One Time @ Bandcamp With... Leonard Dstroy

On Monday I dropped the review for a project by Leonard Dstroy called Higher Vibrations available for free at his bandcamp. I shot him a few questions and he had alot to say. Get familiar with this KC based beat stomper.

Who is Leonard Destroy? How old are you? Where are you from, is it still your home?
My real name is Kyle Dykes. I am 30 years old and I'm from the middle of the map, Kansas City, MO - born and raised.

When did you start making tunes? Were your first music making endeavors in the same vein as what you're on today?
I started DJing in 1994 when i was 14 years old. I didn't start producing til 1999. I actually started playing with a couple bands (Sevenfold Symphony and the Jesse Jackson 5), later on I formed the group Deep Thinkers with my partner Brother of Moses in 2001. We went on to release 4 full length albums and we are still very much active to this day. Since day one, I've always been interested in progressive hiphop and electronic music.

What were you hearing as a kid? What were you digging into as you grew up? Did your parents influence your music listening?
As a kid, I was exposed to a wide variety of music via my father who is an outstanding guitarist and singer. Growing up my dad had a very extensive vinyl collection and I was fortunate to cut my teeth on lots of Soul, Jazz, Rock, Reggae, Dancehall, Funk, Afrobeat, etc... As it turns out he gave me his entire collection as a wedding gift, so now its mine. When I got a bit older, around the time I started middle school, I started getting into hiphop and other things. The first record I ever bought was Coolio's Fantastic Voyage on vinyl haha. I was really into the early beat stuff , like the earlier Ninja Tune catalog. To this day, artists like Amon Tobin, Clifford Gilberto, and Coldcut are still huge inspirations to the work I do. I was also really into Venetian Snares, Aphex Twin, Squarepusher and stuff like that too!!!

Do you have a day job?
Yes, I still hold down a part-time job, but hopefully not for long.

Outside of music, how do you like to spend your time?
Outside of music I like to hang with my wife, friends and family... eat good food, play basketball, watch movies and enjoy the great outdoors. But honestly, I'm a hermit and I really do spend most of my free time in the lab creating.

What's your goal with your music? Are you looking for vocalists to get on your tracks?
My goal with music is to pay the bills doing something I love and also to use it as a opportunity to travel and meet new people. As far as vocalists are concerned, I am always down to work with people who inspire and push me to be better.

How are you as an artist dealing with the changing face of the music business?
I am just trying to go with the flow of things and adapt to the ever changing landscape of music today. I think it is important to embrace all the technology we have at our fingertips and use it to our advantage.

Favorite record label?
Right now I'm really feeling a few different labels.... proboably on my top ten list would be Alpha Pup, Error Broadcast, Elm and Oak, Warp, Brainfeeder, All City, TokyoDawn, Hyperdub, StonesThrow, AND Planet MU.

Are you a vinyl collector? Do you play out either DJin or doin a live production set?
I am a vinyl collector and when I play out I usually DJ, but I am actually making the transition to doing more live production sets in the future.

Are you happy with music today? What's in your ears?
I am very happy with the state of music today. It seems as if there is a renaissance happening right now with progressive beat/bass music in general. There is so much good music coming out every week that it is hard to keep up with sometimes. All over the world people are pushing the boundaries and it is a beautiful thing indeed!

What's next for Leonard Destroy?
Hopefully this year you will see quite a few things from me. I am currently in the process of signing with a label and you should see a full length album and a E.P. in 2011... more information to come on that real soon!!! (Ed. Note: Leonard Dstoy and Elm and Oak Records made the official announcement earlier this month, congrats man!)

Also doing a collaboration album with my right hand man HeRobust that is gonna be absolutely insane, that should see the light of day in the near future. It is gonna melt faces for sure!

Also gonna be releasing a few remixes on a few different labels, and a project with Reggie B that has been in the works for awhile now. Also working with a few very talented Kansas City emcees, and I am planning on getting back in the lab with Brother of Moses sometime this year to start working on the next Deep Thinkers album as well.

You hearing anything coming out of the Northwest?
Yeah Ive heard of a few things coming from the Northwest, but I am still kinda in the dark. I am a big fan of the homie Devonwho's stuff and I really think the Frite Nite guys kick major ass. I would love to get up there sometime this year and check it out. I hear nothing but good things.

Last words? Advice? Shout outs? Words of wisdom?
Be excellent to each other and party on dudes!!!

Leonard Dstroy "Higher Vibrations"

While FlyLo and his Brainfeeder collective have firmly established LA as the hub of life around the ever growing “beat” scene their influence has escaped and begun to seep into the ears of creators all over the world. This weeks bandcamp excursion brought me to Leonard Dstroy from Kansas City.

I don’t know much about KC, but I wouldn’t of expected something like this cooked up in the town’s city limits. Dstroy uses a wide array of synths, bleeps, bloops, and crazy mechanical like roars. Often times he is incredibly melodic with his construction of rhythms merged with the synthesizer noises.

Leonard has a knack for delivering really hard drums on his tracks. He doesn’t go for an up tempo mood too often, he likes to keep things more cerebral. On a track like “Mojave” he let’s the beat build, then where a hook would go if it were a typical song sees several elements of sound added, I can’t even begin to explain the levels to which he is layering things, you will hear new aspects to things upon every listen.

The album is full of this. He is not at all shy when it comes to chopping up and tweaking things. He’ll have a vocal sample play, slow it down all the way into a grinding clicking noise, but at the same time be having the volume of it reduced all the while he’s brought in some keys, some atmospheric effects, and flipped the drums up. He doesn’t fail at keeping the listener intrigued.

His track evolution is awesome. Instrumentalists can far to often fall into the trap of just making beats that have no depth to them. Dstroy isn’t making beats in the traditional sense. Many of these tracks wouldn’t suite an emcee, and the emcee that does decide to rock some of these deserves all the attention he can get.

A few vocalists do join the party. Reggie B belts out some excellent lines on “Trying to Find My Way” over an off kilter drum beat. He harmonizes with himself and has a beautiful voice. It sounds like Dstroy added some effects to B’s voice as well, which helps it in the mix feel like part of the beat rather than just someone doing their own thing over it.

“Higher Frequency” sees Brother of Moses make an appearance. The track is toned down on bleeps and blips for Moses to spit bars. He doesn’t stand out how I’d prefer to hear a rapper on a beat but if you take the time to listen to him, you won’t be disappointed. The beat is bubbly, with a happy vibe behind it, you’ll be smiling while you listen no doubt.

Higher Vibrations put me in a mood every time I listened to it. It’s not dark or grimy, it’s something else. While Leonard Dstroy may have been inspired by some peers with longer track records he owns his music here demonstrating that his style is all his own. The record is something to be heard as an album. Individual songs here are cool, but I’m not inclined to go to anyone individually. I just want to put this on at the front and let it ride.