One Block Radius Interview Transcription
DJ Booth: What’s goin’ on, everybody? It’s your boy, ‘Z,’ doin’ it real big, and joining me inside the DJ Booth is a trio of industry veterans who have come together to unite their individual talents. Signed to Mercury/Island Def Jam, these fellas are gearing up to release their major label debut on the strength of their current single, “You Got Me.” From One Block Radius, please welcome Marty James – how you doin’?
Marty James: Yeah, buddy! Don’t forget Property Music, there; that’s my label!
DJ Booth: Okay, so let me backtrack – signed to Mercury/Island Def Jam/Property, One Block Radius!
Marty James: There you go!
DJ Booth: That was better?
Marty James: I loved it, I loved it.
DJ Booth: Marty, the group was formed 5 years ago, so what did you do to finally grab a seat at the grown-up table?
Marty James: Man, it was a lot of hard work and a lot of gettin’ away from the independent label that we originally came out with – they were kinda holdin’ us back for a couple of years, we had to wait for a contact to expire. And then we did a lot of shows, we hooked up our phones pretty good along the West Coast, and then, truthfully, it really got crackin’ once I did “I Wear My Stunna Glasses at Night” with The Federation, and Rick Rock started takin’ me under his wing, and I started writing with him. He introduced me to a lot of people, I started doing shows with the Fed Gang, I built up a lot of connections through that, and [that] led me to working on a bunch of different records with Baby Bash, Sean Kingston, J.R. Rotem, Felli Fel. I think [I] kinda found my voice, truthfully. As corny as that sounds, it really gave me an angle – you know, that “80s white guy” voice – so that led to more co-writes and more industry contacts. I write for a lot of other people, produce for a lot of people, I see where they struggle sometimes in terms of their project, the life of it, I see where they bubble, how they were comin’ up, and I was like, “I think we’ve got a hit with this song.” We basically launched it out to people, hit some radio stations with it, some of the stations started to play [it], and then it started to click, like, “Okay, Marty James blew One Block Radius, and we like Marty James.” So, I wasn’t really pushy; when I was going to write with J.R. Rotem and these different producers, I never really pushed them hard on the group. I’m a firm believer that your music will speak for itself, and if I just work hard and show them that I’m dedicated to making music, then everything will fall into place the way it should.
DJ Booth: You certainly find yourselves in a great position: signed to a major, heavily backed, and on the verge of releasing the new album. For those who have not heard your music, it’s really a melting pot of R&B, hip hop, soul, rock, reggae, a little punk – do you have a name for what you guys put together?
Marty James: No, not really. “Alternative Hip Hop,” [is one way]. It’s not really just “alternative” or just “hip hop;” it’s very melodic, very beat-heavy. I always keep my drums real pretty and dirty, it’s kinda my signature sound. Personally, I think that’s the old SP-1200 in my heart, and I always admired the production styles of Bomb Squad and Cypress Hill and Muggs and Premier and all those guys, those were always the kinds of beats I gravitated toward moreso than a lot of the digital stuff. Not really a name, specifically, and for us that’s one of the challenges, is kinda showing people something different. For us, we kinda stuck by our guns, we didn’t really change up our sound or anything, we just kept doing what we always did, and just tried to make it a little bit more appealing to a bigger audience.
DJ Booth: As I mentioned in the opening, Marty, the current single is “You Got Me.” When audiences hear your sound, more than just from what they’ve heard in “You Got Me,” do you think they’ll “get” what you guys are trying to do? ‘Cause, like you said a second ago, it’s alternative.
Marty James: I hope they do – I mean, that’s why we’re doin’ it. To me, it’s really just more about, this is my passion; when I wasn’t making any money, I was still makin’ music. If we got dropped tomorrow, we’d still be tryin’ to figure out ways to put out our record.
DJ Booth: Marty, I read that LA Reid gave the group free rein in the studio, which is obviously so important. So, in a day and age when everything on the radio plays pretty much cookie-cutter, considering the creative control you guys were handed, how important is that in the overall scope of this project?
