Claude VonStroke, otherwise known as Barclay Crenshaw, is the head of the San Francisco-based record label, Dirty Bird. A product of the internet generation, Crenshaw saw his first tufts of fame through an instructional DVD on how to be a DJ — growing up, young Barclay was determined to make it as a hip-hop DJ; as this dream began to take on a new name, house music, he decided to make a video that would have answered all the questions he had as a young’n. In the process of filming DJs from around the world, he also learned a lot about running his own music label.

Beat That Bird (feat. Justin Martin) by Claude VonStroke by dirtybird

Dirty Bird’s signature blend of hip-hop inspired, jacking tech-house beats vibrate the speakers of clubs all around the world. The label gained it’s notoriety through Crenshaw’s ‘Deep Throat’ back in 2005, and traces it’s roots to an original push of promotion through the European dance music scene. It wasn’t long before the recognition trickled its way back into the states as people sought after these bass heavy, Cali-grown beats. With an impressive roster of artists that are making waves in their own right, it’s no wonder this group of tech-house savants can’t manage to put out a bad record. Release after release, they have proved their name, and the future shows no boundaries for these dirty birds!

We had a chance to catch up with Barclay right before his gig at the infamous Control down in LA. Check out the interview after the jump!

CYV: Since summer is around the corner, and you’ve already welcomed the change with one of your infamous Dirtybird BBQs, I’d like to start things off and ask some questions about those. How’d they get started? Tell us a little bit about them.

Claude VonStroke: Christian Martin put a full sound system on his credit card and we found a field in Golden Gate park and just set up. You really have to give him credit he would not let this dream die. Being a business man i would have probably squashed this idea at some point but i’m glad Christian really pushed it through and we are still doing it because it is really special. It used to cost us $25 to get a “lunch” permit. Now it’s upwards of 4 grand to put on the event but we still do it free for the people. They have changed over the years rom family only to more public events. Its a lot harder to keep them on the down low with facebook and twitter.

 
CYV: Who’s responsible for all the tasty food? (And how does one manage to give it all away for free!?)

CvS: We’ve had the same chef for all 9 years. Chris “Grillson” Wilson. We love Grillson he comes out without fail. We give him a budget and he gets 100 pounds of carne or whatever we are cooking that day. The assistant chef is Justin and Christians Dad! Their parents flyover from Hawaii for every park party and he chops fresh salsa and makes fresh guac for literally 6 hours straight without stopping. It’s amazing. People really give us alot of love. We couldn’t do this event without their help. As for how it is free. We pay for it. All the proceeds from our massive indoor club night goto putting on this event for free so you could say we play 8 times a year in SF and none of us make any money – thats for all you haters who think we are killing you charging 10-15 buck for our club night!

 
CYV: How would you compare the last one to the past summer kick-off parties?

CvS: This one was a little bit too big i have to say (a good problem to have). It was soooo impressive to see more than 2000 people and i loved playing our sound for everyone. The unfortunate part was that the park also noticed how many people were there. We are still negotiating with them but in the end it’s going to cost us alot more money to do more park parties. Even so, the attendance was amazing and it goes to show how much positive feedback we get in our hometown.

 
CYV: How has living in San Francisco (and California for that matter) inspired your music?

CvS: It’s really hard to quantify how much each place has inspired my music. I will say that the overall creative attitude here and with my friends has really helped me evolve. People might be surprised to hear it but i still take classes on making music like every other month so i’m always learning. I still want to put out the nest music and i dont want any technology to get in the way so i study study study! The Bay Area has a really cool vibe to it. People here understand Bass music. I liken it to the town of Bristol in the UK. People just get it.

 
CYV: Do you think your location has also been responsible for the sound of Dirtybird?

CvS: Again, tough to say but definitely i wouldn’t have dirtybird without the support of my friends and family so yes, if i were anywhere else we might have a totally different label. But for some reason i still think there would be a record label no matter where i was living.

 
CYV: What is going to separate Krush Groov from Dirtybird?

CvS: Krush Groov is for me to experiment at different tempos, to flush out my Grizzl alias. I didn’t want to just drop some 140bpm music on dirtybird and have everyone be like…oh no, dirtybird is now a dubstep label. Krush Groov isnt even a dubstep label but the point is that it is going somewhere different in bass music. More modern, more juke, more hyped, more hip-hop. I just saw Gaslamp Killer the other day. He blew my mind. I don’t want to be limited to house anymore but people need to hear house and dirtybird when CVS shows up. it’s unfair to drop a whole different sound on them when they paid to see me as VonStroke. I hate when people do that. So we have Krush Groov as a different outlet..

