DEMENCHA » beats

VIDEO: Ebony Tusks – “Everybody Run” [Dir. Micki Hadley]

Chris Mills — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:57:46 +0000

[pictured: Marty from Ebony Tusks]

//EVERYBODY RUN MUSIC VIDEO// EBONY TUSKS from Micki Hadley on Vimeo.

Produced by Morri$. Be on the lookout for Morri$’ Artist of the Month feature here on Demencha.com this week. Digging the dancing in this video. Shout out to Vibe Tribe and Nightlife Jones, by the way.

Morri$ Featured on Salva’s Fader Mix

Chris Mills — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:41:16 +0000

[pictured: Salva]

Lawrence kid, Morri$, just had his track “Fishy Riddim” featured on Salva‘s latest DJ mix for The Fader. This whole mix is really dope, in its uniformed future funk fashion. Also, be on the lookout for our Artist of the Month feature on Morri$ shortly.

Download Salva’s Fader Mix HERE

Tracklist:
Greeen Linez, “Palm Coast Freeway”
Jesse Boykins III, “B4 The Night Is Thru” (Prod. By Machinedrum)
The Starship Connection, “More Than Just A Dream”
Krystal Klear + Olivier Day Soul, “Never Thought U Would Go”
Mark Ronson f. D’Angelo, “Glass Mountain Trust (Teeko & B. Bravo RE-FUNK)”
Royalty, “Halley’s Trail”
Arp 101, “Groove”
Quitter, “French Press”
Devonwho, “Strange Brew”
Salva, “Obsession (feat. B. Bravo)”
Morri$, “Fishy Riddim”
Dam-Funk, “Inside Of U”

D/L: Schoolboy Q ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Blessed” [prod. Dave Free]

Chris Mills — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 20:34:11 +0000

Kendrick Lamar’s partner in rhyme, Schoolboy Q, is set to drop his newest, the “Habits & Contradictions” release on January 14th. This is the latest freebie floating around on the net, “Blessed”, produced by Dave Free. Kendrick Lamar dropped my hands down favorite record of 2011, Section .80, a few months ago, and I’ve got high hopes for future music from himself and his homies. The pair offer some uplifting lyrics over Dave Free’s bassy, airy beat on this one.

Schoolboy Q ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Blessed” [prod. Dave Free]
DOWNLOAD HERE

D/L: Clams Casino – “Instrumental” Mixtape (320s, Mastered)

Chris Mills — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 19:54:18 +0000

We don’t usually go fishing around on other sites or “jackin for blogs” as I like to say, all in the name of stealing content, and I wish that I would’ve had time to make a personal favorite music chart of pieces and albums that came out last year with zero relevance to KC. Had I done that, Clams Casino‘s name probably would’ve gone under “Favorite Producer” or something to that effect. Courtesy of Gorilla vs Bear comes Clammy Clams’ updated, mastered version of his critically-acclaimed instrumental project delivered a few months ago.

Get Clams Casino’s “Instrumental” mixtape (320s, mastered) HERE.

Chris Mills’ KC-Based 2011 Hip Hop/Rap Picks

Chris Mills — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 02:09:13 +0000

10. Young Fate – “All Gass” [prod. Mr. Fresh]

Ladies and gentlemen, hit play and start your engines. This video player popped up in February and sees Fate spitting game over a real heat-rock from Mr. Fresh. While Young Fate verses are on my brain, his 16 on Ron Ron’s “I Go” (Skitzo-Frinik) always sounded to me like it belonged in a Nike commercial. This track goes. Fuck brakes.

9. I-R Neko – The Prognosis [prod. B.B.P.]

KC’s I-R Neko came out with this video in October and I absolutely loved it from the jump. My favorite part is when one of Neko’s friends walks out of a closet clutching a bong. This is probably the most vicious track on Neko’s album, O.verdue G.rams, which you can grab HERE.

8. Ubiquitous – “Roadwork”

Off Ubiquitous of Ces Cru’s forthcoming “Matter Don’t Money” solo project, “Roadwork” ensures old Ces fans that the urgency in Ubi’s voice isn’t simply going to evaporate into thin air while building strong connections and workings with Tech N9ne and Strange Music. This one sees him dropping some rather epic knowledge, as a teacher of sorts practically disgusted with his students and peers. When I interviewed Ces Cru for the fall 2008 print issue of Demencha Magazine, Godemis said that one of his main goals in rap was to be able to quit his job, tour and live comfortably. Looking back on that interview and now listening to “Roadwork”, it’s not much of a secret as to why Ubi didn’t exactly concur with his Cesphilian counterpart at that moment. Now, heading into 2011, it seems as though Ubiquitous specifically has his eyes on a huge prize after listening to this really serious track. Hopefully by this time next year Ubi and Godemis will have stories to tell about rocking shows around the world.

