one day on the F train home, I remember falling asleep. When I opened my eyes, I saw the doors open, and thought I had been sucked into the machine!
When did you realize you wanted to make music?
When I was young, my mom kept a diary for me, and wrote that I told her I wanted to make music. After I graduated high school, she took me to schools in Brooklyn and Manhattan to get a clear idea of what I wanted to do. I was so uninterested until we got to the Center for Media Arts. I knew that was it. I took an editing class, and had a lightbulb moment when I did the first edit. My goal was to make something like those Hollywood mixes, and that was my first step.
How did you hook up with Lenny Dee as Brooklyn Funk Essentials?
Lenny Dee is from my neighborhood, in Gravesend, Brooklyn, and we met at a record store before I got the job at Shakedown. He worked down the street as an intern at Nile Rodgers’s studio, Skyline, and after he left, he started at Nu Groove and Fourth Floor [Records]. Arthur, who had done a record named “We’ve Come Together” [credited to] the Brooklyn Funk Essentials, saw Lenny and I together so often he said,“You’re both from Brooklyn.Why don’t you take the name Brooklyn Funk Essentials and use it for yourselves?”
How did you find Arthur Baker and Shakedown Sound?
The Latin Rascals were really active DJs, and I was fascinated by what they were doing.They started to get involved with Arthur’s releases. I followed Billboard closely, and there was an article on Arthur, where he talked about giving new talent a chance. There was another magazine called Dance Music Report . I saw an ad for the Latin Rascals, where it gave a telephone number. I cold-called them one day, and Tony Moran answered. I was kind of starstruck, went silent for a moment, and then started talking. He was really open, gave me some suggestions, and told me, “When you finish school, come on up to the studio.” The day that I finished school, I went to Shakedown for an interview with Tim Scott, the manager, in March or April ’87.Tim told me,“We don’t need anyone now, but you can follow up,” so I took that to the extreme and followed up several times a month. Finally, in December, they said, “Come in, we need someone.” It was a dream come true.
Tell us about your first hit, Groove Committee’s “I Want You to Know” in ’91.
“I Want You to Know” is a great example of a simple production that could have success. After I did it, I took it to Nu Groove, and they put it out.All the NewYork jocks got on it, and people started calling me for the first time.Todd Terry, who is also from Brooklyn, called me and said, “Go back in and do that again.” I knew what he meant. He had done “Party People,”“CanYou Party” [as Royal House], and [the Jungle Brothers’] “I’ll House You.” And all three, musically speaking, are the same song done in different ways. I went back in and did “Dirty Games” by Groove Committee and “Feels So Right” by Solution.
Could you describe the energy at Shakedown?
Just being available is such a factor in success. I was there to do whatever they needed the best that I could, and at the same time, I let Arthur know that I’d like a shot. I was showing what my intentions were and,slowly,I became his right arm.One day, Arthur told me,“Look, I have no other editors available today, you want to
How did commercial success inspire you creatively?
Trying to figure out what’s going to work and get noticed was a journey, and it gave me more focus to stay on the path because I had done something that got a reaction, not just locally but
abroad. Getting advice to do it again, getting more notice, and growing has two sides to it. As a creator, we can do anything soundwise, but who is it going to be received by? Is there a market? Does that matter? I don’t know if there’s a right answer. For me, staying the path meant doing certain types of production over and over again, which is satisfying in one way but frustrating in another. I understand it’s not always a fair world.We think of an artist we like doing something in a style we didn’t expect, and it could be shocking. Maybe it could be a success, but sometimes it could be a way of growth. There are a lot of factors that determine
give it a shot?”That was my moment of truth. He gave me five to ten reels of tape and said, “I need you to come up with one version from all these.” I sat down, listened to all the versions, took notes, and then edited the tapes. I labeled the parts not being used with a grease pencil, and taped them to the wall. It looked like a tailor lost in his world. Arthur taught me work ethic. We were there day and night, night and day. I wouldn’t show that I was tired because I figured there was a line of people who would take my place. I’d go to the storage room, and sleep on the Sonics. I was in front of the tape machine so much that,
WaxPoetics 45
( opposite ) Floppy discs used in the making of Cloud 9’s “Do You Want Me Baby” (1992), Robert Aaron’s “Sax in the Ozone” (1993), and “Do You Feel Me” (1996) by NY’s Finest, via Victor Simonelli’s Wax Poetics Collection. .
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