M Is FOR MASHUP - July 2nd, 2008 (Rerun)
How Do you Spell Mashup? - M.i.F.
By DJ Useo
This week I have a fantastic interview with a well-known & strong talent in the bootleg scene - DJ M.i.F. I regularly hear his tracks on various mashup radio shows, & he's a huge fave of mine.
Interview now commences.------------
Useo - Welcome DJ M.i.F. Thanks for sitting down & giving us some informative
dialogue with a premiere masher.
Q1: Certainly most of my readers have heard your tracks, but can you
tell us anything about who the man behind the mash is?
A1: Well, I'm just a regular guy born in 1981, working in a normal 9 to 5 job. I have been working with electronic music and dj-ing for the last 13 years, but I first began making mashups in 2005. Beside making music I love to cook, and have also worked at a few restaurants the last couple of years - I simply love to combine and mix things together, and no I don't give my recipes out haha!
Q2: Hahaha. Then I won't ask, lol. When do you most enjoy mixing up new tracks? Do you get inspiration
from being alone, or among people?
A2: It can be both. No matter where I go; for example, at my daytime job when I'm listening to radio. I automatically analyze all music I hear. It starts a kind of brainstorm. I don't really have that good of memory in general, but when it comes to chords, I easily recognize something, and I instantly think "hey, it's the same chord arrangement like 'that song'. Next I try to write all of them down. When I come home, I test them, and in most cases I'm right about the chords (sometimes a pitch is needed, but the chord arrangement is basically the same), but even if the chords are right, not everything is good enough to keep working with. Another way can be that I simply like a instrumental so much that I decide to work with it, and I will search through tracks to find a good one to fit.
Q3: Please grant us a few insights into what about the format interests you.
A3: Just all the musical freedom you can put into it, and constructing things the way you best like it without keeping strictly to a certain style. And I love to ruin your favourite Britney songs.
Q4: Lmao. What circumstances set you on the path to bootlegging? Who was involved, if anyone?
A4: Well, I had been listening to quite a few mashups, a year or 2 before, especially Soulwax's 'Intergalactic Mix' and some DJ Payroll tracks. There was this program on the Danish national radio "P3" where they played a lot of mashed songs. One day in December they started running a mashup competition, and I sent in my contribution, and they really liked it so much that I ended up at 3rd place. I started to send in more stuff, and got that played too. That's the kind of feedback that got me to continue.
Q5: Which of your tracks maintains the place of prominence as your favorite? Which track is a favorite of yours but didn't quite reach that big audience?
A5: It must be the "Wherever this message may roam (Grandmaster Flash vs Metallica)"
Q6: It varies from mixer to mixer so it's of keen interest to us - Do you have many unreleased tracks sitting on your hard drive, or do you release all new pieces?
A6: Before I release anything, I would send it around to friends for critism. I have quite a few unreleased, cause
I only release stuff when I have a full version ready. So watch out soon.
Q7: We've known you to mix in many different styles from trance to hip
hop to top 40 & even heard a hilarious novelty track on the IT IS
TO LAFF collection of humurous mashups. What music would we be
likely to hear you releasing in the future?
A7: The missy typewriter track was a kind of tribute to my big brother, who has always been good to supply and inspire me with his large musical taste.
I came up with the main idea in a short moment before we walked to the car, a Berlin roadtrip, visiting DJ Morgoth's "Mashup Your Bootz", later I did a large tweak of it.
I try not to put a certain label on the mashes I do. It can be everything, if I find it interesting enough, it's worth working with. Saying that, a large part of the future releases will be dancy tracks, but also some more power rock and more classical could be a good posibility.
Q8: The most fortunate of mashup afficianados have attended your live
performances at Bootie Munich or seen you DJ live elsewhere.Can you
share with us some of your live experiences, & perhaps how you
decide on the tunes you play.
A8: Bootie Munch was for sure a fun little gig. I haven't been djing to that many pure mashup nights, and that was for sure the biggest.
How do I decide? That depends on the audience. I try to read them, but sometimes I'm having fun first, see one crowd dancing to Christina A, and at the next moment they are going insane to Rammstein. If I'm doing a 1 hour set there will probably be alot of my own stuff than others, or stuff I know extremely well. The thing about mashups is that you can get away with playing a large scale of genres. I see Mashups aa a little like a tool that can bring back styles they usually wouldn't play at regular clubs, where only whats latest on the urban chart is posible, and it's our mission to change that!
