Lazerbitch has released a new app for the official Apple App Store. Check it out!

Also, here’s their latest single, “Twilight,” for your listening pleasure.

Introducing Music Maker Greasealizer Version “The 1st ever Software from A Multi-Platinum Producer”
MAGIX Music Maker gets a bold new look and sound! Announcing Music Maker: Greasilizer version

New York, NY – February 25, 2010 MAGIX and Dame Grease work together to create the first of the Artist Editions of MAGIX Music Maker

The “do it yourself” music industry has opened up the ability of individuals to distribute and create their own music. MAGIX and, Damon Blackmon, know to the Hip-hop world as Dame Grease, have joined forces to offer the new Greasilizer version that will allow fans of Dame Grease, or any Hip Hop artist to craft their own sound. With specialized Soundpools developed by Dame Grease himself, MAGIX now presents Music Maker Greasilizer Version. Easy to use, you can master your ideas, turning them into a reality.

With thousands of distinctive sounds, loops, and instruments this original music creator has been one of the most successful of MAGIX’s consumer products. With years of expertise behind it, and thousands of rave reviews, MAGIX Music Maker has become a pro player in a market flooded with imitators and low budget productions. This gives you the option to truly take control of your sound.

Dame Grease has produced many well known Hip-Hop and Rap artists for more than a decade including, DMX, LL Cool J, and Mary J. Blige. Working with these artists, Dame Grease has made a name for himself in the industry, and developed his own distinct sound. It is this sound that the likes of Wu Tang Klan have made use of, and you can now bring it home to create your own sound! Each loop, instrument track, sound, and mixing effect is licensed to you, with no royalties to be paid ever again, this means you can publish your music anywhere without the need to worry about copyright, or infringing on someone else’s work – Dame Grease wants you to use his sounds to make your own. With a total of ten original full songs, and

Dame “Blackmon” Grease has been producing Hip-Hop since 1997, and has no intention of stopping now. With a recent resurgence into the market, Dame Grease has worked hard to bring his work the forefront of the industry again. The year 2007 became a keystone in the meteoric rise in his popularity, with Grease releasing several singles and beginning work on his solo album “Goon Music”, which was released in 2008.

Watch out for the release at MAGIX.COM.

Can’t say that we’re into boxing since we don’t ever watch it. The closest we came to boxing is that most of us are from the Nintendo generation, so we grew up with the awesome game Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!.

It’s no secret that Mike Tyson was a boxing legend, but in large part, the reason we love this video is because the editor could not have chosen better background music for such brute force than the soundtrack theme song from the movie Requiem for a Dream.

We’ve been fans of Goldmund aka Keith Kenniff, or Helios as we’ve known him from Merck Records releases, for about four years now. It’s cool to see that he’s branching out into commercials. It’s always fun to hear music you like in commercials because then at least, even if people are in the kitchen getting a snack or conversing when the music is playing, you know it made it out to people’s lives: regardless of whether they were paying attention. We always pay attention to music. Everywhere. Commercials, restaurants, bars, greasy diners, it doesn’t matter. We’re listening for what the music is. So enjoy these spots for MTV and Audi featuring music by Kenniff. We’ll be buying all of the Goldmund records for sure.

Speaking of commercials, shout out to Jon Lipman and the work he’s doing over at Machinehead Studios.

HBO Imagine is where film and gaming collide. Don’t know about you, but the trailer had the spine-tingling effect on us, making us curious to check out where HBO is going with this interactive project. First, some background straight from the source:

HBO Imagine features a unique new storytelling device that offers four different perspectives on the same scene, simultaneously. The interactive cube features two films, each 2 minutes in length and each played twice successively, on a rotating basis. Once you start unlocking clips and clues, you’ll see why this is so unique. Check it out at hboimagine.com

No two experiences are the same with HBO Imagine.

If you’re the type of person to get bored with TV shows easily, this is for you. HBO is stepping into the realm of making TV interactive with the HBO Imagine project. That’s one of the main differences between the Internet and TV to us. HBO Imagine is an innovative creation that speaks to the changes that we’ll be seeing on the face of how TV is watched and will be watched in the future. More specifically, we believe that we’re bound to see the the interactive nature of the Internet merge with the less interactive elements of TV, into a new and more engaging form of entertainment. Fire up your imaginations and let-loose with HBO Imagine!

It has been five years since an album has been released by EGADZ! aka Erik Nava, and now he’s retiring the EGADZ! moniker with the album “Egadz is Dead,” which is dropping September 15th! Lots of favorites on the release, including “Have Some Guts Kid,” “Tin Foil,” “No More Double Time,” “Something Old Something New,” and of course the two leaked tracks available for download below, “Going Home,” and “Glock Out.”

