Interview: Salva

Somewhere around 12:45 German time, we received an email from the Frite Nite label boss, influential bass producer and 2011 Academy participant Paul Salva answering some questions about his musical journey, influences, preferences, and future plans. Right around then however, we realized he was up really damn late - still making tunes at 3:45 in his Los Angeles home. Maybe that's normal though when you spend your days running a boutique label, touring like mad, and have a married domestic life to keep in order.  And much like Salva's varied work schedule, his sound is one of pure musical pantheism. A world where Dilla-influenced hip hop occupies as much real estate as Chicago house, big room dancefloor, prog jazz, and Miami bass. Read our interview with Salva below. 

You just moved from San Francisco to LA, but you're from Chicago originally, correct? Were you involved with music at an early age?

Yeah, I grew up in Chicago, and I lived in a few other cities including Miami and Milwaukee, in all of which I was really involved in the local music scene. I never did formal music training or orchestra/band, etc. when I was young, but I got exposed to DJ culture, hip hop, dancing and graffiti really early on - actually house, retro and freestyle music too... I had a little Casio sampling keyboard when I was like nine years old but that was it. As soon as I hit my teenage years it was on though. I got hooked on modern music of all types.

Once you were settled in the Bay, how did you first get involved in the music scene there?

I think the first night I did (in like 2007, I think?) was with my boy Epcot. It was a J-Dilla tribute night. Him and I barely knew anybody in the city. I got shook when I was DJing and Shortkut showed up. (I've watched 10,000,000,000 hours of Turntable TV VHS tapes, by the way). We made mad friends really quickly because San Francisco is such a tight-knit community. I try to go back every month and still do parties up in SF.

And at some point, you went on to start Frite Nite [also home to Academy grad B. Bravo]. Can you briefly tell the story of what that was like, how you got it going, and your ethos?

I had worked with some really small indie labels in the past, and for years at different record stores, so it was bound to happen at some point. Once I started meeting all these talented cats in SF I already knew what to do. 'Frite Nite' is an obvious take on the movie 'Fright Night', and which at that point the reference was meant to just be a comical throwback stupid-scary sort of thing, just fun. And I always loved horror films, especially the 80s sort of comical variety... Unfortunately, of course, they remade the movie last year. That shit sucks, but we still rep.

Stepping back a bit, you were originally a DJ, correct? We remember reading somewhere that you enjoy/enjoyed DJing top 40 rap tunes. Is that what brought you to a more club focused sound?

I think the main thing was that I worked at record stores for most of my late teens and early 20s, so I got hip to pretty much every single style. I was a BIG TIME scratch nerd for my early years, so that lent itself to the hip hop community, but you could find me sneaking off to jazz clubs, a drum'n' bass rave, some nerdy math rock jam or a straight IDM noise party. Or on the other hand, dressed up at some trendy deep house night or top 40 r&b/rap joint. Yeah, definitely the big Miami nightclubs where I came up DJing got me appreciating "big room" rap and dance music. Which of course I made it my mission to want to bastardize.

Can you name some of your earlier musical influences and then name some of your more recent influences?

Early on, who sparked me to DJ and produce was folks like Q-Bert (+ all Invisibl Skratch Piklz), RZA, DJ Shadow, DJ Premier, Dr. Dre, Prince Paul, Timbaland, DJ Funk, Egyptian Lover, Paul Johnson, Photek, Giorgio Moroder, Anthony Rother, DJ Quik, Aphex Twin, Green Velvet (Cajmere), Morgan Geist (Metro Area), 2 Live Crew and many others... And then of course, J Dilla's production (and raps!) changed everything for me. Very recent influences, I guess, are Addison Groove, Machinedrum, Hudson Mohawke, Eprom, Shlohmo, B. Bravo, Floating Points, Girl Unit, Untold, Blawan, Julio Bashmore, Claude Von Stroke, Tiger & Woods, and whoever produced Kendrick Lamar's mixtape (gonna have to look that up) which is my favorite rap record to come out last year. Oh, and I wish I could make my synths sound like Daniel Lopatin [Oneohtrix Point Never]. Sorry, I got way carried away.