Q9: Do you find where you live to have an effect on your music? Do you
get many requests to work with specific artists when cutting up a
new track?
A9: Not really, but sometimes I like a good challenge that can inspire me.
Q10: After a bit of participating in the bootleg scene, generally one
meets other mixers. Who does the M.i.F. count as associates, or pals
from the mashup world?
A10: People are, in general, very friendly and helpful to me. I count most of the gybo people as pals, and they sure know who they are. I haven't really met that many of them, but I have met a few bootleggers including Andrew (Morgoth), Adrian and the mysterious D, Ape, bush.no10, Mr Whitelabel, DJ Copycat, Tim Bear(DJ NoNo, Radioclash), Nik (Deep Disco Force), Pete (Juxtaposeur), James (ThriftshopXL), Lumpy, Matt Catt, Alex (Bootox), DJ Schmolli,Hahnstudios, FM24 and prob a few more that I can't remember the names of...
I could keep asking questions all day, so I'll let you go, perhaps with
the promise of another interview at a future date?
Thanks to a generous,talented DJ certain to continue to thrive in the
coming days.
FIND THE DJ M.I.F. MASHUP/REMIX CATALOGUE AT
www.djmif.com/
Booking details available.
----------------------
Mix of the Week - DJ Fac has an incredible recreation of his live set from his recent Bootie Munich appearance. The Bootie Set - bootie Munich 27.6.2008 (a reconstruction) is 106 minutes of crowd-pleasing fun. You'll hear tracks by the best bootleggers with a healthy dose of DJ Fac's best.
www.djfac.com/
Mashup Tip : Never mash any track bigger than your head.
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Richard Florida: How the Crash Will Reshape America (theatlantic.com)
The crash of 2008 continues to reverberate loudly nationwide-destroying jobs, bankrupting businesses, and displacing homeowners. But already, it has damaged some places much more severely than others. On the other side of the crisis, America's economic landscape will look very different than it does today. What fate will the coming years hold for New York, Charlotte, Detroit, Las Vegas? Will the suburbs be ineffably changed? Which cities and regions can come back strong? And which will never come back at all?
Dr. Mark Shapiro: Budget Crisis Forces Cal State Fullerton to Cut 2,000 "Students" -- System to Cut 12,000 (irascibleprofessor.com)
The Irascible Professor has learned that the current California budget crisis is forcing Cal State Fullerton to cut the equivalent of 2,000 students from its enrollment for the coming academic year. The 23-campus California State University system as a whole will cut the equivalent of 12,000 students.
20 QUESTIONS: The Handsome Family (popmatters.com)
Country, bluegrass, and murder ballads, pharmaceuticals, home brews, and macabre stories -- and more to come with Honey Moon.
Rosanna Greenstreet: Q&A (guardian.co.uk)
Musician Annie Lennox on George Clooney, red wine and the colour orange.
Chuck Barney: Bill Cosby still has something to say (Contra Costa Times)
Trying to interview the loquacious Bill Cosby over the phone is sort of like trying to capture the full-blast output of a gushing fire hydrant in a plastic sandwich bag.
Greg Archer: Lisa Lampanelli Will F**k You Up (advocate.com)
Foul-mouthed comic Lisa Lampanelli doesn't hold back in her first interview with Advocate.com. Whether discussing black men she's dated or her gay fans, she lets it all hang out -- and then some.
The G2 interview: Decca Aitkenhead meets Glenn Close (guardian.co.uk)
'I think for a woman it's always a very, very tricky position to know how to maintain your power in a world that's mostly dominated by men.'
John Farr: "Best Movies By Farr: When Oscar Screws Up" (huffingtonpost.com)
1997- Top of the world, my eye. More like bottom of the barrel. Either "As Good As It Gets" or "L.A Confidential" should have netted Best Picture before the bloated, dumbed-down "Titanic". Not a proud moment in Academy history. I'm still mad over that one.
'Eighty? It's just a number' (guardian.co.uk)
Emma Brockes meets Clint Eastwood, one of the last American heroes, to talk about films, politics, ageing ... and the truth about that Spike Lee spat.
