Yo yo, welcome to another edition of answers for questions. You ask, I respond with honesty. If you’d like to be a part of all this fun, join in and ask me anything. Either leave questions in the comment section below or get fancy and email me one at phatfriendblog@gmail.com. All I ask is that you be creative and don’t treat this like a high school newspaper interview.
Okay, here’s this weeks stuff…
Hey Blockhead,
I have this question about sampling, and I figured that in light of your recent blog post and deciding to put out your album on your own, it would be pretty relevant. So, I make some sample based hip hop too, but I’ve been, well, less than proactive about getting permission to use my samples. I haven’t gotten in trouble, but sometimes I get worried that I’ll end up getting sued or something. I don’t really know many other producers who do sample based stuff, and I thought I’d hit you up about it especially since you’ve been in the game so long.

I’m just releasing shit on my own right now, I pressed 500 records a couple years ago and I’m on spotify and iTunes and stuff. Like I said it’s a small operation but I’m trying to put out a new record and Any advice you could give me would be awesome.

Let me first just say that, considering the level you’re on now, you don’t need to worry about clearing samples at all. No one is tracking you down to sue you for that beat you made. It only becomes an issue when you either make money off a song with a sample in it or you begin licensing music to commercials and film. While it’s still technically illegal prior to that, so is jay walking in NYC and no one’s getting a ticket for that. So, basically, this is something you do not need to worry about any time soon. I gotta say, if it’s on your mind already though, you may wanna start sampling less from the jump. I can certainly attest that it is limiting, in terms of what you can do with the music after it’s made. I love samples but I’ve also been doing it for 20 years. Perhaps starting off not having to rely on them is not the worst way to get going.
To answer your specific questions, Ninja would clear some samples. It really depends on the song and the sample. But in general, they didn’t clear most of them. Simply cause, with my music, that would be way too expensive and most of those songs are gonna just fly under the radar anyway. Like I said, you’re gonna get sued when the money starts rolling in. My records have done okay but not so well that I need to worry about being sued or getting a cease a desist. I’ve gotten caught for a few samples here and there and , in my experience, the people were actually really cool about it. We just gave them some of the publishing rights to that song and both sides were happy.
“Uncle tony’s coloring book” was a limited edition, US only release because of the samples. Ninja didn’t want their name on it cause they were justifiably nervous about all the crazy samples on it so, instead, we pressed 5000 cd’s and only released it in the states. That’s why it’s not on Itunes or any of those other sites in it’s complete form. So, for me, that’s a worst case scenario. But that happened and now that album is like a collectors item. So that’s kinda cool.
Sampling is great but it certainly has its downsides. You do have to be careful. But, until you’re making money, don’t sweat it. No one is gonna sue you if you have nothing to be sued for.

Not really sure if this question has been asked before.
For me there are a few things that make me automatically think someone’s a douchebag or shallow just by looking at him/her; wearing headphones in public (when you’re a guy, if a girl does it, it depends on how cute she is, I’m a hypocrit and I know it), wearing flip flops in public (unless at/near a beach/pool or on a quick trip from home maybe), dudes wearing button-up shirts with shorts, and the worst one: girls walking with a purse on their elbow and a cell phone in their hand. I know you agree with me on the flip flops. How do you feel towards the other ones? In which cases do you feel strongly negative towards a person based on appearance only?

