A good remix respects the song for what it is and then takes it somewhere else. By somewhere else, I mean whether I feel that's what needs to happen or that's just where it goes. Hopefully as a remix, the greatest compliment I could ever get is someone telling me they thought the remix was better than the original. Its not that I aspire for that answer but it feels good when someone tells you that.Matt and Kim - Daylight (Troublemaker Remix feat. De La Soul)
Today we have a brand new DJ Troublemaker record dropping that can be found on the NBA Live 2010 soundtrack, so why not get to meet the man behind the boards. Enter DJ Troublemaker....illRoots.com: How did you get started and why the name Troublemaker?
Troublemaker: I always was into music as a kid and played several instruments. I started with piano and keyboards and played saxophone and bought 45's and cassette singles, so I was definitely that type of kid. Then when I went to college, I immediately went to work for the college radio station and started to hang out with all the DJs there. Also, simultaneously, I hung out with my friend who is the music director and was kind of into punk - I would say, emo, but back in the day so it would be considered Angular Math Rock.
iR: What college was this?
TM: This was Ohio University, Athens, Ohio. I'm from California, my parents are divorced and I was out in Cali living with my mom and I just happened to be staying with my dad who is from Chicago but was staying in Cincinnati, Ohio. We kind of made this agreement that I would try to go to school and Ohio University actually is a great school for journalism which is what I was originally thinking about studying. My love of music kind of took over and I was like "fuck this." So I would start to do all my music stuff out there; I only lasted a year because I just couldn't hang with a lot of the mentality and the way things were out there wasn't what I was used to.
iR: Yeah, I would assume that Cali is a bit different from Ohio
TM: [Laughs] Just a little bit. There are a lot of people in Ohio but basically at that point I was looking into a lot of record labels that I could get an internship with back home. During my first summer at school I got an internship at this punk label called Epitaph and proceeded to drop out of school and immediately jump into the music business and find my way. That led me down an entirely different path and I learned a bunch about independent record labels and how they work. I met some friends and along the way [we] started our own. Along that time we started to produce music for MC's and basically we were doing Hip-Hop and drum and bass. We had a club we opened up called Concrete Jungle out here in Los Angeles. That was like where my production and DJ career started and all that other stuff was my stepping stones.
iR: So actually all these remixes all stems back to you going to school.
TM: Yeah, totally.
iR: So why the name 'Troublemaker'?
TM: When I was little I was definitely a troublemaker and would start shit with people and that didn't stop for a long time up until even when I dropped out of school. The name actually stuck though when I was at [the] Winter Music Conference with some of my old label partners and what not and my one friend was getting busted for smoking weed in the club. I was asking the bouncer (maybe in not the politest way) "How is he going to throw the artist out of the club?" and then he basically got up front in my face and said that he would take me around back and beat me up. The kid in me lunged up and grabbed him around the throat and like I didn't know what I was thinking and the next thing I know eight dudes tossed me out of the club. The promoter, thankfully, vouched for me and stood up for me. During the time Raymond Roker of URB magazine was kind of standing off to the side and was like "Man you are such a troublemaker." At that point I decided to stick with that name.
iR: I guess you proceeded to attempt to choke-slam a bouncer at a club.
TM: Yeah he was a really big dude. I don't know what I was thinking. I'm like 5' 10'' 150 pounds, I'm not a huge dude.
iR: Oh god [Laughs].
TM: It was like the cartoon "Bluto" now that I look back at it I laugh and don't mind telling the story.
iR: Moving forward, I didn't know you existed as a human being until the Peter Bjorn and John remix you created so I'm playing catch up in a sense, but I have to ask why do you DJ? Why this and not another profession? Why don't we see Chef Troublemaker on Top Chef chopping up squid balls or whatever?
TM: Maybe when I get older I could try that out.
iR: Its always something to aspire to, but I'm letting you know if I see that happen I'm taking full credit for any inspiration.
TM: [Laughs] I can see you calling me like "I called It man!" If that happens and you actually called the special ingredient I will shout you out on TV I promise.
iR: This is now documented and quoted so, I'll hold you to that. So why DJ?
TM: DJing is like my second thing, production is my main thing like I started with production but I grew into DJing because you have to find a way to promote yourself. I can DJ and I love playing for people and playing interesting stuff, rocking a party while everybody is getting twisted.
[Click To Download]iR: Getting wasted is always a plus.
TM: Yep, good times.
iR: I mean you're getting paid simultaneously so that's never a bad situation.
TM: Not at all, I'm very fortunate to do what I do and I'm very happy that I do it. DJing is a like a really cool hobby that turns into a profession. Its awesome to play for a room full of people and everyone goes nuts and you see like chicks making out. Whatever happens, happens is why I do it.
iR: The spontaneity of it all is great, if you want to throw in one word to sum up an entire paragraph.
TM: Exactly, remember I did drop out, so my vocabulary is a little poor [laughs].
iR: Sarcasm was a major of mine.
TM: Yea I took Dry Humor 101 for a month. I love DJing, just because you see people freak out and I used to be one of those people who was freaking out, being on drugs and going to raves. Now its like giving back to those who were like me.
iR: So your remixes have caught a lot of attention. Define a good remix.
TM: A good remix respects the song for what it is and then takes it somewhere else. By somewhere else, I mean whether I feel that's what needs to happen or that's just where it goes. Hopefully as a remix, the greatest compliment I could ever get is someone telling me they thought the remix was better than the original. Its not that I aspire for that answer but it feels good when someone tells you that. Stuff like the Zion I remix that I just did, that original track is fucking retarded. That 808 beat that Amp did is sick and there's no way I could make an 808 track that could live up to that. Amp took that and its his so I can go make some weird electronic dark dubstep thing and make something different then what the original is. Its actually easier for me to work on a remix for the most part because for me to jump off and start an original track, you have to be in the right head space and sometimes you don't have to have a direction. Sometimes it just takes you there and you roll with it. In both cases its a matter of being ready to do it and the way I personally do it is I try to work fast and run through them, as opposed to overdoing it and dwelling on the songs. I like to be very planned out and just do everything in a couple sittings.
iR: Sounds cool.
TM: Yeah, my studio is my garage so I can just come out here and its my little cave and get to work.
iR: That's always good. So as a DJ ,who are some of your influences?
TM: DJ Jazzy Jay of the Soul Sonic Force is probably one of the top two and the other one is a close personal friend of mine, DJ Z-Trip. Those two guys are friends of mine that also help guide me. Once I knew what I was trying to do, those two helped me understand how to rock a party. Anybody can play records and be cool but can you step in front of a couple thousand people and just dismantle them and be like "Holy fuck"? Those two can do that and I respect them the most although there are a lot of other people who I've seen who I respect and are super dope. But Jay and Zack are definitely the two people for me.
iR: Well thanks for sitting down with me today.
TM: Anytime. I look forward to working with you guys in the future and check out www.djtroublemaker.com
