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Table of Contents
00:00:00 – Introduction to Andre Delgado
00:01:50 – Early Musical Influences
00:02:23 – First Experiences with Music
00:04:57 – Transition to DJing
00:09:08 – From DJing to Production
00:13:57 – Creating Space in Music
00:20:23 – Attraction to Extreme Music
00:25:02 – Homemade Weapons Label Plans
00:27:04 – The Impact of Social Media on Art
00:30:49 – The Evolution of DJing
01:05:02 – Advice for Emerging ArtistsIntroduction to Andre Delgado
(00:00:00)
Robert Simoes
Welcome everybody to the Beyond the Decks podcast, your guide to mastering the art and business of the DJing, electronic and dance music industry. I’m your host, Robert Simoes here with learningtodj.com. And today we are blessed once again to be speaking to another industry pro artist and pioneer, really in his own kind of sound. His name is Homemade Weapons, real name Andre Delgado, and he’s been debuting since around 2012. Originally hailing from Baltimore in the United States, now based in Seattle. Accelerate, the music magazine has described his sound as volatile and fierce, stripped back to key elements that make dance floors move. Some describe his sound as obsidian drum and bass, sci-fi 170, doom and bass, or more popularly, as the Samurai sound. Given that he worked very closely with this group for some time, he has had a string of releases on well respected labels like Samurai Music, Dispatch Recordings, his own imprint entitled Weaponry, which he has since sunset in preparing to launch his own new label coming in 2025, which we are hopefully going to be able to discuss.
(00:01:11)
Robert Simoes
His first release was entitled Tantrum / Copperhead on Onset Audio in 2011, with his first major album release entitled Negative Space in 2016, which was released to a very wide popular reception. So in this episode, we are going to be talking to Andre about himself, his origin and his sound, as well as where he sees himself going in the next couple of years, in this circuit of drum and bass. So Andre, with that being said, I am super excited to be speaking to you. Welcome to the podcast.
(00:01:43)
Homemade Weapons
Wow. Thank you. That was quite the intro. Appreciate appreciate you having me through. So this is cool incredible incredible.
Early Musical Influences
(00:01:50)
Robert Simoes
So Andre, usually what I like to do when I, you know, just start any of these episodes. I think it’s always fun to just trace back the roots to where somebody started and what their kind of first interactions with music were. And so based on some of the digging that I did with either your some of your DJ mag interviews as well as other magazines, I actually discovered that you had like a bit of a musical background with some other musical projects and things like rap, death metal, post punk, and I want to go right to the start.
(00:02:19)
Robert Simoes
Where did your first connection with music come from?
First Experiences with Music
(00:02:23)
Homemade Weapons
well, I come from a pretty musical family. My dad played guitar. He was a percussionist as well. My stepdad played saxophone and was a percussionist as well. So a lot of a lot of rhythms growing up. Just a lot of music. I’d say I lived in the Bay Area of California until I was about ten years old, and then relocated to Baltimore. and it was there that I really started to hear breakbeats. Probably my early teen years. Baltimore Club was on the radio. and that was really where I started to hear breakbeats being used, and really unique ways like, you know, throwing an R&B song over a breakbeat or vice versa, however you want to look at it. and that just really kind of changed my understanding of time, you know, with rhythms and that sort of thing. So I started to kind of look at, you know, tempos and speeds differently just from that, that style of music. but growing up, I mean, as a kid of the 80s, I always, you know, there was you had all these genres of music kind of evolving and becoming, these hyper versions that we see now.
(00:03:46)
Homemade Weapons
You know, whether it was hip hop, metal, punk. You know, we watched all these things evolve. So we I think having that narrative running in the background kind of gave us this idea that music was this futuristic thing, that it was constantly evolving and becoming something greater. and I just, you know, I kind of felt from a young age that I was going to be a part of that. just because, like, rhythms and things like that came naturally to me. I think my first time on a stage, I was maybe, I don’t know, nine years old with one of my dad’s bands just playing maracas and that sort of thing. and so I just like rhythms always kind of come naturally to me. And I think, you know, having, let’s say when I was a teenager, I got really into, like industrial music. And this was really before, like, techno was widely available for everyone to hear. and so I would go to like, these industrial, music parties, like kind of, you know, Underage nightclub kind of things, and they were playing industrial dance music, and then they would start sneaking in techno and things like that.
Transition to DJing
(00:04:57)
Homemade Weapons
And, so from there it was like, hey, you know, there’s, there’s these nights you have to be 18 to go to, and they play this kind of music all night. and so that was where I kind of started getting more exposed to that style of music and learning who local DJs were. They would be house DJs and that sort of thing. But, I think it was probably around 1992, maybe I’m kind of dating myself now, but, I started to hear, you know, like these really sped up breakbeats, you know, like kind of hardcore breakbeat, early jungle stuff. that some of the DJs would play at, you know, these nights. And I was like, that’s, that’s what’s up, you know, because I really liked, like, extreme music. And I’m like, that’s that’s what’s up. Did you have a particular.
(00:05:53)
Robert Simoes
Track or something that you heard that that you still remember to this day?
(00:05:59)
Homemade Weapons
Maybe like sons of a loop de loop era, something like, you know, some old stuff like that.
(00:06:05)
Homemade Weapons
And that, that was, that was kind of like the way in, for me and, you know, just so I just get these tapes and I just listen to them over and over, and eventually I found myself, you know, playing like Jimi Hendrix records on 45 just to hear, you know, the sped up drums and that sort of thing. And, it was I, you know, by the I guess by 1995. Yeah. It was when I started DJing, I had a friend that had some, belt driven linear texts and, you know, he was high enough to let me play the same three albums, records over and over and over and over. And, oh, it was brutal. and still to this day. They joke about me playing some of these songs and just, you know, I think one of them was, Goldie’s inner city life. So they had to hear every version of that song over and over and over. And to this day, I can’t listen to that song now.
(00:07:04)
Homemade Weapons
I’m not gonna lie like, yeah, you know, great track, but I just it’s something I can’t really listen to anymore, these days. But from there, you know, that’s where it really kind of took off. There weren’t a lot of people playing jungle in Baltimore at the time. and so I would get booked for these after hours and things like that. And I wasn’t really that good, but I had the tunes, so, you know, I would get booked and, so the I guess the rest just kind of came from there. had my first, you know, attempts at production and probably 1998, and it was really bad. I had all of my friends would have like one piece of gear or had a friend that had a couple pieces of gear, so they’d all bring them over to my house and we set them all up and just try to make stuff that sounded like other things. and, a lot of it sounded pretty bad, but, you know, we were still excited to be doing it.
(00:08:00)
Homemade Weapons
You know, we were doing it. and so, you know, we went through the motions, we got like, we went and got dub plates cut. It was a status thing, you know, like, they sounded horrible. Like, I won’t listen to them now. Like I’m afraid of them.
(00:08:17)
Robert Simoes
They’re in a closet somewhere, and you’re like, oh, right over there.
(00:08:19)
Homemade Weapons
Actually, I just don’t touch them, you know? They look cool on the shelf, but, Yeah. Was it still.
(00:08:26)
Robert Simoes
Over that under that alias that you use today, or was it a different.
