CHOPS took a break from his session with DFD to have a conversation about his past with the Mountain Brothers, his transition from samples to live instrumentation, and The Creep.

On getting his big break…

There’s never been, band there may never be, an opportunity where it’s like “that made me”.  I’m not “made”.  I’m still grinding.  I’m still trying to get better placements and get more music out there and work with more people that are creative, dope and enterprising.  I’m always looking for new angles and ways to do that.

On sampling vs. live instrumentation…

When I started I just sampled.  I found it to be limiting.  I have a lot of stuff that goes on in my head…a lot of music going on, so the easiest way for me to get it out of my head and onto tape or hard disk is by playing the instruments as best as I can.

On his workflow…

I definitely work around the family schedule, but I’ve learned to work somewhat on demand.  When I was younger I was kinda like “I’m not inspired today,” but now I’ve found that if I need to, I can make it happen.

On using social media in its early form…

One thing that we did early on was use the Internet.  Just through reaching people via email lists, our website and forum.  People were very active on it.  People like Jin were on our forums posting freestyles.  [Mountain Brothers] were early on in doing that and if we were out today this landscape would’ve suited us.