Kedaar Kumar: Bringing the sets
Oxytocin’s Kedaar is going to be dropping sets in Boston this week, go check em out!
LINKS SOUNDCLASH
ENORMOUS ROOM
Don’t sleep.
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Exclusive Interview with Chili
Chili is going to be leaving us soon. He’s moving to Austin. So we interviewed him! Check it!
1. How’d you get your stage name: Chili? :: Well I used to work for this big shoe company back in the day and after a while my buddy Kevin started calling me Chili Palmer. It was a reference to the movie get shorty. I had a little bit of a double chin back then and if I slicked my hair back looked a little like John Travolta so maybe that’s why it stuck. Then after I left that place I got a dog and I named him Chili to keep it going and when I moved to the east coast I couldn’t keep the dog so I had to assume the name again in his memory and conveniently it worked as a moniker so there you go.
2. What drives you to create music? :: Man, a lot of things. Mainly it’s an escape which is obvious I suppose but it’s what I’m escaping I think that drives me the most. Ya know I have a day job like everybody else and giving that much time to some company for a dream that’s not my own eats away at me like a virus. So at the end of the day when I’ve put in my time I NEED to make music or do something that makes me feel real or I’ll go crazy. It’s really all I want to do and it’s something I CAN do. I mean I didn’t go to college, I managed to make an ok career for myself but I knew early on like probably by the age of 13 that all I wanted to do with my life was make music. So I guess what drives me is this constant reminder that everything else is kinda secondary. I need the music to keep myself straight. It’s like I need to give myself a reason to exist otherwise I’m like a cog in a machine and I serve no real purpose but to exist for the sake of existing.
3. What are your weapons of choice? :: Weapons of choice. Well for the longest time my main weapon was an MPC. If you don’t know what that is it’s a drum machine and sampler with 16 pads and a sequencer. For example you could plug a record player up to it and grab a drum break and chop it into a totally new beat of your own. I like working with the MPC cause it’s so fast and tactile. I like using my hands and pushing buttons and getting some feedback like a solid “click” or a “cachunk”. I’m a big fan of hardware, I have a lot of it. I have a couple nice analog synths and some old digital hardware from the mid 90’s, various samplers, loopers, fx pedals etc. I’m really into plugging things into each other and seeing what kinda noise I can make with it. For example with the stuff I’m working on now, I’m taking everything I can find and pumping it through this circuit bent Casio sk1. It’s got this old nasty 8bit sampler with a whopping 2 seconds sample time. I love how that thing sounds. Right now my main weapon is a Monome. The Monome is the ticket for me. It allows me to perform my beats like a real instrument. I can arrange things in a way that allows me to control the direction of the music. If I want to do it the same way every time I can or If I want to change it up and improvise I can do that to. The thing about the Monome is by itself it doesn’t do anything. It needs software to do anything so as the apps grow and become more interesting so does the Monome. Lately I’ve been using Ableton Live to chop, arrange and record. I’ll take a beat down into the studio, hit the record button and just jam with it. Then I’ll go back and see what I can make out of it.
4. How do you feel about working with the artists from Oxytocin? :: Oxytocin is easily the illest crew of peeps I’ve ever had the pleasure to make music with. Not only is everybody really nice and nobody is a dick to one another, but every single person is a pro. I’ve never been so impressed by a group of individuals. My roommate Kedaar and I have been hosting the rehearsals/meetings at our crib and these guys show up with their game faces on. It’s a pretty cool thing that we’ve done. I mean these shows are crazy, with the visuals and the multiple acts. It’s a beast to pull it off. I think the only way that’s even possible is cause everybody is so chill and practiced. It’s a good dynamic for sure, nobody gets too stressed and people challenge and inspire each other so it’s cool. I feel really lucky to have had this opportunity. When Arthur came to me last year talking about this idea he had to do a compilation of all Harmonix employees making non rock music I was like “hell ya, I’ll throw down on that shit” and did not really knowing what to expect. Then he hit me back with the first couple verses of Ludlow and I knew it was on. That’s actually the first time in all my days of making beats that an emcee has picked up one of my beats and just murdered it like it was an act of self defense. I knew at that point he was for real and that this project was going to be dope. At first I think we were all a little nervous about trying to perform it as a group cause there are so many different performers, setups etc. but we did it and we’re doing it again at least one more time! Enormous room Aug 17th baby!
