 First
up let's get a little background info out there, you have one 12" out
on Muti Music with another coming, a remix on Bless Records, two film
soundtracks, numerous production credits and your first full length CD
on Refiner Records. How long have you been producing and what got you
started?
When I started producing music about
seven years ago I didn't really know anything about electronic music or
DJing. I had heard Aphex Twin's I Care Because You Do and I was blown
away but I didn't really know anything else. I was very into hip hop
(Pahrcyde, Tribe, Nas) but I didn't think of that as electronic music
like I do now. At that point, I was interested in being an audio
engineer because I wanted to know how to make and engineer my own music
but I didn't have any certain style in mind.
In '96
I moved out to SF and I ended up interning at a studio here in SF
called DataStream Studios with Bruce Leighton. Bruce is the man. He
introduced me to Logic Audio and I just ran with it. As a
control-freak, I liked being a one man band and having complete control
over all the sounds. I would spend every weekend down at the studio
messing around - on Friday nights I would hang with my friends until
they went to some bar and then I would go down to the studio until 2 am
or so. On Saturdays I usually spend most of the day down there - and
eventually I got some skills.
It's obvious that you have a lot more influences than just dance music, what are some of those influences?
I
try not to think in genres, I just try to listen to sound. I've always
liked artists (musical or otherwise) that I felt were really pushing
the envelope and taking chances. My first loves musically were Jimi
Hendrix, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. And I still take notes when I
listen to them - the production on Bonham's drums - Jimi's solos and
delay feedback - the arrangement and instrumentation of Pink Floyd -
it's all amazing stuff that still influences a lot of what I do
musically.
I love all kinds of hip hop production
from the booty hop to the underground - Premier, Dre, Pete Rock,
Timbaland, Terminator X and the Bomb Squad, DJ Shadow, Mr. Oizo, Jimmy
Jay and Show. I could go on and on - I love King Tubby, Sonic Youth,
Bad Brains, Ani Difranco, Nine Inch Nails, the Pixies, Prince, Built To
Spill, Phish, Meshuggah, Sepultura, Meshelle N'Degeocello, Medeski
Martin and Wood - whenever I listen to music I think of it as a
learning process. I always try to listen with a producer's ear and not
get caught up in whether it's popular or cool or underground. One of my
most recent production favorites is the song "Dirty Pop" by N'Sync. My
friends all clown me for liking it but the production rocks (it's BT's
production).
We all hear lots about the
European scene, but tell us a little bit more about what it's like
playing around USA, where you've been this year and what the locals
have been like and where has it gone off?
This
year I've played in Portland, Seattle, SF, LA and NY. It's all been
really fun and I've met tons of cool people. One of my most fun gigs
was actually on Breaks.FM with Sean Infinitee. I was just spinning at
his house, playing lots of my own stuff, and rocking out, giving
shout-outs, and having a blast.
When you play out has it been Live or DJ sets?
I've
been spinning out with CDs and records recently though it seems there's
some aura about playing "live". I've played sets off of Albelton Live
and I find it pretty boring but I'm starting to think it would be good
thing to do just to get more gigs.
What do you think the San Francisco scene encompasses that sets it apart? Who are the forefront players?
I
love SF because people will come out for some eclectic shit. People
here like technology and appreciate good electronic music. They'll
dance if its rockin', but they have no issues just sitting back and
nodding their heads.
Dov, you're the man - where
would breaks be in SF without you? Adam Ohana always brings in good
talent, as does A:Doubl and Breakthru. Donna Matrix and NewsBreaks is
coming up. Of course everyone wants a piece of Lorin - he's got it
going on. Greg Tung and Benchun thowdown as well. And who could forget
DJ Push and Just One holding it down on
FutureBreaks.
How are things on the music production front?
 I
just sit down and let whatever comes out happen. I like to think of
myself as a medium - I don't make the music it just happens thru me.
I've got some dope glitch hop remixes up on my site if y'all wanna
check them out: www.kraddyodaddy.com I think my next project is going
to be an illegal album of hip hop remixes. I really like making my own
beats and putting accapellas over them. I would really like to get some
dope MC to throw down some lyrics but I don' know any. If you're out
there with the sick flow and the conscious lyrics email me:
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What are your primary production tools?