7. Tech N9ne feat. Krizz Kaliko and Ces Cru – “Unfair”

“Unfair” is probably the most relevant example of the ever-strengthening artistic relationship between Ces and Strange Music to come out this year. This track off the November 2011 Strangeland release essentially details the co-signing of Ubiquitous and Godemis by Tech N9ne and Krizz Kaliko, much to the apparent jealousy of other rappers waiting in line with a demo (or just hating, outright). Krizz Kaliko’s verse probably sums the situation up more clearly than anyone featured on this track.

6. PL – “Symphony” [prod. Deuce Fontane aka Lemroc Evil]
Symphony by PL

Sometimes rappers will get a beat and just spit some random swag shit over it. I’ll assure you that this didn’t happen here. Released in April, this was the choice nugget from PL’s The Session EP. On “Symphony”, PL tells a story about running into a female one afternoon (literally, he bumped into her car) and then the two hit it off in the parking lot. He recounts meeting up with her later that night for drinks and “when she speaks” he can’t help but hear music in place of dialogue. Pretty cool concept, but when coupled with Deuce Fontane aka Lemroc Evil’s beat essentially joining horn sounds with a female voice in the chorus it makes for a track (song) that most single dudes could relate to. “And to this day I haven’t heard a word she said/ Just harmonies and melodies that’s bouncin’ in my head – when she speaks”.

5. Ron Ron – “Left Brain Right Brain”

Regardless of whether or not Ron Ron’s rap career is done, Left Brain Right Brain still has to jut out in the discussion of the better hip hop releases out of KC in 2011. If you got your hands on a copy (a lot of folks had some difficulty with online purchases for whatever reason), you should feel lucky. There are tracks on this mixtape that are very, very similar to a number of tracks on his Ron DMC release this year, some with the same beat and lyrics, just delivered differently. Finding anything online for Left Brain Right Brain proved difficult, so I had to feature a track off of Ron DMC for this pick. Ron Ron’s music speaks to me more than any rap artist I’ve listened to over the past four years. I can’t necessarily relate to songs like “Bank Job” (which should remind you of Biggie’s “Gimme The Loot” or DMX’s “Crime Story”) and “Ghetto”, over the “Keep Ya Head Up” beat. But consider Left Brain Right Brain a case of a guy writing for “all the little Johns, curbside scribbling whatever on his mind,” from an artist that reached well beyond his own block, regardless of range or perspective. Ron Ron spoke about what was going on around him, which he described as “hell”, in an interview we did with him in 2009, but had the power and ability to rise above the drugs/violence subjects that have plagued most local hip hop mixtapes for years.

4. Star Slinger feat. Reggie B – “Dumbin”

You may remember our top pick from Demencha’s 2011 Music Picks. I had yet another jaw-dropping moment when I first heard this Star Slinger beat featuring Reggie B’s uplifting lyrics. Yes, Diplo’s remix bangs out, but I don’t necessarily prefer it over this Star Slinger (UK) and Reggie B (KC) version. The Star Slinger-produced original has stuck with me the most. Reggie’s work with Star Slinger and the subsequent Diplo remix of “Dumbin” easily stand out as two of my favorite tracks of 2011 and I view them as two of the more significant accomplishments from a KC-based artist this year. Here’s to Reggie B continuing to make great music in 2012, regardless as to whether or not we’re the only blog in KC writing about his stuff.

3. Les Izmore & DWill – “The Granny Smith Theorem”
The Granny Smith Theorem by Les Izmore

This release was meant as a teaser before Les and D’s “Heartfelt Anarchy” album, which will hopefully be out sooner rather than later. Les Izmore has transcended scenes and sounds since 2008. What other artist do you know who’s collaborated with Kansas City’s undisputed street rap king, Rich The Factor (2010), and scored a Pitch cover the next year (2011)? That’s what I thought, nobody. Les has been breaking down boundaries within our greater local music scene and this notion has been nailed in even further by his work with BeardKCrazy and Hearts of Darkness, two of the hottest bands in KC right now. “The Granny Smith Theorem” pairs DWill’s soul-sampled beats with Les’ aggressive, gruff delivery. Specifically, I think a lot of young cats should listen to “Swagger Killer” on repeat for about an hour just to get their heads straight. It’s probably the rawest, most relevant hip hop track to some out of KC this year. The sky-high horns provided by DWill and the reminiscing lyrics from Les on “The Line” make for a sure-fire runner up to my favorite on this release, an outstanding project regardless.

2. The Popper – “Me, Myself and I”

Hosted by Soul M.U.T.T., DJ Fresh and DJ Roc, this Me, Myself & I mixtape had people all over the city buzzing over it. And what would you expect from a rap artist who paints a better picture of his city than anyone in KC (and maybe then some)? Popper’s getting up there in years, but I still regard him as one of the nicest MCs in the city. He held down this entire mixtape with no guest rap features, as well.

