LOFIDREAMERS UNDERGROUND CRUSADES: The finest in Producers, Beat Makers & Musicians who dwell well away from the mainstream culture…
SONO TWS: SAO PAULO, BRAZIL BASED HIP HOP ALCHEMIST/REGGAE DJ/GRAFFITI WRITER
I first heard SONO'S Killer Hip Hop Instrumentals via our own LOFIDREAMERS Facebook page and ever since then have been craving more from this bonafide street story teller. Let's find out more about the "Tired of people" boss......
Ashley LOFIDREAMERS: So Sono, I hear you pick up a spray can as well as go digging for and chopping samples. What came first for you making the raw Hip Hop beat tapes or the Graffiti writing?
SONO TWS: Yo Ashley! First of all thanks for the space to speak, it means a lot and sorry about my English mistakes... i am still learning man! My history begins as a kid, here in my city of Jundiai, Sao Paulo there is a local radio station that was one of the radio stations that gave a lot of space to rap music, and so my friends and me always listened to the radio. Rap was the sound track of major moments of my life. I always wanted to produce beats but it was like something far too distant for me to grasp at that time, so i couldn't learn or understand it, i guess my mind wasn't ready for it then. The Graffiti/Pixação came first in my story. Since I was 15 years old i was putting in work on the streets with some friends. Graffiti had a major rule in my life, the sense of freedom, the real meaning of STYLE, you know... you got to have some funky style to your throw up to get noticed in middle of others. And this is the vibe i try to give my beats, that S T Y L E!
Jundiai above a municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil which Sono calls his home.
Ashley LOFIDREAMERS: Who is your biggest inspiration in the Hip Hop World? A Graffiti writer or a producer or is it a mixture of both?
SONO TWS: My favorite producers are Pete Rock and Kan Kick. The music from these guys still inspires me now. You know, i am still bumping the classics on heavy rotation. But my main inspiration comes too with the "local heroes.” Here in Brazil it is extremely difficult to live solely by the art/music. Music is my life but i need to have other work to survive. So i get inspired by the struggle of friends that keep putting in work on the streets when you know you will hardly get the investment back when you release a record or a cassette tape. I guess it's everywhere, all these years doing beats i have made lots of friends worldwide and everyone is struggling... so these stories are my inspiration.
Pete Rock Above, Kan Kick Below.
Ashley LOFIDREAMERS: Your debut beat tape on "Tired of People" "Street Talk [ZZZ01]" is a crazy mixture of dusty grooves and expertly put together samples of Soul and Jazz. What is the story behind the production of this dope ode to classic era Hip Hop?
SONO TWS: Tired Of People is a label i created to put my personal work out; with my references and with my thoughts... It's my state of mind on it. I have four other releases with different labels and i am really happy with it, but i wanted to do something from the ground up you know. All the artists that cooperated with the art on the tape and the label do HEAVY and STYLISH work in the streets. None of those street art vibes... I want to keep things real for the label. Akbar (@bay1010) from France did the logo, Germes Gang (@germesgang) from Portugal did the artwork of the tape and Oboe (@bomboclat1) from my area did the drawing on the package. The style is universal!
On the production aspect, this is the gear i used on all tracks: SP-12 Turbo for the drums, Akai S950 for the samples and the SP303 to do some effects recording into Ableton. The samples came from records of jazz and soul from the 70s. I am starting my collection of jazz records, so we keep digging to find some vibes. About the beats, like Guru said in the intro of "You Know My Steez" - "we have some kind of formulas, but we update on them". So i try to use the best of worlds, the old samplers and Ableton to make it sound good. Most of the time i am bumping some 90s rap, so this is the sound i like, and this is the sound i try to achieve. It won't sound real if you do a trap beat but you don't listen to trap you know?
STREET TALK ZZZ01 ABOVE.
Ashley LOFIDREAMERS: My personal favourite is "S-S-S Style" that saxophone sample and soulful vocal paints a beautiful picture in your mind. What type of emotions was you feeling when you put together that particular track?
SONO TWS: Creativity and frustration comes side by side. On one day you wake up like a king and in the other you feel like shit. I guess beat makers will understand what i am talking about! So the mood of my beats depends on the day, i try to make them all sound "spiritual". In Street Talk, i try to give a soundtrack to my memories; there are the happy times, the introspective times and the hard times... It's all about the things i live. In this particular track, it's about the STYLE, one of the major rules in hip-hop culture. In breakdancing, you got to have style. Graffiti, style. It's the Style Wars, hip-hop is all about the S-S-S Style!