(00:08:30)
Homemade Weapons
no. The name I used back then was Dell phonic. phonic. Kind of like the, the, the old, band, but it was spelled phonic was phonic. Right. So. Yeah.
(00:08:44)
Robert Simoes
So when you first started getting into that DJing, though, I mean, you said that you. So it was the fact that you’ve heard a little bit of this jungle come in through the, I guess, the rave scene.
(00:08:53)
Robert Simoes
And this would have been Baltimore, right? Yeah, yeah. And, you know, you I guess you you got those built driven turntables and then was it a kind of connection or a spark or something like that? It was just like, oh, this is kind of something I really want to do. Or were you maybe more drawn to the production side?
From DJing to Production
(00:09:08)
Homemade Weapons
Yeah. Well, so I’ve been in like a series of really, like crappy bands as a teenager. And, you know, there one thing that I’ve always found with bands is that you have everyone kind of has different motivations. They all want to do it for different reasons. And at the end of the day, I just wanted to be able to play a song. So once I found out that, like, DJing was, you know, something I can do that was still musical and that I could be creative with us, like, that’s the way to go, you know, because I don’t have to deal with 3 or 4 other attitudes to try to play a song.
(00:09:46)
Homemade Weapons
I can just play an hour’s worth of songs by myself. And I think that was the appeal. I think the production side of it was just like something that I knew I would eventually head towards. I don’t think it was something that I really envisioned right off the bat. You know, I just wanted to be able to mix, right? So, yeah. Yeah, I mean, production came inevitably.
(00:10:11)
Robert Simoes
Sometimes even for a lot of deejays, like I think. You don’t really I mean, I always go back to this dichotomy between DJ versus producer, right. And I think historically that delineation was very clear. Right? It was like a DJ. You put the records on the turntable, right? The producer was like you were in the studio. But even in more recent times, like that line has become more fuzzy, and it seems like there’s a lot of cross, breeding between the two. Right? You start off as a DJ, you become a producer. You start off with producer, but it’s always interesting to see what somebody’s kind of what their affinity to one or the other is.
(00:10:46)
Robert Simoes
Right? So I would say I produce some of my own stuff, but I don’t actually I gravitate more towards the DJing side. Do you have a particular side of the fence that you feel like you gravitate more towards?
(00:10:59)
Homemade Weapons
You know, it’s weird. I kind of think. I think they’re kind of, they kind of go hand in hand. But for me, DJing is very different than production because, you know, when we’re producing, we’re making tracks, we’re making songs. But I feel like when I mix, I like to do long blends, like really long blends. And so I feel like that’s a new song in itself. You know what I mean? So I think, with production we’re making, I don’t know what’s the best analogy I can use for this.
(00:11:34)
Robert Simoes
New sounds.
(00:11:36)
Homemade Weapons
Or just like, making, you know, like, if I’m going to be layering music, I’m basically making a layer. Right? Not necessarily a song. If the song is going to be two tracks together making a new song by itself, it might seem a little flimsy or minimal or not a lot happening, but I think that’s intentional.
(00:11:55)
Homemade Weapons
At the end of the day, if we’re going to be playing them together. So I think with my production, I try to keep DJing in mind the entire time, you know? that way I can like, keep use of space in mind and things like that. So I’m not making these really busy tracks with the intention of doing a six minute blend, you know what I mean? So, yeah.
(00:12:18)
Robert Simoes
No, I think that’s a really fascinating even to just think about. Going back to that point you made right at the start of this conversation, which I thought was fascinating, the concept that music is something that is evolving, right. which I mean, I don’t know how, how or where that concept came from, but I do think it captures a kind of like macro philosophy or zeitgeist, right? That there’s like the music is going somewhere, man. and so even when you think about the aspect of like keeping these, all these extraneous factors related to, music, music production and music creation, like, I think a very concrete example is streaming, for example, like a lot of producers now, when they’re producing music, they think, oh, am I producing this to be optimally in the format of streaming? Right.
(00:13:02)
Robert Simoes
So there’s certain elements of the streaming ecosystem where you only get paid if, I think it’s like past 30s or something. Right. And then there’s there’s no value added if you stream, you know, ten minutes versus three minutes. So a lot of producers tend to start editing and chopping their, their tracks down. Right. and I think I was reading about this in one of those, like, mixing books, one by Bobby Owsinski, one of the mixing engineers, and he was talking about how this is all changed the way that arrangement is done. So it’s interesting that then you mentioned the DJing side. And you’re right, because I think if you come from a DJing background and then you start trying to do your like production, you’re like, oh yeah, like, but I’m going to need 16 or 32 bar like before in order to, to beat mix in. Right. but you also mentioned this aspect of space, which I think is something that’s very unique about your your sound. Right.
Creating Space in Music
(00:13:57)
Robert Simoes
There’s lots of these kind of like moments of like how do you describe it? Like emptiness that sort of the mind fills with a sense of, I don’t even know, curiosity, like intrigue, like how, where did that come from for you? And how do you think about it in your productions?
(00:14:15)
Homemade Weapons
I guess it would. I guess some of it would come from, like, Like, I guess visual sensation, like, you know, if you’re watching a movie, you know, things like that where you? You’re creating suspense, essentially, but instead of doing it visually, it’s more auditory. I don’t know if that that’s a good.
(00:14:39)
Robert Simoes
That’s a really great analogy, actually.
(00:14:41)
Homemade Weapons
Yeah. and I think, I think a lot of times too, like tonally when we have sounds clashing together, it’s creating distortion and just kind of extra noise. And I think that that in itself becomes part of, the song just as much as feedback, guitar feedback or guitar distortion, like creates these other tones within a song that make that unique, right? Like, you listen to Sonic Youth or I mean countless bands that use dissonance and that becomes such an essential part of their what they’re doing.
(00:15:26)
Homemade Weapons
so I think that’s kind of like something that I try to do. But, you know, again, we’re making formulaic music, so it’s very limited to how far we can go before we’re listening to Just noise. Right? So, you know, we’re I guess, you know, with, with this particular style of music, we’re trying to figure out how to make dance music weird but still, like, palatable. Right. So I think that’s that’s the intention, you know, for me.
(00:15:54)
Robert Simoes
Yeah. Something on like the cusp and I think, I think even just thinking about my own explorations in music, you know, going back to like, you consume kind of the same record over and over again and really as a DJ, that’s what you’re doing. I mean, you’re listening to crash. You listen. Let’s listen. It’s sort of I think I always think of it as kind of like a, like a neuroanatomy perspective where you’re sort of just like grooving that, that neural pathway, like way too many times.
(00:16:17)
Robert Simoes
Right. And then there’s you lose that novelty. And so it’s interesting because then I feel like the longer you DJ, the more you have to like just keep exploring and going and finding out their stuff. And like I would describe when I first came across your your, your music, I think I was listening to, a gentleman from Thailand. He’s a curator. His name is f1rstp3rs0n on YouTube. Great, great, person to check out for anybody listening to this. And he did it like I think it was like a leftfield techno, series. And he included a couple of tracks like leftfield techno and leftfield, drum bass and stuff. And I was like, listen to this. Like, whoa, this is. And I like it because it kind of gave me a little bit of anxiety while I was working.
