Tag Archives: Industrial Strength Records

Kryptic Corner 003: Braincrushers & E-RAYzor Interview

Article and interview by Howard “How Hard’ Grene

In July 2017, Hard Kryptic Records released the Worldwide Movement: Remix Project which featured both top name and underground artists remixing one of the most recognized tracks in Hard Kryptic: “Worldwide Movement”. Remixers like Masters of Hardcore‘s Re-Style, Swiss legends Dark Headz, Sweden’s top name Mark Frostbite aka Trinitite, Spain’s rising star SOTUI, Japan’s untouchable Kortarow, Argentina’s noisemaker Round Wave Crusher, and Dutch and American duo Hard Versions took the already crushing track and re-visioned it as their own.

The original release came out in July 2014 and was created to show how hardcore music is bigger than borders. German producers Braincrushers and E-RAYzor joined forces with US producer How Hard. An accompanying music video further showed the unified hardcore vibe with clips of hardcore events in Germany, Ukraine, Netherlands, United States, UK, and more!

I virtually sat with duo Braincrushers, which consists of brothers Oliver and David, and Ralf aka E-RAYzor after the dust settled on this explosive release to learn about them, their thoughts, on the project, and more!

Worldwide Movement: Remix Project (HKD078)

When did each of you start to create/produce music? Was hardcore the genre you start with?

BC: We started in 1995 with an old mixer and two turntable with no pitch. The mixer was Oliver’s birthday present, our dad came up with it. He played music as a young man and made his money with it. I think he wanted us to do something and tried to give an initial start. It worked just fine. The electronic music wave just came up here, it was new, cool, but not for everybody. We went crazy on hardcore music from the first second! In 1996, we played our first DJ set on a hardcore party. In the early 2000s we started to make our own music on Fruity Loops, and then Reason. Our first release came out ´07 “Little Asses” on G-Net Records.

E: I started producing hardcore with some friends using Fast Tracker in the middle of the nineties. We first only made fun tracks for ourselves, but one time we invited DJ friend of mine, and we made our first serious track. He pressed that one as a test pressing and played it in Bochum Germany at a big hardcore party. The reaction was positive, and that kept me going!

Were there any early influences on your music in the beginning? What about today?

BC: We always liked Main & Industrial. Artists from Traxtorm, Neophyte Records, Megarave, Industrial Strength, and Enzyme all influenced our music. In the very beginning, there was also Rob Gee (my ringtone is still “Ecstasy, You Got What I Need”), Lenny Dee with Microtronic, Dreamer, and Noize Suppressor.

E: My first CD was The Prodigy’s Experience, and the second was Thunderdome II, so you can say I am hardcore since the beginning! I also listened to all the 90s dancefloor stuff, hip hop like 2 Live Crew and DMX. Also, some rock and metal stuff like Linkin Park. All in all, I have a really wide taste of music. I don`t think in genres. There is good music everywhere, it just needs a drive for me, something special, recognizable.

Braincrushers

How would you each describe your styles of hardcore?

BC: We like hardcore music that goes with the times. The better the hardware and software gets, the better the tunes. We listen to and love the old classics, but when we play parties and work on our music, we want to go with times in our own way.

E: As a DJ, my style in hardcore is very diverse. I play everything from the early rave to happy hardcore, early mainstyle from the 2000s, and all the to the new stuff. Depending on the party, I can play everything from slow to fast, from old to new. As long it gets me and in a good mood I like it. I play a lot of tracks with nice melodies, but also “in ya face” tracks. For me, the mixture makes the party.

E-RAYzor

What are you using in the studio these days? Any stand-out piece of gear or instrument?

BC: Nothing special. A keyboard, Cubase, KRK Rockets and a lot of enthusiasm.

E:  I don’t have my own studio today. I prefer more visiting my friends’ studios instead, like the Braincrushers’. We can have fun together, and I’m way more creative there versus working alone.

Worldwide Movement: Remix Project is out now. What can you say about this project, and what makes it so special?

BC:  Special to us is the long history of this project. The first release came out in 2014. We started working on this track months before with Ray when he visited us. We couldn’t find suitable vocals, so we asked Howard if he could record something for us. Bit by bit, session after session, element after element, countless nights with less sleep, hurting necks, and a lot of fun, we finally completed the track. Then came the video that Howard did with all the screaming people with different origins and now, all the remixes from artists around the world. “Worldwide” is not just a cool word for the title, the release was actually made worldwide!

