so humble that people actually do appreciate it... and i'm really down to earth [laughs]... i mean, i get embarassed by people coming up to me, i really do. But it makes me happy when i play music regardless... i don't think i could do anything else really.

BBR: Have you manned the boards for any live bizniz?
DAZ: I'm working my way up to that actually. hmmm DKD live? I'll leave that up to Kaidi and Dego at the moment but i'll bring myself up to it. It's about me making mistakes, i'm kind of embarrassed about that. I've got keyboard skills but not up to the standard of what Dego and Kaidi can do on a live basis. But i have no problem getting up on stage and talking on the mic and having fun with people. I have no problem with that at all! Because i have to do something... i can't just be there shaking some maraccas! Y'know what i mean? [laughter] I have to do something! But yea thats something i really want to do. I get by in the studio because we can erase stuff, but on the stage you only got one chance mate. So you make that mistake that's it. It's there for everyone to hear. But for me i'm building up to that. I've been practicing and looking at buying some keyboards. Just having keyboards around and playing about with them make you a better more confident musician. Where i am at the moment i haven't got the room to have the keyboards... the apartment is full of records [laughs]. So i have to get my keyboard skills up... say within the next year and a half or so [laughs]... then you see Dazikue.

BBR: Any comments on where this is all headed?
DAZ: I think the scene in america is looking kinda healthy. Ive been working with some guys in LA called Sound In Color. Look out for those guys because they are doing really big things. They are and independent label, mixing it up, bringing in some big guns like Pharoah Monche and Ghostface Killa. Its a label that doesn't have any boundries. I've just done a track with them that has a hip-hop r&b kind of vibe but its got a very much broken beat thing going on on top of it y'know? Honestly, how far can this go?... The pressure been building, and its been building there for a long time.

BBR: So what's coming up for Dazikue?
DAZ: These are the projects i've got written in my diary to get done. I just finished up the Joy Jones album... this girl from LA... awesome singer... beautiful and talented. I met her in London, had a great vibe with her.. should be seeing that very soon, i don't know who's going to have it yet. A BB Boogie album, after the Bugz album. Also me and Kaidi have been talking about getting this Misa Negra album done. Plus you're going to be hearing a lot more Dazikue stuff, just me doing what i'm doing y'know? I'm just going to be making music as long as i can. and whatever comes up i'll see what i can do. always busy. I mean i hope to do some more seminars with the kids.. along with Charlie Dark. Thats been fun. I did something in Seattle with Red Bull Music Academy where i tought people what we use and how it works in terms of the music production, and i showed them in such a way that it was like "we're going to remix this tune and see what happen's, yea?" and showed them the process we go through when doing a remix. Just basic within like an hour. That was kind of fun. I took that to another level with working with Charlie Dark's Blacktronica tour where i went to all these different high schools up and down the UK. There were a lot of underprivledged kids who want to make music, but don't have the facility to do so, and i had the chance to teach them about how to go about it and what they can get to make music in a very easy ad hock way. These young kids are very talented! I found a couple of girls and boys out there.. i told them, hey i'm going to be looking out for you!

BBR: Keep them on the right track...
DAZ: Yeah that kind of thing. A lot of the kids email me to say whassup. I hope to do more of that once my music career fades... go into the teaching phase.

BBR: Thats great! So that's all i have for you.. Is there anything you would like to add?
DAZ: I just want to say thank you for supporting the music! And everybody around the world thank you... without you i wouldn't be doing what i'm doing.

Watch this space for upcoming US tour info for Bugz in the Attic and DKD.