(00:16:55)
Homemade Weapons
Right?
(00:16:56)
Robert Simoes
Yeah, I was like, I have to finish this. So, but going back to that, that point when you’re about the space, when you’re making your tracks, like, is that is that kind of like a, like a terra forma, like a gravitational element that you’re constantly coming back to when you’re producing? Like, are you like, okay, how do I create a suspense moment here visually but with the audio, or is there, is there a kind of, I guess, a pillar content that you use to approach all your music with?
(00:17:24)
Homemade Weapons
I think one thing that I find that I do, and I just noticed this more so recently, is that I will make something really busy, with different, you know, combinations of percussive elements that I like.
(00:17:41)
Homemade Weapons
And then I’ll just once I feel like there’s more than enough being said, I’ll go back and remove a lot of it and only keep the stuff that’s already pronounced. You know what I mean? So it’s like I’m making a big mess and then cleaning it up and just the stuff that needs to stay will stay. I guess that’s the best way to describe it. Yeah. and then in doing that, it creates space, you know, especially for if you’re playing two things together, that’s a, that’s another really important thing that I do is as I’m working on stuff, I will, you know, keep exporting it and then trying it out with other music to see, you know, maybe what frequencies are lacking or, you know, should I put something in this frequency range so that it fills out when it’s playing by itself, if it plays by itself? Because I have some things that I, that I’ve made that never play by themselves, it’s always with something else unless it’s a breakdown. You know what I mean? Yeah.
(00:18:43)
Homemade Weapons
yeah. So that’s probably my best approach.
(00:18:47)
Robert Simoes
But even on the what you mentioned to around the formulaic nature of, of, you know, dance music, is there any experimentation you do outside of, of the formulas of maybe potentially stuff you don’t release, like, is that a area that you go to, you explore?
(00:19:04)
Homemade Weapons
Yeah. let’s see. I had a project that I did a couple of years ago. I went back to school and I was like, working with a bunch of different synths and that sort of thing. So I did this project using a vintage Buchla and a couple pieces of, Euro rock here and made this stuff. I call it squall. Squall. but it’s basically music that’s off the grid. it’s very intense. it’s not clocked or anything. It’s, It’s completely wild. I’ll send it to you so you can check it out. I don’t really know how to describe it, but it’s just kind of like noisy, bass heavy synth music, I guess. I don’t, I don’t know, but yeah, I think doing stuff like that gives me balance for returning to, you know, the confines of the formulaic stuff that we’re doing.
(00:20:06)
Robert Simoes
and even as a personality, you’ve mentioned that you, you, you gravitate towards the extreme sides of music. Like, you know, you mentioned like you had been in these bands, these, post-rock, death metal. What do you think about those extremes draws you as an artist so much?
Attraction to Extreme Music
(00:20:23)
Homemade Weapons
That’s a good question. I guess the idea of, you know, pushing limitations, seeing how far things can go before they’re not. Not what they were, I guess, you know. because that we see that a lot in different styles of music where, I mean, I guess a good, good example would be a band like the Deftones, right? They started out a certain way, but now you listen to them and you wonder, is that the Smashing Pumpkins? Like, it’s kind of like a, a hole, you know, where it’s not really what it was and, but it’s still a good thing, but it’s just not what it was. So I think that’s what I like about extreme music, because again, referring to the Deftones, they went from something pretty heavy to something pretty soft, and that’s a pretty dramatic, style.
(00:21:17)
Homemade Weapons
or I don’t want to say style change. I’ll just say growth. I would say it’s dramatic growth, but it it definitely appeases both sides of, you know, the auditory spectrum in that way, from going soft to very heavy. and I think that’s what I like about extreme music is that something can be really, really soft and sad. That’s still extreme to me. Like, you know, if you were listening to like, let’s say, like, cigarettes and sex, I think they’re called or like, even something like Radiohead or something like that that’s intentionally somber. You know, that’s extreme because it’s just because it’s not, you know, to the point of putting your hands over your ears. I think it’s it still can be extreme in that sense, you know.
(00:22:09)
Robert Simoes
Yeah. I mean, there can also be an extreme ness in the, I mean, I mostly relate, I guess, to classical music in a lot of ways, right? And just the ability to articulate a a point or an emotion.
(00:22:24)
Robert Simoes
But to be able to say it with enough gentleness that it’s not that it doesn’t fall into that extreme, like it’s almost like it’s like looking at nature, like the dewdrop off of a tree on nature or something like. Right. It’s not the worst or anything like that. It’s just falling at its own pace or that’s sort of what I draw from, from that analogy that you, that you mentioned.
(00:22:46)
Homemade Weapons
Okay. Right.
(00:22:48)
Robert Simoes
So with that in mind, you know, the extremist. Right. There is also this other aspect of music, which is the commercial side of music. And you having started, I think, two labels at this point, there was Weaponry, which was 2017, if I’m not mistaken.
(00:23:06)
Homemade Weapons
yeah. Yeah.
(00:23:07)
Robert Simoes
And then you sunset that, a couple of years ago and then you started Armory Recordings. a few years after that. Is that right?
(00:23:16)
Homemade Weapons
Armory is actually Red Army’s. that’s his his, label. But I’ve worked with him a lot over the years. and so I can see where, you know, that that would kind of seem like it.
(00:23:33)
Homemade Weapons
Like it could be. but, yeah, it’s Red Army’s thing. he’s been crushing it with that for a couple of years now. but. Yeah. So my my thing was, with Weaponry was, you know, the pandemic kind of came and, that kind of like, I don’t know, I think for me, it was like, okay, this is probably the end of a lot of things. We’re going to see things change, which we did. We saw some pretty dramatic changes with the rise of streaming and all of that kind of stuff. And so for me, I didn’t really see well, I don’t want to say I didn’t see, but I think it, you know, created a lot of time for introspection, you know, like, why are we doing what we’re doing? you know, what’s what’s the point, right? What?
(00:24:24)
Robert Simoes
Existential.
(00:24:26)
Homemade Weapons
Right. Yeah. Like what? Why are we releasing music in this way? And, but I think, you know, in that same time, I had realized that Weaponry, the label in itself was kind of so closely tied to other things that I was doing, like the Samurai and things like that, that I, I knew that at some point it wasn’t going to be able to reflect the growth that I foresaw after my second album, gravity, in 2019.
Homemade Weapons Label Plans
(00:25:02)
Homemade Weapons
you know, I was kind of like, okay, I can’t just keep going through the same hoops and making the same album, making the same songs over and over just to keep something else afloat. you know, much less to have this other label, you know, that I’m doing on my own, where I’m basically doing the same thing. So it just kind of seemed like the right thing to do that, you know, Weaponry, reflected a certain certain point in time, a certain sound that I’m not really sure is something that reflects where I’m at now. And so the plan now is, homemade weapons is the name is actually going to become a label. And I’m set to start releasing stuff in 2025. with that label, you know, homemade weapons. And I have, a whole crew of people that will be releasing with it as well. some of which came from the disarm compilation series, that was released this year. so a lot of those names will be popping up again. but yeah, the cool thing about homemade weapons will be that it’ll kind of be all over the place.
