A few weeks ago (around New Years, hence the somewhat-dated beginning), I had the chance to catch up with a legend amongst turntablists and DJs alike – Z-Trip. It’s a sad fact that I’ve never actually seen a Z-Trip set, but I will most definitely be catching him at Good Vibrations (site here) in a couple of weeks. He was really cool to talk to and made some valid points for all the people out there hating on DJ Hero as a cheap exercise that’s gonna produce a lot of crappy wannabe DJs. It’s pretty long so kudos to you if you stick with it! As always whole interview after the jump.
Happy New Years dude what did New Years 09/10 entail for Z-Trip?
I think for any DJ New Years is kinda like the Olympics. You train for the gig, it’s usually the highest paying gig of the year so for me I was in Vegas and I have a residency so I was there doing my thing.The cool thing was the next day I got to get down DJ Jazzy Jeff we did a little two by four at my residency on Friday so it was really, really good – the best way to start off a new year.
You’ve been in the game for a while do you ever see it ending?
I don’t really see it ending unless I decide I don’t want to do it anymore really. I think I’ve gotten really good at rocking crowds and knowing how to get people off musically over the years. That’s a skill I enjoy, I enjoy people having a good time and I enjoy playing in places where people get into what I do. As long as there are still people out there that like what I do I’ll still be doing it. I mean unless there’s some big life change where I’m like all of a sudden I wanna go be a monk ill just say fuck it. I don’t think that’s gonna happen I’ll keep doing it until I get bored with it. I’ve always said that but I’ve never really gotten bored with it I’ve always had fun with it. I equate some of this to blues musicians you know. I look at some of them and they’ve been doing it for years. I just saw BB King the other day and that guy is 84 years old and he’s still doing it. He’s talking about how he’s only missed 16 days in 60 years and I think I might have to subscribe to that because I’ve never missed a show and I love what I do.
So we might see an 84-year-old Z-Trip in the future?
If my hearing permits haha.
What got you started on turntabling etc.?
Oh that’s kinda tough. I mean I think it was around the time I was hearing some of this (hip-hop) music you know. During the mid to late 80s was when I was totally hearing this music and getting inspired by it and wanting to hear the extended versions of things. If u heard something on the radio it’d be a two minute or three minute edit of something then you go and find the seven minute long version with four other verses and scratches you never heard. For me I just started buying all these records for the longer versions and then I started making tapes filled with all the things I liked. Before I knew it I was DJing. If you’re a music lover you gravitate towards music and you inevitably want to make some sort of mix to play for yourself and friends. That kinda snowballed and everything else. Now people have things like iTunes and all sorts of programs you can pick up to scratch that itch (no pun intended). For me it’s always been about music. I collected music before DJing with it.
Do you think expanding DJ technologies are leaving turntablism by the wayside?
It depends on what context. It depends for certain people scratching is still amazing and really cool but for other people there’s some guys who are incredible DJs at scratching who don’t even really do it anymore when they play – which is interesting to me. I think there’s always gonna be room for that, a crowd to accept that. But I think it’s not just about being a scratch DJ or just a mixer or “I just play hip” or “I just play drum n bass”. If you can scratch/mix all kinds of music you know… shit if you can rap you can get on the mic you can do whatever I mean you could do backflips while you’re doing it… I mean the more crazy shit you can do onstage and the more kinds of music and the more technology the better. I think that’s really kind of it. The more versatile you are the better you are and that’s when stuff really hits in a big way. I don’t think it’s going away or it’s gotten stronger or weaker, I just think that the person who is doing and utilising the more technology and more skill is usually the person on top.
Have you found yourself having to adapt all the time?
