Afro Monk

Mt Eden is on top of the Dubstep game! Mt Eden is Jesse Cooper & Harley Rayner. They are both from New Zealand originally. If there is any dubstep I was into besides the glitchy dubstep it was the chill female vocal dubstep. These guys totally rock out the melodic dubstep vibes. They’ve done some major remixes from Burial, Imogen Heap, and Prodigy. Homies need to put out a mixtape of their stuff. It’s ashame they haven’t put out a proper mix. Go out and check out some of their tunes below. Don’t let anyone tell you these guys aren’t dubstep. This is sound where it all began, well besides their Prodigy remix haha.

Here is a great interview with Jesse. This guy is totally legit.

Here are some tunes of theirs! Also a video of him throwing down hard at SF. Jesus those raves out there look out of control. Even Mt Eden brings it hard when he plays out.

Erik L is a Swedish producer best known for his work with the groups Supersci and Favorite Flava. Today he will release his solo debut album “The Soularp Suite” on his own imprint Soularp Records. Don’t miss this album if you’re into futuristic funky hiphop based beats ’cause this album is extremely wicked.

Hey Erik, how thing’s today?

Hey I’m fine! How are you? (All good here/Pierre)

You’re about to release your debut solo album any day now. Can you tell me the story behind it, why did you choose to record a solo album? As a member of the hip hop act Supersci, do you feel that the music you make under the name Supersci doesn’t satisfy your musical output, ergo the solo album?

I have been releasing my solo material since early 2008 and I did my solo album because I make alot of music. I had already put out a digital free EP, the Favorite Flava album (me and producer / singer Stray), a vinyl EP with US rapper Cerebral Vortex and worked with a bunch of American emcees so it was a natural thing to do and I know people want to hear a full length Erik L album. No we are working on the new Supersci album right now, and we are taking it in a new fresh direction, still the jazzy vibe but maybe a little more soulful and funky sounding and not completely sample based, that’s how I would describe it.

When you produce for Supersci you and Arka goes under the name Flyphonic Beats, why did you make the choice to distance yourself from Flyphonic and release an album under your own name?

Arka have been working on his things and besides Supersci, producing for a Swedish rapper called Mangemyt among other things and I have been fortunate enough to be able to work almost full time with my music the last 2 or 3 years and when you work in the studio almost every day you keep getting alot of tracks! Plus I wanted to go in a little other direction with my music. Keep the musicality but a bit less jazzy compared to Flyphonic and a little heavier and more funk driven. I have always loved funk, listened a lot to jazz and funk when I was a kid and also played saxophone in a jazz-funk band. Lately I almost stopped sampling and instead play all the instruments myself. I get tired of myself after doing the same style or sound for too long. Im always looking forward and have a hard time listening to stuff that I made a while ago, which could be a problem when I have unreleased tracks laying around and starting to get old (for me).

The album will be released digital on your newly founded label Soularp Records, how did you come up with the idea to start your own imprint? So far you’ve released two albums (not counting your album), please inform the readers about these two.

I started the label because me and Detroit producer Illingsworth had an album laying around that we have been working with on and off since 2007, and 2009 we were going to have it released on a label on vinyl, CD and digital but that didn’t happen for some reason so I decided to release it myself digitally. The CD will be out on Still Siblings Ent, which is the Swedish rapper Numb’s label (I produced his latest CD except one track). So Northern Connection was the first release which have been working out better than I could have imagined with a lot of buzz and airplays, and in February we released my man Stray’s (from Favorite Flava) album. It’s a soul album going in a few different directions from pop to electro funk. He makes great songs and has a great sense for harmonies and chords.

You have invited some guests to take part of your album, namely Frank n Dank, Cerebral Vortex & Paul Mac Innes & Stray. Did you know that these were the artists you wanted to work with before you started to record the album or did they come along during the duration of the recording?

No that just happened. I have a bunch of tracks recorded with Frank n Dank and I took 2 of them to the album. I wanted one last track with rap and Cerebral Vortex did a verse on a track called ”Ascension” I asked Paul to sing on it too and he did something super quick which I think sounded great. The album is mostly instrumental though.

Talking about Stray, you’re also involved in the “future soul”(?) project Favorite Flava with Stray. So far you’ve released one album. Shed some light on the project for the readers.

I checked Stray’s myspace page maybe early 2008 and was like damn, this is some nice music and asked him to sing on a track with Kissey Asplund for a free EP I was doing and it turned out fine so I sent him some more beats and he recorded to alot of them and he was very fast too, just like me and I guess we decided to do an album instead. So we did, and we had a couple of labels interested but settled with Ubeat Records which seemed like a fresh new forward thinking label run by Jay Scarlett and Onur Engin. We got some great feedback on the album and a lot of airplay around the world.