EGADZ! already has a global following from the popularity of his records “Monotony” and “Shining Hours.” Like so many musicians of his ilk, Nava’s tracks are hard to pin down to a single genre, but have a truly organic feel. If you’re looking for awesome editing, raw beats and melodic synth melodies, definitely check Nava’s work out. For the regulars here, hopefully it’s obvious by now that we love abstract / alternative hip hop tracks with solid electronic influence combined with various other influences. So, if you’re also into that, “Egadz is Dead” should sit well with you. Definitely peep Nava’s skills on the MPC below, which speaks to his pure musical ability in and of itself. Maybe that’s why it has over 167,381 views to date.

EGADZ! started off the year with a three week tour with Restiform Bodies of Anticon and is rumored to be collaborating with Sole on a full length project, one of the founders of Anticon Records (much respect to Anticon, by the way). Most recently he got back from a three week headlining southwest US tour, during which he blasted up the place at Daddy Kev’s “Low End Theory.” If that weren’t impressive enough, EGADZ! also has had major licensing deals with DC Shoes/Subaru/ESPN/Fuel TV.

Future plans for EGADZ! involve moving on to his new project, “NAVA,” which he’s currently looking to sign with a label.

More on EGADZ!:

Since 2002, DJ Egadz released 2 projects with digital distribution and continued to play shows with many of the hip hop acts that are still popular today, such as Aesop Rock, Sole, Typical Cats, WHY?, Kool Keith and Glue. He’s gone on tour with Alias & Tarsier, Josh Martinez, and AntiMC of Mush Records and on another North/South/West tour with Telephone Jim Jesus of Anticon. In the summer of 2007 EGADZ! toured most of the United States opening for Sleep of Oldominion, now Strange Famous, Glue and other local acts.

In early 2008, EGADZ! created another label, Kid Without Radio, which hosts a handful of other talented producers. Egadz dropped the DJ part of his name, added an exclamation point and released “Shining Hours”, a collection of all of the Egadz tracks from 2004-2005.

Over the course of the last four years EGADZ! has made much more of a name for himself with digital media campaigns, videos, licensing and extensive touring. This year EGADZ! has plans to release the first full length album since 2005, called Egadz is Dead, an album built from a much larger, more explosive sound than any preceding it.

“Going Home:”

Download.

“Glock Out:”

Download.

Past press quotes:

“Egadz brand of electronica is elusive and so akin to Aphex Twin. The California native doesn’t eclipse dude, but he does put forth an equally atypical and awesome sound.”
-URB

“When you can evoke emotion without words you’re doing something right”
-Synthesis

“Egadz stands in the shadow of shadow, but does a fair job of shining the light on something exciting, if not entirely new”
-Xclaim

“This San Diego native’s first contribution is up there with Quannum, Heiro, Defari, Dilated, Ras Kass, and the rest of the West Coast elite.”
-UKHH

“Dude is AMAZING”
-Strictly Beats

“Breaks down how live drumming should be done.”
-Crate Kings

So there’s a new promotion between MTV and HP that lets users “Declare Themselves” to the world on the HP Declare Website. This simple application allow users to not only make a personal declaration, but also lets visitors support other declarations on the site.

To use the site one can simply upload their own image and declaration then make it public for the world to see. This application allows for users to view a random declaration, or just browse all declarations that have been made publicly!

The hope is that this promotion will help those set obtainable goals that will help further personal growth.

We got hyped-up when we found out that a world-renowned super-producer like Dame Grease, aka Damon Blackmon, would take time out of his schedule to interview with us. Not only that, it was fun talking to him because of his passion for music and the fact that we got to hear a clip from an exclusive track during the call. Dame Grease’s discography speaks for itself and his involvement in the rap game is what dreams are made of.

Dame Grease has been the man behind the success of so many artists we have listened to over the years. He’s an example of the American Dream and the fact that if you put your heart and soul into what you do, chances are, success will follow. In Grease’s own words: “It’s all work.”

Background

Dame Grease has created, produced and marketed an unprecedented amount of albums throughout his career. These albums have generated over $200 million in revenue for companies such as Def Jam, Sony Records, Universal, Rocafella, Interscope, Koch, Priority, Jive, Atlantic, So So Def and Columbia Records, just to name a few. A variety of these projects have surpassed the “Gold” (500,000) and “Platinum” (1,000,000) sales levels and earned industry recognition through Grammy Awards, Soul Train Awards, Stellar Awards, Billboard Awards, and BMI Awards. A plethora of other projects have been used by major networks and companies such as FOX Pictures, Sony Pictures and the Gaming Industry .