Oh yeah completely. Serato was a huge curveball for me. I didn’t really anticipate it for me changing the way I DJ’d but it did and when I first was exposed to it they really hadn’t worked the bugs out there was a lot of latency, a lot of crashes and things. Once they addressed the issues and I really started messing with it I started realising this really is the future. Like I love playing records but not having to haul four crates of records around is great, not having to worry about records skipping is great, not worrying about feedback issues is great, not to worry about “Oh there’s only a four bar intro on this one song and it’s a an amazing song but I can never really mix it in cos its got this weird intro”. Boom – go into Ableton and fix that. You know if you don’t embrace that sort of technology you get left behind because everybody else is and we’re kind of all in this race whether we like it or not. And whoever stands out ahead is the person taking that technology and utilising it in the best way. That doesn’t mean playing every single bit the technology has to offer but utilising what it can do and putting your ideas out there and putting them forward. That technology allows you to do that and I’m a big fan of it. I used to be a bit hesitant but now I’m a big fan. It’s changed the whole way I DJ and my whole approach and it’s allowed me to do things I could never do before and I’m really excited about it.
What emphasis do you put on being the entertainer?
I think that’s 50% of it to be honest. Maybe 25%. 50% is music knowledge, knowing and understanding your music. 25% of it is the application of it and how to mix it. And that other 25% is how you present yourself on stage and how you interact with the crowd. I picked up on that early when I would go to these raves n shit and there’d be like 8 DJs on the bill and I’d be like “Oh whose spinning right now and they’d be like oh I dunno”. I’d be like “What do you mean you don’t know?!” The first I’d do is I’d get on the mic and be like “Yo everybody I’m Z-Trip and this is what I’m doing how the fuck are you guys doing?” Fuck everybody else who came before me or who is going after me, I want you to remember who I am and I wanna interact with you so when you leave you go that Z-Trip dude was great. The guy that was on third, the guy with the red hat what was his name? I don’t fucking know. No one is gonna remember that guy. That was my first angle to approach it. And once I got past that then I was like well shit now I’ve gotten people to recognise who I am and they’re coming to see me now I wanna give them something to do. So it’s like I’ll talk to people and ask them questions. Try and fill in the blanks on the tunes. Whatever. Jump up and down real crazy like, throw your hands this way you know put ‘em up whatever. To me it’s engaging because if they’re doing that and I’m seeing that it only makes me wanna do it more and we end up in this kind of feedback loop where we’re constantly pushing each other to go harder by the end of the show. In Australia when I DJ 95% of the time I walk off stage and I’m totally drenched in sweat – I could wring my shirt out because I’ve put so much into it. Australian crowds are notorious for getting my riled up and I think in turn I get them riled up and it’s a really good combo.
What’s your equipment setup for shows?
Lately it’s been Technics 1200s, Serato built into the mixer, my laptop. I usually use Pioneer EFX1000 as an outboard effects and an MBC1000 to trigger 808s and drums and things like that. That’s the basic setup.
Do you still produce much of your own music?
Yeah I still got a couple tracks I’m working on. I’ve done a few but it’s also taken a back seat because DJing has really taken off in such a big way for me. You know being noted America’s best DJ last year and this year kinda really kicked open the door, which was already kinda open, but now there’s no hinges left on the door anymore it’s just a doorway you can walk through. I’ve really had to focus on that. I’m still doing remixes, like I just finished a Dead Weather remix and I’ve got a Beastie Boys one I’m working on and some other tracks. There’s a little metal side project I’m also working on. There’s always something to do its just trying to find the time to get it done.
And lastly just wanted to get your thoughts on DJ Hero?
I think it’s cool. Another tool in the tool box. If you’re a kid who’s into DJing and you’re nine years old and your parents don’t wanna buy you turntables yet but wanna see where your heads at its great. For me as a kid I would have bought it, ate it up, and kept moving. It’s a game, it’s meant to be fun. I think when people take it too seriously it’s like there’s always turntables you could take seriously but it’s a game you know. You’re standing around with a whole bunch of friends getting drunk taking chops at it that’s what it’s kinda meant to be. I do think it’s a good thing that I’m in the game I’m stoked to be in there. That’s amazing for me. And doing music for the game – the first of its kind. But even better is to be in a video game that is music based which I’m really behind because, you know I love all kinds of games don’t get me wrong but if there’s more games and more things that drive people into music whether it be video games or programs at school. I’m all for getting people into music, however that is done, and I’m stoked to be a part of that.
Awesome well thanks Z-Trip looking forward to your set at Good Vibes.
No problem man looking forward to it.
