AN E-MAIL EXCHANGE WITH CULP

CULP, Canada

LO-FI beatmaker and roller blade hockey player CULP takes time off making beats and listening to the sound of nature to chat via the webs of the internet, about the LO-FI movement, his latest album ‘MARINELAND’, and Steve Wiebe amongst other things.

Planetary Beats: Right off the bat, how did you come up with the name ‘CULP’ and what does it mean?

CULP:  It’s changed over time from CULPRIT303 – to CULP. It’s my last name.

             

Planetary Beats: On that point, what is the deal with all the lo-fi SP cats on the come-up putting their names in all caps?

CULP: THE CAPS USE TO BE A WAY TO SIFT THROUGH THE BULLSHIT, respectively. It was a way to let others know that you are making that lo-fi sound. Heavy compression, 0G vinyl sim, bounce to tape, etc. it’s the low end shit-gear theory. It was far out and not trending as hard as it is now, 5 years ago, that’s why I went CAPS. It made it easier to find like-artists. The sound is trending hard, so that theory has kind of gone dodo. There’s a lot of SP’s out there.

Planetary Beats: What SPs do you have at the moment, and what other gear do you use alongside them to make beats?

CULP: ‘At the moment’ SP 606. It’s the Tony Danza of the lab. All my audio sources talk to it. I think it has around 43 Mfx and 2 can be instantiated at the same time. There’s a 4 part sequencer and external re-sampling. It’s fast, and has some auto chopping features. It’s really a great machine. I still haven’t tapped into all its features. It’s my only SP with me right now. It has some impressive features that work with a computer. I always bounce out to Ableton live. Ableton is my multi track “tape deck.” It prevents me from forgetting about tracks I’ve made and lost. It glues everything together. I’m also a fan of the Micro-sampler, Juno-106, DX21, mkXL, 404, jobsPAD and monotrons. I just moved so I just flipped my whole set up to minimalism.

Planetary Beats: I’ve been on that SLF TAPES for a minute now and seen some mad unorthodox ways of using SPs, do you have any weird ways of utilising your SPs or just standard use?

CULP: I use the sequencer without quantize. Deep, I know. Honestly, I don’t think too many use it. I am under the assumption that brews like the re-sample method. I’m on the OG 404 and it has slight delay on the external banks–my timing is bogus with a delay-lag, this ruins my outfit. I think it’s because of my compact flash card? and those are a rarity to find now. I keep it on lo-fi brew, that’s the standard.

Planetary Beats: How would you describe your left-centre beats in one sentence?

CULP: I’m a right hand shot from the left wing.

Planetary Beats: What/who were your main influences on the MARINELAND album?

CULP: The Caribbean, Dpeee, collecting synthesizers, the death of Tuxedo Himself, Green Llamas, Perry of SLFtapes + affiliates, Lord beatjitzu, Gang bl00d, a dead muppet master, 90’s VHS cassettes, microwaved meows, and snorkeling.

Planetary Beats: Who did the album art for it and can you give a short explanation on the image?

CULP: I did the album art. It’s a lot of pictures from my phone and images that I have some relation with or found amusing.

http://culp.bandcamp.com/

Planetary Beats: Where did you get the vox sample in the intro of your track ‘GRANDBEND’, does it have any deeper meaning or is it just for the laughs?

CULP: It’s the hosts from the ‘Super Mario Brothers Super Show!’ It was one of the first TV shows I learned how to record on VHS back in like 1990. It’s where all this VHS recording started for me. It’s the stems of ‘dude bruhs’ and it made an impression when I was 7.  Definitely for laughs.

Planetary Beats: What are you doing when you aren’t making future sounds?

CULP: I stay active. You can’t hide out in your lab all the time in Canada, our warm weather lasts for 4 months. I have a fixed gear & I play roller blade hockey at an outdoor hockey rink with a tight crew of brews from ‘Canada man’. We smoke ganj and drink cheap beer, there’s a lot of roughhousing, falling over, cuts, body checking …There are epic shoot outs and showdowns—weekly grudges, shit talking, etc. we get shitty funny… it’s a competitive homeboy event, with a tight click.

Planetary Beats: I did a bit of surfing on the net to find out who this STEVE WIEBE dude is, but why did you dudes choose to sample him on SIDE B of the WU-CULT KILLAHZ collab beat-tape?

