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Words by Dan Kartzman | Photos by Dee Herman
Music can be the thread which weaves together the different cultures of our world. If you have been to a concert of any kind you will know that hundreds, sometimes thousands of people come together peacefully in celebration of sounds which make them happy, which make them move. The next level is when those people are completely diverse coming from the country, the city, and all points in between. DJ Logic is one of the special musicians in a position to make that happen. He is a turntablist whose passion is to jam in improvisational music. With his instrument he has the ability to bridge the gap between hip-hop and jam, bringing in a diverse crowd and making live music more powerful.
Whenever anyone does something new it is going to be met with some level of uncertainty. DJ Logic has and will continue to establish himself as a musician and the turntables as a musical instrument. This is why he has worked relentlessly, sitting in with many different bands sometimes more than one in a night. He explains, “By playing with musicians and working around musicians, people look at me as another musician.” The turntables give Logic almost a conductors stance on the music, the band becomes a third turntable for him to work into the groove. They provide the framework and he can come in with the color, filling out the jam and keeping people moving.
Basically, every show Logic sits in on and each time Project Logic performs he makes a believer out of at least one more person. This is the way he treats his fans as well. Logic is always accessible, encouraging email from fans, hanging around after a show to talk to every last kid, even offering turntable lessons as a contest. His theory: "It’s just giving back to the people, I love talking to the people so it’s a cool thing. They come and support the music, which is something I appreciate." The people come to have fun and this DJ does what a true DJ is supposed to, he keeps them happy and moving.
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The Fillmore | San Francisco | 05.26.01
Project Logic is just that, a project. Logic, who hopes to one day bring an orchestra into the project, is pushing forward and having fun. He says, "My main goal is to turn people on to something different by spreading the music. Just being creative... coming out with wonderful ideas, different things people wouldn’t expect." Always evolving, Logic has recently incorporated Subconscious, an MC from Philadelphia, into the project for the rest of his West Coast tour. Just another step towards the submersion of two different musical genres.
A good DJ has to have the ability to take different grooves and blend them seamlessly into one. Logic has done this beautifully with Project Logic and his new ropeadope album The Anomaly.
The Interview
DanK: What is your main goal musically as musician and with Project Logic?
Logic: My main goal is turning people on to something different spreading the music. Going to a lot of different places, spreading the music and planting the flag. Showing people that the turntable is an instrument. Enjoying life and having a good time with what I’m doing. Taking the music as far as I can. I hope eventually to have a full orchestra. A string section, kind of like being a conductor with a stick, except with my turntables.
DanK: What brings you into the Jam scene?
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The Fillmore | San Francisco | 05.26.01
Logic: I started out mixing hip-hop at a young age. I got all into the hip-hop element, learning how to mix and DJ. A friend of mine, who lived in the other building, he played drums. He played with a lot of hip-hop cats and he also had his alternative rock band and he asked me one day to just come on down and try-out with his rock band. This was in the 80’s and there were no DJ’s doing that at the time. I was just like, "yeah, all right, I’ll check it out." I went down there, I was only 14 or 15 at the time, went down and was like, "I don’t know if this is gonna work" because there were guitars and I was all into the hip-hop. I just sat down and started checking out what each instrument was doing and tried to work myself around the mix. Trying to find the right colors and records to blend with what they was doing and I looked at them like a third turntable. And I didn’t go to music school or nothing like that so everything was just by ear, paying attention and listening, I learned my way around the verse, the chorus, to the bridge. We had a vocalist, a guitarist, bass player, drums, and keys.
Everything worked out and it worked out great. I enjoyed it. I looked at playing with the band as a hobby and it turned out being a professional thing from there on. The band got signed to Sony/Epic, the name of the band was Eye and I at the time. We toured with Psychedelic Furs, Ice-T, and Living Color. That’s how I hooked up with Vernon [Reid] cause we was also part of the Black Rock Coalition. He always talked about getting together, when the time was right. Living Color and my band disbanded, we got together and just collaborated on some stuff. He was still signed to Sony, he did a solo project called Mask and that was on Epic and I worked with him on that. From that he did another thing called My Science Project and working with Vernon that’s how I met Medeski, Martin, & Wood. Billy Martin saw what I was doing with Vernon and he dug it, so he asked me to come on down and work with him. I just contributed my skills, as I contributed my skills with Vernon, I did the same thing with MMW. And just played a whole role with Medeski, Martin, & Wood - I became a fourth member in a way. They basically had the skeleton and I added the colors inside, which was great.
At the time I hadn’t heard their music, they just asked me to come down and jam with them at their 'Shack' release party. When I went down there I was just mixing records, all different kinds of rare grooves and stuff. I sat in with them and things just fit very well, the audience was digging it, they was digging it, things just worked out. When the Combustication thing happened and they got signed to Blue Note, they just gave me a call and we just started touring. They gave me my first opportunity to remix some tracks, I did the "Bubblehouse Remix" and "Dracula" and that turned out great. Everything was good and the reception was good. Being on the road touring with them, being with them on stage, it was fun. I learned a lot from playing with those guys, I was in the background just contributing my skills to everybody. When the time came around for me to start my own thing I just went out and got together with some cats and kind of formed a little thing, you know, a project, Project Logic.
