I read somewhere that you were already messing around with recording software at age 13. Mhm.

What got you into music so early? I was always in the music program. I was in band since 4^th grade playing the saxophone and clarinet. And then in high school I joined the drum line. But I actually got into dj’ing, when I was 13 and I was spinning hip-hop and drum n’ bass. I had a friend that had an older brother who was into dj’ing and I would always go to their house and mess around with the turntables and thought that was pretty cool. I think it was just natural progression for someone who was into dj’ing/production. I had a lot of older friends in freshman year of high school, and one of them gave me a bootleg copy of this production software, so I installed it on my dads computer and just didn’t go to sleep after that.

What kind of music were you listening to at that age? At 13, I was listening to a lof of hip hop like…it’s sort of the age where you just want to be rebellious and you just want to listen to underground stuff. So I was listening to a lot of backpack hip hop. Its crazy cause since I had older friends, I went to my first rave when I was in 8^th grade, so I had to lie to my parents that I was gonna go sleepover at my friends house. And I went raving, and that sort of changed my whole life a little bit, cause I liked it so much. But yeah, I was listening to a lot of house music and drum n’ bass.

When you say hip hop are you talking about stuff like A Tribe Called Quest? That kind of music? Yeah, I was listening to Tribe…and Visionaries…and a lot of stuff on the radio, listening to a lot of KROQ and Power. But yeah, I would say my favorite group would be Tribe. Kinda typical I guess, but I just really like the beats. I later found out a lot of my favorite beats were done by Dilla but then I found out after he died. So it was pretty weird.

So earlier this year, I heard you lost your day job. Yeah I was working at an audio company and I was doing tech support, and because of the recession they had to cut the two youngest dudes. So I was really freaking out not having a job.

But I’m sure that gave you a lot more time to work on your music. Yeah definitely, cause it worked out. It was like a blessing in disguise. Cause the same week I was laid off, I got a booking agent and they were interested. And  that happened through my friend Alfred, he records under the name Datalist, and he referred me.

Looking back your probably happy then that you lost your job. Yeah cause I was requesting a lot of time off to play shows and they were probably feeling like “This guys starting to this more and more.”  so maybe that’s why I got cut.

Drift has been getting a lot of positive reviews and feedback. Are you ever overwhelmed or surprise at how well your doing? I’m just more happy, and I’m just very appreciative that it worked out. I’m just surprised that I’m sustaining just doing music right now, its kinda crazy.

How is drift different from your EP? I would say it s a lot different. The songs on the EP were made in 05’ and I was just really frustrated and I didn’t know how the music industry was, and the industry was changing really quick. And at that time I was working at a record store called Turntable Lab in Hollywood and there were so many guys that were selling their own mixtapes there. So I realized I could do the same and sell my music through iTunes through my own distrubution. And that was my first release. But yeah, within 05 till like 08, my music style changed a lot.

How do you think it changed though? I think as I got older within that time, that when I wrote music it was more of an emotional outlet for me. A therapeutic one. I was kinda depressed for a little while with family and financial issues, so I think that’s why the music was a little darker. It’s just funny cause I was wrote it during the winter time so I think it kinda translated into the sound too.

Like the snow had some sort of affect? Haha. Yeah sorta haha. I remember watching Lord of the Rings, and Edward Scissorhands was always playing on tv too and I really liked the soundtrack to it so that just all kind of came up together in Drift.

What’s the usual process you go through to compose a song? I usually start with melodic and chord progressions, more of the sound design. So in the studio I would mess with my different keyboards and instruments and I would try to create a tone. And I just build from that, with drums and bass line.

So you’ve done remixes for Flying Lotus and Radiohead and many others, are you planning on doing any other ones or looking forward to doing any? Honestly….I don’t know if I should say this….but I guess I’m just kinda tired of doing remixes. I just finished the remix for this band called The xx, Exile and some local LA bands. 

I don’t know, I just feel like I should focus more on making my own music, that’s what I enjoy most. I don’t have to think as much. It’s just more enjoyable for me.

Coincidentally, your gonna be featured in the same issue as The xx too. Oh cool! Yeah I actually don’t know for a fact if the remix is gonna be used…but I finished it and everything.

That’s cool, are they gonna be compiled into their next album or something? I think its gonna be on their next single, called Islands. Not sure.

Cool, so what are you listening to right now? Yesterday while I was driving to a gig in San Diego, and I was listening to the Beach House album, Burial and the new Hudson Mohawke album. Those are the three albums Im listening to at the moment…I really like the Beach House album.

Yeah they are really good! But speaking of Burial, would you say Burial kind of influences your music? Yeah I think so, I was listening to a lot of Burial when I was doing the record.

So I visited your site yesterday, and you recently posted an entry with some photos up. Are you interested in photography? I’m not like a photographer, or its my hobby or anything but I just appreciate any type of good art. I’m really into design so I visit a lot of design blogs and whatever catches my eye I just post about it.

So I think at the end of this month your going on tour to Europe? Yeah actually I’m leaving on Tuesday.

Oh! So do you like touring or do you prefer to stay at home around in LA? I actually really like touring, I just don’t like flying. It’s a big hassle. But other than that I really like performing.

Are there any destinations you’ve been to that you really enjoyed? Japan! It was just crazy. It was exactly how I envisioned it to be, it was just amazing to see it. To walk around the city and…the toilets were crazy.

Haha. Yeah, someone I knew just recently went over there and said the toilets had blue lights and stuff. No, well, the toilet I had at the hotel was super big. And it had this control panel on the side with over 40 buttons and knobs. And right when you walk in it starts making this water noise and I guess that’s so people can’t hear your farts and stuff. And the seat warmed up too. It also had this wireless remote too….I don’t understand why you need a wireless remote for a toilet though…

Haha. Do you have plans on releasing another album? I’ve been working on it slowly, I really hope to release another record at the end of next year.

Will it be different from Drift? Yeah it will definitely be different. Its just gonna be more diverse. I think Drift was more like one story, and I feel like this will be more like a compilation of stories.

Do you have any other plans for 2010? Uhmm…not really. I’ve actually been working on more hip hop beats. One of my goals is to make a beat for Busta Rhymes and I made one that is like perfect for him. Hopefully I can get it to him.

Listen:

Nightcrawler by NOSAJ THING

Fog by NOSAJ THING

www.nosajthing.com

Interviewed by Catherine Bui, featured in issue No.5.

(Source: titlemagazine.net)

Posted 9 months ago with 7 notes
Tags: listen  music  music interview  nosaj thing