So as you may know here at TSS we are huuuuuge fans of kill the noise. Hopefully if your in minneapolis you’ve heard about the free scion concert tonight at the 7th st entry. It has a money lineup of DJ haul, rob wonder, kill the noise and klever. It’s put on by scion but the wonderful local outfit , the moongoons (blog is nice!) will be out too. Get there early! Anyways cobrablood e-mailed KTN about a possible interview of sorts as we see him as prolific in music creation and live performance (check his blog for newest music). With him coming to town it seemed like a perfect opportunity to pick his brain about the creative process, influences, genre blending, and rochester new york. KTN was cool enough to get back to us and quite quickly at that. Thanks again KTN! Here tis everybody and tonight’s show is 10 to 2. Hope to see you there. Lovely!

1. youre a rochester dude, right? whats a garbage plate? we have weird food here in minnesota too.
it’s a strange local creation that is mostly consumed after the bars let out in the downtown area. I used to live down the street from a couple places that make em, they are mostly a bad idea, but i’ve certainly eaten my fair share. The garbage plate consists of a bed of french fries and macaroni salad or baked beans, on top is either 2 beef patties or hotdogs, then covered in cheese, hot sauce. onions, mustard and ketchup. Pretty gross, but tastes better than it sounds.

2. you operate under the monikers: ewun, one half of ludachrist, and KTN. whats attractive to you about DnB? (dogs on acid mini-mix is awesome!) as opposed to, mashups? (bangfest rules!) as opposed to, (lack of a better term) electro house? (originals, remixes, and mixes) (if there’s a better genre title you prefer let me know what it is?) they all seem to function under a different ethos, but i can see the similarities. care to talk about that?

Ive come to a point where it really doesn’t make a difference what i’m writing in the studio, be it house, dnb, mash-up stuff. it’s just music to me, and I treat it all the same. I work hard in each realm to focus on being creative first and foremost. It’s nice to have outlets for all of these ideas, I tend to be slightly ADD in the studio, so it’s not uncommon for me to work on multiple genres in one day. Switching styles and tempos on a regular basis keeps me on my toes!

3. your kill the noise project has really taken off, you live in nyc now, right? and youre constantly traveling, playing shows. which parties have you had the most fun playing? i wish i was able to go to camp bisco, are you gonna be able to check out other acts at the festivals youve booked this summer? who have you never seen before that youre excited to see, or just who are you excited to see?

i still technically live in rochester. lately ive spent a majority of my time traveling, and a lot of studio time in LA, vegas, and miami. Working on a lot of exciting projects both related and unrelated to what I’m currently known for. It’s looking like by the end of the summer I will be moving out to Los Angeles to work on a couple different projects, which will be revealed soonish. I get opportunities to play all kinds of events, from the intimate to the grandiose. It’s a different feeling obviously to play for thousands, versus hundreds. Depending on my mood it can be equally fun. I feel like it’s a bit more gratifying to rock a smaller crowd, because you really know who you are playing for, and when it’s well received you can connect with people on a more intimate level. When you are lookin out at a sea of people it’s tough to tell whats goin on out there sometimes, it’s just a giant entity pulsating out there. With that being said, I suppose it’s more of an exciting experience to play a giant festival, maybe because there aren’t as common as the typical club gig. im looking forward to camp bisco as well. really lookin forward to seeing nas and cudi. always fun to see chromeo and lookin forward to hangin out with some friends out there!

