Ay Carumba!! Samo Sound Boy is making one artist who’s big waves in 2010 on the Mixpak radar. From Aaliyah bootlegs to his space age cumbia-on-blast called “The Bandit” EP on Run Riot Records, Samo has demonstrated stellar comfort and expertise with everything from hip hop production, guarachero and cumbia to a kind of supercharged “dancing while the sun comes up at 6am” rave aesthetic.
I caught up with him to talk about bootleg t-shirts, remixing Ludacris on your Nintendo DS, and my new favourite term of 2010: “Keeping It Bort Sampson”. He was also kind enough to grace Mixpak with an exclusive mix featuring tons of future productions, which you can find in this interview after the jump.
Interview by Brendan Arnott (my text in bold)
Before getting into your production, someone who is introduced to Samo Sound Boy is going to notice a lot of Bart Simpson iconography, be it on your myspace page or your “Bort Sampson” blog. Can you explain why Bort keeps making an appearance?
Haha yeah. I just love the Bart bootlegs, especially the t-shirts that were so big in the 90s. All the bizarre knockoffs and different versions.
That was around the time that everyone was “doing the Bartman” too, right?
Hell yeah. Just growing up in the 90s, man… doing the Bartman. It’s funny though because they don’t really exist anymore. Bootleg Bart shit is in the past and it’s all Spongebob now. Any swap meet in LA has at least a hundred different bootleg Spongebob shirts with him as an LA Raider or a Rasta.
That’s fantastic.
Yeah.. it’s funny because I’m too old to have watched Spongebob, but what i know i can really appreciate.. I mean, he lives in a pineapple.
Speaking of bootleg origins, you first started DJing at a dancehall club in Buenos Aires?
Yeah man, this spot called Fugees 99. It’s on the very edge of San Telmo in Buenos Aires, it’s a tiny lil’ dancehall..
I hung out there a couple of nights and then told the DJ that I was a DJ too (which I wasn’t really at the time…) but he invited me to come open up for him, and by the time he figured out how bad I was we had already hit it off. Shout out to DJ Alex! I met Oro11 (now of Bersa Discos) at the same spot though, and he was equally encouraging. I would end up with DJ Alex on Fridays doing pretty straight hip hop stuff and then another night there with Oro11 and his crew, which were all these really cool dudes doing w ay more experimental cumbia stuff. They were having a really hard time getting people to come out, but a year or so later those same guys were doing Zizek (referring to this label) and blowing up.
Would you say that those DJ gigs kind of bridged your interest in hip hop to cumbia? I’ve heard you were a straight up hip hop kid growing up.
No doubt man.. those guys were so exciting for me to watch, it really blew my mind. It’s so cool to see them having really found their place down their too, I mean they say Villa Diamante is like the biggest DJ in the city now.
So hopefully you can sneak back in for some guest appearances next time you’re there?
Man, I would love to.
Your music has influences ranging from Cumbia, Tribal Guarachero, Dancehall, UK Funky, and Hip Hop – who are some musical role models for your sound?
I mean it’s kind of a leap but I think what i’m doing really comes from the influnce of producers like Lil Jay, DJ Paul, Midnight Black and Bangladesh have on me, those epic crunk sounds.
[Basing a question off incorrect information, I ask Samo Sound Boy about his involvement in Heaps Decent, a Diplo originated youth outreach program. Turns out he is not involved with them. Doh.]
Haha, I’ve never worked with them. I love the sound of what they do though.
Especially to hear these sounds coming from kids; it’s a completely new generation of influence.
No doubt, I do work teaching in LA though, maybe that had something to do with the mixup.
Ah, right. I think I read a tweet where you were talking about some of your students creating beats on their Nintendo DS?
Yeah! It’s crazy, he had sampled “How Low” by Ludacris and sped it up to insane levels with just a clap.And this is like a 3rd grader.. for somebody that young to be able to get their head around sampling sounds already is serious business
Absolutely. and these are methods of making music that you can only have in like 2010. Technology from a cellphone or gameboy.
Totally man.. and the little kids are the one’s who really run that shit.. it’s funny because it’s a lot like how there are the sickest tiny kid skaters these days.
Throwing themselves down huge sets of stairs, yeah! It’s daunting.
For sure.
In that vein of “making music in different ways enabled by new technology”, I saw this fantastic Ustream session where somehow you had transposed these .gif files onto the background where you were DJing, so it looked like you were playing music in this cartoon-like alternate universe. Do you have more plans to incorporate visuals or graphics into future music projects?
Definitely man. But that Ustream session was all my friend max on the visuals. He really figured out how to take Ustream to the next level.. I love his aesthetic and he’s kind of a bootleg mad genius, a really fun guy to work with.
What’s next for you, production wise, following up on The Bandit EP?
I’ve got an EP with Palms Out that’s finished, it should be out this summer- we’re just getting the remixes togther. I’ve also been remixing some stuff that’s amazing.. LOL Boys & Tim Dolla.
Congrats, Palms Out is a label that’s making big moves these days!
Yeah man, I’m psyched to have linked up with them. They’re putting out some serious records these days.. it’s really cool.
You’re currently in LA right now, which is bordering on Arizona, and this crazy racism around immigration that’s emerging. What do you think of Arizona’s recent immigration “crackdown”?
Yeah, I’m in LA. As for Arizona, I think “the crackdown” is totally fucked up and backwards. I had a conversation last week with the dad of a student (who came to LA from Mexico) and the point he kept reiterating was that “it’s not what America is about.” It sounds really simplistic, but he’s right, it’s not. It was cool though because the way he stated it really spoke to his optimism and ownership for the this country. It was “we can do better than that.”
Who else is “Keeping it Bort Sampson” these days?
Maaan… DJ Otto, Erik Rincon, that whole 3Ball Monterrey crew.. those guys are about as Bort Sampson as it comes, I love it.
What’s Samo Sound Boy doing when not producing?
Exploring LA is my #1 thing, this city is so crazy. Going to swap meets, eating at weird spots… just walking the streets. I’m pretty mesmerized by the place.
What’s been your best swap meet find ever?
Well, the Slauson is definitely my favorite swap meet.. I bought a shirt there that had a picture of Kobe Bryant as surfer..
….
…..
it doesn’t make any sense..
Thanks so much to Samo Sound Boy for the interview. Download his exclusive Mixpak mix below!
SAMO SOUND BOY MIX FOR MIXPAK RECORDS
TRACKLISTING:
LIL SILVA – GOLDS TO GET
COSMIN TRG – NOW YOU KNOW
EXPENDABLE YOUTH – CANNIBALISTIC (SAMO SOUND BOY REMIX)
DJ FRESH – WINE UP YA WAIST
SAMO SOUND BOY – TAKING IT ALL
DOC DANEEKA – DEADLY RHYTHM
SP DA DON ft. E – SHE THROWED ACAPELLA
ROSKA – TOMORROW IS TODAY
TIM DOLLA – SWITCH
SAMO SOUND BOY – FIVE
SAMO SOUND BOY – RATTLESNAKE RIDDIM
DJ OTTO – SOY EL DIABLO
ERICK RINCON – YUKE YUKE
SAMO SOUND BOY – WACKA FLOCKA
BUSTA RYHMES ft. JANET JACKSON – WHAT’S IT GONNA BE?!
