ProductShopNYC :: The Politics of Pop Culture

A-TRAK | Interview With The Infamous DJ

While you were trying to get past third base, smoking three of your Mom's Virginia Slims at a time, and learning what a hangover feels like, Alain Macklovitch, better known as Montreal's DJ A-Trak, was becoming the best battle DJ in the world.  Actually, he was probably doing all that dumb shit you were, and still becoming the best battle DJ in the world.  He spent his teenage years destroying opponents in the global battle circuit, then retired in his early 20's when he more or less ran out of worthy opponents.  He pioneered group battle routines with his crew The Allies, and became an honorary member of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, who are like the Jedi High Council of turntablism.  Then he became Kanye West's tour DJ.  Recently, A-Trak has put out Oh No He Didn't!, a live set from a show in Vancouver, which doubles as an instant party.  He also collaborated with Chicago rapper GLC on the refreshingly original Drive Slow mixtape.  A new DVD, Sunglasses Is A Must chronicles his adventures, starting way back at age 13, when he bought his first decks with Bar Mitzvah paper.

Guest contributor Andrew Friedman spoke with A-Trak last week.

How did you link up with Kanye?

He saw me perform at this record store in London a few years ago, and then, he saw me do like a quick routine, maybe 4 or 5 minutes, and he hired me after that. 

He just asked you on the spot?

It was super-crowded, it was a big performance, it was John Legend and then the record store hooked me up to play there too.  Kanye was in the corner and he saw me playing but I didn't even get to talk to [him] that day, but he came up and shook my hand and was like 'dude that was really dope.'  I was leaving town the next day and I wanted to follow through with him because I saw he was really into it, so I tracked him down the next day.  He remembered right away, he was like 'yo, I need a DJ when we go on tour.  I'm doin this tour with Usher, call my manager, let's go on tour.'

Do you feel like you were given enough room to shine in the performance?

Yeah definately.  Kanye, he learned how to perform by going on tour with [Talib] Kweli and Common, and both Kweli and Common have a strong relationship with their DJ on stage, their DJ plays a central role and everything else is built around the DJ and the MC.  Kanye started doing his own performance when The College Dropout came out, but he hadn't found his own DJ yet, so when he hired me.  Right from the start, I was given a solo, even if it was in front of an Usher crowd, which was like teenage girls who don't even know you could scratch a record...who don't even know what a record is.  He still gave me my spot to do a little something.  The more tours we did together over time, the more I became involved with putting together the sets.  The show is basically me and him interacting, so I'm definately very content with the position I play.

 Read the rest of the interview after the jump.

BEASTIE BOYS | Interview with MCA, Adrock, and Mike D

Beastie Boys will talk your ear off, if you let them. Last Tuesday, Product Shop NYC went down to their studio Oscilloscope Laboratories in lower Manhattan for an interview on their new concert film Awesome; I Fucking Shot That!. The other interviewers and I walk into the room with Mike D (Mike Diamond) explaining to Adrock (Adam Horovitz) how to improve his paper-chase look, the current popular look in Hip Hop usually involving blinged-out jewelry. Adam had given Mike a found VW hood ornament to wear on a chain and Mike was trying to return the favor with some style tips. Adam was not amused. After a minute of this chatter, one interviewer interrupted their conversation with a question about who watched the massive amount of footage for the film. For those of you who aren't yet familiar with the premise of the movie, in 2004 at Madison Square Garden, 50 fans were given cameras to record the show and their experience from different spots in the venue. So if the movie itself is 90 minutes long plus another 15 minutes cut for breaks and the encore, that means there is over 87 hours of footage condensed into this movie. Nathanial Hornblower (aka MCA, aka Adam Yauch) directed the film but all the Beastie Boys had something to say about it.

Listen to our condensed version of the interview here.
(It's worth five minutes and has some funny excerpts)

Read some more of the interview after the jump.

See Awesome; I Fucking Shot That! for yourself when it opens in theaters this Friday.

BLING KONG | The Steakbomb Interview

This Friday, Bling Kong will bring their fabulously manic rock n' roll extravaganza to Southpaw, where they'll open up for the Mooney Suzuki. On the 18th, the posse heads to Boston to sex up the Middle East with Lez Zeppelin.

For this interview, I was instructed to get a white egg from a supermarket cashier, who then told me of a secret facility I could find Bling Kong member, STEAKBOMB. At the door to a purple building, a seven foot tall man instructed me to show the white egg before he let me in.

