An interview-based show about beat culture past, present, and future. Hosted by journalist Laurent Fintoni and producer and DJ Kutmah, every week they talk to guests from around the world whose work within hip-hop and electronic music keeps the culture moving forward.
We close season 2 with two very special guests, a pair of photographers and documentarians without whom our path in this music thing wouldn't be the same. Brian "B+" Cross and Eric Coleman met in the early 1990s. One was an immigrant from Ireland recently arrived on the US west coast to study, the other was an Angeleno, and they both had a deep love for and interest in the then burgeoning hip-hop culture and the artform of photography. In 1997 they setup Mochilla, a production company through which they've documented beat culture in motion via a series of crucial documentary films, events, as well as ongoing work for artists like Kamasi Washington, Damian Marley, and Quantic. Individually they've shot some of the most loved and memorable hip-hop covers, including DJ Shadow and Madvillain, and have been involved in a wide variety of projects both officially and behind the scenes. But what really makes Mochilla important is that they are elders with a genuine passion and interest in the history that has been unfolding for the past 40 years and the understanding that it deserves to be shared and treasured. We couldn't be happier to wrap up season 2 with them, especially as we've spent so much time in LA this season.
This episode was edited and produced by Laurent Fintoni. Intro and outro music by Duke Westlake (https://dukewestlake1.bandcamp.com/). Artwork by Kutmah. Design assistance by Paper Resistance and Brandy Flower. This show is a labor of love and if you enjoy what you hear and would like to support us in being able to continue, you can donate via PayPal at https://paypal.me/abeathappening (https://paypal.me/abeathappening).
In this episode we discuss...
Cairo trip with Jay Electronica
First meetings and learning to DJ
B's shoot with Eazy E
will.i.am vs Thes One at Dusk's soundclash
Firecracker and Aron's
Hanging out with Doom in LA
Getting to know and hang with Madlib and Jay Dee
Finding that Cortex record
Shooting the cover for Company Flow's Lil Johnny
Tracklist:
Coleman - Earthquake (https://www.discogs.com/it/release/2761797-Coleman-TaRaach-Los-Angeles-910)
will.i.am vs Thes One at the Rootdown (https://youtu.be/L_i-KmlzxCc)
Cortex - Huit Octobre 1971
Jrocc - Go! (https://jrocc.bandcamp.com/album/a-wonderful-letter)
Links:
Keepintime (https://archive.org/details/KeepInTime) at Internet Archive
Mochilla portfolio (http://www.mochilla.com/)
2 Aug 2022
Daedelus
For the penultimate episode of season 2 we welcome one of the kindest and most eloquent proponent of beat culture we have the pleasure to know: Alfred Darlington aka Daedelus. Since the early 2000s, Darlington has been an integral node in the LA underground connecting seemingly disparate scenes and sounds from rave to folk, jazz to IDM. An original dublab 'rat', classically trained bass player, and early user of custom digital control devices, Darlington has released over 20 albums, both solo and in collaboration with Frosty, Laura Darlington, Busdriver and Radioinactive and Kneebody. Equally important has been their role as a live performer, using the monome to take productions outside the studio as well as create mindbending DJ sets that remain some of the best encapsulations of the late 2000s and early 2010s beat scene explosion and its cross pollination with dance music. All of this, as well as their unequalled eloquence of what this music and culture is and represents, has naturally led to a recent role as a faculty member within Berklee's Electronic Digital Instrument program.
This episode was edited and produced by Laurent Fintoni. Intro and outro music by Duke Westlake (https://dukewestlake1.bandcamp.com/). Artwork by Kutmah. Design assistance by Paper Resistance and Brandy Flower. This show is a labor of love and if you enjoy what you hear and would like to support us in being able to continue, you can donate via PayPal at https://paypal.me/abeathappening (https://paypal.me/abeathappening).
In this episode we discuss...
Meeting Justin
Early LA digging days and the city's digging culture
Late 90s LA jazz scene and its links to other scenes
Family building and music
EDM and club nightlife
DJ set approach and international connections
Low End Theory
Hagiography of the LA beat scene
The Long Lost and the Dwight Trible album
Tracklist:
Daedelus - Experience (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZh-Vh81Osw)
Live on KEXP (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_zIvFYQWig)
Daedelus - Hrs:Mins:Secs (https://daedelusmusic.bandcamp.com/album/love-to-make-music-to)
The Long Lost - Woebegone (https://www.discogs.com/it/release/1545062-The-Long-Lost-Woebegone)
Links:
Song Exploder episode on Experience (https://songexploder.net/daedelus)
Daedelus Bandcamp (https://daedelusmusic.bandcamp.com/)
26 Jul 2022
dakim
On this week's episode of A Beat Happening we welcome a producer from Detroit who rarely gives interviews but whose music has been an inspiration to those in the culture with keen ears for over a decade: dakim. Coming to the attention of many in the late 2000s, when he relocated to Los Angeles and involved himself in the local scene, and early 2010s, thanks in part to his central role in Gus Sutherland's sadly unreleased All Ears documentary, dak has been a quiet force as a producer unafraid of experimenting with the potentials of beat culture beyond its most obvious representations. As comfortable with sample chops as he is with jit rhythms, drones, and layered compositions, dak's music traverses internal universes. he has released primarily via his own ddust label and matthewdavid's Leaving Records, and has taken on aliases such as Saafron and Peoplemover to represent different sides of his output or creative approach. Based out of San Francisco since leaving LA, he is a true producer's producer and we are very grateful to have him on the show to discuss his career, creative process, and perceptions of beat culture.
This episode was edited and produced by Laurent Fintoni. Intro and outro music by Duke Westlake (https://dukewestlake1.bandcamp.com/). Artwork by Kutmah. Design assistance by Paper Resistance and Brandy Flower. This show is a labor of love and if you enjoy what you hear and would like to support us in being able to continue, you can donate via PayPal at https://paypal.me/abeathappening (https://paypal.me/abeathappening).
In this episode we discuss...
Audo pilots project
Coming up in Detroit after the '90s era
Discovering Slum Village and electronic music
Seeing Mike Paradinas live and being inspired to get an MPC
Working with different machines/processes
The importance of dancing for creativity
Spirituality in the creative practice
Beat archives and samples
Improvisation and live vs recorded output
Relationship with jit culture
Connections with Baatin, Black Milk, and Akh
Meeting Kutmah, Ras G, and Sacred at Project Blowed
Lessons on the MPC
Tracklist:
Extract from The New Dance show (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiO5HMzLDko)
Saafron - Saffron (https://ddustdirect.bandcamp.com/album/reishi)
ddustbin archive joint
Peoplemover - jitterbugs (https://ddustdirect.bandcamp.com/album/superjit)
Sterling Toles - 11/19 (https://sector7grecordings.bandcamp.com/album/resurget-cineribus)
ddustbin archive joint
Links:
ddust Bandcamp (https://ddustdirect.bandcamp.com/)
The Unseen - A Detroit Beat Tape (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuWM6ULXnc0)
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