Going back to your album, one can spot influences from a broad spectra of music may it be hip hop, soul, electronica & folk music but how do you personally describe it? Do you have a particular label that you use?

No, instrumental (space funk) hip hop… at least on my latest album. I try to have my own sound harmonically.. or actually it comes naturally because I’m not super trained in musical theory so I do it in my own way. I do think I have a good musical ear though and a feeling for what type of things that works rhythmically and what doesn’t, plus I can improvise on any instrument I play. That helps me alot coming up with something unique musically. Of course I spend a lot of time on the drums, try to come up with something fresh.

You play most of the instruments on the album yourself. Are you a schooled musician or have you learned to play on you own? And which is the ultimate musical instrument ever?

I started playing the drums when I was very young, my father taught me but he could only play jazz so the first things I learned on the drums were to swing, you know on the ride cymbal and small improvised fills on the snare. Then I took piano lessons when starting going to school, but I thought it was boring until I learned how to improvise on an instrument, after that I started to play the saxophone when I was maybe 13 and played it kind of seriously for a number of years. I also liked to play electric bass and borrowed an old Stingray and I remember I used to play to a Herbie Hancock tune called ”Spider”, that was the type of music I was listening to when I was around 14. In the little place where I grew up most kids were listening to heavy metal. Late 1998 I made my first beat. Later on I practised bass every day and almost stopped making beats for like 2 years.

You’ve produced a lot of other artists as well during the years. Swedish artists like Organism 12, Fjärde Världen, Fattaru, Kissey Asplund etc. as well as some foreign names (Cerebral Vortex). What does the future hold for you as a producers for others? Do you have any artists you would like to work with?

Who I would like to work with, I would say Erykah Badu, Gerogria Anne Muldrow, Bilal and Steve Spacek. My main goal now is to focus on my instrumental music. I think that’s where the most interesting music is made now, like the whole beat scene that is getting bigger and bigger.

If we shall go back in time a bit, 2007 you released the Flyphonic album which has been grossly overlooked by the listeners. Why is this you think?

Don’t know really, I think it’s a good album but maybe because it was only distributed in Sweden and Scandinavia I think and not promoted anywhere else, and it is probably a bit too leftfield for most Swedish hip hop listeners. Sweden is a small country.

What kind of music do you listen to yourself these days?

I try to check some of the new beat makers coming out and there are some cool ones out there. I also listen to classical music sometimes when relaxing, I love Estonian composer Arvo Pärt that’s some deep minimalistic shit. Hip hop producers that try to take it forward that I like are for example, Sa Ra, Flying Lotus and Georgia Anne Muldrow.

That was all I had this time. Finnish of by telling what the nearest future holds for Erik L, Supersci, Soularp Records and Favorite Flava.

The Supersci album is coming out probably some time after the summer, me and a rapper called 7even:Thirty have an EP, where we have Hezekiah featured on a track. It’s coming out on Soularp. We have some new Favorite Flava material in the making and me and Paul Mac Innes are going to work on new material, I’m really looking forward to that because he is one of the best soul voices around if you ask me. The Favorite Flava album will be released in Japan this year on the label Wonderful Noise with a vinyl EP coming out in May.

Flyphonic
Erik L @ Myspace
Favorite Flava @ Myspace
Soularp Records @ Myspace

I’ve had the honor of becoming friendly with the Digital Ninja himself, MusSck! He was open enough to do an interview for the website and have to say without a doubt since I’ve entered this game he has be the realest of them all. This man has some serious love and respect! Here is the interview!

You’ve clearly have made an mark on what a lot of people call glitch music. Have you always gone by the alias Mussck? Where did it come about?

When I first started putting music on the net I had a 3 other aliases but like Myng said in the Digital Ninja LP description (MusSck was the diamond in the rough). in 2007 it was spelt (muse-sick) then figure another way how to pronounce it, I chosen this name because i wanted to flip to all sorts of musical genres in a glitchy environment.

When did you start producing music at what age and what sort of medium did you use at that time and how has it evolved into what you do today?

I’ve started making tracks when at 18, I’m still using the same music software which i first started off with (FL Studio) the equipment doesn’t make the music, you do as the individual. During the the years coming up i was thought by people that I call legends in my books;

Myng (Global Vortex / Glitch Hop Temple): 6 years ago I didn’t know how to structure my tracks but he believed and got my tracks played on Global Vortex Radio.

Subtitle (Briefcase Rockers) I sent him a demo before we met in London, during those couple of hours hanging out he taught me how to put soul in my music, now he calls me the Al Green of Glitch Ish ha ha ha.

Daniel Lambert (Global Vortex): I’ve been working with this guy for the last 5 years and learnt so much from him when it comes to trippy sounds and random patterns.

Thavius Beck (Mush): One of my favorite producers who works along as Subtitle as Lab Waste taught me how to put my stamp on remixes.

