This blog was meant for local Bay-related artist interviews, responses, and photography. Regrettably, I haven’t been able to make enough time to keep up.
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Book & Bolo
Kundiman for Melissa August 13, 2009
OVER AND OVER AGAIN
If I speak for Melissa, I must paint
my tongue the color of the century,
I must release the prisoners
hidden between my bitter teeth.
If I must speak for Melissa, I must be more
than a standing number before the disappeared,
more than quiet mourning
sitting at the other end of the earth.
Yes, I have planted
my feet in the soil of what sustains us
across an ocean, through our parents’
amnesiac flight.
Yes, I live. I can chant “Melissa” in two tones:
unyielding stone and a lip-biting kiss
with the impossible. Let me be the smile of words
that rose in throats upon Melissa’s return.
I will meet a mouthful of crucified silence
with a lifetime of a poet’s howl.
I will repeat my name: Melissa.
Melissa, not NPA. Melissa, not America.
Melissa, not the Philippines.
Let me starve colossal lies,
and feed a bellowing era with forgiving
syllables for our beloved
masters. My sisters, my brothers live
in the incantation of Melissa’s name.
Yes, you live in the telling of this story.
in community with Kim Alidio and Yael Villafranca. All three poems will be posted soon! Check back!
Manong Al Robles May 4, 2009
The first time I sat down with him, I asked, “What inspires you?” (A vague question from an inexperienced writer).
He answered, “An unfinished poem, because it is most precious. Ya see, it is like love. Always in mind, always workin’.”
(This was the afternoon when I learned that all Manongs live like poets)
***
Later, I asked, “How do you remember all these stories?”
He said, “It’s memory. How do you forget a cut in your heart?”
(This was the day he advised me to “climb the tallest coconut tree, to the moon, to see the other side of [my] face in the ocean”)
***
The last time I saw him, he read these words:
“I wandered & finally heard a frog jump into the pond… If I had known that sound before, I would have known I was a poet long ago. What is the significance of the frog & the pond? — That is for you to find out.”
The Sound
the red sky comes down
scorching the curved back
of this short-bodied beast
of two worlds. it waits.
nothing.
a blade of grass shifts,
a petal falls
from a vessel of the sun,
ripples in the water
meet the mud in between the terrestrial
creature’s sticky, stretched feet.
wide eyes grow wider.
something.
its legs extend like the day-
long reach of sunlight and push
off of the afternoon soil
onto the disturbed green surface
of an unknown future.
a jump a leap a dive
deep into this instant of sound—
this is ink extinguishing paper
set ablaze,
blue notes celebrating history
upon vibrating strings,
loud voices singing
with bilingual tongues.
everything.
from here there are no wrong directions.
Turntable Tricknology: DJ Qbert August 15, 2008
If one wanted to know about DJ Qbert, then one could visit his website, find him on Wikipedia, watch a DVD such as Scratch, or just ask some peoples (& one wouldn’t have to stick to Bay Areans to get that info). He is what I believe English speakers would call “Famous.” Beyond his lists of achievements and beneath his DJ celebrity is a down to earth person with dreams just like everyone else. To create, we must destruct mysticism, destroy thoughts of inadequateness, fear. When I think of writers I most admire, I see them as souls first, as poets second. Let’s do that here.
Now, I don’t want to assume that everyone knows who homeboy is. He is a composer, producer, entrepreneur, raw vegan, spiritualist, artist, musician; and the labels can go on and on and on. An important idea that has always stuck in my mind is that the turntable is an instrument, and Qbert proves this as fact.
Photo of the QFO, Qberts creation.
Peep a portion of his skill in this video (you’ll never forget afterwards). For those who are already fans and friends, eat this up for its nutritional value 
Q + Turntables + Drumming = Good Times.
Growing up in the Bay in the 90s allowed me to be raised by all the elements of hip hop. The memories are still fresh in my mind: my older cousins and friends getting into deejaying, emceeing, breaking, and myself into graffiti. I once heard someone say, “I can’t associate Asians with hip hop. It’s so weird to me.” Well, here in the C-A, we know no other way. Plenty of pride was born from Cali’s hip hop culture, especially for those who were of Pilipino descent because some of the well-known artists were Pinoy. Not only were they popular names but talented, creative, and hard-working youth.
Although DJ Qbert is part Pilipino he is also Negrito, Turkish, Spanish, and Chinese. However, the positive/negative tribalism of the Pilipino community has almost completely claimed him ;p His talents, personality, and goals cannot be defined by ethnicity, race, or location alone:
Many people can research your story or hear about it in films; tell us in your own words how your relationship with turntables began. it was a part of life for every music lover back in the early 80’s.
there were no cd players or mp3s… just turntables and records. so that’s what all the djs used and still to this day, it is the best thing to use to control the sound of skratching and playing any recorded sounds like a musical instrument. the influence of skratching started with the break dancing movement and all the music at the time had some skratching in it. it was just a normal thing with this under ground phenomenon.