Ashley LOFIDREAMERS: As well as producing Hip Hop you were involved in the Reggae scene too. Where did your love for Reggae music grow? Was it before your love for Hip Hop culture was developed?
SONO TWS: Yes, before i started doing beats i was a selector with some friends on a big sound system here in Brazil. I had a blog too called You&Me On a Jamboree focusing on old Jamaican music, like ska, rock steady and early reggae. We would do parties all night long playing only original 7's from Jamaica and it was awesome. Also i travelled to Jamaica once just to dig records and came back to Brazil with hundreds of 45rpm records, i guess it was among the most crazy stuff i have done for music. Nowadays i am more focused on the beats but i am still feeding the Jamaican music collection.
Above a snapshot of one of SONO’s all night 7inch parties!
Ashley LOFIDREAMERS: This one is for the Hardware aficionado's amongst us.....Can you give us a list of the Hardware you get freaky with????
SONO TWS: I got an EMU SP12-Turbo, Akai S950, SP303 (these three are the most i am using out of all the samplers I have). I also have a SP404 (that i use only to do some live sets), a Zoom Sampletrak and the MPC60. I don't have a studio, it's all in my bedroom, and so I don't have much space. If i need to use the MPC60 i need to turn off the SP12 and it breaks the vibe... i am looking for a place where i can put them all easily to be honest!
Ashley LOFIDREAMERS: The hardware samplers you use (EMU SP-12 TURBO, AKAI S950, ROLAND SP-303, & SP-404, MPC60) have been used on countless Hip Hop Records over the years. How do you manage to find new production techniques that were previously overlooked by Hip-Hop pioneers, or do you stick to using the equipment the same way they have always been used in Hip Hop circles??
SONO TWS: Creativity leads the way. I like these samplers because they force you to be creative. The SP12 Turbo only has 5 seconds of sample time, that's all you have. So you have to learn some techniques that the pioneers used, like the 33rpm/45rpm technique to have more sample time. In the DAW i am kind of lost because you don't have limits, you can use like 500 tracks, i wouldn’t be able to decide when i should stop! Hahaha! To me, limitations bring creativity. Even 1 second of remaining sample time is important in these samplers. Nowadays, I am still learning…there are many tricks out there that i don't know but i read a lot and i talk a lot with other beat makers that use the same machines. I also participate in forums & groups... It's all about sharing the knowledge to find what fits you best. But like i said, creativity leads the way... the important thing is to express yourself no matter what kind of gear or daw you use.
Above SONO at work on his Roland SP-404 Sampler, in his makeshift studio in Jundiai while other famous samplers sit waiting…..
Ashley LOFIDREAMERS: In the modern age even more producers than before are looking to crate digging to aid sample choices in their productions. How important is sample choice for you? Is it relative to taste in music or exploration of music?
SONO TWS: To do sample based music, you have to listen to a lot of music and that's the most incredible part of it. It makes you discover new groups, new musicians, new labels... you LEARN. Discovering new stuff is what motivates me, so you have to listen, you got to have the time to sit and listen to the records you have found. Sample choice for me is everything! It's like the spider senses of Spiderman when you hear a good break beat or a good sample! hahaha
Ashley LOFIDREAMERS: What motivates you to get in the studio to make beats Sono?
SONO TWS: I need to make beats so i don't go insane. I need to express myself, like when you are doing some Graffiti. The need of expressing motivates me. It's the time i don't think about anything besides that. I forget about bills, problems... Music to me, is the best therapy.
Ashley LOFIDREAMERS :Your favourite record ever?
SONO TWS: I can't tell you what record is my favorite because it changes a lot from time to time, but I’ve been bumping a record i got lately called: Stanley Cowell - Musa - Ancestral Streams.
Above Stanley Cowell - Musa - Ancestral Streams.
Ashley LOFIDREAMERS: What is your future plans for your label "Tired of people?"
SONO TWS: Before releasing my other beat tape on Tired Of People, i will release a split tape soon with my brother Oso Blanco on 77RiseRecordings, it's almost finished. On Tired Of People i will do some gear (t-shirt and a bag) and maybe in June i will release my other tape, i already have the artwork and the name... "We can get along".
That's it, thank you for the opportunity of expressing myself. Peace!!
You can find SONO TWS here for future updates:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/sonotws
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sonotws/
Bandcamp: https://tiredofpeople.bandcamp.com
Written by Ashley Kafifar