Interviews Len Storm

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I sat with Producer/DJ/Beat Maker Len Storm and we kicked it about a multitude of things from his 2000 raw talents, his 2010 polished fever 10 years later, spitting 16's chock full of daggers, indie art, what's making his skin crawl in the music industry and making beats with his feet! He also mentioned something about cookies and I got a little hungry but anyway, I'm here to help prepare you for the "Storm".

Thank you for the time Len, I know you're busy making it do what it do! Let the readers know who you are. What's the story behind your name?

I'm a DJ producer beatmaker but before all that I'm a fan and a student of the hip-hop game! I give major props to the pioneers who have paved the way for all us to keep rocking now & of course giving us that good music. I got my name in high school when I started spinning for this female emcee, I didn't have a DJ name when I met her, so she combined the name of her previous DJ which was DJ Quiet Storm & my name which is Len of course and it just stuck, everyone dug the name! Thank you JE Smooth wherever you are LOL.

Tell me in your opinion, what's the difference between a beat maker and a producer?

A beat maker simply just does that - makes beats, a producer is involved in the entire process of making the beat, during the recording process guiding the artist along to put together the best song possible, and post production with mixing down the track.

How long have you been producing and what made you start?

I've been messing around with the beats forever, I started doing the pause tape beats, where you record a part of a record you liked and tape that part over and over until you had a nice continuous loop, that was manual sampling... LOL I didn't catch the beat making bug until I first heard Pete Rock & CL Smooth records. Pete's beats were different to me at the time, everyone was like "yo the horns" but his drums and deep bass lines caught my ear and I wanted to make music like that! And of course I wanted the SP-1200 but couldn't afford it LOL so I settled on a Gemini sampler which had sample banks just like the SP-1200. I would rock on that and I started producing for my boy may he rest in peace SEE and after that whoever wanted beats they came to the crib and we record... this all through the mid 90's.

Who are you feeling right now when it comes to Hip-Hop music?

There's cats I'm feeling like Skyzoo, Black Milk, Roc Marciano, Little Brother, dudes like that, they make incredible music.

Tell me something you can't STAND right now in the music industry.

Hahaha I have plenty somethings... one thing I can't stand is commercial radio with their rigid play lists! They give airplay to the 5 "hottest" artists at the time and we hear the songs constantly on rotation! And this method has now reached the mix shows on these radio stations too. Wouldn't it be hot to hear Tiye Phoenix, Skyzoo, Pharoah Monch or Sadat X on day time radio too?

Yes it would! Speaking of and besides moi, LOL *sigh* tell me the dopest thing about indie music/culture right now.

LOL being indie, artists can go out there and do what they do best, they can be creative and develop their own style instead of following the cookie cutter approach you hear on the radio... also you have to work harder but any money made is coming back to you and you just pay off your manager, lawyer, etc.

Somebody say "cookie"? Anyway! You wake up and you can't move your hands which means you can't make a beat, what do-you-do!?

I fucking panic!!! I would probably be in tears... I touch a lot of things with my hands (lololol) but I would have to get creative and make beats with my feet.

Ooo la la! "I touch a lot of things..." LOL! Wait though, your feet son!?! I knew you were gonna say that shit! hahahaha! YO! It's possible *shrugs* (wonders if he tried it) So what's your favorite instrument and why?

Growing up it was drums, but I like the piano too, electric ones too.

Well what software do you use? Compare a few of the products that are available for beat making and what's your rate on them?

I'm old school, I use the MPC 2000 sometimes I mix with logic or my Yamaha board. I'm really basic with the equipment but I can get a big sound out of it. Now one of the new sampling drum machines on the block is called Maschine and it's like the MPC but also has the software program to go along with it which is hot if you have the program on your laptop you can work on beats while you're on the go, so I'm thinking of copping that. There's also Fruity Loops too, and people shit on that because it makes the beat making process "easier" because it chops up the samples for you. I say it's not what you use, it's how you use it, creativity comes from the mind not the machine.

Well said Lenny! So with, compare your current style with the Len Storm of 2000.

My style of 2000 was raw and not yet polished but you saw the potential and I was still learning the MPC at that point. Today I'm more polished, I've discovered all types of techniques to get my sound tighter especially my drum sounds, but I still feel there's more room for improvement so I'm working on that.