1. Lindquist and Greer feat. Reggie B – “Track 12″ (from It’s Been a Long Day)
12 by Lindquist & Greer

This is the best example of three KC-based legends (Joc Max, Miles Bonny and Reggie B) just fucking around. In the full bandcamp release, there’s not much direction, except for the mature hip hop vibes that we’ve come to expect from Joc and Miles over the past few years. The tracks on It’s Been a Long Day don’t even have titles, just track numbers. But I had to feature Track 12 for fear that you would’ve skipped over it on accident had I posted the entire bandcamp link. I hate to get all sentimental, but this song kind of gets to me because I fortunately know all of these guys personally and to hear them collaborating on a really deep, world-relevant, 10-minute track, really warms my soul. It’s like time stops when I hit play on this. Even though this song holds freestyled singing from Reggie and freestyled raps from Joc Max, it’s absolutely perfect. Random note: I’ll never forget until the day I die when I heard someone scream out at the Peanut while Joc was spinning there one night a few years ago, “DAMMIT!!!!!! I’LL NEVER BE AS GOOD AS JOC MAX!!!!!!” The bottom line is that Joc, Miles and any of their friends (Taha, etc.) just messing around on a project is most likely going to result in a better final product than the record you’ve been trying to perfect for the last six months.

Artist To Watch in 2012: Riv Locc

Riv Locc strikes me as the type of rapper who writes a lot. But does that equal a rapper who’s verses are actually worth listening to? I don’t know. I don’t rap. In a discussion over lyrics, I could see why a lot of people are propping up Riv Locc for doing his style of street rap better than anyone in KC right now. With similies out the wazoo, Riv Locc is razor sharp. I bought his Exigent Circumstances album from 7th Heaven earlier this year and recently downloaded Clozed Curtainz. His “I Keep It Lit” release is scheduled to drop on January 2nd, so it shouldn’t take long for Riv Locc’s 2012 to jump off. Don’t get me wrong, I think Popper still paints a better picture of KC than anyone out, but Riv Locc will detail your nightmares of what Kansas City can be. Expect a continuous round of darts bleeding through into 2012 from Riv Locc.

KC-Based Beats/Electronic [2011 Music Picks]

Chris Mills — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 05:26:59 +0000

With more artists in KC doing experimental, beat music derivatives this year, I thought this separate chart would only be right. I don’t think I had near as many favorite local beats to refer to when the Demencha writers put together their 2010 music picks last year. But in 2011, some said that electronic music exploded with more bang than in any other 365-day span, and somehow I imagine Skrillex being some kind of poster boy for this resurgence. Seems to me like music is easier to create nowadays and all these kids in their 20s who’ve been messing around with earlier versions of Fruity Loops in their bedrooms for the past five years are finally getting the hang of it and cranking out some real jams. I also think that dubstep’s BPM tempo (particularly arriving in Verizon commercials while the Dirty South still reigns in rap) has helped its crossover appeal in the United States much more than any style of electronic music has seen in years.

I did forewarn a lot of people that dubstep was about to see a big backlash in 2011, and it proved to be true. Am I happy to see Matty G at the Midland here in in a few weeks? Yes. Do I like the vast majority of dubstep tracks and mixes I listened to this year? No. I intentionally refrained from downloading or seeking out much dubstep this year, and seemingly every time someone referred me to something “so sick”, I couldn’t help but cringe after the drop.

For this local beats/electronic chart I’ve come up with to round out 2011, I’ve included 10 really slick compositions and official releases. The Excision, Datsik and whatever else that I’m still not sure how to dance to was left at home in my external, though. Beyond that, these were my favorite beats out of our area this year. Thank you for reading and listening on Demencha.com…

10. Leonard DStroy – “Sunnshine”
Sunnshine by Leonard Dstroy

This was my personal favorite from Lenny’s Inner Exit EP, which came out earlier this year. But with a brand new album out on Elm & Oak today, 2012 looks to be shaping up quite nicely for Lenny. “Sunnshine” sees him incorporating some jazzy horns and KRS-One’s “Woop, woop!” vocals which he’s using as a kind of territorial track marker on much of his recent work and live sets since crossing over from the local underground hip hop base, and breaking new ground for himself amongst an audience of glowstickers.

9. FreeKing – “Unreal” (DJ Mix)
FreeKing-Unreal by FreeKing

HAM. This mix plays out like a workout tape that FreeKing (FKA Rob Lee) made for a friend in need of a cardio soundtrack. Not only that, but this guy absolutely reigned at one of the Kansas City Techno parties at The Union in Westport over the summer. This brand of unrelenting techno is exactly what I needed for a lot of my long drives and work day motivation.

