Filed under: Interviews, Music | Tags: baron zen, chris ruen, damien neva, dâm-funk, dudley perkins, ford models, james pants, koushik, madlib, mayer hawthorne, mf doom, peanut butter wolf, quasimoto, stones throw
Last month I had an opportunity to interview DJ, producer, and Stones Throw Records label founder Peanut Butter Wolf in Brooklyn. For a person who is a friend a collaborator with the likes of Madlib, MF Doom, and the late J Dilla he betrays none of the affectations of fame. To start he switches off his Blackberry (yup, not the other one) during the interview. His consideration extends to the frankness with which he answers my questions many of which concern the music industry. He was also generous with his time in both granting the interview and time afterward to shoot still photographs. This same thoughtfulness in approach to an interview is most obviously present in the music label that he operates and the records it releases.
A week after I conducted this interview El-P announced the indefinite hiatus of Definitive Jux. This announcement alone puts paid to the notion that it’s only the major record labels who are wobbling. Few people buy music and many freeload it. This behavior has completely wiped out the financial model of major and indy labels alike. Stones Throw isn’t immune to the market either. Peanut Butter Wolf admits 2009 was a financially difficult year despite somehow managing to keep all ten of the label’s employees on staff. Difficult though it may have been they still managed twelve releases in 2009 including Mayer Hawthorne‘s A Strange Arrangement, James Pants‘s Seven Seals, and Madlib‘s Beat Konducta Vol. 5-6: A Tribute to Dil Cosby & Dil Withers Suite to name just three. Twelve records in one year is alone impressive, but to put out strong records by a diverse roster of talented artists is one reason I believe the future looks bright for Stones Throw in an otherwise miserable market.
Below is the video interview that I conducted with Peanut Butter Wolf for Ford Models TV.
Peanut Butter Wolf, Brooklyn, 26 Jan. 2010 (Photography © Damien Neva)
Peanut Butter Wolf, Brooklyn, 26 Jan. 2010 (Photography © Damien Neva)
Peanut Butter Wolf, Brooklyn, 26 Jan. 2010 (Photography © Damien Neva)
Peanut Butter Wolf, Brooklyn, 26 Jan. 2010 (Photography © Damien Neva)
Filed under: Music | Tags: chin chin, definitive jux, el-p, jaime meline, jesse ferguson, katy eustis
El-P announced Tuesday that Definitive Jux “will effectively be put on hiatus.” This is a change, surely, but with El-P focusing on producing more music this cannot be entirely bad. I am proud to have worked on promoting Chin Chin‘s 2009 record, The Flashing, The Fancing, and also to have shot the cover for DJXP4, not to mention contribute photography and video promos to definitivejux.net.
My involvement with Jux was brief, but in the year or so of the label’s late period I was lucky enough to have worked with Katy Eustis, Jesse Ferguson, and Jaime Meline and look forward to working with them in the future.
Read in full El’s message “Of Hooptys and Hovercrafts” here.
DJXP4 Digipak Layout (Photography: Damien Neva)
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