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Exclusive Interview: RJ Pickens
23
Sep
Sep
RJ Pickens is a very recognized name in Chicago, with good reason. With over 15 years of experience, RJ is no stranger when it comes to the decks. He has played at just about every notable club in the city, and has shared the stage with international acts such as Eric Prydz, Jeremy Olander, Fehrplay, Sander Kleinenberg, and Erick Morillo among many others. This guy is definitely one to keep an eye out for. Read the interview we did with Pickens below.
What made you want to start DJing/producing?
I’m not sure that there was any one thing in particular that made me decide that this is what I wanted to do, but I know that I’d always felt a subconscious itch and motivation to do it. I had many years of proper music instruction in my younger days (mostly piano lessons), so music has always been something that I’ve been versed in. I remember back to around 1988, when I was probably in like 4th or 5th grade, and I distinctly remember telling my dad that I wanted to be a DJ, but at the time, my idea of what a DJ did in his job was that of a radio DJ. I loved the idea of playing awesome new music for people (many times before anyone else got to play it) and having an eager audience, always waiting to hear what you had to play. I religiously recorded songs off the radio onto blank cassette tapes, and later, as started making some side cash from mowing my neighbors’ yards, I would spend it all on building up quite a collection of cassette singles and albums. Buying tons of cassettes later turned in to buying tons of CDs… I’ve always had a pretty cool music collection, and it’s covered a number of different genres, ranging from 80’s pop, to glam rock, to 90’s hip hop and R&B, to alternative rock, to punk rock, to metal and industrial, and beyond. And I was born in Illinois and have grown up in the Chicago area for the vast majority of my youth, so I’ve always been around the dance music that was being showcased on B96. But it wasn’t until around the age of 18 that my passionate collection became more of an obsession than a passion, and the dance music DJ in me really began its journey of development. The decision to start producing was really a logical one… There’s no elaborate story there. The best (and my favorite) artists were all incorporating their own original music and remixes into their sets, and it was clearly something that I needed to learn how to do.
Who is your biggest influence(s)?
I’ve had many major influences over the course of an 18 year ever-evolving DJ journey and an 11 year career of playing Chicago venues, so it’s kind of difficult to pick just one or a small few, so I’ll name a few from different times in my career so far. My sound as an artist ranges from deep to tech house to house to progressive to a little techno, and I think a few of these names I list should reflect some of that…
The Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, The Crystal Method, Underworld, Fatboy Slim, System F (Ferry Corsten), BT, Paul Van Dyk, Solarstone, Sasha, John Digweed, JunkieXL, Sander Kleinenberg, Deep Dish, Moby, Gabriel & Dresden, Eric Prydz, Mark Knight, Funkagenda, Jeremy Olander, Fehrplay, Pleasurekraft, Adam Beyer, 16 Bit Lolitas, Jody Wisternoff, Nick Warren, Way Out West, and so many more that I could list…
What’s your favorite record of all time?
This is such a tricky question to try and answer, especially when you’ve been nerding out over music as long as I have. However, I certainly CAN tell you what record was the most influential of all time for me – The Chemical Brothers “Leave Home”. I was 18 years old and a freshman away at college when I first heard this, staying up late with some homies, partying and having a generally awesome time… Then, an older friend of mine put this tune on, and it grabbed my attention like nothing ever had. I was like “WTF IS THAT???!!”… And when I was made aware of what it was, it was only a matter of hours before the record shop opened that morning and I went there to pick up a copy immediately. That tune changed everything for me… Changed the way I looked at electronic music, and just completely shifted the priority of my musical interests on the whole. The rest is history, I suppose.
What’s your favorite record of all time?
This is such a tricky question to try and answer, especially when you’ve been nerding out over music as long as I have. However, I certainly CAN tell you what record was the most influential of all time for me – The Chemical Brothers “Leave Home”. I was 18 years old and a freshman away at college when I first heard this, staying up late with some homies, partying and having a generally awesome time… Then, an older friend of mine put this tune on, and it grabbed my attention like nothing ever had. I was like “WTF IS THAT???!!”… And when I was made aware of what it was, it was only a matter of hours before the record shop opened that morning and I went there to pick up a copy immediately. That tune changed everything for me… Changed the way I looked at electronic music, and just completely shifted the priority of my musical interests on the whole. The rest is history, I suppose.
Who is your favorite artist to collaborate with?
I’m not someone who collaborates super often in a DJ set, as I would rather preserve a continuous vibe than have 2 or more people with their own ideas of where the set should go, playing tug of war with their musical selections… For that reason, I tend to play most of my sets on my own. However, there are 2 people that I’ve had repeat success in playing in tandem with, and that I wouldn’t hesitate in playing with them on future occasions. One is my good buddy and longtime fellow Vision resident, Mario Florek. The other is my good friend Hummingbird. When I play with either of them, I already know we’re going to understand each other musically, and we have similar techniques we employ in organizing our music and mixing it, so I feel good knowing we’re pretty much going to churn out a solid performance. Collaborating in the studio though, is a bit different, I feel. If it’s not working, you don’t have to force it. And you don’t have to do it in front of an audience, so you have the luxury of time to make it work, if it’s something you really want to see through. Most of my productions and remixes are solo ones, but I did recently have a great experience in doing a remix a really talented Chicago artist – Russoul – in doing a remix for him. Keep an eye out for it soon!
