Get started with the Recording Radio Film Connection & CASA Schools
Show #68 | Roland Artist Lounge, Burbank, California
Guest: DJ Rhettmatic (Beat Junkies), Devin Zorn
Jul 10, 2017
Here are the job opportunities (or as we like to call them, Grind Opps) from this week's show.
07/10/17
GRIND OPP #1
Position:
Music Instructor
Industry: Recording
Location: Fort Worth, TX
Description
Perfect candidate will enjoy teaching young folks with special needs as it pertains to music education and Basic studio knowledge
07/10/17
GRIND OPP #2
Position:
Audio Technician
Industry: Recording
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Description
Must have experience with professional audio and the ability to configure a digital board
07/10/17
GRIND OPP #3
Position:
Front of House Engineer
Industry: Recording
Location: St. Louis, MO
Description
Must be able to work audio consoles including Yamaha m7cl and digi design boards.
07/10/17
GRIND OPP #4
Position:
Video Editor
Industry: Film
Location: Remote
Description
Atlanta company in need of an editor to work remotely
07/10/17
GRIND OPP #5
Position:
Board Operator
Industry: Radio
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Description
SiriusXM needs a full time board operator
07/10/17
GRIND OPP #6
Position:
Cook (Food Truck)
Industry: Culinary
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Description
Food truck seeks seasoned cook.
07/10/17
GRIND OPP #7
Position:
Freelance Filmmaker / Videographer
Industry: Film
Location: New York, NY
Description
Shoot and edit a 30 second video of a night out seeing “School of Rock”
07/10/17
GRIND OPP #8
Position:
On-Air Talent
Industry: Radio
Location: Raleigh, NC
Description
Local Raleigh radio station in need of On-Air Talent
07/10/17
GRIND OPP #9
Position:
Board Operator
Industry: Radio
Location: Burbank, CA
Description
Radio station needs part time board operator
07/10/17
GRIND OPP #10
Position:
Cook
Industry: Culinary
Location: Inglewood, CA
Description
Prepare and cook food to order with short prep time
Transcript
DJ IZ: Welcome to Connected. I’m your host, DJ IZ. I got my lovely cohost Miss Cloie. Say what’s up, girl?
Cloie: Hi guys.
DJ IZ: We are in our summer days, our summertime schedule so that’s once a week, you can catch us once every other week. But let’s get to it. We got some great guests lined up for today. I got my man, DJ Rhettmatic for the world famous Beat Junkies in the house hanging with us today.
Rhett: Yes, sir.
DJ IZ: Dude, thank you for coming out, man. Thank you for hanging with us, man. I know I’m hyped right now, but we got another guest, Cloie? Who we got?
Cloie: We sure do. We have, out of Dallas, California, hm-hmm, that’s a new place that I made up.
Rhett: Dallas, California.
Cloie: Dallas, don’t you wanna be there?
DJ IZ: I do. Take me there. Is it cooler?
Cloie: I mean Dallas, Texas. We have recording grad Devin Zorn.
DJ IZ: What up, D? There he is.
Cloie: Yes.
Rhett: Delay.
DJ IZ: It looks like he’s in the lab.
Cloie: It does look like he’s in the lab. But we’re gonna get a chance to chat with him about his experience with RRFC and what’s he’s been working on. He’s getting to play in guitar festivals. He’s an engineer, he’s in the IATSE 127. Like he’s doing a whole thing.
DJ IZ: Yeah, and it’s always dope to be rocking with folks that are constantly moving and grooving because we know it’s like, it’s a stiff pace out there, you know what I’m saying? Everybody’s chomping at the same bit, so you know, to see actually some cats that are actually progressing in that line is always great, man.
Today’s a cool show for us, a great show for us. You know, being a producer, a DJ myself, and being able to sit next to a cat like this.
Cloie: Another legend, yo.
DJ IZ: Just talk about the evolution of what the craft is. Man, dude, what’s up man? You’ve been busy.
Rhett: I’ve been busy. Not as busy as you, man.
DJ IZ: No, man, don’t even try it.
Cloie: Okay, they’re gonna fight it out and he’s equally busy. They’re both busy.
DJ IZ: Well I love seeing the posts because I’m so like in awe with what you guys are doing with the Institute of Sound and the Beat Junkies, and the classes. And like I mentioned to you prior to the show, one of the things I love to see if you teaching these kids behind these turntables with real vinyl. Like dude, every time that I see that and I tell Mr. Chuck, I was like, dude, that is so special… How it’s evolved to where it is now was something that I really wanted to talk with you about on today’s show because we get a lot of people who, you know, are aspiring DJs, aspiring musicians, and so, and just to kind of understand, you know, the process of what it’s been for you guys to create this massive culture and respect for what you guys been able to do.
Rhett: Well you know, it’s just an honor to actually give back to the culture now, you know? Being that there’s a lot of people don’t know the Beat Junkies started, you know, a DJ school called the Beat Junkies, Institute of Sound, and we’re located at Glendale, California. So I mean, I guess what’s different from other DJ schools these days is that it’s being taught by the Beat Junkies. And if people don’t know who the Beat Junkies are, we’re part of the golden era of the turntables era, or battles, DJ battles.
So being that us as a crew, this year marks our 25th anniversary.
Cloie: Wow.
DJ IZ: Twenty-five years, guys.
Cloie: Wait, if this were a wedding anniversary, what is that, like silver? I think we would give you silver. Is that what it is? Was it silver?
DJ IZ: Twenty-five years, man. That’s incredible.
Rhett: I mean, well J Rock, who started the crew, he doesn’t like to timestamp it. He likes to think is we’re timeless. Why put a number on it. But just to think, yeah, so I mean, just to be…
DJ IZ: Well not only that, but I think what’s incredibly important is understanding the history, the longevity, but also understanding the ability to still be relevant.
Cloie: Exactly.
DJ IZ: Is what’s incredible, you know.
Rhett: It’s a blessing.
DJ IZ: It’s a blessing. You know, it’s like you run into people all the time, and it’s like yeah okay, I understand you’re excited man, but be here more than five years. Try to be here more than three years.
Cloie: And still be relevant.
Rhett: Right, right. I mean if you consider relevance in terms of you’re blowing up in, you know, videos.
Cloie: I think relevance is longevity, personally.
Rhett: I think so too. I think as you get older, you mature about things. It’s like when you’re younger, of course you wanna be, you know…
Cloie: I wanna be known.
Rhett: The reality is like if you’re able to do what you love to do as a career and still get paid doing it regardless of what status you have, that’s a blessing in itself.
DJ IZ: Absolutely, absolutely. I totally agree. I totally agree.
Cloie: Because you know, I look at it as like you may be hot today, but you may not be hot tomorrow, right? But if you still are able to do, have a career and able to pay your bills while doing what you wanna do, you know? And then eventually sometimes when you least expect it, you might be hot again. It’s like a cycle.
DJ IZ: It is a cycle, and I think too what also plays a huge role into longevity is how well you understand the fundamentals of what it is you do as your craft. Because I think, and this is something we got to kind of briefly go over when we ran into each other at NAM was, you know, really understanding from a DJ aspect, it’s cool to be greater at scratching. It’s cool to be able to be great at blending records. But to be a student is kind of where that longevity kind of you know happens.
Rhett: Right, I think in terms of having a passion for it. Like only just like you said one aspect of it, it’s to actually know the culture, the music, just everything that you grew up listening to. Like study the greats, you know?
