After a little break we are back with our mini Interview series “Who am I?”. With this series we not only want to bring you some more background info on already well established artists and people in the industry (like our first episode which featured A-Trak) but we also want to introduce you to some up and coming talents and people that have been in the industry for a while but you might have never heard of them because they work behind the scenes. Today we have one of these people, but we will let him tell you exactly who he is!
Who are you and what do you do?
I am Eric “88Fingaz” Parham and I am a professional music producer from the nations Capital Washington D.C.
How did you start doing what you do?
In Washington D.C. there is a sound that is home grown called Go-Go music. I played and was a band leader for several bands in the 80′s I was in the first Go-Go band to get a recording contract with EMI with the Band ICEE HOTT the single entitled “holla at me”. I was asked to move to Atlanta by a Dear friend Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins in ’06. I signed to Dallas Austin’s production team in ’07 where I worked with Jennifer Hudson on a song called Crown Me written by Raheem DeVaughn. I also produced music written by Tionne “T-boz” Watkins while signed to Darp. I also produced the Roy Ayers mahogany vibe album fet Erykah badu, Betty Wright and Raheem DeVaughn.
Name 3 tracks that inspired you.
1: My Life in the Sunshine by Roy Ayers
2: Body Moves by Rare Essence
3: In the club by 50 Cent
What would be your advice to up and coming creatives?
My advice for up coming producers is to put God first because the creator is the one who gave us our talent in the first place. Also you must find your style and create the music that leans to your swagger. Stay ahead of the curve with your sound.
What is your favorite piece of gear?
My favorite piece of gear is the Korg Triton extreme!
What can we expect next from you?
I have records coming out on a new spanish pop artist named Miesha fet Alo and Pit Bull. I also have a record called shero that i did with my partner blue rocks for Dawn from dirty money. I also have a song that I did with blue rocks going on Mary J Blige new project and I have a song called “Im in love with Nascar coming out on Latin/Pop artist named Diosa.
Here is the 4th Episode of our new mini Interview series titled “Who Am I?”. This weeks featured guests are the first non musicians in this series. They come from fashion world and have been putting in a lot of great work recently in the Munich and German fashion game! I have had the chance to connect with the guys a bit recently and since they just launched they’re first denim series and have a amazing Spring /Summer collection coming up we decided we should let them tell you who they are!
Who are you and what do you do?
We are the Big Bad BEASTS (better known as Duki & Fu) and we are trying to take over the world (Pinky voice)
How did you start doing what you do?
Street culture and fashion were always a big part of our lives growing up. We were pissed off that the Berlin cats got all the fame when it came down to Streetwear, so we decided it was time to put Munich on the map.
Name 3 tracks that inspired you.
Bell Biv Devoe – Above the rim
NAS – It ain’t hard to tell
Eek-A-Mouse – Ganja Smuggling
What would be your advice to up and coming creatives?
I could say “follow you dreams”, “believe in what you do” blablabla … but real talk: The fashion game isn’t easy, so think twice before you get involved in it! People you might think are “major” are hustling harder than you could even imagine.
What is your favorite piece of gear?
From BEASTIN? I would say our coop “X” cap that we did with the good people from the Harvest store.
From another brand … the O.G. AJ IV white/cememt
What can we expect next from you?
Nothing less than world domination (Pinky voice again) and a dope Spring/Summer collection that will hit the stores late January!
Check out the latest Beastin’ collection here www.beastin.net and show the guys some love on facebook to catch up with all the new releases and parties!
For this weeks featured artist on our new Who Am I? Interview series we have a up & coming production & dj duo based in Munich, Germany. I discovered they’re music over the past year or so and have been following they’re work more closely since being back in Munich. But all the details now directly from the guys:
Who are you and what do you do?
We are Jaecki Zucker and Danny Zaster. We produce and dj under the moniker Cat People or CPG9L (Cat People Got 9 Lives).
How did you start doing what you do?
We both started playing records and a little bit of what you maybe could call producing pretty early. Danny in Bavaria, me in Berlin. Just doing mash ups and edits for our DJ sets. At some point it all improved a little, Danny released a couple of Dubstep tunes and I was into producing underground Tropical House. At some point we’ve both been bored by what we did and decided to try to merge powers with Cat People. That worked out pretty good and now we both live in Munich and do what we do.
Name 3 tracks that inspired you.
Danny Zaster:
Wiley – Sidewinder
Digital Mystikz – Lean Forward
Randomer – Brunk
Jaecki Zucker, artists that inspire me right now:
Blawan
Marcel Dettmann
Drexciya
Tomorrow it might be different.
What would be your advice to up and coming creatives?
Well, it’s a played out phrase, but: Be original.
What is your favorite piece of gear?
Cigarettes.
What can we expect next from you?
There is a couple of remixes for cool guys dropping pretty soon. And we also working on releasing a 12″ on our own. Something like a EP. But that turns out to be a little more work than expected. Everybody who’s interested can like us on Facebook and stay in the loop: www.facebook.com/cpg9l. We also do DJ sets for the german radio station EgoFM every now and then and play at a biweekly videostream night called Fundament Sessions: www.fundamentsessions.tumblr.com
The guys also recently dropped a new mix for german label Pink-Pong which you can grab here: soundcloud.com/cpg9l/cat-people-present-pink-tapes. And make sure you check out they’re blog for any news, dope remixes, tracks and edits: www.cpg9l.tumblr.com