Wearing headphones in public? How is that douchey? That’s just a person listening to
music. Maybe it’s an NYC thing but that’s par for the course for any trip outside the house that’s gonna be more than 15 minutes. I rock earbuds but only cause I don’t wanna be carrying around big headphones all day.
Anyway, I used to be way worse about this. Most of the things you listed were , at one point, things i would have looked at, rolled my eyes and immediately written the person off. While those things still aren’t looks i hold in high regard, I’ve gotten softer in my older age. Not everyone who wears flip flops is an idiot. Not everyone wearing a shirt with vertical stripes and shorts is a douche. Not every guy who wears those super tight sweatpants that get baggy around the crotch is a total piece of shit. I may hate those outfits, but I’m also not the fashion police. Let them live, shitty wardrobes and all. That said, my judgmental streak has shifted to gauging other humans by their opinions on very particular things. Like if someone just , across the board hates on “South Park” but loves “Family guy”? That’s a huge fucking moron. If someone loves Talib Kweli to the point where they’re willing to argue about it, I don’t think that person and I are meant to be friends. If you think the movie “Macgruber” sucks, I question everything you understand about what makes something funny. If you’re a grown man in your late 30’s who grew up loving hip hop and you go out of your way to love shit like Future or Cheef Keef, I’m judging the fuck out of you and your pitiful grasps at staying relevant in the eyes of a bunch of dumb teenagers. Stuff like that. It’s admittedly short sighted on my part but I think the things people love and are passionate about speaks much louder than how they dress. I know way too many people who simply just dress a certain way cause it’s easy and they don’t give a fuck. I respect that. But your interests should be deeper.

How would you react if someone came to the front of the stage during one of you sets, then dropped their pants and just started jerking off furiously?

Obviously , I’d finish him off with my mouth. He payed for a ticket, it’s the least i can do.
Nah, I would hope that person would be tackled by security. If not, I’d probably just keep rocking the show but if he got near me, I’d kick him in his dick.
Some of these venues I play at don’t exactly enforce much security. I was playing a show in Seattle once and this girl crawled on stage and just lay down underneath the table I was playing on. She was there for like 2 songs until she popped out and tried to talk to me like I wasn’t in the middle of playing a show. I quickly explained to her that she had to go but it didn’t really sink in. It’s a safe bet she was high as a motherfucker. Let’s just say, if she was a male jerking his dick near me, I wouldn’t have been as patient.

Since you don’t listen to instrumental hip hop, where do you find the inspiration when creating your own music? Are there certain producers or albums you listen to? If so, who are they? Is there a specific zone your looking to get into as well, or maybe doing things like walking around your neighborhood late at night listening to music, maybe going to certain clubs/bars at 3:00am and trying to capture that vibe?

This is gonna be a huge let down but I don’t ever step into making music trying to create a mood. I just sit down, listen to songs and look for a sample that grabs me. Once i have that, I build around it. There’s no inspiration, outside of the samples themselves. I’ve never been one to look for other music , as a fan, as a means to inspire me. The music I love is separate from the music I make. In fact, I try to limit outside influence as much as possible cause the last thing I wanna do is sound like someone else. I do see the irony of all this cause I’m an artist who mostly samples but , in my mind, it makes sense.
I’d also add that I’ll never understand why people are so interested in the “inspirations” of another person. I feel as though that kinda thing isn’t palpable and certainly not something you should be able to explain. It’s like being “spiritual”. Most people who harp on it are kinda full of shit. It’s something that happens in your subconscious that shouldn’t really even be something you can pin point. Whenever I hear someone listing stuff they’re inspired by it’s either random parts of nature (yeah bro, sure your EDM dance album was inspired by that sunset you saw in Thailand) or it’s other artists, which leads me to believe they’re kinda biting those “inspirations”. I dunno…it’s one of those questions I’ve been getting for years that I’ve never seen the point of. It’s fluff to me.

squatting verses sitting? Do you practice proper poop posture? …ah, I love alliteration.

Devices such as the Squatty Potty and Nature’s Pedestal make the average person’s shit stance more advantageous, to say the least. Give it a try and tell me it doesn’t change your life.

Man, it had been a while since I got a shit related question. I was beginning to wonder what was wrong with you guys.
As for squatty potty, Umm…wow. I guess this kinda makes sense but, obviously, I have not tried it. Honestly, the name alone would keep me from buying it. Not to mention, I could just make my own at home with a few phone books. Tell you what, i’ll give it a whirl (with the phone books) and see if I notice a difference. It’s definitely gonna get in the way of my laptop though.