Grease production gained popularity amongst two of the most talked-about rappers today Max B, and French Montana. Akon has signed French Montana to his Konvict Record label, and Grease is in talks with the LOX for their next album. Jadakiss named Grease one of the Top Five producers he will be working with for his Dead or Alive album. Aside from ushering the success of such artists, Grease has been labeled “The Street Ambassador” for his overwhelming and anticipated “street Cd’s” and “mix tapes making waves right now.” Mixtapes In Motion: A.B. & Dame Grease – Cold World, DJ Seiko, Dame Grease & Max B, – The Bloomberg Series, Dame Grease, Max B & Big Mike – Goon Music 1.5 The Doomship. Dame Grease, French Montana, & Max B – Coke Wave, Allhiphop Dame Grease Presents Wave Gang.

Notable Facts

• 50 million records sold
• Scored 3 major films Never die Alone, Cradle to the Grave and Exit Wounds
• Mixtape Ambassador with over 50 mixtapes (Gold Status) on the streets
• Over 200 million video views worldwide via YouTube, OnSmash, WorldStarHiphop and countless others
• Spearheaded the career of established artists such as DMX, EVE, SWIZZ BEATS, THE LOX.
• Executive Producer for the next LOX album
• Established new virtual hip-hop Group “The Auto-Tunes”
• Dame Grease Software (in pre-production)

Holla at Dame Grease at,

Twitter: twitter.com/damegrease
Myspace: myspace.com/damegrease

Dame Grease also has a mixtape contest going on right now at,

Ning: damegrease.ning.com/

Interview

Hipsterwave: Is this Dame Grease?

Dame Grease: Yeah. What’s good baby?

Hipsterwave: Not much man. Okay, first question, what were your influences growing up and how did you wind up producing hip hop?

Dame Grease: My influence is my parents, you know. My mom was into disco dance, and my pops—before he passed away—he was in a band also. So, they were from the 70’s, so you know there were a lot of basses and guitars and live singing and stuff. So I was always influenced from that. They kind of lost me as I was growing up, so I got reintroduced to music, like let’s say in the form of gangster rap.

Hipsterwave: How did you come up with your name? A good friend of mine wanted to know if you you came up with your name while cooking, or what the story is behind your producer name?

Dame Grease: Nah, it’s funny. Actually, friends have called me Grease ever since I was like 10-years-old. You know what I’m sayin’, and the first part is from my name. When I got the name I was younger, so everyone started calling me that. It’s a solid name.

Hipsterwave: So it just stuck?

Dame Grease: Yeah, it just stuck.

Hipsterwave: Alright, so what equipment do you use?

Dame Grease: On equipment, I use everything. By everything, I’m talking about all keyboards and all software programs. I got GarageBand, I got FruityLoops, I got Reason, I got MPC 3000s. You know different keyboards: Tritons, Motifs, Phantoms. So I use a little bit of everything. I don’t really have a set instrument or a set piece that I use because I don’t like to have myself limited. I could actually create with live instruments also. So, I don’t really have to have a set piece or instrument.

Hipsterwave: Oh okay. So you work with anything that works, basically?

Dame Grease: Exactly.

Hipsterwave: Anything to create the sound that you want.

Dame Grease: Yeah, I could plug anything up and use it and make a Grease hit.

Hipsterwave: So you make your own sounds from scratch? Like how would you do that?

Dame Grease: Always, actually. I make my own sounds from scratch. That’s how a lot of my music sounds the way it is, because a lot of my stuff is customized. Like with my drums I get my sounds unique and spend time modifying them until I’m satisfied. You can hear my same signature sound from the first year of mixed albums to the maxi mixtapes right now. So, I like to keep the sound personal. I tweak it.

Actually, I can’t tell all the stories yet, but I’m currently designing a software product with a major equipment company so all the kids can download the software and buy the software. That’s just a little plug for you.

Hipsterwave: We’ll be on the look-out then. Okay, so what was it like working with DMX and the Rough Ryders and the other hip hop artists in the late 90’s?

Dame Grease: It was cool. It was all like a training day. You know what I’m saying? I was just getting into the game, the work we were doing, the talent was actually being displayed throughout all of New York city, soon to be the whole United States, soon to be the whole world. It was cool. Like, it’s the same shit we do now. We started from scratch, started bangin’ out–up on the musical element–they brought a vocal element, and we all became known.

Hipsterwave: Right, and you met all those guys like Nas, DMX, Jay-Z, you name it. What was it like working with guys like that and what do you do for your end? Like what is your process, you know, in the studio? And then, how does it work, because I don’t really know what goes on at the professional production level.

Dame Grease: Nah the process is quite simple. Well, for me. It’s like, usually we’ve got a beat—that they fuck wit’—you know that they like. They choose it, like a track out of my shit. It’ll end up going to a big studio, track it out, they just do it, make it hot, and you make history.

Hipsterwave: Alright. The next question is, what are some things you do for musical inspiration?

Dame Grease: Life. Life inspires me. My life actually, I ain’t gonna lie. Everybody wanna film reality shows. Man, I got a crazy, wild life and that action keeps me with my fire. So it’s like you know how some people fall off? I could never fall off ‘cause I’m not dead [laughs].

