Quote:
DOOM
Enigmatic MC/producer, 1988-PRESENT
DANIEL DUMILE ג BETTER KNOWN AS DOOM AMONG MANY OTHER STAGE NAMES ג TAKES A BREAK FROM THE STUDIO LAYING DOWN TRACKS WITH RADIOHEADגS THOM YORKE FOR A CHAT TO CHRIS YATES AS HE PREPARES FOR HIS LONG OVERDUE AUSTRALIAN DEBUT.
Itגs abundantly clear from the first גyo wassup?ג that the deep baritone booming down the line is not the evil mastermind DOOM at all. However, itגs not a DOOMpostor, one of the infamous stand-ins he has sent to perform in his place at shows to protest against his fans stealing his music for free ג or maybe just to fuck with them. Nor is it the scoundrel Viktor Vaughn ג the venomous villain who has been in hiding since unleashing his MC-devastating back to back records in 2003 and 2004.
No, this cat is someone else ג itגs the extremely polite Daniel Dumile, a man known to inhabit the psyche of the aforementioned notorious bad asses and many more besides.
When did you first realise you had such a gift with words and that they could be so powerful?
גI dunno [laughs], you surprised me with that one. I guess it is a gift but I mean I donגt know, to me itגs normal. Everybody can do it, itגs just a matter of tapping into that part of your brain, nahגmean? I think everybody does it naturally, the fact that people can find it entertaining shows that. You know itגs like if one guyגs doing it and the next guy can find it entertaining that shows itגs something thatגs accessible to all humans. Itגs a matter of honing it. I always like to fuck with words and shit. Thereגs something about words and phonetics and slang ג things of that nature have always intrigued me. If you practice anything for a while itגs gonna become second nature to you, know what Iגm saying?ג
The re-release of your first MF DOOM record Operation Doomsday is coming out, and youגve said you donגt really listen to your music once itגs been recorded. Was it painful doing the remastering?
גIt was actually cool, know what Iגm saying? You know itגs not as corny as I thought it would be. [Laughs] That shit is dope and it gives me a new respect from where it started, you know the concepts ג and itגs not too far from what weגre doing now. That shit seems like timeless you know? Thereגs some different versions of some of the songs that people have never heard, so I think for the real hardcore fans thereגs some stuff like that.ג
Now that most of the major record labels are extinct, whoגs left to be DOOMגs nemesis?
גI would say DOOMגs nemesis is everything thatגs going against human development, and moving the youth in a forward momentum. Everything thatגs going against that is my ג thatגs DOOMגs nemesis. I donגt want to point them out directly because they might not be aware yet and I wanna get my sneak attack on. You know there are a lot of things going on in the world, with the situation in Tunisia and the situation in Egypt. Thereגs a lot of people trying to bring structure and control things that are uncontrollable, you know. Human nature and the way people are in general needs to flourish in a natural way, and the way I see it, the youth are the people who are bringing up new ideas in technology and culture and anything that hinders that, thatגs DOOMגs nemesis.ג
Youגre in the studio now right? What are you working on?
גWell Iגm just finishing up the new Madvillain record, Iגm doing some stuff with Thom Yorke, Iגm working on a record Iגm doing for Williams Street Records with Adult Swim in the States you know, so a couple of different projects Iגm finishing up.ג
Whatגs the project with Thom Yorke?
גWeגre working on some duets, some duet songs and shit. Just like preliminary shit but weגll probably end up doing a whole record together.ג
Heגs a fan right? He did that remix of Gazillion Ear for you?
גYeah that shit came out dope. Oh, heגs cool ג he got a lot of ill ass ideas and shit you know.ג
When youגre working on collaborations is it swapping files or do you actually get in the studio together?
גHmm, it varies. Sometimes itגs done in the same studio, most of the time itגs swapping files and shit, but we try to make it as natural as possible ג like, Iגll have a conversation with the person on the phone that Iגm doing the collaboration with and see where theyגre coming from you know? Share a couple of ideas so when it comes to recording, weגre pretty professional so we can record separately and itגs the same difference nahגmean? One conversation can do it, it can be a conversation on the phone and you just need to do that for it to work and get the natural feel.ג
You and Ghostface Killah work so well togetherג¦
גYeah no doubt, I mean he reminds me of someone I knew from school or some shit. New York rhymers are like born rhyming you know, and him especially, heגs a certain unique character. It comes together pretty naturally. Itגs like this ג when Iגm with him I gotta be on my toes you know, I canגt be slacking it off. Not like Iגm ever slack but you know Iגm using all my sounds. We come from the same school and see the same vision as far as taking hip hop forward you know, with a forward momentum. Weגre still breaking new ground, thereגs a few of us out there who are still doing it like that.ג
OFF THE DOOM CLOCK
Daniel Dumile has been crafting rhymes with ever increasing sophistication since the early 90s, when his group KMD was drawn to a premature conclusion as a result of the tragic death of the groupגs other core member, Danielגs brother Subroc. The subsequent release of their second album was then cancelled by their record label ג entitled Black Bastards, it featured a controversial caricatured image of a black man hanging from the gallows.
He seemed to drop off planet earth, until a mysterious masked rapper named MF DOOM came out of nowhere ג a supervillan intent on wreaking revenge on the music industry and the world at large with intelligent wordplay and a biting wit that set a new standard in rap forever.
Over the course of the interview he refers to himself in third person as DOOM, or as גweג or occasionally
גIג. Although it sounds like heגs crazy as shit, he seems to possess a real empathy for humankind and has a genuine utopian vision for the future. Quite the opposite to the supervillain character of DOOM.
Collaborations represent his most well known work, notably the Danger Doom project with super-producer Danger Mouse, and Madvillain, a concept record with beats by Madlib, a sequel to which is in production featuring guest spots by his good friend Mos Def and TV On The Radioגs Dave Sitek.
He started Metal Face Records (the business side of which he admits is mostly playing Grand Theft Auto on Xbox Live), but it represents his passion for the purity of the music.
גThe main thing is that nobody else is in control. Weגre as flexible as we can be and if we want to do something thereגs nobody saying גNah, you canגt let גem do thatג you know what Iגm saying? It keeps the whole creative side nice and flexible, nahג mean?ג
http://www.threedworld.com.au/?p=2916Him and Jay Elect better start releasing something.
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