A Beat Scientist Connects the Dots
A producer extra ordinare. A modest emcee. One hell of a guy. I give you: edison.
Could you present yourself and give us some edison history?
Hello hullo!
I’m edison...
I am from the north eastern United States, land of snow and cold... trees and roads...
after many an adventure, silly times and hardships...
I find myself a 10 year veteran of San Francisco, the bubble of inspiration, individuality and burritos...
since I was a school aged dude, my mission in life has been to make music...
I’ve never stopped making recordings...
it's just my thing to do...
the instrumental hip hop live electronics thing is just where it all has landed me....
it's a culmination of my interests, instruments and the need to be a 1 man band...
that, and Thomas Edison once electrocuted an elephant, in public, to forward his form of electric current...
oh Edison history......
What are your goals with your music?
I’d say there are many...
first and foremost would be to progress... to be satisfied with the process and to build upon it exponentially...
I think second would be to meet and experience as many peers as possible...
one of the best aspects of putting my things out there and getting to travel around a little bit, is meeting, hanging out with and discussing with other artists...
it is humbling and you realize that there are so many who understand and share your passions and struggles...
team player...
third would be to share my noise with as many people as I can!
forth I’d say is to expand on and contribute to the conversation of electronic music... especially performance aspects...
hip hop is no longer just buying a DJ coffin and having a wall of records...
electronic music is no longer just patch chords and rack mounts...
not to marginalize those things...
but, this thing is changing and it's exciting...
you can forever do more with less....
so, onward....
Are there any upcoming projects that you would like to share with us?
Well, there are always things on burners!
I think the most pressing right now are my 667 series of EPs....
I am attempting to produce 7 EPs with 6 emcees, 6 songs a piece...
we just released the 2nd today!
these first 2 have been on decorative stamp...
rather spectacular folks...
I will also be pursuing some more 900bats.com free beat tapes... etc.
me and brother are working with a female vocalist on a folk type project called Carve and Carry
other than that...
production on a new record will surely begin by years close...
there is also some talk of a Swashbuckling part 2... Dundundahhhhh
You are most known for your productions, but it’s easy to forget that you’re also an emcee. Is that something that you want to get into more, or are you happy mainly being the producer?
Haha...
it is absolutely a love of mine...
the poetry, the imagery...... anagrams... metaphors...
but it is something that I am, at the moment, getting out of...
I’ve had several projects, where I played the role of producer, emcee and engineer...
in the end... I’ve found it detrimental to the focus and function of a project...
it's too many hats to wear...
emceeing is something I learned alongside production...
there was a time I thought I could always do both...
now the focus has shifted I guess...
that is not to say it will never happen again...
One of the things that you are most famous for is your use of the monome. Would you mind telling us a bit about what it is and what was the reason you started using it?
The monome is an amazing little device.
It is a grid of buttons to control your computer with...
each button has an LED in it...
the cool part is... the buttons send info to the computer... and the computer send info to the lights...
in this way, you can program it to act like, or do whatever you want...
its great!
I originally, like many others... found the monome demo videos on YouTube... and it just intrigued me...
after that I found some videos of Daedelus doing some pretty rad DJ things with it and I was hooked...
there is an online forum of folks sharing music and programs they have made...
to sweeten the monome deal, I’ve gotten to meet and hang out with some of the online community...
usually once or twice a year there is a meet up/show/talk...
and they are all really amazing, supportive, intelligent and forward thinking people
a lot of us are meeting up in Santa Fé, New Mexico this May...
I’m just proud to be a part!
What inspires you when you create music?
Hm,
I feel like this is a 2 parter...
on the support side of things:
my family... my friends... the folks, records and videos that got me into and kept me into music... San Francisco... upstate New York.... the places and dudes I meet... the people I’ve gotten the opportunity to collab with... my pre-wife... our cats.... seeing the spirit of all things happening and the sound of everything happening at once..
on the drive part of things...
the rising American corporate flood waters... focus groups, and their affect on the individual... the now music industrial vacuum... internet haters... the idea that all has been done before... genre labels and the great forgetting.....
You’ve just released your latest full length album People are Bad Animals. What kind of response have you received so far?
Yes!
So far, I’ve been very pleased with the feedback I’ve received...
I put a lot into this record... and I think people can hear it...
I felt it was a step up in maturity for me... and that’s exactly what I’ve heard...
we did a video to support the release..
And my video friends are just amazingly talented...
it's come together well and taken off well to boot!
Can people expect to see you going on tour to promote the album?
Ohhhh...
I think they can...
but no plans have been made at the moment...
I will be in Japan for a bit in July, supporting the Swashbuckling Napoleons record...
and possibly an Amsterdam trip at the end of the year...
I’m also getting married in June, so things are a bit crowded in 2011 as is...
either way,
stay tuned....
Being from Sweden it’s always interesting to hear what people know about the music from this area. What do you know about Swedish, or Scandinavian, hip hop?
I must admit...
I am rather ignorant to Scandinavian hip hop...
closest I’ve got is Germany... and they have an amazing scene!
I’ll have to do some research...
hip hop or just music in all forms is experience...
I’m open to it all
What do you do when you’re not making music?
Well, I have a full time job...
part of which involves making music...
other than that...
I bike to work everyday... I kick it with my lady... you know, life stuff...
Any final words or shout outs?
Big shouts to the SF crew....
monome kids...
the homies...
and all my supportive friends that forever roll to my shows and have fun...
thank you..
As for final words...
"To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk."
-Thomas A Edison
"Fascism is capitalism in decay."