5. Blondes or Brunettes? :: I think flight of the conchords said it best. “We need blondes not bombs, we need brunettes not fighter jets”. We definitely need less war and more sexy ladies.
6. If there was one musical skill you wish you had, what would it be? :: I wish I could play the accordion. I wish I had an accordion. I don’t know what it is about that instrument, maybe cause my Dad played it but whenever I see someone ripping it on a accordion I get super excited and want that skill for myself. There is a dude that plays the subway here in Boston that is amazing. He’s an old Irish alcoholic that plays for his drinking money. I have this paranoid post apocalyptic view of the future sometimes and wonder what the fuck I would do if the power suddenly went out. How would I make music? I’m so dependent on having a space and power for my gear that in the event of a major war in this country or some kind of disruption of our luxurious lifestyles that I would be left high and dry. I’ve been looking at hand made melodicas as an entry into this world of sound.
7. What’s next for you? :: Austin is my next move. I’ve been living in Boston since Jan ‘03 and have had my fill of the east coast. I came out here to try and redefine my music and find a niche for myself. I feel like I’ve accomplished that goal so it’s time for phase 2. I’ve got a pretty solid process now and some ideas for future projects. I’m gonna focus on cranking out tracks on the monome for the next few months and see if I can’t put an album out by the end of the year. Whilst working on that I’m gonna start collaborating with my buddy in Austin. He’s got a band called “The Great Nostalgic”. He’s putting a tour together for the Fall so I’m gonna see if I can’t slide in as a keys player for that tour, learn a little about the rules of the road then come back and start putting a tour together for myself. Basically I just wanna play music so I’m gonna start doing exactly that. Playing every opportunity I get no matter how small and keep doing it no matter how hard it gets or how hungry I get.
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Videos of Oxytocin LIVE @ middlesex now available!
Special treats for you guys courtesy of Chili, Kedaar and DJ RNDM. The first videos of the Oxytocin Release Show, LIVE at Middlesex. If you missed this show, fear not! Through the power of the 1nt3rn3t, we bring you clips from the show. Don’t forget to come to our Enormous Room/Beat Research Show on August 17th!
These videos are coming to you from Chili.
Check out his vimeo page and drop a comment if you like what you see (dont forget to check out his MONOME stuff too)!
Big props to Peaches (creator of the Oxytocin artwork) and Keri for recording the show. Such talent!
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Waterborn interviews the Oxytocin Crew for 2Old2Play.
After our release show, I got the chance to meet Waterborn and chat him up. Later that night he reviewed the show on 2old2play.
A week later he got in contact with us, and arranged to do an interview with us. So we all sat around, drank cheap beers, and laid down this interview. Hope you enjoy it.
Check it out here!
Many thanks and Big Ups to Waterborn! (he’ll school your ass in Gears too)
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Oxytocin Release Show a success!
Well, last night was incredible. The Oxytocin Release Show at Middlesex was a great success, and we’d like to thank all who came, wanted to come, downloaded the album, listened to the songs, drank, smoked, and partied with us last night. Without you, the night would have not been so memorable. Thank you all.
On another note, Waterborn, over at 2old2play gave us a little shout on our show last night. Many thanks to Waterborn (love the site name).
Check it out here!
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Word of the first Oxytocin show on June 8th reaches the Phoenix!
The guys over at The Boston Phoenix have caught word of our release show at Middlesex!
Check out the article here
or in the Phoenix itself, if papyrus is your thing.
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Ligeri has blessed us with a new poem!
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Loveless
This isn’t me, what I’m becoming
He calls me to his bed
So I look down as I walk over to it
And I can’t tell you it’s a magnificent feeling
When all it is- is a few minutes of a good time
That later leaves me a little empty inside
Because we lack that energy
That two should feel when becoming one
But we’re still two. Separated. Not in the same zone
Just looking to get that edge off, so we
Meet and greet, about once a week
Make our business deal and call it a day
He goes his way and I go mine
Fulfillment fades after a very short time
And then I begin to wonder
Don’t I deserve more?
