The QWEEN BEAT interviews pt 2: BYRELL The GREAT

It's PART TWO of the CVNTY Qween Beat interviews special, and this time we catch up with the producer/beatmaker BYRELL THE GREAT, who may be relatively new but is making quite an impression. You should definitely check out his new mixtape "In Great We Tru$t Pt II: The Understanding" on vibedeck (which unfortunately I can embed here)

Who is BYRELLtheGREAT? 

BYRELLtheGREAT is the top leading DJ in the kiki ballroom scene (getting into it only a year ago) along side his Qween Beat founder MikeQ. He is also an upcoming producer in the ballroom scene as well as doing side works in the genres of Hip-Hop, Dancehall, and Trap. 

How do you describe what you do? 

What I do varies. One day you'll get a track from me that is dramatic and another day you'll get something that has more of a soft and cunt feel to it. Either way, my tunes are going to make you feel it deep down inside. 

How did you get involved with the whole ballroom scene? 

I started off doing mixes for dance groups, cheerleading squads, drag performers, artist, and many more. In mid 2012 my gay mother asked me to DJ her ball. She knew it was something I wanted to try but never had the chance to. That day started my Ballroom Dj journey. 

Earlier that year, my friend Gia said to me you should make a beat-which she gave me the concept for and all- and that day started Byrell the producer. 

And what do you think of the ballroom scene now in 2013? 

Nothing like what it used to be but still very similar. I think the elegance and grace of the performers are nothing like what it used to be. To me, the newer generations are definitely losing the art of it all. 

Can you explain for our readers the different types of "MCing" used in ballroom, and how these are different and might have developed?

The Mc'ing definitely grows and changes with the times. If you look at Paris is Burning, the MC's were more calm, and elegant on the mic's yet shady. Today the MC's are more hype and rowdy on the mic's. This changed when the voguing got more hyper/ up tempo. 

How did you arrive at your own production style? 

Well coming from an under ground dance scene where theme, and mixing music, is very big to us; I believe that helped me develop my own style but still keeping the influence of original ballroom. 

Who has been the biggest influence on you as a producer?

The music I love definitely! I always look to the things I love for inspiration. Also, Vjuan Allure is a big influence to me as far as making vogue beats. I think every ballroom producers can say they looked up to him because of the way he changed it all. 

What is your favourite production you have been involved in? 

My Vogue Workouts. When I had to set myself apart from everyone else, this was the way to do it. It's my proudest work thus far in ballroom. 

Who are your favourite ballroom MCs? 

Snookie Juicy Couture, the voice of the kiki scene. 

How did you get involved with Qween Beat? 

I had been DJ'ing balls for Twiggy Pucci and she had told MikeQ about me. As my tracks on soundcloud started building, he started to watch me and pay attention to me. And long story short here I am.  

What does Qween Beat mean to you/ how would you describe it? 

Qween Beat is what challenges me to be better. Coming from a group that has so many hot figures in the ballroom, I feel that I have to live up to that. MikeQ took a chance putting me in QB when he did because I can honestly say myself I thought I was horrible when he picked me as I look back. So I don't ever want to let him down, nor the QB legacy. I always strive to do better and better, and being here helps me do just that. 

What does the future hold for Qween Beat? 

I only see us getting bigger and better, and I think everyone can say the same. 

Can you explain for the readers what "cunt" means in ballroom? 

Cunt in the ballroom scene can be any person, place, or thing. If I see a hot shoe I might say "that's cunt" or I may walk in a cold building after coming from the heat and say "it feels cunt in here". Overall, it's a reflection of something good. 

And finally, what exactly is a "kiki house" and how does it differ from a regular house?

As far as houses, everything is the same in the kiki scene and major scene.

The difference is in the scene, not the houses. One scene is for the younger / newer / more fun generation and the other is more mainstream: it's more serious and has way bigger cash prizes.

Oh, look what I fouind on Byrell's Soundcloud page: 

 

Get that while you still can, and remember to follow Byrell on twitter at: @BYRELL_theGREAT

JOEY LABEIJA [CuntMafia/NYC] interview

Part two of an ongoing series about upcoming children. One of the very first people to reach out to CVNT (or Cunt Traxx as it was just called back then), with some very kind words about the music, was Joey LaBeija. It was only right that I returned the love by interviewing Joey first for an ongoing series covering upcoming legends. She really is from the House Of Labeija, bitch, and she’s as talented with a set of CDJs as she is with a weave or a dip dye. 