Once inside the Bling Kong fortress, I was taken to a lavender colored room, with plush pillows, a velvet couch, seventeen lava lamps, and a nice selection of pornographic magazines. After waiting for a few minutes, STEAKBOMB entered the room wearing a velour robe. He set himself onto a large floor pillow and that's when out interview began.....

Okay Steakbomb, it's Product Shop NYC's round, what you drinking?
Bourbon, with a bourbon back.

So your like the bourbon?
I do indeed enjoy my bourbon, yes.

How can you get enough bourbon for all seventeen thousand members of Bling Kong? Do venues supply that many free drinks?
It’s hard. Sometimes alcohol is prohibited for us, especially when we play dry campuses. We sometimes have to sneak our own handle of bourbon with us. We prefer not to play completely sploshed. We do that after our set.

How many Bling Kongers are there actually?
We have eleven performing onstage at any given time, plus a small coterie of stylists, designers, sluts, hanger-ons.

So it’s kind of like watching live hip hop, complete with a posse hanging out on stage?
Well, yes. We’ve actually tried to start rivalries with other bands, but thus far have been unsuccessful. If you know any other bands with cheerleaders that want to throw down, let us know and tell them to bring it.

Has anyone in Bling Kong been arrested?
For being in Bling Kong?

If you were to issue a throw down with the Polyphonic Spree, what would you say?
You may have the numbers, but we got the bling! We want a good natured rivalry, something like hip hop bands have but without guns. We issued an open challenge to all comers.

So no shit talking about bands then?
Bling Kong doesn’t talk smack.

Has Bling Kong ever gotten injured onstage, either by violence, accidents, collisions?
Absolutely, a number of them happen all the time. It’s hard to perform with an army like Bling Kong. We always get banged up and keep on finish the show. I occasionally wack cheerleaders with the headstock of my gutiar.

Ouch. Do they sue?
No. And Brad…Sizzler, the other guitarist, once toppled over a monitor and into the audience at the Knitting Factory.

So it’s a lot of audience participation then?
We one held a lick whip-cream off a banana contest at a show in Boston.

Are Bling Kong a nice Jewish folks?
I like to think he has some Jewish in him?

Any Blingers been bar mitzvah’d?
You talking to one.

Would you say the festive spirit of a bar mitzvah party inspired you?
No. But we would love to play one.

Whats next for Bling Kong?
Bling Kong Two. If you think Bling Kong is high concept, Bling Kong Two will melt your brain. It’s under wraps for now, but lets just say that audience participation will be bigger and bolder than ever. And the songs rock…..

SAM CHAMPION | Interview & Southpaw Thursday!

Sam Champion's Slow Rewind was one of Product Shop NYC's favorite albums of 2005. The thing is, while the albums is damn good, the band has already outgrown it. Their new songs are killer and their live shows just get better and better.

Product Shop NYC talked with Sam Champion's Noah Chernin about his bands Thursday night show at Southpaw with the great Apollo Sunshine and The Subjects. Here's what he has to say for himself:

How psyched are you to be playing a gig five blocks away from where you live?
Couldn't be more excited to walk home from a show. i spend enough time walking up and down ludlow street. this is kinda like that. if i lived in the east village.

What's the best show you've ever seen in brooklyn?
I think it was Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, at Southpaw .

I saw them their. How much does Sharon rock it for a big chick!
She's big boned and has more rock/sex in her pinky toe than that LEVY sex video anyday.

Do you like to leave Brooklyn on the weekends?
No. Never.

Which brooklyn bar has the best jukebox?
O'Connors. And then there's Buttermilk too. That one has a great jukebox. So does Lucky 13 Saloon.

Did you know that Elliott Smith wrote most of X/O at O'Conners?
Yes i did

What yr favorite brooklyn band ever?
That's a pretty tough question. I think Jay-Z. He's my favorite brooklyn band.

Do you think right handed people should be allowed to perform at Southpaw?
Absolutely. We'd be stuck with a ton of Nirvana cover bands otherwise.

So what should someone expect when they see Sam Champion on Thursday night?
They would see the best Sam Champion that Sam Champion can be.

Can you forecast whether it will be a good show or not?
Can you not use allusions to weather?

Sam Champion + Apollo Sunshine + The Subjects | Thursday, December 8 | 8PM Doors | $10, plus all presale ticketholders get a free audio copy of the show courtesy of rockslide.com