One Time @ Bandcamp With... Crispus McFly

Alright, by now y'all should know the deal. On Monday I wrote about Crispus McFly's EP The Wake Up! and now it's time for the conversation with the man. If you still haven't given him a listen, check out this new track he gave us for the interview, it's called "Flavius Valerius."



First up who are you? Where do you live? How old are you? How long have you been making tunes? What are you working with?
I go by Crispus McFly. I'm a 26 y.o. beatmaker in Boston, and I've been makin beats for about 3 years.

Samples sound present in your music, are you a digger/vinyl collector?
Yeah, I dig records.

What music did you grow up on? Who are you listening to today?
I grew up listening to a lot of Moments, Little Sister, Breakwater, mainly Funk, R&B and Jazz with some Gang Starr. I still listen to it and Dilla, Jeru the Damaja, etc.

Do you have a musical background? Play instruments?
I used to play the drums, but stopped after my first year.

What's your day job?
I work in a record shop, buying and selling records.

What kind of downloads are you seeing off the bandcamp? Are you doing this for fun or is it something you are trying to make a career out of?
I make beats for fun, but if it leads to profit, I'm down for that too.

Are you interested in getting vocalists on your tracks? If so, singers rappers? both?
I'd be nice to work with some artists, but I'm good right now on my own.

Do you DJ or perform you tunes out in some capacity?
Naw, I haven't really done any of that yet.

How did you find Choclate Chuck's Goodnight EP? What made you want to reinterpret it? Has he heard your take?
I found Chuck on myspace. We talked through some emails and he liked my beats. So, we did remixes of eachother's EPs. It was good times.

What are you working on today?
Just beats and my job.

Favorite pizza?
Pepperoni

Favorite drink?
Beer.

Favorite book?
Reason: The Manual

Crispus McFly "The Wake Up! EP"

It seems fitting that as I wake up on this cold Monday morning I review an EP called The Wake Up! Produced by a young beatmaker who resides in Boston, it’s a quick album that features 9 songs, none clocking in at more than a minute thirty.

One great thing Dilla’s release of Donuts, and to a lesser degree the unoffical release of his ‘05 beat tapes that freely float around the internets, is the inspiration they’ve provided to producers the world over to not hold back. Today we see cats everywhere dropping mini albums, EPs, and beat tapes such as this. I’ll never be one to complain about music being released!

As for the music contained in this .rar file? Well Crispus McFly is hot. He works in a record store which proves to be very fitting as his jams are full of ill chops and well chosen samples. Somtimes he loops things, sometimes you can hear him pounding out the sequence on the MPC - although in reality he could be making this on anything.

The guitar chords on “Rooster” will have you nodding your head without any communication between your neck and your brain - it just happens. He doesn’t construct anything here for an emcee, although I would love to hear the forward thinking rapper who decides he can spit to this... Jay Electronica?

Somtimes the tunes here remind me of the “Chillwave” phenomenon that has swept college students off their feet and got everyone thinking they can create atmospheric vibes via sound collages. Crispus McFly feels a little more schooled on Hip Hop than your average dorm room producer and his ear for finding the right sample is proven impeccable. Wake up to some new sounds.

Give The Wake Up! EP a listen below and come back Friday for a One Time @ Bandcamp conversation with they guy!

1982 "Still Waiting" (Video)

Since first hearing that Termanology and Statik Selektah were gonna join forces as a group I've been patiently waiting and watching the internets for any hints. It seems the 1982 project is here now, with a release date of October 26th. This track here seems like a worthwhile step past Term's debut which seemed a little one dimensional. Of course Statik hooked up a filthy beat!