CULP: It’s the B side yo, it’s where I always have music. I guess that’s where I maintain well. It’s the humble Wiebe mentality. Billy Mitchell asked me to throw a high score tape together in a week, so I bought an fb-01 for $20 because it sounds like a Sega genesis and created everything from scratch… Billy has a ‘winners always win’ ego and needed to test Wiebe. He flipped the sample joints so I passed him my score synth tape and he headlined the show, it’s how it is. It’s an honour to be on a tape with Billy-li-Jitzu. I feel obligated to collaborate with dudes who pioneered ALL CAPS for me, ya know.

Planetary Beats: What is next on the CULP project, can we expect any solo releases or collabs in the near future?

CULP: There’s always something on its way, but I don’t like to promise anything, this music is for serious fun though. There are too many obligations to fulfil.  I took it really negatively when MARINELAND was shared outside of Bandcamp. On a positive note, it had a lot of support from Bandcamp and that helps fund my life but specifically, fuels NEW MUSIC. Although, it’s a deterrent when someone shares your music without linking the artist, I’m guilty of sharing other peoples audio, don’t get me wrong, but I always let the artist know through an email that I consciously did it, usually because it has been inspirational to me. If they are unhappy about it; you stop.

I have put out half a dozen albums and countless free tracks-that I should have some control over regarding; what is free, and what should cost some ‘chump-change’…guaranteed you have purchased some dumb shit that has cost you more money than CULP -MARINELAND. Just reach out if you can’t afford it. Don’t be a shady lurker. Keep it personal. I’ll reply to you. Check SLFtapes.com, Microwaved Meows on Youtube, Soundcloud.com/CULPsp, /P00K, /L0HEESH, and GANG BL00D at the tumblr for some weekly microwaves—soon.

Planetary Beats: Last off, I know you sample a lot of rap vox so you must like that shit; if you were to start rapping, off top what would your rap name be?

CULP: L0NNIED0NNIEC0NNIEn’R0NNIE aka MADD BULLETZ aka R0BERT TURRETZ aka BIG-BABY-100.

 

Cop some side project  beats from ya boy CULP and then some tracks off MARINELAND here via these links:

https://app.box.com/s/jlanuya64sfq27a3ptt7       — P00K

https://app.box.com/s/wz6ge7sld2726f4hj5yv      — P00K, CULP, L0HEESH

https://app.box.com/s/8fg1r7jfkj7dqz2d9jbu  — MARINELAND – 05 – KELP

https://app.box.com/s/6d39up459toqbva47cr9 — MARINELAND – 15 – GRANDBEND

https://app.box.com/s/k230z7wt5n95teuf64eq — MARINELAND – 17 – ______

Werrd

UNDER EP

http://soundcloud.com/pplaceholderr/under-ep

 

Earthly, spaced out, optic, and astral are some of the words that can be used to describe this ‘opposite of lucid’ upcoming release by PLACEHOLDER.

Release date unknown, the experimental EP mixes natural sounds with warm electronic synthwork and distorted instruments, creating a niche, in the form of a future ambient sound. Although an official release date has yet to be confirmed, the preview the dude uploaded shows we can expect a mature, yet edgy sound possibly influenced by nebulus and robots.

If space ships had sound systems in them, no doubt this pre-release would be stuck on repeat.

Werrd

100wxxds presents: W33DW∆V3

Sweden

Enigmatic Swede beatmaker 100wxxds drops 4 tracks described as ‘weedwave’, and explains a bit about the dude behind the PC, the name 100wxxds, and weedwave as a genre.

100wxxds says:

Bio: I’m a 24 year old weirdo that makes ‘weedwave’ music. I currently reside in Sweden.

Name: Ok, so I’m from Sweden right?  And in Sweden we’ve got tons of woods, so I thought, what better way to represent where I’m from than to add the woods (wxxds) part to my name. The x instead of o makes it just look doper I guess. Haha!

Influences: Right now I’m really into electronic music, folk music, and alternative rap. My influences range from all kinds of shit, Bon Iver to XXYYXX, I just love music and finding new music, and a lot of weird shit inspires me as well.

Weedwave: The term ‘weedwave’ came to mind, cause people kept saying my music sounds something you would do drugs to, like it would trigger the brain to want to do a massive amount of drugs, especially weed for some reason. I can see where they were coming from by saying that, personally it’s just me trying to make something unique and fresh.

Stay linked with 100wxxds to find out when the next beat drops:

https://www.facebook.com/100wxxds
https://twitter.com/100wxxds

Peep the weedwave vibes that have dropped thus far here:

http://soundcloud.com/100wxxds

Werrrrrd

Featured Artist: Soulo Starr

Johannesburg/Cape Town, South Africa

Soulo Starr drops his Early Works from 2007-2009, knocked out the MPC on Cosmic Dust Records.

