Label Feature

Each month, Beatmag’s vinyl fetishist Blackbeltjonez throws badgering queries in the direction of labels in the hope of gaining a positive response (and maybe some promos). Germany’s Jazz and Milk has been somewhat of a revelation in terms of its no-nonsense attitude to releasing what can only be described as, an astoundingly consistent selection of crispy beats, and chunky breaks that will do wonders for fans of the good stuff. Think Mr Scruff, DJ Shadow, Tru Thoughts and Ninja Tune (before it went a bit too weird). Answering the questions this time round is label-owner, artist, DJ and allroundniceguy; Dusty. Besides his Clubnight “Jazz & Milk Breaks” at Zerwirk Club (with international guests, such as Mr. Scruff, Nickodemus, Zero dB, Diesler, The Hi-Fly Orchestra or Romanowski) and his productions, he has been running the Jazz & Milk Label for over three years now. Several successful vinyl and CD releases have been released so far, including Dusty’s brand new debut album “Keep it Raw”. He’s even been kind enough to give us a recent mix – check it out by clicking here

How long has Jazz and Milk been running?
The label was founded in summer 2005.

Did you have any particular motivation for starting the label?
Actually, I have never thought about the possibility of starting my own label. My friend Tim Schmitt wanted to design a vinyl record cover as part of his graphic exam in 2005. He knew some of my productions and asked me to finish some songs for a vinyl EP. The result was the “Jazz & Milk EP,” a limited edition of 300 records with silk-screen printed and hand-folded cardboard sleeves. Finally a label owner introduced me to his distribution that seemed to be really interested. So we decided to keep the record title and founded the label “Jazz & Milk”. The whole handmade edition was sold to Japan and we had to do a repress for the European and US market.

Are you happy with the rate that you release or do you have a back-log of artists waiting to put out music on Jazz and Milk?
I’m happy to release at least a handful of good records per year which still allows me to concentrate on each project, rather than putting out random stuff each month. At the moment we have some nice projects in the waiting line and can’t wait for the third volume of Jazz & Milk Breaks to be released before summer.

As Dusty, name some dream collaborations.
To be honest, I’m already more than happy with my past and present collaborations, as there are so many brilliant musicians around me. More important than collaborating with big names is to be able to work with creative people, no matter who they are and what specific style they’re into. I love the flexibility that nowadays allows me to work and record with lots of good musicians everywhere in the world.

Can you see yourself sticking with vinyl releases or is it likely (given the economic climate) that you’ll do more digitally?
No question, we will keep up the vinyl as long as possible. Every vinyl release comes with a digital version for sure but as long as we’re not paying on top – vinyl always comes first!

How do you feel about file sharing – is it a nightmare or a necessary evil to promo music nowadays (bearing in mind that mixtapes were how hip hop used to be promoted before it became all shiny and sellable)?
Of course sharing music always had its positive sides too, but right now we’re not talking about some music lovers anymore who are trying to recommend good music to each other. When you heard a good track on a mix-tape back in the days, you had to buy the whole album to hear more. Today you can download almost everything you want by just clicking a button. Unfortunately stealing music is almost considered a common thing. The worst thing about it is that most people do not take enough time to appreciate the real worth of music anymore. There’s so much music on the web and on most people’s hard drives that they don’t even find the time to let the music sink in or open their minds for something new. Furthermore, everything happens in front of the computer screen. I think nothing can replace a nice chat and a personal recommendation in your local record store.

How do you go about making your own music, and do you have specific methods and approach to your art?
After starting with sample-based productions years ago, I have discovered the advantages of fusing samples with live and electronic elements. I’m always trying to keep a raw and vintage sample vibe in the main sound. Mostly, I’m doing several live recording sessions on top of a rough musical sketch, before starting to arrange everything, and add the final electronic elements while working out the beats. Samples are still giving me lots of inspiration for new tracks, even if I wouldn’t always use them in the end. My basic set-up is a PC with Cubase, a Fender Rhodes Piano and some percussion instruments.

What is your own history in music – how did you get to be Dusty (influences etc)?
My uncle Christian Doepke, a professional jazz pianist taught me to play the piano when I was a kid. I was sick of classic piano lessons and always wanted to learn how to play “Take Five”. But finally as a teenager Hip Hop became more interesting and I started deejaying. Soon I was digging all the old samples in Funk, Jazz and Latin and started to discover styles like Trip Hop, Breakbeat and Drum’n’Bass. In my productions I’m trying to bring all these influences together in a new context. The melodic richness of Jazz probably influenced me most, which can be found in almost all of my tracks.

Has it taken a long time to get to your ’sound’ – are there years of older tracks you’ve dumped in frustration?!
For sure! I have spent too many nights, trying to build a track or to mix it right. It is a long and sometimes very frustrating process that never stops for me. I’m never a hundred percent satisfied with what I do and exactly this fact gives me the motivation to keep on improving my sound and to learn new things. I’m always looking forward to the future, as there are so many more experiences to make music wise.

Putting on your DJ hat, name 5 records that never leave your crate and 5 new records that you’d recommend Beatmag readers to check out that we may not be aware of.

Classic Records:
Free The Robots – Jazzhole
Art Blakey – Cubano Chant
Sindbad – Gauche
Digi Onze – Pinball
Sergio Mendes – Magalenha

New Records:
Herbie Hancock – Wiggle Waggle (Mr Scruff Remix)
Nat King Cole – Day In Day Out (Cut Chemist Remix)
Moonstarr – Instrumentals Forever
Greenwood Rhythm Coalition – Salsa Verde
Dusty – Keep it Raw

I’m also due to talk to Guru for this issue, regarding his latest project – is there any question you’d like Beatmag to ask on your behalf?
Sure: I’ve always appreciated innovative and forward thinking Hip Hop projects like Jazzmatazz. As for the present and future would you still consider the project as something besides the norm or would you say that fusing Hip Hop with live, or even electronic elements, has already become the new sound of this genre?

Guru’s Response: I think it’s part of it, definitely. First of all, sampling will always be a part of hip hop, it was an integral part when it was started with just 2 turntables and sampling is just multiplying that. But then you have me getting live jazz and putting it with hip hop beats. Getting those actual cats who we were sampling, that takes it to another level because then you’ve got personal music expression added to that , then you’ve got world class vocalists coming in and doing their thing , that’s adding too. So at the foundation you got hip hop, jazz, and with RnB, funk, and Reggae. All sorts of things can happen after that – real intelligent music. For me I would say, yeah, definitely fusing things and experimenting with things, embracing the digital is important and necessary. At 7grand, we love all that shit!
http://www.jazzandmilk.com
http://www.myspace.com/dusty45
http://www.myspace.com/jazzandmilk

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