What’s up Maschine Masters family! Today we get to know the man behind the samples. He has consistently provided the fuel for the fire so we can challenge our skills on the beats. Who do I speak of? The man “Billy Blass” of “Vintage Beatz”. Let’s talk:

Rushaa: What’s up Billy Blass!

Vintage Beatz: I’m grand brother, can’t complain.

R: How your year going so far?

VB: So far so good man, moving in a forward motion.

R: I remember meeting you on Instagram back in the day. I had to get rid of that because I got addicted to it. lol

VB: Yeah it is funny, it’s entertaining at times.

R: I followed your link and checked out your music, and I have to say I’m a fan of what you do!

VB: Thank you brother it’s greatly appreciated.

R: That’s what’s up. Vintage Beatz is a group of guy’s right?

VB: No, we are a production company; Vintage Beatz Productions is the name.

R: How did you hook up?

VB: My partner Jimmi Fingaz and I grew up in the same area doing music. Eventually we got to together and started a production company and early on Vintage P the engineer came on and the rest is history.

R: The sound you have has a “vintage” quality. It’s modern, but I feel it has that twist to it, that gives it the rich, warm feel. Was that the mission when you produce?

VB: It’s kinda like a feeling, more than a mission, if that makes sense lol..

R: For sure! I get exactly what you mean. Where does that sound come from? Because, you do have a sound. And that’s a good thing.

VB: Some of it comes from my grandmother’s basement (not that we work out of my grandmothers basement still) & the elements we bring together individually as well as collectively and the rest is in the mix.

R: Got to shout out all the Grand mom’s out there. They are the backbone of the family!

R: Where did you grow up?

VB: New Jersey but I have lived in many places.

R: What inspired you to be a producer?

VB: The limitless power of creation, and of course growing up hearing music as a kid, getting into doing blends on my brothers turntables cause he was a DJ and that eventually turning into making beats.

(Innercomment: This kat said,”Limitless power of creation”…I think he from the Matrix..lol)

R: When I interview, I have to ask everyone some of the same questions. We all have people we can kind of connect with more than others, so, did you have support when you decided to be a producer?

VB: Not up until I got connected with Fingaz. Then things started changing as far as better equipment and facilities. For the most part coming up, I bought, traded and sold my own equipment from my pocket.

R: What if you didn’t? How would you suggest someone push through this?

VB: Believe in yourself and don’t let ANYONE tell you you’re not who you are or can’t be what you want to be.  I know it sounds cliché, but it’s the honest truth. The only roadblocks in life are the ones you setup for yourself.

R: Speak to us brother! While you in the flow, give us a message for dealing with real hater..

VB: You have just reached Billy Blass of Vintage Beatz Productions, you are hater number 1,526 in line please hold and someone will be with you as soon as we don’t have any time.

R:HAHAAA, get em’ bro!

R: What is your process for making your music?

VB: Turn my laptop on, then my speakers search threw sounds and then off we go…

R: What is your work ethic like? You wake up at 4 in the morning and go to bed at midnight?

VB: Its whenever, wherever, it’s a feeling, I have like no set pattern, lol.

R: How should “real” producer in your opinion get good at the craft?

VB: That depends on what you consider a “real” producer…lol. You can be great and anything you do with practice and dedication. Just like when you grew up beating all your video games because you were determined to beat it so you played in day in and day out until you perfected it and the end result was a feeling of achievement, which intern made you step it up to the next level.

R: Good comparison. Who is your favorite producer right now? Just one…lol

VB: A producer by the name of Pojo.

R: Got to check him out. Why is he your favorite producer?

VB: He is a very talented producer that flies under the radar by choice, with a phenomenal sound & ear for music.

R: Did you start out trying to emulate a certain producer before you found your sound?

VB: Well, growing up on the east coast, my sound came from the influence of my environment, which was the hip-hop boom bap lyrical era.

R: How did you connect with Maschine Masters?