E: In the beginning it was just a fun idea, but then we received Trinitite’s first remix from Sweden and said, “Hey, that is just too good to be not released, so what can we do?” As the title of the EP was Worldwide Movement, we thought about who we can also ask for a remix. The Darkheadz from Switzerland are good friends of mine for over 15 years. They were totally into the project, and sent their remix very quickly. Re-Style I knew from many bookings and parties where we met and I love his style since his first record so it was no question to ask him, too. In the end, I think we really have many different remixes with different styles but all of them have to touch and vibe of the original. For me it is always hard to decide which one I play the next!

Worldwide Movement (HKD060)

The original Worldwide Movement track was a collaboration between artists. Any other artists you would like to work with in the studio?

BC: Actually, every talented artist with the same enthusiasm is welcome! Main thing is to have fun and at the end of the day: good music!

Who else would you love to see remix one of your tracks?

E: For me one of the best remixers is The Viper, so that would be cool!

BC: Noize Suppressor! He is one of greatest interpreters of hardcore. He is a real artist.

Oliver/Braincrushers

From your work on Hard Kryptic, what would each be your stand out track or release?

BC: “Worldwide Movement”, “STOMP!” and “Crush on You“. Honestly, we can’t make a decision!

E: That`s easy! The original “Worldwide Movement” is the best track I ever made! It still gives me goosebumps every time I listen to it, and even play it at all parties!

Any stand out tracks from HKR besides your own tracks?

BC: The “Return of the Pit” remix by Ophidian.

E: I love all the Braincrushers releases and the Triax vinyl release, but the most outstanding track for me is the Amnesys Remix of DJ Delirium’s “Blazin’ Out Your Speaker”. This one is an absolute masterpiece in my opinion! It also was the first Hard Kryptic release I heard, so it got me into contact with the label. I pushed my favorite record store in that time to order that record because I heard it and totally fell in love.

Triax – Stronger Than Ever (HKR004)

Besides being producers, you’re also established DJs who have played in many festivals and in different countries, including the United States. What different do you see between playing in the U.S. versus in Europe?

E: I first came to New York in 2010 for Speakerfreakz. I thought I stepped out of a time machine! So many different people with wild costumes, much dedication to the music. I felt like back in the nineties in Europe when the whole rave scene began, and everything seemed to be possible. At all the parties I played in the U.S., there where all different styles of electronic music: house, drum n’ bass, hardstyle, hardcore, and even dubstep. The people were so open-minded to everything I played. I started my set with hardstyle and slowly took them to hardcore, and they loved it! It was unbelievable! I will never forget when I ended my set with the Pussyvibes mash-up of the Braincrushers at over 200 BPM, and the DJ after me started a house set at 130 BPM. In Europe that would be impossible!

Do you have any advice would you give a new DJ or producer?

E: Do it for the love of the music, not because you think it`s cool.

BC: Stick to it, don’t give up. Make it with passion.

What is upcoming for you? Any new releases or remixes in the works?

BC: We always are working on something. Stay anxious! Tracks are in the works. Hopefully another banging release on HKR!

E: Not yet, but hopefully I will find the time to get back in the studio soon to make some serious noise!

Find more information at:

Hard Kryptic Records/Hard X Music Official Website

Hard Kryptic Records/Hard X Music Facebook

Hard Kryptic Records/Hard X Music Twitter

Hard Kryptic Records/Hard X Music YouTube

Hard Kryptic Records/Hard X Music Soundcloud

The Making of King of Style

“King of Style” is a techno track that took three decades to make. As many of you know, the track is made from audio and video samples from what is regarded as the first Hip Hop Documentary, Style Wars, a movie that mesmerized me from the day I saw it and echoes in my head to this day. From 1983 onward, the movie had catalyzed millions of Hip Hop lovers around the globe. When I started producing rave music in 1994, one of the first things I wanted to do was sample Style Wars and make it into a rave track. But, because I loved the movie so much, I agonized over every detail. In my mind, every attempt I made was never good enough. Slowly but surely though, life (or more accurately) the realization that life could quickly end, would bring the project into being.

