Schroeder: How about an introduction?

DJ Ian Head: My name’s DJ Ian Head, it’s my real name, although a lot of people don’t think ‘Head’ is my real last name. Anyway, I’m a DJ and producer, originally from the Northwest (Portland, OR) who migrated to NYC post-high school. I got lots of love for both coasts. I got lots of love for old vinyl, cassette tapes, blueberry waffles, revolutionary politics, good people, Charles Bronson movies, and hip-hop. I like to take trains and look out the window.

Schroeder: How did you get into DJing and beat making?

DJ Ian Head: I was always a collector, and always a music lover, since I was a kid. My cousin bought me my first record – Beastie Boys “Check Your Head” when I was in high school, even though I didn’t have a record player at the time. After that, Celph Titled (before he went by that name) used to send me dubs of b-sides and underground cuts in the mail, and I wanted to get my hands on some of the vinyl. When I moved to NYC for college, I started buying 12 inches that you could only get on wax at Fat Beats and Bobbito’s Footwork, and later ordering west coast tapes and wax from P-Minus through ATAK distribution. Anyway…I had this tiny stack of records and I’d take them to the “music lab” on campus and dub them onto blank tapes to listen to. I saved up the next year and got a RadioShack record player. Also, since my senior year in high school (in Portland) I was gettin' up with my high school janitor, known now to the world as producer and emcee Jumbo Da GarbageMan of the Lifesavas. He schooled me on some breaks and how to dig.

So I was slowly building a little collection, and as I was buyin these dollar bin soul and jazz pieces, in my mind I was like, yo I’m gonna save up, down the line and start makin beats. I linked up with this young DJ, DJ Center, who’s now a close friend, and he sold me his old Gemini mixer. I still had only this one Radio Shack turntable. But I just kept collecting and little by little upgraded my setup, and in 1999, I finally had two 1200s and this half-busted NuMark mixer I traded someone for.

This is long, so I’ll wind it down by saying my first beat is on an old tape. I took an Ohio Players drum break and looped this Star Wars 45 - this part with the Ewoks doing some kinda chant over it- and my peoples Subtext and Omega Jackson came through and freestyled over it. That kinda solidified the idea that, ok, I can actually make some hip-hop music myself.

Schroeder: What is your best record diggin' story?

DJ Ian Head: Man…there’s a bunch but certain things can’t be fully revealed. I remember walking up Crosby Street on a rainy afternoon one time, and saw a Jungle Bros. record poking out of a dumpster. I looked inside and the whole thing was full of all kinds of records. Lots of house stuff I didn’t really care about, but some gems in there. I remember there was a Goodwill in the suburbs of Philly, when I lived there for a year, that we used to occasionally go out to, and the records were in this old rack, and they’d slid behind the rack. My man grabbed a clothes hanger and started reaching back through this crack and pulling out stuff, like Meters records.

My favorite place to dig in NYC used to be this bookstore on 7th street between 1st and A Avenue. You’d walk in and there would just be books and records in random stacks all over, barely anywhere to walk, and the owner was this small man who’d sit in front of a little desk listening to classical music on the radio. The spot would be open as late as he wanted, usually midnight or 1 am. The records were occasionally in order, often not, but you could find some great jazz records for decent prices, and their dollar bin was good too. Once I ran into Frosty Freeze (RIP) from Rock Steady Crew there, and he pointed out a bunch of dance classics and b-boy breaks, real humble cat. Anyway, the vibe in there was just always classic. It closed in 2000 I think.

Schroeder: What has been your best/favorite dollar bin find?

DJ Ian Head: One time this record store was closing and they had this little stack of kinda crusty 45s sitting on the floor. The owner was like, 10 cents for each. I copped like 20, didn’t even know what most of ‘em were. Took them home and two were some shit Cut Chemist and DJ Shadow used on “Brainfreeze” – heavy breaks, like Alvin Cash “Keep on Dancing.” I remember finding Minnie Ripperton’s “Adventures in Paradise” in the fifty cent bin, after looking for it for a couple years. Made my day.

Schroeder: What or who are some of your inspirations?

DJ Ian Head: My friends and family. Good food. People who don’t compromise their beliefs for bullshit, who keep fighting for justice. Musicians who go hard. People I grew up listening to, especially locally in Portland. There’s a lot of famous names I could throw out – Alice Coltrane, Nirvana, Jay-Z, Digable Planets, Lifesavas, Lynne Stewart, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Malcolm X – but there’s a lot of others who aren’t well known who provide me with even more inspiration.

Schroeder: Who are your favorite producers?

DJ Ian Head: Cats who are innovators. Obviously, Primo, Bomb Squad, Dilla, Pete Rock. Madlib and Oh No always push boundaries. I’m a big El-P fan. I think his shit is crazy cinematic. RZA is a genius. I thought Warren G was killing it in the early-mid 90s. Right now, Flying Lotus is dope, but everyone is biting him. Kanye is a genius producer, amazing. My man Jumbo from the Lifesavas. Oh – Oddisee is KILLIN it right now, one of my favorites, beats and emceeing. And I can’t forget my dude No Name from Atlanta – the way he chops stuff is unlike anything I’ve ever heard. You’ve probably never heard of him but he’s doing crazy stuff. Look for his free releases on the internets.