Hipsterwave: Right.

Dame Grease: So life inspires me.

Hipsterwave: So it’s just so busy and so much going on that it’s just…

Dame Grease: Yeah. That’s what I do though! All my music is a stop-motion of life. Meaning, every piece of music I’ve made is a part of life that I’ve frozen. Like, I capture time. That’s what all my music is. So, I’m like a little different. Actually I’m not a producer, I’m a time-capturer. I just put life into the music. That’s probably why my music is always timeless. I kind of do a different approach to it.

Hipsterwave: Like a musical photo or something?

Dame Grease: Yeah, that’s exactly what it is.

Hipsterwave: And then it influences everything that’s out there because you’ve got so much clout.

Dame Grease: Yeah, you know?

Hipsterwave: So then, what is some of the music that you listen to in your free-time?

Dame Grease: I don’t. I listen to my shit [laughs].

Hipsterwave: [laughs].

Dame Grease: I ain’t even gonna lie. I don’t know if that sounds cocky or whatever it’s gonna be, but fuck it. I don’t listen to other shit. I listen to my own shit.

Hipsterwave: So it’s just…

Dame Grease: I might get an urge to listen to—I’ll keep it real—I might get an urge to listen to a Bob Marley record. Something that’s refreshing. That’s why I make my own refreshing music. It’s kinda funny, ‘cause see the questions you ask are the reasons why I do it. Like, people always say something: I make it. I give them the answer. The thing that’s inside their heads: I make. That’s what I do. I make them refreshing music. So, at the same time, I wanna listen to refreshing music… Actually, I got something right here I made last night. Tell me if you can hear it. I’m singin’ and all that shit. Shit is hot. Tell me if you can hear it… [track clip plays]

Dame Grease: You hear it?

Hipsterwave: Yeah. That’s crazy man. Is that Auto-Tune on the vocals?

Dame Grease: Yeah, that’s me. That’s me on the Auto-Tune. See, I got another name: I’m Dame Grease the producer, Dame Grease the Wave Rapper, but when I’m doin’ the Auto-Tune, my codename is Blanket Jackson.

Hipsterwave: Blanket Jackson?

Dame Grease: Blanket. I am Michael Jackson’s son. I am Blanket.

Hipsterwave: [laughs] That’s crazy, I thought it was Weezy at first.

Dame Grease: Nah, that’s Greasy [laughs].

Hipsterwave: Man…

Dame Grease: That’s Blanket. That’s like the whole new sound I got. I got like three of them on the radio. I got the N.O.R.E., Jim Jones, the Uptown, I got the Auto-Tune on there. I got the other joint, the mami “So Hot,” with me and N.O.R.E. on there. So, I got like wild joints on the radio. Like me and my lot and besides my underground shit. I just finished doing two tracks with Mase. Some hot joints and currently I’m on the phone with Yayo, so I’m about to get Yayo and 50 Cent right. They’re in touch with me. I’m the last person with the sound, so working with me makes sense.

Hipsterwave: Yeah. That’s crazy. So, how do you see the future of hip hop and what you’re doing?

Dame Grease: I dunno. The future of hip hop is me. [laughs]

Hipsterwave: The future is you?

Dame Grease: Yeah, just all coming back around man.

Hipsterwave: Okay, so who are you influences now?

Dame Grease: I’m all influence. Ain’t shit out here now. All this music is wack out here right now. You know what I’m saying? Besides me and my team, like ain’t really nothing poppin’ that’s really exciting. I like exciting things. I like T-Pain, T-Pain is exciting. You know what I’m saying? I like exciting artists. I come from the era of exciting artists, like DMX and shit, the most exciting motherfucker out. Max B: exciting. I like exciting artists. All these too cool n*ggas? I don’t like too cool n*ggas.

Hipsterwave: Okay. Yeah, T-Pain I think is cool. So what do you have in store? I know you just played me that hot beat of yours, and I didn’t even know about the Blanket Jackson project, but what have you got, like coming up?

Dame Grease: I got my R&B artist, Tanya aka T6. That’s my main focus. She’s my artist from Harlem and Connecticut. So, I’m putting her stuff out. Then I’ve got like a slew of mixtapes. I put like four out last week, I’ve got like 10 coming out this week. I got a CD & DVD release coming out. Yeah, so I’ve got a few things in store.

Hipsterwave: Alright, and the last question for you, because I know you’re busy, is what advice can you give to new producers?

Dame Grease: Sign up with The Lot. Sign up with Vacant Lot. That’s the advice I’d give to young new producers.

Hipsterwave: And that’s it?

Dame Grease: That’s it.

Hipsterwave: Cool.