The first time I saw Style Wars was 1985, when it appeared on PBS, WQED Channel 13 in Pittsburgh, PA. I already had heard about the film, and “recorded” it as best I could, with an audio cassette deck. At the time, VHS and Betamax television recorders were still expensive and my family didn’t have one. From that day on, me and my graffiti friends would listen to the audio cassette over and over as we practiced our lettering and character styles. We could practically recite the entire movie if asked. I was always obsessed with lettering styles, and so Kase 2, the graffiti artist that invented “computer rock” style was my favorite graffiti writer in the movie. I loved everything he said in the movie, and me and my friends would pepper our everyday language with his seemingly random extra-galactic vernacular. We called each other, “The fresh extra-tellestrial (sic) brothers”, and called things “super-duty-tuff-work” on a regular basis.

But in retrospect, the thing that resonated most with me about Kase 2 was his dedication to inventing new lettering styles. That simple love of innovation in the visual arts, or anywhere in life, that joy in creation, is what inspired me. Sure, like many male dominated fields, graffiti was competitive, and I liked that, but at its heart it was constructive. It was making something, and wanting to make something good, for goodness’s sake. That was the goal. This felt natural to me.

In the mid-80’s there was an airline called “People’s Express”. For $49 Round-trip you could fly from Pittsburgh to New York and Boston, and me and my graffiti crew, Badassest, often did so to paint in each other’s city. During this time I would frequent Henry Chalfant’s studio in Soho, where famous graffiti artists would congregate. Making acquaintance and befriending some, I would develop my own lettering style, later known as “monster rock”. I would constantly bug the heck out of everyone asking them, “What do you think of this style?” after every twitch of my pencil.

One day, as Chalfant was on his way to photograph a wall for his upcoming book “Spray Can Art” book, I tagged along with who would become an internationally famous graffiti writer, T-Kid 170. During that trip, T-Kid gave me the “Wildstyle Card”. This was a membership to one of New York’s biggest and most legendary graffiti crews, started by Tracy 168. But, that was not all. At one point in the journey we had to make a stop to see Kase 2. I was thrilled as you could imagine and once he got in the car I immediately started drawing my version of computer rock. But, since I was so rushed and nervous meeting one of my all-time heroes, it came out kind-of-wack. Kase was like, “um…”, and frankly seemed to have his mind on other things than graffiti, anyway. But, nonetheless, I got to tell him how great I thought he was. So, though not a perfect experience, I look back at it with a lot of fondness.

In the course of hanging out with all these graffiti writers, I invariably would hear background stories of beefs, collaborations, history, and behind-the-scenes goings on during the filming of Style Wars. Some of these stories would eventually influence the way I edited the “King of Style” video, decades later.

For example, though Cap comes off in the movie as some sort of racist thug, he actually did pieces and whole car paintings. One of which was filmed during the making of the movie, seen at 2:54 in the King of Style video. Basically, showing anything but Cap’s throw-ups didn’t fit the narrative of the original story, and this footage can only be seen in the outtakes. So, I wanted to give a bit of the “other side” of the story after all these years. Also, something most people won’t realize today, is that back then in New York, everyone in the graffiti scene used the word “nigger” to describe friend and foe alike, be they black, white or otherwise. I believe I heard that Cap even used to piece with Kase occasionally! So, to some degree Cap’s dialogue wasn’t as racist as modern viewers, and viewers outside of New York in the 1980’s, might think.

At 3:37 in King of Style… see that kid all the way to the left, in the white sweater and gloves making the hand move? Well, the story with him is that Mom was so worried he would be dressed right for the filming, she kept him in too long prepping him. He never made it on time and missed the prime shooting window! So, I wanted to make sure his Mom’s hard work was finally appreciated!

When selecting the train footage, I tried my best to get examples of wildstyle lettering on the trains. Usually the public sees more of the glossy work by Seen, Lee and Dondi from this period, but what I remember going on at that time was skinny, angular wild styles by crews like FBA (Fast Breakin’ Artists) and I tried to salvage as many examples as I could from the outtakes. And, just an aside, I think one of the things I like most about the Style Wars outtake footage, is that it reminds me of those hot, humid summers in 1980’s New York. There was freedom in the air then with its own distinct character. I wonder if younger viewers can see that in the film, as I do. I wonder if it registers as being any different than their current experience.

