| Tell us about the production
"crew? |
Knowledge: As far as the
crew goes, it is first and foremost Parallel Thought.
The group consisted of Drum and I who handle all
the production and DJ Apendex Hed who handles the
scratches.
Drum: We are just two blessed kids who got
lucky with an early start into hip hop. Right now
me and Adam are seventeen, but many of the beats
were produce when we were 16. And I purchased most
of my home studio equipment when I was 15 so although
we are young we have been in it for a couple. We
haven't paid all our dues yet, but we are working
at it.
As said, besides the two of us, the rest of the
crew consist of our friends Ed and Larry. Ed's Appendix
Hed and he will be putting some cuts on most of
the Drum and Knowledge releases. Larry's from Montclaire.
He is the emcee from our group called Parallel Thought
who put out a small EP. But he is laying low for
now. |
| Under what name do you work
and where are you from? |
Knowledge: The production
crew is Drum and Knowledge.
Drum: Well, we are a pair of kids from Freehold
Jersey who started off just enjoying music. I listen
to all genres, but I don't really follow any particular
one. In fact I don't really listen to that much
hip hop. Adam is the real hip hop head. He gets
me to listen to all kinds of stuff so I kind of
know what's going on in the scene. But other than
that I just listen to our own stuff and the stuff
of the people who we have worked with. |
| Jersey, so how's the garbage
business working in Jersey? |
| Knowledge: I really have
no idea . Hopefully it is going well. We need a
'business' like that to keep Jersey in place. I
work for a Italian deli which makes me deliver strange
packages, I can't open to old Italian men. So I
might already be in the game. |
| How do you see hip hop in Jersey? |
| Knowledge: I see hip hop
out here as a slow growing scene. Shows are very
infrequent out here and most large tours bypass
Jersey. We have artists like Terrowrist, Outthere,
and Marshal Law and Skit Skam of EverlinSound. All
the mentioned artists are really putting out quality
music. On the other hand we have some real bullshit
coming out. I'm not going to mention any names,
but believe me when I tell you that there is a certain
label out her in Jersey that is putting out the
worst fucking music you have ever heard. |
| How did you guys meet up? |
Knowledge: I met Drum during
the end of my freshman year in high school, which
was only two years ago. I was doing my own thing,
fucking around with drum machines. Drum was in a
punk band at the time. Towards the end of the year
word of mouth spread that we were doing things musically,
so we decided to hang out.
Drum: Well, we met through this girl that
Adam was dating in school. This girl, who will remain
nameless because I now hate her with a passion deep
rooted in a cesspool of anger death and evil thoughts
that continuously………. see what I
mean… Anyway I used to talk to this girl and
she knew I was into making music so she introduced
me to Adam who had a few beat machines at the time.
Knowledge: We clicked within our first meeting.
Drum came by with his tables and we messed around
with them for a little bit. Shortly thereafter I
purchased the MPC and we became serious about beat
making. Drum bought all the studio equipment a couple
months after. I remember we finally got the equipment
the night of a Percee-P show out here in Jersey.
Drum: Adam made the most important purchase in the
two of our lives: he bought an MPC 2000 XL. Damn,
that shit got us going. If it is possible to love
an inanimate object as much as a women you have
been married to for 50 years, than that is how I
feel about our MPC. From there we began making beats
started working with this kid Larry and Ed who I
mentioned earlier. The Drum and Knowledge production
album sprung from the Parallel Thought EP. |
| What's the idea behind the name? |
| Drum: The name is simple:
I am Drum because I am the musical one. I love playing
drums and that is where my names basically comes
from. As Adam mentioned, I also play the drums in
a hardcore band, play guitar, a little piano, trombone,
bass, turntables. Adam is Knowledge, as he is the
knowledgeable one. He gives me samples, I put drums
to them, cut things up, and sequence it all. |
| Why a group of Producers, as
opposed to being soloists? |
Knowledge: Drum and I work
best as a team. Drum is very musical; plays any
instrument that you can name. I am a crate digger.
I love digging for samples. I hand what I got over
to Drum and he works his magic.
Drum: We just make a good combination, like
that Ef@mm song that Pack FM and Tonedeff did on
the "Happy Fuck You Songs" EP (laugh).
Just a quick shout out to those two. Name dropping
is so fun (laughs). We worked with them and the
rest of Ef@mm: Session and Substantial for the production
album.
But back to business. Since Adam isn't as musical
as me, he needs me to take his samples and work
my magic. And since I don't know to much about hip
hop, I need him to bring me good samples and gets
us connected with other artists. It's like a marriage
in the least ayo way possible (laugh). We even fight
a lot. He tried to stab me with a scalpel once and
me and my other friend sprayed poison shit in his
face and I actually stabbed him with a ski poll.
