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  Blend
Crafters Interview
interview 0223 added
18.08.04 words: K-Per
technical:
QED
Blend Crafters are a duo composed of DJ Nu-Mark,
one half of Jurassic 5’s production team alongside Cut Chemist, and long time
partner and mentor Pomo. This new project sees the two of them join forces to
produce an LP which will have most beat heads salivating, DJs smiling and MCs
rhyming. Simply put Blend Crafters is a compilation of beats that the duo have
been working on in the last year or so and which have found release through this
simple and effective project that brings it back to all that is good about
hip-hop, beats and head-nodding.
I had the chance to catch some words with Nu-Mark and Pomo over the phone last
week and find out a bit more about them, Blend Crafters and what they are both
up to.
Best place to start would be by letting the readers know a little bit about
who you guys are, where you from etc…?
 Numark: Well I’ve been a DJ for 21 years now, I started doing house
parties when I was younger and then graduated to doing gigs for people and then
met my group, Jurassic 5, which I’ve been with ever since really, that was 10
years ago. We’ve put out 3 albums in that time and this is just a side project
of mine really to let out instrumentals that I wouldn’t normally give to the
guys in J5.
Pomo: I’ve been working on beats since 87-88 and I used to rhyme as well.
Numark used to give me beats for me to rhyme over. I just love using drum
machines and we both kind of learnt off each other too you know? Getting
feedback and drawing off each other to where we are now.
And so you’re both from the West Coast?
N: Yeah both from round these parts (L.A.)
How did you guys meet?
N: It’s a funny story, we met back in Junior High, around 85-86. I had just
bought this UTFO record and was walking down the road with my friend Chris, when
we bumped into his cousin, who is also called Chris, and his best friend who was
Pomo. He saw the record and was like “whoa! Can I check it out?” and as he
pulled it out of the bag it fell on the ground and scratched! So I kind of had a
grudge with him and a few years later we became real close friends. That’s how
it happened.
P: yeah we’re both from the same neighbourhood so we just grew up together after
that.
So how did Blend Crafters come about?
N: Well I had showed some of the beats to J5 but they didn’t really feel them.
And then I was talking about it to Pomo and we talked about doing something with
them, as we are always inspiring each other to do beats, it was kind of like
doing some beat therapy, you know? After years and years of us making beats for
each other and other people, we thought let’s just get this out for ourselves.
We never really had the chance to do it before so we took the opportunity.
P: Yeah I’ve been locked away in a closet for ages! I’ve done some stuff with
Youseff in the past but I haven’t really met anyone apart from Nu with whom I
really want to work yet. So this was perfect to get some stuff out.
"...we are always
inspiring each other to do beats so it was kind of like doing some beat therapy,
you know?...”
And how would you describe the production process on this LP then?
N: Well it’s really simple, at the end of the day this is just a collection of
beats really, a collage of instrumentals we’ve been lying on. It’s a nice,
simple, fun project at heart. Like a zero aim thing. There is no aim to this,
like sometimes people do things with an aim you know? A message or whatever,
this is just what it is, no more, no less.
What about the importance of the MPC? From seeing you live on stage with J5 a
few times I know you favour the MPC and the LP’s really has the whole MPC sound
all over it. Is that still your main tool?
N: For me the MPC 2000 is the one. It’s definitely my tool of choice; I play
around with others like the SP and stuff but always go back to the MPC.
P: Yeah the MPC is the most efficient, the best tool really. SP 1200 is nice,
but more of a toy as it’s more limited than the MPC. Thing is my MPC has just
broke down on me recently, so it looks like I need me a new one!
And what would be your favourite track(s) on this album?
N: For me ‘Melody’ and ‘Bad Luck Blues’.
P: Yeah ‘Bad Luck Blues’.
Now there is a track on there, a cover of ‘Imagine’, which will probably
surprise a few people. It fits perfectly with the rest of the LP though; it
doesn’t feel like you just threw it in there. How did it come about?