DanK: Do you think that because you sit in often it takes away from Project Logic or helps it?
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The Fillmore | San Francisco | 05.26.01
Logic: It builds Project Logic, because playing with musicians and working around musicians, people look at me as another musician. A cat just coming and sitting in and being able to enhance what they’re doing, bringing the creativity out of them as well as myself. Like two artists getting together, one is creating the skeleton and the other is coming with the paint. Even with the Project its totally different, I like doing different things. Some of the people I might work with they may be on something totally different then what the Project is on. I like always doing something different. Like with MMW they’re not the same as the Project, so when I jam with those cats it's like a whole totally different thing and I look at things musically different with them and as well as with the Project. I’m seeing other things in a different way, like as if I was spinning with the band in a way.
DanK: Have you layed down anything yourself, put it to vinyl and then spin it?
Logic: Yeah, I do that. I have a lot of different things on vinyl. There might be some loops or some grooves which I have on acid tape actually.
DanK: Are they things away from the turntables you lay down or just looped things?
Logic: It can be both basically. Some stuff I have on Vinyl made and then some records from some mom and pop stores that I might have had one of, but just got so messed up from scratching it so much. I use environmental sounds, cricket sounds or whale sounds, cultural sounds, from Indian to African and things like that. I like world music so I’ll go out and look for world sounds, cultural sound, instrument sounds. I got a sampler with me too, so I’ll program some stuff and work it all in the mix.
DanK: Do you also musically bring in jazz and classical? Is there anything not included or do you range from basically everything?
Logic: I look at it from everything, because I’ll use classical here and there. An opera voice or some strings. It varies. I’m on the fly. I might hear one thing and the band might be kickin’ something and groovin’ and I’ll think, "Oh, that’ll sound cool!" - the opera voice or some classical strings, with me manipulating it on the turntables or throwing some effects through it.
DanK: You said before a dream would be to be a conductor, do you feel that is what you do with the turntables?
Logic: Yeah, in a way. Sometimes I start off the groove or start doing some stuff on the turntables and the band will come in right behind, or vice-versa, they’ll start or I’ll start just to take it somewhere. I don’t like to stop, I like to keep the groove moving. I like to do segues into other grooves or creep a beat up when we’re ending a groove or a tune, and just keeping things moving, like a third turntable. Everyone has their own little element. The sax player, Casey Benjamin, he has his own little element, where he plays sax, ewi, flute, and keyboards. I have another keyboardist whose doing effects and sounds, his name is Mike Weitman. The drummer, he’s just versatile he plays hip-hop, drum and bass, and house, his name is Stephen Roberson. I just got a new bass player cause the old bass player he fractured his wrist, his name is Lamont McCaine. He’s coming up with some creative ideas, too, which is awesome. Things are just coming together.
DanK: I know you worked with Subconscious as far as the rap aspect goes...
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The Fillmore | San Francisco | 05.26.01
Logic: That was a little teaser. The remix is going to be even longer. Musically I listen to everything and I spin everything and jam, production-wise and musically and being a producer and a DJ all in one, these are the things I love and I just wanted to bring that all together. When I used to mix with MMW I know they had a lot of different heads come to their shows and I wanted to make the album like a mix tape, too.
DanK: Do you plan on bringing an MC on the live stage?
Logic: Yeah, Subconscious actually just came out to San Diego, he’ll be on the west coast tour. He came on the bus from New York. He’s a really dedicated, a good brother. I’m excited to be working him up in the mix. When he showed up for the first show in San Diego it was just off the hook, it was a good vibe from the audience and things worked out real nice, so I was happy with that. I’m looking forward to more of that. Showing them hip-hop, not only hip-hop but a lot of elements, just like the anomaly.
DanK: What are your thoughts in being in a position where you have an opportunity to truly bridge some gaps in music?
Logic: That’s what I’m focusing on. I’m also focusing on for people to have a good time. And leave like, "Damn, that was a show!" I just want to give them all the elements, like I said I cater to everybody and I want to turn anybody on to something different and something new, musically. Its like anomaly.
DanK: Why do people need to buy The Anomaly?
Logic: They need to buy it if they want to hear something different, something new. To get their groove on, their vibe on, to something different and new. This is the record for them to listen to or to pick up or buy. This is the anomaly record, this is the record that you can’t describe. Just out of the ordinary, this is a special record, that you can listen to from beginning to end. This is a record you can vibe to in the car, vibe to at work, vibe to when your in the car, whatever. It's a record for you.
Buy the Anomaly now!
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