You compose, produce, battle, and the list goes on. How often do you practice? What can you say about the amount of work you put into your art?
i love to practice everyday… it’s like caligraphy. you have to draw the sound or paint it. so if you miss a day of practice, you can tell in how fluidly you sculpt your sound. i need to practice skratching at least 2 hours a day. then there’s time for composing, producing, making videos, exercising, learning, meditating, and experiencing life, etc.
What [so-called] genres influence your music?
mainly jazz from the 30’s 40’s and 50’s. but i also love my funk from the 70’s and 60’s, that james brown kinda stuff b-boys breakdance to. and then there’s classical, rock, blues, blue grass country, indian music, etc etc etc… i love it all.
Have you, or are you, studying music theory?
all the time… i am and always will be a student in this art. when you think you know it all, there’s a million things you still haven’t thought of.
Do you have any rules to live by when it comes to handling your success?
rules are meant to be broken, ha! but normally i just keep level headed and always remember that i am an entertainer and that means that i serve people… i’m not some kinda star that is there to be praised. i have to work hard to give people a good time. i’m a slave who loves his job =)
How does your music fit into your vegan and/or socially aware and/or spiritual lifestyle? If you couldn’t touch a turntable again, what would you turn to? Would you be able to breathe?
i guess i would do something with music in some way or another… there’s tons of other musical instruments out there. i also make beats and produce. but being a raw vegan, hmm.. that keeps me really healthy and because of that i can be a better clear headed and clear spirited person who can have an open mind to create for a longer period of time than someone who’s gonna die sooner or get sick from eating crap =P but actually some people who eat crap, are really healthy. it can just be a state of mind. but i like what i eat and i feel right doing it.
Can you pick out one moment that stands out from the rest of your music career?
there’s a billion times, but i’ll pick one that will hopefully help other djs. when i discovered that music is poetry, and that was a big key to making it all sound delicious. making my skratches rhyme like i was an mc rapping =)
Currently, who are your biggest influences /or where do you find the most inspiration right now?
benny goodman, miles davis, pee wee russell and louis armstrong… the phrasing on their instruments is out of this world!
What are your plans or out-of-this world goals for the future? (Anything.) Where can people see you perform next?
well, i want to make another film with my next album… so that is a big project that i hope will be out of this world like my first movie “wave twisters”. also right now we just got our own channel for google:
youtube. com/thudrumble . it’s what i’ve been doing for the last 2 months… just posting videos of skratching and random stuff that we think is entertaining in some way or another… you gotta see it. we just posted our 88′th video in commemoration of 8.8.08!
I believe that everyone has a passion in life, no matter your background, no matter if you were born with privileges or grew up in the slums or barrios, no matter if you are a male or female. It is just a matter of search and discovery. Once a person finds that one thing, he or she should stick to it for life. They should be taking steps, every day, to feel complete through that art. That will take an interested person, an eager and excited-to-learn person. A person who finds wonder in several things, who sees the details of life. Writing poetry is the world to me; but, being socially active, school, the joy and pains of love, spirituality, intellectual thought, radical books, friendships, art, music shape that passion every second. Your passion can open new doors for you, lead you to new projects, innovative ideas. I say, never fight that feeling of wanting [music, graffiti, design, spoken word, etc] every day. Go through with it with a bold heart.
Hard work will always be hard. We all have to figure out if what we’re working for is worth the effort.
DJ Qbert’s balance of thought, spirituality, and art can be an inspiration to everyone discovering that they are not one dimensional, that no one is. After interviewing Q I saw him in a brighter light. I hope that you do, too.
Links
Qbert is a nominee for America’s Best DJ 2008 put on by DJ Times among other turntablists such as ?uestlove, Mix Master Mike, and Funk Master Flex, Last day to vote was Aug 16th. Keep up with the contest at DJ Times
Contact him on his website or myspace
Watch more of him, listen to tracks, peep future projects, and visit his online store at ThudRumble
We’ll close this session up with a vid from the youtube ThudRumble page. Qbert + J-Dilla = “Yes”
All that scratchin’ is makin’ me itch!
Bay Strong: Hopie Spitshard & EyeASage August 5, 2008
*I did not put together these videos. This is a repost to promote both Frisko artists, their show, and womyn emcees!
Support local artists! See you @ MILK!
