This interview was conducted in part due to our large reception towards the recent video release of Old School Scholar MegaMix One by GrandSinister Ice. It was such a fantastic, traditional megamix we were inspired to create a special promotional video to compliment it. The Video is posted after the following article. Enjoy!
Q Ball: What inspired you to create MegaMix One for Old School Scholar? It has been a very long time since I have heard an authentic megamix!
GS Ice: Well that’s just it. As of late, especially on YouTube, I have yet to hear a mix that honors the true term of the word megamix. Now correct me if I’m wrong, but Mega means big and mixing is when you blend two different songs to make them sound like one. All I hear are DJs that cut in from one song to the next. That’s not mixing, that’s call cutting. So I figured that I would create an example to show as well as teach the up-in-coming DJs what a true Hip Hop megamix suppose to sound like.
Q Ball: How long have you been a DJ, and when did you get your start?
GS Ice: It’s been about twenty years or so, and how I got started is cuttin’ on an old school phonograph. Nobody would remember this but, do you remember the record players that had the mechanical arm? Well that’s what I started out with. I got on my father’s record player to practice with. I would turn the volume knob up and down, so that would be the fader. You know what they say, where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Q Ball: Was that one of Grandmaster Flash’s first recordings I heard in your mix? That is a very rare 12 inch release you have in there! Tell us about it.
GS Ice: I do believe it was His first Hip Hop show live on wax. It’s called Live Convention 81. It was done in segments. So there was a segment with Flash and Melle Mel, another one with Spicey Dee, and the other was Jay Bee and DJ AJ. The B-Side had the Hypnotizing 3 MCs performing. They put out another one the following year; mostly featuring Grandwizard Theodore. I put them both in the megamix simply because I have never heard a DJ put it in a megamix. So why not?
Q Ball: There was alot of layering I can hear in the track with Golden Age beats mixed with original Old School artists. This mix really makes me rewind and play it back to hear all of the nuances taking place. It is a true roller coaster ride of classic Hip Hop music for everyone to enjoy! What do you wish for the new jacks to learn from your production?
GS Ice: What I hope that the up-in-coming DJs learn from the megamix is the true term of the word itself. Putting one together is like producing a song. It’s about arrangement, creativity, as well as style. The most important result to achieve however is, fun! The megamix has to sound like you had mad fun making it.
Q Ball: Overall, what do you wish to accomplish for Hip Hop culture in the near future? Will there be more megamixes set to video?
GS Ice: Well right now I wish to slow down on DJing live. What I want to really concentrate on now is producing Hip Hop tracks. However, to find rap artists to work with is hard as Hell. Finding rappers are easy, but I have no desire to work with them. What was the other question again? Oh yea, yea…. umm!! I think I might try to do one every year. I had a ton of fun creating it, so we’ll monitor this one to see how well it’s being received.
Q Ball: Thank you for your time. It has been a very enjoyable project you have shared with Old School Scholar!
GS Ice: No problem, anytime.
Old School Scholar Hip Hop Mega Mix One