 N: Well they were brilliant songwriters so I think that whatever you do with it
it’s going to sound good. On top of that it’s a sax rendition of it, which is
even more special, and when you hear it you can’t help being like ‘whoa!’ I just
wanted to hear what it sounded like, as I’d never heard a sax do the melody
before, and it just worked. It’s undeniable that these guys were great
songwriters anyway which makes covering them that bit easier you know? I mean
it’s not really my fashion to cover things like this, I always generally dig for
obscure samples in my work, or chop them beyond immediate recognition, but this
was really more for me to try something I’ve never done before. Go out of my way
to try something different. I mean we aren’t trying to shove it down people’s
throats, as this amazing cover or even pushing the album on the back of it, it
just happens to be on it. On top of that DangerMouse came out with his Grey
Album this year but I had done this cover about a year and a half ago. And the
album got held up so now that’s it out after him, I don’t want to push it for
people to think I’m jumping on the bandwagon. It’s better that they discover it
for themselves.
But like I said I’ve played ‘Imagine’ once in the club and it works well but for
me ‘Melody’ is the track that works best, ‘Imagine’ is no biggie, but it’s nice.
"...If I do
something it has to fulfil me like the Blend Crafters project...”
This is volume 1, does this mean we can expect more volumes to come?
N: The original plan was to have guests on this one. So now we want to try and
use the money we’ll make from vol.1 to get people on the next volumes. Maybe
even do a vocal version on the next one, kind of going backwards you know? It
would be great to get someone like Pete Rock on the next one to give one beat he
really likes and never released and then have someone cover one of ours, or
something like that. It’s really about getting the funding from vol.1 and using
that to build on it. If we had the income we would love to do it straight off.
Who would you want guesting on it?
 P: it’s too early to say, I don’t want to jinx it.
N: Yeah true, if I could I’d love to have Kenny Dope on it, he’s such an
underrated and dope producer. All the work he’s done using soul classics and
reworking them, and a lot of his projects have been similar to what we are doing
with Blend Crafters. Maybe even get Premo, Jay Dee, whoever! But no matter what
I’d work with Pomo first and foremost because he’s my homie.
Are you planning any more solo work?
N: Well I’ve also got a CD out now called ‘Hands-On’, and then I’m also looking
at working on a solo album in the future, but really I want get the fourth J5 LP
out first. Charlie2na is doing a solo project too, I’m doing this and ‘Hands-On’
and Cut also has his solo album coming out, so it’s a case of letting every
member breathe for a bit and then we’ll get the album out and I can concentrate
on finishing this solo album, which I’m working on very slowly.
And you Pomo, you got any solo stuff planned?
P: Yeah I would like to put out a record with my beats and maybe like 5 or 6 MCs
on it too. It would have to be something that stimulates me though you know? I
wouldn’t rush into anything, I never have. If I do something it has to fulfil me
like the Blend Crafters project. I’d love to get some old school cats on this,
like maybe Kane or KRS, but I’d do stuff with new cats too, so I’m keeping my
ears open. But I haven’t really heard anyone that’s caught my ears yet I’m sorry
to say!
"...I have so many
records I haven’t even been through yet, it’d be stupid for me to let these go
to ‘waste’...”
What about working with live musicians, is that something that appeals to you
guys?
 N: Well when you record samples there is a grit element, which for me generally
is missing from working with live musicians, in a broad sense. I know there are
people who are able to get that grit element in their live recording but until I
can find the right people, studio and equipment to get that out of live music, I
think I’ll stick with sampling. On top of that I have so many records I haven’t
even been through yet, it’d be stupid for me to let these go to ‘waste’. That’s
another reason why I love sampling and digging so much, because no matter what I
can always go into a record shop and see stuff I’ve never seen before and be
amazed that there is stuff I’ve never heard or seen. It’s so cool to be able to
go into a shop and see a record cover you’ve never seen and grab it. It’s a
never-ending process that I enjoy so much.
