9. Los Pop-Tops
I got this 45 from my grandfather’s collection. I just remember him playing that time and time again. I think they ripped some Bach and sang over it. I chose it just because of the memories, it bringing me back to life with my grandfather. I grew up with him in my household from birth to when he passed in my late teens. I can still feel him turning the record and drinking some whiskey and reading out of the Bible, crying. It took me back to the sorrow and pain and lonesomeness that he was experiencing – it seemed like everyone was experiencing it at the time too.
Was this record a key influence in your use of samples like on A Sufi And A Killer? Is this something you plan to do more or less of in the future?
I grew up sampling. I still do that shit – I’ll never stop chopping samples. But I had to make Callus because I got tired of people saying I’m ripping off people’s music. Like on A Sufi And A Killer, people were just like… ah, you stole all that music. Even with MU.ZZ.LE, too, a lot of that was chopped – I was taking a couple of seconds and reinterpreting it. I was trying to get to a place where I play the guitar, piano and drums. And that’s what Callus is – it was the result of me trying to break out of this, ‘he’s just a sample karaoke motherfucker’ label – for me, it was like I’m going to pick up the guitar, I’m going to scream and I’m going to bring in a violin player. I’m going to bring in Pearl Thompson [formerly of The Cure] and I’m going to track and mix this so you motherfuckers can sample it. I wanted to put out a fully instrumental record and see what happened.
