Deep House Producer With A Mind Of His Own - K2, Karizma, Kaytronik, Kris Klayton. A man with many names. A man of many sounds. We got many questions for him.
Q1. Dear Karizma, please elaborate on your roots and musical background.
K: "My musical roots are varied due to being raised around my grandmother, she didn't listen to a lot of the new things so i had to appreciate all of the old jazz,gospel,country and whatever else she was feeling,but i think it also helped me to be more aware of ALL of the good music out there,I am proud to say I was around for the birth of hip-hop which is where i cut my djing teeth at."
Q2. You are from Baltimore and the city has got great historical roots in music. Due to a big African American population and churches around, there is a deep gospel and jazz history. And today, Baltimore even became a particular sound, a hip hop/club subgenre Baltimore-Club or B'more! You started off as a hip hop DJ and now you are a tasteful cornerstone of House. By any rate, you should be a major influence!! What is your take on that? What is the scene like back home now? How did this historical roots help progress your music and scene?
K: "Well being part of the Bmore Club scene was a way for me to get into learning production,it helped get my name out there although i don't get credit for being a originator of the scene.I loved doing those track but got bored because the scene got to predictable and when i wanted to change the way it was going people wasnt ready for it so i had to step away from it and mature musically.As for being a major influence I think all dj's producers know that when you are home you are not appreciated as much as when you are away unless you are signed major label artist, someone people can see and hear on a day to day basis.I am glad that my music touches people the way I am touched when i am making it our playing it out."
Q3. Hip Hop as you know is a very different thing from 20 years ago. What is your view about the culture now? Do you there be a day when Hip Hop is pure again? Who are some of the people whom you think will "save" Hip Hop in the future?
K: "I think hip hop is the very opposite of what it started out to be, it was moreso a bible of the streets,a way to say what needed to be said,a expression that couldn't be censored, but now i feel its so controlled and wack because everyone talks about the same and thing and anyone who does have a message gets outshadowed by someone who is talking about "bling". I think hip-hop can be saved but it can only be done by the people themselves realizing they need to wake up and that will take time."
Q4. You produce many different styles of music. Some tracks are broken and smooth, some are fast and edgy. How do you choose your sound? Do you produce to the demand or just choose to be eclectic?
K: "I just choose to make good music, i never say "im gonna make a broken track today", I just vibe and it just manifests itself in the form that you hear."
Q5. You once mentioned that success has been based on doing what you want, even if that means severing relationships and rules. “You gotta change within yourself musically, even if people don’t follow you, it’s just something you gotta do for yourself.” How do you balance the struggle between what people expects of you, even from the labels and audiences, and your integrity.
"I'm am blessed to have people around me that encourage me to keep pushing, R2 the label i'm signed to doesn't have any boundries musically so why should I... LOL.. Its all about expressing yourself and thats what is important to me.I think people know that i am doing my best,not just putting out music for the sake of it."
Q6. So you could have just stuck to hip hop since its your roots, but how come the switch the House music? You got so big into it that you told DJ Spen that with the both of you together, you can become what Masters At Work had achieved.
K: "Once again i never wanted to be a producer that you could just say he does hip hop or he does house, i like it when people are like i never know what you are gonna do next, thats the best compliment ever."
Q7. You have worked with many of the top vocalists in the quality dance scene - Uk soul boy Ben Westbeech, poet Ursula Rucker, etc. What is your take working with live vocalists and your use of vocals? Who are your favorite vocalists, past and present?
K: "Too many to name, but I just love a good song, if you can get that from a vocalist, the rest is easy."
Q8. There is a certain group of african-american DJ producers that is producing a class of House music that is deep and spiritual, namely you and people like Osunlade, Joe Claussell, Theo Parrish, Carl Craig, Kerri Chandler and Dennis Ferrer... is there a story to this? Do y'all know each other from way back? Are there any alliances and collaborations to push an afro house movement? Also, are there any thoughts of collaborating with traditional African/Afro musicians?
K: "Wow i never thought of my music as spiritual, but I think with the aforementioned producers we all are making music directly from our soul, thats where i think the "spiritual" aspect comes from, I am planning to do more of the afro inspired work with musicians..all in good time though."
Q9. Some producers and record labels have a very strong concept behind it to seek relevance with their style of music, for example like Osunlade and his label Yoruba Soul often refers deep to the African Yoruba culture. What is Karizma's story behind your works, your sound and label Kohesive?