P: Yeah I like the idea of working with live musicians, if I could do it I’d
have horn sections and percussions. I’m interested in always finding new sounds
but with live musicians I guess the biggest element is that it has to be the
right environment to get the best out of it, both for them and for us as
producers.
Talking about digging, do you feel it’s something that is getting lost these
days in hip-hop production?
N: I think it’s already been lost a lot. I was playing at this event last week
called Rootdown, and as I was getting my set together I thought of doing a set
where I would go from old, classic breaks to disco, to old school Hip Hop to the
new stuff, where as I normally maybe go the other way round and start with the
new before going to the older stuff. And as I was preparing the set I realised
that I had to match the textures as well, you know? You can do it by years too,
but you realise that by doing that textures of the music also have to match. I
was listening to the production on a lot of these, and how the sound of sampling
has been lost over the years, and replaced by stuff like bassline from keyboards
and minimal usage of samples or using them to the point where they really aren’t
recognisable because they’ve been fucked with so much. I like the sound to
expand and new things to be used, I’m not against using keys and sound modules
but I’m a sampling man at heart.
Don’t you think that in a way projects like this and what you’ve been doing
with Cut and Shadow have helped to reignite interest in digging for a whole new
generation?
N: It has triggered a renewed interest in digging for sure, but in a way we
might have bitten the hand that feeds us because now so many people are digging
again that it’s getting harder to get that record you might want. It makes it
more challenging to find records. Which is good and bad in a way.
"...I like the
sound to expand and new things to be used, I’m not against using keys and sound
modules but I’m a sampling man at heart...”
Ok then before we move on what is the best place you’ve been to for digging?
N: I don’t know it’s hard, but I’d have to say Shibuya in Japan. From a DJ
perspective, there are 20 shops on each streets, each filled with tons of stuff.
It’s different to anywhere else in the world as well because it’s such a
cultural shock, a cultural difference to go to Japan then it is to go to most
places in Europe or America. You really feel like you are out of town, where as
there isn’t such a cultural shock with Europe. But Japan is the craziest place
and the music shops are dope.
P: For me it’d have to be Berlin. People were really warm there and I guess I
wasn’t really expecting it to be like this, maybe I had preconceptions, but
these were gone as soon as I got there and I had a great time. I liked it a lot.
"...My mom liked
it, and she doesn’t really like the stuff I do so I take that as a good sign!...”
Are you guys planning any London gigs following the release of the album?
N: Well I’m coming over with J5 in the summer and I’ll probably branch off and
do a few solo gigs to promote the album.
P: I might but it’s not been decided yet, I’d like to.
What would you do if you came together to do a show?
 N: I don’t know, to support it it’d really be cool to do something later on,
maybe after the 2nd or 3rd volume. Have drum machines on stage and give it more
of a live angle where we would make beats live and add to it as well.
P: Yeah we haven’t really thought about it but if we were to do it we would sit
down and think of something that would fit the sound of the album(s).
N: exactly, this is a fun project first and foremost, it’s a release for us from
the other things we do. It’s something fun for DJs to have a blast with, or MCs
to rhyme over, whatever.
P: It’s at its essence kind of like lounge hip-hop, sit down and listen to it.
It’s a fun thing. My mom liked it, and she doesn’t really like the stuff I do so
I take that as a good sign! (LOL) It’s a good barometer!
Any last words?
N: If anyone cops Blend Crafters and likes it, then grab ‘Hands-On’ too, if you
like mixing and good music from around the world, old and new.
P: Look forward to any future projects and anyone who likes what they read or
hear go grab it you won’t be disappointed.
So there you have it, I cannot recommend this album enough, especially to
those of you who are fans of the J5 sound. It’s not exactly like it but it works
a treat and should have you bopping your head in no time. The album drops on the
2nd of August on Genuine, both on vinyl and CD, and the first single is out now
on 7”. Look out for Numark touring the UK in August and hitting the main
festivals.
-
K-Per
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