Mix Master Mike feature – ATM 2004

Mix Master Mike feature – Published in ATM Magazine, 2004

A full version of the q&a this feature is based is available online at spinscience.org.uk and ukhh.com.

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Terror-wrist-ism

Mixmaster Mike is a legend in the world of DJing but not necessarily for all the right reasons. He’s won DMC world titles, he introduced Qbert to scratching, he’s been a part of the most famous DJ crew in history (the Invisibl Skratch Piklz) alongside Qbert, Disk, Apollo, D-Styles and Shortkut, he’s been the Beastie Boys’ DJ since 98 and yet he’s also known as a crazy motherfucker both on and off stage, responsible for some of the most mental turntable music to date and for using his scratches to talk to aliens and other cosmic entities (and that’s not even the half of it). But it would seem that time has had a soothing effect on Mike as demonstrated by his recent second solo LP, ‘Bangzilla’, a sharp contrast to his first solo outing, ‘Anti Theft Device’ an album still regarded to this day as one of the weirdest and most singular pieces of turntable music and production ever released. So has time really soothed the Serial Wax Killer or is just a ploy?

As we sit down in a coffee shop the morning after the Beastie Boys’ London show in December last year Mike seems fairly subdued, no doubt due to the previous night’s activities. But soon with a latte in one hand and cake in the other I find the serial wax killin’ villain in good mood and true to his legendary self. While Mike was already a celebrity in the world of DJing and turntablist circles by the time he hooked up with the Beastie Boys for their ‘Hello Nasty’ album, teaming up with the legendary New York rappers helped his popularity grow even further and allowed him to showcase his skills and creativity to a brand new audience, most of whom were probably taken unaware when they first witnessed Mike on stage with the Beasties back in 1999. And to see him still touring with them five years down the line you realise that their coming together at the time was more then just hype. Half way through their world tour Mike’s having a great time being back on the road as the backbone of the Beasties’ new shows, “it’s going great so far, I’m opening up the show, doing solos in the middle… the whole show kinda runs through my turntables now, even more than before. But then we’ve also got a full band thing going on too, with Alfredo Ortes and Money Mark.”

Yet beyond being the Beastie Boys’ DJ, Mike is also an accomplished solo artist in his own right, having released his first LP in the late 90s on the legendary Asphodel label. That LP, ‘Anti Theft Device’, still stands tall today even if it’s generally because people still can’t figure out what it is they’re listening to. “I was out of my mind making Anti Theft Device!!” says Mike laughing out loud. “I was a fucking crazed lunatic… I think that Anti Theft Device was… I mean…” interesting? “Interesting! Interesting work but I feel like it’s two different worlds. Both albums are on the same plane of crazy psychedelic audio hypnotism, but I think they’re really two different worlds, two different moments in my life. I think Anti Theft Device, was more based upon ‘ok I’ve got this type of music I’m creating, let me experiment with it.’ Then Bangzilla is like ‘I’ve got some shit and I know what I want’. Working on Anti Theft Device I was just making things in the lab and being like ‘ok I guess this is gonna be the next song, whatever…’”

Mike’s second LP was also slow in the coming, with fans waiting 5 years for a new opus. But as the saying goes, good things come to those who wait. “I didn’t want to rush anything. I wanted to make something that was going to be pretty much stamped in hip hop history. I wanted to make something different to my previous work, something more solid, not all over the place. I feel like this record is just like a more, more… more well-rounded album.” Something that is hard to disagree with when you consider that Bangzilla is a much shorter album then Anti Theft, clocking in at just over 30 mins, but packing enough heat to keep the most die hard fans happy. “I originally made 25, 26 cuts for the album. But I felt like it would have been overkill if I’d put 20 or so cuts on the record, I felt that 13-14 was a more appropriate number. I didn’t want to hit people over the head with a big sledgehammer, though at the same time I do want to hit them over the head with a sledgehammer. But I felt like the timing was right, it was nice and consolidated there… I didn’t want to overproduce or overdo myself. I originally did 5 different versions of the album. So as I was making the record I had it in my Ipod and I was listening to it over and over, until I was like ok… And to me this version of the album was more appropriate for the listener.”

Bangzilla definitely sees Mike return to what he does best: big, loud and heavy drums, fast tempos, insane cuts and a unique collage of sounds and samples that would never work together quite so well if someone else had tried fitting them together. Whilst Bangzilla showcases Mike’s production work in full effect, it wouldn’t be the same without Mike’s turntable skills, which are incorporated into the music without trying to be the sole point of focus. “I wanted to make the music for my turntables. I wanted to make music and as soon as I made all this music, I wanted to colour it all in with my turntables. That was the turntables’ work…” Add to that some classic drum sounds, Moog synths and a bit of Reason and Pro Tools and you’ve got yourself another epic musical journey into the mind of Mixmaster Mike.

In addition to his recent LP Mike’s also thinking of releasing an official break record in the future, especially as there have been quite a few bootlegs with his name on it in the last few years, including one called ‘Beastie Boys Breaks’ which was touted as being the official record Mike used during the last Beastie’s tour. However when asked Mike tells a different story: “That’s way older then the last tour! I made that show vinyl but never ever used it! Because I found I put too much shit on that record to the point where it’s too confusing to use. So all that shit is bootleg, all of it…” Lastly there are also rumours that Mike is working with Vestax on some new DJ products. Following in the footsteps of fellow ex-ISP members Qbert and D-Styles, who have both worked with Vestax to develop new turntables, Mike’s contribution should see some new technological advances come to light in the not too distant future. In the meantime Mike’s quite happy to discuss what he would incorporate into a turntable if they let him have whatever he wants. “Ummmm… I guess I’d have a… A pop up DVD screen, probably a toaster, and probably (pauses) a Swiss army knife too…” and what about a USB port? “Yeah USB port! And a blow dryer! I don’t know man, I mean… shit… Pop up DVD screen would be fly! Pop a DVD in while I’m cutting it up! Pop a video in while you’re doing your live show, watch a movie while you perform. That would be some sick shit… I’m into gadgets, I like gadgets so… As long as I get some James Bond type shit I’m happy…”