"Dollhouse: Series Premiere": review by Cynthia Fuch
"We can take care of this mess." ... You don't know what that mess is, how she arrived in it, or how outrageous Miss DeWitt's offer is. But you do know, during this first scene in Dollhouse, that Echo will take the deal.
KATHRYN SHATTUCK: From the Undead to Multiple Lives (nytimes.com)
JOSS WHEDON may be as much a cult figure as the characters he conjured for "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel," but since 2004, when his vampires faced the final apocalypse, he has been everywhere but television.
David Bruce: Wise Up! Husbands and Wives (athensnews.com)
A man's wife made him a burrito. It was a horrible burrito, but they were newlyweds, so he ate it and asked for another, which he also ate. The next morning, the burritos began to disrupt his lower digestive system while he was on his way to work, so he left the subway early and started looking in desperation for a bathroom. He didn't find one in time, soiled his pants, and hailed a taxi and paid the driver $100 to take him home - the extra money was for obvious reasons. At home, he took a shower, then turned on the TV - only to see footage of a plane that Sept. 11 crashing directly into his office at the World Trade Center.
The Weekly Poll
New Question
The 81st Annual Academy Awards Prediction Edition
Hey Poll-fans! It's Heart vs Mind i.e.
Who d'ya want to win as opposed to who d'ya think is gonna win
.
Best Picture
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Director
Feel free to include any other category that interests you (nod to Adam here for sound). Results will be posted prior to the ceremony... I wish I could make this a contest with prizes and all. But, hey, there's a recession going on, or haven't ya heard? So, just have some fun, eh?
Send your response, and a (short) reason why, to
Reults Friday, 20 February.
wrote:
Purple Gene Reviews
'RIGHT AMERICA: FEELING WRONGED'
NANCY'S LITTLE GIRL NAILS IT!
PURPLE GENE'S MINI REVIEW OF ALEXANDRA PELOSI'S HBO DOCUMENTARY: "RIGHT AMERICA: FEELING WRONGED"
She should have called this excellent Docu-drama "FUCK YOU: REDNECK SOUTHERN RACIST FAGGOT HATING CHRISTIAN HYPOCRITES"!!!
Instead...as she did with
"Journey's with George" and "The Trials of Ted Haggard", Alexandra Pelosi (the daughter of Nancy Pelosi), has crafted another man (or woman ) on the street behind the scenes slice of life somewhat affectionate and incredibly revealing reality show....You will not believe some of the repulsive rhetoric dripping from the lips of the dip shit southern over inbred insane assholes.....
I give Alex credit and kudos for diving into this amazing cultural cliche of creeps and clods who admittedly live in the "South's gonna rise again" slum of absurdity.
Don't miss this amazing amalgam of the dregs of society that inhabit the Southern area of these Americas.....
We have just had a bloodless revolution in this country and Alexandra Pelosi shows us how close we came to Jesus Christ Oblivion!
Purple Gene gives Alexandra Pelosi's Documentary "Right America: Feeling Wronged" 9 bespeckled nasal Joan Rivers sounding annoying noshes out of 10 (this would be a perfect movie if not for Alex"s hoarse raspy irritating voice).
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Still cold and a bit more rain.
Calls For End To Mountaintop Mining
Ashley Judd
Ashley Judd is calling for an end to the mining practice known as mountaintop removal.
The Kentucky native was among some 500 people who gathered outside the Kentucky state Capitol on Tuesday for a rally in support of legislation that would essentially end the practice of blasting away mountaintops to unearth coal.
The 40-year-old actress, a two-time Golden Globe nominee whose screen credits include "De-Lovely" and "Kiss the Girls," says she visited mountaintop removal sites last September and was unprepared for the destruction she saw. She described "barren moonscapes" and "nothingness" where Appalachian peaks once rose skyward.
Kathy Stein, a Democratic state senator from Lexington, is sponsoring legislation that would bar coal companies from filling valleys with the soil and rock from the mountaintops.
Ashley Judd
Donates To Australia Wildfire Appeal
Pink
US pop singer Pink has donated 250,000 dollars (163,000 US) to Australia's wildfire victims as the disaster relief fund tops 100 million dollars.
Pink, who tours regularly in Australia, said she wanted to make a tangible gesture of support after seeing images of the devastation in Victoria state, where at least 189 people have died in the country's worst wildfire disaster.
Other musicians such as Leonard Cohen, sports stars including the Australian cricket team and football's Socceroos have all donated or helped raise funds for charity appeals.