The 9-track release includes raw, sample-based beats, chopping smooth vocal hooks, the occasional rap hook and sweet percussion sounds. Each beat signifies the golden era of hip-hop, through the live, edgy feel of the drums. Listening to the beats makes you want to rap on them, but you know you can’t as you have to savour the snares and kicks over each ill sample.

Some standout tracks off the release include: “4 DILLA”, “Afta”, and “The Mack”. Peep it here on Cosmic Dust, then cop it for $7 USD:

 

Peep Soulo Starr’s future mix for some turnt down, new wave hip-hop:

http://soundcloud.com/soulo/future-flavours-mixed-by-soulo

Safe

JONGPADAWAN x I Kicked A Cloud Once: Dualism

As the EP title suggests, the dudes IKACO and JPW have formed a collab, blending their different, new wave production styles to create art. Released on Greased Up Records, “Dualism” is a 3-track hybrid EP that can only be characterised as ‘future’. Lo-fi, wonky and modular synth work over hip-hop influenced percussions and dreamscape sounds are delivered succinctly with each beat. Word, so similarly to the fellas’ names, expect to drift off, kicking clouds with jedi masters when listening to this next-type release.

Listen to the release here whilst you peep the Q&A, then cop it as ‘a name your price’ (0 included) download on the record label’s bandcamp:

 

So, Planetary went and set up an interview with the beatmakers to find out a little more about the dudes’ behind the computer screens, here’s what went down:

Planetary Beats: Right off the bat, you two dudes have some pretty interesting names. What went down in your respective name generation processes, and what meanings have you ascribed to your names?

 IKACO: I watched that disney show TaleSpin a lot as a child, and this guy Kit Cloudkicker has a cool name right? So I just played around with the words a little, and I came up with my name, which is too damn long! I can’t even type in my full artist name on twitter!

JPW: I have always been a fan of the Star Wars-movies and when I re-watched the movies a couple of years ago I heard the word “padawan”. To explain it, a padawan is a jedi-apprentice. At the time, the name suited me perfect, since I was a new beatmaker and I was still trying to find my own sound.

 

Planetary Beats: Both new artists on the electronic beat-scene with different production styles, what did each of you learn during the compilation of this collab release?

IKACO: I learned a lot of stuff from JPW. His take on producing is pretty cool, and he works in Ableton Live, and I’m on Cubase – so naturally, we have different approaches and techniques. This is my first collab actually, and it worked out extremely well. We had a pretty dope workflow overall! JPW’s use of clicky percussion sounds has inspired me a lot, and that has already influenced some of my newer tracks.

JPW: I learned the basics of another DAW and the basics of other instruments than the ones I’m using myself in my solo-stuff. Also, it’s just really inspiring to see how IKACO makes his music.

 

Planetary Beats: Who and what were you main influences for each of you during this collab project?

IKACO: My main influence must have been JONGPADAWAN’s music, since I wanted to incorporate his style into the project (naturally). I was already inspired by it to begin with. Besides that, we were frequently checking out tracks from some of the dope Project Mooncircle artists, just to get some extra inspiration.

JPW: For me it was listening to IKACO’s music, in order to give me some inspiration to the whole process and also to find out how we could combine our different styles into something great.

 

Planetary Beats: What would you guys say are the main challenges you face as new artists on the scene?

IKACO: Probably getting the hype your music deserves. So many unheard talents out there, and that’s a shame – but that’s also the game of course! You try to get people to post your things on blogs and stuff like that, but at the same time, you don’t want to come off as too eager. The best thing is when people randomly discover your music, and starts posting it, simply because they enjoy it.

JPW: Getting people to know that you exist. You have to be different from all the other beatmakers in order to get noticed. Of cause another challenge is to find your own unique sound.

 

Planetary Beats: If you were to liken this release to a cartoon character, which would it be and why?

IKACO: I would probably choose ‘Silver Fang’. Simply because he’s one of my favourites.

JPW: Good question…. Maybe I would choose Dwight from Frank Miller’s “Sin City”, since he’s this mysterious character, whose appearance changes quite a bit throughout the story.

 

Planetary Beats: Besides making beats, what other things do you dudes enjoy doing in your free time?

IKACO: I’m doing a lot of amateur photographing, and a little bit of film making, when I’m not producing music. Most of my time is currently occupied by producing though, as I’m working pretty hard on my forthcoming EP. Also, I’m participating whenever there’s a cool gig around.

JPW: Spending time with friends and family. I also like to spend time outside, preferably in a beautiful green area near my home, to gather my thoughts and get some inspiration.

