TSS Presents Fifteen Minutes With Exile

"Fifteen Minutes With..."    By Corey Bloom on April 24, 2009 at 2:22 pm

Props if you know him from Emanon, and if it wasn’t until Below The Heavens with Blu that convinced you of Exile’s musical genius, welcome. Since the early 90’s the Los Angeles-bred and buttered producer has been steadily building a resume of work few can rival. From underground 12-inches to commercial gems (think: Mobb Deep’s “Pearly Gates”), he covers all ground with a sound identifiably his. Not to be outdone by his works with other artists, Exile has two solo albums of his own: Dirty Science and his latest conceptual masterpiece, Radio. Sampled purely from the radio (yes, you read that correctly), the aptly titled album is his first purely instrumental endeavor and without the use of vocalists.

Yet, Exile is able to say more than most rappers choose to. He is a true master of the MPC, with turntable skills to match. An innovator. A visionary. Smart. Humble. Funny and for real with it.

If my words sound bold, check the facts, and without further adieu…

TSS: What was the first instrument you got your hands on?

Exile: The first instrument was an accordion. I was living in my Grandfather’s garage and he would give me accordion lessons. It didn’t really stick though.

TSS: Have you applied some of those lessons to your music later in life?

Exile: Yeah, definitely. That was my first time really learning keys, and I still play keys today.

TSS: What about in terms of beat machines?

Exile: It was actually tape loops first. I had one turntable and two tape decks and I would loop em up. I think it was the “Genius Of Love” sample (Hums beat). Rewind it and then leave a silent part. I’d do that for like three minutes, so I’d have a tape of that playing over and over with silent parts that I had to fill in. I’d play that and then fill in the gaps. So I could take a full loop, put it into the other cassette deck and play that. Then I would record on the other one and put stuff on top of it. I pretty much had infinite tracks.

TSS: Damn. How long were you doing that?

Exile: I did that for a couple of years and then eventually I got a push button sampler and a 4-track. That was when I first started putting out music. Making tapes and I even pressed it up on vinyl like that. Then I moved to the Roland MS1 and then eventually the MPC.

TSS: How are old were you when you were looping the tapes?

Exile: Eighth grade, but I actually started scratching on one turntable in sixth grade. I had one one of those home stereo component systems with the tape deck, radio and turntable up top. What I’d do was press the tape button down while hitting the phono button so it’d act like a transformer button. I used to scratch Star Wars records and stuff like that.

TSS: Since you were creating and cutting up sounds so young, when did the idea of being producer really resonate?

Exile: I always wanted to be a Hip-Hop producer and DJ. Ever since Junior High I knew. I used to fantasize, like when I was getting ready to scratch, I used to fantasize that I was at a KRS-One concert and Kenny Parker was sick or something and KRS would call out, “Can anybody DJ!?!” And then I would start scratching like I was on stage with KRS-One. I don’t know if that has to do with anything, but I thought I would let you know that (Laughs).

TSS: So it’s always been in the plans?

Exile: Yeah, I mean I know this sounds strange, but I used to think like if I had to make a record with just noises from my mouth, like a record label said that’s what you have to do, then I would do it. Again, I don’t know what that means (Laughs). I guess it just shows how much I really wanted to do it that I would just fantasize on some weird shit like that.

TSS: Was there a turning point in terms of your sound and productions? I ask thinking about the earlier mellow Emanon stuff to the “Algae” joint and the more upbeat or electric stuff.

Exile: I definitely want to keep up with what’s going on and I keep that in mind when I’m creating. Sometimes I don’t, and I just make what I want. It just kinda naturally evolves with my tastes and the stuff that I respect. With “Algae” that was Dilla really. Just wanting to get in there and really re-work shit. As I started to get really intricate with my chops I realized I could go with records like Al Green and totally flip it. I really like the idea of flipping known stuff and still having it be your own.