How is the ballroom/vogue scene in New York right now for you?

The ballroom scene here is really cute. Much respect to everyone involved with Vogue Knights, they really give the children a place to call home. But personally, that isn’t my scene. I joined the House of LaBeija to dj in the name and bring ballroom culture to the underground/warehouse scene that I am involved in. These parties have a VERY mixed crowd and I am usually the only dj that plays vogue beats. Usually, after the first 8 bars of my opening song, a circle opens up, the cunts come out of the woodwork & start dipping. I get such a high from watching them go off.

How did you get into DJing in the first place?

My whole life, I have always sought out some creative outlet. In high school I used to charge kids $50 to distress their jeans. Then I started charging my girlfriends to glue their weaves in. That turned into me going to beauty school and I’ve been doing hair ever since. Once hair became a job for me, I felt uninspired and stagnant so I started making tee shirts with my best friend. That turned into a bit of a success for us, and a consultant friend suggested we grew our brand by throwing parties or learning to dj . A lightbulb went off in my head when he said that because music has always been a huge part of my life and making shirts was getting a bit too expensive. So I bought some equipment and taught myself to dj in my bedroom.

What’s the best place you’ve ever DJed at?

The BEST party I have ever played is a monthly warehouse party in Brooklyn thrown my good friend and sagittarius sister Contessa. Nightlife in New York is so segregated; parties are either gay or straight, house or hip hop. The CuntMafia Warehouse is the only party where all the children harmoniously coexist— blacks, whites, gays, straights, hood rats and hipsters. I really discovered my ‘sound’ through this party, experimenting with music and making sure I play a set that EVERYONE can twerk to. I love Contessa so much for giving us all a place to come together, get wild, and make history.

And the worst?

Now I’m not lying when I say I have never played a bad party here in New York. BUT I will say I have worked for some really TERRIBLE promoters here :)

How did you get inducted into the House of LaBeija?

One day I was talking to my friend (now sister) Jamil about wanting to join a house. We had known each other for a while from the club scene here and started to grow close when I found out he lived just a few blocks away from me. A few weeks after our convo, he and my other sister Celso told me they talked with the Royal Members of the House of LaBeija and that I was going to be inducted the following week. My induction was done on stage in front of a club full of people after the house did a performance. It was the most magical moment in my life.

What are your all time top 3 tracks?

Big Momma Thang by Lil Kim
Back That Azz Up by Juvenile
Knuck If You Buck by Crime Mob
#HoodratProblems

And what’s your current top 3?

The acapella version of Body Party by Ciara is currently on repeat 24/7 for me right now.
No Tea by Pipes
Bubloy by Rizzla & False Witness

What is your favourite hairdo you’ve ever had?

My favorite is my current hair. It’s always some sort of rainbow. I owe my best bud Jenna, I give her free reign to do whatever on my hair and she ALWAYS turns me out. It’s the only thing that makes me feel cunt every day.

And what is the worst?

I used to have this platinum blonde pompadour when I was 18. I also was really into wearing these bright red Sally Jesse Rafael-esque eyeglasses at the time. That whole look was a mess. I wish I could take it all back but I can’t….so instead, I deleted every picture off Facebook.

What’s coming up in the near future for Joey La’Beija?

Right now I am also working with Contessa on making the CuntMafia Warehouse into an even bigger production than what it already has been. Bigger warehouses, new talent, sponsors THE WHOLE NINE YARDS DARLINGGGG. We want to take all the resident dj’s and bring this party around the world. I’m also in the works of planning a European tour in September right now. First stop is most definitely going to be London! See you then?

DEFINITELY!

Joey’s Tumblr is here, and his Soundcloud is here.

YNFYNYT SCROLL [#FEELINGS/Track Meet] interview

Absolutely one of my favourite new house/whatever producers, I originally posted this interview on Dangerous Minds last year, but thought it was worthy of a re-post. This is part one of an ongoing series covering upcoming children. 




They say House music is a feeling, and I am inclined to agree.

For too long House music has been defined by a rigid beat pattern that, almost 30 years after its birth, has barely changed. In fact, it has changed so little as to make this hallowed genre seem stale and insignificant, the opposite of how it appeared the first time round, when (ironically) it wasn’t the beat that defined it so much as the attitude.