DJ IZ: Right, and you know, like that for me, because I do consider you guys the greats, and for me to be able to see just the Institute of Sound. I mean if I was 14 or 15 and wanted to be a DJ, how great is it to go to a school where you’re being taught by The Dudes. The Dudes, and which kind of like it’s similar to what we do here with Connected and RFC. It’s like you enroll into a program, but you’re being taught by people who are doing it every day in real-time. Like you show up to a recording studio. You show up to a film set. That is your experience.
Rhett: From our generation, we didn’t have this type of thing. We didn’t have it.
Cloie: You had to make it.
Rhett: We had no platform whatsoever. We had to figure out…there was no YouTubes, there wasn’t even no instructional DVDs whatsoever. If we’re lucky, we get, if we see our heroes live at some show, you try to take that concept and try to emulate it. If not, you would have to like listen to the record or the radio, and try to emulate it. And if you don’t know if you do it right. There’s no instructions.
DJ IZ: No manual to it, right?
Rhett: No manuals. Everything was just like let me try to figure this out and I think that sounds right. If it is, it is. If it isn’t, it’s like trial and error.
DJ IZ: Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. So Devon seems a little quiet. What’s going on over here?
Cloie: Devon are you there?
Devon: Hey, I’m here. I’m listening.
DJ IZ: Okay, cool man.
Devon: Because what you’re saying with the whole YouTube thing, I think you know, with that whole thing with YouTube nowadays, it’s kind of posted a little bit of a problem for people starting out because they think that they have to do exactly as the YouTube video is telling them to do it to do it right. When it used to be finding your own way was the only viable way you had to figure out what you wanna do. So it’s kind of put a little bit of pressure on some people with the whole, you know, how to say it…whether or not it’s right or not, you know?
DJ IZ: That’s right. I think too, I think what plays a big role, you know, for some reason, we have a lot of folks that kind of want the microwave, you know? Instant, you know, whereas we’re from the generation era where it literally took years and hours of practice, practice, practice. And I understand the YouTube culture because I find myself like when I get a piece of gear, I’ll go to YouTube and let me see if somebody’s else using. Okay, let me learn these effects. I get that. But it’s not always my first option. My first option, if something new out of the box, I take it out and I’m just you know, I really dive into it, you know?
And I think it’s one of those things that is definitely affecting the culture is the appetite to just get it like this, right.
Cloie: To be perfect and…
DJ IZ: Man, I got hours? What? It’s just one of those things, you know? And that’s where the game is right now. And you know, I think it’s something to be cautious of, especially to you know, when we talk along the lines of longevity, I think those are the things we kind of just kind of have to talk about, and allow the younger cats to understand that that’s all great, but there’s another side to it.
Cloie: Well before we dig in even deeper, I think welcome back everybody. We give jobs away, as you know. We present opportunities for people to be given jobs, but you gotta show up and do the work.
Rhett: Yeah, at the end of the day, you gotta roll up the sleeves.
DJ IZ: You gotta roll up the sleeves and getting into churches.
Cloie: But I feel like let’s roll into our first Grind Opp, and then back up, and then we could for people that have been living under rocks get to know you and Devon, and what we all have been up to lately, maybe specifics.
DJ IZ: Absolutely. So before we get into these Grind Opps, Cloie, let them know what they need to have on deck.
Cloie: Great, I love it. We’re gonna need you to get your pencils and pens and your great attitude. So you’re texting thumbs, whatever your thing is, get it, grab it, because life is not waiting for you. Neither are we. Grind Opp One, please, thank you.
DJ IZ: First Grind Opp of the day is in the field of…
Cloie: I know, it’s just, nope.
DJ IZ: Okay, well not yet.
Cloie: Great.
DJ IZ: So now I’d like to get into…
Cloie: Oh just kidding. Now yet.
DJ IZ: Oh now we’re ready? Okay.
Cloie: Ready.
DJ IZ: First Grind Opp of the day is music instructor. Fort Worth, Texas. Perfect candidate will enjoy teaching young folks with special needs as it pertains to music education and basic studio knowledge. Prospect will be able to teach within a portable environment, laptop, MIDI controllers, and such, as well as in Boys and Girls Club Studio. I love hearing stuff like that. I love hearing stuff like that.
Cloie: What is it that you love when you see and hear that?
DJ IZ: First of all, what jumped out at me was Boys and Girls Club, right? Because we know those are kind of far and few between these days. And I think when I see things like that, the first thing I think of well, most likely the people who are actually working there are really donating their time, right? You know, so I just appreciate that those things still exist. I remember the YMCA when I was a kid, you know, as a place to go to after school to either play basketball, you know, and just have a good time. So I love that about that. And the fact that, you know, you’re talking about a studio environment these kids can come to, you know? It’s like for me it’s great because it’s the next generation, you know? And here we go. We got an opportunity which lends itself to somebody who’s kind of like tugging on the heart strings to apply for this. But at least you’ll be working with kids, you know? Like…
So I would say anybody who’s looking to apply for that gig, you know, you see what it’s about, you know? Obviously it ain’t about the check or any of that, you know?
Cloie: Mm-mm, just the love and the heart.
DJ IZ: Yeah, it’s about just kind of getting in there with these kids and, you know, what other great vehicle than music, you know, to be talking to these kids about and helping them work. So that’s the first Grind Opp of the day. Before we get into the next Grind Opp, Cloie, do we have anything?
Cloie: Well before we get into the next Grind Opp, I feel like let’s bounce back to Devon and hear what’s going on with him. So Devon, as we said, is a recent recording grad. And actually the music that we played in our intro today…
DJ IZ: Was his music?
Cloie: …that he has been working on because he does a millions things. He’s in a band, he’s also an audio engineer technician, and just to get a little bit more about his experience because, you know, what we do with Recording Connection and the jobs, and the on the ground training, and how that applies to him, you know, talking to the next generation. Devon, are you still there?
Devon: Hello, can you hear me?
DJ IZ: What up, D?
DJ IZ: So man, talk to me about, you know, obviously we were able to feature your music piece at the top of your show. So kind of just walk us, you know, through your day or through your time as a creator and kind of what goes into that process?
Cloie: And the track that we heard was from Tom Devil and the WIZard, is that correct, Devon?
Devon: …part you just said. I’m sorry, it’s breaking up on my end.
Cloie: That’s okay. I said the track that we heard at the top was from Tom Devil and the WIZard, which is the tracks that you’ve been working on, one of them, correct?
Devon: Devlin.
DJ IZ: That was a great branding opp.
Devon: For the story of that, you know, I worked with the bass player at our day job at our music retail store environment, and you know, they had been trying to do the home recording thing for their album. They spent, you know, $3,000 and they were always just unhappy with how things came out. Everything always sounded like a generic, you know, modern rock mix that anybody would pump out.
So we started working together. We spent a year on this album just recording everything that we could. We were able to bring in the drums to where my mentor, Rick Rooney’s, class is being held at January Sound Studio and record some stuff there. And then also get to…a couple other Ps and mixed it all in a bedroom at his place with, you know, what we could. And now that track at the beginning is on local radio around…an album right now. I just did all 12 songs for the next album, scratch tracks…release next album. And this album we’re gonna bring into Fort Worth, which is currently gonna be my homestead for all my recording stuff around town. And we’re gonna make it a freaking good album, man.
Cloie: That’s awesome. Oh my goodness, that’s fantastic. So now you also have been playing. You’re at the Dallas Guitar Festival from what we heard. Can you talk a little bit about that and what that experience was like for you please?