-Vladimir Lenin
http://www.edisonsdemo.tumblr.com/
A producer extra ordinare. A modest emcee. One hell of a guy. I give you: edison.
Could you present yourself and give us some edison history?
Hello hullo!
I’m edison...
I am from the north eastern United States, land of snow and cold... trees and roads...
after many an adventure, silly times and hardships...
I find myself a 10 year veteran of San Francisco, the bubble of inspiration, individuality and burritos...
since I was a school aged dude, my mission in life has been to make music...
I’ve never stopped making recordings...
it's just my thing to do...
the instrumental hip hop live electronics thing is just where it all has landed me....
it's a culmination of my interests, instruments and the need to be a 1 man band...
that, and Thomas Edison once electrocuted an elephant, in public, to forward his form of electric current...
oh Edison history......
What are your goals with your music?
I’d say there are many...
first and foremost would be to progress... to be satisfied with the process and to build upon it exponentially...
I think second would be to meet and experience as many peers as possible...
one of the best aspects of putting my things out there and getting to travel around a little bit, is meeting, hanging out with and discussing with other artists...
it is humbling and you realize that there are so many who understand and share your passions and struggles...
team player...
third would be to share my noise with as many people as I can!
forth I’d say is to expand on and contribute to the conversation of electronic music... especially performance aspects...
hip hop is no longer just buying a DJ coffin and having a wall of records...
electronic music is no longer just patch chords and rack mounts...
not to marginalize those things...
but, this thing is changing and it's exciting...
you can forever do more with less....
so, onward....
Are there any upcoming projects that you would like to share with us?
Well, there are always things on burners!
I think the most pressing right now are my 667 series of EPs....
I am attempting to produce 7 EPs with 6 emcees, 6 songs a piece...
we just released the 2nd today!
these first 2 have been on decorative stamp...
rather spectacular folks...
I will also be pursuing some more 900bats.com free beat tapes... etc.
me and brother are working with a female vocalist on a folk type project called Carve and Carry
other than that...
production on a new record will surely begin by years close...
there is also some talk of a Swashbuckling part 2... Dundundahhhhh
You are most known for your productions, but it’s easy to forget that you’re also an emcee. Is that something that you want to get into more, or are you happy mainly being the producer?
Haha...
it is absolutely a love of mine...
the poetry, the imagery...... anagrams... metaphors...
but it is something that I am, at the moment, getting out of...
I’ve had several projects, where I played the role of producer, emcee and engineer...
in the end... I’ve found it detrimental to the focus and function of a project...
it's too many hats to wear...
emceeing is something I learned alongside production...
there was a time I thought I could always do both...
now the focus has shifted I guess...
that is not to say it will never happen again...
One of the things that you are most famous for is your use of the monome. Would you mind telling us a bit about what it is and what was the reason you started using it?
The monome is an amazing little device.
It is a grid of buttons to control your computer with...
each button has an LED in it...
the cool part is... the buttons send info to the computer... and the computer send info to the lights...
in this way, you can program it to act like, or do whatever you want...
its great!
I originally, like many others... found the monome demo videos on YouTube... and it just intrigued me...
after that I found some videos of Daedelus doing some pretty rad DJ things with it and I was hooked...
there is an online forum of folks sharing music and programs they have made...
to sweeten the monome deal, I’ve gotten to meet and hang out with some of the online community...
usually once or twice a year there is a meet up/show/talk...
and they are all really amazing, supportive, intelligent and forward thinking people
a lot of us are meeting up in Santa Fé, New Mexico this May...
I’m just proud to be a part!
What inspires you when you create music?
Hm,
I feel like this is a 2 parter...
on the support side of things:
my family... my friends... the folks, records and videos that got me into and kept me into music... San Francisco... upstate New York.... the places and dudes I meet... the people I’ve gotten the opportunity to collab with... my pre-wife... our cats.... seeing the spirit of all things happening and the sound of everything happening at once..
on the drive part of things...
the rising American corporate flood waters... focus groups, and their affect on the individual... the now music industrial vacuum... internet haters... the idea that all has been done before... genre labels and the great forgetting.....
You’ve just released your latest full length album People are Bad Animals. What kind of response have you received so far?
Yes!
So far, I’ve been very pleased with the feedback I’ve received...
I put a lot into this record... and I think people can hear it...
I felt it was a step up in maturity for me... and that’s exactly what I’ve heard...
we did a video to support the release..
And my video friends are just amazingly talented...
it's come together well and taken off well to boot!
Can people expect to see you going on tour to promote the album?
Ohhhh...
I think they can...
but no plans have been made at the moment...
I will be in Japan for a bit in July, supporting the Swashbuckling Napoleons record...
and possibly an Amsterdam trip at the end of the year...
I’m also getting married in June, so things are a bit crowded in 2011 as is...
either way,
stay tuned....
Being from Sweden it’s always interesting to hear what people know about the music from this area. What do you know about Swedish, or Scandinavian, hip hop?
I must admit...
I am rather ignorant to Scandinavian hip hop...
closest I’ve got is Germany... and they have an amazing scene!
I’ll have to do some research...
hip hop or just music in all forms is experience...
I’m open to it all
What do you do when you’re not making music?
Well, I have a full time job...
part of which involves making music...
other than that...
I bike to work everyday... I kick it with my lady... you know, life stuff...
Any final words or shout outs?
Big shouts to the SF crew....
monome kids...
the homies...
and all my supportive friends that forever roll to my shows and have fun...
thank you..
As for final words...
"To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk."
-Thomas A Edison
"Fascism is capitalism in decay."
-Vladimir Lenin
http://www.edisonsdemo.tumblr.com/
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