I remember hearing House music for the first time as a child of about 9 or 10 and asking my siblings to buy me a compilation of this strange, funky music. They got me a two-cassette release, called something like Hits of House, and unexpectedly opened my ears to a whole new freakish world of camp men from Chicago stuttering over a hard and dark music unlike anything I had ever heard. Sure, I had been obsessed with S’Express already, tuning into late-night radio on my headphones hoping to hear “Theme From S’Express” and “Hey Music Lover,” while also hoping not to get busted by my parents in the next room. But Hits Of House was like nothing I had ever heard. It’s hard to explain to younger generations just how fresh House was when it first appeared, just as it is hard for the listener to recapture the thrill and joy of hearing it for the first time.

But that’s where Ynfynyt Scroll comes in.

YS is a young, Austin-based producer who takes the best elements of house music from the 80s and 90s and squeezes them through the post-crunk filter to create something eniuinely fresh. You know, as opposed to what most of the magazines and websites sell House fans as being “forward-thinking”. Ynfynyt Scroll makes music that actually sounds like it comes from 2012, not 2002 or even 1992.
So blown away was I on first hearing Ynfynt Scroll that I immediately asked Rodrigo (his real name) to do a remix for me, which he thankfully agreed to. I am very happy to report that his remix of “Work It” doesn’t disappoint, coming on a bit like Junior Vasquez draged to a deep south R&B club, but even that pales in comparisson to his own releases, such as the Let Me See It EP on the #Feelings label. I also emailed him a few questions, that he gratefully replied to:

THE NIALLIST: Who are you and where are you from?

YNFYNYT SCROLL: My Christian name is Rodrigo Díaz. I was born in Lima, Peru, but I’ve lived in Dallas nearly all my life. My assumed name is Ynfynyt Scroll, which since 2010 have I used for production, DJing, visual art and as an excuse to be a cunty brat with heavy Islamic fundamentalist undertones.

Describe the YS sound to me.

It’s all about scroll scroll scrolling. Just keep scrolling on to the next thing until your brain goes “ugh, ya,” whether it’s listening or producing. I have almost no intentions when setting out to make a track, I just gravitate toward certain sounds that lend themselves to certain genres, but I don’t think in terms of genre.

Who and what are your biggest production influences?

I am very influenced by bedroom rap producers of the American south, mutli-layered trance pad chord hits, men who love dancing without making physical contact with anyone else, Afro-Peruvian rhythms, breakz and very early house.

I hear the club scene in Texas is hot - is this true?

Well Austin does a pretty good job of bringing talent through. Groups like Elevater Action, Broken Teeth and Peligrosa consistently throw good parties, my Freshmore buds in Houston do a good job too, and in Dallas there’s Track Meet, of which I am a part. We’ve thrown some pretty neat, all-out, immersive parties with movie-quality glowing slime and exotic set designs and neat/fun stuff like that, but haven’t had the frequency of guest that the folks in other cities have had up to now.

What can we expect from a YS DJ set?

You can expect me to be all over the place, to ignore genre and sometimes tempo, to play a lot of really abrasive and tinny, trebley Ha tracks, and to play as much amateur music as possible. You can also be sure you’ll hear your fair share of American southern rap, something that has been a part of every DJ set I’ve ever played.

If you could have written any song in the history of music, which one would it be?

Chaka Khan’s “I’m Every Woman.”

YNFYNYT SCROLL SOUNDCLOUD

This is the debut Ynfynyt Scroll release ofr #FEELINGS in Austin:
 

MYKKI BLANCO support slot

I had the pleasure of supporitng Mykki Blanco at Islington Mill in May.  It was an awesome gig. I was really curious to see Mykki live, and she didn't disappoint. In fact, she went way beyond what I was expecting.

What a brilliant gig; dark, thrilling and intense. Mykki is a great rapper with awesome freestyle flows, and the drag is definitely not a gimmick. She’s the real deal. She has an overall aesthetic that is tight and well thought out - she's not just another "queer rapper" spitting over random productions, she has a vision and it's great to see in practice. 

Musically and visually it all makes so much sense when you see Blanco live. The beats are heavy and ominous, and the rapping goes from in your face and hyped-up to introspective while still being mesmerising. There's a bit of valley girl going on with the persona too, but it feels natural, not forced. It's strange, it's hard to articulat this, but it does make a lot osense in the live context. Soo see the Mykki Blanco live experience if you can, you’ll come away a fan.

 

Just a picture of us chilling backstage with Mykki Blanco and Midnight Growler. Mykki was just about to go on, and I had just come off. And her jacket is BADASS!

And another pic of Mykki, this time a pre-show portrait by my sis Pam Van Damned.