(00:26:26)
Homemade Weapons
I don’t want to say all over the place like it’s loose, but in the sense that, you know, that extreme handle, like it may be something soft and then the next release might not be as soft, you know? So, it’s just more staying in control of my own narrative. you know, it’s something that I think is important, especially when it comes to art, you know? Yeah. And the way that art is kind of seen nowadays, it’s it’s important to stay in control of that narrative.
(00:26:56)
Robert Simoes
So can you go talk a little bit more about that with regard to how art is seen?
The Impact of Social Media on Art
(00:27:04)
Homemade Weapons
well, you know, I hate to always go back to social media, but I think that, you know, it kind of goes hand in hand with what we were talking about a little earlier, with the way things are always so hyper edited and perfect and curated. so it’s, you know, I kind of feel like, especially with the rise of, artificial intelligence, it’s kind of like we’re taking the humanity out of art.
(00:27:34)
Homemade Weapons
the stuff that we’re only seeing on social media is always like a finished, perfect product. we’re not really seeing the processes as much, you know, so I kind of feel like there’s, that’s it in a nutshell. Art isn’t as human as it once was. I think you mentioned something about this in another one of your podcasts about mixes, DJ mixes, not having they’re not as human anymore.
(00:28:05)
Robert Simoes
it’s the it’s the quantization and the perfect perfection of the phrasing. Right? Actually, it was a gentleman I listened to, and he he was on YouTube. He’s been doing DJ content on YouTube for a little while. I think Alice Skins is his name. and he made that point. And it was interesting because I did think about that. And then I went back and I was like, why is it that I only listen or I predominantly listen to a lot of 90 essential mixes or 2000 essential mixes? I was like, oh, they did it on vinyl. yeah. They didn’t have the perfect I mean, you knew your tracks, right? But the sometimes it wasn’t perfect.
(00:28:39)
Robert Simoes
You just had to chuck it in. Right?
(00:28:42)
Homemade Weapons
Yeah, totally. Totally. I don’t miss that at all either. I haven’t I haven’t played vinyl in years. you know, I’m. I’m guilty of using Rekordbox if that’s a crime. but I do think that it gives me more time to focus on selection and actual mixing as opposed to spending a minute beat matching and, you know, doing all of that.
(00:29:08)
Robert Simoes
for me, it’s more I have to rewind it like nine times. Right, right. Oh, okay. Okay.
(00:29:14)
Homemade Weapons
Right. Yeah. So I’m not I don’t I don’t miss it.
(00:29:18)
Robert Simoes
You know. Yeah. Yeah. I think it’s partially just different mediums, right. Like it’s and they reveal going back to that, that evolution. Right of, of even the co-development between technology and humanity. there’s this point, I talked about in one of the courses, I think it’s from like I remember the title of the book, but it’s like it’s about techno. It’s a quote about that.
(00:29:41)
Robert Simoes
It’s used often in techno, but it’s like to techno to rectify, the world is to rectify oneself is to realize, like the, the unification of man and machine and the co-evolution or something like that. I was like, whoa. Yeah.
(00:29:55)
Homemade Weapons
That’s heavy, that’s deep. Right?
(00:29:56)
Robert Simoes
But it also creates a, you know, some, some interesting questions about what is the like. I’m not saying necessarily what’s the purpose of art, but I guess there is a human element to art, right? There is a, there is something about the human experience that we try to make manifest in artistic, perhaps not logical pieces. If you look at, like, I guess, modern art and abstract art and things like that. And, I wrote an essay a while ago about, basically like the development of, of intelligence. It’s called like the return on intelligence, sort of like outlines. This quote I read from a gentleman saying, like, the economy has been set up in a way that has kind of like the potential to make humans irrelevant, just based on the allocation of capital towards, you know, higher automation and these kinds of things.
The Evolution of DJing
(00:30:49)
Robert Simoes
And, I think one of the challenges we have with looking at like a transhumanism event or something like that is that we don’t know what it means from a human condition perspective, right? It’s just unknown. And it’s for that reason, it’s it’s scary. But I think on the other side of the equation, I guess if you look at the development of, of music, electronic music, for example, like it has been birthed by essentially technology, right? Like the fact that we don’t have bands anymore and that we’re using drum samples and, and hi hats and snares. So maybe it’s a point in time kind of thing to, to just see like, okay, here’s where things are going or here’s where things were when I started and here’s where things are going. And it’s like a differential between the two. Do you have any particular like physical instruments or anything that you still play?
(00:31:36)
Homemade Weapons
I do, I play bass still sometimes. I have like some, you know, every now and then I’ll record some things and just make weird little rock songs or whatever.
(00:31:49)
Homemade Weapons
just for fun. I still find inspiration in playing instruments. because I, I think that that’s something that we don’t really hear naturally in electronic music. And even when we do hear instrumentation, it’s always so polished, right? It doesn’t really sound like somebody just jamming on a guitar. It sounds like maybe a computer played the guitar even, you know. Yeah. so I, I guess it’s a matter of, you know. On a much bigger scale. What is art at this point? Right. What is it? What is it anymore? You know, that’s that we could probably spend hours talking about that, honestly.
(00:32:39)
Robert Simoes
So I had a friend of mine. She’s, just, like, absolutely brilliant. She, I think, was studying theory and criticism, a PhD in theory and criticism. And we got into a discussion, actually, about what? This, question of art. And she she mentioned that the concept of art as a self-expression is actually quite a new idea, right? Historically, when you look at, you know, the the times, ancient times, like you had the muse, right? You would call upon the muse in order to inspire you.
(00:33:10)
Robert Simoes
So it wasn’t that you were expressing your own sense of individuality manifest in the world. It was a channeling of the divine through the human. and I was like, whoa, you know, that’s a that’s a really that’s an interesting it’s like, it’s almost like you saw the world as read for so long, and then all of a sudden you realize it was blue at one point. and it’s, I think under those different presumptions, perhaps there’s different ways that music and art gets created. Right? If you think it’s a, it’s a manifest divine or concretized divine that probably produces a different, product, if you could call it that in the end, versus when you view it as Self-expression. Right.
(00:33:56)
Homemade Weapons
Yeah, I guess. I guess, you know, when you think about it. Would you? I mean, would you say the self-expression thing is more of a 20th century kind of thing? Or would you say, you know what I mean? Would you say it’s something that’s become more common in the past 100 years, or do you think it’s like, more recent that this is like a.
(00:34:22)
Robert Simoes
It’s been it’s I think it’s been amplified, I suppose in more recent times. And I there’s probably a few reasons for that, even as it relates to, to DJing, for example. And we talked about this at one point, like the idea of, sort of egalitarian versus elevation, right? It’s even manifest at the level of the design of a club. Now, that there’s one performer who is expressing themselves upon the stage, And we are. But, you know, part of the audience versus my understanding of, of, you know, if you were at like a 90s basement or something like that, you know, it was just it was probably just like a pop up table right on the floor. Yeah. And there was a an egalitarian ness to it.
(00:35:09)
Homemade Weapons
That’s that’s kind of what I think is really missing. I think we’re really missing that now. I’m not really a big fan of the idea of a DJ being on this high pedestal above everyone. I think that that kind of supports the kind of like this, this whole I think one of the problems with, with where we are now is this individualized sense of, you know, just like the way DJs are now artists in general, just the way they promote themselves.