8. Archi & B-Stee – “Can’t Stop”
Archi & B-Stee – Can’t Stop by Think 2wice

Locals DJ Archi and DJ B-Stee cooked up a really cool moombahton flip of After 7’s “Can’t Stop”, hanging on to the chorus for the most part. While I decided that I did in fact like moombahton this year, I’m still not sure if this music is going to stick around very long. I still think moombahton is best appreciated when it’s played in a club and girls are getting down to it. In those instances, it can be pretty electric. But aside from David Heartbreak’s “moombahsoul” derivative, you might not be able to get into moombahton by just listening to it in your headphones at home. Archi and B-Stee have great anticipation for what can work on a dance floor. Trust in these two to stay on top of burgeoning club sounds in 2012.

7. Moodymatic – “Ampex Frequency” EP
Ampex Frequency EP by MOODYMATIC

The super-weird beat music movement gained even more steam in 2011 and showed everyone that current bass music doesn’t have to clock in at exactly 70 BPM and be completely ridiculous. I munched on these crunchy, glitched-out beats from North KC-based, Bmoody, and Midtown-marinating, Dan Matic, for a good part of 2011 and almost broke a tooth in the process. The whole Footclan are constantly making beats and putting them up for free download.

6. Sinjin Hawke & Morri$ – “One Kiss”

Barcelona-based dream beat weaver, Sinjin Hawke and Lawrencian, Morri$, came together on this “One Kiss” track just a few weeks ago. I’ve really been feeling this rush of melodic bass music that became more blogged about in 2011. A lot of the Team Bear Club sound (Morri$’ crew) comes out in this really shiny, fun take on trap-styled beats. After interviewing Morri$ at his crib in LK just about two weeks ago (check back for our Artist of the Month Feature in mid-January), it sounds like this guy could start making some rather massive moves soon.

5. Topp Boom – “Planet L.O.V.E.”
Topp Boom (aka Luke Rocha) – “Planet L.O.V.E.” by DEMENCHA MAGAZINE

Our Featured Artist of the Month for December, Luke Rocha aka Topp Boom, is still on that analog tip, but that doesn’t mean this track (and a lot of the music on the Symbol Heavy crew site) isn’t fantastic. Depending on how you look at it, the dustiness of the sample-based, “Planet L.O.V.E.”, may even enhance its beauty. With very little use of modern computer programs and technology, Topp Boom really turned out a gem here. But you will need to turn it up.

4. Motorboater – “Lessons”

This joint came out on Motorboater’s 2011 album, Sport, through the local indie champs at The Record Machine. I’m still not exactly sure how this guy performs when he plays out, but “Lessons” really hit the spot.

3. Miles Bonny – “We” [DRplus2 Remix]
We [DRplus2 REMIX] by Miles Bonny

DRplus2 (FKA Dr+) churned out an amazing beat disc over the summer. Oddly enough, I can’t remember if this track is on it or not, but that doesn’t matter because you can grab all of the official “We” remixes on Miles Bonny’s bandcamp page (including flips from Tactic and Chrissy Murderbot). But DR’s beat disc was never released online. If you don’t have one, and can enjoy any kind of hard, glitchy beats, you might want to hit him up. DRplus2 remains one of the most brilliant young producers out, and his remix of Miles’ “We” was one of my favorite local tracks of 2011.

2. Ghost – “Autoscopy” (beat album)
Fallen by Ghost_816

Citing Dr. Dre, 9th Wonder and Oscar Peterson as some of his main influences in an interview with us earlier this year, the classically-trained, 21-year old hip hop producer known simply as Ghost flew under the radar of a lot of local hip hop heads this year. But I fully expect business to start picking up for him a lot more in 2012. There’s not necessarily much pop potential in his beats yet, they’re just really solid hip hop jams intended for really solid rappers. But until Ghost starts serving more beats out to vocalists, I’ll hope and pray that none of them fuck anything up because these tracks stand out on their own already.

1. Nezbeat – “Children of the Ghetto”
Children of the Ghetto by Good Hair (Nezbeat & Joe Good)

One half of Lawrence hip hop duo, Archetype, and wonderful beat-maker, Nezbeat, really outdid himself here. I distinctly remember my jaw dropping at my desk as I got to the 1:45 mark shortly after getting his Good Hair project (a lost album of sorts, featuring former KC rapper, Joe Good) this year. Nez leaves plenty of room for his own singing throughout the melody-drenched airiness and bent-up bass. Deep and inspiring, “Children of the Ghetto” is one of the most rewarding tracks I’ve heard out of KC/Lawrence (and beyond) all year.