If you couldn’t live in the States, where would you live?
Montreal or Toronto would be my first choice. English speaking would be crucial so maybe London or melbourne. I think it might be fun to live somewhere in eastern europe for a year cause i had lots of fun out there when I played shows. I still contend that Cluj, Romania has the hottest girls I’ve ever seen. If i was single, i’d probably just go live there for a year.
But, realistically, Toronto, London (or another UK city), and Melbourne would be my top choices.

Whatttttup,
Back from the first leg of my tour. Thanks to everyone who came out. I had a great time and my apologies to the places I played with no merch. I sold out early which is a good and bad thing I suppose. I’ll pack accordingly next time, I promise.
Anyway, welcome to another edition of “answers for questions” You ask it, I answer it. If you’d like to join the fun, send me questions. Either leave them in the comment section below or email them to me at phatfriendblog@gmail.com. As always, be creative. We’re 205 volumes deep. Strive for originality.
Here’s this weeks batch, biatch.
I remember in the past that you saying that don’t get anything mastered (but as i’m typing this i sort of half remember you saying something to the contrary more recently?) - if you do, what was your reasoning behind choosing that particular person, and how involved in the process are you?

I’m pretty sure most music that gets released and isn’t some mixtape shit gets mastered. All my albums have been mastered. In the past, Ninja Tune had a guy they used and my ony job would be to hear the masters and approve them.
With my new album, I had to find a guy on my own but I know enough people at this point where that wasn’t hard. You basically go off the word of others. My involvement was pretty much going to the studio and listening to masters. Other than that, i just let the guy do his job but lead him in the direction you prefer, sound wise.

How do you usually deal with an average A-hole on the streets of New York who says something that makes you want to punch, but you don’t? I know you don’t. It’s you.

First off, I’m the most polite person ever. No lie. I’m highly aware of that kinda stuff when out in public and make an effort to never be an asshole to anyone. I’m a follower of the rules of engagement. So, you know, blow me.
This is like asking a person from boston “How do you deal with all that clam chowder and baked beans you must eat?”. There are dickheads all over NYC but it’s not like people are just walking around starting fights or being rude to one another for no reason. The “new yorkers are rude” claim is one of the most bullshit theories ever. We’re actually pretty helpful and nice. What we do is mind our own business and keep to ourselves. That’s what happens when you live on a tiny island with 8 million people on it. But, compared to a place like, say, paris? We’re an entire island of Mother Teresa’s.
So, when I over hear someone say some dumb shit, I let it go. Maybe I quietly laugh at that person to myself and tell a friend about it later. Being that I’m a civilized human being, I try not to go around punching every person I come across who says dumb shit. In fact, I avoid that at all costs. And, shockingly, it’s extremely easy to not fight people constantly.

Since you don’t drive, or drive much, do you ride a bicycle? If so, how is that in the crazy busy streets of New York?
Nope. I walk and take the subway. Sometimes cabs. But that’s it. I don’t ride bikes. I don’t skateboard. I don’t ride horses. I don’t stand on the roofs of cars and ride them like a surfbort like Teen Wolf. I’m all feet, all the time. In general, If I’m the one controlling them, I don’t do wheels.

I’ve read a little in the past, but forget. What is your approach to a lady you’re really interseted in? This is most likely the past for you anyhow.
This is definitely in the past for me. But, if i can recall, my approach was to flirt and plant seeds. Be charming, read signs. Basically be an intuitive person. It was a slow burn technic but it also had an extremely high success rate. I was never a “meet a girl, bag a girl, fuck a girl” kinda guy. I’m just not that aggressive. I’d imagine, if I were single now, the internet would play a huge part in getting girls. How could it not? Back in the myspace days, it certainly helped so i can only imagine how much it would play into that kinda stuff now.

