Egadz Interview with "Of What It Is"

O.W.I.I.: How old are you and how long have you been doing the music thing?

Dj Egadz: “I am currently 26 years of age. I’ve been a listener of music all my life, a dj since 94’ and a beat maker since 99’.”

O.W.I.I.: Could you please tell me an album that made you decide that Hip-Hop was your passion?

Dj Egadz: “Well I don’t really think it was an album. I was directly submersed in hiphop at a very young age. My brother was a dj and a b-boy, and my sister was a b-girl. I can’t remember a time when my brother wasn’t playing records and scratching. I have always loved music, and knew when I was very young that music was going to be my life.”

O.W.I.I.: What kinds of non hip-hop are you into?

Dj Egadz: “I really like indie rock, electro, classic rock, some songwriter, soul, funk, jazz…”

O.W.I.I.: Some of your tracks have an 8-bit chiptune kind of feel, are you into that very much? Or is that not even a conscious thought?

Dj Egadz: “I love grime. I love distortion. I do consciously put that element in my music. I downgrade samples that are too clean; i’ve even added record fuzz to my keyboard samples to make them sound more like a sample from a record. I use lo-fi plugins as well.”

O.W.I.I.: What are your feelings on piracy? For instance, how would you feel if you found your album on a bittorrent site?

Dj Egadz: “A part of me loves the fact that my music is up for sharing. I look at it as promotion. Another part thinks about how easy it would be to earn money from digital downloads instead. We are artists, and people should pay for art they like. I personally don’t care much about money, but at the same time, I’m sick of working a full time job and putting everything into my art. Don’t get me wrong, the art is for my self-expression, but it’s also for the evolution of music, and why should it be harder for us to do that than it has to be?”

O.W.I.I.: A lot of my producing friends won’t put anything on the internet because they are afraid of getting “Beat Jacked”. There are even rumors of big name
producers jacking beats from less established producers. Has this ever happened to you? Do you worry about it?

Dj Egadz: “I feel like people who steal don’t always get what they deserve. That’s just how things work. I feel confident that most of the really amazing musicians have something that no one can steal.”

O.W.I.I.: A common complaint with a lot of producers and rappers is
that it is easier than ever to make a hip-hop beat. I have heard several complaints about
the “market being flooded” and that any kid can get fruity loops and call themselves a producer. Any thoughts on that?

Dj Egadz: “I use fruityloops. I love it, and I love expressing myself.”

O.W.I.I.: Did you get to meet rob and big? Did you just hand them (or the producers) some tracks or did you make the music special for the show.

Dj Egadz: “I have had a song in Rob’s 411vm “Day in the Life”. I have had a lot of music in the 411 skate videos, they just happened to use it for his part. No sorry, not so glam.”

O.W.I.I.: Do you sell beats? Do you pick a price?

Dj Egadz: “I don’t usually sell beats, unless the rapper will make money off of it. Not only that but I have to like the rappers music already, or be friends with them. I look at this music thing very artistically, and I hope others I work with feel the same.”