[All(105)] A(6)  B(9)  C(12)  D(7)  E(6)  F(2)  G(5)  H(5)  I(2)  J(4)  K(5)  L(3)  M(2)  N(1)  O(1)  P(7)  Q  R(9)  S(9)  T(2)  U  V(2)  W(2)  X  Y  Z(2)  

STRESS For those that might not know of you, can you give us a little bit of your background and how you got started in the game? STRESS: When I graduated high school, which was a long time ago in 1990, I took an income tax refund and I told I told my mom and dad I wanted to buy turntables to DJ parties. I really wanted to start a rap group and that's how it started. We had people make beats for us and then I started doing my own stuff and I never looked back. I started a group called SubHoodz, so that's how it actually started. I got turntables and started a rap group with my best friend Hav from SubHoodz which is still what we do to this day. Can you tell us what you're group Subhoodz has going on recently? STRESS: We started as a straight Hip Hop group and we ended up switching over to a band. We have a deal with Creep Records out of Westchester that's distributing nationally through Redeye Distribution. We just released our first two records. One is called "No Regrets" on Creep records. We did a lot of remakes of music, now we have our new record coming out hopefully this summer on Creep called "Industry Standard" which is all brand new material with the band and everything. Will you be featuring any artists on the new album or is it going to be strictly SubHoodz? STRESS: Yeah we've got some stuff in the works. We're trying to work something out with Psycho Realm from the Cypress crew, Madball already has a hook on it and I'm working on getting Travis from Gym Class Heroes. Also, possibly get Reef the Lost Cauze on some stuff. So yeah, we have some features in the works. You just recently got back from Europe am I correct? STRESS: Yeah, I'll be leaving again on Tuesday. I was up there with Reef the Lost Cauze. We were on tour with O.C., Pharaohe Monch, Necro and DJ Revolution. We did a bunch of shows out there. I also just got back from Canada. I was DJ'ing for Danny Diablo with Psycho Realm and Necro. When I leave on Tuesday I'll be DJ'ing for Reef the Lost Cauze, OuterSpace and Jus Allah with Sabac Red. I'll be out there from the 12th to the 25th. Some might not be aware but you've DJ'ed for a lot of big names. How did those connections come about? Did you have an inside track or was it just you grinding it out and networking? STRESS: Yeah absolutely. Basically I always tell myself when I'm out on tour to always try to make one career altering contact, so I end up networking with a lot of people. When it comes to DJ'ing I started doing production as a DJ, just holding it down on the 1's and 2's and backup vocals and whatnot. Like I can't come close to the DJ Kwestion's and whatnot, that's my buddy and he's like the most retarded show DJ in the world, but I hold it down in a different way you know? I just got asked by Sick Jacken to possibly DJ for his shows for the DJ Muggs records he got. One thing always leads into another/ You build a good reputation or you handle yourself correctly, so people see that and it kind of snowballs in a positive way. You've definitely have had some great success as of recent. You're on the new Gym Class Heroes and Ghostface albums. How did that come about? STRESS: It's funny; I DJ'ed for this Hip Hop group/band called the Lords. They used to be called The Lords of Brooklyn. They are a bunch of Graffiti legends, hall of famers in New York. A couple years earlier at the Warped Tour I brought out my younger brother and he had gotten in to some trouble for writing a little graffiti piece on a trailer. He got a lot of fame for the piece he did on the trailer [laughs]. So he and Travis from Gym Class hit it off at the lunch line everyday. My brother runs back to the bus one day like, "I told Travis I make beats but I told him you've been doing this forever, so give me a beat CD". So I came up with a beat CD to give to Travis and we kind of linked up and traded information. One day I was chilling with Planetary from OuterSpace and I got a text asking if I wanted to do the Clothes Off remix. They didn't know who was going to be on it but would I be interested, so I did it. I hooked up a sample and replayed everything with live instruments; I got session players to replay everything. That's when they told me they were going to put Ghostface on it. I was all hyped up about it. I didn't hear anything back from them, then all of a sudden they sent me the sessions and I got to mix it and everything. Ghostface liked it so much he put it on his record as well. What's it feel like when you get a project of that magnitude? Do you feel any extra stress or do you just go into the zone you've always been in and just rock it out? STRESS: I mean I always try to stay consistent even when I change the production. I know some producers that will make three or four beats a day, or however many a week. Me, I'm real artsy with it, like if I don't feel it could be timeless I won't turn the machine on till I feel creative. It's kind of like a rhymer or a journalist, or novelist that wants to write and gets writers block. I get the same when it comes to music. I don't want any throw away stuff so I'm always consistent with that. To be honest when you get a Gym Class or even a Ghostface, you know you're going to be on your shit, so there is like a tingle man that makes you really want to shine on it. The kid that was on the Ghostface remake named Tyga, that's Gym Class' cousin- I did seven tracks for his new album and they told me Lil Wayne was going to get on a track and they sent me the sessions from Wayne's studio. Weezy got on one of my joints and that kind of shocked me as well. So it's the same difference, like I knew he'd possibly get on a track so you kind of want to come with it, you know? You also had a remix for the Gym Class that had Reef the Lost Cauze on it that never made the album. STRESS: Yeah it's kind of funny. What happened was I had left for Ireland the first time when I had to submit the final mix and paperwork for the Gym Class that was getting released. I was literally in the airport visiting family in Ireland. I had sampled O.D.B in that version where he says, "Ghostface Killah, no one can be illa". They were basically trying to get me to fix it. I was like, "well I'm about to get on the airplane." So I fixed it and then I come back home from Ireland. My family lives there and I go out to Europe with Reef. All of a sudden my first night in Switzerland Gym Class management calls me and is like, "Ghostface wants this for his new record." I'm like "Oh shit!". They wanted to do a different version with Travis on the second verse and take Tak off the other one. They