Nastyface...behind the mask.

I have the unique privilege of actually knowing the brilliance that is Nastyface in person.  I have dined with him.  I have spoken with him at length.  Which is why I will never, even under duress, reveal his identity.  He is featured here because he is talented.  And I wanted to pick his brain a little.  So, many thanks for the interview, brother.  Your secret is safe with me.  (Until the threat of waterboarding - then I sell your ass out in a nanosecond).  For real, though...if you dig music, check this fool out.  And check out his crew.  I promise you will not be disappointed.  There are a lot of musicians doing the same old shit the same old way.  Finding someone who is unique can be a challenge.  I did the dirty work.  There are enough links on here to keep you in fresh beats for days.


Why the anonymity?

My true self isn't human form. Therefore, I would be misrepresenting myself to use my host body's face.  It's temporary anyway. As far as the mask, it could be any mask. The one I use is thin plastic and cheap because it means nothing. I don't agree with how close the world sets their eyes and ears. It makes sense, but it's shallow. 

What's your process for creating?

I always cut my beats from a marble slab. Sometimes I chip away for hours and sometimes the pieces just fall right off. I just let the final product reveal itself. I've never really been sure if my beats were already created somewhere in time or if they were created in my mind. As much as my physical body is a conduit for my mind, my mind may just be a conduit for the creativity.

How does technology factor into your work?  Obviously, it makes things easier...but is there a cost?

I strive to be innovative at all times and that means constantly embracing new tech. I'm a big believer in the idea that the ends justify the means when it comes to art. My heaven is a room full of MPC's and computers. Wires everywhere.

What/who is your inspiration?

I draw inspiration from artists who do their best work after their 40 hour work week and give it away.

Would you keep making music if no one could ever listen to it but you?

If I cared about other people listening to my stuff, I would have quit a long time ago. I've been doing it for 10 years and only a handful of people have really heard anything until the last year or so. There have been times when I contemplated moving on and using my time in other ways, but I always came back to samples and hip hop. At some point, I just figured out that it's what I would do in a vacuum. If my life were a blank slate.

What are your feelings about underground/indie vs. 'mainstream' music?

Money ruins everything.

How do you get your work out there...how do you make connections?

Doing a bunch of shitty things on the computer that I don't want to do. If I had it my way, I would be cutting beats all day and I would pay someone else to promote. But I do like sending my stuff to the artists I respect and collaborating with different people. As far as connections, there is no difference between all the relationships in my life. I make no friendships for money.

You know I dig your work...who are you listening to?

Beats: Exile, Samiyam, Juels, 9th. Rappers: Blu, Fashawn, Phonte, Johaz DagSav. Always: Elliot Smith. Stevie Wonder.

How important is music...to you, to the world?

Music is part of the world’s body. Like how important is your right arm? I'm not really a fan though, in general. I don't really have an allegiance to music over, say, film, or photography. It's all the same muscle like I said before. It's honesty. People who like shitty, dishonest music are usually shitty, dishonest people.

How great of an impact do world events have on music?

Our world creates the people in it and artists do their work so we all can understand it. It's all cause and effect. Sometimes Art can change the profile of the world too, I guess. But it's mostly a reflection. Eh, I don't know, I'm too sober to be any deeper than that.

What work are you most proud of?

Honestly, I'm just proud of the idea that I've been chosen to be an artist and that I create art on a daily basis. As much as it can be a burden, it's the only way, that I can see, to live forever.

When was music at its best?  Or is it always a mix of good and bad?  Was there a golden age?

It's best when it's moving in headphones on a bus as it is in a club with 100 people bobbing their heads to it. It's best when the creator likes it and everyone else can fuck off. When every tweak was made on a whim and the vision is unkempt. The golden age is always now.

Where does the line between a genre of music and the scene that accompanies it lie?

Interesting question. I don't get out much, so my scene is my room w/ my equipment. People all dressing the same and patting each other on the back makes me want to fucking kill myself if that's what you're asking.

How important is perfection to you when it comes to your music?

Not very. Perfection is for the people I'm working with.  I get bored of idea's easily. Always looking for that next sample.

What instrument do you wish you played?

Piano.

Do you ever plan on taking off the mask?

I don't plan on it; I've always felt it a conflict of interest. The day I don't, I'll leave it at home. It's a piece of shit mask anyways. Very uncomfortable. The eye holes aren't in the right spot.

Give some shout outs...

The LessIsMore Crew (Swell, Awdbawl, Lost Lane, El One, Ryan Calavano) and The Dirty Science Crew. And JD Mader, of course.

What question have I failed to ask that needs to be answered?

I don't know. I thought you did your job well.

Thank you.  I try.  Sometimes.  This time I tried.

Check out these links for more NF and some other talented folks you might not know about:

Nastyface

twitter:@nastyfaces

LessIsMore

Swell

The Dirty Science

Ryan Calavano, Director

Leave a comment for Nastyface or any of the other artists featured below.

Right now I'm gonna pass the mic...

