Taken from Eye Magazine:


XXXCHANGE
(of Spank Rock) with Thunderheist, DJ Nasty Nav. Wed, April 18. Crosstown, 178 Bathurst. $10.

Sometimes inspiration is surprisingly oblique. Take Baltimore-born musician Alex Epton, better known as XXXchange, the producer behind potty-mouthed party rap crew Spank Rock. Their YoYoYoYoYo album of last year helped solidify the influence that the gritty, bassy Baltimore club sound has had on one of the biggest underground dance musics du jour – electro-rap – yet Epton himself absorbed his hometown's musical calling card very indirectly.

“There was maybe a month or so when I really tried to rip off those Baltimore records because I thought they were really cool,” says the formally trained jazz drummer, who left his studies at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston to live in New York, where he joined electronic-punk-jazz band Zero Zero in 2000. After the band recorded an EP with James Murphy and Tim Goldsworthy, Epton landed himself an internship at their DFA Studios, where he learned about recording, editing and sampling.

“I didn't even really get into those Baltimore records until I moved to New York and started listening to all of James Murphy's records, these weird, art-dance records, like Laurie Anderson and tape collage stuff,” Epton explains. “I got really excited about it because I loved the way all this stuff was cut up and smashed together with new and old things. That's an influence – my perceived avant-gardeness of it, even though it's probably not.”

Epton's love of “really weird sounds” and developing production skills were noticed by hometown friend Naeem Juwan, an open-eared rapper who came to be known as MC Spank Rock. The two formed a crew of the same name in 2004, which also included friends Ronnie Darko and Chris Devlin. Spank Rock signed to Ninja Tune sub-label Big Dada, and had immediate impact as their tunes were leaked, played and discussed everywhere.

“Our first record was really just me sticking my toes in the pool,” says Epton of his production. “Some of those songs are the very, very first things we ever recorded.”

Not a lot of people get to say that about an album that received so much attention so quickly.

“I know,” he laughs. “Isn't that weird? It makes you a bit nervous since you know people are going to hear what you do now. I think Naeem is definitely nervous because he's had to defend himself all year for using dirty words. Although it seems like all of the good stuff we've made since the record came out has come when we're not thinking about people listening.”

It must be tough not to think of people listening when one is creating high-profile remixes for the likes of Thom Yorke, Lady Sovereign, Beck and now Björk. The very giggly XXXchange is also building a strong rep as a producer, and is currently working on tracks for the likes of Kid Sister, The Kills, Amanda Blank and, of course, Spank Rock.

“The Kills are really cool. They're trying to make some interesting sounds and reference some really cool records,” Epton shares. “The Amanda stuff is more about us trying to reconcile this sex-rap thing that she's made for herself with some music that she actually likes, which is like PJ Harvey, Cat Power and New Order. The Spank Rock stuff has been a lot of goofing around, as usual.”

Epton has also had a blast behind the turntables. A relatively new DJ who quickly developed his chops while opening shows on the Spank Rock tour last year, he selected and mixed most of the crew's forthcoming Fabriclive.33 mix CD.

“I'm pretty psyched about the DJing, and it's really helped my production a lot. Now I'm thinking, 'Is this going to be something I want to play? How are people going to respond on the dancefloor?'”

Epton quickly realized that re-edits and mash-ups are a good way to move knowledgeable European crowds and Justin Timberlake-requesting New Yorkers alike.

“If I'm going to do that though, I'll make a track out of it, and put four or five records in there. I like to make stuff like that where you can actually express something rather than just being like, 'OK, here's Missy Elliot over Justice. Enjoy.'

“They're great tools though. Just throw some Prince on a weird electro track and people are like 'Oh, I know that song.' A spoonful of sugar helps the crazy electro medicine go down.”



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