Producer Spotlight: DJ Pain 1
Here’s a story of a respectable radio DJ turned producer who gets a spot on a Billboard #1 album, reaching Gold status in around six weeks. We’re talking about DJ Pain 1 and his track “Don’t Do It” off Young Jeezy’s The Recession. DJ Pain 1 stopped by the site a couple of months ago when we had featured his beat in a “who flipped it better” contest against Chad “Wes” Hamilton. My man Thomas suggested that we hit Pain up to hear his story. Here’s how it came out…
Kevin: What good my man? Thanks for taking the time to sit down and talk with us. With Jeezy’s new joint going gold I’m sure you’re busy?
DJ Pain 1: About as busy as normal, between trying to go gold again, get an MA and work a couple jobs. Notice I didn’t mention my social life at all haha.
Kevin: Haha, what’s a social life? lol… Before we get into the million questions I have for you; tell us about yourself and how you got to where you are now?
DJ Pain 1: They call me DJ Pain 1, I’m from Madison Wisconsin. I started making beats as a hobbyist about ten years ago. I also starting dj’ing roughly around the same time. Now I guess I can call myself a professional DJ and producer.
Kevin: When did you began producing and knew that you were GOOD at it?
DJ Pain 1: I go through waves. My producer’s self-esteem is pretty stable now, but it fluctuated quite a bit within the last few years. When I first started, I probably thought I was cool. I think really within the last two or three years, I’ve really become comfortable challenging myself as a producer and as a DJ, so the feeling is relatively new.
Kevin: Tell us what the hip-hop scene in Wisconsin looks like. Is it tough to get major/indie acts to come to your city?
DJ Pain 1: The hip-hop scene here is crazy. There’s a ton of talent. The production scene here is heavy. A few artists are working hard, but whereas we’ve had a couple producers go platinum and gold, we haven’t seen rappers reach that type of success. That’s the next step. Otherwise, we have some great dj’s as well. “Breakin’ the Law,” one of the biggest international bboy competitions, started here. Graffiti crews like TCI started here as well too.
With all the talent in this city though, it’s hard to find outlets. The city frowns upon hip-hop a lot. We’re supposed to be some liberal pocket in Middle America, but there’s a lot of fear and ignorance associated with hip-hop. We have been getting more big acts here, and luckily, thanks to the hip-hop station 106.7 Jamz, many have been free. That kind of event brings out so many people who might not normally be exposed to live shows. We just need more unity within the hip-hop community so we can build connects and momentum together. If we had that kind of strength, no ignorant forces could stop us.
Kevin: Let’s talk about the collaboration with Young Jeezy. How did that come about? Did he reach out to you or did you and/or your management submit a beat CD for him?
DJ Pain 1: My manager, Brendan from Lavish Life Producer Management, submitted the tracks. Brendan is the man of the year. Brendan eats lobster for breakfast.
Kevin: Haha, I bet you’re making sure Brendan eats real well! Knowing that Young Jeezy has sold at least 1 million copies of his previous two albums; how excited were you when you received confirmation of the placement on the album?
DJ Pain 1: Hell yes. I had to quietly walk out of the office I work in and stand outside because I was afraid I might jump or scream… and I work in IT. IT people don’t jump or scream.
Kevin: LOL… I can imagine… What did it feel like to see your name on the inside of the CD insert?
DJ Pain 1: Surreal. Especially since Jeezy picked an old depression-era newsprint motif. It added to the overall feeling.
Kevin: Was this your first placement on an album?
DJ Pain 1: On a major album, yes. I’ve had tracks placed on major labels before, but this was my first major exclusive beat placement.
Kevin: Who are some of the other artist you have worked with? What other projects do you have in the works?
DJ Pain 1: I’ve worked with a lot of different artists ranging from Goddes and She to Kev Brown. I recorded a track with One B Lo a while back, but we’re not going to discuss that situation.
Kevin: Name five people that you would like to work with regardless of genre.
DJ Pain 1:Tori Amos, Martina Topley Bird, Rakim, T Pain, Dead Prez.
Kevin: How would you describe your style? Who would it compare to?
DJ Pain 1: Diverse. I’m working towards something that’s definitively me. I switch from organic boom bap hip-hop to the dramatic synthy contemporary hip-hop. I was working on a trip hop/adult alternative album for a while. Some of the songs bordered on country.
Kevin: Wow, that sounds interesting! On your MySpace you have listed some of your influences as RZA, Jay Dilla, DJ Muggs, Havoc, Portishead, Dead Prez, and others. What is it about those six artists that piqued your interest in them? What if any of their style have you incorporated in your music?
DJ Pain 1: With Dead Prez, I liked that they came out the gate as a political group. They didn’t water anything down, even in the face of major criticism. A far as RZA, Dilla, Muggs and Havoc are concerned, I feel that they are some of the foundational hip-hop producers. I think most producers nowadays can trace elements of their own style back to these producers, whether it be the jazzy basslines of Dilla or the sped-up vocal samples of RZA, their influence is timeless.
Kevin: What’s your thought process when making a track? Are all of your tracks sampled based or do you play instruments and/or make original tracks?
DJ Pain 1: I do both. I don’t have much of a process. If I have a rhythm in my head, I start with drums. if I have a melody in my head, I play around on the keyboard. If I find a good sample, I based the beat off of that. Sometimes I’ll work with my man Memory (he played some of the guitar on the Jeezy track). He’ll play a guitar rift or a keyboard melody, and we’ll just build from there. The other night, he and I were hanging out with another producer, J-Rock, and we just took turns on the motif and eventually ended up with a beat.
