SUM: Hi Steve! Thank you so much for sitting down with us for this one-on-one. How’s it going?
Hey guys, it’s going great. Very excited for this release, and all the WMC Madness that is just a week and a half away.
SUM: So let’s get to it! How did Champion Rocka first come about?
What were some of your first sound styles and how do you think it’s changed from what we’re hearing today? Champion Rocka was started by myself and Chooky a mega talented DJ/Producer from the D.C. area. Chooky did some Moombahton remixes of some of my The R.O.A.R. tracks which found me pulling double duty on vocals and production and is more ROCK leaning. We linked up that way, and after releasing both remixes on Moombahton.net (Part of the EDM Network) and getting close to 75K Plays and an amazing response we figured why not make some more tracks.
SUM: Take us on a journey through your new release. What was it like working with your vocalist Valerie Valentine? What would you say stands out about how the track sounds? What can you say is different about this track than your recent “Riot Sound EP”
Valerie is awesome. I started making Trap-style beats last year, and linked up with her on Facebook. I first heard her on the Sazon Booya track “Shake” and suggested we work on some stuff. I sent her a couple of beats I was working on and she liked a few of them. I was living in Orlando at the time working on the Obama Re-Election Campaign, and we hit the studio within a week of me returning to NYC after the campaign. She knocked the track out in record time, like in 1-2 takes. We worked together extremely quickly. Like everyone else I was mesmerized by the Trap Sound and Vibe when I first heard it, and tried to mix in some of the Moombahton sounds I was messing around with at the time. The track was made before Chooky and I started Champion Rocka, but I think it has some of that more distorted sound that we have become known for. The RIOT SOUND E.P. was a statement that we wanted to make about Moomabhton and the state of the genre at the time.
SUM: We’ve heard you’ll be stopping in at WMC this year in Miami. What are you most excited for during your trip?
Will you be playing anywhere during your visit? Yes after only dropping the FIRST Champion Rocka track 5 months ago we are fortunate enough to have 4 shows during WMC week.
We are performing Wednesday 3/26 for PROJECT MAYHEM and AFTERDARK RECORDS 10th Anniversary INDUSTRY SOCIAL at JAZID 1342 Washington Ave, with DAVE NADA (The Originator/Creator of Moombahton himself) and a bunch of other great DJs, Saturday 3/29 GIGABEAT PROJECT MAYHEM and AFTERDARK RECORDS GIMME A BREAK POOL PARTY at the CONGRESS HOTEL 1052 Ocean Drive with the FREESTYLERS, DANK, LIQUID TODD, and more. Sunday 3/30 we are doing a double header playing MOOMBAHCORE.COM’s MOOMBAHTONMANIA event at HOTEL ASTOR then shooting up to ORLANDO for their WEEKLY SHAKE-N-BASS PARTY with our friends The MOOMBAHTON MAFIA, JSTJR, and 2 Deep! VICE ROYALE will be joining me MCing and Hyping all of my sets as only she can.
SUM: If you were a street percussionist and had only a few means to recreate your sound, how would you go about doing it?
This is a super original and creative question. Love it. Well Moombahton is more percussive, and would probably lend itself to street percussion better. Flipping over some buckets or plastic garbage cans for the Kick and Toms and hitting a light post or some other metal objects for a snare. Start hitting that DEMBOWS rhythm and watch people from all around start dancing.
SUM: Tell us, what are some of your favorite things to do while in not on set or in the studio?
Wow. Since most of my free time is spent listening to music, thinking about it, or doing it- The first thing that pops into mind, is doing YOGA. I try and do BIKRAM YOGA (Which is a 90 minute moving meditation in 115 degree heat) at least 4-5 times a week. It helps center and focus me.
SUM: What has been the most memorable moment whilst working with each other whilst under the moniker Champion Rocka?
Being fortunate enough to work with all the amazingly talented people that we have gotten to work with since the project started. VALERIE VALENTINE, VICE ROYALE, SAVANA PAINTER, these girls are all SUPERSTARS, and names to look out for. Each one of them brought their unique personalities and talents to make the tracks we worked on REAL SONGS, instead of just cool beats with DROPS.