Schroeder: What is your process for making a beat?

DJ Ian Head: Used to always be drums first. Now it’s often the sample first. But usually I’ll feed a sample in and it won’t come out the way I originally visualized it. Whatever you thought was gonna happen, some different shit always comes out. I remember a fiction writing professor telling me once that you’ll usually chop off the first few paragraphs in whatever you write, because they’re just the warm up. I think that’s true of a lot of different creative processes. I just go in and try and make something I like. That I like to hear on loop. Then I’ll add to it. Sometimes I’ll just vibe out to it for awhile, maybe fuck with some cuts, put it away for awhile and come back to it. Often, if an emcee is gonna be on a track, I’ll let them come in and lay some vocals, then go back and fill out the rest of the beat.

Schroeder: What equipment are you currently using?

DJ Ian Head: I saved up and copped an MPC 2000 in like 2002. It was fun but I couldn’t get used to that small ass LCD screen, and was too impatient at the slowness of loading after using various little computer programs while I was saving up for the MP. So I ended up selling it to a friend and getting a copy of Reason, and buying a midi keyboard, and just chop and fuck with stuff on that. I came up using Cooledit (shout out to Peter Quistgard) and still use Adobe Audition for stuff today. I’m getting more into incorporating live instruments too. The only thing is that you still can’t get that feel on the drums digitally that you can with the MP or the SP-1200. I try and keep my stuff as dusty as possible though.

Schroeder: How did you and Verbal Math get together to make up your group Dollabin?

DJ Ian Head: Our mutual friend Subtext (whose LP from 2005 is still in the vaults but hopefully will see the light of day shortly) introduced us back in 2002. We recorded a joint called “Lower the Boom.” But more than that, we vibed about music, and Verb was really getting into collecting records, all kinds of records. So we started getting up whenever he was in town, just going digging and talking music, recording here and there. In late 2005 we were like, yo, we gotta just do a project and put it out there, and so we put together some of what we’d done which became “One More Crate” EP and released it for free download on the web. It was probably one of the first “free releases” on the internets, and we got several thousand downloads, which was good for two cats who weren’t doing any live shows and lived a few hundred miles from each other.

Schroeder: Can you get into the creative process for your latest release, "Styles You Can't Afford"?

DJ Ian Head: Even before the EP, we had been talking about putting out a full-length. Verb always joked about the fact that “If people can do albums about crack, we can do one about records.” But we wanted to make sure it wasn’t just super-nerdy record references – we wanted to do something deeper, talk about our love of music, and love of digging – two separate but intertwined things. It took a long time to come together, especially since we both had hectic life situations and lived in different parts of the country. We worked best when we were in the same room, so he’d fly or drive out to NYC for like 3 days, and we’d literally work 12-14 hours a day on music, just having beats on loop, writing and recording, stepping out for food and maybe a brief session at the record store.

We’d knock out stuff and come back and be unsatisfied with it. We’d sit on it and come back to it. When he was out of town, I’d tweak and add certain things, sometimes switch the beats up. When the homie Toni Hill came through, I knew she’d be perfect for the title track, so I got her to add some vocals to it. Stuff like that. So it just kinda came together from all angles. We wanted to make sure it represented us, represented digging.

Schroeder: Last year, you came out with a solo album on Root70 Lounge called “Pieces”. How was it different working on a solo album, as opposed to an album with Verbal Math?

DJ Ian Head: It was cool. It was hard. “Pieces” is really a bunch of joints from all over. Some joints on there are pretty old – the joint where I’m rhyming with Omega Jackson is from late 2002. Some joints were originally stuff I’d made for Dollabin, others came from things I’d made for my original crew, the Neosapiens (me, Subtext and Omega Jackson). Most were newer. I knew I wanted to have all of the people who had been important parts of my musical life represented on it, so that’s who’s represented on it – Gabriel Teodros and Khingz, who lived in Brooklyn for awhile, Subtext, Omega, Verb and my man Josh Joffee playing trumpet. The hardest part was making interesting instrumental joints, but it was also extremely fun.

Schroeder: What are you currently working on?

DJ Ian Head: Right now I’m working on a bunch of stuff but it’s all unorganized. I’m trying to figure out what the next major project will be. There’s a bunch of Dollabin stuff that hasn’t been released, and there’s some new joints we’re trying to finish. There’s some cover songs I’m trying to put together, working with some great musicians on some things. I’ve thought about putting out a beat tape or whatever, but I’d rather put out something more polished. So I’m putting things together, and still marinating on what’s next. Meanwhile, I’m continuing my monthly mixtape series, which is two years and going strong.

Schroeder: Any parting words?

DJ Ian Head: I want to thank you for the chance to do an interview! I’m humbled. My goal in 2002 was to put something out that hopefully 100 people would check. But I’ve been able to have people all over the world hear my music, and it’s been an incredible honor, all the love we’ve gotten. Knowing that people dig what I’m doing keeps me doing it. I don’t take anything for granted, and I’m constantly amazed by all the dope people I’ve met and been able to work with since I started making music. Hopefully it’ll continue. Thanks again.

Check out DJ Ian Head at the following sites.

Myspace.com/djianhead

Myspace.com/dollabin

Everydaybeats.net