Marty James: I mean, that’s everything. That’s why I put it out straight to the radio, ‘cause it’s like, you don’t wanna get a deal and come in and you have nothing going on, and they think you’re talented or whatever, and you have some good songs, they’ll sign you to a deal, but what kind of deal are you gonna get? You’re gonna get pulled ten different ways by ten different people at the label. But if you go in with a back story, with some leverage, “I’ve started to get a name as a producer,” or “I produced a single,” at that point they trust you a little more. You come in there like, “Look, we started doin’ this on our own, Property Music is a pretty strong little entity on its own. If we’re gonna do this with you, we’re gonna do it my way,” you know?
DJ Booth: Would you say that you would still have moved forward trying to churn out a successful product if the label A&R’s at Def Jam tried in any way to change or alter your sound?
Marty James: I know there’s certain labels that would have probably gotten involved in this project and started tryin’ to figure out what wrong with it. A lot of labels would do that, but you can take a little bit of that away if you do a lot of the groundwork on your own.
DJ Booth: Sure.
Marty James: You know, I worked with them. It wasn’t like I was just, “Don’t talk to me,” or something. I was sendin’ them the songs every couple days, at the end of the night, to see what they thought. Truthfully, they had some good feedback. I worked with them, and they’re cool, my label’s cool. Aaron Lipschitz, my A&R, he’s cool, and LA. I mean, these are industry vets. They don’t want to find an artist like myself, who’s a producer and a writer and a singer, to come in and switch everything up, know what I mean? It’s not like I’m a dancing pretty boy who needs to be sculpted or nothing – it is what it is.
DJ Booth: I read a quote from you in the group’s bio, that said, “We don’t write songs about being rich because we’re not.” As we both know, money changes people. If the group blows up like I’m sure you hope it will, and you rake in millions as a result, can you say right now that your content will remain the same?
Marty James: Look, I’m not hurtin’ or anything right now, but I have been before. With me, it’s just gonna be about writing what’s going on with me. It’s just gonna be about real-life sh*t. I don’t know; I guess I’ll just have to see. I’m gonna be an artist, get my stuff out there, go do some shows, get out there. Eventually, I want to be in production and writing, and eventually one day maybe film scoring and stuff. But maybe, if I ever get stupid caked up, I won’t even be singin’ about it anymore, you know what I mean? I wanna be the next Rick Rubin, not the next whatever singer that went on and on and on and on, and we don’t wanna hear no more.
DJ Booth: Marty, does that mean you’re gonna be growing a great big beard?
Marty James: Yeah, me – I’m gonna be eatin’ a lot of pasta, growin’ a big-ass beard, and hangin’ out with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, hopefully.
DJ Booth: Well, that sounds like a nice lifestyle.
Marty James: That sounds like a pretty good life – drivin’ a Bentley around, havin’ about 7 mansions, doin’ a cut with Jay-Z every now and then. He’s the man.
DJ Booth: Well, I have no doubt that if you continue on the road you’re currently traveling, you will eventually get there alongside the guys. Go ahead, give everybody a website or a MySpace page so they can find out more about your self-titled debut, September 16th, out in stores.
Marty James: Myspace.com/oneblockradius. Man, we appreciate the opportunity. We’ve been payin’ dues for a long time, we’re still payin dues. Like I said, we’re in this for the long haul, and hopefully what you hear when you hear One Block Radius is creativity, and you hear us tryin’ to do something different, push the envelope a little bit. We hope a lot of you out there at DJBooth – I love the website by the way; I check it out a lot. I think there’s a lot of cats on there that kinda get that, that want to hear something different, a little mix of flavors. We just appreciate the support from you guys. We’re gonna be comin’ with that album, and I’m excited for a lot of you creative heads out there to hear it, smoke one to it, sit back and take it in – there’s a lot goin’ on. We’re tryin’ to live the dream.
DJ Booth: Exactly. Well, Marty, I thank you so much for takin’ the time to join me inside the DJ Booth, and I wish you nothing but the best of luck, my friend.
Marty James: You already know. It’s all good, Z.
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