Dj Fes In His Own Words-The Making Of The Hottest Mixtape Of 2009

ROCKEMICAL – OPERATION – MIXXTAPE

IT ALL BEGAN WHEN I ACTUALLY RECEIVED THE MATERIAL TO BE USED FROM ROCKEMICAL. THE FIRST MONTH OR SO I DIDN'T LISTEN TO ANY OF THE MUSIC, RATHER I DEVELOPED MY PLAN OF ATTACK IN MY MIND. I WANTED TO BE DIFFERENT BUT AT THE SAME TIME CONVEY THAT "CLASSIC" MIXXTAPE FEEL. IT WASN'T UNTIL ABOUT A MONTH LATER THAT I ACTUALLY STARTED TO LISTEN TO THE CD'S AND FOR THE NEXT MONTH THAT'S ALL I DID EVERY CHANCE I HAD I WOULD LISTEN AND ANALYZE. I DIDN'T STOP THERE I RESEARCHED ROCKEMICAL AND STUDIED HIS STYLE AND OVERALL MESSAGE. I WAS SURE TO CHECK ON WHAT SONGS WERE RANKING HIGHEST BECAUSE I WANTED TO STAY CLEAR OF ANYTHING POPULAR FOR THE MOST PART.
THE REASON FOR THIS DECISION WAS PURELY TACTICAL. I KNEW THAT FAITHFUL LISTENERS WOULD ALREADY APPRECIATE THE MIXXTAPE. MY AIM WAS TO DRAW IN NEW LISTENERS THROUGH THIS PROJECT AND DIRECT THEM TOWARDS PREVIOUSLY RELEASED ALBUMS FROM ROCKEMICAL AND COMPANY.AT THE SAME TIME I HAD MY NAME ON THE LINE WITH THE BIGGEST MUSICAL CHALLENGE TO DATE! 

I ACTUALLY STARTED WITH A WRITTEN LIST OF TRACKS THAT I HAD SELECTED TO USE, THAT IDEA LASTED ABOUT A DAY BEFORE I THREW IT AWAY. IT QUICKLY BECAME APPEARANT THAT THIS PROJECT WAS GOING TO DEVELOP BY ITSELF ONE SONG AT A TIME. SO THAT'S HOW I TREATED IT, WHATEVER FELT RIGHT AT THAT MOMENT. FOR THE NEXT MONTH I BARELY LEFT MY STUDIO ONLY TO EAT AND GO TO THE BATHROOM.

ONE CLASSIC ELEMENT THAT I KNEW I WANTED TO UTILIZE WAS VOICE MAIL DROPS.
THIS TURNED OUT TO BE THE MOST DIFFICULT ELEMENT OF THE WHOLE PROJECT.
ONCE I HOOKED UP MY PHONE TO MY MIXER WITH AN 8TH INCH JACK I QUICKLY REALIZED THAT I COULD ONLY GET A MONO SIGNAL (ONE CHANNEL).AFTER HOURS OF FRUSTRATION AND CLOSE TO QUITTING I DISCOVERED THAT BY LOOSENING THE CONNECTION I WAS ABLE TO MANIPULATE THE SOUND TO EITHER LEFT CHANNEL OR RIGHT CHANNEL.I STILL WASN'T GETTING A STEREO RECORDING BUT I WAS ABLE TO RECORD INDIVIDUAL LEFT AND RIGHT RECORDINGS.I HAD TO THEN THREAD THE TWO RECORDINGS TOGETHER DEALING WITH COMPUTER LATENCY AND BAD MONOTONE RECORDINGS.MANY FILTERS AND ADJUSTMENTS LATER I HAD ROCKEMICAL FROM VOICE MAIL ON A CD.ALL TOGETHER THIS OTHERWISE THOUGHT SIMPLE SINGLE TASK TOOK ABOUT A WEEK TO ACCOMPLISH.

WITHOUT GIVING AWAY ALL MY SECRETS I BASICALLY TOOK EVERYTHING I KNEW AND USED IT FOR THIS PROJECT. FROM A VOICE SYNTHESIZER TO A TAPE DECK TO A PHONE – I PULLED OUT ALL THE STOPS IN METHODS. BESIDES THE OBVIOUS FOR THE MOST PART I ONLY SAMPLED FROM THE MATERIAL GIVEN TO ME. I USED VARIOUS BITS AND PIECES FROM ALL THE ALBUMS TO CREATE MOST OF THE INTROS AND BACK BEATS, KEEPING THE MUSIC TRUE TO ITSELF.

I ACTUALLY ENDED UP BREAKING A CD PLAYER DURING THIS PROJECT. GUITAR CENTER QUICKLY HOOKED ME UP WITH A NEW ONE THOUGH BUT YES AT ONE POINT I HAD THE GRAND NEW CD STUCK IN IT WITH SMOKE POURING OUT THE BACK!! I HAD TO BREAK IT OPEN TO RECOVER THE DISK – ALL TRUE YOU CAN ASK MY WIFE!!

EVERYTHING WAS RECORDED IN REAL TIME ALTHOUGH I DID USE MULTIPLE TRACK LAYERS NONETHELESS RECORDINGS AND SCRATCHES WERE DONE LIVE DURING TWILIGHT HOURS THROUGH HEADPHONES.

I USED A DENON S3500 CD PLAYER FOR MOST OF THE WORK BUT OTHER EQUIPMENT USED WAS TAPE DECKS, TURNTABLES, USB MIDI KEYBOARD, MICROPHONE, 4 CH MIXER WITH ONBOARD DSP EFFECTS. I RECORDED EVERYTHING ONTO THE COMPUTER USING A USB M-AUDIO INTERFACE AND RECORDED ONTO SONIC XP FOR FINAL PROCESSING.

OVERALL THIS PROJECT TOOK ALMOST 3 MONTHS TO COMPLETE BUT FOR MY FIRST ATTEMPT AT SUCH A PROJECT I AM PLEASED WITH THE RESULTS BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY PLEASED WITH THE RESPONSE FROM ROCKEMICAL HIMSELF. I'VE GROWN THROUGH THIS EXPERIENCE AND LOOK FORWARD TO THE NEXT MUSICAL CHALLENGE.
I WANT TO EXTEND MY BLESSINGS TO ROCKEMICAL AND HIS BROTHER DUCKSKI FOR MAKING THIS A REALITY FOR ME. WITHOUT THEM THEIR FAITH AND THEIR MANY TALENTS I WOULDN'T BE WRITING THIS TODAY – LUV YA'LL!!

HERE'S TO CONTINUED BLESSINGS AND CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE FUTURE!! FROM THE 206 TO THE 520!!

DJ FES
FESmusic
djfes206@gmail.com

Its Official

Too Much

Phone Outro

New next level joint by " Rockemical " The Best Around, Produced By Dj Fes, This joint is incredible, Stay tuned for the video coming soon 

The Best Around ( FREE DOWNLOAD )

The Best Around Radio Edit (FREE DOWNLOAD)

Private viewing for media/reviews-album in stores april 11th