Today, I get someone else to do the hard work for me again.  I asked L.A. Tripp to write this because he digs music and I am super interested in the way music and writing inter-relate.  As a musician, I have always found it interesting that writing is one of the things I can't do while listening to music.  Well, I can.  But I don't.  But many people I know do. Anyway, enough about me.  Read on.  Meanwhile, I'm gonna sip this coffee and try to get all these supermodels to leave me the hell alone...


Music, Mind over matter, and Me...

I've been asked several times how music affects me and my stories. Well, let me explain.

Music is a natural part of me. I grew up with it. I listened to it with my parents. I listen to it while I drive. I listen to it when I go out and dance to it. It only makes sense that I'd use it while I write, as well.

Here's my process.

I sit at my desk, settle in with my computer for a cozy little work session. But, before I get too cozy, I pull up my music on my phone, pop the earplugs in that we call headphones, and select some music. What happens when the notes start traveling from the phone, through the wire, into the earplugs, and resting in my ears? Well . . . they don't rest. Each note buries themselves into every fiber of me. I feel the beat, the symbols, the guitars, the voice. It reverberates through me. That symbol could tell me a character needs to get killed off. That bass line may tell me a tragedy is on it's way. The soulful voice may steer me toward a love connection forming. As these notes filter through my body, my fingers travel across the keys and write what is plotting in my head.

The end result is the story that you laugh, cry, and cringe at.

Hope you enjoy my works, and keep in mind the journey going on in me while you journey through the story.

L.A Tripp is a writer and an all around nice guy.  Check out his work and support a writer that truly supports the arts and his fellow scribes.   CLICK HERE

Why Bad Songs?

            I recently returned from a long motorcycle trip.  Many of the guys I ride with ride with tunes pumped into their helmets.  You can see their heads bobbing as they thump along.  I wear earphones, but it is to block out the noise and wind and to try and preserve my hearing (I played loud music for many years).  I find it very interesting what my brain chooses to do with this down time. 

            Granted, riding a motorcycle (safely) requires quite a bit of concentration.   I am constantly scanning for deer, errant cars, other bikes…but the old brain has a lot of free time as well.  Often, I spend hours singing the same song over and over in my mind.  I love music.  I listen to music all the time.  I write music all the time.  You would think that I would settle on an old favorite to keep me company on the road, but it is invariably a song that I cannot stand which occupies this time. 

            It is an odd phenomena.  We will stop to stretch our legs and I will realize that for the last two hours I have been repeating the chorus of a song that has me reaching lightspeed for the radio dial under normal circumstances.  Sometimes, I will consciously choose a song to sing.  Sometimes I even sing it out loud into the rush and wind, through the damp layers of bandana around my face.  But it doesn’t last.  Too soon, I am back to the top 40 drivel that has haunted me for the last hundred miles.

            I don’t know why this is.  It doesn’t make any sense.  I get songs stuck in my head when I am not on my bike, but they are typically songs I like.  But put me on a motorcycle for any extended period of time and my brain will inevitable settle on something with a stupid chorus which I repeat ad infinitum as my wheels eat up the miles.

            It isn’t masochism or anything in that vein.  I don’t know what the hell it is.  I’ll be swooping through gorgeous redwoods over crystalline streams and my brain will dust off some one hit wonder that I wouldn’t even remember exists during normal circumstances.  It is quite odd.

            It makes me consider the idea of listening to music when I ride, but I don’t think I could do it.  I’ve tried.  It made me feel paranoid and distracted.  It took away from the meditational aspects of riding that I enjoy so much.  It makes me afraid that I won’t hear the warning blast of a horn since I have tried to get the attention of my riding brothers by blasting my loud aftermarket horn right next to them…they don’t even flinch.

            So, I guess I’ll settle for the worst hits of the nineties.  I will look for deer and hawks and all the wonderful things I might miss if I was listening to the Wu Tang Clan.  Long motorcycle rides are bizarre things in and of themselves.  We did 1200 miles in four days.  It was physically and mentally exhausting.  People ask me if it was fun.  It was a kind of fun.  There were parts of it, twisties through pristine forests that took my breath away.  Then there were stretches of freeway where you basically settle on seventy miles an hour and spend your time vasciillating between a handful of seating positions that all hurt.  I do not ride a Goldwing.  I ride a big dual sport which vibrates so much that it makes your hands numb.  I do not have a big, expensive seat or highway pegs.  I rest my feet on metal serrated footpegs that burn the balls of the feet…good for riding offroad…bad for comfort. 

            I love riding motorcycles, but I am beginning to think I like riding in small doses.  On the ride home, we left at nine and I pulled into the driveway twelve hours later.  My back hurt.  My hands hurt.  And I was covered in dead bugs.  But the music had stopped.  And that made it all worthwhile. 

            I don’t know if there are any rides that long in my future.  I’d wager no.  But then again, I’m still having trouble sitting.  And I am not that bright.  Next time, I will probably answer the call.  And I will probably spend twelve hours singing the refrain from some terrible rock song in my mind as the world rolls by.