 

Planetary Beats: Last off, who has the cooler studio space, and what makes it cooler?

IKACO: Aww man, this question hurts me, haha! I’m on two cheap ass hi-fi speakers, and no monitors at the moment. Working it out though… It’s just a matter of habituating with what you’ve got I guess. Other than that I own a few controllers to spice things up, but I’m doing almost everything on the computer itself. I know for a fact that JONGPADAWAN was using his kitchen as studio sometimes, during his time in Berlin, haha. I think I can top that one. Hopefully, he has settled with something better now that he’s returned to Denmark. But mark my words; it’s the man, not the machine!

JPW: In Berlin where we made the EP, IKACO definitely has the cooler studio with speakers, sub, a keyboard and a decent soundcard. My setup was in my small kitchen and I had to use headphones because of a music-hating neighbour, which is why we used IKACO’s studio.

A Q&A with BARS IMPSON

Sandbox Collective multi-style digital recording artist, BARS IMPSON drops a new beatstrumental entitled “mindseye” and chats to Planetary about the dude behind the name.

Planetary Beats: Yo, so first off as a musician rooted in the Cali underground what’s the 411 on BARS IMPS, for those who are unfamiliar?

BRSMSN: I began making music in 2010, inspired by Wayne’s No Ceilings format, jocking beats and writing raps. Soon after I began making my own beats and linking up with producers in my area, (Blap Deli and Lifted Aquatic), who helped me get my first 2 projects (Tiger Printed and Navajo Prints) off the ground. Lately, my focus has shifted from raps to beats and I have been really inspired by labels like BRAINFEEDER, Soulection, Alpha Pup, and all of the homies I am surrounded by in the Sandbox.

Planetary Beats: How does the BARS IMPS rap writing process take place? Do you keep it pen and paper? Or new age, typing on a cellular?

BRSMSN: It all began on a BlackBerry, but now I write all of my raps in Microsoft Word. I write while the beat is being produced and record in the same session usually. I use little to no revision in my writing process I just go.

Planetary Beats: How long have you been in the rap game for, and how have your influences shifted your rhymes over time?

BRSMSN: It has been 3 years now. My influences have shifted drastically with time. My early music was influenced by the likes of Wayne, Wiz and Mac, but has shifted to people like Dom Kennedy, Kendrick, ASAP, OF, HBK gang, and lots and lots of beat tapes. One of the biggest things I have learned is that my appeal to rappers I like is their individuality and the fact that they stand out.

Planetary Beats: After having some of your beat-tapes on blast, I noticed the golden era hip-hop influence coming through. Who are some of your 90s influences, and how do you feel about these 90s hip-hop revival cats, namely Joey Bada$$ and Pro.Era?

BRSMSN: I have a lot of love for 90s flavor and for the Pro.Era team. I think it is really cool that they are bringing back the boom bap sound; I support that movement and like to see all of the collaborations going on with them.

Planetary Beats: Is it correct in saying that you’re a bedroom producer/rapper or do perform live as well. If so, describe your most hyphy performance in 3 words?

BRSMSN: I guess you could say I am a bedroom producer/rapper. I get out and do shows when the time is right though. I would say my most hyphy performance was with my brother Subtle T, at this venue called the Raven in Healdsburg CA. Blap was spinning beats for us and he had a bunch of porn samples laced up on the MPD. No need to say that made for an interesting performance. Other than that going to a super hyphy concert, but that was never really my scene.

Planetary Beats: So when you’re not saying stuff on the mic, or knocking beats out, what are you doing in your free time?

BRSMSN:  I am networking, digging for samples on YouTube, shopping at thrift stores, or watching cartoons.

Planetary Beats: What’s good with Sandbox Collective? Who’s who and what projects is the crew currently working on?

BRSMSN: The collective consists of Blap Deli, Woodblok, Drii, Subtle T, Tony Manfre, Ian Shoop, Lifted Aquatic, and Zach Miller. We have a lot coming up; I know for sure Drii’s album “Nervous System” is on the way, Woodblok has a project in the making, Ian is putting his energy into his band “Secret Cat”, and Blap has some big things poppin. I’m going to leave it at that. Check out our website http://www.thesandboxcollective.com

Planetary Beats: After checking out your latest music vid on Youtube, how do you budget for these projects as a solo artist? And how do you market yourself in this digital age as a young musician on the come up?

