MAESTRO
“For me, it’s all about sharing creative passions with the world, translating my energy through music.”
POSERS BEWARE
Loaded with a whole lotta hype, today’s “freshest” music invade the airwaves and molest our senses with clingy beats, cheap rhymes, and formula starlets. Run to the dancefloor ‘cause THE GASLAMP KILLER has had too much! By Sarah Jesri Photographed by adoborat
P
ut your motherfucking cameras down for five fucking minutes, and let me do my thing!” The Gaslamp Killer clamors on the mic just as he begins his set in Manila. Not quite the warmest of greetings from a worldrenowned DJ on the last leg of his Asian tour, but the crowd roared in delight nonetheless, anticipating the madness to come. DJ, turntablist, producer, and ehm, Gaslamp Killer? I prod hoping he wouldn’t mind answering that question for the nth time. “I come from San Diego, and the Gaslamp District is where you’re forced to play ‘cause there’s nowhere else. It’s basically a bunch of fucking retards getting down to Britney and that sort, and when I drop my shit, I would kill the dancefloor.” (And by
58 - www.statusmagonline.com
“kill,” he means “clear.” Obviously, kids, he does not mean that literally!) “There is definitely a great scene in San Diego, but it’s tiny,” which could be the reason he has since moved to LA, home of his label Brainfeeder together with other innovative beatsmiths including Flying Lotus, Daedelus, and Dr. StrangeLoop. He is resident of Low End Theory, a space where DJs, producers, music lovers, and geeks come together to share new music and go berserk on the dance floor. As a featured act, you’re expected to innovate and educate given the kind of heads that roll in there. Not everyone can dig his wild permutations of “Beats. It’s all about beats. World music, dubstep, hip-hop…that’s where these
newer forms evolved from.” An acquired taste, so to speak. As for his early influences, he lists “Acid rock. The likes of Hendrix, The Doors, Black Sabbath, and Led Zep. Then I got into hip-hop. Dre, Snoop, Bay Area stuff, Blackalicious... That’s what started it [for me].” In his recent 10” EP My Troubled Mind, he weaves hip-hop beats, rockin’ licks, organic percussions, jazz accents, and synths emanating glitchy theatrics. “For me, it’s all about sharing creative passions with the world, translating my energy through music… You’ve got to keep moving, let your soul out through expression, art, and movement. This is my way.” I ask if it has always been music for him. “Yeah, one way or another. I was a breakdancer before I was a
DJ. That can explain why I always have the urge to move. I’m also into graffiti and collecting records.” He certainly does come on strong because of his rabid head banging, reminiscent of a death metal rocker, and his taunting quips on the mic, like “Do you know what this face means? This face means you have no idea what track I’m playing!” Followed up by a “Fine, maybe five of you.” But there really is nothing to be afraid of. After his set, he’s likely to join the crowd to give out stickers, sell CDs, and to thank the heavy groovers for sharing their energy. See, the thing is, if he does bust your balls, it isn’t ‘cause you didn’t dig his shit: it’s because you didn’t have the mind to hear it out.
www.thegaslampkiller.com