That one left a small scar. So yeah, we just cant
do without each other. I do hope, though, to be
coming out with my own live drum break album within
the next two years, and I am sure Adam will be doing
some co-production with some other people. But we
will always stay Drum and Knowledge. |
| Uhm, not to cause another ski
poll incident, but do you think one's role is a
tad bit more important than the others? |
| Knowledge: It might seem
like that, but that is not the case. Drum and I
feed off each other. Without Drum there would be
no studio to work with and our beats would be unsequenced.
Without me there would be no artists to work with,
and no loops or drums. Drum and I work close together
when making beats. I will yell at him when he puts
in a break or sound that doesn't fit. We are a true
production duo, and each of us put equal effort
in producing. |
| Where can we hear some of your
work? Releases , websites , etc? |
Drum: Right now you can't
(laughs). I know that sucks. You will just have
to wait until the production album drops.
Knowledge: Right now we are in the developing
stages of a website. When it is up, we will let
you know. The address will be ParallelThought.com.
Soon we will have a sampler CD out that will have
a mix of the songs we have for the album. Just keep
your eyes and hears peeled. We had a Parallel Thought
demo that we pressed up last year on CD-R. We only
sold about 100 copies last summer at Rocksteady.
At this point we will probably never officially
release it or press any more copies. Things have
progressed so much since that release that I personally
am not happy with it. It is not an indication of
what we sound like. Maybe people will buy it off
ebay for a million dollars if we blow up. |
| You mentioned the production
album a couple of times, is that going to be the
next release? |
Knowledge: Yes. It's tentatively
titled "Instant Gratification".
Drum: It will be the first official Drum
And Knowledge release. Unless you were unlucky enough
to get a Parallel Thought EP, which there are only
87 of (laughs). Then don't judge us on that. We
have come a long way, but that's all so far.
Knowledge: You might see some production
with Drum and I on an album titled "Propaganda
Bliss" by Solinfinite, an emcee who's affiliated
with us. Plus, this summer we are supposed to be
recording an EP with Illogic. But for the most part
we are focusing all of our attention on "Instant
Gratification." |
| What can you tell us about it? |
Knowledge: "Instant
Gratification " is Drum and I's debut production
album. All the production is handled by Drum and
I and all the scratches will be handled by DJ Apendix
Hed. This album shows our versatility as producers.
It is in the same vain as Pete Rock's "Soul
Survivor" and Blueprints "Weightroom".
Here is the list of artists that we have already
recorded with: Illogic, Pack FM, Session, Substantial,
Nobs, Conor, Eternal, Nomi, Advizer, Crescent Moon,
Cryptic One, Windnbreeze, Poisen Pen, Kwote Scriptures,
iCONtheMicKing, Jean Grae, C-Rayz-Walz, Masai Bey,
Creepoziods and Pumpkinhead. We still have to work
with Rodan, X-Ray, Megalon, Blueprint, Tonedeff,
Wordsworth, Vast Aire, Vordul, El-P, Slug, Aesop
Rock, Uncle T, Digs Darklighter and Supastitution.
We are very excited about the album it is shaping
up very nicely.
Drum: In my opinion it is going to be the
best release of the decade. Some of the beats of
the album are so amazing that with some more buildup
they could be purely instrumental and still supply
the same musical effects as the song would with
lyrics. If you can follow that than you understand
how good they are. Aside from more technical beats,
there are some truly head bobbing and just plain
live tracks. And even some bass heavy more bump
in your car songs like the one we did with C-Rayz
Walz, named "Chorus". Altogether I think
the album gives a little bit to everyone out there
except those mainstream kids that probably wont
hear it anyway. This is strictly underground shit.
Raw hip hop. So if you read this and like keyboard
beats, then don't by the album. |
| How did you hook up with all
these artists? |
Knowledge: It is a long
story. Last August I contacted Juan at Weightless
Records about doing a jawn with Illogic. Illogic
took a gamble and hopped on a bus from Ohio out
here in Jersey. He stayed here for a couple of days
and we recorded over four joints and all of us formed
a good friendship. After we saw how well we worked
with Illogic, we decided to make this album. Thereafter
I got at all the artists through persistence and
hustling. I got numbers, aim names and ran with
that. Most of the artists were very willing to work
with us. The best advice I was given was to be annoying
to a point that you got a yes or no.
Drum: Adam can really take all the glory
on this one. He works his ass of calling people,
going online, dealing with shady managers and label
reps, and just doing a lot of leg work to hook us
up. For most of the artists, we were able to speak
to them directly. We got numbers and shit from friends
of artists. Like we would work with someone and
then they would tell their friends who were artists
and most of the time we would get hooked up with
numbers and that's how it was done. For some bigger
artists like El P, I got to give a huge shout out
to Poison Pen. That dude got us contacted with El
P which was huge. |
| So it was easy to get everyone
to do something with you? |
| Knowledge: It was easy to
get them on the album. All the above mentioned are
amazing artists. When we presented them with dope
music, they were down to work with us. Of course
we had to pay them, but that was never a major issue.