D/L: Leonard DStroy’s “ADHD” Album [out today on Elm & Oak Records]

Chris Mills — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 19:46:20 +0000

As we mentioned over the weekend, KC-beat guru, Leonard DStroy, has a new album coming out soon. Soon is today. The Elm & Oak label is calling this a “collage album”, featuring over 50 beats in just nine tracks. The name behind the album seems rather simple now. We’ve always considered Lenny’s weird beats (the ones not necessarily meant for rappers) to be very un-repetitive, for better or worse on a dance floor. But this megamix concept really allows Lennny to capitalize on such assumptions. This will probably be the coolest concoction of beats you’ll download all week.

New Single From Leonard DStroy’s Forthcoming Album [Elm & Oak]

Chris Mills — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 19:02:39 +0000

“Attention Deficit High Definition” (ADHD), the long-awaited beat album from Kansas City sound-shaper, Leonard DStroy, drops on Tuesday, December 27th. Elm & Oak decided it would be only right to throw out a leaked single from the project which sounds like a rather deficit-disordered take on a range of influences, probably the coolest beat we’ve heard from Lenny since “Sunnshine”. Lenny D stands as probably the tightest beat-maker in KC, and possibly beyond, to whatever degree. Hit the Elm & Oak site again on Tuesday to find out how you can get your own copy of “ADHD”…

Part Two on the album “ADHD” by Leonard Dstroy by elmandoak

p.s. Check THIS STORY we recently did with Luke Rocha (aka Topp Boom) wherein Luke talks about Lenny’s former breakdancing self.

Soundcloud Finds: Nezbeat [Lawrence/Oakland]

Chris Mills — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 21:15:04 +0000

With a brand new album coming in January under the Archetype guise accompanied by longtime collaborator and MC, iD, new tracks from Lawrence-based producer, Nezbeat, kinda slipped under our radar. Nez just moved out to Oakland, CA and says there are no planned performances for the new Archetype album, “Red Wedding” (Dekagon Records). But that doesn’t mean his soundcloud page isn’t holding up a few extracurricular gems that went undetected. Make sure you follow Nezbeat on soundcloud after you hear the joints below.

I Attempt 2 Look My Be$t 4 U by nezbeats

Friendliness by nezbeats

Clear Water Revival neztrumental by nezbeats

Jiggyeastern (ghanaswag) by nezbeats

FEATURED ARTIST OF THE MONTH: Luke Rocha aka Topp Boom [Dec. 2011]

Chris Mills — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 04:04:58 +0000

Artist, Luke Rocha (aka beat-maker, Topp Boom) is DIY to the teeth. Having started the blasphemously slept-on SymbolHeavy.com in 2005 to now working with a certain Brooklyn indie-rock icon, (who we cannot name), Luke is constantly learning in addition to holding a distinctly earthy vision of art. But don’t think about the landscape paintings you see for sale at Walgreens. And let’s be honest without coming off as disrespectful – he’s got a lot of room to learn. Luke makes some great sample-based funk and electro-tinged tunes…

Topp Boom (aka Luke Rocha) – “Planet L.O.V.E.” by DEMENCHA MAGAZINE

Topp Boom (aka Luke Rocha) – “Take U Home” by DEMENCHA MAGAZINE

…and has put together art for various publications including Wax Poetics. He also makes his own limited-run zines, but forces out his beats and scrapbook-like artistic works with very little use of current, digital technology…

About his collages, Luke says, “I get more enjoyment out of just cutting and pasting, like I just go mad with some scissors. It’s time consuming, yeah. I became kind of a pro at it though. I’ll use a computer to scan it at the end or whatever.”

Growing up in Topeka where his mom was a jazz singer and his dad a courtroom artist, Luke’s been engulfed by art and music as early as he can remember. While going to elementary school, he met now lifelong friends and current Deep Thinkers, Leonard DStroy and Brother of Moses. Luke dished that he even remembers Lenny D as a breakdancer. While Lenny apparently stuck to his strong suits, DJing and producing beats, and with Brother of Moses mainly sticking to lyricism and art heading into 2012, Luke recalls Raekwon’s album, Only Built For Cuban Linx, which prompted him to start creating his own music as the three of them geeked out over the Wu-Tang member’s flow and more…

“I liked RZA’s beats, just the way he did his beats with a lot of soul samples and stuff. At the same time, it was really dark and sinister. After that I was looking for records and started my beat-digging thing.”

The following interview took place on his front porch in Midtown just a few weeks ago. Luke isn‘t the most adept at social media, but until that changes, keep tabs on his label site, SymbolHeavy.com and Demencha as we bring you the indie-est of the indie and the Kansas City underground’s least dug for. Without further ado, here is our Featured Artist of the Month for December 2011 – Luke Rocha aka Topp Boom.

Demencha: What is and who are Symbol Heavy? Include aliases and what their creative directions are.

