The most renowned trio of hip-hop history, Run DMC (Run, Joseph Simmons; DMC, Darryl McDaniels; and Jam Master Jay, Jason Mizell), talks to Guitar Center about their recent induction into RockWalk, creating upcoming albums, and their equipment.
GC: What was it like being involved in the Guitar Center Spin Off and performing at the Grand Finals?
DMC: Oh that was just incredible! We've been around a very long time and we're just happy to still be in the game. It's fun! Every performance, it gets better. We've been doing it for almost twenty years now. Next year, it will be our twenty-year anniversary. It's what we do. It's in our blood. As long as the crowd is happy, we're happy! Contests like the Spin Off make music more fun and life more interesting and relationships with the people more fun! It's a good way to be very creative. That's one of the reasons I got involved in music and we formed the group Run DMC, to be creative as possible.
GC: Tell us about your induction to the RockWalk this year.
DMC: Yes, we put our hands in cement at the RockWalk in Hollywood, representing the 'hood because we're that good! We're very flattered! We don't just take it as a personal achievement for Run DMC. We represent rap music and hip-hop and a whole culture before any rap records were ever made. I mean, we were 12 and 13 year olds DJing in the parks, DJing in our basement, writing rhymes. It's the thing we did. For us to do so many things that become critically acclaimed is amazing! But we do not take any of the accolades and honors that have been bestowed upon Run DMC as personal achievements. We represent hip-hop, old school, new school and the new school to come. We are very flattered that RockWalk would honor us because Guitar Center is where we get our Akai MPC's, our turntables, our microphones, our studio equipment, and our guitars!
GC: How's the tour with Aerosmith going?
DMC: It's going incredible. It's Run DMC, Kid Rock, and Aerosmith. I mean, that's three generations of music! Kid Rock said that Run DMC and Aerosmith had a baby and it was him! Before we did "Walk this Way," we had already done rap/rock on our first album, "Rock Box." Second album was "King of Rock" and then we did the "Raising Hell" album and did a remix of "Walk This Way." That spawned people like Kid Rock and Limp Bizkit, and Korn and P.O.D., and everybody who's out rapping and rocking today. So on this tour people are getting to see the things that were the actual birth of this whole movement.
GC: What's that process of setting up a home studio been like?
DMC: I'm setting it up right now! The first thing we had to do was get the floors and the walls done. We had to sound proof it and everything. It's actually in my manager's brother's basement, so it's a neighborhood studio. We have some state-of-the-art stuff from you guys. First, we actually had to go through the process of learning what goes into making a studio. It's one thing to go in and work in them all your life. But, when you see what's really needed, you know wiring and that whole process, it's a big thing. It's like a scientific experiment! Like being an astronaut! There's a lot of technical stuff that goes into it.
We're rolling with a Pro Tools set-up. It's definitely a computer thing. We be able to do a lot of pre-production, but what's good about it, with the stuff that we brought, we'll be able to actually mix an album in that little studio! Probably, though, we'll do a lot of pre-production and then take it to one of those big studios in New York to do the final mix down and all that.
GC: What are you planning to record in the new studio?
DMC: Right now I'm working on a solo album, which should be out in January. It's a bunch of other things that I would like to do personally, not with Run DMC.
GC: How are those things different from Run DMC material?
DMC: It has a flavored edge of a lot of real instruments. I'm taking a lot from Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones. I'm really into classic rock! So a lot of the instruments I'm using are instruments that Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young or Dylan would use: acoustic guitars, harmonicas, and violins. It's still a hip-hop record, but I'm using different instruments to make a hip-hop record. It's rap and a little bit of singing. Right now I'm learning to play the guitar. Well actually I will be once I get off the road on this tour. Right now Kid Rock and his band mates are giving me pointers and telling me what to get. I'm going to start with an acoustic. I really love that acoustic thing, but I also like electric guitars and amps. I want to rock out! The live instruments and all that are my favorite thing. I just love the sounds of guitars! I'm going to start with acoustic. I really love acoustic stuff, like Sheryl Crow and Jewel. I'm really into them. I'll have to come to Guitar Center to get my guitar.
GC: So for the instrumental tracks on this new record, are you hiring session guys or bringing in friends?
DMC: I've got a couple of friends and I've got session guys coming in. I walk into the studio and ask if anyone can play the guitar and if they can, I let them go! I tell them, "Here's the idea, do what you think it should be." And we combine it. I think that's the way to make a record, as opposed to me coming in and saying, "I need my riff to go like this!" I don't go in with the whole blueprint and tell them what to do. It's not like they're painting my house. It's a bunch of artists trying to paint a picture together.
I asked DJ Lethal from Limp Bizkit to produce my album. Jam Master Jay, my DJ, he's producing some. Davy DMX, he's producing some. A lot of the other guys and some of the guest rappers are new, up-and-coming talent. I didn't want to do an album where the current producers that are producing everybody now were doing my album. I want to go get that young kid in the basement who has that drive and that hunger and that new sound! Just to try to be different and to open the doors for people who aren't where I am yet. From a showbiz standpoint, I'm looking for artistic expression, for a bunch of artists coming together to create something that's beautiful, unique, and appealing.