 
CYV: Can you please tell us more about this new project?

CvS: Not really. So far it’s vinyl only and i’m just doing tracks i am really passionate about. Just straight from the heart with no concern for any genre. Stay tuned.

 
CYV: How did your relationship with the Martin brothers start?

CvS: Pretty random chance i’d say. My mom was visiting the bay from Detroit and she went shopping up in Marin. In one of the shops she met this lady who was the mother of a guy living in SF. They chatted it up and it turned out that both of their sons were working in video. So my Mom made the connect and i met up with this guy named Seth. Seth was working on a music video for Dice Raw of the roots but he needed help with some post production and i was working at a high end post house at the time downtown. Long story Short, Seth came by the post house where i was working and he brought along Christian Martin (who was the writer of the music video.) We all hit it off and eventually i met Justin who had just started making music. Seth eventually moved to New York and we are also still budz.

 
CYV: Who are a couple producers / DJs that stood out for you in the past year?

CvS: The new stuff from Justin is so sick I cant wait for people to hear it. We also have some new stuff from Breach (Ben Westbeach) and it is also super sick. I love the Catz n Dogz material almost always but i really think Ramadanman is the king right now.

 
CYV: Who would you collaborate with (musically) if you could pick anybody?

CvS: The Fat Boys

 
CYV: What is your favorite place to eat in SF?

CvS: Right now it would be Pico over in Larkspur cuz i moved out to the burbs!

 
CYV: Your favorite club/place to drop tunes in SF?

CvS: Mezzanine, where we do our party. Although i’d make a case for the sound at a few other joints.

 
CYV: Finish this sentence: The early bird dirty bird gets the _________________.

CvS: The dirty bird gets the check at the end of dinner.

Thanks Barclay, we really appreciate you taking some time out of your day to answer our questions!

One of my good friends, Rebecca Bratburd, was recently able to snag an interview with Ufolk records. Couldn’t ask for much more in this situation. All the work has been done for me!

. . . . . .

On May 3rd, Sun Glitters released a 17 song album on newfound record label, Ufolk Records, based in [weird] California. The name-your-price album, entitled Everything Could Be Remodeled And That’s Fine, is definitely worth a listen. Featuring tunes from the likes of Blackbird Blackbird, Teen Daze, Space Ghost, Papercutz and others, the album is all the wonkiness and weirdness you’ve come to expect of San Francisco underground chillwave. Sometimes dense, other times dreamy, it brings about images of early spring— dandelions, blue skies, & the waves of the Pacific rolling up on the west coast. Take a listen to Beside Me (Blackbird Blackbird) below, and head over the Bandcamp for the full, free release. Mikey Maramag, 23, who produces music under the moniker Blackbird Blackbird, talks about his new record label, Ufolk Records (pronounced U-F-Olk), and its first digital release, Everything Could Be Remodeled And That Would Be Fine.

 

 
How would you describe the music of Everything Could Be Remodeled And That Would Be Fine?
It’s pretty dreamy, and cohesive. It’s an example of how electronic music is becoming restructured. It’s all of these different artists aligned for something new and different—an example of the changing music landscape.

The first track off the album is a remix you did of a Sun Glitter tune. What’s your method in creating a remix of something as abstract as Sun Glitters?
I didn’t want to change too much about it. Usually I change a lot in my remixes, but this was not a restructuring of the song.

Where are you currently living?
I’m living between Santa Cruz and San Francisco; I go back and forth. I went to school at UC Santa Cruz and I’m in San Francisco a lot—it’s my home base.

Is your music influenced by San Francisco & Northern California?
Definitely. I grew up in Northern California and I listen to a lot of music that comes out of Santa Cruz and Northern California.

What inspires you to make new music?
Everyday life, my surroundings, the people I meet, and my experiences. I take experiences and channel them through music. It’s a way of communicating emotion via music. I like to destroy music, too.

What have traditionally been your musical influences?
I have a lot of influences from ‘90s hip hop to Joy Division-esque music to old school punk rock. I try to apply all those aspects to the music I make but it’s hard as hell. One of my favorite bands is Municipal Waste, but you’d never expect that from listening to my music. I didn’t get into electronic music until after drumming for Murder Practice, a hardcore band I was in a few years ago. I still have my roots in electronic music like Apex Twin and Burial. After I heard that, I was like, “I wanna make electronic music.” I used to listen to obscure glitch music, too.