Dame Grease: Check me out on Twitter. I’m on the Twitter daily talkin’ shit, so if people wanna holla out? Holla out. They wanna holla about that money? Tell ‘em to holla out.

Hipsterwave: Alright, well I really appreciate your taking the time out of your schedule to talk to us man…

Dame Grease: Nah, it’s all good. I’m about to go shoot this video right now man. It all works in time. It’s all work.

Hipsterwave: Right. Okay man, well good luck with the video shoot.

Dame Grease: Thanks.

To his fans, Cole Dennis is a heavyweight contender with a devastating right hook. To a city being held hostage to chaos and terror, Dennis has a grit and charisma that make him the shining hope for justice–until he is arrested for a brutal murder. Framed for a crime he did not commit, he finds himself captive in a foreboding high-tech superprison whose masters secretly conspire to turn inmates into tomorrow’s most terrifying bioweapons–with Cole Dennis as the intended prize specimen. But Dennis is nobody’s lab rat. Reborn as a towering engine of destruction, Dennis will prepare for the fight of his life. He will rename himself Ghostface Killah. And his cry of righteous rage will echo beyond the cold steel walls of Cell Block Z.

So we love art and we love music, but it was only within the past couple years we noticed that musicians, specifically hip hop MCs, are beginning to star in their own graphic novels. Good hip hop MCs have already created vivid images of themselves with their lyrics, music, videos, photos and so on. Now, these MCs that we’ve known and loved for years are exploding onto pages, or even LCD displays in digital form. Method Man was the first of the Wu-Tang Clan to release a graphic novel for Hachette Book Group, followed by members GZA and now the great Ghostface Killah.

When given the opportunity for an interview with Chris Walker, the illustrator behind Ghostface’s new graphic novel Cell Block Z, we couldn’t resist. Walker’s work has appeared in the pages of such substantial comics as Batman, Spider-Man, and Superman when he worked for Marvel, and he is currently producing and developing animated projects for Humouring the Fates animation studios, and creating communication solutions for companies through 5Rings Design.

Interview:

How did you get into comic books and graphic novels when you were younger?

Chris Walker: Well, I was always into comics. Some of my first drawings as a kid, where you can tell what they are, are of Batman and Robin. I’ve always liked cartoons and comics so it was just one of those things.

Hipsterwave: Just made sense, huh?

Chris Walker: Yeah. I would save my money and buy comics at the drug store, and when I got older, I would go to the comic shop we had downtown.

Hipsterwave: They had a bigger/better selection, I’m guessing?

Chris Walker: :D Just a little. That’s when you get serious. At first it’s like Spider-Man is cool. Then you want to know what happened in the story and somehow you find out, “At the comic book store, they have all the back issues with all the story lines you’ve ever wanted to know!!” LOL! I’ve seen it happen old and young: like someone who has been away from comics for years discovers the comic book store and they are hooked at least for 2-3 years from that point.

Hipsterwave: Right.

Chris Walker: It’s like finding a new show and getting the box sets of the first three seasons.

Hipsterwave: Interesting. So the next question, How did you get your start in illustrating, although that’s not all that you do currently?

Chris Walker: Professionally, I started in high school, doing T-Shirt designs and I worked in college at a T-Shirt shop. After college I picked up freelance gigs by submitting my portfolio to various companies. It’s really about making the best portfolio you can and sending it out.

Hipsterwave: And then eventually one of those companies picked you up and you were working for them?

Chris Walker: Kind of. As a free lance illustrator, it’s more about keeping new projects coming in to your desk, so it’s not like finding a job with a company, unless you work in-house for like a card company or gaming company. It also depends on the type of illustrator you are. If you are an editorial illustrator, you are probably working hard to keep editors calling about new work.

Hipsterwave: Okay, the next question. How do you think your background influenced your work on Cell Block Z?

Chris Walker: I really wanted to have it reflect in the work. I’ve worked in a lot of industries: music, advertising, comics, animation. I went to school for painting and am a huge fan of anime and Manga, so there are bits and pieces of all that stuff. I’m also into street art and graffiti, so I let all those things come out in the work.

Hipsterwave: Lots of cool ideas tied together.

Chris Walker: Definitely. I brought in Rob Haynes: a friend of mine who works in comics. Rob is really great at story telling. He did the layouts for the book, which allowed me to think about the creative and art direction: thinking about the marks I wanted to make, the textures I wanted to use, the feeling I wanted the pages to have when you flipped through the book. Plus, I knew Rob’s layouts would make sure there was always a good story underneath the style.

Hipsterwave: So you were trying to bring it to life for the reader, in a way?

Chris Walker: Totally. I wanted to really bring to life Ghostface’s rawness. He’s a really talented MC and his work is very intense and immediate.

Hipsterwave: Agreed.

Chris Walker: I wanted the pages to reflect that.

