Do you see a lot of conflict online within the music community?
It’s like adding my mystique credibly in the background, and I try to frame it using art and music as best as I can. But I don’t understand, from the SPF 420 thing, to the way that people have or tried to represent my work… it’s been strange.
Well, you know Paul C. Bower, right?
Yeah, man! I love Paul!
Well, he asked me throw out the name, Dayton Swim Club. Mean anything to you?
[Laughs] Have you seen… Have you SEEN “There’s something fishy at the Dayton Swim Club”? I mean, if Paul and I highly suggest it, you HAVE to watch it.
I forgot the guy’s name now, but it’s some skeezy, total Dayton briar standing out on Dixie Highway in a Wal-Mart, polyester Bruce Lee button-up shirt, with slicked-back, chubby Predator hair that’s dyed blonde… And he takes you on this tour of a swingers club that used to be out there on Dixie. And it’s called the Dayton Swim Club, thus: “There’s something fishy at the Dayton Swim Club.”
The place and the inside of it is some sorta hillybilly, poor, fucking… OMG. It’s Dayton, so all indoor florescent bleached… There’s a room painted like a barn, with a pig. I have no idea what’s up.
There’s a lot of crazy places like that in Dayton. Like 1470 West…
I never went to the Hills and Dales one, but I have to the one downtown.
Keith Kawaii and I grew up around the corner from 1470 West as kids after it became abandoned. So I never went while they were in operation. But they moved downtown, then turned into Masque…
Masque. 1470 West. Hollllly shit… I played there a bunch of times, but never DJ’d there.
I didn’t want people got get some weird competitive idea of VAPOR WAVE-B. That’s not what HD Ghettos was about. And those live parties are just so NUTS.
Upstairs or downstairs?
Downstairs, but HECK YEAH upstairs. I’d hang out upstairs all the time. Shit, I got insane flashbacks to that club and dance floor. Chairs surrounding the floor. Goth kids everywhere.
Speaking of familiar situations and characters, who is your favorite The Simpsons character?
See, people get all weird on me with that shit, like — see: I LOVE The Simpsons. And it’s not like we can ALL be ALL The Simpsons characters. There can’t be THREE Bart Simpsons in one room, you know? There’s only ONE. Not saying I’m Bart Simpson, but now I just gotta watch some more episodes to figure it out.
Let’s limit it to The Simpsons: Arcade Game …
Ooo… if it’s JUST the family… Arcaaaaade… And Maggie is in the game… I can’t.
Think about it. But I suppose on the topic of art(ish), how do you see your moving images and videos and stills as a characterization of yourself in this club theater, meta narrative motif?
That’s the idea; it’s to take on other dynamics of this characterized role and bring more depth to it. There’s a mystique now where there’s a totally other thing happening through, like, Meet Ups, and people will be present amongst others in a crowd, where it’s really an audience for each person in there.
So, you are yourself as your presentation online as an artist and in reality as an artist, both being different, yet comprised in the same body, thus making some sort of mutual livable dichotomy?
Yes, exactly. Like a dual consciousness. And I didn’t totally grasp this concept until I was deep into professional wrestling later (now) in life.
Would you consider your collaborations “tag teaming?”
Yes, I like that! Did you ever see this magazine from Dayton called Ghettoblaster? Dude, and fucking Xenia and Piqua and Fairborn, I played ALL them places.
.jpg)
.jpg)
Where in FAIRBORN?
It was probably a TNGC thing. I recorded a lot in Fairborn. And that guy Dan Riser. You know Budweiser Sprite label in Ohio? He and I used to jam and collab… shoot, all them guys. Tag team has always been good.
Even people tag-teaming YOU out there on the fly, like that Free Jono comp…
Oh, that was so sick. I was completely surprised. And the best part was “Why?” Just beautiful. Like what I was saying about HD Ghettos, how there’s suddenly an “off-brand of vaporwave.” And I didn’t want there to be a vaporwave B and have all my URL friends be short-sided with their aesthetics as an afterthought.
Would you consider your aesthetic then as post-Jónó?
[Laughs] Man…
What’s your favorite period of art?
I mean, coming from someone who doesn’t have a background in studying it [in college] in styles or theories, I’d have to say the stuff I really like is modern. What I’m attracted to now is more contemporary. Literally every YouTube video and Vine made yesterday [Laughs hard]… Nahh nahh. But it’s like we’ve reached this point where it’s all instant. That’s what I was getting at with my End of Light Scenarios.