Then the next time comes around
He calls me to his bed
But I look down as I walk over to it
And I just can’t seem to break away
We’ve become too comfortable
Eight months too long to keep something so casual
But he’s available and well, so am I
Maybe I’ll just use him for what he’s worth
I can’t help that the last I loved left me in the desert
So now it’s time to think like a man
Fuck him, use him, never love him
If it hurts him, oh well, that’s all I can say
At least maybe he’ll learn how to treat the next lady
This isn’t me, what I’ve become
I call him to my bed
And I look down as he walks over to it
There’s no need to look into the eyes
Of someone I will never trust
He’s not my lover
He’s just another man
-Ligeri
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New Review of Oxytocin by Groovemine!
Rain Pletcher over at Groovemine reviewed Oxytocin, head on over there and see for yourself! Wish they could make it out here for the show on June 8th!
Check it here.
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Nay blogged?! No freakin’ way!
Hi hi!
Arthur (better known as M-Cue) asked me to write up a blog a few weeks ago to post on the site. I’ve been really busy working to make sure you guys have a sweet video game about The Beatles come November, so I haven’t been blogging for him. Nor am I someone who blogs. Ever. I tried. I just really don’t have that much to say. I talk all the time; it doesn’t mean I actually have anything to say.
So instead, here’s a list of things that I did instead of writing this blog for the Oxytocin website.
I worked on my videogame.
I daydreamed about my murder-mystery videogame that will one day be made into a Hollywood movie (hopefully not directed by Uwe Boll) called Sexy: The Braille Bra Murders. It’s a story of a serial killer who taunts the police by leaving clues embossed in the bras of his victims. The way you win is by buying lace bras. Save the world and Victoria’s Secret!
I went to Wendy’s and got a spicy chicken sandwich
I wrote Arthur email about how sorry I was that I hadn’t written this blog yet. Maybe it was just an IM.
I listened to “The World According to Pretty Toney”.
I sat around thinking about how incredible “The World According to Pretty Toney” is.
I got a new phone. It does fancy things like email, but so far, I’ve only taken pictures of my cat with it.
I told Arthur to go listen to “The World According to Pretty Toney”, and lent him the book that goes with it.
I did my makeup.
I finished watching Season 3 of Heroes.
Looked up other blogs to see what people write about. Some people are really self important.
I watched “The Secret” starring David Duchovny. I only watched it because 2 Christmases ago, my boyfriend bought me a book called “Naoko”. I read it because it was obviously named after me, and found out there was a Japanese movie made, and then and American one. The movie was not about me.
Nor was it soft core porn, as my office mate Pete suggests.
I’ve been working my way through a gigantic bag of Spicy Nacho Doritos.
I bought some shoes online.
I went apartmentsturbating. That’s when you look at apartments on Craigslist for no good reason.
I’ve started a rubber band ball with all the rubber bands I get for my salads from Whole Foods.
I googled my band That Handsome Devil. It turns out we have a show at a strip club this weekend.
I can now lace up my knee high Timberlands with one hand. Oh yeah.
I am taller than Jermaine Dupri.
I’ve stared at an iron that’s under my desk at work, think about taking it home in case I need to iron something, and then do nothing.
I ate a million girl scout cookies.
I’ve been vicariously dating through my co-workers. They tell me about their dates, and I give them horrible advice. Sometimes it’s good advice. Depends on who you ask, I guess.
I’ve been trying to master the perfect combination of humility/gratitude/enthusiasm when people tell me they’ve listened to the Oxytocin album. I don’t want to sound like a cocky bitch, but I think the album’s pretty sweet. And I’m really excited that people are actually listening to it.
You can tell by Fail Fail that I’m not too keen on listening to people’s shit sometimes.
‘Nay
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New review of Oxytocin on FreQfans.com!
Mr. Resetti over at FreQfans.com has given Oxytocin a thorough review, covering every song ‘as it plays’.
Check it out!
Shout out to Carlos.
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