Pink
"The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun"
J.R.R. Tolkien
An early, long-unpublished work by J.R.R. Tolkien is coming out.
"The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun," a thorough reworking in verse of old Norse epics that predates Tolkien's writing of "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, will be published in May by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
According to Houghton, the book will include an introduction by Tolkien and notes by his son, Christopher Tolkien.
J.R.R. Tolkien, whose fantasy novels have sold millions of copies, died in 1973. "The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun" was written in the 1920s and '30s, when the author was teaching at Oxford University.
J.R.R. Tolkien
London Musical
Jerry Springer
Talk-show host Jerry Springer says he will perform in the musical "Chicago" at London's West End.
He will play the slick lawyer Billy Flynn in the show, which is about glamorous women who murder their lovers for fame.
The 65-year-old television host said Tuesday he will perform the role at the Cambridge Theater in London's West End theater district for six weeks starting in June. He says he will take singing lessons for the role.
Jerry Springer
New Title Sequence
'The Simpsons'
The Simpsons have gone HD and to celebrate there is a brand new title sequence.
Now in its 20th season, the cult cartoon has made the switch to high definition television and has made use of wide screen technology.
It is only the second time in the show's 20-year history that a permanent change has been made to the opening sequence.
When Maggie is scanned at the supermarket, the price now registers as $486.52, double the original price of $243.26.
'The Simpsons'
Cuts Back On ABC News Duties
Sam Donaldson
Longtime ABC News correspondent Sam Donaldson is easing quietly into part-time work.
The 74-year-old journalist, who was the network's chief White House correspondent from 1977 to 1989, is leaving full-time work later this month. Donaldson says he's not retiring but "cutting back." He told the Washington Post, which broke the story, that he didn't ask for a new contract when his last one was due for renewal late last year.
Donaldson's stint as chief White House correspondent spanned the presidencies of Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. He made his name for his reporting on their administrations as well as for his shouting of questions to Reagan.
In recent years, he has hosted programs on ABCNews.com and the 24-hour news channel ABC News Now. Previously, he was a panelist and co-moderator of "This Week" as well as co-host of the newsmagazine "Primetime." He began his career in Washington in the early 1960s and started working at ABC News in 1967.
Sam Donaldson
Judge Rejects Bid
Roman Polanski
Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski lost a bid on Tuesday to dismiss his 30-year-old conviction for having sex with a minor when a Los Angeles judge refused to consider the request as long as the filmmaker was still a fugitive.
But Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza said he would be willing to reconsider his decision if Polanski, who fled the United States for France in 1978 after pleading guilty to unlawful sex with an underage girl, returned to a Los Angeles courtroom by May 7.
The 75-year-old director of such films as "Rosemary's Baby" and "Chinatown, has tried to have his guilty plea thrown out on claims that the now-dead judge in the case was improperly coached by a prosecutor.
Those accusations gained public attention in the documentary "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired," in which the prosecutor, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney David Wells, spoke of his contact with the judge.
Roman Polanski
.29 - YOWEE!
Gary Collins
Authorities have charged host Gary Collins with drunken driving.
The actor and former TV host has two previous drunken driving convictions, and authorities say he could face up to 120 days in jail if convicted.
The California Highway patrol arrested Collins on Jan. 31 on suspicion of driving a motor home while drunk.
Authorities gauged his blood alcohol content as .29, more than three times the .08 level at which a person is presumed impaired, said Lee Carter, Santa Barbara senior deputy district attorney.
Gary Collins
Files For Bankruptcy, Again
Trump Entertainment
Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc, the casino operator named for Donald Trump, filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday as recession and declining gambling revenues battered the company and its rivals.
The Chapter 11 filing marks the third plunge into bankruptcy for the company, which was created out of a restructuring in 2005. It also underscores the struggles facing the casino business as recession squeezes casino gambling.
Trump Entertainment owns and operates three casino hotels in Atlantic City, New Jersey, including the Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Plaza and Trump Marina.
Nine affiliates of the casino operator including Trump Plaza Associates, Trump Plaza Associates, Trump Marina Associates and Trump Taj Mahal Associates simultaneously sought protection, according to the filing.
Trump Entertainment
Sues Over "Nash Bridges"
Don Johnson
Actor Don Johnson has sued the makers of his 1990s television series "Nash Bridges" for what he believes could be tens of millions of dollars in profits generated by the program that he never received.
