The newest wave of music to be embraced by the NOLA scene actually began in the '90s rave era, and has recently bloomed into a mainstream craze. But for semi-veteran EDM disc jockey and producer Kid Kamillion, this scene is what has taken him this far and it's here to stay. The Red Bull-sponsored DJ goes by other names, such as DJ Jive, and is one half of Force Feed Radio, the DJ duo that blasted the 2012 Voodoo Festival stages. While his personas are large and pretty famous in the city, this humble "Kid" claims to be just an average local guy with a love for dance music and hip-hop.
WYAT: Now that your persona has taken off, where does that leave the EDM duo Force Feed Radio? Are you still a group?
KK: Of course we're still a group, but we like to work at our own pace when it comes to that project, and we defi nitely create a lot of good music when we get together. As far as Force Feed Radio, we will always perform as a group, but there are possibilities of signing other artists and pretty much becoming an umbrella for all of our projects.
WYAT: What brought you to EDM (Electronic Dance Music)? Were you always a producer/DJ of EDM?
KK: Old school hip-hop. The whole turntable culture/movement actually led to techno music. I got into it from that standpoint, being brought up on both genres along with rock, punk, funk, and soul. Blend all of that and the end product is EDM. When I started Djing, I bought hip-hop records and electronic records.
WYAT: With that said, there are several EDM DJs suddenly springing up in the city. What makes you unique to the scene?
KK: I think what makes me unique is, like my boy DJ Spin said, I am from the 3 rd generation of vinyl "turntable" DJs. I still put a little bit of golden era hip-hop and '90s grunge and pop-inspired style into what I'm doing with the modern-day sound. I'm one of the last of the "crate-carrying" DJs, and I feel like I speak for several other artists that are in the same position.
WYAT: You often play at clubs and smaller venues, then have to transition into playing large festivals. What is that transition like? What's the biggest difference between the two?
KK: Take the energy of a small room you're playing and multiply that by however many thousands of people are in the audience of a festival. It makes you feel invincible, like you can take bullets. The adrenaline just moves through your body and it is incredible. It's probably the best experience. I'd do it for free. As for the differences, well, it depends: if I'm at a club in a DJ booth, then it's two very different things. At a festival you've got to prepare a set, but if you're a DJ, you're going to switch it up a little bit. Even at a festival, you are confi ned to a stage with barricades dividing you from the crowd, and you may only see about twenty people in the front row and the rest just fade, but, you feel their energy and that's how you remember you're in front of so many people.
WYAT: Along with being a DJ, you also produce a ton of music of the EDM genre. There are several subgenres within EDM. I'd like to ask you about a few that are new to me, starting with ghetto disco.
KK: Ghetto disco is a mixture of funky house music and New Orleans hip-hop. I usually play this about once a month at the Saint, because it's probably the only venue where I can get away with playing ghetto disco.
WYAT: Moombahton?
KK: Moombahton is actually a Caribbean, Latin rhythmic electronic style that falls in the lines of Dutch house or tech house, reggae and reggaeton. It's got that Caribbean vibe, but I can't call myself a professional on this genre. It's just a style of music that I like to include in my sets.
WYAT: Trap music?
KK: Trap music is taking Southern hip-hop beats and playing them over electronic dance music, but I don't necessarily pigeonhole myself to that style of music. I still produce bounce, boogie base, house, and most other forms of EDM. With that said, I don't consider myself a trap producer or DJ, but I love the genre and I do create music like it.
WYAT: You include the New Orleans hip-hop style bounce in quite a few of your productions. This seems to be a common thing currently among EDM producers. What is your connection to bounce music?
KK: First, I'm from New Orleans. Second, it's a really raw inner city sound that's not pushed by any major labels; it's just really aggressive. I don't think the producers truly understand that it is a form of electronic music. It's produced digitally, it's quantized, and it's repetitive and energetic. That's why it's reaching a lot of electronic dance music markets. It's easy for me to fi t it into my mixes because it is produced electronically.
WYAT: For a few years now, you and your Force Feed Radio partner Money P have put out a Halloween mixtape known as Fresh 2 Death. What's the story behind this annual album?
KK: We like to make mixtapes year-round if we can, but the only consistent mixtape we can put out is our Halloween release Fresh 2 Death. I'd describe it as Halloween horror-movie inspired. It's just creepy and fun, like being a kid again. We watch a lot of horror movies, chop up the dialogue, and fi t it over beats. It's the only one we can count on always fi nishing, putting out and mass-producing.
But the biggest inspiration behind Fresh 2 Death is that we really would like to score music for fi lm, and I guess these albums are our way of taking a jab at it and keeping it kind of theatrical.
WYAT: In the tough music industry, what motivates you to keep going?
KK: The fact that kids younger than me are making records that labels are signing, that really motivates me. For some people it makes them want to retire, but for me, I think that it is awesome. I want to catch up with these kids, and I'm still trying to catch up.
WYAT: Getting back to the music. With EDM becoming mainstream after so many years, do you think it's becoming a fad?
KK: I think the trends and fads won't last long, but I believe the real music will last forever. As for electronic being the medium, well, it's the Internet, and that will never end. 0