Kevin: Which do you like most… Producing or DJing?
DJ Pain 1: Producing is my main focus. I put the majority of my effort into production, however the thrill of dj’ing for a crowd is unbeatable. It’s an intense experience seeing that you are single-handedly influencing an group of people to move or to remenisce or to feel happy or sad. With DJ’ing, you can see that immediate effect. Producing is more of a long term thing– you don’t get immediate feedback until an album is released.
Kevin: Yeah, I can see that. What do you use to produce?
DJ Pain 1: I use Sony ACID. I have a bunch of racks (the motif, the planet earth, the me-1) and some keyboards including the asr-10. For me, ACID acts as a sequencer, multitrack, drum machine and sampler, so it’s at the center of my studio. I have a few tutorial videos on youtube that show how to use Sony ACID to produce hip-hop. Sony ACID came from Madison too!!
Kevin: On your myspace you have Producer, DJ, and Certified Secondary Educator. We know your produce record, and that you DJ at the local radio station, but “Certified Secondary Educator?” Can you give our readers some insight on that?
DJ Pain 1: Yep, I’m a high school teacher. My specialization is English. I’m working part time right now, teaching multimedia to high schoolers while I pursue some more plaques and an applied linguistics MA, but working with youth in some capacity is always something I’ll be doing.
Kevin: Wow, that’s awesome… What programs, if any, have you implemented and how and why did you get involved in teaching?
DJ Pain 1: I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. I’ve had such influential teachers in the past (good and bad), I saw what kind of role a teacher could play in a kid’s life. My 5th grade teacher, Mr. Waters, really showed me what a great teacher is and even at that age my desire to teach was solidified.
When I was working on my teaching degree, I had a job at the pre-college department at the Madison Area Technical College here. We hosted a conventional district summer school program, but when the program moved, we needed something. I teamed up with Arthur Richardson, a man whose hip-hop youth group I was a part of back when I was in high school. We came up with a performing arts program and the proposal was accepted. It ran for two great years. Then the precollege department got a new admin and she killed the program. They decided that it was better to go the cheap route and contract internal labor rather than performance arts experts from the community. Fortunately, there are other programs out there like hip-hop 101 and ITA that are still giving young people the creative opportunities they need.
Kevin: Sounds dope man.. Pain 1 is for the children! LOL… I’m sure you’re familiar with the series on our site where we post the original sample and two producers who use the sample. We choose the Willie Hutch song that you and Chad “Wes” Hamilton used. What did you think of the post and comments associated with the post?
DJ Pain 1: At first I was shocked because I just stumbled on that page when I was searching for a review of the Jeezy album. I saw this bootleg ass picture of myself and I was thinking “what the hell?” Then I read the article. I saw a lot of people were talking about how Chad Wes sampled the Willie Hutch song first and how he did a better job, and I posted a comment. But then after you replied, I saw how great of a discussion it was and how amazing it was that I was central to that discussion. Chad Wes has a lot of fans for sure! Haha. I know the two of us did something entirely different with the Willie Hutch (RIP) sample and that’s the great thing about hip-hop and about sampling– we build from the same foundation, but what we build varies so much.
Kevin: We have another popular series/feature on the site, which is our remix contest. We pick acapellas for the producers who visit the site and they have a week to remix the song and myself, a guest judge and one of my contributors pick the winner. Then we compile a download of all of the winners at the conclusion of the contest. The producers who visit our site are some of our loyal readers/visitors; what advice would you give them in their pursuit of reaching artist to get their vision/dreams out?
DJ Pain 1: Follow as many good leads as possible. There are so many opportunities, such as the remix contests, to get some attention. Producers need that attention since we’re not in-your-face like all these rappers are. Haha. I wish every producer out there the best of luck.
Kevin: What type’s of “do’s and don’t (s)” have you learned along the way?
DJ Pain 1: Do NOT trust anybody who tells you that they will make you famous. Do believe in yourself. Nobody is going to do for you what you can do for yourself. There are good people out there who will eventually help you further your career, but they will do it in a symbiotic manner. I’m lucky to have signed on to a team like Lavish Life because they understand the importance of a solid relationship between a producer and a manager. That relationship cannot be unequal. So basically, look out for yourself, but at the same time, be community minded, especially in so far as your own city is concerned.
Kevin: Sounds like solid advice. How important is it to be up on the business part of the industry? Have you been jerked by an artist/label?
DJ Pain 1: Oh man, it’s really important. Read up on it. I get myspace messages from people who think ASCAP is a copyright firm. Really, the second you crossover into the industry, it’ll be a whirlwind of legal jargon. I’m learning so much as it is and I came into it knowing more than the average producer. There’s just too much out there for me to handle on my own really. I’m always asking for advice from trustworthy people– lawyers, managers, other producers.
Kevin: Lastly, when we start our next remix contest, you down for judging a week?
DJ Pain 1: Absolutely!! That’d be an honor.
Kevin: Aight, I’m gonna hold you to that! Any last words, thoughts, shoutouts?
DJ Pain 1: Shout out to Kevin Nottingham, Brendan/Lavish Life, NU from Solidprojects, Memory, J Rock, I need a raise records, 106.7 Jamz WJQM, ITA, Christy, my family, Remedy Born, Goddes, She, and J Stills.
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