Luke Rocha: Symbol Heavy is a record label. I came up with the logo and the name and Drew was like, “Yeah, we should do a label.” Drew introduced me to his friend, Boyd. Boyd was all about it. Boyd’s more of a business man, so he’s the one that did our website and everything. Beatbroker put out the first official release, which was the Brother of Moses and Beatbroker Forward Look EP. It was put on a 12 inch. The 12 inch did pretty good. DJs got it and played it. It was sold locally. Then after that, we put out the Symbol Heavy Volume 1, a compilation. That was more of like, something to showcase our acts that we were gonna come out with. It’s one of those record label albums. There was Topp Boom tracks, Boyd Pro, Dragon Tears, Your Reflection. And it showcased Brother of Moses, Negro Scoe and BGM. Then the label kind of progressed out of hip hop a little bit, too. Electro sounds, early 80’s electronic music kind of sound. That’s what me and Boyd were into. Disco.

Demencha: Are you a born and raised Kansas Citian?

Luke Rocha: I was born in Topeka, Kansas. I grew up in Olathe. That’s where I went to high school. I moved around a lot. I went to middle school in Lenexa at Indian Woods Middle School. I went there with Leonard Dstroy and Brother of Moses. I met them and always had a friendship with them. We got really into hip hop back then (1994). Meeting them and knowing that they were into the same music as me just started our fascination with hip hop and we dabbled in everything – graffiti, DJing. Kyle (aka Leonard Dstroy) used to breakdance. Kyle stuck to DJing and beatmaking. Aaron stuck to rapping, but he still does art. I stuck to just producing and art. I went to high school in Olathe. There’s no like, culture out there really. So I would always come down here (Midtown). I loved Westport. Back in the day there was a shop called Collective Funk and it used to be where Recycled Sounds used to be. Flavor Pak too, it was integral. It was cool to have this magazine that was dedicated to stuff that we liked and had cool art and stuff. We were all about it. We were just like, little kids. We met Jeremy who was this bigger dude, and he kind of introduced us to all these people. We were in like, middle school and high school when Basement Khemist were just starting to do their thing. They got that Vibe Magazine review, that was cool. We all thought like, “Man, they’re gonna make it.” Anyways, that kind of kick started it. We loved anything East Coast at the time. Aaron had Redman, Dare Iz A Darkside, Smiff ‘n Wessun, Wu-Tang Clan, Grand Puba. They were all bootlegged. All these bootleg tapes that he would get from some Beauty Supply store in Missouri. He would always loan them to me and shit. Mobb Deep’s The Infamous was the first CD that we bought.

Demencha: Take us through the process of how you make your beats and why they come out sounding like they do.

Luke Rocha: It’s really just a simple set up of just two turntables hooked into the mixer and then the mixer into the samplers (SP-1200 or SP-404). I don’t really do anything special to get that sound, honestly. It’s just the records that I use. They have that sound already, which I like. I’ll turn up the bass, turn down the hi hats. You know, kind of re-master it. Or I’ll add effects to it and stuff. When I get a beat done, I just dump it into a digital 8 track. It used to be a 4 track until this year, I got my first digital 8 track. It makes my life a hell of a lot easier. No more rewinding tapes to get back to the track. When I record people, it’s like, rappers gotta take sometimes five to ten takes. And I would have to rewind the tape so much that I would think the tape would just be damaged. Now I’ve got this digital thing, where it’s just at the press of a button, you could go back to the beginning of the track. So I just dumped all my sampler stuff into that 4 track and then I just master it. I have a CD dual deck burner so I just burn everything to CD. I just do a quick master. That’s probably where most of the sound comes from. I’m not taking it into any Pro Tools or anything. After a while you just know what kind of sound you want. I like my setup simple. I’m not anti-Pro Tools or anything, or people that make beats on computers. I don’t have the attention span to relearn something like that right now. But if I was getting paid for it, I would. It’s just hard for me to juggle art, music and photography. If I’m not working on music, I’m working on some art pieces. Art’s definitely paid off more than the music has. I find the business to be a lot tougher, the music business.

Demencha: Music seems like the more glamorous way of making money, as opposed to art. But how do you think the ethos of musicians and those of visual artists stack up against each other?

Luke Rocha: If you want to make a lot of money off music, sometimes you have to do stuff that you don’t necessarily want to do. From my standpoint, and my friends, we just make music to hear and if people like it then that’s awesome but I guess that if we were more on the pop side, we’d probably have better chances of succeeding in music. I could be as crazy as I want with art and way more experimental, but with music I can still get experimental but you turn a lot of people off if it’s too crazy or if it doesn’t have appeal. I’m not saying I hate pop music, I think there’s some catchy tunes but I’m just saying that’s why it’s probably particularly harder for musicians nowadays. It sucks because I see so much talent here in KC. A lot of them work harder than I do at music. It sucks that there’s not a bigger avenue for them. Look at Lady Gaga. I consider her a visual artist. Look at her shows, look at what she wears. Everything’s strategic. There’s artists that dub themselves “performance artists” and not musicians, and they do the same thing. The whole art thing can come hand in hand. I guess it just depends on how you look at it. To me, making a CD is art. The Topp Boom thing is to me, a big art project. It’s just this character I created. Bootsy Collins kind of made this character of himself, so now he always wears the glasses. Topp Boom is kind of a more modern version of that.