Devon: Definitely. I’ve been working at the Dallas Guitar Festival the past few years with music retail job. This past year I worked directly for Jimmy Wallace, the owner. Before I was working with him, he allowed me a spot at the show…put together rock…
Cloie: I think we lost you a little bit, Devon. So we’re gonna jump out for a second, but then we will…
DJ IZ: Cut to commercial, cut to commercial.
Cloie: We’ll try back in a little bit.
DJ IZ: So Rhett, I wanna catch up with you as well on just the production side and, you know, I think one of our main kind of tags for this show was just the evolution of DJing. And also talk about just, you know, the fact that you actually engineer yourself as well, and you make your music, you make your beats and stuff. So let’s dive though that, man. You know?
Rhett: Well I like to think that the best producers are DJs. I mean, especially if you’re talking about more like hip-hop or even like R&B and soul. And in today’s music scene versus like, you know, like the 60s and 70s where musicians…I mean, you look at all the iconic producers, like Dr. Dre, DJ Premiere, Pete Rock, DJ Quick, J Dilla, Mad Lib, Large Professor, anyone that you heard classic wise in terms of hip-hop. I mean, even Timbaland, you know, all came from a DJ background, a hip-hop DJ background. Not to say at least you, you know? I think the next step for a DJ is a producer. Or even as a producer, he’s an artist, you know, whatnot. I mean right now DJs again, it’s almost like well not necessary hip-hop, but like EDM, you know? The DJs are, the producers are like the stars now. If you go to some of the clubs or raves, or festivals…
DJ IZ: The DJ’s the rock star.
Rhett: The DJs are rock stars at least for…
DJ IZ: For that genre.
Rhett: For that genre. But in terms of what the music that we do, still think that the DJs is the backbone of hip-hop.
DJ IZ: Right, I agree. I totally agree. And I think too, I think you know, when you get into, especially the early years of hip-hop, I mean the DJ, the Jazzy Jeffs, the Premieres, they were the producer of their group or other MCs where I think we kind of went through a period where kind of, you started to kind of see that kind of go away, where the DJ just kind of disappeared for a second. You know, and then it became about the MC. And then it kind of came back to that. And I think, you know, even for me as a creator, I think one of the things that I always talk about is that my passion to make music and beats really came from me digging through my dad’s music, you know, his vinyl and his cassette tapes. And you know, being able to watch you, I know you just put a record out which features some of your beats. Let’s talk about that, man. I mean.
Rhett: Well an album called Rhett Got Beats.
DJ IZ: The Rhett Got Beats, yeah.
Rhett: Because well a lot of people don’t know that I did production. I mean, I’ve done production for a while…
DJ IZ: For a long time, bro.
Rhett: But you know, everybody knows me more as a DJ/turntablist whatever, whatnot. Shouts to my man Hao Shoes [SP}.
DJ IZ: What up, Hao Shoes?
Rhett: A legendary DJ from, producer from Detroit who is now living in Los Angeles.
DJ IZ: He was very close to Dilla.
Rhett: Yes, and started his own label called Street Corner Music. Now he’s pretty much as a curator for music. He puts out anyone like…he just recently put out Stroll Elliott. I don’t know if you’re familiar with him. He used to be in a group called the Precussions. Now he’s like the newest member of The Roots, playing drum machines and stuff, you know?
So also put a producer by the name Drugs Beats, who did a beat on Dre’s last album, Compton. So he basically is just curating, he basically said hey, why don’t we put out an instrumental album of your beats? And I never thought about it. Said okay, so God bless him, and I put it out in May, this past May, and the response has been good. And a lot of people were surprised that, man, Rhett Got Beats.
DJ IZ: Yeah, Rhett Got Beats, yeah.
Rhett: So you know, if you’d like to hear some soulful boom bat beats, dark beats, whatever whatnot, you know, check it out. You can go to iTunes. You can go to Band Camp. I’m actually, I had a limited edition cassette tapes were out for a while. We’re actually, yeah.
DJ IZ: Wow, I would have loved to have one of those.
Cloie: I mean…
Rhett: And then we’re actually pressing out vinyl too for it so.
DJ IZ: That’s dope. Now when you get, obviously those are two different mindsets, DJ and then actually get in the lab and creating on beats. What are some of the things that inspire you when it comes to, you know, making beats?
Rhett: Well I’m not gonna lie. I think any DJ and producer, they listen to whoever they’re originally inspired. I mean, of course from the background that we came from, I mean, we came from a thing where you don’t bite, you know? Still copy, you know, because back then if you copied someone’s style, you were looked down upon. I mean, in today’s…
DJ IZ: It’s so okay, today, huh?
Rhett: It’s okay. There’s nothing wrong I guess because it is what it is, but I think if you want to be authentic, or if you want to be stand out, you have to be original, you know? In today’s age, you know, whatever’s hot everybody follows it. And usually the leaders are the ones that it takes a while, the innovators takes a while for them to come out. And when they do drop, it’s like okay…
DJ IZ: It’s special.
Rhett: …change the game.
Cloie: But then it goes back to the earlier conversation about how people want things now, now, now. And so it’s…
DJ IZ: Yeah, you lose that within that need to jump on something quick, hot. It’s, you know, and I think which is always a great conversation, especially guys like yourself who have been through this a couple decades, and will still be doing it, you know, at a high level. You know, for our audience, I mean a lot of times, they just wanna know, you know, not the demand, more or less just the work ethic, the time, you know, to become great at your craft.
Rhett: Right, well, I think with anything that you do, you have to, you know, learn the basics. You gotta pay your dues. You gotta really like what you love to do. You see, everybody see the glamorous side, you see it all like that, but what they don’t see is what’s behind the scenes, and the grind it takes to get to that point. Like sometimes, especially in the music business, and I think you guys can attest to this, it’s like you sacrifice a lot, you know…
DJ IZ: Time away from your loved ones mostly.
Cloie: And I’m on the film side of it, and yes, you do.
DJ IZ: So you might miss birthdays. You might miss holiday. It’s…
Rhett: You might not even go to parties that you think you should be going…I mean, it’s like a combination of like you also, you have to perfect your craft. You also gotta learn like how to network.
DJ IZ: Talk to folks.
Rhett: In today’s age, back then, if you’re lucky you have a manager just to handle all your business. Now you have to learn the business. I think everybody like, you know, here, we had to get burned. We had to learn to get burned to understand the business. And it’s either you lose and give up, or you keep on going. And there’s…
DJ IZ: And that’s so crucial too. I mean you know, some of the things that we make it a must to implement here on our show is not just ability, not just the passion, but also the mindset of understanding the business side. Because like you just said, I mean, you have to know all those aspects now. You can’t dish it off. And you get to a point where you do have to bring on a team. But for the most part, it all starts with you now, you know? You can’t…there’s no room for that. You know, you can’t partition this piece and say okay, I’m gonna get somebody in. Like you now have to know.
Rhett: Right, what’s even crazier now because you also gotta learn how to be a student, even if you’ve been experienced, and if you’re “a master,” you’re still a student. Like you have to learn to learn from the newer generation because now the newer generation, they know how to like, you know, make websites. They know how to…
DJ IZ: Dude, they shoot their own videos. Yeah.
Cloie: Well you know, this is actually a great point because speaking of the next generation, every week we do highlight our student success stories, so in our FC Recording Connection that’s either in the program, just graduated, and this week we have a music video that’s highlighting the student, or will be featured in the newsletter. And that is, the student is Frederick Nsiah. And he goes by Exgee. And that’s him right there.