Hipsterwave: What was some of the creative process for you in illustrating Cell Block Z?

Chris Walker: I submitted ideas about the look and feel of the book, as well as the character designs to the creative team so Ghost could approve them. After that, I got the script from the writers, Shauna Garr and Marlon Chapman. Rob did breakdowns and layouts of the script. From there, working in Photoshop, I would go in and interrupt the layouts, think about the style I wanted, and start applying really heavy lines and inks to give it a hard drawn feel. I really thought about old 70′s comics and about Japanese calligraphy. Other times, I thought about raw ink lines and graffiti. After I had the line art like I wanted I went back in and applied tones to the pages to get the light and darkness. On top of that I built the modeling and lighting on the figures.

Hipsterwave: All still in Photoshop?

Chris Walker: Yeah. It’s a very robust program. You can really make it look like things are hand drawn when they are not. I applied a lot of the stuff I learned in school about mixed media approaches to drawing. So, then I went back in and added textures to the figures and would apply a painting style to the backgrounds, maybe put another texture on top, and then you throw in some lighting effects.

Hipsterwave: So there were endless possibilities?

Chris Walker: Haha. Sounds complicated, but most artists do this kind of stuff. If it’s a fully rendered piece, it might be done by hand, paint brush or air brush, but the process is very similar. You just keep building it up until you have what you want and you can stop anywhere in the process, if you get the look you want. So, sometimes you stop at the line stage, and maybe put just a little bit of tones in.

Hipsterwave: Is that difficult to know — when to stop?

Chris Walker: It can be. It’s all for effect. So for a comic artist, it’s all about the story. How does the style and look affect the story? Is it over-emphasizing a character too much? Is it slowing down your eye? Speeding it up? All those things enhance the story for the reader.

Hipsterwave: Interesting.

Chris Walker: Comics are very cool. They seem very straight-forward, but there’s science behind them, just as much as there is an art.

Hipsterwave: What was your involvement with Ghostface, Marlon Chapman and Shauna Garr and how did it influence your art?

Chris Walker: They were the writing team, so they worked together to develop the story.

It was up to me to bring it to life and try to give it a feeling that was as unique as Ghostface himself. So it was really in the early stages: turning in designs, turning in style guides to show the approach I wanted to use. They were very cool about everything. They gave me a lot of room to bring my artistic expression to the table and interpret their words and ideas. I really wanted to give the book a street art edge: make it feel like what is out there in the culture right now, while thinking about everything from graphic tees, to websites, to the influence of Manga. I think a lot about youth culture.

Hipsterwave: Yeah, I like the influences you’re talking about as well.

Chris Walker: Right. I also wanted it to fit into that conversation, while still feeling classic at the same time. So it was a lot of fun. Not often you get the opportunity to do something like at that at this level with someone as big as Ghostface.

Hipsterwave: Yeah, he’s everywhere.

Chris Walker: He is Ghostface. :P

Hipsterwave: What’s your favorite graphic novel?

Chris Walker: Wow. Hard question, can we say first one to pop into my head?

Hipsterwave: Sure.

Chris Walker: Dark Knight. Awesome book. I have other favorites but it always pops in even though it wasn’t a graphic novel. LOL!

Hipsterwave: What about Dark Knight did you like so much?

Chris Walker: It was DC Prestige format that came out in issues. LOL! Well, Frank Miller really took it there. He was just balls to walls. The art, the story, everything: it was an amazing ride.

Hipsterwave: What interests you in the graphic novel world?

Chris Walker: The ability to tell stories the way the artists want to tell them. It’s the equivalent of an Auteur film, but many times graphic novels are like this really insanely long work of art. You really get a peek into the artist’s mind. Graphic novels and comics in general, that’s one of the few places where the story is often exactly what the creator wanted to tell. Creature Tech, by Doug TenNapel. I really like that book too. Amazing and lots of fun.

Hipsterwave: What drew you to the Cell Block Z project? What’s your take on it?

Chris Walker: Well, you don’t say no to a Wu-Tang project. LOL!

Hipsterwave: LOL.

Chris Walker: Especially when you grew up listening to their music and being a big hip hop fan. So for me it was something I always wanted to do. Make an interesting comic and narrative project with an MC I really liked.

Hipsterwave: Yeah.

Chris Walker: I think it’s a fun project.

Hipsterwave: It’s a really creative idea to begin with.

Chris Walker: It’s big. It’s fun. It’s over-the-top, but there are some great character moments. I think the story really pulls you in as you start reading and has a classic feel to it, like an old school fight movie or the old school Marvel comics: Iron Fist and Luke Cage kind of stuff.

Hipsterwave: Gives it its own unique flavor, eh?

Chris Walker: Totally.

Hipsterwave: What do you feel about the mainstreaming of comic books, like in Hollywood, on TV, etc. and how it relates to this project?

