5 Questions with Rags #32 - Neon Steve

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I’ve written about Neon Steve extensively over the last couple of years (Basically, since my first Shambhala – an inspiration we share) because the guy just keeps hitting home runs. In a world of clones, ol’ Neon Steve has carved out his own unique place in the thriving West Coast electronic scene. His taste is impeccable, his scratching ability is evident and his production is top-notch. While dude can rock the party like few can, it’s not all balls-to-the-wall action. His Pleasensations mixes are goldmines of groovy relaxitude that work chilling in the bath, getting through a shift at work or getting down in the sheets with whoever you’re into that with. (Try other activities while listening to these mixes and come up with your own winning combination!) I’ve been hoping to get my fellow Victoria on here for awhile and I caught up with him during some rare downtime to talk about the terror of space travel, getting inspired in Fractal Forest and one of the best places to play on Vancouver Island. (Hint: It’s the Waverley, in Cumberland.)

And, for your listening pleasure, as chosen by the man himself, the first of two Neon Steve essentials.

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1. Do you remember the first album you bought with your own money?

Yeah, I do. It was Eminem’s album, one of the first ones, Slimy Shady LP. I tricked my parents into buying it on their Columbia House account. They found out what it was after they gave it to me and took it away.

Did you ever get it back?

No, I don’t think so. I was super young at the time so it was a no-go.

Do you still ever listen to anything off that record?

No, definitely not. <laugh>

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5 Questions with Rags #31 - DJ Roast Beatz

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Ghetto Funk was my way into the vast world of electronic music. A few years in and I’m still sold on the easy grooving sounds that the label/genre has spawned. You can imagine my giddiness when the Ghetto Funk Podcast started showing up on their soundcloud page early last year. In this case, a podcast worked like it was supposed to and I sought out the maker of the ‘cast. Well, the man behind that wonderful funky document is DJ Roast Beatz and man, this guy knows what’s up. Steeped in hip-hop goodness, Roast Beatz’ mixes and tracks reside in that lovely middle-ground that all party-goers can agree on. It’s taken nearly a year for this little chat to see the light of day, but now, I present to you dear friends, DJ ROAST BEATZ.

“The only thing I’d say about any music is just keep it funky, with meaning. That’s what makes us dance, nod our heads, learn things about life, come to terms with things and sing the tune the next day. Whether your using a drum kit or a drum machine, synth or trumpet, if it’s funky people will get down to it.”

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Do you remember the first album you bought with your own money? Fav track? Does it still hold up?

With my own money? Either a Jacko album or 3 Feet High and Rising. They were both on tape. My first vinyl was Fugees’ The Score. Favourite track is a tough one. I haven’t bumped much Jacko lately, would either be “Smooth Criminal” or “Bille Jean.” These days I’m more of a Jackson 5 kind of guy! 3 Feet High and Rising, is too hard to pick. De La had a massive impact on my life, especially De La Soul is Dead. That album got me through some really hard times as a kid. I’ve only just started to grasp the albums importance in my life as I’ve got older and faced a lot of shit from the past. 

Favourite from 3 Feet though? Either “Buddy,” “Change in Speak,” “Eye know” or “Say No Go.” “Buddy” is more for the remix, “Change in Speak” for the Cymande sample. “Eye Know” always reminds me of Daewon songs skate section in World Industries New World order. And “Say No Go” is just an absolute banger! I still play all the De La songs regularly in my sets.

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5 Questions with Rags #30 - DJ Jimi Needles (w/ Exclusive Remix!)

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As I’ve ventured further into the world of electronic music, more pointedly – BASS MUSIC – I’ve noticed an incredible gap between the accessible and the challenging. It seems the entry-level stuff gets discarded quickly in favour of darker, harder-on-the-ear music. The artists that newbies and vets can agree on get further and further away from one another. Sometimes though there are artists, DJs, who dwell in that vast chasm, building tiny bridges so friends on either side of the divide can find each other once again. Jimi Needles is one of these DJs. His mixes and mixtapes are places where people who aren’t familiar with the increasingly large world of bass music can sit comfortably with the ones who need the harder stuff after years of the easy shit. His soundcloud has become an invaluable tool in my life for finding a quick solution as to what to put on when the downtime in a group comes, or even better, when trying to listen to something new with people who have less clue than I and still want their electronic music rooted in the comfortable rhythms and grooves of real life. This is all a long way of saying Jimi Needles makes bass music that everyone can love. If you’re having a party and need to get asses shaking, I promise, you can’t go wrong.

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1. Do you remember the first album you bought with your own money?

Fatboy Slim, You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby. That album was fucking sick and it’s still the sickest thing ever.

What’s your favourite track on there?

