Sir Froderick came on to our radar via the excellent Bonafide Beats Letherette mix and things snowballed from there. Operating out of the Pasadena area of LA, not only is Sir Froderick responsible for putting out unique sample-based productions that tip a hat to both MPC culture and the future of sound recording, he also has a rare talent for cut-and-paste design – witness the lush, cartoon influenced, screen-printed artwork for SUBTL WHOADI, the first vinyl LP release from Froderick on the (iN)Sect Records imprint.
Sir Frod agreed to grace us with an interview and put together a mix for the Bonafide Beats series – stay tuned for this exciting instalment that will be dropping very shortly.
In the words of Busta Rhymes: I make sure everything remains RAW
So to start, tell us about your musical background, do you know much theory?
On both sides of my family, there are musicians. My father and brother were DJs, my cousin Aisha plays bass, my uncle Basil plays violin for the Colorado Symphony, and there’s three other cousins that dabble in the entertainment industry.
As for me having theory in music: no, but heavy influence from my surroundings. My grandfather always envisioned me being a musician of some sort when growing up. One time he gave me a Chopin record, hinting “This should be you.”
Was there a concept behind Consolidate?
The concept behind Consolidate started with the art. I had an idea to make a collage and break it into even parts in hopes to have someone consolidate the art pieces as a whole if they all went to different homes. Then I looked up what the word meant and ended up taking the meaning personal. I felt I needed to consolidate everything in my life because I wanted to make myself stronger by combining my skills as an artist and producer into a more effective force – in hopes of bringing people together.
I know you’ve done a few collaborations already, but is there anyone in particular you’re hoping to work with next?
I’m still tripping off the collaborations I have done already and as of lately. I’m truly grateful for the opportunities to work with my peers – and if there was anyone that I would love to get back to work with, it’s my ace up my sleeve: Lisa Preston (LOVEMUSCLE). Could you take us through a bit of your work-flow? In the words of Busta Rhymes: I make sure everything remains RAW. Field Recordings or Turntable to MPC to Tape/Analog Recorder to Laptop.
Have you found releasing stuff to cassette worthwhile so far? Are you likely to do more limited runs in future?
I think it is real dope that cassettes are selling again….nostalgic feelings I guess – and I have no problem providing that limited need.
The concept behind Consolidate started with the art. I had an idea to make a collage and break it into even parts in hopes to have someone consolidate the art pieces as a whole if they all went to different homes. Then I looked up what the word meant and ended up taking the meaning personal.
You mentioned field recordings – how much of your music is recorded by you or musicians you know, and how much would you say is sample-based? Your track “fkk that intro ft gossamer” sounds like it has a cut off something on it.
The song ‘fkk that intro’ on Consolidate, with my good friend Gossamer; was recorded using the computer mic with some onion skins for shakers, a carrot being snapped for a snare, one record which was in French, and a cowbell. So I try to put some kind of field recording in most of my sound arrangements. As for sampling clearance: real hip hop is all about finding the perfect loop.
I really want to ask something about how you do your interrupted grooves, a lot of your tracks seem like a few shorter tracks all running together: how do you work out the exact detachment of your grooves?
To be honest with you about the interrupted grooves I feel like Im just keeping the listener tuned in…so when it switches up it just me getting bored or me having ADD. When I do label releases is when I really take time on sound arrangements.
You’ve got quite a lot of material out already, (especially for an emerging artist) – do you have targets you set yourself for how much to work, or is it more organic and on-the-fly?
It’s whenever inspiration or an idea hits me, and I can’t help but to bring it into existence.
Words: Anoosheh Dastbaz
