dj Stretch Armstrong

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Posted on July 8th 2009 by Owen Thomas

Who: dj Stretch Armstrong
What: artist Q&A
Where: Rokbar - 15 Hess St. Hamilton
When: Wednesday July 8th

The Stretch Armstrong & Bobbito radio show was a staple in the Golden era of hip-hop. The New York based show has been credited with breaking Notorious B.I.G. to the masses and aided other artists like Nas, DMX, Busta Rhymes, Mobb Deep & Wu Tang become the superstars they are today.

You've got a mean set of grey in that beard. How old are you?
Each grey is individually dyed.  Painstaking, but I'm going for that George Clooney look.  I'm closer to 40 than 30.

Your first Stretch & Bobbito radio show was on October 25th, 1990. You said you guys are putting together a reunion tour. Is there any news on the tour?
If it was easy to organize, it'd have happened already.  The problem is dealing with rappers is just about the most painful endeavor one could endure.  Isn't it ironic?  We tried to do a really big event at the Nokia Theater in Manhattan but getting these artists to commit - and I'm talking about artists that really benefited ina big way by my support on KCR and later Hot 97.  So Bobbito and I may do a tour in Europe and Asia and N. America, sans rappers. 

As someone who's been so involved in the hip-hop scene, how were you introduced to electronic music and what lead to the decision to spin electro at your shows?
I've always been into electronic music.  Hip-hop IS electronic music.  I've been a record/music junky since I was five years old.  But in terms of playing dance music, it's just much more creative, open-minded, open to experimentation than hip-hop which for a loooong time has been formulaic, boring pop music with very few exceptions.  I can't remembet the last time I had a full length hip-hop album that I culdn't stop listening to.  There are plent of hip-hop apologists who say guys like me are getting old yada yada yada but they'd be hard pressed to come up with anything but sporadic singles that really rocked their world.  It wasn't like that before, when there would always be that album that just completely captured everyone's attention - commanded it.

What can we expect from a new Stretch Armstrong dj set? How many GB of tunes do you bring with you? Does your game plan vary from party to party?
Yeah it all depends on who shows up.  The one good thing about Serato is it allows me to go in many directions.  I'm pretty versatile.

Plant Music has been around for 4-5 years. How did you and Tittsworth start? What is your role with Plant Music? What's coming out on Plant Music this summer? Are there any new artists that you haven't released music from yet?
Plant was a label that Dominique Keegan had going but it had become more of a hobby for him than an aggressive label.  I was looking for a place to bring artists I had my eye on, a place I could focus my taste, and I approached Dom about me and him joining forces, which he had been thinking about independently of me, so it all worked out.  The first artist I reached out to was Tittsworth, who is working on his follow up to "12 Steps" and his new record certainly reflects his more global view after touring the world almost non-stop for the past year plus.  This summer we have records by Loose Shus from San Fran, Eli Escobar, who I probably don't need to tell you about because you know he is a beast, Sam Young, a dj from London, Titsworth (limited edition Serato 12" with the bonkers AC Slater remix),  The Glass (Dom's group) and probably the most surprising of everything, a trio from Melbrourne named Clubfeet who make some of the most saccharine, dreamy synth pop you'll ever hear.

What are your thoughts on new youth culture music, regarding the blending of hip-hop, rock and electro? Do you think it's the music of this generation? Where do you see it going in the future?
I love that kids are free to borrow from so many sources and genres.  They aren't constricted in the way they may have been in the past.  Sometimes it leads to exciting new music, and sometimes not.  Real talent finds a way to the top one way or another.  I think that often too much is made of the cross-pollinating of genres.  When it works it's lovely.  But like most "mash-ups" it's too often very painful.

You've said that there was a time where hip-hop became boring for you, ironically around the time you landed a spot with Hot97. Do you see yourself experiencing the same cycle with new dance music in a few years time? What's keeping you interested in new music?
There is so much going on in dance music that if you get tired of one particular strain, you can change directions.  There are no rules.  Sometimes I get a little tired of the whole sidechain/chainsaw sound which is becoming somewhat of a cliché but when that happens, deeper or more minimal music sounds so refreshing.  I like to mix it up anyway.  You can't be in 5th gear all the time.

You've said in other interviews who you dig from the current electronic world, who are you impressed by in the current mess of the hip-hop world?
No one new is really making me take note.  But I am open to listen.

Knowing how much you "love" the bottle service types, name 4 people that would make the most enjoyable bottle service booth for you? Name 4 people who'd be the most awkwardly funny booth with you?
I haven't been to a bottle service club in ages.  Paris Hilton's sister Nikki was in my booth once and she was a c*nt.  Paris was on some "you're like the best dj."  You'd think paris would be the bad one but it was the opposite.  I can't answer this without getting flashbacks from really annoying times.

One of my biggest dj pet peeves are djs who play way too hard and fast way too soon...and djs who don't respect the equipment provided for them. What's yours?
Djs that can only do one thing, like play super loud at 135 bpm for an empty room at 11pm.  With Serato, I find there are a lot of djs that don't know much about sound fidelity and will blast mp3s that have been encoded at 128kbps which is deadly on the ears.  And of course djs that play sixty songs in an hour, cutting off a dance track before it even gets to that next level.   I mean,  let the song breath!  Oh, and unless you can really do it right, please stop scratching.  And the fake enthusiasm is so retarded- head banging when you and everyone in the room isn't really feeling it.  Oh and samples that demand you to "put your hands in the air" - please stop that, especially ones by Fatman Scoop.  Enough!  And pre-mixed blends.  And djs that only play songs with edited intros.  What on earth would these djs be doing with records?  Trainwrecking.

How would you rate your tennis skills compared to your dj skills?
HAAA!  That's very funny.  Technically, my tennis is at a higher level, but I practice as much as I can whereas I don't practice djing.  Technically I would say I was much better when I was on the radio regularly.  But if there is ever a biathlon that involves tennis and djing , I'm pretty confident that I would be world champion.

As a fan of punk, what do you think of the punk band Stretch Armstrong from South Carolina?
Never heard them.  Kind of annoying that they took a name I already had.  Plus aren't they on some born-again Christina stilo?  I'm not down with fanatics.

 

Wednesday July 8th
dj Strecth Armstrong
w. The Cobrasnake

Rokbar
15 Hess St., Hamilton
$10 - 19+

 

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