One is “Praise You.” I don’t know about you, but you know when you get older and you just want to investigate where the DNA of these songs comes from? For instance, you go onto Who Samples and type in any song and it’ll tell you who and what was sampled. As a 10 year old I had never had anything like that and now it really appeals to me. I was kind of aware of hip-hop at the time because I had a CD I was given around 1996, it had Public Enemy and stuff on it and I was just like, “Whoa, what the fuck is this?” It was a compilation disc and I thought it was completely sick. I could make the correlation that I really liked the funky beats and aggressive lyrics then I heard Fatboy Slim and thought, “Okay, I still like this but it’s not hip-hop.” I didn’t even know what it was called. I mean, it’s breaks, but when I was a kid I didn’t know what the fuck it was. But that album, when you take samples and arrange them, you still can’t make it the same as it is on the album. It’s absolutely mental how someone does that. It takes the most extensive musical mind to pull that off. And Norman Cook, Fatboy Slim, paved the way. There was also scratching on there and scratching was something I was aware of but not being cool or a DJ, I had no fucking idea what it was really was. So, there’s “Praise You” and there’s also a track on there called “Fucking in Heaven,” that I used play really loud. My parents would come upstairs and say, “What the fuck is this?”

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5 Questions with Rags #29 - Featurecast (!!!)

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Featurecast is best. He’s held a stop spot on my listening list since my good friend and Guide to the Cosmos introduced me to the groovy sounds of the mighty Featurecast a couple of years ago. I’ve seen him live is a goddamned clinic. Featurecast embodies everything I love about an artist, DJ or otherwise – a willingness to try new things, to bring in new elements, a lack of regard for predefined definitions of their art and most of all, the ability to keep up a consistently high quality with everything they do. Dude is a breaks champion, rocks Ghetto Funk like no one’s business, even helped me start my journey in trying to enjoy drum ‘n’ bass. I always dig his drum ‘n’ bass. And even though he’s on the other side of the Atlantic, he’s a fixture over here on the Canadian West Coast. This past summer I missed him in my homebase of Victoria (I was in Vancouver knocking other legends off my list) and just the other day was opining of how long it’s been since the last time I shook my ass to the mighty Featurecast. Luckily for me, and all other Victoria funk-lovers, he’s going to be back here on Dec.3 with other awesome acts, and other 5 Questions answerers, Timothy Wisdom and The Funkee Wadd! I managed to get a few of Mr. Cast’s minutes in between his various DJ and dad duties, to get another round of delicious answers to the 5 Questions! Big respect to Featurecast.

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1. Do you remember the first album you bought with your own money? What format was it? Favourite track? Do you still have it? Anything else you may remember about it.

The first album I got was actually a Christmas gift and it was Run DMC's Greatest Hits on double vinyl and I have still shrink wrapped till this day. I must have listened to it like a 1000 times! I’m still a huge fan of Run DMC and find it funny that the Run DMC t-shirt has become a fashion accessory these days in the UK. As for the first record I ever bought myself....it was the Ghostbusters theme song that I got in a toy shop when I was a kid. I'm not sure I even knew what a record even was back then but I bought it with my pocket money just because of the amazing cover. 

2. When is the last time you did something for the first time?

Few days ago…going down a slide head first at a kids soft play centre with my daughter. So DJ, rock and roll, I know! Lol

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5 Questions with Rags #28 - Def 3

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I’ve seen Def3 rock a few crowds over the last year and his album Wildlif3 has been in regular rotation on the headphones since its release. This past summer I saw him rock out with the mighty SkiiTour at Shambhala and, more notably, he opened the first night of hip-hops at Phillip’s Brewery on the first night of the Rifflandia festival, here in Victoria. That was more notable for a couple of reasons, 1) It was just Def3 and his band doing their thing rather than working in support of a DJ, and 2) In a night full of yelling and barking and needlessly profane trap-rap, Def3 embodied everything I love about hip-hop and specifically, Canadian hip-hop. When Def3’s joints are pumping from the stage the love and respect for the art form is palpable and wholly addictive. I’ve been wanting to get ahold of the homey for a few minutes now and was happy to get him fresh off rock Portland with fellow Canadian hip-hop masters, Sweatshop Union. We talked about Hallowe’en, Thomas Edison and the current, amazing state of hip-hop. Respect to Def3 and Saskatchewan, because really, how often to I get to shout Saskatchewan?

1. Do you remember the first album you went out and bought with your own money?

Yeah, actually. It was Wreckx-N-Effect,  Hard or Smooth, on cassette.

Do you still have it?

No. I have some of my tapes, but that one I don’t have anymore. I still have quite a few but a lot of them are pretty damaged.

It’s not a particularly hardy medium, eh?

No. <laugh>

2. Can you think of a movie that had an affect on the way you saw the world?

If we’re talking about fiction, I’d say Magnolia. That was really cool. Documentary-wise – I watched a movie called Forks Over Knives that kind of twisted my head up a bit and turned me into a vegetarian for awhile.

For awhile…You’re not a vegetarian anymore?

No. I’m not anymore. I was for almost a year, not super long. I went to Europe and tried for awhile. Interesting story: I met a person will full-blown cancer who was a vegan and that also twisted me up a bit. I thought, “How is that possible?”

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