When I heard that record, that shit fucked me up. Still does. I had never heard anything like that, from the chops to the way you broke it down. I don’t know if I missed something along the way, but are you the owner of that style? Just the way that you really broke that record down with the double times and all that?

I don’t know, it might not have been out there…Let me start over. I thought I was I was the first cat to really have a beat that was 90 BPM’s and then jump into a double time thing. I made a lot of beats like that, just going from like 90 BPM’s to 70 BPM’s on some double-time shit. Sometimes, I just turn on a beat that I made and try to make something brand new out of it. I just like to explore all options, and sometime the second time around is the beat that I’ll use.

TSS: To go back though, that style seems to be the staple in beat battles and on producer type records or whatever. Do you look at that though like, “Yeah, that’s what’s up”?

Exile: Now I will (Laughs). But nah, sometimes I do look at it or think in my head, ‘yeah I did that back in the day. But yeah, that’s what’s up (Laughs).

TSS: I think a lot of people got to know you from Below The Heavens. How did you guys link up and what was that process like for you being that you came from working as a duo with Aloe?

Exile: Blu was helping me out with Dirty Science, so that’s how we first started linking up. After that we just started talking about the album that we wanted to make. That’s what I’ve always wanted to do though, just produce whole records for cats and just give it that personal feel. What was it like? It was real cool, just to get to know Blu and to heavily analyze a record and ask ourselves is this a classic? Even before those stages, figuring out if we even want to make commercial type songs and just where do we want to take it. He developed me as a producer in a lot of ways, and it was definitely a mutual learning experience for both of us. After making that record and the Emanon stuff I know that that’s what I want to do. I really like developing new artists.

TSS: Is there a different mindset you go into opposed to just making beat?

Exile: When I’m working with an artist I give them my perspective and tell them what I think. I ask if they’ll rewrite something or to say it like this, or just be perfectly happy with what they did. I just have more creative control which is more fun. It’s harder work, but you end up getting what you want as opposed to just sending it out there and seeing what you get back.

TSS: I want to talk about Radio for a minute now. Sorry for such a generic question but…Where did the idea come from?

Exile: I knew it was time for me to make an instrumental album, and I wanted it to be different from all the other ones. I’ve sampled stuff off the radio before, but not completely off the radio. It was crazy, like whoa I can sample static noises and frequencies. I actually did sample frequencies, where I used the boombox as a turntable and a mixer; I used the tuning nob as the turntable and the volume as the crossfader and tweaked it like that.

TSS: And you were going straight from the boombox to MPC or were you taking it through a mixing console or filter?

Exile: Some of it was straight to the MPC, and some I would record first and then sample, and some stuff I used from old tapes like old KDAY or Wake Up Show recordings.

TSS: I feel like I’ve been hearing about this album for at least two years now. I don’t know from where but the word has been that you’ve been making a record with samples taken strictly from the radio. What was it that took so long?

Exile: I had this idea and I would talk about it interviews before I even started to make it. That’s about it really. There was a time when I started making the album when I thought it was finished and I realized it wasn’t so I went back to the lab and made it to what it is now. A mixture of those two things is what made it seem like it took so long to surface.

TSS: Yeah, in another interview I remembering you talking about the record not being where you wanted it to be. What was it before and what did you add to it?

Exile: Really, it was one of the A&R’s lack of interest in the project and wanting to just put out beats that I already had. I was like man you’re fucking crazy, I’m gonna make some new shit and show this fool. What was different about it is that I started making it more personal. That’s how I originally wanted it to be but it reached a point to where I was just trying to get it done I think.

I actually prayed. I’m not a religious person but I’m a spiritual person who believes that praying is just a way of communicating with the powers that be, and I’m a strong believer that love is God. But I actually prayed before I started working on this album again to make an album that would communicate that to people, and make a record that would invoke that in people and bring people into that energy. That’s when I started coming across vocal samples that really communicated that to me, and I just took advantage of it. It was a spiritual experience for me, there were times when I actually cried tears of joy. Like with the song, “Sound Is God” with Alan Watts who is an amazing philosopher… It just started unfolding; the story of spirituality and the evils in the world and all that. With that I started figuring out how to do it.