4. how has having releases in different genres affected your take on the vinyl/digital standpoint? / do you still spin records? whats your live setup like? on the topic of your live set, coming from a multi-genre background, how do you approach putting together your live set? as far as advice for the newcomer, do you build around your tunes? do you build around certain dance-floor killers that slay every night? can you ever have too many vocal based tracks in a set? or is it all involuntary for you at this stage in the game? how do you read the crowd? if you were trapped on a desert island, and a guy had a gun to your head, and you only had 24 hrs. to live, and you could only close sets with one tune (any genre), what would it be? (mine would be moody blues- in your wildest dreams)

im sure by now that it’s no shock to anyone to hear that i don’t play vinyl. i think that vinyl is all but defunct these days. i don’t really know anyone who plays it. im not dissing it, cause i respect those that still do play vinyl and i think it’s cool that they put the effort in. I did it for years and years, but logically i don’t really see the point anymore. Traveling as much as I do makes it a huge inconvenince. I think that much like vinyl, CD’s will become less common in the years to come too. I can see just over the horizon a day where i will walk into the club with a pair of headphones and a jump drive and I will be a happy man. when it comes to a set, i have certain tracks that i love to play. ultimately i try to play a lot of my own stuff, i try to support artists that i like, that comes first. Luckily I have a lot of friends and peers that keep me in the loop with everything else that out there. I try to scope out new guys and i’m always down to listen to what people are up to.

anyone who might have demo’s feel free to email em to me!

info@killnoisekill.com

if i could only close my set with one tune it would prob be something i wrote myself

5. your twitter says youre in the studio alot, what upcoming projects are you working on that youre pumped about? (drop any hyperlinks you want or i can dig em up later)

my time is invested all over the place. im working on an album for Kill The Noise. Im workin on a second album for Ludachrist, which is just about complete, im producing a handful of tracks for a LA based band Ultra Violet Sound out in vegas, and startin up a label w/ DJ Craze, so we’ve been workin a lot on some collaborations which has required some studio time as well. More info about all of these projects will come soon!

6. describe your music creative process. What do you draw inspiration from? Whats your recording setup like?

I ve gotten to a place where i can conjure up ideas on the spot fairly easy. traveling and being around creative people helps a lot. i feel like my best material is written in the midst of a lot of traveling. for some its more difficult to get things done when they are moving around, but I seem to be the opposite. when im stuck at home i struggle to come with inspired ideas. I have a fairly modest studio setup, compared to some, but over the past couple years ive gotten much more serious about my personal setup. i have some higher end adam p22a studio monitors, apogee sound card, i do everything on my macbook pro, i have one dedicated to my studio and one i bring out on the road. its a beast! i use some outboard equipment, keyboards, guitar etc. but most stuff is done in the box. I use a couple different sequencers depending on what i happen to be working on. I like mixin it up and using different programs to get different results.

7. What have been some key experiences in your music career? favorite show? what got you into the music business?

meeting and working with people like evol intent, spor, craze, come to mind. they have been very supportive and have helped me to realize my potential and have always been great sounding boards. i have waaaay to many favorite shows to pick a single one out. The city of LA comes to mind tho. My love for music got me into this business, i think most successful people do!

8. what are some artists/songs that youve been bangin lately?

ill give u some artists: senor stereo treasurefingers major lazer boys noize atrak craze klever ac slater foamo computer club just to name a few

9. care to weigh in on recent tech/communication advancements effects on music?

twitter seems to have taken over. i find it useful and an easy way to keep contact with the world. ive made some interesting connections via twitter. im starting to become much more familiar with facebook, much less spam than myspace. seems like a much better way to connect with people.

10. your graphics rock. who does em?
vnmblk, he’s a super talented designer from los angeles.

11. what are your goals for KTN? what kind of values/spirit is at the core of KTN?

goals for kill the noise for now is finishing my album, and ultimately devising a live show. hopefully we will see these things by the end of 09. my values for all my projects are the same, quality, evolution of ideas, and making inspired music that hopefully inspires others.

12. Thanks KTN!!! we appreciate taking time out and look forward to tons more ass-kicking jams from you in all your musical incarnations!!! any final words?

please add me on twitter. twitter.com/killthenoise
you get bonus points for checkin myspace.com/killnoisekill
facebook: facebook.com/pages/Kill-The-Noise/65802751821

Pennies – Lady Sovereign (KTN remix)