DJ IZ: Looking clean.
Cloie: I know right, and so fresh. With his mentor, Don Sintara [SP], he has…and Don has worked with the Foo Fighters and Fugazee. They are doing big things in the world of afropop, which exactly, when you talk about new and fresh and original, and that’s actually the track that we have to show. The music video we have to show has gotten over 300,000 views on YouTube, and he’s just doing big things. We’ll have more about Frederick in the newsletter later. But for right now, why don’t we show his music video. And this is [inaudible 00:27:34] Hit it.
[00:27:37]
[music]
[00:28:12]
Cloie: I mean, that’s like…
DJ IZ: Did he shoot it himself because it actually looks really good.
Cloie: I was just getting into the groove.
DJ IZ: I was getting into it. Man, shout out to my man. That’s actually dope. I think that’s perfect for our viewers, you know, hey man, you gotta get out there and make it happen. That looked great.
Cloie: So for more of Frederick, again, he’s gonna be coming up in our weekly newsletter. And also thank you again to Devon for remoting in, whatever they call the thing that just happened on the screen coming in. Thank you for joining us on today’s show.
DJ IZ: Thank you, D. Thank you.
Cloie: So now back to our regular programming. Maybe Grind Opp Two?
DJ IZ: Yeah, let’s jump into it. Grind Opp Two.
Cloie: Roll it please.
DJ IZ: Grind Opp Two is in the field of audio technician, my kind of do. Brooklyn, New York. Here we go. Must have experience with professional audio and the ability to configure a digital board. Familiar with Behringer X32 consoles and Kyla speakers. Must be able to lift and carry 60 pounds and be comfortable working outdoors under varying weather conditions. That’s interesting, right? It went from like the studio to the woods. But that’s cool though. I think, you know, I think all those things are definitely key. I think it’s always important in the studio environment to know various gear, you know?
Rhett: You have to. As DJs too, you know, you start also being as like a mobile DJs or house parties, you know? So you gotta…
DJ IZ: Get your gear, right, your crates?
Rhett: Crates of records, you know? Of course now you got Serato on your laptop. Back then you gotta bring crates of records.
Cloie: Biceps for days.
Rhett: Then, you know, if you did like mobile DJing, you gotta have like certain Vegas and bring the V36s and lights and stuff. And then even then if you were traveling, you had to like bring a record case, like 80 pounds.
DJ IZ: And usually you had to call a homie like man, I got a gig. Can you roll with me, man, you know what I’m saying?
Cloie: Well what if nobody was available to help?
Rhett: Gotta do it yourself.
DJ IZ: Hope you had an SUV then or an open bed truck or something.
Rhett: That’s how you get your muscles, you know?
DJ IZ: Now just, you know, on the creative side being that you’ve been in the studio making records and production and things. How important do you view engineers roles in this type of setting, where you’re working on a console, or you’re working with outboard gear in those various…
Rhett: I think an engineer is very important, especially if you wanna get to that high quality, you know, the same quality as what you hear out right now, you know? If you can engineer yourself, that’s great, but you have to have experience. For me sometimes, most of the time, I do have an engineer to do all the mixing for myself. I’ll mix it, it sounds good to me, but they…
DJ IZ: Fine tune it, put the bells and whistles on it.
Rhett: Make sure it’s like there’s no, it’s not going into red, you know, you want it in the red and stuff like that. But an engineer for recording is definitely important because they know the system. They know the equipment. And you can actually learn from them. That’s how I’m learning…
DJ IZ: That’s how I learned too, bro. Like I learned watching dudes like, okay, he’s using that EQ? Okay, what chain is he…that’s how we learned.
Rhett: I mean especially like if you’re back in the days, how you read the credits on the albums, like you go see who mastered the album, like Bernie Grudman, or who did mixing, like who did the mixing, who’s the assistant engineer, what studio…
DJ IZ: Which was so dope about our era because we got to read those things, right? But the digital era has kind of taken away that experience, right…
Cloie: In replace of Google.
DJ IZ: Yeah, because I still like, that’s what I love about even Urban Outfitters is the fact that their driving younger kids in their store, not so much to buy sneakers or gear, but to buy vinyl.
Rhett: Which what’s funny because like I said, like right now, cassettes are like almost like a collector’s item even though you can’t play in the car, some kids just wanna collect it, or they’re even selling Walkmans at Urban Outfitters. And then vinyls of course, is almost like making a comeback. It’s not gonna be the same as it was in the 90s when you could just sell like, especially in the independent scene, if you sell 10,000 copies of vinyl, that was great. You’re lucky if you could sell 500 copies. Even as right now, the 45s are making a big comeback.
DJ IZ: Dude, 45s are like, I’ve seen cats are doing their whole sets with 45s.
Rhett: Yeah, but I think it’s because now people are, the younger generation, as they’re getting older, they’re starting to discover older heroes, what they listened to, and so they wanted to kind of like emulate it and like…and a lot of them surprisingly they say like I wish I grew up in that era, you know?
Cloie: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
DJ IZ: And that’s the thing, you know, I always make it a point to mention just the idea of reintroducing something that was great because I think the great thing is the generation feeling like they discovered something new. An d that’s to me, that’s more important than me saying, oh that ain’t nothing new. We were doing this, you know what I’m saying? You can’t be that dude.
Rhett: Here’s one thing I’ve learned over the years and of talking with a lot of OGs like Jazzy Jeff and Lord Finesse, is that you can’t be that guy, that bitter old guy, you know? I learned that, you know, you have to learn from the newer generation as much as the newer generation has to learn from the older. Unfortunately I’d have to say probably in hip-hop there’s a generation gap, a discord. Like you said, the OGs would say, oh man, we did it this way. But a lot of them, you know, they say this, but they haven’t progressed, right? Whereas the younger generation you have, of course, they want things now because they see what’s going on, but they don’t have the patience of learning the thing. So what I’m learning now is that we have, us…
DJ IZ: Have to share the information.
Rhett: Information, and then we have to learn from them to like accept, you know, I may not like some of the music that’s out now, but you gotta let them, you have to understand that that’s their music now. We’re sounded like our parents before us. That’s what I’m learning. It’s like oh my music this and that, stuff was like, we’re starting to be like them. We have to change that mindset that, you know, in order for the music and the culture to evolve, you have to let things happen. And you stick to your lane. Let the younger cats do their thing and hopefully they’ll learn from us and vice versa we learn from them. And then if we can combine, everybody wins, you know? That’s how I look at it.
DJ IZ: No, absolutely. And you know, that’s the thing. I loved what Andre 3000 said at Five’s funeral, was that as OGs, we have to embrace. It ain’t about how I did it, or I’m better. Like we have to embrace this young culture and share the information because they are the next. Whether we like it, whether we not. And I think even for me as a DJ and a creator, you know, I love to be in conversations with the dudes that are in garage band, the dudes that are on Ableton because I’m still learning too, you know what I’m saying? So what I do is I say okay, let me extract everything I possibly can and then figure out a way to make it me and infuse into what I’ve been doing. You know, that’s where you wanna be.
Rhett: I’m saying, you know, listening to cats like Selection Crew, right? My Goss and Nickleby who’s Baboo’s son. He makes beats. So I’m learning stuff from him just like what they’re listening too. Same thing with Originous, who’s also part of Selection, but he’s like, C Minus’s son, making great beats. Kazelle Organism, that’s Middle Man Ace’s son. All the new cats that’s coming out right now, like I try to learn from them and ask them questions. And you know, even though they’re using software based, but what I learned, you gotta embrace new technology, but what’s lucky about us is that we infuse the experience of vintage, you know, and applying it to technology.