BRSMSN:  At this point in time I am getting a feel for what I truly want to do and everything still feels like practice.  The silver Surfer video was filmed by the Sandbox Collective’s first lady, Drii, and edited by me. As an artist I like to do as much as I can by myself, from production, to rhymes, to video editing, to graphic design. I do not like to limit myself to any one talent; I don’t want to be known for just being a rapper or producer I want to be known as an artist. Knowing how to use all of these tools (beats, rhymes, videos etc.) makes me more marketable.

Planetary Beats: What’s the vibe between you and Blap Deli? Who’s Gatman and who’s Mobbing? On the real, can we expect any collabs between you dudes in the near future?

BRSMSN: Blap and I have been friends forever, way before music. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to work with him. When we are working, he is the gatman and I’m mobbing haha, but I would clean up the prints for him any day. Right now I am focused on my own production and Blap is working with 5+ other artists at any time.

Planetary Beats: Last off, what’s your take on the art of twerking?

BRSMSN: I am a strong supporter, shout out to the twerk team and thank you based god.

Safe

Earthwolf, by Disco Izrael

Graphic designer and MC for Cape Town-based rap groups Sedge Warbler and PHFAT, Disco is currently in the works of his next project, in the form of a solo release.

http://vimeo.com/67452236

A first-look at the project is a video produced by the dude, and shows a smoke-up in the cut that translates to a surreal monologue expressing his thoughts and influences using distorted images and blurry visuals. The stop frame vid is reminiscent of Disco’s imagery-based style of raps, and includes an airy analog synth lead ‘church beat’ that he produced as well. The vid ends off with a snippet of a rap song  in progress produced by Desert_Head off the project.

The solo project is still in the construction phase at this point in time, and when asked about it, the homie had this to say:

“The video is about as much as I want to reveal at this point. The more I reveal the more people might expect and I’ve got a lot on my plate with PHFAT and Sedge Warbler at the moment. I will take small steps and then release the album when I have more time to devote to it”.

Having that being said, peep the video and keep an eye out for Oh! Dark Arrow on Soundcloud to hear any of the church beats off the forthcoming project.

Release date: unknown.

Word

Ackryte x JOOB 森本

A collab experimental sample-based hip-hop beatstrumental from two dudes on the come up in the US beatscene.

Having featured on Planetary Beats before, the homie JOOB has just released his next beat in collaboration with Ackryte, a Minneapolis-based beatmaker. The dudes share similar production styles namely; dope sample use, raw drum kicks and mad basslines. The track they conjured up is called ‘149th’ and is a piece of sampling wizardry. The beat is ill, sample is tight, chops are on point, and the synth leads compliment the other instruments. JOOB’s electronic influence is evident in the synth-work, and the hip-hop elements of the track are made up of Ackryte and JOOB’s production techniques meshed together. The track bumps massively and is definitely easy to get down to.

Peep the collab beat here:

A free rap song produced by Ackryte:

Word

Modular Tapes_Vol. 4

Word, so the 4th and final drop of Modular Tapes features some dope hip-hop influenced experimental electronic producers on the come up.

JONGPADAWAN starts the tape off on a chillwave tip, with a warm, synthy track layered with cosmic sounds. Secondly, Jonwayne brings hip-hop in full effect with a beat for a rap song. Last off, homie I Kicked A Cloud Once finishes the tape with a lo-fi, phaser beat full of astral leads.

Peep the tracks here:

http://soundcloud.com/jongpadawan/jongpadawan-dawn

http://soundcloud.com/jonwayne/royalty

Safe

*gravy 001

South Africa

*gravy is a collective of South Africa-based artists making waves in the experimental electronic beatscene.

A somewhat newly formed crew with years of experience in the game between them, comprising of established as well as up-and-coming artists; *gravy is on that next tip. The dudes mix elements from genres such as hip-hop, trap, R&B, jazz, funk, amongst others to create left-centre productions. Members include; Sibot, Dank, liver, Card on Spokes, RVWR, Christian Tiger School, O’ltak, Richard the IIIrd, Narch, Slabofmisuse, and Mr. Sakitumi.

The first installment of the *gravy project dropped yesterday, in the form of an 11-track beat-tape “001”, offered as a free download. The release is dope as reflects the artists’ new directions in terms of beatmaking, and contrasts bass heavy beats with slower, synthed out joints. All in all, a diverse tape encompassing a variety of production styles by sought after local artists, capturing the right mix of party and anti-party beats.

Each musician in the outfit adds their own unique flavour to the project, and the album serves as a showcase of groundbreaking local productions.

Cop the release here for free: http://www.mediafire.com/download/3xefaawhgokuqdj/gravy+001.rar

Peep some of these buttery beats off the tape below:

http://soundcloud.com/gravycrew/09-christian-tiger-school

Safe