Music always came first to the money. If you make
dope music anyone can do what Drum and I are doing. |
| Domino effect : one said yes
, so the others followed suit? |
Knowledge: Exactly. The
underground hip hop community is very close. Word
of mouth spread very quickly about our project.
When one artists heard that his friend was one that
was down to get on a track, he was down. It definitely
was a domino effect.
Drum: The more people we worked with the
easier it was to talk to more people. |
| This coming about really sounds
almost too good to be true. Quite a Hollywood story,
huh? |
| Knowledge: For me it has
been a dream come true. Two years ago I was just
a fan of hip hop. In the liner notes of our demo,
we thanked Rhyme Sayers Ent, Def Jux, Atoms Fam,
and Stronghold for inspiration. Now we are working
with artists from all those camps. We better get
a behind the music. |
| How did you try to work with
the people's style? |
Knowledge: In some cases
we just gave the artists a beat CD and they picked
a beat to vibe to. And we have many different styles
of beats: Poisen Pen solo jawn is really gully.
On the other hand the Cryptic One and Windnbreeze
song is on a more chilled out tip.
Drum: The artists picked the beats they could
rock over the tightest and that was it. We didn't
really make any beats with an artists in mind except
for the Poison Pen solo beat. For that we tried
to keep it extra gully (laughs). You will see when
you hear it. |
| How much of a collaborative
effort have the songs been? |
| Drum: Musically the songs
were just paired together, with the lyrics by the
artists and the beats by us. The only exception
is a song called "The Exception" which
Masai Bey co-produced. That song came out phat with
guest vocals by Masai and the Creepizoids. |
| In what niche will you fit in? |
| Knowledge: Drum and I really
sit back and let the artists do what they wanna
do. If they are feeling a live track then that's
what we are gonna do. They choose a specific mood
they want to express on our beats and we run with
their ideas.
|
| Can you describe your beats'
style? |
| Knowledge: I do not think
I could do justice to our beats in words. I can
not explain it in words. You and the rest of the
world will have to wait and hear what we have to
offer. All I can say is if you respect genuine hip
hop then you will like our beats. It's that simple. |
| Do you see yourself in the tradition
of someone or something? |
| Knowledge: No, we are two
original producers. We aren't the Neptunes and we
aren't DJ Premier. We have a unique sound that soon
everyone will hear. We are just trying to bring
our style of beats to the hip hop community and
see how people react. |
| Are you going to release the
album yourself? |
| Knowledge: We released our
demo ourselves. We have already been through a little
drama with a A&R at a label who was truly a
fucking asshole. I am not going to mention his name
but it turned out much better that we did not sign
with his label. We just secured a deal for CP Records
to put our album out. CP Records is Cryptic One's
new label he formed through Caroline. His album
should be out late spring (pick it up) and our album
should be out late fall early winter. |
| Benefits of that? |
| Knowledge: With putting
the material out ourselves is that we would have
complete control and rights over the music. You
can also have the opportunity to prove to the world
that you can do it all yourself. We are happy though
about our album appearing on a label, because we
want it promoted and pushed as far as possible. |
| Disadvantages? |
| Knowledge: We are very young.
We are just seventeen years old. All three of us
are heading into our senior year of highschool.
Without CP Records backing us, we would have a hard
time promoting the record because we have to finish
school. I would love to go on tour, but because
of school we cant. With a label backing us they
could help push the record the extra step that we
can not full. |
| How did you hook up with Cryptic? |
| Knowledge: Ilogic gave me
Cryptic's email. I got at him about doing a joint
with us. He and Windnbreeze came out and we had
a really good session. I kept in contact with Cryptic,
because he is going to mix the album when done for
us. He mentioned that he got CP Records up and running
with distribution through Caroline. He told me he
was looking for some releases to put out. I sent
him a CD of what we had recorded and he liked what
he heard. Later this month we are heading out to
NYC for some meetings with him. I believe that CP
is a label to watch out for. Cryptics solo album
is dropping in the spring, I believe and I know
that they have some big surprises for the world. |
| What are your next goals? |
| Knowledge: I just want to
finish this record and promote it. |
| Long time goals? |
| Knowledge: We want to set
our lives up in a position that we can eventually
live off making music. I do not want a day job.
But we all have gotten into this business young.
We know and respect the fact that we have a lot
of dues to pay. We want to take this music thing
as far as possible. |
| When will you be happy with
what you have accomplished? |
| Knowledge: I will be happy
when Drum and Knowledge, along with DJ Apendix Hed
become household names. I want people to fall in
love with this album. I can not forget about my
life long dream. That dream would be the first person
to produce a Grammy winning porn soundtrack (laughs). |
| Okay, let us wrap this up with
shout outs and such. |
| Knowledge: I will speak
for us all: buy our fucking album when it drops,
because its good music. You can fuck, sleep, and
do whatever else to it. My DJ has a mohawk. |
| »
back to top |
| ©
2000 - 2012.08 by urban smarts | contact |