DJ IZ: Absolutely, absolutely. And what’s dope too is like for instance, you know, DJ Melody from the Beat Junkies, who got a chance to get behind a DJ 808 controller, right? And I look at that, to me it’s like does it surprise me? No, because you can take you, a guy like him can take what he does with vinyl and now take it even further on a controller like the DJ 808 and still just kill.
Rhett: Right, well that’s a good segue because, and for our DJ school at the Institute of Sound, we’re teaching people to use vinyl first, you know? Our philosophy is that if you learn how to use the basics, and learn how to do vinyl, then you can do the same thing on using Serato, CDJs controllers. It’s the same techniques. What we learn it’s like everything, like you said, Mellow was using on a controller, the purists might say, oh, he’s not using vinyl. But the thing is it’s like do you have the skills to do the same thing?
DJ IZ: Exactly, exactly.
Rhett: If you have the skills and the talent, you might have to adjust to it, but you still can kill it. Can I cuss?
DJ IZ: Yeah man, you know…I’ve cussed on here before.
Cloie: My mouth is worse than his I think.
Rhett: You wanna fuck shit up and something like that. It’s like the same thing. If you’re a drummer, you can learn how to fuck shit up on a drum machine. If you’re a bass player, a piano player, you can learn how to play things on a MIDI controller.
DJ IZ: See and that’s a great point because I’ve seen it happen in real-time. I’ve seen a dude who started on controllers, was really great, and I said, try to do it on these, on vinyl. And he couldn’t because he wasn’t used to the feel, the tension, but you can go from turntables and kill it, and still be able to do it on a controller. And might be able to do even more things on a controller.
Rhett: Here’s the thing. People say that Serato or Tractor, all the killed the DJ scene. No, it’s just a tool, you know? In reality, and I hate to say it like this, it’s mostly the people that are just not open minded. You know, like I used to be in that position where I was like, oh man, you’re not keeping it real until ironically Jazzy Jeff was the one that introduced us to Serato. He’s like, hey you can kill this shit.
DJ IZ: It was the same thing for me, bro.
Rhett: Here it is, you know, how you’re gonna tell about Jazzy Jeff, who’s an OG, one of the guys who brought out the Transformer scratch, killing it like it was still using the records, but using just a digital one. And then from then on it’s like okay, we can’t say shit, you know?
DJ IZ: Yeah, no, it’s the same for me.
Cloie: Also for the team is excited. Our team says, yes, new mantra cursing okay. Fuck shit up guys. Just so you know.
DJ IZ: But it was the same for me, bro, because I had this purist mentality and the cat that introduced Serato to me was DJ Revolution. And he said I’m never going back. But it’s like okay, coming from a guy like that, it’s like I gotta check it out, you know what I mean?
Rhett: Once you learn how to do it, you know I always say is Serato doesn’t do everything for you. You gotta learn how to use blends and time. If you were a whack DJ on vinyl, you using Serato will make you a decent DJ. But if you’re a dope DJ on vinyl, using Serato will make you a super dope DJ. It still comes to you have to have the skills and the knowledge to, you know, this is just a tool.
DJ IZ: Yeah, just a tool.
Rhett: And most of the people, they say it killed DJing. It’s like half of the people there don’t even buy vinyl. Like most of them are just like keep it real, but are you still digging? Even in today’s standards, the people are saying well hip-hop is dead. No, it’s not. You still gotta search for it.
DJ IZ: It’s more vibrant than ever.
Rhett: The only difference is there’s so much shit out there versus back then you had to look for it. Now you still have to look for it, you just have to dig for it and figure out which one you like, you know? It’s just shifting, digging through, it’s the same concept. Still digging, except you’re just doing digital. Now with the internet, there’s no excuse whatsoever. There’s no excuse. You can type in anything and find something that you like. I mean most of the people that complain are probably because, you know, they got lives. They got families. They got responsibilities.
DJ IZ: Yeah, they’re not into it.
Rhett: They not into it, which is understandable, but don’t down it if you don’t understand it. Like and most of the time, if you really do love hip-hop, you still look for it. And you know, like if you love something, it’s always gonna be with you one way or another. I’m sure all of us, we have friends that still that have families, have a 9:00 to 5:00 job, but they still look for the music because they love it, you know?
Cloie: I say don’t be the dinosaur, be the roach.
DJ IZ: Yeah, don’t be a museum.
Cloie: Be the roach. Why don’t we pause and pop into another Grind Opp?
DJ IZ: Let’s do it baby. What do we got?
Cloie: It’s Grind Opp Number Three, which is applicable to what we’re discussing in a way right now. It’s for engineering.
DJ IZ: Nice.
Cloie: Yeah.
DJ IZ: So Grind Opp Number Three, this is in St. Louis. Must be able to work audio consoles including Yamaha M7CL and digi design boards. Must be experienced with Pro Tools, Ableton, and Logic. Experience with lighting boards and programming for light design is a definite plus. So this is like a combination of lights and engineer.
Cloie: And action. Sorry. Gotta translate.
DJ IZ: Which is another cool thing. We just got done, we kind of were talking about Ableton, some of the various DOS for creators. What do you tend to favor?
Rhett: Well it’s funny, we were talking earlier, it’s like obviously for production now, what I’m using is Reason, yeah, Propellorhead. But when I first started out, it was an EMU SB1200 drum machine sampler, and then eventually went to a Akai NPC2000. But even before then, I learned how to drum program on an Elyses [SP] HR16 drum machine. So that’s how I, you know, I mean same thing. Like listening to our favorite DJ producers, you’re like you always wondered…
DJ IZ: What are they using, yeah.
Rhett: Right, and you try to emulate whatever they try to do, you know? And then whatever interviews or magazine they had they would talk about, you was like, what’s an SB1200?
DJ IZ: Totally, and that was the thing that always used to get me with Primo was I was always trying to figure out is it an SB1200, or is it ARS10?
Rhett: You know he said when he first started, he had an S950, but he programed on the Elyses HR 16 drum machine. And then he eventually went to an SB12, I think it was the SB12, and then eventually went to the 3000, yeah. So I mean just hearing all these people what they use before, you know…I think I was reading something. I think like the 45 King, he was just using a rack mount.
DJ IZ: Wow.
Rhett: I don’t know how he did that. I mean, obviously the classic would be the SB1200, S950, or the 3000. I wanna say there was a Casio RZ11, I forgot what that was. There was obviously different machines and stuff, but you find out more…
DJ IZ: Yeah, you find out which one you favor in your workflow. That’s dope, man.
Cloie: It was really good. So before we get into our last two Grind Opps, everybody get your Q&A ready because it’s coming. It’s gonna come at you hard and fast. But we also have our Facebook app, which I don’t know if we even got a chance to talk to you about the Facebook app beforehand. You all should know the Facebook app, right?
DJ IZ: Definitely by now.
Cloie: One would hope. But can we roll that slide, please? This is our Facebook app. It’s literally taking out the middle man and connecting the dots. It’s geo-based. You put what your rate is, whatever you do, and it’s linking artists with tech, and everything behind the scenes, yeah.
