A Beat Happening

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/]

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/]

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]

This week we welcome to the show the only DJ to hold a residency at both Sketchbook and Low End Theory: Elvin Estela aka Nobody. Originally from Carson, Elvin fell into the world of hip-hop and beat making via college radio, including Mike Nardone's KXLU show We Came From Beyond, and trips to South Central LA to hear what was happening at the Good Life and soon after Project Blowed. He befriended Omid and others who turned him onto new ideas and eventually parlayed an early beat tape into an album deal with San Francisco label Ubiquity, which released his debut album, Soulmates, in 2000. Taking a cue from the likes of DJ Shadow, Mumbles, and DJ Hive, Nobody made dusty beats but where others leaned on funk and soul he instead focused on psych rock, which at the time was still largely ignored as a sample source. In the following years he befriended Prefuse 73 and learnt to DJ in order to promote his music, eventually ending up as one of the irregular residents at Sketchbook before becoming one of the founding residents at Low End Theory, where a close proximity to the new generation of producers led him to evolve his sound towards the dancefloor both on his own and in collaboration with Low End's host, Nocando.  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... * LA radio landscape and the importance of college radio  * Going to the Good Life and meeting Omid  * Making his first beat tape and working with Ellay Khule   * Being inspired by DJ Shadow, Hive, Digiak and CVE  * Signing to Ubiquity and getting into psych rock  * Meeting Justin at Aron's * Meeting Prefuse and the IDM moment  * Making RoadKillOverCoat with Busdriver and Boom Bip and the beginnings of Low End Theory * Collaborations with Nocando and Mystic Chords of Memory * Getting into modern rap in the '10s and the EDM crossover  Tracklist: * CVE - KKK/K  [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tskM7R-hwB0] * Nobody - Green Means [https://ubiquitycompilations.bandcamp.com/track/green-means]  * Bonzo Dog Band - Noise For The Leg [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd-rQ-FGYaQ] * Nobody - Porpoise Song (Savath Y Savalas Remix) [https://www.discogs.com/it/release/264300-Nobody-Porpoise-Song-EP] * Busdriver - Bloody Paw On The Dance Floor [https://www.discogs.com/it/master/18984-Busdriver-RoadKillOvercoat] * Nobody & Mystic Chords Of Memory - Decisions, Decisions [https://therealnobody.bandcamp.com/album/nobody-mystic-chords-of-memory-tree-colored-see]  * Nocando - Hurry Up And Wait [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se9RXANJe6s]  Links: * Nobody Bandcamp [https://therealnobody.bandcamp.com/]

This week on A Beat Happening we are very happy to welcome Jimetta Rose: a singer, songwriter, and community activist whose radiance and energy has powered the LA scene for over a decade. The South Central native began her career in the late 2000s collaborating with the likes of Shafiq Husayn and Georgia Anne Muldrow, before self-releasing her debut in 2010. She spent most of that decade as a go-to vocalist, working with House Shoes, Blu, Quelle Chris, Quantic and many more. In 2016 she reunited with Georgia for a second album, and just this year she released an album with Shoes' Street Corner Music and the debut from her new project, The Voices of Creation. Inspired by the transformative power of music, The Voices of Creation is a choir led by Jimetta that combines the spiritual jazz, gospel, and soul music that have all been integral to her solo work and now find themselves amplified through community. Jimetta's dedication to the late Ras G, I Met A Mountain, as performed by the choir is a poignant and essential tribute that speaks to the deep spiritual roots that run across the LA underground but are rarely highlighted. A true lodestar of soul music, Jimetta Rose continues to shine a light for us all to follow.  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... * Sketchbook days   * Beginnings and first collaborations   * Soul music past and present and its relationship to beat culture  * Growing up in South Central  * Founding the Voices of Creation and working in the community  * Writing I Met A Mountain for Ras G * Collaborating * Los Angeles and creativity  Tracklist: * SA-RA Creative Partners - Glorious (instrumental) [https://www.discogs.com/it/release/356469-Sa-Ra-Glorious-Rosebuds] * The Voices of Creation - Let the Sun Shine In [https://dublab.bandcamp.com/track/let-the-sun-shine-in] * The Voices of Creation - I Met A Mountain [https://jimettarose.bandcamp.com/album/i-met-a-mountain]  * Jimetta Rose - Might Could Be Nice  [https://jimettarose.bandcamp.com/album/the-gift-around-the-way-queen] * Jimetta Rose - Emerald City [https://jimettarose.bandcamp.com/album/the-light-bearer]  Links: * Jimetta Rose Bandcamp [https://jimettarose.bandcamp.com/album/the-light-bearer] * The Voices of Creation [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMzm2RF7SvE]