Cajual Records: What was the biggest difference producing house music versus hip hop?
Just Blaze: House evolved from disco and to a certain degree, soul. Hip hop
evolved from disco and rock breaks, so there is a more of a common
link than most people realize, although they've both branched out In
so many different directions since their initial evolution.
That being said, it wasn't really hard, both forms of music rely on
the groove first and foremost so it was just a matter of finding a
groove that fit how I felt at the time, and fit with the feel of the song itself.
I think the big difference is in hip hop production you have to be
careful to leave certain frequency ranges open for the artist to
perform, you have to leave room for them, and that doesn't really ever
change. Which is why many hip hop instrumentals can drone on after a
minute or 2. Dance music can exist as a pure instrumental, or as a dub
mix of a song where lyrics just accent the indstrumental, so there's a bit more freedom to play with things.
What were some of your favorite Cajual Records tracks?
Obviously "Brighter Days" is a big one. The double 12" with all the
remixes was hard to find around my way because everyone kept buying
it!! Took me forever to find it. "Percolator" is another, along with
that horny dub mix of "You Got Me Up". "Preacher" and "Flash" are
great too. I always used to cut up Preacher with DHS' "House of God". That was a lot of church!
How did this project come about?
I don't remember.. Oh! I'd done a Holiday Party with A-trak and Fool's
Gold, and he specifically asked me to do a house set. I guess he had a
sneaking suspicion haha.. The set was recorded and spread on the
Internet. I played a few Cajual classics during that set and Jon
reached out. We've been in touch ever since then so when he asked me
if I was interested, I was like "Umm Yeah!! I just had to find time
to get it done. Somehow I found a way to add a 25th hour into a day and knocked it out in a few hours.
How long have you been listening to house music?
I have no idea, I grew up around al forms of music, but I can say the
first house records I ever had were "Can you Party" and "A Day in the
Life", both by Todd Terry of course. Also remember shortly after that
time period, hip-house became the big thing so that tied right into it
all for me. Then I discovered all the Fast Eddie and Tyree stuff
coming out of Chicago, and as I did my research I just got further
down the rabbit hole. By the time Strictly Rhythm hit the scene I was all the way in.
What next in the house music world? Is this something you will be
doing more often?
I have no idea what's next. I'm just happy and blessed to be able to
exist in both worlds a bit and maintain my respect. Not always an
easy thing to do! As far as me doing this more often, I actually have
another record coming out on Fool's Gold. It's been finished for a while now I just haven't
sent it in. It's got a nice retro disco groove and could potentially be
a big record. Maybe thats why I'm hesitant. Nerves maybe? I don't
know. I gotta get over that!!
Interview by Jon Huang