DJ IZ: Yeah, I think for me the best way I can explain it is let’s say you’re a guy who is on the production side, right? You make beats, you got joints just sitting. You can now connect with a dude who’s maybe doing film and needs music. It allows you to guys to connect instantly, figure out how far you guys are from each other, you send them your work. So it’s just a great hub for creators of all sorts to connect with each other. One of the things we always say is like, you know, we do this show every Monday, considering our new summer schedule. But we can only do so much, right? So how much easier can we make it if you’re really that hungry, you know? If you really wanna get your Monday going, get your week set out and really just pound the pavement and create opportunities, this is, you know, this is kind of what you need to be utilIZing or add to your toolbox.
Cloie: Absolutely, play in that sandbox, all the colors.
DJ IZ: Yeah, let’s go get it and, you know, I think for me it’s a testament to how I’m able to really just stay connected with my peers like yourself, or you know, like how you do with people in your world, Cloie. You know, and that’s what’s key for us, you know what I’m saying? It’s just staying connected at all times because you never know where the opportunities are gonna come from.
Cloie: Or what opportunity will lead to another.
DJ IZ: To another opportunity, networking. Some of the things we say too is like what’s huge for our audience is really understanding how important it is to know how to talk to people. You know, because some people are just kind of like, I’m not that…
Rhett: I had to learn the hard way. Because honestly, I was a pretty quiet person myself. And then the business, they’ll eat you up. If you don’t learn, you won’t get hurt. You literally have to learn how to speak up and, you know, I still get tongue tied. But I have to learn how to communicate and get your point across. And also fight for what you believe in.
Cloie: Absolutely.
DJ IZ: It’s a transition, man, especially if it’s…and that’s one of the things I was talking to Mr. Chalk about when he was on our show because, you know, a lot of times guys like yourselves at that level, you know, it’s always behind the decks. And to actually come out from behind the decks and just have a conversation and allow, you know, folks to hear these stories and what it takes is so important. And it’s something, you know, I was talking to Chalk about because you know, as much as I’ve been around him, we don’t ever really get to just sit down and talk about some of these things because it’s always behind the decks or, you know, he DJed my birthday party and it’s just, you know, to be able to put that in front of our viewers and say okay, this is what it is. This is the work it takes. This is where you wanna be in five or ten years as a DJ. You know, it’s so important.
Cloie: So let’s do these last two Grind Opps because the Q&A session is blowing up in this here phone here. Can we please roll Grind Opp Four please?
DJ IZ: Grind Opp Number Four, this is video editor, work remotely. This is an Atlanta company in need of an editor to work remotely. Familiarity with editing quick social media style videos required. Any tips you got on this, Cloie? I mean, it’s kind of…
Cloie: It’s straightforward, yeah. I mean, social media style video required, that means creating thing that can be metabolIZed with rapid speed, like a minute or less, attention spans being what they are today. But that’s also, even if you didn’t look at it, you just saw a still from it. It’s gotta be something that’s gonna grab your attention and make you want to see more, you know what I mean?
DJ IZ: That’s a huge point.
Cloie: That’s all I had to say about that, I think.
DJ IZ: Word them up. Fifth Grind Opp of the day, Cloie, I’m gonna let you tackle this one down.
Cloie: Oh goodie, okay. Grind Opp Number Five is a board operator in LA, that’s here, California.
DJ IZ: Ooh SiriusXM.
Cloie: Right?
DJ IZ: I might have to apply there. Me and Rhett are applying today.
Cloie: SiriusXM needs a fulltime board operator, may be assigned to more than one program. This could be a big job or a small job. I have no idea, but it’s with SiriusXM. All right, Sirius.
DJ IZ: Man, sign me up.
Cloie: Right? Just now…
DJ IZ: So another thing too is, you know, something we haven’t been able to mention. We’ve had jam packed shows, but I wanna still encourage you guys to send in your resumes so we can take a look. So we can kind of you know, if there’s any help we can offer and assistance, help you build those out so that when you go in here, you have the best foot forward, and possibly knock down some of these opportunities. And that can be sent to us at [email protected].
Cloie: Boom.
DJ IZ: All right.
Cloie: Shall we question and answer?
DJ IZ: Let’s do it, let’s do it. Let me, you wanna start off with the first question?
Cloie: Sure.
Rhett: Are we about to Twitter and Instagram?
Cloie: We’re not. So this is what I was saying to you before.
DJ IZ: So I’m tweeting right now.
Cloie: We’re not being rude. So anytime, for those of you that are joining us and what, when we look at our phones, we’re talking to our team.
DJ IZ: We’re tech savvy.
Cloie: That’s what’s happening here. We’re not actually being rude, paying attention. It’s just we’re being green. So first question, Alpha in Tampa, Florida. How did you get started in your career as a DJ and what are the do nots?
Rhett: Do nots. How did I start at a career? Well I actually started around high school, so I was just DJing. Just doing like house parties, you know?
DJ IZ: Dig parties, huh? Uh-huh, it’s okay.
Rhett: Not ditch parties. But you know, I’ve done house parties and eventually, well during my days coming up, you were doing mobile DJing gigs. So you did besides house parties, you know, eventually you start kind of doing like weddings. I would do those type of parties just to save up to buy the records I wanna play, you know? And eventually I got out of it because, you know, that’s whole other game in itself. I mean right now even wedding DJs are making a lot of money. That’s a whole other market in itself, but that was something that I wasn’t really into, but you know, at the time you do anything you can get just to make money, put your name up.
DJ IZ: To do what you wanna do.
Rhett: Yeah, so eventually, you know, same thing, just try to get your name out there. I was making mix tapes to put it out there, going to any parties who would let me DJ, you know? And then just going up the ranks as you get into the business, you start learning a lot more. Again, it goes back to what I was saying, you gotta learn the business. You have to know who you’re talking to. You have to learn how to be professional. You gotta be, you know, when I mean professional, you mean not only you know, know how to talk professionally, you gotta be on point. You gotta be on time. Whatever gig you’re gonna do, you do it to the best of your ability, you know? Primo, Premiere has a tattoo that says the cornerstone of power is your reputation.
Cloie: Well.
Rhett: So if you, word of mouth, if you do good work, people will talk about it. And that’s how you’ll usually get work too also.
Cloie: I’ll tell you, well here’s the other thing. You can do good work, but you’re a shitty person, people will talk about that too.
Rhett: No totally.
Cloie: So if that, I think that’s a great lesson too because if you are gonna be a shitty person, have the best work. We were talking something akin to that earlier. The exact point, I’m not sure, but let’s your…oh networking, and that whole thing of networking. If you can’t talk, your work better speak for you.
Rhett: And to add also how to, you know, how I got into, you gotta again, you gotta know your craft and perfect it. If you wanna be the baddest DJ or the baddest producer, musician, actor, actress, whatever, chef, janitor, you gotta…
Cloie: You better mop that floor.
Rhett: You better be the best that you can be, whatever you decide to do.
DJ IZ: Yeah, and it takes real application. It takes real time, real hours of, you know, hoping to achieve being great at your craft, you know? Next question we have DJ Zianna in Burbank. Hi, I’m a big fan. Love the Beat Junkies. Who taught you the most in your career?
Rhett: Who taught me the most in my career? I have a lot. I mean, I have a lot. I mean, besides the greats who I grew up listening to, I mean, there’s everyone from Grandmaster Flash, Grandmaster TST, Jazzy Jeff, Joe Cooley, Cash Money, Julio G.
DJ IZ: Julio G. Tony G.