Many songs and tracks have sampled Style Wars, but usually the samples floated in the background of the music. I wanted my samples to be upfront and bold, as if they were lyrics to a song, and in the back of my mind, I always wanted the original video to be featured in some way. So, around 2011, when I was able to help with the film’s restoration project, in passing I mentioned to Public Art Films that I could make an electronic remix of the footage, and no one said, “no.” So, that encouraged me to keep poking away at ideas on how I would feature the material in an electronic dance music track.

Ultimately the catalyst that made me finally commit to finishing the track was a tragedy that happened in my life. A fire destroyed virtually everything I owned, my records, art, letters… all gone. Being present during the fire, I realized that in a split second, everything can change, and if I ever wanted to finally make the track that had been banging in the back of my mind, now was the time. Fortunately, following the chaos of the New York stop on the Trauma Live Tour,  I ran into my old rave friend, Lenny Dee, who was interested in the possibilities of the track (and eventually tweaked it for mass consumption, the original mix appears in world’s first blockchained DJ mix, “Rock the Blockchain“) and encouraged me to go forward. He even gave me advance samples from his upcoming audio sample packs (Industrial Strength Samples) that I made sure to use in the track. Much as Kase 2, Tracy 168, Lee, T-Kid, A-1, Daze or Phase 2 were inspirations to me in graffiti, Lenny has always been someone I listen to before creating my music. He’s a master that can’t help but share his experience and can easily be judged by the myriad of artists and tracks he has launched and showcased over the decades.

I would spend much of the summer of 2016 working on the track. The one aspect that I wanted to incorporate, that I felt needed in the track, was horns. Horns or saxophone like in the Jimmy Castor Bunch’s “It’s Just Begun.” I’ll never forget the time I heard Marley Marl scratching up two copies of “It’s Just Begun” on his Saturday night WBLS mix show in New York. The “transformer scratch” technique had just come out, and Marley Marl made sure to “transform” just about every jam he played that night. I was lucky enough to record him slicing up two copies of “It’s Just Begun” and I listened to it all summer. Of course, “It’s Just Begun” was already dated by the time I heard it as a teenager, but until this day, no song captures the spirit and the youthful vitality of the New York City summer for me, and represents one of the critical sparks to what would one day become Hip Hop.

One of the feelings I wanted to recreate also, was the original spirit of Hip Hop that Style Wars represented back in 1983. It was a spirit of creativity and living in the moment, using what was at hand to make the world a better place, a fun place. And sadly, and I pre-apologize for being kind of a bummer here… that I felt Hip Hop had abandoned as early as about 1987. Like many early Hip Hop adopters, I found solace in its creativity, but the world at large could have cared less. Many truly hated the sound back then! And, at some point it was decided that Hip Hop would no longer promote creativity, but it would promote the acquisition of money, status symbols, and eventually degenerate into misogyny, misanthropy and greed for its own sake. As a somewhat nerdy, middle-class kid, I frankly couldn’t understand the attraction to those topics. And, I wonder to this day how much of that was forced on the public, rather than accepted. Regardless, I had felt somewhat betrayed by Hip Hop, and from 1987 to 1991 bounced around aimlessly from music genre to music genre hoping one day I would find the same joy I found in original Hip Hop.

That joy was rekindled when my friend Neil Keating sent me a tape from London that had two tracks I’ll never forget, Final Exposure’s Vortex, and Lennie De Ice’s “We are I.e.” and from that point, I never looked back. The rave era began for me. That joy of sonic

exploration and do-it-yourself fun was back, and I think because many of us remembered what happened to Hip Hop, we called the first manifestations of rave music “hardcore” and proclaimed it would never die. So, that is why King of Style thumps with the big distorted kick drums and flanged breakbeats of hardcore techno and drum and bass, two styles that I saw carrying original Hip Hop’s early promise. King of Style is my tribute to that feeling, to the joy of creation for its own sake, and enjoying it with your friends. It’s when you put your mind and body into whatever you’re doing, whether its graffiti, knitting, pottery, gaming, heck, even aerobics…whatever you like to do! It’s when you lock into that zone and know for that moment, you’re the “King of Style.”

