5 Questions with Rags #70 - J.F. Killah

Talk to anyone in the know around Vancouver bass and inevitably SHAHdjs are going to come up. (Also, these days it's hard to talk about said Vancouver bass without eventually also getting Levrige at some point – of which J.F. Killah comprises half.) The collective is straight-up legendary at this point, with the various members all building their own reputations outside of the home base. I don't think I've had any other name from SHAHdjs thrown at me as consistently as J.F. Killah. I wanted to chat with the Vancouver legend before she rocked Bass Hive at the Copper Owl here in Victoria last December, but I didn't. Don't really know why. But no matter, because she's back to the city this weekend (Sat., Sept. 15) to rock some ears at Rifflandia (Four of the biggest music days of the year in Victoria) in the intimate brick embrace Lucky Bar. Drum 'n' bass often doesn't jump on my radar, but thankfully, after much prodding from a few choice friends, I listened, open heart and open mind, and BAM! I enjoyed it! Much tasty, grimy hip-hop vibes in amongst the drum ‘n’ bass wilds. Thankfully, in the midst of a move and prepping for all of her serious bass-dealings, she found some time to entertain my silly questions and give y'all a little reading material.

Legit, the only photo I took for the entire

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

I was part of that Columbia House club where you could get a bunch of cassette tapes for like a dollar if you committed to buying a certain number more later on. Amongst them were Snow - Informer, MC Hammer - Too Legit to Quit, and I think some Janet Jackson and En Vogue... To be honest, I can't remember them all. I do remember the first time I heard the song "Informer" by Snow at a pool party at a local swimming pool when I was about 10 years old. From that point I really wanted to know what the song was and was stoked when I finally found out.

2. What's your best memory of a teacher growing up?

I had this one teacher, Miss Gonzalez who taught music and played the clarinet. She had a bathtub in her classroom and if it was your lucky day you got to sit in there with a friend instead of at your desk. That same teacher gave a test that said to please make sure you read through the entire test before beginning the questions. I of course didn't want to waste time so immediately began answering the questions. Everyone was panicking because of how long it was taking and time was running out. When the time was up and no one had finished she told us to turn to the last page. Sure enough, the last page said if you actually read through to this page you do not have to answer any of the questions! Definitely a good lesson on the importance of following directions and in such a sly way haha.

3. If you could spend the day with anyone living or dead, who would it be and what would you do?

Shopping spree with Andre 3000. Haha but really I'd hang out with my partner Andrew, working on tunes.

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

Just started renting a studio space for the first time a couple weeks ago. Looking forward to being as loud as we want!

5. If you had one wish for the west coast bass scene over the next year, what would it be?

To continue on the path it's been heading. I think we've got a really good thing going! There are so many talented artists all just feeding off of one another. Many are making it to a world class level which is really inspiring.

6. Your Guest Question is from the homie DJ All Good... Can you give me one good, clean joke that you could tell to around a grandma?

How do you make a kleenex dance?

Put a little boogey in it!

This was a very fun set with a bunch of different styles of sounds I played at the Backstage Lounge in Vancouver on November 24th, 2017. Thank you so much to the @Lazysyruporchestra for having me, I don't often get the chance to play sets like this and it was a pleasure <3 Photo by JoffreyPhoto.com

Rifflandia (This year keeping Victoria up from Sept. 13-16) is a multi-headed beast that comes at you hard. There's a lot of stuff to sort through because there's a shit-ton of music to see at a glut of stages and too many good times to be had. Every year on these lists we lay down what we're looking forward to seeing, the gems we recommend, with little regard as to where they're playing. But when we thought about it for this year...why would we include anything at Royal Athletic Park (Rifflandia's main stages, running throughout the day Fri-Sun)? There's only one stage running at a time, so if you're there just go see the music that's on. There is some incredible stuff there this year like Beardyman (Seriously, Beardyman is a beast and a true creative force), Daniel Caesar, SonReal, Metz, Jessie Reyez, etc. Don't be a moron. If you're at R.A.P., just see the damned music. This year we bring you a list of recommendations that only looks to the night, to the times when the mass of humanity fractures into mini-parties all over downtown Victoria. Bass, hip-hop, soul, funk...you know what we do over here at Rags Music – grooves. Hit anything on this list and you're guaranteed to get your hips swaying and feet moving. Remember kids: Rifflandia is a marathon, not a sprint. We got a long way to go. Pace yourselves and take care of each other.

JF Killah (Saturday, 9:30-11:30pm, Lucky Bar)

So, this year at Bass Coast during the Radio Stage takeover by the legendary Vancouver drum 'n' bass masters Shah DJs, my friend and drum 'n' bass expert, Jerrrrrf, planted himself for the entire length of the marathon set. Three and half hours, to be exact. As I've stated before, I don't know a whole lot about drum 'n' bass, but I trust my friends so I made sure to keep going back and checking in with my homie throughout the afternoon. The set that kept me the longest and really had me going was courtesy of J.F. Killah. The big doses of grime and heaviness – without the overwhelming aggression I feel from a lot of heavier drum 'n' bass – was just what I needed. My path into learning about drum 'n' bass has been long and windy, but masters like J.F. Killah who incorporate such a wide variety of sounds into their repertoire are the ones who have helped my own development as a listener. Her work as one half of Levrige, whom admittedly I had heard before hearing J.F. Killah on her own, shows off an even grimier side, going deep into that extra-deep, slow-burning bass shit. With two hours to lay it down in an intimate place like Lucky Bar, this is the perfect time to get properly acquainted with one of the west coasts foremost purveyors of accessible drum 'n' bass with nasty bite.