Rhett: Tony G, I mean, I have personal cats who I also grew up listening to like man, DJ Curse who was in the Beat Junkies, he was one year older than me. He was someone that was like doing stuff, like back then, mostly it was either blacks and Latinos that was more prevalent in the hip-hop scene. Back then like Asians, let along Filipinos, you know, they were into it, but you don’t really see a face, you know? And him being half Filipino seemed, and could cut it up, like oh, I can identify him as someone like okay…
DJ IZ: As your own?
Rhett: As my own. He was someone I grew up listening to and wanted to be like him. A cat name DJ Scratchmatic, my name was kind of based off of him. And a cat named DJ Arabian Night who is now known as a MC, as a cycle from a group called Insane Poetry. Those are three personal people that I kind of, I looked up to. Of course, my own crew, the Junkies. You know, they always say you gotta surround yourself with people that are as good as you or even better. And as much as I’m like one of the oldest guys in the crew, man, the guys that are a little bit younger, those guys are like motivation factor.
DJ IZ: Fire under your seat, yeah.
Rhett: And just in general, my father rest in peace and stuff, you know? He’s always told me like, you know, you have to do your best. He always said 50% this, 50% here and you know, always have…
DJ IZ: That’s so dope. That’s so dope.
Rhett: But yeah.
Cloie: So Jason from Mississippi wants to know how can I get better at reading the room? What exactly should I be looking for? I feel like that goes for both of you, I think.
Rhett: I think in terms of learning how to read a room, you just have to walk…I would say sometimes being the opening DJ’s the best because you get to play everything you wanna play. But then there’s a terminology within the DJ community is called the burners. It’s like you wanna be the star before the star is. So don’t be that dude. I would say is watch your heroes, the people that you look up to and how they read the room. And you kind of like, you have to go through the experience of DJing and learning how to figure out what not to play. If you’re the opening DJ, don’t play the songs that the main DJ is gonna play. Your job is to actually like warm it up and set the vibe. And sometimes that the best thing.
DJ IZ: Yeah, because you can play, yep.
Rhett: Anything that you want. And that’s when you figure out, okay, the best DJs is actually knowing if you’re the headliner or the opening DJ because you can adapt to it. And there’s no easy other way except to just have experience and to learn how to read the room except it’s just go through the motions.
DJ IZ: Right, go through the motions, trial and error, man.
Cloie: And fail probably too, to have the, you know.
Rhett: And here’s my thing I’ve learned. I’ve been doing jujitsu for three years. And they have a philosophy is like there’s no such thing as losing. There’s only winning and learning, right? So I’ve been taking that philosophy. Well I have my own philosophy is like if you’re afraid to fail, you’re afraid to succeed. I’ve been always a big believer in that. So don’t be afraid to fail, fall on your face, because that’s the only way you’re gonna learn. You know, if you always wanna be perfect, you will never understand the concept of like…
Cloie: It is so true. It goes back to the whole discussion about people that are learning on vinyl versus the people that aren’t, and like okay, now I know this fundamental thing and I got something to back it up with.
DJ IZ: We have de Paolo in Miami. What are the names of the best DJ battles? How do you prepare?
Rhett: Well obviously the most, one of the most prestigious one is called the DMC.
DJ IZ: The DMC?
Rhett: Disco Mix Club. It’s been since around the 80s. Some of the notable world champions is DJ Eight Track.
DJ IZ: DJ Eight Track.
Rhett: DJ Craze was three time world champion. There’s also the Red Bull Freestyle DJ Competition, which is like you know, a little bit more club base, but still skills-wise. Those are the most prestigious ones. There’s other battles there, but those are the most prestigious. I think the only way, same thing, how you prepare for it. You gotta like watch the battles and study your heroes, study your opponents. Break it down, figure out what to do. I would say a lot of it also is like how to inject your own style into it, your own personality because that’s the only way how some of these, the greats are. So if you learn all the techniques, but you still have to figure out what separates that person from that person. It’s the style. It’s like even seeing as a producer, like you and your brother, how you guys make music, you guys you develop your own style is by putting your own personality. Of course you take all your influence, but you also put what makes who you are into the music, and that’s why it makes what your guys’s production as is.
DJ IZ: Yeah, no doubt, no doubt.
Cloie: Work. So we have a question, this is Kenzie from Detroit, Michigan. Beat Junkies team routines look dope. How long does it take you guys to get your set straight?
Rhett: Man, ironically it’s like, for those that don’t know, we use turntables as a musical instrument. So basically, we play the turntables, like one of us does the drums, one of us is a guitar player, one is a lead vocal…
DJ IZ: These dudes are masters, man.
Rhett: The way how we do it, like it’s the same thing as a musician would do except we’re just using vinyl and the turntables.
DJ IZ: You got a routine together.
Rhett: Yeah, we take any sound and we manipulate it, you know? We manipulate to the way we are. And it’s the same thing as a band. To make a routine, we just jam, you know? And we find a section, it’s like oh, this section’s good. And then we just build upon that one, and then build upon, okay, let’s what can we do? Let’s jam. Let’s add this one to this one. And I think it’s same thing as a musician when they jam, they do the same thing. Or as a producer, you find a groove, you find that one and build upon it, and you build upon that. That’s how we did it.
DJ IZ: Yeah, and that’s such a huge factor because there’s a super huge dynamic which is the producing factor in understanding that type of mindset. I remember having this conversation years ago with a gentleman at New Mark. And this was before controllers came. And I said, you know, how dope would it be to have, you know, MPC pads on a device that allows you to somehow manipulate certain sounds? Because the first thing, when I got Serato, what I wanted to do is I made kicks and snares as my queue points, right? And I would hit, you know, on my laptop, like a beat. And I said, you know, you realIZe that DJs are gonna become the new modern day like in real-time live producers because this is something that kind of never got talked about in the past, but I always felt like the minute you put an a Capella on and throw a different record under that, you’re creating something new in real-time, which then makes you the creator, the producer in a live setting. And you allow people to experience this new concoction of two different records. And I said it’s…
Cloie: It’s like a drink.
DJ IZ: That’s where it’s at. It’s going there, it’s going there. And I’ve always, you know, because I grew up playing drums at five years old. So I was around, you know, other musicians that didn’t know how to consider a DJ being a musician. They were too into their own thing, locked into that, and it’s like no, this isn’t just playing two records, man. There’s a craft to it. There’s a technique you have to practice. Like you have to practice playing chords on your guitar, you know?
Rhett: Right, it’s like funny. It’s like we can learn how to play instruments, but the hardcore musicians can’t do what we do. That’s the difference.
DJ IZ: That’s the difference. And it’s a huge difference.
Rhett: Yeah, because the thing is we’re…I never played instruments. I learned actually, I suck at drums, but I learned how to play drums because of trying to emulate, because of DJing, I tried to…
DJ IZ: The grooves, yeah.
Rhett: …on the grooves and stuff. And just because of that, okay, I get it now. You do like that.
DJ IZ: And it actually helped your time, like that was a great thing with being a drummer transitioning to DJ is because I understood time. I understood turnarounds, eight bars, four bars, two bars, you know?
Rhett: Yes, and it goes back to what we were saying is like learning your craft, learn your music, learning, studying the greats. Like transitioning to producers, like well I wanna learn how to do that. Well this is what you have to learn.
Cloie: Wait, last question. Cloie from Los Angeles, California wants to know when can IZ and I come and visit the Institute?
DJ IZ: I was like, wait a minute.
