Fade
The Beat Strangler
Administrator
illest o.g.
First of all, thanks for the interview. How are you doing these days?
Pretty good, thanks. The last couple of weeks/months have been extremely busy, but that's a very good sign... so I'm not complaining.
I understand you are European - Netherlands, to be exact. Most of us here in the States would know you from the Okay Player boards and as one-half of Foreign Exchange. Can you tell us a bit about yourself, and what you were doing before Foreign Exchange? Were you already working with artists from your home country?
I'm from the Netherlands, correct. Before Foreign Exchange I was pretty active as a live musician for about ten years already. I mainly played in Funk and Soul/R&B bands across the country. The last band I played in was a Zapp-like synthesizer-based electro funk band. Fun as it was, I kinda wanted to trade the live playing in for more studio work. So that's when I started producing. The fact that I started making Hip-Hop beats kinda came naturally since I have been listening to Hip-Hop for as long as I can remember.
Tell us a bit about how you got your start in hip hop. What were your earliest influences in Hip-Hop? What inspired you to become an artist yourself, and how long have you been producing?
The earliest memories I have were listening to albums like Licensed To Ill and 3 Feet High & Rising, stuff like that. Later on the Black Sheep album, Low End Theory, the first Cypress Hill. Ice Cube - The Predator. We used to have daily runs of Yo! MTV Raps, with the Fab Five Freddy special on Saturdays, so we got to watch all the latest videos. I never had any aspirations to become a Hip-Hop artist though. I didn't see myself as a rapper at all, and since I don't really DJ on a professional level I didn't see myself as a DJ either. I didn't find out until later that you don't necessarily have to be one in order to make beats. It was in 2000 or 2001 that I started making beats with a very simple computer setup.
What is the life of Nicolay like these days, after the Foreign Exchange project? I understand you and Phonte were featured on VH1 Soul. Has that exposure translated into more work for you as a producer?
It's starting to grow slowly but surely. You gotta keep in mind that, although we have been fortunate enough to have gotten a lot of exposure, we are still an "indy" act, on a "indy" label. But I am getting there. Recently there is an increase of demand for my production work. And since I quit my job as of January 1st to do this music thing full time, I expect a lot of great things to happen.
Is Foreign Exchange an actual group, or more of a Black Star type situation? (For those who don't know, Black Star was never an "official" group, according to the two members, Talib Kweli and Mos Def.) Are there any more albums planned?
Instead of a group, I think of it as more of a "production unit". Of course we've done the album together, but we have also done a lot of work on Darien Brockington's debut album, for instance. As far as The Foreign Exchange goes there are more projects and albums planned. BBE is releasing the "Connected" instrumentals on CD sometime around spring, we have some dance-oriented remixes that I did coming out soon and we will be appearing on the Radiohead Tribute CD that you might have heard of. That's about it for the near future.
Do you also handle engineering/mixing/mastering chores?
Sure, if needed. I usually mix the tracks while others actually engineer the vocals. Because, up to this point, I was never present when the vocals were recorded.
Mastering, I prefer to have someone else do the mastering of my own material. They always say you shouldn't master your own material as you have heard it too much to ever make any radical decisions.
Ok, let's get the requisite setup questions out of the way. Can you give us a list of your gear? Do you use any live instrumentation or are you strictly sample based?
Alright I'll just look around and give you a list (I'm in my studio right now):
- Dell desktop PC and Acer laptop PC, both running Windows XP.
- Terratec EWS88MT and Soundblaster Audigy 2 NX soundcards.
- Yamaha Motif 7 and DX11 synthesizers.
- Roland Juno 60 synthesizer.
- Korg MicroKorg synthesizer.
- Acoustic piano.
- Turntable, mixer.
- Bass and normal guitars, both electric and acoustic.
So that should answer your question. I sample but I also use a lot of live instrumentation.
You are an example not only of Hip-Hop's growing racial diversity, but also of Hip-Hop's globalization - not to mention the tremendous vehicle that the internet has given artists to promote themselves. What kind of perspective does that give you?
As far as the racial diversity and globalization goes, I never really gave it that much thought until recently. I found that while some people are critical of the participation of for instance Europeans, others look at it as a very positive thing. Personally, I think it makes the world a smaller place.