If New York broke out with the start of the Zombie Apocalypse, where would you go? How would you react?
I lack some serious gumption so I’m pretty sure i’d hide until I got to hungry and then get killed within moments of leaving my hiding place. The only thing that might keep me alive is that I’m a fairly lucky person. So, perhaps, I’d get by on that for a while. But, yeah, I would not be one of those dudes who is around to restart civilization after brad pitt saves the world.

How did you go about learning production - ie, amplifying / lowering specific frequencies, and all of the more technical aspects of sound production? I really don’t know much more than applying high/low frequency filters appropriately and moving sounds around to different areas so as to not mud together. I want to make my shit sparkle, and do all my own mixing & mastering, but i’ve got this mental block caused by me knowing that there is a lot I don’t know. I just want to make my stuff sound as good & full, or at least close enough to the stuff that’s made in studios, and not sound like it was made in a bedroom, even though it is.

I learned through years of trial and error. I’d imagine it would have been much quicker for me if I was able to read instruction manuals and understand what they were talking about, but I’m not. That’s a language I don’t speak. So, I would just tinker around till things started to make more sense. Because of this style of “learning” it took me about 10 years of beat making before I felt I was happy with the sound I was creating. So, albums like “Float” , “Music by cavelight” , “Labor days” and even “Downtown science” were made before i really felt like i fully knew what I was doing.
I think people get hung up on technical aspects way too much in general and overlook the bigger picture of the music they’re creating. Of course you want it to sound good but the song itself being good is so much more important. I’m a firm believer in lo-fi shit. I’m still making music in my bedroom. If you wanna get it to sound good, find the right sounds. Don’t settle for stock keyboard/drum sounds. Seek out great drum sounds. Create your own. But, most of all, get someone else to mix it who knows what they’re doing. A good mix can change a lot of issues you might have had with the music when it was just you and your monitors in the bedroom.

Volume 200, eh? If I do the math, that’s a whole lotta questions. But a lot of them have to be repetitive or similar in theme. How many “archetypes” of questions could you categorize, that you’ve been asked over and over again?
Hmm…so many questions. Lemme just rattle off the first ten that pop into my head
1)”bad interview” questions. Those are things like “What are your influences?” and “What inspires you?”. These questions suck always and I really wish people would stop asking them. It’s arbitrary bullshit like “what’s your favorite color?” or “Bacon or sausage?”. Who gives a shit? I refuse to believe anyone reads answers to these types of questions and is like “Holy shit! that was interesting!”. I think, from now on, when I’m asked those questions in interviews, I’mma just list one person. “On, my greatest influence and inspiration? hmm…I gotta say, without questions, it was Richard Moll. Yes. The actor who played Bull on “Night Court”. He’s everything to me.”
2)”Do you like_____??” which is where some one asks my opinion on a specific artist or movie. I hate these cause they’re always just someone trying to justify their own taste by using me a barometer. Little do they know, I’m a terrible barometer and I most likely have very different musical taste than they think I have.
3)Tons of beat making questions.
4)”would you rather?” type questions. These can be fun but most of the time it’s me picking between the two grossest things on earth that, in all reality, I’d rather die than do in the first place.
5) People will throw a random topic at me. I like these questions cause they give me room to get a nice rant off. Like “What do you think of new moms?” or something like that. Very basic but very easy to sink my teeth into.
6) “Where did your name come from?” is a FAQ
7)Basketball questions. i’m fine with them but I realize, when I answer them, half of the readership skips over them. I’d actually imagine the same thing for any technical music questions as well. Can’t please everyone, I guess!
8)TV show questions. These are kinda like the opinion questions but more pointed. The problem with them is that they’re typically dated by the time I get around to answering them.
9)”state of hip hop” questions. It baffles me that people still pine over this topic but apparently, they do.
10)”Why do you always wear a hat?” Clearly, cause I was born with it attached to me head. Duh.