just wanted to change it up. So I was like, "aright but I don't get home until a certain time". And they were like, "alright it'll be fine". Then three weeks later they called and were like we need it now. So I told them they have one of three options. I'm not missing this opportunity to get on a Ghostface record. Option A is I fly home right now handle this, it'll only be an hours worth of work and I'll fly back up to Europe, or B I'm about to put out this mixtape called "Unauthorized" and Reef did a version of the same remix. I sent the version to Travis from Gym Class and he was bugging out like but it didn't make mastering in time. The Tyga version was already mastered so they ran with that. But Tragic gave me the look, it's just time deadlines and that's the only reason it didn't make it. Travis loved it and he thinks Reef's a beast, it's pretty cool. I know you're surrounded by MC's everyday, do they push you to spit every once in a while? STRESS: Well I do in Subhoodz. I'm one of the rhymers in the Hoodz. As of lately I've been writing all the time with the Hoodz. It's like right now we are trying to finish up this record and there are two songs left. I'm in such a slump writing wise. I'm so busy doing other stuff. I'm a rhymer in the Hoodz as well as I do all the production for it. I had the pleasure of seeing you DJ live at shows various times and I do have to say when it comes down to timing and just professionalism you're really on point. You definitely help magnify the artists' performance. What tips can you give other DjJs who may not be as sharp or are seeking to reach that level? STRESS: One's and two's man. I mean I don't know. I know how to cut, I know how to scratch, I know how to blend, that's my thing. Like if I'm rocking a party my thing is not like dropping the bombs, the tricks. It's the "Oh shit!" factor- to me. Like "Oh shit! He's playing this, he's on point!" One's and two's man, make sure to blend the clash, the cuts. I know people who cut all day, but it's like after a while you hear the same back scratch over and over again and it gets kind of annoying to me. So my whole thing is your timing and as long as you're on point and keeping it simple that's what I like. I like mixtapes. A real mixtape, a blend. The record I'm putting out is a blend mixtape and it's not back scratch cutting the same word over and over. To me I like to keep everything moving, but with class if that makes any sense. One's and two's man. Kicks one, snares two and that's with production and blending. If you are DJ'ing a set with somebody just keep it moving. Like I've done sets with Chief Kamachi and C-Rayz Walz the other night. I mean you just have to be on point. If you don't know their set and you're asked to DJ for them at the last second you kind of have pay attention to him and vibe with what the MC is doing. Lets talk about Chop Shop Studios, where is that located and what standards do you have for artists that approach you to work there? STRESS: The studio is on the property of my home in Langhorne, PA in Bucks County. It's completely away from my house. It's my own little sanctuary out here. I work 24/7 out here. I had a contractor come out and do it up and sound proof it, 12x12 live vocal room, 8x12 control room. It's pretty stacked. I don't really do an hourly rate or an open off the street kind of thing, only because I keep it as a project studio. Sofor instance like the Tyga record I'm doing is mostly spec stuff and you get reimbursed on the backend of the record. Almost like what Premo would do with where he has so many projects whether it be Terminology or back in the day with Gangstarr or NYGz, he kind of just puts work at his spot. And that's how I do it. I work with Reef the Lost Cauze, Side Effect, Brainstorm, SubHoodz, Viro The virus and some others and all the other production stuff I'm doing with Gym Class, etc. So I keep it like a production studio where it's people that I deal with and I believe in and I want to be a part of what they are doing, you don't have to be worried about watching the clock. We'll worry about it on the backend; I'll deal with it later. We just come in here to get the best possible situation and not have to worry about watching the clock and just make good music and be creative. I've been in that situation and that's why I built my own studio. I was fortunate enough to do that, so me being fortunate enough to do that helps them out as well. That must also alleviate having the problem of people coming off the streets falling through on dealings they present. STRESS: You're right. And a lot of studios like mine and not even mine but like people that can record in their basement are putting bigger studios out of business, you know what I mean? I mean it's good, personally I think the computer ruined and cut out the music business at the same time whether it's record sales or recording studios. Everyone is a producer and everyone is an engineer and has no technical knowledge at all, they just press record.  I mean I know what I'm doing, I been going to recording studios since the 90's and I've just learned and learned by recording for the Hoodz or whatever, I never really got the sound I wanted. Now I can achieve that with dealing with so many people. I guess you learn from your mistakes. That's how this spot is now; it's kind of like a project studio. It's not that I don't let people in, my doors are open to everyone but it's just a matter of prioritizing the people that I deal with. It gets crazy sometimes like I have to do this, I have to that before I go on tour. It can get hectic but it's good. It's not a bad busy it's a good busy. It's another benefit I guess of owning your own spot. If you could pick any artist or group to work with right now, who would it be? STRESS: Jahiem, right now in two seconds. I mean I'm an old punk rock dude and I love Hip Hop but I'm an old R&B guy. I mean I flipped so many soul records and whatnot that to me that dude today is doing the kind of records I'm pulling from. If it could be anyone right now it would be Jahiem. And I'm a hip Hop producer. If I could work with anybody it would be that guy and probably Jill Scott after that. Is there anything you'd like to add? STRESS: Keep an eye out for the new Side Effect record called the "Bangologist" on Krush Unit. Also, the new Reef the Lost Cauze record coming out, we're not sure on what label it's going to be on but it's called "Vicious Cycle". I've got production on that. The kid Tyga that's coming out on the Cadence MGD Philly, that has production form me. Technically Omarion is going to be on there, Lil Wayne, Travis from Gym Class and the new SubHoodz record called "Industry Standard". Oh yeah, the new Madball.   Drew