Fade
The Beat Strangler
Administrator
illest o.g.
At first it was the Beat This! Competition (twice), then it was the Battle That! Competition, and once again - Hardboiled grabs the Beat This! crown, taking out all who stand in his way of getting that "B!". I had interviewed him years ago - part 1 is here and part 2 is here. He's changed somewhat, from making beats and deejaying, to working with rappers and also playing the Flamenco guitar. With his recent Beat This! win, I had to find out what was new with Hardboiled. Let's begin...
Wow, I think this is the 3rd time you've landed an interview here. Sup?
It's real on the battlefield.
You're not as active on IllMuzik as years ago, yet you still stop by here and there and just win the Beat This! Competition. What's your secret?
I've never stopped making music and have kept evolving, but being open to new things like playing Flamenco guitar, learning EDM, and those damn social media sites sure cut down my time to be on some sites.
I noticed that you've grown and somewhat changed your style. What are you into now?
I've been really developing a way to mix my Flamenco guitar playing with Drum and Bass and EDM music. After I heard a DnB artist, Royalston, I really got into that idea since he showed me making great drum and bass is possible.
Even back in the day I noticed your beats were mixed loud, how do you do it?
I have always tried to mix things as loud as possible, BUT I was definitely peaking and clipping tracks then and even now. I had one of my rappers, L.H., text me as he was in the studio recording and the levels on my track were too loud! I told him just tell those fancy engineers to turn down the volume, but the track was probably clipping so I had to rework it. So it can be bad if you're mixing the levels super hot, but if you try to mix and get everything to the hottest level you can without clipping I think it works.
So how did you put together your winning beat?
It was done on the MPC 2000 XL. I had went record shopping the weekend before, and me and a friend that rapped were just chilling. We decided to make a song so we went to my studio. I started hitting the MPC pads with a the drum beat as he started writing. Then I found a good sample and ran it through an Aphex Aural Exciter unit, and it just came together really fast and nicely. Funny thing is that was more than five years ago. The song he wrote never got finished, but in music you can always adapt or create new things from previous work so I just tweaked a few things in the beat.
I remember you were DJing a while back, are you still doing that?
I DJ here and there and am just waiting for my rappers to finish up their songs so we can perform live, and we can bring it back to the rapper and DJ duos especially DJs that have skills on the turntables. I was more into the battling and performing aspect of DJing. Club DJing is very overrated and it's funny to go down to Las Vegas and see these EDM DJs on a billboard next to Celine Dion or some other big star. Their skills are literally nothing compared to an actual artist/musician or scratch DJ. I used to be a party and club DJ, and I think it's silly they can get paid more than actual musicians because I can teach someone to club DJ in two weeks max.
But club DJing is not for me. I like creating and making music which takes a lifetime to master so it's only for the people that truly love music, and in general to be honest I have a hard time finding songs or artists in any one genre that I want to listen to, which is why I have such a diverse taste in music. I can't stand sitting there in a club listening to EDM so called "rhythm" of four on the floor for every fucking song for an hour, or Hip Hop for an hour, or being blitzed by Dubstep wobbles for an hour, or whatever music really. I get bored of the similar song structure of the same musical style and have musical ADD so I have to hear different types of music.
What's with the guitar? Has that always been something you were into?
Actually no. I was a DJ and samplist first and being from Chicago I'm into dance music. I also got into Hip Hop production since No I.D.'s techniques were taught to a few producers in Chicago, and I got to learn them. And since he produced Common's first big album "Resurrection" and taught Kanye West as well as house music being created in Chicago I'd say I was very blessed to be born in Chicago for all the musical influences. All I wanted to do was learn a little piano and guitar to fatten up my sampled Hip Hop beats, but then I heard Flamenco guitar and knew right from hearing it that was a music I wanted to play. It's one of the most purest forms of music, not like Hip Pop or mainstream music where it's mostly about image and if you have a good music engineer.
So again, luckily I was in Chicago and started taking flamenco classes at The Old Town School of Folk Music for years. There's a lot of culture in Chicago and really anywhere in the U.S. as I discovered Flamenco guitar by just grabbing random guitar instructional at a library. You can't beat for free. You just got to be open to learn and take new things in. I was even at Green Mill Jazz Club the other day and got influenced by that, so you can expect some Drum and Bass Jazz fusion coming up.
Okay so what's your current setup like?
It's really just a computer. I sold my MPC 2000 XL and all outboard gear, and I use FL studio.
Your Beat This beat has a nice bounce to it and keeps the listener entertained, do you find that's what missing with a lot of Hip Hop beats today?
Yes, and I think a true love for music is what's lacking in music in general today. People think that if they dabble and grab a few different artists in music that's being open, but it seems to be learning to actually play diverse music or do something within that culture is what really inspires and influences your soul. Then seeing performances in those genres, digging for even more music, and making even more music. My life has been a lot of music. I've played lead electric guitar learning from a beastly 80s Metal guitarist from Manowar, learned Flamenco from the some of realest most passionate flamenco guitarists in Chicago, picked up playing keys from a Classical player, was in the DJ battle culture learning from DMC DJ battles, and done a lot of various dance styles like break dancing.
So that's what influences my rhythm and melodies, just learning alot of music. To me a lot of Hip Hop sounds the same now, and it's because the only influences people are mostly taking in are other Hip Hop artists so new musical styles are less likely to evolve unless people devour and live diverse types of music.
I also noticed the bassline in your beat was SICK. But basslines can be boring to work on. What's your take?
I don't like doing basslines either. It's very hard to make the kick and bass work well together, but in making EDM it's a huge problem they deal with and you can just lookup how they work with bassline and kick problems. Also just being aware of the timing of the kicks and bass can help as you don't them layering each other most the time.
Do you have any projects that you're currently working on?
I'm working with a few singers on some stuff, remix contests, and I'm making albums with a few Chicago rappers like L.H., Dre Moe, and Scrib Martian. Each rapper has their own unique rap styles.
- L.H. - https://www.youtube.com/user/lionheartrap/videos
- Dre Moe - https://soundcloud.com/chucklo
- Scrib Martian - https://www.youtube.com/user/IAmScrib/videos
If you had the chance to work with a big name producer, what would you do (besides act like a giddy schoolgirl)?
I'd have fun with messing with their gear and make a new fusion album. There'd be very different types of beats with singers and rappers on it.
Thanks for your time. Any shoutouts you'd like to give?
Thanks to all my music teachers. I'm the type that is the slowest in any class hands down for a while, but once I get the hang of things I get into a beast mode few others ever get to so their patience is and love of their arts is deeply appreciated. I want to thank my Mom, God for giving me the strength to fight my fight, and also the people who support hardboiled music. I'll keep repping real music for music check me out here:
More Information About Hardboiled
- Hardboiled - SoundCloud
- Hardboiled - Facebook
- Hardboiled - YouTube
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