How has your sound changed between earlier stuff like 'Jars' and the more recent 'Yellobone' EP?

Haha, 'Jars' is straight like a way over-compressed experimental beat tape, a lot of it from 2008. It's SUPER weird, and it kind of says ''hey I like old ass electro, and check out these weird samples, and I wish I was Dabrye, and let's smoke weed".

Yellobone, which I recorded in mid-2011 is sort of like a continuation of my Complex Housing record that came out earlier in the year... Well, I guess I still want to be Dabrye, hahaha. But I know how to program dance music a little better for the floor. I hung out with B. Bravo a lot and learned to funk a bit, and learned to write better melodies and mix down my music better.

You've been described as one of the key pioneers of the American bass sound. Or at least one of the early adopters. Do you think that's an accurate statement? What is your notion of bass music anyways?

To me, what makes up "bass music" today, is just a melting pot of dance music history - German electro fused into early hip hop, fused into Miami bass and West Coast electro, with hints of freestyle, Detroit techno, Chicago house (and ghetto house / juke), UK garage, drum'n'bass, 2-step and broken beat. And early dubstep. I don't consider myself a pioneer in any sense, I think it's all the same sounds just being presented to new audiences.

Do you think bass music is very viable in the US, with its lack of late-night clubs? How have you found the audiences in the US versus other parts of the world?

I think we're getting there, but it's not quite as cracking as most big European cities. I really feel like all "alternative" styles of electronic music get lumped together, all trying to survive against the big American chainsaw-dubstep takeover. Every party I play is diverse from one to the next. I think the "micro-scenes" are all gone for the most part, and people move on to new sounds really quickly too, constantly changing.

Where has been your absolute favorite place to play so far?

I played with Oneohtrix Point Never, Jimmy Edgar, Demdike Stare and a lot of good house DJs, on the roof of Romanian ex-dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu's palace in Bucharest for a festival last year. The kids there love to hear the weirdest experimental music, and at the same time the most souful house music... It was kind of paradise for me.

Can you briefly describe your live show?

I keep it light for travelling now - I rock an iPad with Touch OSC triggering Ableton Live, an FX mic, and a MIDI keyboard. When I'm local I'll bring out my Virus and some pedals. Most of my gear won't leave the studio though. One day I hope to have a human on stage with me so I can throw my laptop in the trashcan.

808 or 909?

808 of course, but damn I love me some 909 too.

Dance Mania or Trax?

Impossible to pick. I literally would have to research and write a thesis and get back to you. Maybe I'll do that.

Alan Parsons or Allan Holdsworth?

Pretty sure Holdsworth's swag cannot be touched. Parsons did take a lot of acid with Pink Floyd and John Lennon though.

If you weren't doing music professionally, what would you be doing for a job?

I want to teach, and am working towards doing so one day. But I'm a sucker for the music industry. I'm just enthralled by it, as crazy as it is. So if it's marketing, label A&R, events or any of that good stuff, I'm about it.

Industry standard question, but what are your plans for 2012?

Trying to write the most melodically potent and emotional music I've ever written, and at the same time write the ghetto-est most, minimal club-wave, filthy dumb dancefloor shit I've ever written. Touring Europe with my buddy Shlohmo (visiting Cologne and the RBMA HQ!!), touring the US and Canada with Nguzunguzu shortly after, then hitting SXSW, WMC and all that good stuff. Releasing my music, releasing other people's music, throwing parties, attending parties. Making lots of new friends.

Lastly, any shoutouts?

Shoutout to my family that I made during the Academy in Madrid, I literally miss the shit out of every single person involved. Participants and staff alike. I can't wait to reunite with all of them in their respective countries. Of course shoutout to all my crew(s) and everybody who supports music and art of any variety!

Salva's Yellobone EP is out now on the Friends of Friends label.