Chris Walker: I think it’s great. Comics are an American treasure. I think it’s cool that people outside of comics are starting to see the merits of the art form and are getting a chance to interact with some really great characters and stories. Iron Man the movie was fantastic and I think the next round of superheroes movies will only get better. I’m sure that helped to open the doors for projects like this and the great thing about comics is that while Marvel and DC are getting a lot of attention right now, it also helps the indie guys get attention as well. So, all the creators out there doing their indie projects are also getting a little extra light on their work since popular culture is becoming more and more into comics. While they may not get a movie deal or even want a movie deal, they will probably get new readers and new fans.

Hipsterwave: So that probably encourages more people in general to get more into their work with comics and to stick with it?

Chris Walker: Exactly.

Hipsterwave: Yeah, that’s rewarding to have.

Chris Walker: I think it’s a win-win for everyone. I heard they have comics on the iPhone now. How cool is that if you are an indie creator? Now people can buy your comic on their phones.

Hipsterwave: Yeah and also just being able to have a comic right there in your pocket. Although, I know some fans prefer having larger pages and such.

Chris Walker: I do, but it’s cool. You’re on the train, or have some time to kill, you whip out your iPod or iPhone and you read a comic. That’s cool. I’m an artist, so I love seeing the art, but it’s great for audiences.

Hipsterwave: Right. Plus the fact that you can download new comics from anywhere you get a cell signal, even comics released that same day!

Chris Walker: Yup. It will be interesting to see how the art form evolves to meet technology.

Hipsterwave: Agreed.

Do you have any plans to work on similar projects in the future or are you open to that?

Chris Walker: I’m definitely open. I really like guys like Kid Cudi, Mickey Factz, Theophilus London: they are very art driven.

Hipsterwave: Yeah, I know what you mean.

Chris Walker: Kanye and Pharell are as well. You could come up with some really wild stuff with them, probably super abstract.

Hipsterwave: Yeah, I’ve heard some say that their album covers can be heavily into art, among other aspects of their artist image.

Chris Walker: Yup. So for a visual artist like myself it’s really exciting to hear musicians and performers being into art at that level.

Hipsterwave: Right, something different compared to what we’re accustomed to getting with music.

Chris Walker: Totally. I think collaboration is the key to any artistic venture when you have several creative people at the table: something that is music and visuals all together. I’m also a big fan of Justice, Daft Punk, and Phoenix. They are killing it right now. I was a DNB head a long time ago, same with Trip Hop and Acid Jazz.

Hipsterwave: Right and if the music is telling a story, the art can bring life to a side of the story you wouldn’t have seen.

Chris Walker: Exactly. It’s like Jazz and Abstract art in the 50′s: they were fueling each other. I think where we are right now in music and pop culture, it’s almost at the same level.

Hipsterwave: Interesting.

Chris Walker: We just have to keep pushing as creators and fans demand it more.

Hipsterwave: Then the whole experience will be better.

Chris Walker: Yup. People love art. It gives our lives meaning. It gives us context for the randomness of life.

Hipsterwave: I agree. Well, I think that sounds like a pretty good place to stop, do you?

Chris Walker: Sure do. By the way, check out Blade of the Immortal. Amazing!!!!!

Hipsterwave: Will do.

Chris Walker: Cool. Well, back to work for me…

Check out more of Chris Walker’s work at chriswalkerart.com

Go here, or click on the image above, for more information on Cell Block Z.

Scruffy has put up a 15 minute megamix to give to fans in celebration of 10 year re-issue of Keep it Unreal.

And to keep up the celebratory spirit, Mr. Scruff is running a photo competition to win a gold disc on his site here.

Have a look and please ask your friends, family etc. to get involved! Just upload a photo of someone/something “keeping it unreal” and Scruff will select the best one to win the gold disc!

Mr Scruff’s music can be found in the new Rolando 2 game for the iPhone. The first installment was considered by many to be the best iPhone game of 2008, so the second is bound to be a hit!

Spanning the high seas on the way to the tropical island of Fontanis, ‘Rolando 2′ takes players to a beachside retreat set to the tune of Mr. Scruff, who appears in the game as a Rolando! At Mr. Scruff’s music shack, gamers can groove to Scruff classics ‘Blackpool Roll’, ‘Spandex Man’, ‘Fix That Speaker’ and ‘Sweetsmoke’ and buy tracks directly from iTunes.

