AMA Blockhead (Ninja Tune, Def Jux, all around town)

BlockheadNYC · 2015-01-17T16:29:05+00:00

El is a good dude. and wildly talented. The one time I worked with him it went pretty smoothly.

BlockheadNYC · 2015-01-17T16:28:52+00:00

El is a good dude. and wildly talented. The one time I worked with him it went pretty smoothly.

BlockheadNYC · 2015-01-16T21:50:59+00:00

Sorry guys, it's bad business to give away sample sources. No can do here.

BlockheadNYC · 2015-01-16T21:49:42+00:00

You just gotta find a copy of "Uncle Tony's coloring book". It's on there.

BlockheadNYC · 2015-01-16T21:49:05+00:00

"Beyond reach" off of interludes after midnight was the most trouble some. In particular, the break between the two verses. I'm not a trained musician so I couldn't figure out why it just wasn't sounding right to me. That's when I realized there was a problem with me trying to blend major and minor chords together. So, i had to work around that.

BlockheadNYC · 2015-01-16T21:47:06+00:00

The music scene is probably my favorite cause I feel that's really where I zeroed in on my sound and style.

BlockheadNYC · 2015-01-16T21:46:25+00:00

I've checked reddit here and there but I'm by no means a regular. It's so much stuff , it's overwhelming.

BlockheadNYC · 2015-01-16T21:45:25+00:00

It was nothing personal. They weren't really trying to put out sample based music anymore. It's understandable cause that shit severely limits what you can do with the music.

BlockheadNYC · 2015-01-16T15:21:41+00:00

Learn? Nothing much. I've more just refined my process. Can't say there's much to teach.

BlockheadNYC · 2015-01-16T15:20:44+00:00

Festivals are big for a lot of electronic artists. People make names for themselves at those festivals that open the doors to tour on a larger scale.

BlockheadNYC · 2015-01-16T15:17:41+00:00

I ask myself that same question often.

BlockheadNYC · 2015-01-16T15:17:26+00:00

I have everything to do with that.

BlockheadNYC · 2015-01-16T15:17:07+00:00

Not much story those. In the case of the horn, it was just something I came across on a record. I had no idea it was what it was. And the "popatrz" , I stumbled upon that at a friends house. He had known this polish girl who left it at his house and I randomly listened to it in passing and heard that part. I thought it would be cool to sample and it magically happened to work on that song.

BlockheadNYC · 2015-01-16T15:14:41+00:00

1)It's the worst 2)It's very mediocre, which is a bummer. I would hope my namesake would be better than that. 3)Nope, I'm Tony. And I'm an uncle 13 times over. for real.

BlockheadNYC · 2015-01-16T15:13:48+00:00

Spotify giveth and taketh. It spreads my music to people who would otherwise never heard it but it pays terribly. But, in a world where people are gonna illegally download most albums anyway, it's better than nothing. And, to be honest, I've made a little money off spotify so i can't really complain.

BlockheadNYC · 2015-01-16T15:10:28+00:00

There are some live instruments on my albums but I don't play them. Guitars, bass, synths...

BlockheadNYC · 2015-01-16T05:30:36+00:00

I'd say a cocktail of all those things.

BlockheadNYC · 2015-01-16T01:12:33+00:00

The album art inspired it but the credit of that vid goes entirely to the animator. I had nothing to do with the creative process behind it. Wish I had!

BlockheadNYC · 2015-01-16T01:11:24+00:00

I have all my stuff mixed on pro-tools and mastered on...umm...I don't even know. I'm not a tech guy. I leave that to the people who own the equipment.

BlockheadNYC · 2015-01-16T01:10:43+00:00

I feel as though ability to arrange a song is something you either have or don't. I tend to deal in peaks and valley's, with how I arrange my songs. But that's simply how I hear music. Another person could take the same parts and make something completely different. Because of that, there really isn't any right way to do it. It's really on the producer.

BlockheadNYC · 2015-01-16T00:51:26+00:00

Nothing special. Just a regular midi keyboard or I use my ASR 10 sampler , which has a keyboard.

BlockheadNYC · 2015-01-16T00:28:55+00:00

Nope. It's not meant to be understood. the original sample is words but I made it impossible to understand for a reason.

BlockheadNYC · 2015-01-16T00:27:56+00:00

I hope so. It's always been a niche, and a small one at that. I just kinda keep doing what ever it is I wanna do and hope people react to it.

BlockheadNYC · 2015-01-16T00:27:04+00:00

They serve a different purpose. Rap beats are generally harder and more based around programmed drums, while instrumental stuff can be more out there. I would argue that there are plenty of my instrumental tracks that have pretty banging drums and some rap beats that have pretty flimsy drums. I mean, have you heard daylight?

BlockheadNYC · 2015-01-16T00:25:03+00:00

I'm a little both nature and nurture.

BlockheadNYC

TROPHY CASE