You have been hard at work with your college and putting things together for them. Can you tell us about what you do on a daily basis?

As soon as I arrive to the studio at the campus I edit loops, chop samples and make beats that’s what all I do in my classes, before the holidays I produced a press kit showcasing all my work including the students in my class from the music technology department to the head of creative studies letting her know that there’s so much we can do instead of remaining behind the scenes, so I am working on her latest project making themes which I can nominated for a college award for best composer at the end of the term.

Clearly you have lots of big releases to date but are there any that stick out to you the most while you were producing them and do you feel a certain vibe when you create music?

Whichever label or crew that I represent for in that current moment in time I put 100% within all my tracks, I am humble dude as well grateful to be in the position that I am in so I have to put in the work for my peeps.

What do you have planned for 2010? I know you have releases coming up on Cosby’s Car Crash Set and recently on Daly City Records. Have any other future plans?

Adopted By A Nes EP going to be release on Briefcase Rockers which should be out around my birthday (May 25th) also to release material on 7 inch hopefully, doing another project at college entitled Team Animation, all of my music is based around Japanese Animation, programs such Ergo Proxy / Death Note / Monster / Ghost In The Shell / Fist Of The North Star / Cowbow Bebop and the list goes on, so I am going to based music around this theme and release it as a part of my assignment, but apart from that I am just taking my digital journey into sound.

You reside in the UK and have talked to you about coming to the States. Is there a US tour coming together? I was disappointed to hear you had chance to come to Miami for WMC but were told to late. When can we expect a Mussck landing in the States?

I could of may it to WMC but there’s always next time, its legendary event so it’ll never die, I’ll be coming to the states in July first stop will be New York City to visit my family as well as peeps like Myng and Powerstrip Circus Crew, then heading down to DC to meet my other peeps B-rice / Jezika / Aligning Minds and HipGnosis.

Trying to save as much money as possible to head over other states but if I can’t make it next time for sure.

You seem to have some great artwork and feel to some of your album art. Do you take a certain theme or idea for having stuff put together on your releases?

Myng, Mochipet & Ill Cosby organize the artwork for the for the material which was going to be release, I am now working close with a good friend of mine in New York name David.Delmonaco who’s going to help me out with my artwork for my college project.

Where do you think music today will be say 5years from now? Do you feel the day and age of vinyl will be lost? What do you currently use to preform? Is there anything you plan or wish to incorporate with your current setup?

The world rotates in 360, things fade and slowly return back from the shadow that’s life for you, my current set up for now is a Rane TTM 57 SL DJ Mixer which I am happy with.

Now let’s get to know the real person behind Mussck. After being introduced to you recently you’ve been nothing but a great friend.

I am a dude that takes the day as it comes my friend, learn new things everyday either to do with music or life in general now I hitting the winter of my 20′s ha ha ha.

What is it that you feel us as humans need to do more when it comes to creating relationship with each other?

Remain loyal and work together on a personal and professional level its all to do with balance, flip different music genres together (music has colours it speaks many different languages)

When you meet someone for the first time what would you say would be a good topic starter or ice breaker that will lead into a great conversation? Would it involve music?

Just introduce yourself and remain true to yourself there’s no point acting like something that you’re not, when it comes to ladies you have to be a good listeners, most of the conversation I have is based around music though ha ha ha

Are there any interest you have besides music that totally captivate you? When you come home from school and not working on music what is it in the world that makes you smile?

Playing old school videos on my roms and watching Manga, just purchase an animation entitled Violence Jack haven’t seen that for years.

You’re located in the UK but is there any place or city that you’d absolutely love to call your home or visit for a short time? Feel free to make a place up and describe it.

The musical floating animated island which lay on the top of mind

If you had to describe love or what you feel as a human drives you to be complete content what would it be for you?

Someone who loves me for who I am.

Biggest influence, person you respect the most, and can call a friend in music?

Biggest influence my father he got me into music back in primary school as i was a troublesome child and had to do extra lesson (R.I.P.) as for friends in music; Myng / Daniel Lambert / Alex Blip / 8bitch / Tidy Kid / Subtitle / Thavius Beck / K-the-I??? Nobuko Hori / B-rice / Jezika / Aligning Minds / HipGnosis all the peeps on soundcloud the list goes on

Who is your top musical influences that really hit you with emotion?

The Soundtrack for Ergo Proxy

Anything you want to say to anyone or message you want to conclude with for your final words?

Shout to my labels: Glitch Hop Temple / Global Vortex / B.E.A.R. / Daly City Records / Car Crash Set and to all the people that showed me love from day one truly means a lot to me

The Random Black Guy at your service

Thank you Mussck it has been a pleasure ever since we’ve been in contact! Wish you the best of luck in the future and see you when you get to the States! Much love brother!