Outside of yourself, you do have any internet artist that you currently follow?
Oh yeah, absolutely. I definitely feel this year, summer 2014, there’s just SO MUCH going on within the internet and expression of self. Even in ways where people can be hyper branded in their own projects. Although, on the flip, not everyone is going to see their results of a project because it’s open for everyone to see when they please. So for me, giving support to people who are on the way up is like me as well reaching other goals of just being helpful.
Do you have any big more collaborations or solo projects in the works?
Gotta finish that album for Hoko Sounds, End of Light. I’m also putting together this 3D gallery where THERE is the only place you can listen to and stream the album. It’d be this MLG experience with my album. I’m still talking to my friend about that, and the website is a lot harder to build than we thought.
Have you ever considered asking a vocalist to produce for them or collaborate?
People who make noise and sound to create their art is who I’m interested in working with. At least, doing it the same way that I do. But never thought about talking to a vocalist about that before. Most of the people I have tried to work with who are vocalists, it hasn’t worked out. I’m not against trying, and I’ll send back the file, but going out of my way trying for someone else is not what I’m about.
I LOVE The Simpsons. And it’s not like we can ALL be ALL The Simpsons characters. There can’t be THREE Bart Simpsons in one room, you know? There’s only ONE.
So, within your music, you take samples of other tracks and re-appropriate things… Are these samples different according to release?
… Again, tough question. It’s mostly involved with that meta narrative. I want myself to be heard in different ways too. Especially End of Light and Eco Reject Mixtape, I’m just so drawn to using sound as art design that it doesn’t matter about the samples as much as how I use them. Like in wrestling, but I don’t want to be the champion person.
You bring your belt here, btw?
I mean, it’s IN the BUILDING. But, I seek out people whose goals are similar to mine in sound and production.
When did you see that sort of crowd opening up to more of your intentions with sound?
Definitely, post-internet. I want to try and be a focal person in changing presence during live performance and set an example for other producers to do the same. Like, as theatrical as the Undertaker. All the aesthetics are all individually represented by one DJ or producer.
When’s End of Light coming out?
It’s still not done yet. Been working on it since I got outta jail. I guess November until now.
Tell me about being in jail…
Lemme think of the best words for it. Just the cops and everything surrounding it. I was actually going to turn this into an article or essay for Vice. Anyhow, I was in L.A. and went on tour with Sean’s old roommate, Snow White, and his band and we were outside a store around Sacramento (weird northern Cali cow town) after this show, had NO money, I tried to steal a Cliff Bar and on the way out, and they caught me.
One, I didn’t realize it’d be a big deal or noticeable at all, so I didn’t even think about it. They totally profiled us in the store, we’re the only freaks for miles, and then caught me on the way out. So, they take us back into the store, and it’s chaos I didn’t realize had erupted. It seemed like such a big event for something so tiny. Andy was trying to fight one guy off of him as they put hand cuffs on him. These are like loss-prevention guards too. Put handcuffs on me too. It was crazy. The store called the police, we were put in jail, and got bailed out. They gave us court dates, and I was like, “I’m never coming back here. Ever. Write me a ticket for how much this is, or however?”
After, I was going to play this show in Seattle before Massacooramaan, the Fade To Mind guy, and a bounty hunter came and arrested me AT the show. I was getting ready to come down off stage AFTER sound-check, and he’s standing RIGHT THERE. I didn’t find out until later that the bail bonds guys were fucking with me. This stuff has never happened to me, so I was genuinely scared when I get to the Seattle County jail. Since I missed the court date, the bum-fuck town listed my case as robbery, and wanted to charge me with a felony for taking that energy bar. So I had to wait for the Sheriff to come get me three states away.
Thus, this would be the article for Vice: all these chain-gang coops with parks and jails and facilities. Like, they’d transport us everywhere, where there’d be no chance for occupancy ALL OVER the West Coast. I met SO MANY people on that trip that it was literally like I spent my summer vacation taking a trip with the prison system. It was FUCKED UP. They just get moved around all day long. Just moving people around ALL DAY long. On a totally other level. So I fell into this three-month crack. And definitely thought of a lot what I’d like to do when I got out. Like, write a software for that meta theater club idea. Just get that idea of all these aesthetics into ONE character and party.
Out of all that fucking shit, did you ever get that energy bar?
FUCK NO! No more fucking energy bars. No more Muscle Milk or Monster. None of that.
Where are you off to next?
Pittsburgh. Everywhere.