(00:35:51)
Homemade Weapons
It’s less about the movement or the community and just more about the artist. and I feel like in a way I kind of blame American EDM for that, because that, you know, the, the, that’s where that all kind of came from. You know, because like, you’re, you’re even referring to, you know, TJ’s being closer to the floor and that sort of thing. And versus now, you know, you have these giant stage platforms with all these lasers and visuals and all this stuff, and it’s it’s more like a rave concert. At that point, it’s not really like a community gathering where people are embracing underground sounds. Do you know what I mean? Yeah.
(00:36:40)
Robert Simoes
Well, I think it’s even at the level of some of the festivals and events that I’ve gone to. I mean, there’s different, obviously different, sounds. And then there’s different productions for each type of event. Right. So something like an electric Daisy Carnival is like you mentioned. I mean, it’s I’ve never been, but I’ve, I’ve seen photos and it’s like, it’s really just wow, you know, a lot of stuff.
(00:37:02)
Robert Simoes
and I think there is a, there is something to the concept of scale. I think it was a gentleman named Nassim Taleb. He wrote in a book called The Black Swan. Maybe. but he talks about this concept of scale and ensembles. And so a group of ten people, for example, is not the same thing as a group of 100 people just multiplied by ten, right? There’s actually different properties to those, those groups. Right. And even if you think about it from like, hey, you’re playing back when you first got to doing your DJing with a couple of your friends, right? You’re just playing Goldie’s inner City records, like over and over, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Versus if you had like 100 people in a bar, you would have those, those different personalities or even like a band, right? Two people just playing instruments versus the four or so personalities that you were dealing with when you were, in your, in your bands as a teenager. So I think scale changes things, and particularly with relation to the festivals and, and that kind of thing.
(00:38:04)
Robert Simoes
And I do think also the sound can attract a particular type of community. Right. And then what you do see is people are really released to be free, honestly. Like when they’re in that kind of container where they’re able to just like, express who they are. and so I think it’s, it’s challenging, because on one side, you have the commercial viability perspective. And I do think now with so much availability and connectivity, there’s almost like that stimulus that you need to reach higher and higher levels of euphoria. and maybe that’s because we don’t realize that we just like, want to belong. Right? So yeah, that individualist kind of perspective. What do you think about that?
(00:38:45)
Homemade Weapons
Well, you know, for me, having played larger events and smaller events, I find that at some of the larger events, especially when they’re really over the top big I don’t know if people are really listening to the music. I think that it becomes more of a passive listening experience because there’s too much going on.
(00:39:08)
Homemade Weapons
Right? and so you, you know, there’s this goal to be playing those events, but then there’s also this goal to be playing the club events. But the problem with the club events is that post-pandemic, we’re looking at clubs that just want to be able to open their doors tomorrow. So they’re going to take the music that isn’t necessarily made for smaller groups and just so that they can fill their bars and get people drinking and, you know, so it’s more party type music. So we have this kind of void now where I would say, like, you know, different styles of music aren’t available to people. and so you’re, you’re basically stuck with, you know, venues making money, whatever that music is, which is typically party music, mainstream, more mainstream sounding music. Or you have these big festivals where no one’s really listening, and it’s also pretty much the same type of party music. Does that make sense? So we’re, we’re we have this whole void of all of these different styles of music expression that’s being missed out on because of making money.
(00:40:30)
Homemade Weapons
Really. That’s what it boils down to.
(00:40:33)
Robert Simoes
I guess the other side of it, though, is that there has always been music, that there’s always been mainstream appeal music, right? But with certain developments in technology, like we do have alternative venues, right? Maybe not physically speaking, but virtually speaking, that allow that, that sense of expression or music or sound to come out like I think of, I’ve just been listening to a lot of liquid German bass recently, so, and just like Calibre and I, you know, I looked at, his set at like liquidity in 2016. There was like a decent amount of people. But I feel as though a lot of people could probably listen to liquid German based. They’re not necessarily like, it’s going to be kind of like you’re just chilling at home or like working or something like that. And I guess you have those alternative venues that that give you that sense of expression.
(00:41:20)
Homemade Weapons
Yeah. but I don’t know if it really satisfies the it’s, you know, if you’re listening virtually, you’re not really having a communal experience, like there’s chats and there’s all these things, but at the end of the day, Physically assembling.
(00:41:37)
Homemade Weapons
We saw what not having that did to us as people, right? It created more division amongst people, made us more afraid of each other. you know, and now it’s, you know, the when it comes down to physical assembly, it’s based on these things that are essentially money based. Right? It’s it’s it’s it’s made around. It’s not just assembling, you know, and listening to music. There has to be some kind of, consumption or, you know, spending or something happening as opposed to it just being, you know, people gathering and playing music.
(00:42:23)
Robert Simoes
Yeah. And I think, I mean, it’s fascinating to see living in like a major city here in Toronto, like how different types of micro cultures and micro genres try to organize and create those types of stimulus or events like I’ve been to. A bunch of, you know, events fall from, like, you know, seven people in a basement to. You know, to those are some.
(00:42:45)
Homemade Weapons
Of the best, though.
(00:42:46)
Homemade Weapons
Some those are some of the best, you know, playing for smaller, intimate crowds. You know, you have people that are fully engaged or they’re, they’re they have an agenda, right? Like if you get if you play a venue and there’s 20 people there and you don’t know them, they’re there, you know, for various reasons, but usually it’s because they want to hear you play versus, again, going, playing some big event where people don’t even know if you played because they were running around with their friends or, you know, things like that. And that’s where, you know, it’s kind of it’s kind of a almost a catch 22 in that sense. Like it’s cool to be playing these big events and to, you know, to say, yeah, I played it and I was there. And but at the end of the day, it’s not the same experience that you had with the 20 people that were shouting and, you know, enjoying themselves and screaming at you and stuff like that.
(00:43:41)
Homemade Weapons
That’s that’s what I like, you know, that’s fine. That means, like, you’re doing something right versus, you know, okay, I’m playing this event, so that means I’m doing something right. Yeah, two different things. You know, one’s like an entitlement. One is actually an experience, you know.
(00:43:59)
Robert Simoes
So how do you how do you feel, I guess, about the drum and bass culture as it relates to that then, because I think German bass is a bit more of an underdog. I mean, it’s not fair to say it’s an underdog genre, right? But it maybe doesn’t. I mean, the pace, for example, doesn’t necessarily cater to everybody’s tastes. I mean, there’s I have a collection of tons of amazing, like just chill, soulful or even look at some bass like samba and bass like those tracks are played in the park. It’s just incredible. But it’s the pace of drum and bass that makes it kind of pushes a lot of people away. How do you feel about the culture as it relates to that? I guess big festival versus small probably caters a little bit more to the intimate side.
(00:44:37)
Homemade Weapons
Yeah. As far as what I do, I, I prefer that, but you know, again, you have like the, the, the party stuff, the, the jump up and the, you know, there’s music that’s made with that specific intention, right? Versus like, oh, I’m going to do something really complex that’s going to make them stop and stroke their beards or fold their arms like, yeah, I mean, that’s still a response, right? It’s, it’s still a way of engaging with people on an emotional level because you’re making them think as opposed to just wildly move around. And I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, but I think it’s good to be able to touch people in different ways than rather than having an expectation. And you just, you know, giving them what they want. Yeah.