What are you listening to lately?
Lots of psych rock and Santa Cruz bands. I’m here in Santa Cruz just chilling and there’s a lot of good music coming out of here. Placentaur is a band we’re actually going to work with soon. It’s aerial-painting lo-fi inspired.

What made you want to establish an entirely new record label?
Fuck big labels. Do it your fucking self. For some people, I understand if you’re not trying to spend all your time doing it, but personally, I’m super into it, this music thing. It totally suits my way of life, and it’s fun.

As Blackbird Blackbird, were you signed to any other record label?
The way things are with the industry, some people get signed. The way I’ve been doing things, if you want to release a physical album, you have to partner up with something like Arcade Sound. That’s how I physically released Summer Heart in Japan, so that was basically like me getting signed but not me getting signed. Currently I’m not signed at all. I’m talking to other record labels now but it’s hard to move forward.

You have two shows coming up in May, in San Francisco, and Santa Cruz. What should people expect when going to your shows?
It’s hard to expect anything in particular from my shows. I have a lot of different set ups live. I have a full live band but sometimes I live DJ and sing on my own, and it’s a one-man band kind of thing. Other times, I have a drummer, and it’s just me and the drummer. It’s pretty minimal and it’s my favorite. The live band is fun, too.

What are some of your challenges in making music in this new electronic landscape?
I write so much music every day that it’s hard for me to settle on one kind of music. It’s hard for people to understand that. I write a lot of weird shit. It’s hard to make a full album because my sound is all over the place. The challenge for me has been to find that really cohesive style.

What’s next for Ufolk Records?
We have a Kickstarter page, and if it raises more than $5000 then I’m going to release Halo on actual vinyl. That’s the next plan. I’m pretty sure it’s going to happen. Also we’re trying to do a compilation album with a bunch of artists on a 12” vinyl and CD-R. It’s going to be a big collective of artists helping each other in different ways. It’s not strictly run by me and Austin; it’s going to be collective.

 
Big thanks to Rebecca, again, for snagging this up. It’s 9:30AM, Essáy’s Calm Interpretation mix of ‘Beside Me’ just came on, and let me tell you, I am quite calm. Lovely release!

TJR (real name TJ Rozdilsky) has built a formidable catalogue of remixes and original tracks since broadening out from his acid house and techno roots in 2008. He has consistently been cooking up big room bangers that have received massive support from prominent DJ’s around the world. Originally from the little state of Connecticut, a move to Los Angeles in 2010 saw him embracing the benefits of the United States’ hot spot for electronic dance music.

He first gained exposure as a promising newcomer to the electro/fidget house scene. Combining his love for grimey analog bass, chugging techno grooves, and quirky vocal samples, he began crafting a refreshingly new cross-over sound. It was kicked off with the “Bass is the Place EP” released on Lee Mortimer’s Wearhouse Music which included tracks “Sonic Chronic” and “Atomic”. Since then he has added several original tracks to his arsenal, like “Booty Move” (Jack Union), “This World” (Jack Union), “Good Evening Chicago” (Potty Mouth Music), “I Don’t Know Where” (Potty Mouth Music) which all climbed high on the beatport charts.

He has definitely pulled the right strings for yours truly, as I seem to have a deep fascination with all that is bloopy, wonky, and weird. Resonating pitch-bent madness is one of Rozildsky’s strong suits, and with 4 Beatport pages filled with bangerade, its no surprise that he has become a personal favorite. You can often catch him and Whiskey Pete throwing down the mayhem — the duo graced the streets of San Francisco this past Wednesday at Mycole Beeson’s infamous EPR [Photos here]. He’ll be gearing up to drop some silliness down in LA at Control this Friday, so if you’re in the area, enlighten yourself.

Moving on, we had the pleasure of catching up with TJR to ask him a few questions before his gig this upcoming Friday. It went a little bit like this..

CYV: Hey man! Hope all has been well. Excited to play Control?
TJ Rozdilsky: Does the pope sh*t in the woods? HELL YEAH! Control goes the F off man, I’m ready to RAGE

CYV: Any chance you’re dropping some unreleased goodies you wouldn’t mind talking to us about?
TJR: I’ll be testing out a new track Nom De Strip, Sue Cho (on vocals) and myself finished up last week as well as my original “Same Old Fool” coming out on Jack Union and my remix of White Noize’s “The Underground”.