Kase2 memorial. RIP

Posted by Terrible Tkid 170 on Monday, August 14, 2017

Deadly Buda Pre-HE Interview

It’s kind of weird to interview yourself. But, since my job was to interview as many Hard Electronic artists as possible, and a day went by without one, I figured I should fill the gap, as I’m playing the L.A. show. We basically made a list of stock questions for the artist to answer how they wanted. So, I figured this would be easy. Lo and behold, the strangest thing was that I surprised myself with answers to the questions I wrote! So, if you’ve got a few minutes, let’s hang out…

Where are you from? How does your geographic location influence your music?

A Deadly Buda graphic from 1994
A Deadly Buda graphic from 1994, Pittsburgh PA.

I was born in Pittsburgh, PA. There, like most places in the civilized world, the population is force-fed garbage music repeatedly, brainwashing them and compromising their lives. It was there that I decided to fight against the insipid audio enslavers, be they man or otherwise. Eventually forced out of the city, I slowly made my way across the USA and have lived in Los Angeles County for the last 17 years, where I continue to wage my guerrilla campaigns to varying degrees of success.

What’s the story behind your DJ Name?

The original story is that “Buda” was my graffiti tag name, taken from a high school social studies report. I added “Deadly” with my first rave DJ gig in 1991. I wanted my DJ name to sound like a kung-fu movie name, like my DJ heroes growing up, Grandfaster Flash, mainly. But as time went on the meaning changed various times. I read years ago about certain Buddha’s whose job it was too destroy egos in order to set people free from the identity others have forced upon them. I like that idea, so that’s what my name means, now.

Who or what events in your life are responsible for you being the artist you are today?

My neighbor, Phil Schoemer, who first taught me how to DJ, was the biggest influence. I still remember things he taught me today, and still struggle to do them. DJ Controlled Weirdness, who introduced me to so much music in the early 90s and we threw raves together as Hear 2 Go, Christoph Fringeli from Praxis Records after that. I’ve always listened to everything Lenny Dee has to say, because he is more experienced and forward thinking than anyone in the dance music industry, period, and today when I get to work with Rob Gee on videos and stuff, helps me keep my sanity in a world gone mad.

Deadly Buda will be appearing at Hard Electronic September 9, 2017
Deadly Buda will be appearing at Hard Electronic September 9, 2017

What are you trying to convey with your music? What are you trying to communicate? What are you giving to the crowd that listens to you?

Though I try to make my sound dimension-bending and otherworldly, at the core I guess I am just trying to communicate that they aren’t alone… that we see really see these things and enjoy things together. I feel what they feel, too. Ultimately, life is more psychedelic than any drug you will ever take. So, I think when I play “crazy” hardcore I am just really describing life as it is, without a filter, and I want to just geek out with my friends about it and what we’re doing.

What moment do you cherish the most so far in your career as a DJ?

Lenny Dee's Trax from the Darkside album art by Deadly Buda
Lenny Dee’s Trax from the Darkside album art by Deadly Buda

There are some big ones for sure, Even Further ’95, and of course Even Further ’96. Both were some of my greatest sets for big crowds, and of course legendary parties. But the first one that always comes to my mind when asked is Catastrophic New Years in 92-93, in Washington DC. It was my first ever out-of-town gig, and Catastrophic was one of the biggest, if not the biggest rave crew on the East Coast at the time. My friend Dario Kenning gave them a tape and the next thing you know I’m playing ‘til midnight for the biggest, most illegal party I’d ever seen or maybe will ever see in the USA. They were diplomat’s kids, the Baez brothers, and they literally were pulling electricity right off the telephone poles into the warehouse and all the cops were obviously paid off. Ravers surrounded by Secret Service, it was unreal. I was already playing hard at the time, and I’ll never forget when I asked Mike Battaglia (now known as Mike Bee) what I should play, because I thought I might be too hard for them. He laughed and said, “just play hardcore!” and raised his fist and laughed. So I did and it went through the roof!

But for cherishing, I’ll always cherish the first raves I did in Pittsburgh with Controlled Weirdness: Psychotronic Slackrave, the Beehive parties, and after he moved, the Turbo-Zen and Millennium parties, which are stories for another day.

What specifically are you planning to give to the audience at Hard Electronic?