(00:45:29)
Robert Simoes
that’s the authenticity side, right, of remaining as, like, a as a DJ and an artist. Right. That’s where you, you draw that fine line. You know, we talk about it so much on this podcast about the, maintaining that authenticity.
(00:45:43)
Robert Simoes
Like, you know, you have things that you want to play like, I, I very selfishly look at DJing as like, I think there’s a sort of duty that you have in order to be exploring and like presenting things to, to folks that maybe not necessarily they haven’t heard yet. part of that is the explorer side of DJing, right? Being on that perimeter and that, that edge of like what is currently happening. Right. But then you also have that side where it’s like, hey, you’re playing a party, right? And, and people are showing up because they want to, like, I love to dance, right? So I’m like, I want to be in there and I want to dance. But it is interesting, I think, for example, of like alternative formats of dance, one of which I, is like ecstatic dance, and this is a new style of kind of party or event that has been growing a little bit more, at least, to my knowledge, where, it’s it’s usually like alcohol free, but you, you have like a cacao ceremony or something like that before.
(00:46:36)
Robert Simoes
So people will drink basically just like hot chocolate, essentially. Right, right. And and then you sort of you, you dance and it’s a free form dance. I think of it kind of like a dancing meditation. And, it’s a it’s a wildly human and beautiful experience because people are not really paying attention to what other people are doing, and you’re just sort of moving with the music and doing it want. And I think in those sets that I’ve experienced with Ecstatic Dance, you do get a little bit more of a variety of different experimental things, right? Like violins or ambient music. And. Right. It’s less about the predictability of the next drop, but more about the kind of flow and, and, freedom. So maybe experimenting with these alternative formats of, of dance is will kind of, I don’t know, maybe catalyze some of these these more intimate experiences where people are really experiencing.
(00:47:28)
Homemade Weapons
I could see something like that. I could totally see something like that. you know, especially if you if you’re working in like, different time signatures and just making stuff that’s really not accessible, you know, to your common for, for experience.
(00:47:44)
Homemade Weapons
so yeah, it’d be really great if those if that became more of a thing, I would like to see that out.
(00:47:51)
Robert Simoes
Yeah, yeah. Even thinking about time signatures as, like different, different universes. Right. of of, I guess, dance or even music because we are so. And I love it. Like, I mean, I’m a house guy, so I love my, my four kick drums and my claps, but even just getting outside of that and just being like, oh, this is different. Or you know, how do I move my body to this, right? Or how do I, how do I j to this is another question. Right? Right. And that that creates additional challenge.
(00:48:22)
Homemade Weapons
I guess, you know, expressive dance forms. Could be. You know, maybe that is something new that hasn’t really been touched on. Whereas, you know, we have the typical format of the club with the DJ. Everyone just goes and dances to one style of music and leaves versus, you know, but, you know, I do see a fair amount of, oh, I would say non-conventional dancing.
(00:48:53)
Homemade Weapons
yeah, I do see a fair amount of that in the clubs. you know, when I played and so, I don’t know, maybe that’s kind of already happening. And, you know.
(00:49:02)
Robert Simoes
I think also the cultural aspect of DJing and what I see is a lot of DJs are getting very creative with like where DJing can happen. Right? It doesn’t necessarily need to happen at the club. Like obviously we have a lot of these destination type of like sets and things that you see on YouTube, which can be valuable and useful. But, even there was the gentleman. I can’t remember what his name is, but he did. Drum & Bass On A Bike.
(00:49:25)
Homemade Weapons
oh. Okay. Is that the. And he has the the controller on his. Yes. Yes. And he’s like a Beatport guy, right? I think he’s a bank work guy. I perhaps I don’t know port I think. Yeah, I know who you’re talking about. That guy’s funny British guy, right. Yeah yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, I’ve seen that guy.
(00:49:44)
Homemade Weapons
He’s funny.
(00:49:45)
Robert Simoes
Yeah, but the the thing that I loved about the concept that he had was, there was a beautiful comment that I read, which is like, wow, look at this. Like, everybody’s getting outside, everybody’s getting exercise, everybody’s on a bike, right? Biking around town, just like enjoying and just having fun. And so I think seeing more of those types of, experimentations is quite interesting. But then obviously you have to have the balance too, because maybe the people want to drive on the road.
(00:50:12)
Homemade Weapons
Yeah. There’s that. Yeah, yeah. I think a big part of what makes that special as well as the is the social media component. You know, like we’re allowed to be there through this person’s lens and to experience it in that way. But it almost seems like, is that like a thing that people like, hey, we’re going to be doing this big, you know, ride around with the DJ. Is that like a thing? People do that regularly or is it I.
(00:50:41)
Robert Simoes
I don’t know if it’s done as popularly outside of that, that that gentleman’s YouTube channel. But I have seen like a few people, you know, around Toronto, for example, some guy retrofitted his bike and he goes around with it.
(00:50:50)
Homemade Weapons
Oh, wow.
(00:50:51)
Robert Simoes
Yeah. I was like.
(00:50:52)
Homemade Weapons
That’s really cool. Okay. That’s cool. That’s a thing. Wow. Yeah.
(00:50:57)
Robert Simoes
But even even in my own experience, like, I have kind of like my own little mobile, like I just have a rolling speaker and like, I bring, like, a DJ 400 and I’ve done, like, yoga, and DJing sets together and just.
(00:51:09)
Homemade Weapons
Oh, wow.
(00:51:10)
Robert Simoes
Yeah. Combining those two things, I mean, it is a little bit about being able to fit. And I guess this goes back to the DJing aspect is like, which I think is a really I think it’s going to be a growing and important skill is like being able to fit the vibe to, you know, the venue and what you’re doing, right.
(00:51:26)
Robert Simoes
Based on a bike, I don’t know why it works, but it does. but you know, if you’re playing like a yoga, at, like a yoga event, like, you probably don’t necessarily want to be doing, like, you know, whatever. 130 kind of like party. It’s a different, you know, you’re more organic, down tempo, a lot more ethnic sort of influences. So for sure, I think those that sort of matching the venue with the vibe, has been something that I’ve been thinking about because, on a previous podcast, I was talking to, Razaq, one of the DJs, and we were saying that, like a lot of DJs seem to be becoming very, like, linear in terms of their what they can play. It’s like you’re a tech house DJ, you only play tech house. And maybe they, you know, play things outside of that. But it does create this, this rigidity, I suppose. which maybe goes back to that whole, pattern that you mentioned where it’s like, oh, you want to be playing at the big club or big festivals.
(00:52:26)
Homemade Weapons
Yeah, I kind of again, I kind of feel like that need to stay within those boundaries, you know, kind of says we don’t want you to stray the path. It kind of says we want to make sure that we get back whatever we invest in. Having your name on a flyer, I don’t know. I still think that, you know, everything is sadly, it’s so money driven. You know, it’s not really expression driven like we would like it to be. and I think that’s why we’re seeing that, as you say, what I’m concerned about is, you know, like you’re saying with the vibe and that sort of thing, if, if we’re becoming really good at writing prompts Like, how long is it before we’re like, hey, I’m just going to tell ChatGPT to play music, that it’s this aesthetic and this vibe, rather than have a human that’s going to throw on some something that I don’t like randomly, you know, or I’m just going to have my own curated playlist that I exist.