CYV: Now, from what I understand, you’ve been in the game for a minute. What kind of music did ‘Czervik’ make and how long did you operate under this moniker?
TJR: How did you find out about Czervik?!?! Al “Czervik” was Rodney Dangerfield’s name in Caddyshack so I used that alias to release tracks that were a bit more retarded. I stopped using that alias prob 3-4 years ago but one track I was actually happy with was “Nightly Disturbance”.

CYV: As electro began to emerge and take over, what drove you to go into the weirder and “wonkier” side of things with your fidget stylings?
TJR: Not too sure, probably comes from my influences. I love music ranging from Mr. Oizo to Amy Winehouse or Noisia to Air. I always like to add a mental side to my music so the crowd gets pissed at the DJ but then a dope groove drops and they get back into it. I like to watch horror flicks to get me out of bad moods, so I guess weird f*cked up, random sh*t makes me happy : )

CYV: How did the move from Connecticut to LA effect your production and style of music?
TJR: Changed everything. I was ready to dig my grave in CT. Cali and LA might as well be a different country. All forms of electronic music are supported and the golf courses are amazing! I’ve been rejuvenated out here by my friends especially Jon Pegnato of LA Riots. He’s my Tyler “Or do you want me to put water on it and make it worse!” Durden. He will always give me the honest truth about everything and vice versa. Def lots of verbal fights haha but it’s the best approach to challenge each other. I think you can start hearing changes in my style with the remix I did of Mightyfools’ original “World Tour”. The big bigger biggest biggestest approach!

CYV: In your single ‘Juke It’ with DJ Gant-Man, who sung the lyrics? And also, did you help write those? (So dirty!)
TJR: James Amato of Potty Mouth Music hooked me up with Gant. I was so excited to work with him because if you’re gonna do anything Booty House related, you have to collaborate with a Chicago great like Gant. He wrote the lyrics and I wrote the beat. My “Juke It” was in a house tempo, but if you really wanna hear the origin of “Juke”, check out other music by DJ Gant-Man. Juke tempo is more in 145-150 bpm range.

CYV: Do you have a ‘real job?’ If so, what is it?
TJR: I’ve been a Custodial Arts Curator for the past 8 years.

CYV: What is it like collaborating with other industry moguls such as Armand Van Helden or Donald Glaude?
TJR: These are not the droids you are looking for.

CYV: If you could produce one type of tune that isn’t within your typical range of genres, how would it sound? (EX. Something deep with acid and tech influence)
TJR: Lots of atmospheric layers with the sounds of golf balls being struck by Tiger Woods.

CYV: Tell us a crazy story from one of your tours or gigs.
TJR: When I was in Hawaii last year, I laid out on the beach for about 3 hours.

CYV: Flintstones Chewables or One-A-Day Scooby-Doo Chewables?
TJR: Actually, Flinstone enimas are preferred :p

CYV: Lastly, what does 2011 have in store for TJR (tours, releases, etc)?
TJR: If you’re living or visiting SoCal, I just got a residence with L.E.D at Voyeur (voted #68 best club in the world) in San Diego so you can catch me at their shows at least once a month. I’ve begun working on my spring music schedule (which is mostly originals) and you’ll be hearing them in a few months as well as collaborations with Hatiras, Nom De Strip, Sue Cho, and Whiskey Pete. If you wanna check out unreleased material, go to my soundcloud, I update it pretty frequently. I will be in touring Jan 2012 in Australia which is obviously going to amazing, very excited for that. So yeah, more vokda, sunburns and parallel compression for the rest of 2011, WoooOOOo!
 
 

I know that he has since had some releases other than this Juke It EP, but I absolutely loved these tracks.

TJR feat DJ Gant-Man / Juke It EP / (LO-FI Preview) Original + Remix by TJR

Grab the whole EP on Beatport.

Lurk TJR at the following places:
http://www.facebook.com/DJ.TJR
http://www.soundcloud.com/TJR
http://www.twitter.com/TJR_Official

Thanks for taking your time to chew some of our vitamins, TJR!

I will keep this short; I am new here and learning how to run this.

| First name: Robot. Last name: Mafia |

Yes, there is a period in between the two words, placed there primarily for irony. I am a grammar pirate, always sticking to a loose code of right and wrong, making sh*t up wherever I see fit. My interests are the noises that thunder after dark.

I just wanted to say hello. We are going to be the best of friends.

The Glitch Mob – Drive Like You Stole It (TROWA RMX) by TROWA

Here’s the design that ended up winning:

Here’s another submission that didn’t win:

They also gave me a post and an interview that you can see here! Thanks Squeegie!

Hey all! I just did an interview with Mumlers lead singer Will Sprot. Check it out here at URchicago.