DJ Stingray unedited
- Issue #314 (Apr 10) | In Writing
- By: Derek Walmsley | Featuring: DJ Stingray
- Links: DJ Stingray on MySpace
- Printable version
Read the unedited transcript from Derek Walmsley's interview with Detroit's DJ Stingray
[Stingray begins the interview, conducted via Skype, in his trademark black balaclava]
Derek Walmsley: Hi there. Good to see you. I'd like to ask, how easy is it for you DJing when you're wearing a mask?
Sherard Ingram aka DJ Stingray: Yeah it's fine. No problem. I try to keep in decent condition, so it doesn't bother me, no breathing problems, no fatigue, anything like that.
D: Condensation inside your mask?
S: No, I try to keep the breathing out of my nose. By the time I'm at the end of a set, it can a get a little, you know, there can be a little build up, but it's not too much. Like I say I try to keep myself in decent physical condition so it doesn't bother me.
D: So you're going to wear a mask in our interview, is that more comfortable for you?
S: Yeah, you have any problems with it?
D: No, it's fine with me... obviously the images won't be seen by anyone else. So it won't really make a difference whether you have a mask on or a mask off. Whatever's best for you.
S: OK no problem. [takes mask off]
D: Regarding photos, you prefer images where you're DJing with the mask on? Is there a reason why?
S: I think it just helps keep the mystique up. I think it's just better that way, to keep the mystique up. You know obviously there are photos of me without the mask and people know who I am, but again I just like to keep that mystique going, and generate interest for those who don't know. So in general I prefer those when we're discussing DJ Stingray or something like that.
D: To start with, let's talk about what you've been doing in the last couple of years. In the last two years you've had 12"s, and the new 12" coming. You seem busier now than it seems for some time. Is that case? And if that is the case, why?
S: Well yes, that is true. I am a lot busier than I have been during my career, and it's a multifaceted answer to that. I would say, one, the rise in technology where it's a lot easier for you to produce nowadays because of laptops and things a lot cheaper. And maybe two, maybe a sense of urgency, where I feel like I need to get more material out there, because it seems like the field is much more expanded now. Because obviously because of computers you have a lot more people doing electronic music. Another answer to that is, the inspiration. I'm a lot more inspired, as I've matured as a man and as an artist I've just learned to draw more from my external environment. And just put that into production. You know, I've learned how to ride the ebbs and flows of creativity. Because sometimes you can get into these ruts where you don't want to see anything that has anything to do with music whatsoever. And then you have these days where you're chained to the production desk, you don't want to do anything, you don't want to go anywhere. So I've learned to kind of strike a balance between that, and I've learned to sometimes work when I don't want to, and I've learned to chill so I don't overdo it. So I guess the end result of all those that I've mentioned is just more production. It's a balance between more opportunity, better technology, ease of production that kind of thing. And just kind of inspiration overall.
D: What kind of things are inspiring your stuff at the moment, those external influences?
S: Political situations, the change of political climate. Political and economic climate. The changes in electronic music, the expansion of it. As well as a result of my, again, maturation, where I feel like, hey, you know, I'm not going to be able to do this forever. So I need to get busier than I was when I was younger, you know as you tend to get older you tend to value time a lot more. It's not like I see the end of the road two weeks from now, but realistically there's going to be a time when I'm not going to be able to do anything anymore. Either because of lack of being relevant, or who knows what life is going to hand you. So I feel like I need to just produce, and work. And again I do draw inspiration from external environments, a political situation, cultural things going on here in America, personal things going on in my own life. And I use it just to fuel me. I use those aforementioned things to fuel me. Politics, culture, personal circumstances.
Derek Walmsley: Hi there. Good to see you. I'd like to ask, how easy is it for you DJing when you're wearing a mask?
Sherard Ingram aka DJ Stingray: Yeah it's fine. No problem. I try to keep in decent condition, so it doesn't bother me, no breathing problems, no fatigue, anything like that.
D: Condensation inside your mask?
S: No, I try to keep the breathing out of my nose. By the time I'm at the end of a set, it can a get a little, you know, there can be a little build up, but it's not too much. Like I say I try to keep myself in decent physical condition so it doesn't bother me.
D: So you're going to wear a mask in our interview, is that more comfortable for you?
S: Yeah, you have any problems with it?
D: No, it's fine with me... obviously the images won't be seen by anyone else. So it won't really make a difference whether you have a mask on or a mask off. Whatever's best for you.
S: OK no problem. [takes mask off]
D: Regarding photos, you prefer images where you're DJing with the mask on? Is there a reason why?
S: I think it just helps keep the mystique up. I think it's just better that way, to keep the mystique up. You know obviously there are photos of me without the mask and people know who I am, but again I just like to keep that mystique going, and generate interest for those who don't know. So in general I prefer those when we're discussing DJ Stingray or something like that.
D: To start with, let's talk about what you've been doing in the last couple of years. In the last two years you've had 12"s, and the new 12" coming. You seem busier now than it seems for some time. Is that case? And if that is the case, why?
S: Well yes, that is true. I am a lot busier than I have been during my career, and it's a multifaceted answer to that. I would say, one, the rise in technology where it's a lot easier for you to produce nowadays because of laptops and things a lot cheaper. And maybe two, maybe a sense of urgency, where I feel like I need to get more material out there, because it seems like the field is much more expanded now. Because obviously because of computers you have a lot more people doing electronic music. Another answer to that is, the inspiration. I'm a lot more inspired, as I've matured as a man and as an artist I've just learned to draw more from my external environment. And just put that into production. You know, I've learned how to ride the ebbs and flows of creativity. Because sometimes you can get into these ruts where you don't want to see anything that has anything to do with music whatsoever. And then you have these days where you're chained to the production desk, you don't want to do anything, you don't want to go anywhere. So I've learned to kind of strike a balance between that, and I've learned to sometimes work when I don't want to, and I've learned to chill so I don't overdo it. So I guess the end result of all those that I've mentioned is just more production. It's a balance between more opportunity, better technology, ease of production that kind of thing. And just kind of inspiration overall.
D: What kind of things are inspiring your stuff at the moment, those external influences?
S: Political situations, the change of political climate. Political and economic climate. The changes in electronic music, the expansion of it. As well as a result of my, again, maturation, where I feel like, hey, you know, I'm not going to be able to do this forever. So I need to get busier than I was when I was younger, you know as you tend to get older you tend to value time a lot more. It's not like I see the end of the road two weeks from now, but realistically there's going to be a time when I'm not going to be able to do anything anymore. Either because of lack of being relevant, or who knows what life is going to hand you. So I feel like I need to just produce, and work. And again I do draw inspiration from external environments, a political situation, cultural things going on here in America, personal things going on in my own life. And I use it just to fuel me. I use those aforementioned things to fuel me. Politics, culture, personal circumstances.
Posted 27/04/10
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