The internet is the most important medium in any type of music today. There's a lot of good things that come with that, but a lot of bad things too. A lot of the exposure that we got is because of the internet. At the same time, most of our album material leaked months prior to the proper release. So, a blessing as well as a curse.
What are your aspirations in life, beyond Hip-Hop? Is Hip-Hop "everything" to you as it is for some, or simply a piece to the bigger picture of your life?
Hip-Hop is not necessarily "everything" to me, but music is. I love and will always love Hip-Hop, but I love funk, soul, jazz, classical music... I love them all.
Do you have any other skills that we don't know about yet? Will we ever hear your name thrown into the "best producer on the mic" debates?
Nope. I will never touch a mic unless it's in jest. As far as skills are concerned, I don't think I lot of people have seen exactly what I'm capable of, yet. Including me. I'm gonna try and take it as far as it can go, no matter what genre.
With the market getting more and more saturated with producers - talented up and comers and wannabes alike - do you feel that there is room for everybody, or is it getting crowded to your ears? What do you feel set you apart from the swarms of other readily available producers online? What are some of the intangibles that you bring to the table as a producer?
Saturated? I feel it's not like that at all. Personally, if you're good, if you've got the skills, if you bring something to be table that's your own, then by all means go for it. That's what I did when I started out... So... crowded, no... a good producer or musician is always welcome, don't you think?
What sets me apart is my sense of music in general. My sense of depth. I am classically trained, so I do know a lot about melody, harmony, rhythm. I can pretty much build up a track from squat, sampling or no sampling. Let's say a ballad. I'll do everything from writing the music to arranging the keyboard parts to writing the string arrangements, you name it.
From the looks of things, this is only the beginning of your ascension into the realm of Hip-Hop's most respected boardsmen. Can you give us a quick rundown of some of your upcoming projects to look out for? Who are some artists you hope to work with in the next few years?
There's a lot going on at the same time, right now. I have tracks on Big Pooh's album ("Sleepers"), Cesar Comanche's album ("Squirrel And The Aces"), Supastition's album ("Chain Letters"). Also I worked with Yahzarah, Havana, Sy Smith, Kay, Last Poets, Keith Murray, and a lot more. I did I'd say half of the tracks on Darien Brockington's upcoming album.
I got a remix mixtape project coming up called "The Dutch Masters". Also, we're planning on releasing City Lights Volume 2 through BBE. And I know I'm forgetting some things but that's about it for now.
Do you see yourself continuing to be a part of the online community as you get more exposure as an artist? I know time begins to become an issue after a while, but there is always time to drop in and say hello, right?
Oh definitely. Depending on how busy things get, of course I'm gonna be online from time to time.
How well do you receive criticism? I know there are many artists who do not take criticism too well. However, I feel that as a fan, I do an artist a disservice to pretend to like something that I do not. As a producer myself, I much prefer to hear an honest response - even if it stings a bit. Where do you feel the line is drawn between acceptable criticism and outright "hating" on an artist? Can someone go too far in expressing their opinions?
Being incredibly critical myself, ironically I can't deal well with criticism. LOL. But I'm getting better at that. And you're absolutely right, nobody needs a yes-man. That's why working with Phonte was a good experience for me, he just straight up told me which tracks he was feeling and which tracks he wasn't feeling at all.
Do you have any plans or a desire to venture outside of the Hip-Hop realm musically? Will we ever see a Rock band or Jazz quartet executive produced by Nicolay?
Yes on all three!
Is the Netherlands an unknown hotbed for Hip-Hop talent? What are some artists we may be hearing from in the future? Will you have a hand in breaking them?
I wouldn't say "hotbed". There are a couple of talented producers over here that are just waiting on a lucky break like the one I had I guess. As far as emcees go, it's kind of a different story. The market over here is very small, with France, Germany and the UK mainly having their own artists. So if you wanna make a living, you pretty much gotta branch out. There are a couple of great groups and emcees rhyming in Dutch, but I don't know how far that will take them, honestly.
IllMuzik is a site run by, targeted at, and created for producers. We're also a fairly tight-knit community, and you are welcome here anytime. It's been a pleasure to interview you and I look forward to another one perhaps sometime down the line.
Thanks, my pleasure.