Liner Notes III: Zsong/Slayin'

The following are excerpts from the liner notes of the full-length CD Wax Onomatopoeia (2009) by DJ Earl-e.

"Zsong" is sort of an interlude song, raw and uncomplicated. It is another song from the "93 Poway days (see "Wax On" liner notes), but this version is the second version. The original cut had some other elements in it, like a sample of a skateboard ollie for a snare, a sample of a pinball table flipper, and more, but a computer hiccup somehow lost the original version, leaving this simpler song in the mix. What I added later, to lend to the continuity of this album, was the intro which was taken from a late night session with my homies Juggla, Vegas, and Prose. I was house-sitting in a small trailer on a bout an acre of land on the outskirts of Iowa City in the dead cold of January 1994. This was one of those nights where we just played music and left the mic on record, capturing some fleeting bits of genius in between the ridiculous and ludicrous moments...I'm not sure what this part was, but it sure makes us laugh to this day. The Captain Z bit just had to go with this song.
The title "Zsong" comes from the guitar loop, can you guess why?

The next song, "Slayin'" is a newer song from Earl-e, but started with an old idea. Back in high school, I was in chorus, and we would sing a Christmas medley including "Jingle Bells" and "Sleigh Ride." I do think that I felt like slaying my chorus director after singing these for the 2000th time...
The song is really a (maybe not so) subtle commentary on the 24-hour media fed society and how many of these pundits, experts, and academics (the vultures) relish in the reportage of carnage.

Liner Notes II: Fly Into the Son/Reza-Nate

The following is part 2 of the liner notes from DJ Earl-e's album Wax Onomatopoeia.
As songs often do, these next two songs bring back memories of specific times and friends. "Fly Into the Son" was crafted around 1998 in the living room of my good friends, Sam and Mose. Some great reggae shows that came through Iowa City the previous summer, like Black Uhuru, Burning Spear, and Culture, and brought some positive vibrations and motivations to the mix. This song started as a reggae song, but as my songs often do, it sort of grew into something more. I was doing a couch tour then, living between Minneapolis, Iowa City, and Davenport with my wife traveling for work, so I had to make my studio on-the-go. The Akai S-20 is a cool, little, easily portable sampler that does just enough to be fun, make some tight loops, and record a 4-track sequence. Limited memory forces you to get creative with your samples, but it still lets you do some interesting chopping, and gives you a chance to let the song evolve organically, like playing an instrument. If you know my other albums, you will recognize the title from a (Roy Ayers) sample that I used in the song "great planes" on the Environ Mentalz album. This is part of a recurrent theme of using recurrent themes in my music.
The next song, "Reza-Nate," is a work that started as a collaboration with another friend into the realms of deep house/electronica (although my man Vince said it was almost dub step -but I'm still gonna call it hip-hop). Reza is the guy that you will always have fun with, you will probably do something you never tried along the way, guaranteed laughs, and is probably the friend that would have gotten you in the most trouble as a kid. He is always turning me on to new music, and inspiring me with his positivity, and love of life. So, Reza is a music lover and he wants to make some tracks. This is one of a couple that we started working on, and realizing the limitations of my GarageBand setup, left abandoned. I still think we'll make an album someday... I dusted this one off, added a few samples, mixed it down, and you get the name of our band, Reza-Nate.

Liner Notes: Wax On/ Pacific Coastin

Every song has a story. The songs I put together are the stories that make up who I am.These are the first 2 tracks from my new album, Wax Onomatopoeia.
"Wax On" was made specifically as an intro song, but not necessarily for this album. Originally made around late 1994, the song was unofficially titled "Bring it On" and was made with just 2 loops. My production studio was basically two turntables, an Apple IIc computer and a program called SoundEdit. I had recently journeyed from Iowa with my boys Brian and Jonathan, in a beat up Chevy conversion van that used to belong to my grandfather, ending up in an apartment in Poway, CA . We were broke, and spent most of our time hanging out at the bowling alley, smoking, mixing records, making beats, and skateboarding. Those few hot summer months were productive and I made a tape of all the beats I had cranked out. "Bring it On" was the intro joint. For the new album, I wanted that same feel, so I revived the song and added some vocal samples of inspiring personalities (Kobe, Bob Sanders, Bergwood). You can go to my YouTube page to see the video for the song.
"Pacific Coastin'" is a remake of a song (called Lsong) that was made in that Poway apartment, and is sort of the follow-up to a song called "Drivin'" from my Environ Mentalz (2003) album. The song cruises like a drive through Malibu and rolls like the hills of Cali's Central Coast. As my story often goes though, this journey also has its beginnings in Iowa. In a record store. Filing through the familiar bins in Real Records (now gone) on Washington St. in downtown Iowa City, I heard a funky jazz sound. I asked who this groove came from and discovered 'Big" John Patton on a Blue Note re-issue. The smooth organ, cool guitar, and Latin percussion quickly became favorite listening and sampling material. Simple Citizens know what I'm talkin 'bout. Thats why I had to sample the vocal hook from their song "Variations in D Minor," which brings to mind this same vibe. I currently live about 6 blocks from the PCH, and I love bumpin this joint along the way.
Get the album here, or download individual songs.