GC: Do you like working that way?
DMC: Yeah, I like working that way. Spontaneous! Let's do it! You do what you do and I'll do what I do. We'll put it all together and it will be a beautiful work of art. In a way, it's like directing a film but without the script! Like just getting a bunch of cameras and making the movie. First scene, film that. Second scene, film that and then put it all together. It has got to be fun. My album is just fun. I'm not doing it to sell a million records and critics can bash it if they want to. I had a great time making it and that's all that is important. I'd rather have people not worry about how many records they sell as opposed to feeling that this is a fun record!
GC: Run DMC has written some of the most memorable hip-hop tracks of all time. What do you think makes a song great?
DMC: It's a hook and lyrics that appeal to everybody. Not just one demographic. We make universal music. When you look a great record or great song like "Stairway to Heaven" it's something that everyone can feel and identify with. Some rap records only appeal to certain types of people, but the great ones, the ones you can still put on today, that will blow away anything that's new now, are the ones like Run DMC, Public Enemy, Eric B. and Rakim, Biggie, and Tupac. They made records that you can play for the next ten generations and people will feel something, as opposed to some of this stupid nonsense, not just in rap, but in all music.
GC: Are there plans for a new Run DMC record?
DMC: We're writing an album to record next year because it's our twenty-year anniversary. We're going to do a twentieth year anniversary album and tour. Since we're going to be together for like 46 cities, we're going to get together and start writing an album now and we're discussing making a home at Def Jam Records, which was started by Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin. Russell is Run's brother. Everybody always thought we were on the Def Jam label, but we were always on an independent label called Profile. If things go right, though, we'll be coming home to Def Jam!
GC: You've talked about writing material for a new record. How does that process usually work?
DMC: It starts with the track. You can hear a track and say let's write to it. Or we can write the song and have to find the music to go with song. So it's either or. It can start with one lyric. It can start with just coming up with an idea for a hook and a chorus. For us there's no blueprint. Once we get one thing, we all start adding things and that's how we build the final product.
GC: Run DMC obviously has a long history. How do you guys handle differences or make decisions within the group?
DMC: We've known each other since Kindergarten. So it's not show biz for us, it's friendship. We have to make sure everybody agrees something. Everybody has to feel it or we'll keep making changes accordingly until everybody is happy. It's called compromise. You can't really force your ideas upon another person, but you can work together accordingly to keep things in harmony!
GC: Has there been any pressure from outside sources to change your music or follow the latest trends?
DMC: We get so much respect because we've been in the game longer than anybody. Even though it's good to be the first to go gold, first to go platinum, first on MTV, first on American Bandstand, first on the cover of Rolling Stone, first on this and first on that, our greatest achievement is longevity. People say these guys have been around so they must know what the hell they're doing. People give us that respect. They want us to do what we do!
GC: What are the differences between how hip-hop records were made in the early days and how they are made today?
DMC: Now you've got the same producers producing everybody, so it's not really as versatile as it used to be. Back in the day, the acts themselves use to make their records. Now you got all these big-shot producers producing everybody so everyone looks the same and sounds the same! Back in the day, Run DMC made Run DMC records. De La Soul made their records. And NWA made their records. Now you've got people like Dr. Dre, Puffy, Jermaine, and Timbaland producing everybody's records so everything sounds the same.
GC: Are you guys going to try to avoid that when you do your next record and produce it yourselves?
DMC: We'll probably work with Rick Rubin. We'll probably work with The Neptunes. It's not like we're going to have every producer in the world. We might have one or two, but we're going to do the majority ourselves.
GC: How is the studio environment different than the earlier days?
DMC: Now I'm building a studio. Jam Master Jay already has his own studio. Nowadays, you don't even have to go to the studio since everybody has a studio in their house!
GC: Does having a computer affect the music or change the way you can make music?
DMC: You can put out more product quicker. It's so much easier with the computer as opposed to cutting tapes! It's a quicker, simpler, easier process. Then you can edit your record in any way you want.
GC: Do you shop at Guitar Center at all?
DMC: That's where we get everything! That's the only place that Jam Master Jay will go shop! He's Mr. Technical. He gets everything from Guitar Center. While we were all there putting our hands in RockWalk we were flipping out over all the gear. People were trying to talk to us but we were running around the store, "Oh look at this, oh look at that!" I need to get a guitar, but you've got so many I don't know which one to get. I'll have to get them all! I'll have to be like Eric Clapton and have like a thousand guitars and have to auction some off for charity! Yeah, we get everything from Guitar Center!
GC: Do you have any messages for your fans?
DMC: We just want to let people know that Run DMC is going to be around for a very long time. As long as there are guitars, we're going to be here!
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