Demencha: Tell us about the band you’re a part of, Your Reflection. You guys have a new album coming out called “Electric Indian”. Who’s doing what in that project?

Luke Rocha: Your Reflection is a group that I started with my friend Mike, who is from KC but currently lives in Boston. He went to Paseo. He was in kind of a landmark punk group from here called The Breakups. He was also in another group from Lawrence called The Anniversary. He’s got a big music background, more so than I do. He’s a working musician in Boston, and he’s currently the touring manager for Twin Shadow. It’s a group I started with him. He’s a huge synthesizer fanatic. We used to swap tracks and just do silly keyboard things. I wanted to make an album that was kind of earthy but electronic. The old meets the new. “Electric Indian” is kind of a perfect thing because I’m really intrigued by Indian culture. But when you mix it with analog electronics and stuff, we could create this whole new world. We plan to get visual with that. Mike does video too, so we’re gonna make a video that goes with it. Also, my brother (Patrick Rocha) is in the group. He just plays keyboards here and there, he’s not on every track. So it’s pretty much me and Mike’s brainchild. Then we have session players who play in. There’s a guy who plays guitar on three tracks. There’s vocals but they’re really subtle. It’s an all instrumental album, pretty much. I wanted to make it kind of a psychedelic, electronic rock thing…

Your Reflection – “Native Bounce” [from the forthcoming album - Electric Indian] by DEMENCHA MAGAZINE

…I’m a huge fan of psychedelic music. There’s still that breakbeat background. I think heads will be into it as well. It’s a bridging the gap thing. But I kind of want it to be its own entity, not copy off too many sounds. It’s something I really look forward to. I put a lot of work into it. So it’s really kind of the first album that I’m gonna try to push hard, like harder than I’ve pushed any other album. We’re gonna try to send it to Wax Poetics and see if maybe they could pick up a single or something. Right now we’re in the process of putting up a couple of free tracks on the Symbol Heavy website.

Demencha: Talk about the zines that you’ve made, specifically “The Silence Is Killing Us”.

Luke Rocha: There were these guys in the hood selling these “Stop Snitchin” shirts and stuff. Then there were these billboards, “The Silence Is Killing Us”, meaning that if you weren’t fessing up to the cops then it’s not helping matters with the city anyways. During that period, all that stuff was collected from 2005. I was just really interested in that huge crime wave that was going on and they were really documenting it big time in the (Kansas City Star). It was funny because The Pitch did a story on KC crime, they called it “Killer City”. It just became this subject. Then there was that Kansas City Star book that came out that was called “Kansas City Crime Central”. I made this zine before that book, but that book documents a lot of famous crime stories in Kansas City…

…I just like Kansas City for the fact that it’s got so much history but some of the history can be fucked up, or it just gets lost in the shuffle of the East Coast and West Coast. The whole Midwest, minus Chicago and Detroit I guess, is this kind of forgotten area. But really, there’s a lot of beautiful art and rich history, rich music history. If you’re into art and music, you’ll definitely love Kansas City. As far as opportunities go for them and jobs – it’s a hustle. It’s not like New York where there’s a crowd for everything and you can pretty much pick up a job doing something. But there’s a lot of fish in the sea in New York. A lot of dudes trying to do what you’re doing. KC is so small, it can be tight-knit at times. But there’s a lot of young talent that comes out and shit. That zine (“The Silence Is Killing Us”) was basically a diary of that year, you know? I like taking photography in my spare time and shoot Polaroids of people, signs, and just put it together in a scrap book form. I’m thinking I might start a website dedicated to the zines for people who aren’t in KC that can’t buy (them).

Demencha: Brag on yourself here and talk about the different kinds of projects that you’ve been a part of.