VB: I hooked up with AgGotBeats networking and we are two likeminded brothers that had some of the same views on music and producing, and AG was making YouTube videos already. Lol, funny story, I made a video and AG made a video, not knowing we each did this. The numbers on his video were the same as mine in half the time, lol, this is real here, so that’s when I said to myself there strength in numbers, we can build something together as opposed to being in competition. We talked and bounced ideas around and the rest is history.

R: We are glad you did. The samples are off the hook that you bring to the table. You are really starting to push the creativity.

VB: That’s the purpose, “To Create Inspiration for Motivation”. There’s a whole world of music out there, but people tend to gravitate towards one thing and get stuck there thinking that’s the best, because they don’t want to look past it. Music is life and you should want to expand your mind to different sounds & music.

(Let’s be real, this kat got deep on that)

R: How do you go about choosing a good sample?

VB: Find one first, lol, and then just get to chopping. Unless I have an idea for a specific sample, then I would just go write to that. But otherwise, it’s just playing samples until something grabs me.

R: Digital or analog sound for samples? Or does it even matter anymore?

VB: Doesn’t really matter, because you can manipulate sounds and samples so much now till no end.

R: Is Hip-Hop being sucked dry today for monetary purposes?

VB: If you view Hip-Hop as a monetary purpose, then yes. It’s more of a culture, that’s why you have your independent artists out here sticking to that culture even though they don’t make as much as they deserve.

R: How can we push real Hip-hop (boom bap, thick soul and futuristic funk) to the forefront of the industry?

VB: You can’t.

R: It kind of pisses me off what I see happening with Hip-hop. It’s like that little copycat kid in class trying to say, wear and do everything you do. And the kids in class think he’s the cool one, and don’t give you NO credit for being the originator. (I didn’t mean to get all emotional…I mean that never happened to me or anything), but you feel me? Lol 

VB: Yea no doubt. That’s where you have to look at it and use that energy to further the culture. Teach them want they know of not.

R: What is Hip-Hop to you personally? Make me cry…lol

VB: Beat Street and everything birthed from it…!!!!!

R:OH SNAP….PULLED OUT BEAT STREET! If anyone reading this never saw that movie, go find it! Period!

R: What’s the meaning of your name?

VB: Timeless classic sound.

R: Tell us the story of how you came across Maschine?

VB: I come from a MPC background, and I keep up with the times and the Maschine seemed to be the closest piece I could get to the MPC, so I did some research checked it out and loved it.

R: Anything you would like to see in an update later?

VB: Yeah, to be able to route multiple Kontakt sounds to multiple channels in Maschine.

R: Is this the center of your music process, the way people said back in the day the MPC was?

VB: Yes it is bro, I love it man, I can pack it up and be on the move.

R: It was tight to get to hang out with the man behind Vintage Beatz Productions. Keep bringing that heat! And do me a favor. Push the sample envelope ever farther. Let’s see what they got! Lol

VB: No doubt brother, it my pleasure to be here & I will definitely keep my foot on the gas.

R: Give us words of wisdom that helped you through life….

VB: The Only Barriers You Will Have In Life Are The One’s You Setup For Yourself.

R: Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Vintage Beatz weapons of choice…

Hardware: Maschine, Oxygen 25, Macbook Pro, Yamaha 5’s, SMS SYNC Headphones

Software: Native Instruments Komplete 8 Ultimate

R: Hey bruh…Can I get free beats from now on since we all cool and stuff? lol

VB: We can definitely work something out.

R: Thanks again for the interview.

VB: Thank You Bro..

R: Peace

VB: Peace, Be Vintage….

R: Wow, we finally got to meet the man behind the beats and samples. Knowledgeable and even direct to the point. Our man Billy Blass of Vintage Beatz truly represents what it means to be Vintage . He has shown this time and time again with his high quality advice, music, and choice of samples.

Thanks Brother. Be well.

Rushaa

“Winners make it happen & Losers let it happen, Do you wanna win or just look good losing…Be Vintage…”

www.gplus.to/BillyBlass

www.twitter.com/BillyBlass

www.twitter.com/VintageBeatz

www.soundcloud.com/VintageBeatzProductions