K: "I think for me Kohesive is just my way of saying that ALL music is relative and can be fused together to create something great."
Q10. You have done remixes for a lot of classic tracks. How did they come about? Did the record label commission you to do them or do you ask to do and release it? What are some of your favorite classic tracks you will like to remix?
K: "I would love to get my hands on some of the Prince sessions, and Sade sessions only because these two rarely get remixed."
Q11. Your Myspace page has this tagline "Representing the Underdog and the Unrecognised" but you are quite obviously not with your cutting edge works. What do you mean and how?
K: "I say that because, for a while i was grinding (working) hard like everyone else and it took a long time before people actually got it,I represent the underdog because i am one and will always be one in my heart, I am hungry and will never forget when i couldnt get a record played or how no one cared to know who "Karizma" was."
Q12. What does your production suite consists of? Are you still using studio hardware or have you digitized part of your studio onto a laptop suite like many do now?
K: "Yes I combine the two worlds because digital is kool but, still being able to chop beats in my asr-10 still gives me a feeling that looking at a screen on my mac cant (goosepimples) lol."
Q13. Tell us some interesting stories in your journey through the American House Music Culture.
K: "Well there was this time in bandcamp when....LOL. Actually, i was in Japan on a 4 day tour,2 days in I went to dinner as usual before the gig,dinner was good and i went to the club and started playing my 6 hour set,2hours into the set i got sick, realizing it was food poisoning i tried to get someone to cover for me on the decks,but because of the language barrier i couldnt tell them what was going on with me, so for 4 hours more i played and held my sickness.I played because i knew people were there for me and i couldn't let them down....NOW THATS HOUSE LOL"
Q14. So you recently tasted a little of southeast Asia playing at Worldwide Festival Singapore and several gigs in Indonesia enroute. What is your feeling about this places?
K: "I love it and i cant wait to come back, theres nothing like playing for people who love and appreciate what you do."
Q15. (Touch wood) You lost your CD case upon arriving to a country to play and you only have an hour to go record shopping at HMV to replace your music to pull through the gig. Which 20 albums / CDs will you pick up?
K: "Well thats a question i couldnt answer because it would depend on the type of gig i was doin so the 20 would keep changing."
Q16. Do you listen to jazz / world music? What is Karizma's top 10 jazz/world music essentials?
K:
1 Wes Montgomery - Tequila
2 Noel Pointer - Phantazia
3 Andreas Vollenweider - Down to the moon
4 Afro Celt System - Volume 2 release
5 Bebel Gilberto - Tanto Tempo
6 Herbie Hancock - Headhunters
7 Bob James - Two
8 Incognito - 100 Degrees and Rising (actually any Early Incognito)
9 Quincy Jones - The Dude
10 George Benson - Bad Benson
Q17. You are one of the very few American house djs who names Depeche Mode as a major influence (in fact the only one I know). How did that come about? What do you like about them and how have DM influenced you? Favourite DM record/album?
K: "Violator is my favorite."
Q18. When you are DJing, you are definitely very dynamic, probably because of your hip hop roots. You will have dramatic breakdowns switching the tempo entirely (you did this in Singapore by breaking down to a hip hop tempo and at your gig in Bandung, I heard you played drum and bass in the middle of your set, didn't you?) Then, I noticed you did what looks like finger percussion on the Cue button of a CDJ when you were DJing in Singapore. That was wild! What is that about?! What other CDJ / DJing tricks you can impart to your DJ fans?
K: "For me djing is about what you can create in the moment, for me the cdj is my instrument, i think alot of djs don't think of it as one but I do because there is so musch you can do with it if you put your mind to it."
Q19. When Karizma ain't working/DJing, how is a perfect night out of his choice for him?
K: "A movie, some shopping, some sushi and plum wine,and some downtime with my friends."
Q20. Last but not least, we heard you were a chef before you dabble in music professionally! What is your signature dish and any wisdom you can impart in cooking? Are there any cross inspiration?
K: Honey fried chicken is my signature dish and I think that like music never be afraid to try different seasonings and methods of cooking, you might come up with the next big thing. PS. I've quoted Robert Rodriguez before so here goes again:
"Not knowing how to cook is like not knowing how to f**k!"
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