Luke Rocha: My brother kind of kick started that. He was going to school for visual arts in New York, he started in 2000. He was there until 2003. He got art gigs doing like freelance commercial jobs for magazines and clothing companies. He did an ad for Converse. He did a couple shirts for Carhartt. He got a job with Flaunt Magazine and they did a story on hip hop in Israel. He did a drawing to go with it. He was making some pretty decent money doing that. He came back to KC and saw what I was doing and I had done this collage of Betty Davis and another one of Dennis Coffey. He was like, “You should send the Wax Poetics editor your stuff.” And I did. I sent him two jpegs of that and I was like, “I’m a huge fan of your magazine. If you ever need some contributing art just let me know.” It took like a full year and the guy got back to me, the editor, Andre Torres. He hired me to do an illustration on Hank Shocklee. And I was like, “Hell yeah,” because I love the Bomb Squad. That led to me doing their anthology book, which was cool. I got to do a story on the 12×12 section. Around that time, I got more confident. Started sending people stuff. I did some album cover work. I did one for Archetype. More or less, Nezbeat bought my painting that I had and they ended up using that painting for their album, Bleed For Them. Then the Architects hired me to do their Revenge cover. There was this group, Blackout Gorgeous, that Nezbeat was a part of. He hired me and another cat to do the whole album cover thing. Stuff started to snowball. Riot Magazine in Australia did this cool story on Symbol Heavy and they published the Betty Davis picture that I did. I suddenly had this good body of work that I could try to sell and make some occasional money here and there, just to do some kind of illustration for some story.

Demencha: Say a really young kid was to ask you “What is art?” For a lot of people it’s really easy to just sum it up in one word and say, “Expression.” Is it that simple for you?

Luke Rocha: It’s kind of a complex question to me because art can be anything really. It could be some white lady in Wyandotte county wearing a Tupac t-shirt. She’s like, maybe fifty years old. But it’s like some hand-me-down shirt she has, you know? To me, there’s a lot of beauty in that. A photograph-worthy kind of thing. Two different worlds colliding, kinda. So I would tell kids, art could be anything you want it to be. There’s so many different things that I see as art. I tend to take photos of it, or collect it. The kind of art that I do is kind of dependent on what other people have done in the past. I’m taking my influences and wearing them hardcore on my sleeve.

Demencha: Your music is sample-based and your visual art is sample-based for the most part with your collages…

Luke Rocha: Yeah, definitely. It’s the same kind of approach. You can take bits and pieces of something and totally make it your own. People knock sampling like that, but it’s like you could make your own song off of ten different records, blend it all together and it’s a whole new composition. If you need a horn, I can’t afford a horn player so I’m gonna go take like a small fraction of a horn and maybe chop it up. Plus it’s already mastered in their studio. They slaved over that sample. I mean, they slaved over that musicianship. I’ll just take like take a part of it. In gratitude, it’s all genuine sampling.

Demencha: What do you mean by that?

Luke Rocha: I mean I don’t do it for the sake of like a hit or anything, or take the Puff Daddy approach where I’ll redo the whole song with another chorus of another song. I mean, I get what he’s doing, you know? I still take pride in finding a rare loop and exposing it to people that haven’t heard it. I feel like it’s my duty and of other producers like me that are more of the diggers, to hip people on some of these undiscovered groups or just expose them to new sounds that they wouldn’t necessarily be into. I like that. Making something out of nothing. I take chances when I buy records. Your ear becomes a lot better. You know what to find. And the same thing with art. Art’s easier in the fact that you know your visual sense right away. So you can just use that. With music it’s like, you gotta listen to it again and you gotta see if it goes with that other sample.

Demencha: You like Company Flow, right?

Luke Rocha: Yeah.

Demencha: They did a song with DJ Krush called “Vision of Art” several years ago. The first line of that song starts with “You’ve got a very soft vision of art”. I don’t want you to necessarily try to explain what El-P meant by that, but if someone were to tell you that something was done through a hard vision of art, or a soft vision of art, what would you make of it?

Luke Rocha: There’s so many different kinds of art. From greeting cards at Hallmark all the way down to big ass sculptures in the park to fine art and paintings to low-budget Polaroids. My approach is kind of like, unpretentious. Anything to me is art in a weird way. But some are stronger than others. It’s your job to create your own art in a way, your own atmosphere where people will say, “Oh, that reminds me of such and such.” With art you can create your own world, you can create your own time and space. Nobody can mess with that. When you leave this world, you leave that behind. People need to stop getting so philosophical about it. Art can be fucking anything, you know? To me, I’m still learning dude, that’s why I ask people’s opinions. I never think I’m too good to ask other people’s opinions. It only makes you better at it. Like, my dad, he was doing all these paintings that he really liked but they just weren’t selling. So he went back to the basics and just started doing these small scale pencil things. Now they’re selling like hotcakes. He found his market. He found something that he could just keep pushing out. Sometimes you’ve got to break out of your box just to get a little notoriety and then after that you can pretty much do whatever the hell you want to do. I’m trying to think of a producer or a singer who’s done that. Sun-Ra was like that. Marvin Gaye was like that. Marvin Gaye made standard r&b hits, then on his later 70’s albums he got more experimental with the sounds. That’s what I really liked about him. Each album was a major transition. I like that approach – unpredictable. Your influences come from anywhere at anytime. And I’m not afraid of my influences. That’s what I try to do with my mixes. I could easily put the new Lil Wayne single on there or something. Put something on there that nobody’s heard or it’s slept on or something, you know? Hopefully somebody will get some shit out of it.