ON SCREWED MUSIC, SLOWING DOWN & STRANGE SITUATIONS ON SOCIAL MEDIA. By Rebecca Bratburd
JUST BEFORE HENRY LAUFER (SHLOHMO) MOVED BACK TO LOS ANGELES FROM NEW YORK CITY, WE HAD THE CHANCE TO SIT DOWN WITH HIM AND CHAT ABOUT HIS MUSIC AESTHETIC, HIS INVOLVEMENT WITH MAINSTREAM ARTISTS AND ODD ENCOUNTERS ON TWITTER. Let’s talk about your music a little bit. One question I always have when listening to your mixes is, why do you slow down pop songs? I’ve always been a huge fan of screwed music and just slowing things down in general. It makes things better. Besides that, with pop music specifically, it is the reappropriation of something familiar. It’s kind of the same thing as sampling. You flip the break of that song that everyone likes, so when it loops back, everyone is like "oh shit, it’s a sample, and not the song," you know what I mean? So when it’s a super slow-ass song, you’re like "oh what is this? It’s Christina Aguilera, I remember that song, but it sounds so crazy slowed down." It’s a really simple thing. I like to hear it; people like to hear it. But I thought people were going to hate that that’s part of my aesthetic.
I love most pop music, so I wish it was easier to be like, "What’s up Trey Songz?" But I don’t think it works like that even if you know them. It’s a really obnoxious and boring process, and everyone gets fucked over, and labels suck and whatever... I’m just trying to keep it cool. I’m not doing this because I want to be famous. I’m doing this because I like it. I want to have fun. I’m not going to wait for somebody to use my shit. If it’s eight months down the line, I’m going to give that track to someone else. I want to make things, and put them out. I still want to work with people. I just wish it wasn’t such a bullshit process.
What is the deal with producing all your music lo-fi? Firstly, probably because I don’t have the means of hi-fi things. Well, I guess that’s not true. Anyone with a computer can make things sound however they want. I’m just not that good at mixing things, or anything. My aesthetic has always just been shitty. I like things that sound aged, and things that have a certain quality to them that is irreplaceable, like super old gospel, or old dub, old reggae. It’s such a specific recording quality. There’s something on every track that sounds different, and specific, and old. Like old Hypnotized Minds stuff—there’s something about the dirt in that recording, all the bit crush, two times cassette ripped back and forth, copied a million times. “Smoked Out, Loced Out” wouldn’t have been the same mixtape without that. If it was the same shit, but super hi-fi, it would have sucked. There’s something really specific about scary Satan rap that sounds like shit. If that sounded good, it wouldn’t be real.
What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever seen on Twitter? There was this girl who said she was drunk on Twitter. If you have to say you’re drunk on Twitter, you’re probably not drunk. She was saying very lewd things to me, very crude things. She was like, umm, trying to figure out where I was playing and… [laughs], and she was like, "If I see you at the club tonight, I am going to suck your dick." It was like a threat. "If I fucking see you, I’m gonna suck your dick." Did you feel threatened? It was flattering and terrifying at the same time. It’s not that I don’t like those kinds of people, it’s just I don’t choose to get my dick sucked by those kinds of people [laughs]. You know what I’m saying? I feel bad for her parents. You know she doesn’t have a boyfriend. Yeah, you know she actually does have a boyfriend. A few boyfriends. So that was really… funny. And I have a girlfriend too, so it makes the whole thing weirder. Do I say, "yeah, thank you, that’s nice of you,"? [laughs].
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Do you think you’ll approach The Weeknd, or another more mainstream artist, to collaborate with or do remixes for again?
Last question. What is the last dream you remember?
Some of that stuff has already been going on a little bit. But I find it difficult to work with “big people,” just because no one actually wants to make anything. No one wants to work. I want to make music. I really like doing it. When I say I’m going to make something, I do it. If I don’t do it, it’s actually because I didn’t want to do it. There’s that. And I’m really bored with people hitting me up, being like "I’m whoever, let’s make some shit," and then I send them a bunch of stuff and they’re not emailing me back for months.
I was with a friend yesterday, and we were talking about Dwight Howard getting signed to the Lakers. We started talking about Steve Nash too. And then I dreamt that I was reading on the Internet that Steve Nash died. It was weird, because I don’t fucking care. I’m the most apathetic sports person ever. It was super weird, because I dreamt about it really apathetically. I dreamt that I read it on my timeline and was like, "Oh shit, he died."... But no disrespect. Don’t die unless it’s time.