Logic
Audio is my friend. I love that program. The NI plugins are dope too. I
love Absynth, Reaktor, Kontakt, FM7, ES2, EVB6…werd.
Any favorite Plugins or Packages?
Native Instruments got it going on - fer sure. The Waves plugins are dope too. And all the Logic plugins are top notch as well.
Do you have any recommendations for someone starting up?
Two
things - spend a lot of time making tracks and believe in your self. At
the beginning you're going to make a lot of tracks that are kinda lame,
or that you never finish, but don't sweat it just keep going.
Don't
doubt yourself, it's not rocket science or magic, like any art it takes
a lot of dedicated hours to get good at it. I think the key to getting
good at anything s to just spend a lot of time doing it - mastery
through practice. If you spend enough hours doing something you're
going to inevitably get good at it.
You've
had reviews and plays from the likes of Tipper and Freq Nasty, been
remixed by Atomic Hooligan, had mentions in XLR8R, Editors Picks on
C-Net and lots more. Did you really expect all the support you're
getting?
Honestly I didn't think about it
too much. In some ways figured that someone was going to notice me
because I really like my own music. I rock out as I make it and when I
play my tracks out I think they sound great. I do love getting play and
props from people like Tipper, Freq, Bill Bless, Lorin and you, Dov. I
have a lot of respect for what they do so it's nice to feel that
reciprocated. Also, I know that they have people handing them CDs all
the time - so if they didn't really dig my stuff I know they would just
pass it over.
Where/what direction would you like to see more 'Breaks' go?
I
could say that I'd love to hear more glitchy breaks but if everybody
was playing glitchy breaks then it wouldn't be the special thing it is.
I like that the style I play is a bit out the mainstream a little hard
to get into. I like being a bit obscure. Let most DJs play the
predictable party rockers - I'll be in the side room blowing people's
minds.
Who would you most like to hear some new tunes from?
I'm
always happy to hear something new from Bil Bless - the man is
obviously in cahoots with some black magic shit. If Andy Page wanted to
drop another mother like Mr. Rush I wouldn't complain either. EVAC,
Tipper, Si Begg they all rule. Mr. Oizo always makes me smile and I'd
like to have a word with Bit Meddler because were both on the booty
glitch remix tip.
Tell us a little more about your Truth Has No Path CD on Refiner Records, what was the idea behind it and where can people get it?
THNP
was never conceived of as an album. I had been producing tracks for a
while and I felt like I wanted to get it out there to the people. I
though my shit sounded pretty authentic and unique and I wanted to put
my flag down: "Here I am". I do lots of different styles so I wanted to
show that on the album. As an electronic music composer I see very
little difference between hip hop, trance, ambient, dub,
breaks...whatever. I think people tend to get genre-centric and I think
that's limiting. At its most basic all electronic music is a Moog and
an 808. I wanted to put out an album that was able to touch on a lot of
different styles but retain coherence in my production.
 I
didn't and still don't want to come off as a breaks guy or a an
I.D.M.-guy or a hip hop guy - I just want to be my own thing. I decided
to put the album out on my own so I could do everything the way I
wanted and to learn about how records are made, sold and distributed.
And it's been difficult but a great experience. I haven't had the
benefit of a label's distribution and money but I also haven't had the
pressure to sell albums. I have the freedom to do everything the way I
want to do it. And I've felt that a lot of people have respected the
fact that I did it all on my own - which is cool.
You can check out the album at my website: www.kraddyodaddy.com.
What surprises can we expect from Kraddy in the near future?
You
can expect me to blow up, sell out, bang Avril Lavine, get Punk'd,
remix Marylyn Manson, show my genitals at the Video Music Awards,
appear on The Daily Show, get beat up by Rick Rubin, date Wynona Rider,
Eryka Badu, and Ally Sheedy, develop a drug addiction, get herpes, go
to rehab, recover, come back saying I've cleaned up, do a bunch of Just
Say No commercials, get hooked again, almost die, go to rehab, come
back saying I've cleaned up and found god, marry Avril, divorce her,
marry Wynona, have a kid, divorce her, produce a hit album, make a
comeback, retire, die and be remembered on VH1 Behind The Scenes.
Do you have any booking or remix contact information that we can share?
www.kraddyodaddy.com
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Thanks to everyone who's supported me!
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