In a suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday, Don Johnson Productions Inc. said it is seeking damages from 2929 Entertainment Inc., owned by billionaire Mark Cuban, and two other companies affiliated with "Nash Bridges," a detective series that aired from 1996 to 2001 on U.S. network CBS.
Johnson parlayed his success playing a detective in 1980s series "Miami Vice" into an ownership stake in "Nash Bridges." But in his suit, he claims his company never received its 50 percent share of profits.
The suit claims the program made more than $300 million in revenue, including over $150 million in payments from reruns on cable TV networks USA and WGN America, as well as sales from international syndication.
Don Johnson
Changes Policies
Facebook
Tens of thousands of Facebook users are protesting new policies that they say grant the social-networking site the ability to control their information forever, even after they cancel their accounts.
Facebook's new terms of use, updated Feb. 4, largely went unnoticed until the popular consumer rights advocacy blog Consumerist.com pointed out the changes Sunday.
That prompted a clarification from Facebook's founder, Mark Zuckerberg, although the new terms remain in force. Zuckerberg told users in a blog post Monday that "on Facebook, people own their information and control who they share it with."
Zuckerberg said the new terms are necessary to reflect the fact that friends may retain a copy of that message or other information once a user shares it with them.
Facebook
Crews Didn't Notice
Nuclear Subs
French and British sailors did not realise their nuclear submarines had crashed into each other until their governments got in touch over the incident, France's defence minister admitted Tuesday.
After the French navy announced on February 6 that Le Triomphant had hit an unidentified object under water, British officials approached them "and said 'well hey, we also had a problem'," Herve Morin said on French television.
In what experts called an unprecedented event, Britain's HMS Vanguard and France's Le Triomphant hit each other in deep water in the Atlantic in early February, leaving both vessels damaged but still seaworthy.
The crash caused damage but no leaks from the vessels. Each is some 150 metres (490 feet) long and can carry up to 48 nuclear warheads on a maximum of 16 missiles. A total of 250 sailors were onboard the subs at the time.
Nuclear Subs
18,000 Apply For 'Best Job In World'
Hamilton Island
More than 18,000 people from nearly 200 countries have applied for the "best job in the world," hoping to earn good money for lazing around on an Australian island, officials said Tuesday.
The deadline for applications for the post of "caretaker" of tropical Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef looms on Sunday -- and the competition is already tough, the Queensland state government warned.
The job pays 150,000 Australian dollars (about 100,000 US dollars) for six months and includes free airfares from the successful candidate's home country to the white sands and clear waters of Hamilton Island.
In return, the winner will be expected to have as much fun as he or she can -- soaking up the sun, swimming, snorkeling, sailing -- and report to a global audience via weekly blogs, photo diaries and video updates.
Hamilton Island
In Memory
Louis Bellson
Big band and jazz drummer Louie Bellson, a master musician who performed with such greats as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Benny Goodman and his late wife, Pearl Bailey, has died. He was 84.
Bellson died Saturday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles of complications of Parkinson's disease following a broken hip in November, according to his wife, Francine.
Bellson's career spanned more than six decades, performing on more than 200 albums with jazz greats including Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, Oscar Peterson, Woody Herman, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie and Louis Armstrong.
It was through Ellington that he met Bailey, the great singer and Broadway performer. They married in 1952, and when she died in 1990 at age 72, he told the Philadelphia Daily News that "I just lost my best friend."
He was designated as a "master of jazz" in 1994 by the National Endowment for the Arts, which said he "ranks among the foremost big-band drummers of the swing and post-swing eras and is best known for his precise technique and the invention of two pedal-operated bass drums."
Bellson wrote more than 1,000 compositions and arrangements in several genres, including jazz, swing, orchestral suites, symphonic works and ballets. As an author, he published more than a dozen books on drums and percussion.
Bellson was born in 1924 in Rock Falls, Ill., son of Italian immigrants whose family name was originally Balassoni. He told Jazz Connection, an Internet magazine, that he was entranced by the sound of drums when his father took him to a parade when he was 3. His father, who eventually opened a music store, taught his son to play drums and other instruments.
Bellson was still in his teens when he pioneered the double bass drum set-up, and two years later he went on to win the Slingerland National Gene Krupa drumming contest.
Louis Bellson
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