Part 1
Names: Thadz, Slugo
Nationality: American
Occupation: Producers, DJs
Current release: Both artists released ther entry into the Dance Mania Legends series. Get Dj Thadz' EP here and DJ Slugo's here.
Recommendations for Chicago, USA:
Thadz: Definitely all the clubs and festivals
Slugo: The Chicago Housing Museum
Topics I am passionate about but rarely get to talk about:
Thadz: Some of the things I'm really passionate about is outboard gear. I'm an outboard gear fanatic if I can touch it, turn it, press it, and it sounds good. I'm game for it.
Slugo: I’m passionate about the treatment of Black underground musicians. I feel we are not respected or seen the way we should be. For example, I have had people address me as a legend and then 5 minutes later email me a SLAVE contract. Just doesn’t make sense!!!
If you enjoyed this interview with Thadz, and Slugo and would like to stay up to date with their music and upcoming live dates, visit them on Instagram: Thadz; Slugo.
What were some of the musical experiences which planted a seed for your interest in electronic music?
Slugo: Watching my cousin djing in the Robert Taylor Homes parties.
Thadz: When I was a teenager, I used to go to this club called Jubilation in Harvey, Illinois. All they played was house music, and techno house. The sound system used to be banging like it was incredible, and just the energy and the vibe, and I think that geared me towards making electronic music.
All that lead me to drop my first vinyl on Dance Mania Records.
Sieh dir diesen Beitrag auf Instagram an
Most genres of music make use of electronic production means. What does the term “electronic music” mean today, would you say?
Thadz: I feel like electronic music is anything that's made with electronic instruments like drum machines, synthesizers - anything that the sound is electronically generated.
Slugo: To me electronic music is music made with synths, drum machine etc. If it’s not live instruments, then I consider it electronic.
Disco, house, techno, drum n bass, IDM and many other genres were about a lot more than just music. For you personally, is electronic music (still) a way of life – and if so, in which way?
Thadz: Yes, I feel like electronic music will always be a way of life. Electronic music just gives you some type of vibe that no other music can give you.
Slugo: Yes it’s a way of life. It gives the people in the underground world a way to express themselves without the fear of being judged.
Debates around electronic music tend to focus on technology. What, though, were some of the things you learned by talking to colleagues or through performing and/or recording with other musicians? What role does community play for your interest in production and getting better as a producer?
Thadz: When I first started producing around the age of 22, all I had was a Boss DR5 drum machine, but I could never record like the big names like Paul Johnson, Stacy Kidd, Hula, DJ Deeon, DJ Funk, DJ Slugo, and a host of other big names that I looked up to.
I learned from those guys that quality was important at that time because if someone played your record after one of those big-name DJs and the quality wasn't there, the energy was lost instantly. That’s when I learned that quality was a key factor in electronic music.
So, that circle of big-name producers inspired me to get better production, a better sound, a better energy.
Slugo: Technology does play a big part in electronic but what I have learned from the community is that we all can have the same equipment but it’s the individual behind the board that makes the sound what it is.
[Read our DJ Deeon interview]
What are examples for artists, performances, and releases that really inspired you recently and possibly gave you the feeling of having experienced something fresh and new?
Slugo: Going out of the country and seeing how important vinyl still is.
Thadz: One of the performing artists that inspires me recently is Austin Millz ... like his energy says be so man crazy.
As far as releases, DJ Slugo really inspires me because he's a hard-working producer, along with DJ Phats.
DJ SoloMuzik, he's like the King of Chicago Footwork music right now. But you know the media ain't giving him his props, but the way those guys create and move, like they really inspire me because they always come out with some fresh and new vibes constantly.
What kind of musical/sonic materials, and ideas are particularly stimulating for your own work right now?
Thadz: Right now, what stimulates me is like vintage sounds, vintage machines. I like using the MPC 3000 just because it's basic and it brings out so much creativity in me. I'm really into the vintage sounds, and it seems like it keeps the energy.
Slugo: Roland just blessed me with a bunch of plug ins/synth packages so that’s has had my mind spinning in multiple directions with new production.
What were some of the recent tools you bought, used, or saw/read about which changed your perspective about production, performing, and making music?
Thadz: I think I'm done buying equipment. After I bought my MPC 3000. I know it's a really old machine, but I love it and I don't think anything that they're making new can top it. It really gotta be some next-level stuff for me to start buying equipment again.
Slugo: I just purchased a few plug ins that are super exciting and are taking me in a totally different direction with the way I chop up my samples now.
Where do most of your inspirations to create come from – rather from internal impulses or external ones? Which current social / political / ecological or other developments make you feel like you need to respond as an artist?
Thadz: Most of my inspirations come from internal ideas. I might just be driving, or I could be sitting on the couch, and I just come up with ideas out of nowhere.
It could be something I'm watching on TV or something that I thought about happened last week that I'll just take out my phone and I just say what I got to say on my phone, then later when I get to the studio, it's going down.
Slugo: My inspirations have always come from my life struggles and being able to put that into my music.
I try to stay away from politics because that can get very messy. But if I see something socially wrong I will sometimes speak on how I personally feel about the situation without stomping on anyone else’s opinions or ideas.