SUM: Most producers and DJ’s have that dreaded day-job to keep things afloat while still doing what they love. Sometimes schedules can get hectic, so how would you say that you guys manage your time? Early mornings tend to yield the most productive results. Waking up at 6 a.m. to work when your mind is still closest to a dream state brings incredibly creativity to the mix. Chooky and I have no set plans when we link up in person in the studio. Being that we live in two different cities it can be tough sometimes, but all I know is that when we link up that I will be enjoying that 4.5 hour car ride back to NYC with an amazing piece of music.
SUM: Do you think young producers should take the time to develop their DJ skills?
There are many different types of DJs. I myself consider myself a producer first before a DJ. Moving with the times, I had to put down my guitar and amp and pick up the laptop and turn tables, so in many respects I am still learning how to DJ well. I think being a great DJ, is a multi-tiered endeavor. Each one of us has different strengths. I think competency in mixing, and setting the mood and vibe for a party are important, but for me pushing the boundaries of where music can go is paramount. I think each young producer should asses where their strengths lie, and always play to them. I am never going to be a Vinyl DJ, or a Scratch DJ, my mind doesn’t have the patience to spend the time it takes to excel in that facet of DJing, but I will invest the time to make tracks and songs that sound different from what people have heard before.
SUM: As you progress through your producing careers, what do you look forward to at the end of that journey?
For me it’s about connection. I hope to give back to music, what I have so gratefully received from it. I believe I am part of the universal musical conversation. I hope I can add something to it, and help inspire others to find new and interesting paths to explore. Music is a gift. To be able to make it is a gift. To share it with 100s, 1000s, or even more people is the greatest feeling in the world.
SUM: The cries of “Moombahton is Dead” echo in the distant corners of this genre. What do you think people mean when they say this?
I think a lot of people spend more time on social media trolling for attention than actually making something meaningful. I come from a different era. The D.I.Y. generation, which meant that we didn’t complain or comment on things being over or “dead” we jumped in a beat up old van and toured the country selling our 7” singles out of the trunk. Wasting time debating that “PUNK was dead” would not even have come to mind. We were too busy trying to grow the movement, and bring music to kids that had no access to it (This is Pre-Internet). With that being said, I think a lot of Moombahton fans were belly-aching because some of the genres biggest producers jumped ship and hopped on the Trap Bandwagon, and some of the biggest rising stars either stopped making Moombahton completely, renounced it, or broke up. Ironically, it was all that nonsense that gave Chooky and I the final push to say let’s do this, let’s show people that Moombahton is far from dead, and can actually be extremely exciting and innovative still.
SUM: It has been said that the bedroom DJ has been the demise of the demo world. What is your take on this?
Do you think demos are obsolete when trying to have your sound be heard? Not sure if you mean demos of tracks? I guess demos sort of don’t exist anymore. Kids now a days are so versed in DAWs and programs that they can pretty much bring their tracks to a market ready state without the input of any A&R or Label. Looking back, on my pre-EDM Career, there was certainly a lot of time, energy, and money spent on demos. Which you would shop to prospective labels, and if you found a label or producer that liked the demo, then you would re-record the whole track hopefully with a better budget, and in a better studio. That’s completely unnecessary in the EDM world. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Music gets made quicker, and you’re not sitting on the same 10 demos for years.
SUM: What can we expect from your collaboration during the rest of 2014?
I don’t try and plan things out to much, we have some collabos in the works that I am excited about. We will be going back to our RIOT SOUND collaborators VICE ROYALE and SAVANA PAINTER again for some follow up tracks. The vision for CHAMPION ROCKA was always to be a collective of producers and vocalist/rappers that would come together and make music, and also go off individually and do things. Kind of like an EDM Wu-Tang Clan if you will. Coming up in the PUNK SCENE this kind of mentality is something that is ingrained in me, and when I first started to immerse myself in the Moomabhton scene I got that feeling again. It made me want to represent for the genre, but very early on we made a point to not get pigeon holed as being just a Moombahton Act. We came out with a TRAP/ROCK/ZOUK track called “Here We Go Again” that came out on Trapmusic.net that has over 113K Plays, and RAINBOWS definitely fits more in a TRAP/ELECTRO genre than Moombahton. That leaves us completely open to go and do whatever we desire.
SUM: Our very last question, something that us at Straight Up! Love asking to each artist that we sit with. What is one thing that you straight up can’t live without and why?
The most obvious answer would be MUSIC, but I think that would be a given. So I will go with GRATTITUDE. I am grateful and thankful for all the amazing opportunities and people in my life, and I could not live without giving thanks for everything I have been lucky enough to have received.
