Working together since 1989, the X-ecutioners (formerly the X-Men) take up where early scratch greats like Grand Wizard Theodore and Grand Master Flash left off, transforming the primitive into the sophisticated and bringing to the art of the DJ an unexpected and tightly honed musicality. The four-DJ team (Rob Swift, Mista Sinista, Roc Raida and Total Eclipse) was the first ever to release an "all scratch" album (1997's X-pressions). Their newest work, Built from Scratch (Relativity), is a collaborative effort that features cameos from Dan the Automator, Xzibit, Linkin Park and an unexpected remix of Tom Tom Club's "Genius of Love."
I spoke recently to DJ Rob Swift about turntable naysayers, Gap ads and bringing the art of the scratch to the masses.
What made you decide to choose this form of playing as a medium for your music?
Basically each of us comes from environments where r&b music and hiphop music were our main exposure to music. Total Eclipse, his father used to sing, and Raida and myself both have fathers who used to be DJs. Actually, my older brother was also a DJ, so I had two DJs in the family before I even thought about doing it myself. I think I'm a product of my environment, you know? I think the same goes for the rest of the crew. None of us were fortunate enough to receive piano lessons or guitar lessons, but we had turntables in the house and that's what we kind of picked up.
When did you start?
My dad would take me to parties and stuff and I'd watch him spin at New Year's Eve and weddings and stuff, and my brother would take me to parties that he used to spin at. There were days that we'd have off from school and my brother would invite all his friends over and they'd make music. He'd be on the turntables cutting it up and his friends would be rapping on the mic. And I would be sitting in the middle of the room, just watching. When I was 12 I asked him to teach me and I was really serious about it.
It sounds like a great childhood.
Definitely. I think I'm really fortunate because if I didn't have turntables around or a father who deejayed, or a brother who did, I probably would have gotten in a lot of trouble. It kept me in the house where my parents could keep an eye on me, and kept me out of trouble.
You're lucky to have found something you love that early and to still be doing it now. How has that changed since you started?
It's changed a lot. You have a lot of different types of DJs?you have radio DJs and mobile DJs and DJs who make mix tapes. But as far as the kind of deejaying that the X-ecutioners are involved in, turntable manipulation, using the turntable as an instrument, it started out with Grand Wizard Theodore inventing the scratch, and where it is now, I mean, people are using the turntable like a true instrument. It's incredible, because I don't think anyone saw it happening, but as the years went on, people just kept developing new things that you could do with the turntable, pushing the limits. In the past 25, 30 years it's gone so far ahead to where we know it from the Grand Master Flash's day. You now have DJs in commercials. I was in a Gap commercial, but 10 years ago you wouldn't have seen that. But it's progressed so much so that people have finally begun to pay attention.
Well it's an amazing art, because you're not limited to four strings or six strings?you've got all the instruments you want and sounds to choose from.
That's a good point. My goal is to project that to people who don't respect us as musicians. I think there are people out there who think that this is, you know, a cute thing to do, but this is an art form, and hopefully with this album and when we hit the road we'll be able to project that vibe to people.
The fact that you've gotten this far is a real testament to word of mouth. You get no radio or industry support, yet so many people love your stuff.
That's another good point, that's very true. When you stop to think just how far we've gone, despite no support from radio or from other areas of the entertainment industry, to think that we still made a name for ourselves, traveling all over the world, it speaks volumes. It goes to show how attractive the art form is. Even though there's not support from the mainstream media, people still manage to gain access to tapes and tickets to show to see us perform, and it goes to show that the art itself is the driving force. There's nothing behind the art, it's standing on its own.
It gives you faith in people's good taste?searching out the things they love for themselves. You don't need radio anymore?that's a new development and another testament to the fact that if you make something truly beautiful and interesting, people respond.
Totally. Hopefully as far as tv and magazines go, that is changing. A lot of mags are doing stories on us, and tv, and I think what's left now is to infiltrate the radio stations, to take over the airwaves.
Tell me about working together. Do you come up with something and bring it to everyone else? Do you jam? How does it work exactly?
It varies. There are days where one person may come up with an idea and bring that idea to the table and kind of share that idea with the rest of the group and say, "This is where I want you guys to help me, this is where I want you to come in on this part of the song, this is the role I want each of you to play," or "I have this concept and I want the song to sound this way, this is going to be each person's responsibility." There's times when we're practicing together and we play something and we think, "Wow, this sounds good, we should try to incorporate this into an actual song," and over time we start building on certain ideas. Sometimes there might be two of us practicing together and those two will come up with a concept for the rest of the group to make happen, to make a reality. It varies, there's no real set way. To make it short, we're like any other band, any other typical garage band that hooks up once or twice a week. We're basically the same way, that's the way we come up with our ideas, the only difference is that we're using turntables.
Tell me about playing live versus recording. With deejaying, so much is based on the response of the audience, reacting to the audience's energy.
There are some definite differences. When you're recording in the studio, there isn't a crowd there to get feedback from. If you're doing good, if you're on the right track with a certain idea, when you're onstage the crowd is giving you feedback. If they like something they're going to cheer, if they don't like it they're either quiet or they boo you. If they're cheering you think, "Okay, I'm doing good now." But when you're in a recording environment you have to trust your own taste. You have to think, "What will the crowds like?" You have to think as a fan. It's more difficult in a way to work in a recording environment, but I enjoy both equally. There are things I get out of recording that I don't get out of playing live. When I'm onstage live I like to be able to see what a response is going to be to something I've been working on, a routine I've worked on every day for the last month?to finally see what the fans are going to think about it is a beautiful experience. But at the same time, being in a recording environment and not being subjected to opinions, that's great too. It's just me there and I can just be myself, regardless of what a fan thinks. I can be myself and experiment and that's beautiful, too. Both have their pros and cons, but there's a definite difference.
It must be freeing to play alone though, to be able to experiment without feeling self-conscious or responsible for someone's good time.
Definitely. I have a home studio and right now I'm just really enjoying the whole experience of recording at my house, 'cause it's just me with my thoughts and my ideas and I get to kind of search and dig deep into places inside of myself that I can't when I'm onstage, because when I'm onstage I have to think of that person that paid $20 and cater to them, you know? But when I'm in the recording environment I can just cater to my own need to experiment with different ideas, and I can use whatever records I want, and during that time I don't have to worry about anyone telling me I'm right or wrong, it's just me feeling things out. And when you do that, that's when you discover these styles, these new styles of scratching that you can bring to the stage. It takes being by yourself sometimes, and experimenting and having fun, to come up with the best stuff.