Bona Fide Darling: You've remixed a ton of different artists, where do your musical tastes lean?
LehtMoJoe: Front. Back, side to side. I love classic rock mostly, but obviously listen to just about everything. I generally don't listen to music I like, or know, while driving, always trying to find something new to get into. Something buried in between Clear Channel stations. It's a great source of inspiration, and samples.
BFD: A lot of your records have a electro feel to them and I know you produce hip-hop as well. Do you think those two genres are getting closer to merging?
LMJ: For better or worse, yes. Hip Hop is the easiest genre to blend with others because of the open source nature of it's production. While mainstream labels were reluctant to try anything interesting or daring with their rappers, bedroom producers had no reason not to throw a Talib Kweli 'pella over the sound of a dishwasher. Now that it's "cool" to sound "techno" you are seeing more and more rappers want electro style beats, some are homages to the days of Afrika Bambaataa, some are more forward looking. Sounding.
BFD: Is there an artist you would like to remix or just work with?
LMJ: I'd love to take Chris Cornell's album Scream and completely re-work it. Such a terrible, album by the greatest vocalist in rock. As far as actually sitting down in the studio and working with, Jack White would be the most interesting. Such a vicious tone and great songwriting ability. David Bowie, for sure and MJ was always on that short list too.
BFD: What kind of response have you gotten from your remixes?
LMJ: Mostly positive, some threats. It's funny how you can spend several weeks on an original track, release it to the web, and not get too many people to listen to it. But spend two hours on a mix for the latest release of an indie act and quickly get it played on BBC Radio 1. I guess that's not really funny, but ya know, it's a figure of speech. I enjoy remixing, keeps my skills sharp and makes me giggle when something starts to come out cool.
BFD: What was the first record you bought?
LMJ: Is it bad for a musician to not remember? I think it was a toss up between Weird Al Yankovic's "Off the Deep End" and Kriss Kross' seminal masterpiece "Totally Krossed Out". I didn't buy many albums growing up because I would mostly listen to what my older brother and parent's listened to. Alot of Motown from my mom, rock from my dad, and alternative rock from my brother. Conversely, I never really listened to my sister's Mary Kate and Ashley tapes much.
BFD: Do you see, or would like to see yourself working beyond the borders of Dallas?
LMJ: I'm from Dallas but don't consider myself a "Dallas musician". Other than traces of cocaine, there isn't much in my music to label it a Dallasites' work. On my upcoming album " Spaghetti Western ", one of the feature vocalist was actually from Vegas, we would just bounce the files back and forth. The internets is crazy man.
BFD: Is there a specific approach you take to bands you remix?
LMJ: Either match the vocals, or stray completely away from the original composition. I've received acapellas from indie acts who haven't released the actual track yet, so it's a complete shot in the dark in regards to how they envisioned their song to sound. I actually like working like that, gets interesting results.
BFD: Can you give us any details about your album?
LMJ: Spaghetti Western will be available July 31st on iTunes and at the CD Release party, aka "Gimme Da Gold Party" at The Granada Theater on the 31st as well. It will be a free show featuring Free Agent, Anonymous, and Mount Righteous, so come on out and uproot that tree. Album features 12 tracks of brilliance. There's singing, rapping, and technoing all in one.