(00:53:31)
Homemade Weapons
For me, I don’t know, that’s that’s the only kind of thing that, you know, I mean, we’re seeing just more of more, robotic replacement happening, and, you know, manual labor and even with artistic practices now. And so I’m, I’m concerned like where, where that will put us, you and I, for example, as far as what we’re capable of versus, you know, what technology has in store for the next few years. Yeah.
(00:54:02)
Robert Simoes
I think it’s a lot of times technology has this Promethean fire, quality to it. Right where it’s there is that, you know, like Event Horizon, you’re not really sure what what will happen. at least with my own forays into, like, Spotify DJing. Like, I just found it was awful. I just wish it would have ended, with the. And maybe that was part of the voice that they used. I don’t know, but, I guess the, the, the romantic, artistic part of me wants to believe that there, there is that human side that will kind of always, want to be there.
(00:54:36)
Robert Simoes
Like, I feel like perhaps we’ll get to a point where things become so curated that we do want, like, I mean, I think of this, this gentleman here, I can’t recall what his name was. I wrote it down, but it was, John Cage. He he was an abstract music musicologist, I don’t know. Yeah, yeah. And he wrote a piece called 4’33, which is, it’s an abstract piece of music that is nothing like there’s no like it instructs all of the performers to play nothing for four minutes and 33 seconds, and at least my understanding of what a cage was trying to say with it was like even parts of like even the non noise parts of music can also be enjoyed. So I was like watching this YouTube video of persons coughing and stuff like that and you’re like, oh, this is part of the, the music. And so that’s.
(00:55:27)
Homemade Weapons
Awesome I love it. Yeah.
(00:55:30)
Robert Simoes
But it’s sort of playing with that. And it’s, it’s sometimes we want to be surprised by, by what, what we can experience.
(00:55:38)
Robert Simoes
And so I think that’s, that’s why at least currently as human beings were able to kind of pull in some of those surprises. So who knows. Maybe given that a lot of these AI models, whether they’re doing things with creation of music or curating a music, they do things to classically, which is sort of how like logically we do things. but I’m not sure. I think eventually it goes back to what you, you said about there is that need to physically assemble and how you do want to show up for your friends who are playing and DJing at a particular event, and you want to support them because that’s our way that we understand, you know, the human condition in our experience, right?
(00:56:18)
Homemade Weapons
Yeah, I think so. I think that I think the physical assembly part is kind of key. you know, like I, I think streaming is great. but I think that it continues to kind of. Glorify this idea that DJs need attention, which is really, you know, kind of questions, the whole ethos of the DJ.
(00:56:46)
Homemade Weapons
Is it about the music or is it about the individual? Right. And I guess, you know, in certain styles of music that applies like if you’re a hip hop DJ, of course it applies. It’s definitely about the music, but it’s also about the DJ in that sense. But, you know, in other styles of music, I don’t know if that necessarily should apply. I see it, you know, kind of poaching certain attitudes from different styles and trying to bring it in to a different genre or something. And it doesn’t really doesn’t really mesh with what else might be going on, you know, and I think that in itself is another way for people to get attention. you know, so I don’t know, I’m, I’m kind of, wary of where this is headed, you know? So. No.
(00:57:35)
Robert Simoes
Would you describe yourself as, as a DJ who or a DJ and a producer who enjoys the spotlight, I suppose, or would you maybe shy away a little bit and prefer to kind of just let your music speak?
(00:57:47)
Homemade Weapons
Yeah, I, I’m not one to, you know, I don’t like putting myself all out all over the place.
(00:57:54)
Homemade Weapons
It’s not really ever been my thing. you know, I think that, having some kind of mystique to what you do. Leave some imagination for the listener, for the audience to kind of fill in the blanks as they wish versus having too much of yourself out there that it’s, you know, it doesn’t. I kind of okay I kind of see some artists where they, they’re so they’re more influencers than artists, you know. And they are so more stuck on the attention and that rather than the music. So the music that they might do almost doesn’t really seem fitting to their personality. You know what I mean. So it’s like well this is just kind of like my job. This is what I do to get more of your attention, more of your likes, more of your whatever it is. social currency, you know. So I yeah, I don’t know. Okay.
(00:59:00)
Robert Simoes
So then from, from I suppose like from your lens then, which is more of like an authentic looking at the music and trying to push the push the what is the agenda, I suppose, the evolution of the music going back to the start of this conversation, right, is that that’s kind of how you’re looking at that, the music that you’re pushing out, the sets that you’re pushing out.
(00:59:23)
Homemade Weapons
Yeah, I guess I guess in a way I’d rather go backwards, you know, than, than forward on the trajectory that we’re on. you know, just so we can have things that feel real and like we’re not just trying to do things to keep up with the quo, you know, with what’s going on. yeah. So I guess I guess the authenticity is a very, you know, important part of it all. And I hope we get back to a point where that’s like, you know, people will be able to see that right away versus, you know, 25,000 followers and X amount of listeners on Spotify. And it’s like, you know, versus like, okay, so me personally, I’ve always like growing up, especially if I liked an artist and they weren’t well known. That was really special to me. They were like my band, you know what I mean? but the second, you know, they became like a household word, it was like, the value changes, right? And, but at the same time, like, you’ll.
(01:00:32)
Homemade Weapons
So you’ll see the people that, you know, when it becomes a household name, they love it. It’s they’ve got it everywhere. They love it. But the second that fades, they might not stick with it. Right. And I think that that’s the people that do, the people that continue to ride with it, they’re the real fans. And I feel like that’s the kind of stuff that I would rather be a part of. Like, I’d rather have something that is real, that has real people that are engaged in what you’re doing versus people that are just liking it because other people like it. Right. Yeah.
(01:01:09)
Robert Simoes
It’s popular. So I think, I think part of the the mentality of DJ, because I also relate to some of that sentiment as well, where on one hand, I feel like you just naturally discover things before people do, right? Because right as as the DJ, like you are the filter, right? You are supposed to be listening to the tracks, picking the best right to to then present to everybody.
(01:01:34)
Robert Simoes
And so there are lots of cases where like, I’ve kind of have been early on a wave or somewhere this and I’m like, oh, this is a great sound. but then as you mentioned, it does sort of really grow and blow up and then it goes back to the scale, right? The scale changes things. And it’s not necessarily that the artist is doing. So maybe there is a little bit more of that rebellious side of the page with like, I want, you know, it’s either my band or it’s, you know, it’s the artist that I discovered, which maybe is an ego thing. Who knows? but I do think it’s it serves a purpose in some way in that like, you are motivated to continue to go out and explore on the point around the, the, the sort of hit versus not hit, or like steady rise. I feel like it’s a really challenging thing and I don’t know enough about, I guess, the, the economics of the music industry. My understanding it is at least if you’re one of these big labels, you really do depend on these massive hits.
