Too many MP3s
Two Wisconsin DJs discourse on mash-ups
Audre Rae
In a post-vinyl, MP3 blog-addled world, DJs inevitably became live remixers and producers in their own right. Tastefully blended party curation is an art form in itself, but mashing two disparate tracks together seems so elementary when smartly manipulated software can combine eight-plus samples spanning two decades of rap, dance rock, pop, indie rock, and electronica. “Alalogic,” a track from laptop-bound Madison DJ Erin Keeffe, a.k.a. OCD Automatic, counts CSS, LCD Soundsystem, Justice, and Outkast among its sweaty array of components. Such remixes are handy guides to a DJ’s taste and sense of humor: The unifying thread of Keeffe’s “Hump Science Harder” is a set of Fergie vocals re-edited “to make her say stupid shit.” Along with Milwaukee DJ Asher Gray, better known as Diamonds, Keeffe has become a staple of Madison’s Indie Queer dance nights. Decider spoke to Keefe and Gray (separately) about the finer points of over-stimulating audiences via laptop.
Decider: How many samples need to be used before something’s no longer a mash-up and becomes something else?
Erin Keeffe: That’s a blurry line. I’ve definitely done tracks with only two or three things, and then I’ve done other tracks where I’ve brought in all sorts of different samples, like just the cowbell sound from an Aphex Twin remix track. I guess if it’s purposely recognizable, then I consider it a mash-up.
D: Does software turn DJing into more of a visual than a tactile thing?
EK: I’ve always been kind of dependent on visuals. It helps me organize what I want to do by having little pockets, as opposed to looking at a long list. I have a system: Certain colors represent certain types of music.
D: What are your colors?
EK: This is still a work in progress. Blue is ’80s, yellow is like hip-hop/rap stuff. CSS, The Knife, stuff like that is pink for some reason.
D: How do you surprise someone who spends a lot of time trawling MP3 blogs?
EK: Staying really on top of things and in tune with what’s coming out is important, but people who know what’s new are not going to be like, “Oh, I just heard this yesterday, what the fuck?” Maybe in other cities, but it’s Madison. People aren’t that elitist.
D: How do you distinguish between terms like “remix,” “re-edit,” and “mash-up”?
Asher Gray: A remix is more when you’re actually getting into the meat of the track and re-sequencing things, chopping stuff up. Re-edits sometimes shift little parts of the song around to lock in a more regular, programmed rhythm. I don’t particularly like the term “mash-up”—people now are staying away from it more, not taking it seriously. I think somebody said it once, and then it became this big huge fad and a bunch of kids got sequencing software. There’s a lot more that goes into it than just, “Oh, I’m gonna play a 50 Cent a cappella over a Prince track” or, “I’m gonna take some Justice song and put it under Rihanna.”
Decider: How many samples need to be used before something’s no longer a mash-up and becomes something else?
Erin Keeffe: That’s a blurry line. I’ve definitely done tracks with only two or three things, and then I’ve done other tracks where I’ve brought in all sorts of different samples, like just the cowbell sound from an Aphex Twin remix track. I guess if it’s purposely recognizable, then I consider it a mash-up.
D: Does software turn DJing into more of a visual than a tactile thing?
EK: I’ve always been kind of dependent on visuals. It helps me organize what I want to do by having little pockets, as opposed to looking at a long list. I have a system: Certain colors represent certain types of music.
D: What are your colors?
EK: This is still a work in progress. Blue is ’80s, yellow is like hip-hop/rap stuff. CSS, The Knife, stuff like that is pink for some reason.
D: How do you surprise someone who spends a lot of time trawling MP3 blogs?
EK: Staying really on top of things and in tune with what’s coming out is important, but people who know what’s new are not going to be like, “Oh, I just heard this yesterday, what the fuck?” Maybe in other cities, but it’s Madison. People aren’t that elitist.
D: How do you distinguish between terms like “remix,” “re-edit,” and “mash-up”?
Asher Gray: A remix is more when you’re actually getting into the meat of the track and re-sequencing things, chopping stuff up. Re-edits sometimes shift little parts of the song around to lock in a more regular, programmed rhythm. I don’t particularly like the term “mash-up”—people now are staying away from it more, not taking it seriously. I think somebody said it once, and then it became this big huge fad and a bunch of kids got sequencing software. There’s a lot more that goes into it than just, “Oh, I’m gonna play a 50 Cent a cappella over a Prince track” or, “I’m gonna take some Justice song and put it under Rihanna.”
2 Many DJ’s were really the inspiration for me to start doing stuff like that—the Dewaele brothers from [Belgium], they’re in Soulwax now—that stuff is so complicated and intense. If I’m going to throw an a cappella over something, the reason why I think it works is because it gives it a new sort of energy. Maybe it’s sped up, or the underlying track’s slowed down. Though, especially with the rap stuff, it’s gotten so common in the last year or two. Rappers are using dance-influenced stuff in their music.
D: What’s the difference in dynamic between Milwaukee and Madison dance parties?
AG: Milwaukeeans are a little more reserved—it’s harder to get people to dance. Madison’s a college town, so there’s a wider array of backgrounds. They honestly remind me a lot of the kids in L.A. I would say the kids that party in L.A. are probably the craziest I’ve played for so far: Kids were dancing from the time they got into the club to the time they got kicked out. To me, the Madison scene’s a lot more like that than Milwaukee’s, and I think that that’s awesome. Honestly, we had that Diplo show [in Milwaukee] and there were like, 30 kids from Madison. They were the kids that got the party started.