Original Deadly Buda style with new and improved ingredients. Since it’s Hard Electronic, I am going out-of-my-way to break the mainstream rules, really my old style. So, starting at 133 BPM and in a half hour, crank it up to 200+ BPM. I’m going to start banging some new Dave Delta tracks, and end up with some Mr. Madness at the end. Make sure to get there by 10:00 PM though, because that’s when I start. There are so many great DJs playing that if you blink you’ll miss one of us!

What is something you really want to tell the public that we might not have asked about?

The world today is dangerous, and meant to be confusing and overwhelming. It’s easy to get upset and impatient with everything going on. Just when you think you know the answers, another contradictory layer to the madness is revealed and frustrates. In today’s world we cannot rely only on logic or emotion, but must hone our intuition to navigate through the madness. Mistakes will be made by us and others, but if you proceed knowing you are good, and look for and amplify the good in others, be they friend or foe, we can navigate around the dangers and feel immediate satisfaction in our actions. I have to remind myself of this, so maybe others need to hear it too.

Links

Deadly Buda’s Musicoin Profile

DeadlyBuda.com

Deadly Buda Wikipedia

FacebookTwitterInstagram 

 

 

Delta 9 aka Dave Delta pre-HE Interview

Devil Times 9 LogoIt’s about time Delta 9 “graces” the pages of The Hard Data again! You would think that he or his alter-ego “Dave-Delta” would get play here all the time, being that he’s an old school vet still pumping out dope tunes. Well, this error has been corrected and now you get to read the words of wild from the Windy City’s #1 devil of hardcore! Without further delay…

So, ok, we already know you’re from Chicago.

Yes. The windy City creates the Chicago hardcore sound.

What’s the story behind your DJ Name?

Delta 9 equals tetrahydrocannabinol.

Who or what is responsible for you being the artist you are today?

It basically came from the upside-down behaviors of human society. It’s either find an outlet or become a serial killer.

What are you trying to convey with your music?

I’m trying to convey rebellion that becomes more difficult as the industry turns more towards the direction of big business.

Dave Delta LogoWhat moment do you cherish the most so far in your career as a DJ, artist or musician?

All of them. Every event from small to large, every DJ set I play and everyone I speak with throughout the night.

Ok, but what specifically are you planning to give to the audience at Hard Electronic?

A look into of my soul.

What is something you really want to tell the public that we might not have asked about?

That hooker was dead already!

Facebook.com/Deviltimesnine

Delta 9 will be performing September 8, 2017 at Hard Electronic.
Delta 9 will be performing September 8, 2017 at Hard Electronic.

Ooo

MastaChief Pre-HE Interview

Few can rock the mic to hardcore and hardstyle with authority, but MastaChief is one of them! We managed to catch him in-between scripting his lyrical delights long enough to get the story behind the “Voyce.”

Ok Chief, before we go any further, why don’t you tell us a little bit about where you’re from?

Before I say anything, HI HARD DATA! LOVE YOU GUYS 🙂

I am born and raised in NYC. Can’t claim a borough because I’ve moved around too much. The city that never sleeps is known as one of the biggest melting pots in the country. It is this diverse city (see what I did there?) that has helped to cultivate my taste in music. While I grew up around many sounds the one that grabbed my spirit most was Hip Hop, which makes perfect sense as the culture was birthed right here in the Bronx. Through Hip Hop, I found a passion for the art of spoken word/poetry. From there my desire to perform took the forefront. And once I found the Rave Culture, as an event host I had the opportunity to learn how eMCeeing began.

MastaChief will be rocking the Hard Electronic September 8, 2017
MastaChief will be rocking the Hard Electronic September 8, 2017

What’s the story behind your MC Name?

At my second event I was sitting with a group of my friends on the roof. I was speaking to them about how I felt as though we were all united in a tribal celebration. There is no judgment. This is our ritual. Everything and everyone is at peace. I had love for each and every person whether I knew them personally or not. How powerful we are when we come together. And my friend Ameera laughed and responded with “yo you’re like MastaChief right now.” I loved it! Although I didn’t claim it right away because I felt the name was a big responsibility. My mentor, who is a Hip Hop artist by the name of NYOil, once told me that names are not learned, they’re earned. So about a year later I finally found what it took to hold the title of MastaChief. And here I am.

Wow, ok that clears a lot up because we thought it was because maybe you played a lot of Halo or something! So, who or what was responsible for you being the MC you are today?