Rolando 2 at Ngmoco
Rolando 2 at IGN

‘Rolando 2′ is available for both the iPhone and iPod Touch from:
Apple App Store USA
Apple App Store UK
Ngmoco

When we got to the show we were bummed about the fact that Letron‘s set was just ending, but the last few minutes of it that we saw were pretty great. It’s too bad that we didn’t get to see more of Letron other than some brief dancing and to notice that she was wearing a Laker’s jersey (the LA Laker’s played in an NBA finals game on the night of the show). But hey, there’s always next time, right? Letron’s sound was vibrant and playful yet had some fairly raw beats. In case you’re wondering, raw beats are a good thing. Ah, the sweet contrasts in life always tend to have an appeal to human nature. Since we couldn’t get any photos of Letron from the show, here are a couple from her Myspace page. What do you know? She has performed with Machinedrum and Addiquit!

Letron:

Letron, Addiquit and Machinedrum:

We did, however, manage to see all of Jonathan Denmark‘s set, which did anything but disappoint. In fact, Jonathan Denmark put on an excellent show that far exceeded expectations. We weren’t really sure what to expect actually since we hadn’t seen Denmark live at all, but if you live in the LA area–or wherever Denmark happens to be touring–you should go out and show love for sure. His performance was animated, peppered with little sarcastic and funny comments in between songs, and just well-done overall. We were kept totally engaged the entire time.

Also of note, Benji Kay of the band LOVE is a STORY made an appearance and performed with Denmark for one song, which was awesome because Kay had a real-time autotune effect on his voice. Hey, yes, it’s very T-Pain, which Denmark and Kay stated outright. However, for as much as people like to make fun of T-Pain and make a big joke about autotuning, we secretly love it. Except when Cher used it in her track “Believe:” weren’t feeling that so much, although the song was catchy. Cher’s “Believe,” had a nice message and was catchy and all, but it was always definitely bad if you were unfortunate enough to get it stuck in your head.  You know what’s funny though? That song came out in 1998, and it predates the whole autotuner craze by virtue of the simple fact that it’s 11 years old! Okay, so you might be thinking, “Hey, but Daft Punk had autotuner on their early famous track ‘Around the World,’ (1996)” but that autotuning definitely sounds far more robotic and less subtle than what we hear today. By the way, some of the people behind Vimeo.com made a hilarious video about autotuning in the office a few months back.

Check out LOVE is a STORY in iTunes by clicking on the image below:

The venue was interesting as well, tucked in a courtyard behind stores like Urban Outfitters with an open sky that gave the area a spacious feel. Plus free Izze Sparkling Juice beverages. That was a nice little touch. All things sparkling are good.

We recorded some video of the show, but unfortunately forgot to bring a real camera: so, all that you get is some iPhone 3g video of the show. The video is surprisingly decent though, considering it was recorded on a phone with nothing to stabilize the image but hands and nothing but a speakerphone mic to pick up the sound. Maybe the iPhone 3g S will be better with video. It’s scheduled for release in less than a week on June 19, 2009 (be excited, you know you are).

Denmark sounded great at the show. The instrumentals and sound system were also spectacular at the venue. Any distortion you hear wasn’t caused by the system but the iPhone speakerphone mic and its inability to handle the truth.

Another thing that turned out really well at the show is the photos that we managed to get our hands on from Photojournalist Jim Stevenson. So, you can actually get to see some clear, aesthetic stills of the event! Stevenson has work published in The Huffington Post and we’re glad that we got the opportunity to connect with him both before and at the show. We also appreciate Stevenson’s permission to use a few of the photos here on the site (all photos with the Hipsterwave logo stamp were taken by Stevenson).

So we’ve always thought the Monome is a pretty cool device for making music, among other random uses its makers have come up with. The Monome is like the nerd’s paradise for audio: simple, with a beautiful design, and so many different applications because of its simplicity and integration with MaxMSP, which opens up so many applications and possibilities if you know how to program or are friends with a programmer who will hook you up. Actually, you don’t even have to have any friends to get cool applications for max/msp that can be used with the Monome! Ah, but we digress.

So check out this video demonstration of the monome from its makers:

Pretty cool, huh?

At any rate, the point of this post is not to tout how awesome the Monome is (even though it really is awesome), but rather to clarify something about a song used in a Monome demonstration made by the Monome company! Check it out:

So we came across this video and it’s actually how we discovered the Monome. Late hours wasting time on YouTube will lead you to things like this. We’ve all been there before. Well, so this video–Monome device aside–struck us as really nice in aesthetic terms. The song is beautiful, the flashing lights are kind of cool, but mostly the song is great. So, we managed to get a hold of the producer of the song–Tehn–and he hooked us up. However, this was back when he had the song available on his web site, which is interesting in and of itself. However, it seems as though the song from the video above is no longer available on Tehn’s site. If it is, we just weren’t looking hard enough. However, to save you the trouble, you can just save this download link for yourself!

If you want to just stream the full song,  entitled “jan18cold,”   before downloading, then here it is,

Special thanks to Tehn and the Monome team for doing what they do.

Love the 3.25 floppy disk wallpaper. Every home should have one of those. Sort of?

And, here’s just a new variant of what we think you were really thinking.