(01:02:30)
Robert Simoes
But from a commercial viability of musicians perspective, I think writing that wave and getting like a I think Kevin Kelly was somebody who said that. It’s like, if you have a thousand true fans, like, that’s really all you need. in order to kind of keep yourself alive and doing what it is that you want to do. Yeah. but I guess there’s the other side of us, the human side that always wants to keep growing and like, you know, building and developing, but it’s it’s, it’s challenging because then you sort of alienate your audience.
(01:02:57)
Homemade Weapons
Yeah. Yeah. You do, you do. but I think, you know, for for every so many that you lose, you know, your relationship with another intensifies, you know, it becomes emboldened. you know, and then you’re also going to connect with new people. Right. So, you know, I kind of feel like bands, artists, like, they have, kind of like revolving doors, you know, people come and go, they might like your first album, but hate your ninth album.
(01:03:36)
Homemade Weapons
You know, I look at a band like Smashing Pumpkins for that, and I say, okay, 90s. Good band did. They probably should have stopped. And now they’re still going and it’s like, you know, it’s painful to see. It’s painful to see. But they’re still selling tickets and they’re still making new fans. So, you know, more power to them.
(01:03:59)
Robert Simoes
And I think maybe that’s the human side of it too, right? We we get enamored by the stories. Right. And part of the also motivation of this podcast, it’s like, hey, let’s let’s see what through the people behind the names are right and what they think, what they do. And I think that that gives us a little bit more. It was so much different to to hear an art, like to hear an artist sing and then see their name on a piece of music, but then you actually go in and you’re like, oh, this is that person, and this is what they do. And they’re, this is how they live.
(01:04:27)
Robert Simoes
And and you sort of get a different perspective and appreciation, in that land.
(01:04:33)
Homemade Weapons
Yeah, definitely.
(01:04:35)
Robert Simoes
So as we, as we get towards the end of the episode here, I’m wondering, you know, from, from your perspective, both, I guess, doing it all really DJing, DJing, these larger events, having your own pretty solid fan base, producing music obviously connected with all these amazing record labels. What kind of advice would you give to the people that are emerging just coming up either as artists, producers, DJs? if you were to start today.
Advice for Emerging Artists
(01:05:02)
Homemade Weapons
Well, don’t get a cat. No, I’m just kidding.
(01:05:09)
Robert Simoes
I’m just saying that because the cats have buggered, the entire time.
(01:05:11)
Homemade Weapons
He’s. Yeah, he’s right over here. Just, doing his thing. he’s getting impatient, but I would say something that is really occurred to me over the past few years that I. I’m not seeing a lot of his. I think that artists now just need to be especially DJs. They just need to kind of be more in touch with their motivation.
(01:05:38)
Homemade Weapons
You know why they’re doing what they’re doing. what is the end result? Right. knowing like, you know, what’s your purpose? Like if if it’s just to be a DJ and play for ten people, then have that be it. But you know, like, I feel like it’s it’s the environment is constantly changing. So people’s desires are changing. And, I think knowing, you know, I want to make music and release on this label and if that’s if that’s your goal, then that should be the goal. Like it? You know, I think like, we need to be in touch with just what our intentions are and that sort of thing with music, because, you know, we’re getting pulled in all of these different ways all of the time. you know, whether it’s for things completely unrelated to music or, you know, what have you. so that’s intention and that’s like, is like probably the number one thing. I think the other thing, too, is to just kind of be careful, you know who you trust as well because you’re going to, you know, especially as an artist, if you’re doing something good or something fresh, you’re going to have people pulling at you in different directions, you know, trying to see you as an opportunity for themselves.
(01:07:05)
Homemade Weapons
So, oh, and most importantly, register with ASCAP, BMI, one of those groups always copyright trademark, you know, own all your stuff. and staying control of your narrative. Always have an exit route, you know, that sort of thing. Just just always stay in control of your of your own story. So no one, you know, can end you or start you or whatever, you know. So I guess that’s pretty much it.
(01:07:38)
Robert Simoes
Yeah. All right then. So for our last segment here and I did think I prepped you with this. So three tracks, we’re looking for under the radar on repeat. And, your guilty pleasure.
(01:07:51)
Homemade Weapons
Okay, so the under the radar actually pulled this one out. So this is one of my favorite, compilations. It’s vinyl too. It was like a sub label of, good looking records, which was like a atmospheric drum and bass label. But this soul food, they did a series of these soul food, releases and they’re, it’s pretty much like downtempo, acid jazz kind of stuff.
(01:08:22)
Homemade Weapons
But it’s all of the artists from the good. Well, not all of them, but a lot of them made this kind of downtempo, jazz stuff. And the presentation of it is just really good. It’s like really nice, you know, artwork and everything. So I think that that’s something that’s kind of slept on that I don’t know if everybody knows about it, but I was having a conversation with one of my friends recently, and I played him one of the songs, and he’s like, I’ve never heard of that. And I’m like, oh, wow, yeah, you’re sleeping. So you gotta be. Soul Food compilation series came out on Cooking Records is probably, the under the radar thing for me. on repeat, there’s a band from California. It’s kind of like some, post-grunge shoegaze kind of stuff. It’s a band called citrus. and I found them through Spotify, you know, and, became a really big fan of their self-titled EP, enough that I eventually reached out to them and, you know, tried to figure out some way that we could work together musically.
(01:09:37)
Homemade Weapons
So, we’ll see what happens with that. but. Yeah. And then I guess the guilty pleasure is, I don’t know, maybe. Good. Ten years ago or so, there’s a band called Memory Tapes. it’s kind of like some indie rock kind of stuff. And they had a song called wait in the dark that was remixed by, Jensen Sportag, which is kind of like some, I guess, funk kind of 80s sounding stuff. but it was a really good remix, like so good that it’s better than the original. And, it’s what they’ve done is they, they’ve completely, you know, moved, move the vocals around and just create, like, created a whole new piece from it. and I really like that particular song, but I like when remixes are done in that way. It’s just, So. Yeah. That’s it. Those are my three.
(01:10:33)
Robert Simoes
Yeah. Amazing. I definitely, yeah. I mean, it was good looking, right? There’s the.
(01:10:38)
Homemade Weapons
Yeah. Good looking.
(01:10:39)
Homemade Weapons
It’s cooking records. soul food series. It’s the combination.
(01:10:44)
Robert Simoes
Incredible. Yeah. I love a lot of what LTJ Bukem puts out and. Oh yeah.
(01:10:49)
Homemade Weapons
Yeah yeah.
(01:10:49)
Robert Simoes
Definitely phased by my experience as well. So amazing. Well Andre this has been this conversation has definitely been as introspective as your music can make can make one.
(01:11:00)
Homemade Weapons
So thanks for having me.
(01:11:02)
Robert Simoes
yeah. Really appreciate you coming on board. And for everybody listening, make sure you subscribe on all the different podcasts, vendors, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and be on the lookout for homemade weapons coming in 2025. The label, and Andre, to continue bringing us some some different variants of music. So I’m Robert Simoes has been the Beyond the Decks podcast. And Andre, thank you again for joining us for this episode.
(01:11:27)
Homemade Weapons
Yeah. Thanks, Robert. Appreciate it.