Rhett: You can come…
DJ IZ: We definitely need to make it a point to come down. I know Igor from Roland as well wants to come down and we just wanna come and hang, man.
Rhett: Yes, yes.
DJ IZ: The environment looks so great. Well you know, for anyone who’s interested to come and check on our school, you can go to beatjunkiessound.com. What’s funny is like okay, we have a kids classes, which is incredible. We also have an adult class. And then our other classes we got like, 60% 70% are women.
Cloie: Hmm, so this makes me wanna enroll and figure it out.
Rhett: I mean, if you love music and you want something to learn. I mean, of course, I’m not gonna lie. DJing is…
Cloie: It’s hard.
Rhett: It’s not only hard, it’s also an expensive hobby per se.
Cloie: Sure.
Rhett: Because you know, especially if you’re trying to collect records and stuff like that, or you’re buying the equipment itself. But again, with the technology you got a laptop and stuff, but you still…
Cloie: No, I want vinyl baby. If I’m gonna learn it, I’m gonna learn it right.
DJ IZ: Which leads me to my own personal question, all right, because I wanna know how you feel about this. Now there was a time where, you know, Techniques which is pretty much the monumental turntable for DJs. There was a time where, you know, Techniques closed down the shop, Panasonic then acquired blueprints and everything, and I remember sitting down with Panasonic a couple years ago. And my whole thing is I was telling them like yo, this was probably about eight or seven years ago. I said, look, vinyl, it’s coming. It’s coming. You need to put a Techniques out. And Panasonic was like yeah, yeah. So then a couple years go by, BestBuy’s selling a shitload of vinyl. You see Urban Outfitters, and they decide to put out a Techniques turntable. That Techniques turntable is $5,000.
Rhett: It’s technically a 1200 turntable, but it’s $5,000. Because what they were trying to do is cater to the high end audiophile guys.
DJ IZ: But and I remember asking the guy, because I saw this at the CS convention. And I just had to ask the guy. I said man, why would you do that to the DJ community that built this thing?
Rhett: Well the turntable wasn’t meant to be.
DJ IZ: It was never meant to be, yeah. It was never meant be like, it was just meant to play records.
Rhett: But now it’s like because 1200s, I mean, it’s the DJs that made the 1200s popular.
DJ IZ: Dude, exactly. Like built it.
Rhett: I don’t know. I guess to answer your question about how I feel about that, it’s very sad. It’s sad.
DJ IZ: It’s sad. It broke my heart. I gotta be honest with you. I was so upset that day. I could not believe it.
Rhett: But I mean, thank goodness there’s other companies like, you know, Pioneer.
DJ IZ: I love the Pioneer turntable.
Rhett: Pioneer, there’s Reloop, there’s Mixar. I mean there’s other companies that are coming out with, I mean, I’m not gonna lie, 1200s are still the best. But because Techniques is not willing to cater to that market, you got other companies that’s willing to step up, you know?
DJ IZ: You do, and you got an incredible company like Roland who has a dope DJ 808.
Rhett: Yes, yes, yes. Shout out to Roland. Shout out to DJ Describe.
Cloie: Also shout out to the fact that back on the job front and giving it back, we do have six additional jobs on our website.
DJ IZ: We stay busy around.
Rhett: Oh boy, you’re like the Macons. Ya mon.
Cloie: So we have in the field of culinary for a gourmet food truck, yes. That’s in LA, In film, we have a freelance filmmaker/videographer in New York, New York. In Raleigh, North Carolina, we have radio, we have on air talent. Also in radio, but here in our backyard, Burbank, California, that of a board operator. And in Inglewood, California, number 10 is a culinary cook. Again, these are not jobs that are available everywhere. They are jobs that are available to our RRFC folk and community. That is the graphic right there. Connected/latest. And also to wrap it on up, we do wanna highlight our recent grads this week because the fact of the matter is every single week there’s students that are beginning their journey, that need to be noted.
So this is what we have for this week. Congratulations to all of our recent grads. So besides learning one on one, they’re gonna be out in the world and making it happen.’
Rhett: Nice.
DJ IZ: And really like the basis of this show and what we do here is really about that, you know? That next chapter, taking what you’ve learned, and getting out there, and, making it happen, you know? It’s like that’s what this thing is built on, opportunity and the application, all right? You know, putting in the work, so definitely man. Well dude, thank you so much. We’re definitely gonna come and hang out with you guys, man. And it’s so dope to see that many turntables, and vinyl, and everybody’s just…
Cloie: Make it a photo op.
DJ IZ: And dude, I’m watching video, they’re like zip, zip, zip.
Cloie: We can teach you how to do the baby scratch.
DJ IZ: Baby scratch, yes.
Cloie: I yes.
DJ IZ: And you know, for me it’s an honor to have, you know, to have you on Rhett. You know, we’ve been trying to make that for a minute. And you know, I’ve been a huge fan of the Beat Junkies and what you guys represent within the culture.
Rhett: I’m a big fan of you and your brother.
DJ IZ: You know, and I always tell these guys like you guys are like my heroes, man. Like you know, I watched you guys…
Rhett: Dude, did you know this guy scratched on [inaudible 01:10:12] album in vintage man?
DJ IZ: But dude, I used to come to Phat Beats, and it’s so dope to go to a vinyl shop and to see like your heroes just, you know, hanging out man, behind the counter like…and I used to love buying like…that’s where I would sample all my records, bro.
Rhett: Well you know, it’s like being a DJ, it goes back to what we were saying. It’s like you gotta do anything that’s in your field, go find something that’s connected. As a DJ, working at a record store makes sense. You’re still able to buy records, well okay, whatever money I made from selling records, I’m buying it again. And then that’s like, you know, you gotta get the newest music.
DJ IZ: And you guys have just always been in tune with the culture, and you still continue to push the culture forward, especially with the education that you guys are doing. And you know, that’s so great to see, you know what I mean? You look at a lot of these programs being pulled out of schools. There’s no budget for it, you know, and so to see you guys collectively come together and, you know, offer that is really dope, man. So congratulations to you guys, and I thank you again for hanging us out.
Rhett: Yes, sir.
DJ IZ: Shout out to Roland for allowing us to kick our feet up and hang out.
Rhett: Big ups to Roland.
DJ IZ: Big ups to Roland. My man Igor.
Rhett: Get a TR 808 machine.
DJ IZ: Yo, can he get a shirt? Can he get a shirt?
Cloie: And also a shout out to Devon Zorn.
DJ IZ: Yeah, shout out to Devon Zorn definitely. And shout out to our Connected team who make this possible. Mike, Liya, Howie, Maison, yeah, I mean.
Cloie: Ethan, Jimmy, the list goes on.
DJ IZ: We got a squad, Brian. And we look forward to seeing you not next week, but the week after. This is our new summer schedule. So you know, I mean we can find some time to, you know, do something with our free time that we do have. Like go fishing.
Cloie: Free time?
DJ IZ: But thank you guys for tuning in. I hope this has been a great informational show for you. And we look forward to seeing you on the next one.
Cloie: Yeah, roll those slide graphics, or those social media slides.
DJ IZ: Take us on out, Cloie.
Cloie: Social media slides. Social media slides. There we go. That’s how you find us. That’s who we are. Next slide please. Next slide, please. Look at that, making it happen.
DJ IZ: Screenshot it.
Cloie: Taking us out again will be music produced by Devon Zorn. Enjoy.
DJ IZ: Peace.
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- Hear industry success and horror stories from the legends inside the business
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