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Another gem out the archives.  My interview with DJ Simbad.

I was lucky to catch him while he was in town doing some gigs.  This man has traveled all over the world, rocking parties and doing his thing.  I had to especially pick his brain on the differences of cultures in the places he’s traveled.

 In this part of the interview I was especially interested in his discussion of quality.  As he noted, the idea of quality has been reduced not only in music, but many different places.  He also speaks on the drive it took to get him the blessing of doing what he loves and traveling the world.

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The next set of interviews are coming from deep in the archives.  Took me a while to get to these cats, but better late than never right?

About 2 years ago my home-girl Eve told me about a guy named Gifted & Blessed that she thought we should interview.  A very striking name to me.  I told her to send me some tracks to listen to.  Heard two tracks and was sold.  It was a warm, vibrant sound.  Very laid back.  It just felt good to listen to.  What was his secret?  Was it the chords and patterns?  Maybe. But part of it also, I learned, was that it was all analog! Read the rest of this entry →

Hey there!  I can’t believe it’s been a month already.

As I told yall before, I’m working with a site called New Culture Society.

All the work I’ve had to do there has had me on hiatus from here, but never fear.  I have plenty more interviews and such to give you.  Enough to go for a least a good few months.

For now, I think you’ll be more than happy to see the work I’ve been doing over at NCS.

Check out my interviews with…

Common

Miss Jack Davey

Brook D’leau

Kay Cola

and DJ Destroyer

It really feels good to settle into something I love with a team of people.

AND to make your Halloween weekend, be sure to download the first commissioned NCS mix!

DJ Destroyer KILLED it on here I’m tellin you.

See you again soon!

As we wrap up this interview with Iron finger, we get to see how this trio works as a team, with Bryan as their lead singer and leader.  Andy and David really trust Bryan’s work as a songwriter and add to the vision of the overall sound.  Bryan’s musical insight and seemingly genius skill on the piano makes him a complete force for others to recognize.

During the middle of the interview, some other guys stopped by their rehearsal space to check out the piano they had in their studio.  I believe they were going to sell it.  David had Bryan demonstrate the sound on the piano.  As far as I can tell, what he played was completely improvised and wasn’t any other song.  He just took to it and played with ease but it was a solo that you could have recorded for an album and it would have blown people away.  I’m convinced if Bryan was alive during the Hard Bop era, he would have been one of the greatest jazz pianists.  The thing is, he can play with that kind of skill with almost any genre!  The keys are truly a part of him.  Moreover you get to see what he feels his responsibility is as a songwriter to use his gifts as a means for insight for all the listeners to peek into their own lives, other peoples lives, and to remember what is most important in this world.

Part 2:  The Centerpiece

- The genius of Bryan

- Bryan’s solo

- What goes into the writing

- Words of advice

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Iron Finger is a rare breed of Rock music.  Musicians that play their own instruments and do all their own writing and singing.  Today we have a lot of artists that let all the electronics do the work.  These guys create everything by hand and by heart.

I heard Iron Finger’s music through Bryan’s girlfriend.  It didn’t take me long to tell that these guys were the real deal.  You can even hear in recorded music when a band can really play.  They take solos.  They have chord changes and different structure that keeps your attention.  They don’t just replay the song live like the recording.  Every time they play the song it’s different.  I sat in and shot some of their rehearsal before I interviewed them.  They play so easily in rehearsal, but with your eyes closed you’d think they were all the way up to level 10.  Well, I’ve seen the perform live since this.  This rehearsal was at about a 7.  When they get to 10, it’s an experience worth telling your friends about.

Part 1- Never-ending

- Who is Iron Finger?

- All the instruments

- Influences

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