I was always around music that had some kind of substance. There was a message and a purpose, no matter what the genre. Something that once you listen it would stay with you forever once you hear it even if you didn’t get it right away. As far as electronic music, mixtapes with music from the likes of Josh Wink, Junior Vasquez, and several others were in constant rotation around the house. I have to thank my entire family for not only exposing me to such great music but for raising me to be someone who acts, speaks, and thinks with a purpose as well.

What are you trying to convey with your music?

As with the music of my upbringing, I write for a purpose. There is always a message I am trying to convey. Even if I am writing a party track I still want to include some level of creativity so it’s not a typical 1-2-3 jump formula. With the exception of slight influences here and there, I don’t want to be like anything anyone has ever heard. I read some of the comments on Hard Dance tracks and I see comments all the time about how the track is good but the lyrics are so cheesy. THOSE COMMENTERS ARE MY MARKET! Those people who can go balls to the wall to the production but listen to the track in their headphones later on and actually get something from it. Unfortunately, not a lot of producers see the vision so I often have to dumb it down for lack of a better term. I mean, I’m sure Industrial Strength had its naysayers back in 1991 but here we are 26 years later. Just saying.

What moment do you cherish the most so far in your career as an MC?

I don’t really know if I can speak on a moment yet because in the grand scheme of things I am still very much a new jack and earning the responsibility of carrying the torch. However, I can say in terms of electronic music who I cherish and that is Michael Phase. He was the first DJ that believed in my ability as an MC. He offered me the tips and tricks needed to understand how to perform to an Electronic crowd (because the first time I tried to perform with him I went at it with a rapper attitude and it did not work). Before I rocked stag’s with anyone else, he and I were the pair to look out for. And now he’s about to headline in Australia for Hard Island! We fought for our respective places together for years and it’s good to finally be getting a taste of it.

What specifically are you planning to give to the audience at Hard Electronic?

For a long time I feel like I haven’t been able to be myself when I’m on stage. Yes, I am MastaChief. And MastaChief is me. But there are more layers to my personality than just all out aggression. And due to having to tone myself down in the earlier years of hosting I feel like a lot of my other layers have taken a back seat for the sake of being “professional.” However, I’d like to be able to prove there is an ability to be yourself and be professional as the same time. I want to have fun. And I want everyone to have fun with me and maybe be a bit open minded about me making a few jokes, acting silly, making powerful statements, interacting with the crowd more etc. At the very least I would like this to be a stepping stone in that direction.

What is something you really want to tell the public that we might not have asked about?

I have a scar on the left side of my face and a few people have asked me about it and I’m sure more have wondered. So, I’d like this to be my official statement as to what happened…

Back in July 2011 I was walking into an outlaw that I was supposed to be hosting in Coney Island. While I was walking into the spot it was nearly pitch black and suddenly a light flashed in my eyes and I’m surrounded by anywhere between 6-8 guys all pounding away at my face, head, and body demanding that I give up my belongings. I resisted by holding my footing and demanding a fair fight. It was at that moment in the scuffle I spotted a silver box cutter and I began to see blood spritzing out from the side of my face. I finally gave up my stuff. Once they left I could hear and feel blood spraying from my head so I used my shirt to apply pressure and I ran deeper into the spot to find help from my friend Jesse. She called 911 and walked with me for the entire half mile to the ambulance. When I got there, I discovered I wasn’t the only one who was attacked as there was more than one ambulance. Before being put on the stretcher my head and torso, which was also sliced open, was wrapped up cutting off my vision. It was at that point I began to feel myself fading away. I struggled to hold myself upright as they prepped the stretcher. I could hear Jesse yelling for them. And for just a few seconds I accepted my fate. I was ready to let myself go. Just then I was put on the stretcher and regained full consciousness. Once I got in the ambulance I raised my bloody hands and formed them into a heart as a thank you for Jesse who stood with me until practically the last stitch. As it turns out, I had lost almost 2 liters worth of blood but the laceration had not gone deep enough to reach my jugular. Whoever those individuals are, I do not wish ill on you. I understand why you felt the need to inflict such harm on people and I forgive you. Just know that not only have you created your own karma but you have awakened a beast within me. A beast which I bring to the microphone night after night and Hard Electronic will be no exception.

https://www.facebook.com/MastaChiefMC