Posts tagged Broadway & Wilson

Broadway & Wilson

JM: Tell us a little bit about Broadway & Wilson and what you two are all about.

BW: Broadway and Wilson was really something that evolved organically around 2003-04 when we were forced to work together due to that wacky affirmative action clause in that bogus record contract.  However, it was the grant from The School of Boogietronics that catapulted us to the next level and really made everything else possible. I would say that there are really only two things that we stand for, and those two things are; making really high quality music, and taking ourselves extra super seriously, seriously.

JM: Jeff, Tell us a little bit about how you got into house music.

Jeff: I was introduced to house music in the late 90′s towards the end of the rave days.  I would say that the most influential thing would be moving into the city of Chicago.  It’s funny, I actually met Andrew in 2000 the week I bought my turntables and he told me how to balance my needles, he had already been playing records for several years.

JM: Andrew, ditto, but this time in Spanish. LOL, I am kidding, but on a serious note, tell us a little about you, how you got into the scene as well.

Andrew: My brother always listened to electronic dance music (Front 242, Skinny Puppy, Lords of Acid, KMFDM, etc.), but I was always more of a traditional musician and liked Jazz, R & B, and Orchestral music, because I studied music as a kid.  I was downtown in KC in 1996 and walked by this deli (18th & Grand) where they used to do parties at and I heard this jazzy, soulful, beating music coming out, so I walked in and Pat Nice was deejaying.  I met him and we became friends pretty fast (still honored today to call him a mentor and great friend).  He is a total decknician and he showed me a great deal of deep house music that I hadn’t been exposed to.  I noticed that a lot of the records I was really into came from Chicago.  I was looking at a couple different colleges and decided to go to Columbia and move to Chicago in 1999, mainly to be apart of this Chicago House thang.

JM: With the production that you guys do, how do you guys work together? Are you in the studio together? Or is it more of a pass it back and forth till its completed?

BW: We actually do most of our work in the studio together, even though there is definitely some passing back and forth.  There is really no set way that we work.  Sometimes one of us brings an idea to the table, other times tracks will be the culmination of us each bringing a separate idea to the table that end up gelling really well.  Often we pass something back and forth towards the end just to put finishing touches on it.

JM: Whats the biggest hurdle that Broadway & Wilson has had to overcome?

BW:The biggest hurdle we have overcome would be gaining any kind of recognition at all.  It helped putting music out at a time where there was some sort of quality control on established labels. People had to take risks on music, therefore the standards were higher.  Nowadays people will put out anything digitally because you can do it with no risk and little effort.

JM: What do you have in the oven for upcoming releases?

BW: We are setting up to launch a new website with great content in conjunction with new material to promote a new podcast.  As for releases, we are gearing up for the relaunch of fourplaymusic with a number of remixes of the Dirty Sole f/jOHNNYDANGEROUs album “Dangerous Radio”

Andrew: I also have some remixes coming out on Chez Damier’s label Balance and Joshua Iz’s label Vizual.

JM: Hows it going in the Chicago DJ scene? I saw a video of another Chicago DJ/producer that really put a point on the fact that technology is making it easier and easier these days for anyone to be a DJ. What are your guys feelings on that?

BW: Of course technology makes it easier for anyone to be a deejay as far as playing music for other people, but it doesn’t necessarily make it easy for anyone to be a “good” deejay.  There are obvious technical skills that anyone can learn and some technological shortcuts like auto sync, but it takes practice and experienced playing for people to get a feel for selection (what records you play) and programming (when you play them) and how to feel out a crowd or really rock a joint.  Go watch Derrick Carter or Terrence Parker, or Laurent Garnier, and it will be quickly evident the difference between them and some dude with an iPod or auto sync or some other piece of “revolutionary” technology.

JM: Andrew, for gigs, whats coming up for you and what are most excited about?

Andrew: I’m hosting a once a month Friday event at a party called Elephant Noise here in Chicago that I’m most excited about.  I’ve got a couple of dates on the East Coast that are coming up, and I’m excited to hit Europe again next year, we are trying to go together as Broadway & Wilson.  We have been over there as individuals, but haven’t made it as the duo.  Looking forward to it.

JM: Jeff, It was sad to hear about PO!NTF!VE closing. I dug that place. Whats up now? Are you chasing new residencies?

Jeff: Well one of my monikers is PO!NTF!VE so PO!NTF!VE Presents…was my Friday residency that I did for over four years here in Chicago.  I stopped doing a weekly about 4 months ago and I’m not currently looking for a new weekly.  Keeping a weekly fresh is really difficult, especially in Chicago where the bar for deejaying is high.  Right now I am focused on doing one-offs and a possible monthly under the right circumstances.