Who do you want to collaborate with in the future?
It’s hard to narrow it down, because there’s so many talented people out there making some great music. I’d love to work with Russoul some more, maybe work with some other local Chicago artists and create some cool jams to further push the Windy City agenda on a more national or global level, and I’d certainly love to work with guys like Fehrplay or Jody Wisternoff for example, whom I’ve gotten to know over time and who’s music I really respect. There are so many more names I could mention here, but I could seriously go on for quite a while.
What’s the most embarrassing thing that’s happened to you at a show?
I might be a little boring in this department, because other than having the music stop during your set and momentarily scrambling to get something playing again (yes, this has definitely happened to EVERYONE), I’m not sure that there’s a lot that I’m embarrassed about… Having the music stop suddenly certainly feels embarrassing though (especially if it’s your fault), because even if you did a bunch of preparation for your set and you’re rocking it, if you happen to do something careless to stop the music, you go from feeling cool to feeling dumb in no time flat. I wish I had a good story here like “that one time I was at a gig and got my ass kicked for talking shit to that huge tranny that wouldn’t get off the stage during my set”, but I don’t, unfortunately. Haha!
What do you like to do when you’re not working on music/DJing?
I love to go out and party with my friends, love to travel, love to ride my bike when the weather permits, and (while I haven’t gone in a bit) I LOVE snowboarding. I love doing stuff that leaves me with a good story to tell afterwards…
What is your opinion on the current EDM scene?
There are a lot of things about it that I don’t personally like, but on the other hand, there has never been a better time to be a dance music consumer in the history of dance music, because your list of options is seemingly never-ending. I could certainly do without a lot of the theatrics behind some of today’s more popular mainstage acts, as I feel that so many of these acts have become so dependent on a cool logo, their “signature stage antics”, their gimmick, or their ghost producers that they’re losing sight of what dance music is actually supposed to be about. Big money has had a hand in further pushing this agenda, as there has never been so much money to be made on a bigger scale than ever before. The music has now become part of pop culture and is mainstream, and the underground is really not as underground as it once was… But for me, it’s not about underground vs overground, or about being obscure vs commercial. I get that for some of us it’s a lot more fun to be part of something that flies under the radar as opposed to being at something that everyone knows about, including people you wish didn’t know about it. However, it’s more about this scene in general being more popular now that it ever has been, and thus, creating more opportunities to sustain this music that I love dearly on a longer term… This will only be possible when a lot of these younger kids that are so captivated by the smoke / flashing lights / stage antics and gimmicks wise up a bit and realize that it’s not really all about that stuff after all. This will only also be possible when the people that are so overly elitist about their little niche of music decide to loosen up a little and be a little more inclusive in their micro scenes instead of trying to keep everybody out. If they open the door, they’re not gonna let a big dumb crowd come barging in… That won’t happen. But what they’re doing instead, is excluding smart and savvy youngsters that are seeking more from their dance music and just haven’t found it yet. I’m an idealist when it comes to preaching about all of this stuff, but a realist when it comes to being diplomatic about it and all of the so-called politics of dancing.
What do you think will be the next big thing in EDM?
Well, it can certainly be argued that “deep house” is the next big thing on a grand scale, but I use that term in quotations, because when something becomes the next big thing, if feel like it’s exploited without many people taking time learn what that thing is actually all about. I say that because there are going to be A LOT of people saying they like deep house, but what they really mean when they say that is that they like slower bpm tracks in the sub genres of deep house / tech house / garage / (proper) progressive house with bouncy basslines and pitched-down vocals. It might be annoying, but it’s a step in the right direction, I think. Becoming a life-long music fan is about having your tastes mature and evolve over time, and I’d be happy to see at least some people evolve past all the same car-alarm-like tracks played by people wearing stupid masks and hurling baked goods, in favor of tracks with melodies, harmonies, progression and some actual soul.
What do you think about all of these “frauds” in the EDM scene using ghost producers, buying likes and purchasing their own tracks on Beatport?
I think they’ll have a relatively short shelf life. You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you can fool all the people all the time. Those that are always taking the shortcuts will never have longevity in the end. They’ll be the flavor of the month at best. These guys have the wrong idea all together. It’s not about doing a checklist of things and then you get the reward of sitting at the top. A true master of his craft will realize that putting in all the work and taking the journey is the real reward.
Not to say that it’s not annoying to see people that don’t deserve the attention getting it… Cause it IS annoying. I hate that shit.
Is there any upcoming releases/shows we should keep an eye out for?
There’s always upcoming shows. And there’s always upcoming productions. Instead of a quick plug though, I’d encourage people to check out my soundcloud page (soundcloud.com/rjpickens) to check out mixes that include original works, remixes and edits of mine, and my facebook page (facebook.com/rjpickens) to keep tabs on upcoming stuff. You can also look me up on Twitter at @rjpickens1 . Also worth mentioning, I do stuff under my brand banner: VESTED. It’s a new event brand and will ultimately become a record label, both will be avenues I use to showcase and support sounds and artists that I feel passionate about. Links to those: facebook.com/vestedCHI , twitter.com/vestedCHI and soundcloud.com/vestedCHI . Big thanks to House Music Saved My Life for taking interest in what I’m up to and wanting to share it with everyone!
