Aaron LaCrate: Digging Deeper

For the uninitiated, the definition of “Baltimore club music” can be a hazy one. Hard dance beats underneath equally hard raps peppered with hip-hop and R&B loops, it’s an inner city sound that’s serious about making you dance.

“It goes back, back before Baltimore club records were even being made,” remembers DJ/producer Aaron LaCrate of his hometown’s nightlife history. He’s fresh from supporting UK pop queen Lily Allen on her first American tour and in a reflective mood. “In the early ’80s, Baltimore’s nightclub scene was flourishing. There were a lot of different options. DJs were playing a mix of Chicago house, New York house, Miami bass and a lot of UK breakbeat records. That’s what was big in the ghettos of Baltimore. That’s kind of the genesis of the Baltimore Club scene, that weird blend of crazy hard dance records for a really diverse crowd.”

Having been a part of that scene since the tender age of 13, LaCrate has carved himself an enviable position in the DJ scene. He’s regularly spinning high-profile parties from London to Japan while scoring choice remixing gigs for pals like Allen, but maintaining a fierce allegiance to his hometown, personified in his patented “Gutter Music” sound.

“I’ve always kept in touch with the original guys like Scottie B,” he says of the Baltimore club first wave elite. “I was the one kid much younger than them that was traveling all of the time, while they would stay home. I would report back to them how much people in London loved their music. It started with Scottie and I putting out a record, and then me getting involved with people like Spank Rock, Amanda Blank and DJ Low Budget from Hollertronix. The whole idea was just my way to bridge the gap between the old school and the younger generation.”

On regards to his own productions, LaCrate hooked up with Baltimore club producer Debonair Samir to make his signature single “Blow,” which came together in record time. “From beginning to end, that song took about 15 minutes to make. Samir and I wrote and recorded the track in Reason, and then laid everything out in ProTools. The vocal parts were chopped up in Cool Edit. I ended up signing Samir to be the in-house producer for my label, Milkcrate Records. I’m a DJ, and I know how I want things to sound. He’s got the more technical aspects covered.”

For 2007, LaCrate wants to “take the Baltimore sound even further. I’m not just about looping up breaks. There’s a whole new genre of uptempo dance music happening all over the world, and this city is a large part of that. ”

(Originally published in Remix, 01/07)

XXXCHANGE: SPANK ROCK JOCK

“Baltimore club was just a sound on the radio when I was growing up,” mumbles XXXChange (born Alex Upton), the production side of Baltimore's latest underground-gone-global sensation, Spank Rock. “I was more into a lot of hip-hop and anything out of the ordinary I could get my hands on.”

Originally a drummer who ended up in the New England Conservatory to study, XXXChange dropped out to make his way to New York City, where a chance run-in landed him a gig interning at the recording studio of DFA Records, home to such dance-centric indie acts as LCD Soundsystem and the Juan McClean.

“I didn't know that much about production at the time,” XXXChange continues sheepishly. “My experience with making music had only been on the computer, so when they asked me to clear the board my first day there, I didn't know what they were talking about. I did know how to play, so I was able to hang out and learn. It helped me get out of that strictly digital mindset and learn how to set up a microphone. A lot of people in my generation don't know how to do that. They can work Acid or Fruity Loops but are clueless when it comes to real engineering.”

When his internship at DFA didn't result in a full-time gig, he drifted through various odd jobs and toward making his own music with an older version of Pro Tools preloaded on a computer purchased from a former bandmate. It's the same $500 setup that he used to record Spank Rock's debut album, YoYoYoYoYo (Big Dada). Combining License to Ill-era Beastie Boys braggadocio with insistent, 130-plus bpm beats, the Spank Rock sound comes from a panoramic whirlwind of influences.

“Our stuff has a couple elements of club music, mixed with the weirder parts of post-punk rock and bits of people like Dizzee Rascal and that whole UK-garage scene,” XXXChange explains. “It's just us trying to fit all of our favorite music into something that's our own.”

When quizzed about his favorite gear, he's quick to hype Arturia software. “They make a clone of the old ARP 2600 that's great. It sounds really good, has a flexible sequencer, three oscillators and this whole weird matrix section. It's fun to use. It's on pretty much every track of the album.”

Already a few songs into the follow-up, XXXChange says to expect the same dirty Spank Rock energy with an added caveat. “The idea being the first album was to make rap music you can dance to. Now we want to do that with really tight song structures,” he muses. “We want to have bridges, choruses, that whole package. The next record will be a lot more structured in that way.”

(Originally published in Remix, 1/07)

Spank Rock, Debonair Samir @ Safari Sam's, December 12

It’s hip-hop on 45, rapid-fire raps over aggressively futuristic beats and pieces as equally informed by videogame soundtracks as they are by U.K. garage. Spank Rock are on some other shit — all jittery, coked-up dance tracks superglued to casually misogynistic lyrics that scream “Look at me!” while swinging a private-school tie overhead. It’s a Philly by way of Baltimore party thing, finding common ground between Hollertronix’s dance-or-die ethos, Too Short and your nephew’s PSP. These junior-mint pimps are showing indie bed-heads how to live, talking trash, clocking cash and slapping ho’s like nobody’s business. Don’t think, just shake that ass. Do your drugs early enough to arrive in time to get an education in Baltimore club music from opener Debonair Samir. Hollywood’s DJ C_Town will make sure the hipsters are in check. Somebody say hi to Cory Kennedy for me.

(Originally published in the LA Weekly, 12/06)