TSS: Were there certain shows or programs that you anticipated or was it more of spontaneous process?

Exile: Most of it was random, but there were times when I was ready to record. Like “Spaceways” radio with Carlos Nino.

TSS: And the Request Line with Crispy Fresh?

Exile: Yeah, and oh, there were times on Sundays where I would wait for Art LaBow. He is this cat who produced some records back in the day, like I think he did stuff with Frank Zappa back before he got all crazy. But anyway, he got heavily involved in doing radio shows that just played oldies. It’s a notorious LA radio station, but now it’s all across America wherever there are Cholos. Everybody calls in like, “this is for Little Puppet, keep your head up wey.” It’s infamous for that. I wanted to get a super Cholo style one on there, but Crispy Fresh was just too perfect.

TSS: Did you find the process limiting or liberating in terms of sampling?

Exile: A little bit of both, I mean sometimes it was frustrating but the fact that I didn’t know what I was digging for…like when you go to a record store you kinda know what you want to get so you’ll probably miss out on a bunch of other stuff, whereas with the radio, it’s all there for you. You’ll find stuff that you’d never dig for.

TSS: Do you have any examples of stuff that you pulled from that otherwise you would have never heard?

Exile: There was this Peruvian record, I wish I could remember the artists name, that I used on “Sound Is God” that is just an amazing record. Someone from Peru actually called me up like, “I can’t believe you sampled this song! It’s a very special song for my people out here.” I didn’t know it, but he told me what the lyrics said were about the people’s struggles and stuff like that so it fit perfectly.

TSS: Did you have any epiphanies in the recording process, like in the sense that you can pull sounds from anywhere and bend and blend them to something completely different?

Exile: I think that’s what Hip-Hop is. It’s about making music out of things you’re not supposed to make music out of. That’s the essence that I captured with this record; I found another thing to make music out of that you’re not necessarily supposed to. Anything is possible, and with the radio, the possibilities are infinite.

TSS: I’ve heard of people sampling from a radio, but sampling every single layer of a song from the radio…I’ve never heard of anyone doing that before. Is it another ‘that’s what’s up’ moment then?

Exile: Nah, nah (Laughs). Why?

TSS: I mean, what if people start sampling strictly from the radio…

Exile: Nah, I mean some kid uh he made something…

TSS: So you can’t claim father to that style?

Exile: I think that’s what he said, I don’t know.

TSS: We’ll let that rest then.

Exile: OK (Laughs)

TSS: To wrap things, is there anything that you are working on now that you can talk about?

Exile: I just finished an album with Fashawn that’s being mixed right now. Man, I think we potentially have another classic. I’m really excited for this record and I think people are really going to enjoy it. It’s similar to the makings of Below The Heavens. I just finished executive producing an album for my man Blame One. He’s from San Diego and he’s ridiculous. I was going to produce the whole album, but he already had really good songs with other producers so I ended up just being the executive producer. I did do most of the beats on it though. I’ve got an album that I’m almost done with with this cat named J.O.H.A.Z. from Deep Rooted. I also finished an album of just me rapping.

Exile’s Radio is available in stores & on iTunes. For more info visit www.myspace.com/alexile.

Download — Exile – “For The Kids” (Not On The Album)

BONUS

With the theme of Radio, we have Exile reading the poem “A Radio With Guts” by Charles Bukowski from his book Play The Piano Drunk Like A Percussion Instrument Until The Fingers Begin To Bleed A Bit.

Previously Posted — Video: Exile Is A Dope Man | Video: Blu & Exile – “No Greater Love” Live @ SXSW | Exile – “We’re All In Power” Video

Posted in "Fifteen Minutes With...", ARTIST INTERVIEWS, GENERAL, Videos — Tags: "FIFTEEN MINUTES WITH...", Blu, Emanon, Exile, Radio, VIDEO