Andres aka DJ Dez: Interview

Humberto Andres Hernandez, aka Andres aka DJ Dez, was born in to a Cuban family in Detroit, MI. in January of 1975. Music has been a part of his life since day one. Dez got his first set of percussion drums at the age of three. His family moved to Los Angeles in the early 80’s. This is where he first got his hands on a pair of turntables. When Dez was in his mid-teens, family moved back to Detroit, where he currently still resides.

Over the years he has had a vast amount of musical influence and has become an international name and staple with in the Detroit hip-hop community. Besides being Slum Village’s DJ and releasing several solo projects on vinly under the name Andres his production credits include artists as Monica Blaire & Elzhi among others. We sat down with Dez to hear his thoughts about his early influences, music, his family, and city.

What has inspired you to want to make music?

I would have to say watching DJ’s scratch a record. For instance a song called called, “A Touch of Jazz” that was on Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince’s first album. It was my introduction to a lot of blue note records. He scratched in records like Donald Byrd’s “Change,” “Mr. Magic” by Grover Washington, “Places and Spaces” and “Dominoes” by Donald Byrd. A lot of Detroit music and I didn’t even know. Just good…good.. funk jazz records…. fusion records. All I know is I would here scratches and the scratches would bring in more music. And I was just like, Wow!

It was around ’88 that I actually learned how to DJ. I learned how to scratch first by this gentleman by the name of Michael Fox. His DJ name was DJ Transformer. I’m trying hard to find that guy too. It’s a very common name, so it’s been kind of hard for me to search. He had equipment. He had turntables and a drum machine. So, we actually started a rap group. We made our own music. We were trying to find records that the DJ’s we like used to cut up. The of course, I was just engulfed with Marley Marl. You couldn’t tell me nothing about Marley Marl. That was it! Marley Marl!

What is it you love about music?

You can really get wrapped up in a really good song. I don’t know what feels better than a good song. There’s nothing like that. A good song is not sex or nothing, but damn it’s close. I’m a sucker for melody and harmony, beats, and rhythm.

What do you love about being a DJ?

The fact that I’m in control, I can take you where I want to take you. I’m kind of a selfish DJ. I only play certain quality music. Sometimes I’ll bend. I don’t bend too much though, because I’m in the driver’s seat.

Is there anyone particular that has influenced you as a DJ or a producer?

Well, as a DJ, this is a name I always throw out there, a gentleman by the name of Joe Cooley. I used to listen to him on the radio. I couldn’t go outside. This was when I lived in California. This is when I was introduced to hip-hop. Joe Cooley is a very funky guy. He’s very funky with his scratching and very rhythmic with his scratching. Me being a percussionist I took to his patterns. Now mind you Jazzy Jeff is Amazing, but I was introduced to Joe Cooley first. Jo Cooley had already blew my head away. I feel like DJ Aladdin is like the second coming of Joe Cooley. He spawned from Joe Cooley. Bobcat was doing his thing at the same time so I’ll give Bobcat more credit than that. I learned up under the stylings of Joe Cooley, as far as DJ’ing.

What do you love about the City of Detroit?

The one thing I love about Detroit, is that you can kind of be low key. You can be really known around the world and you come to Detroit and be nobody. In some circles you can be somebody, but in other circles you’re nobody. Which is cool. It kind of works out though. Sometimes you don’t want people all in your business. You don’t want everybody knowing what you’re doing and who you are sometimes.

Its not out of line to say that Detroit has moved the way we look at life more than on one occasion. Lots of music, art, and culture has come to life here in Detroit that has influenced the world. Why do you think this is?

I think that Detroit has always been the big city with the small city mentality. We’re kind of in the middle, so we’re always looking at New York and Los Angeles and what they’re doing. We kind of do our own thing. I don’t know what it is about Detroit, but there is clearly something here. I couldn’t put my finger on it. I guess we soak up a lot. Some people say it is a follower city. I think we do have a lot of followers, but everybody aint meant to be that leader, that one leader. So, it might be a city with a lot of followers, but you always have those few that will jump up and say, “I’m going against the grain.” We need to keep it real with each other, because here in Detroit we’re in denial, even about our country roots . Most people’s parents are from down south so you know the traditions sprinkle down. Everybody here has pretty much migrated from down south with the exception of people like my family, people from the Caribbean, or any other place abroad.

A lot of people don’t touch on the L.A. Detroit, Chicago, and New York thing. We kind of share a certain period of time in music. Where we are really all on the same page. And that era I’m talking about is the early eighties. When you got Cybertron, you got Egyptian Lover, you got Nucleus, Mann Parish, Ice T, with the style of music he was doing at the time with Chris “The Glove” Taylor with “Reckless”. The Stuff we did with Techno, What Nucleus did with Electro and Afrika Bambaataa with “Planet Rock.” Nobody was copying anybody else. We were just all influenced by James Brown and Kraftwerk. New York just rapped over it. L.A. like to scratch over it. New York called it electro. L.A. called it techno-hop. Which I find to be right on the nose as far as a marriage of styles. They rapped over that shit. It wasn’t hip-hop at the time,. Those were the party records.

And then in hip-hop, I feel like Detroit runs it. On a major label, there’s no artist that’s bigger than Eminem. On a an underground scale, we run it. Who’s fucking with Black Milk, Royce, Guilty Simpson, and the wave of all of them together. You know, Slum and Fat Kat. Who’s fucking with that? They are listening to Detroit, and they don’t even know it. Dr. Dre was a fan of J-Dilla, period. We touched everybody. People know what’s up. The industry clearly knows what’s happening. It’s just these other fools that don’t know what’s happening

How did your association with Slum Village come about?

J-Dilla was a good friend of mine. Slum Village was his group. I was in California and I could remember he was telling me they were looking for a DJ at the time, but I didn’t know that he was leaving the group. I thought I was going to be on the road with my boy and he wasn’t in the group any more. I ended up going on the road to DJ with them 2001.

What was the one thing you learned from J Dilla that you take to heart now more than anything?

Listen…Listen to your records. Listen to your records. There is a lot there. Listen…listen. He had an excellent ear. I think that the best speakers are the best listeners. You’ve got to listen, to pay attention, to know what the hell you’re talking about. When your listening to somebody’s record and it’s a ridiculous sample and you find out a month later or a week later, that you have that album and you didn’t do anything with it and you like the sample. You didn’t listen, and it flew by you. Everybody just wanna drop the needle and take the first thing they find. It’s time consuming to go through records, and records, and records. That’s why when you’re cleaning the house or doing something requiring some time, you know cut it on and listen from start to finish.

Could you name your top five favorite DJ’s?

I would have to go with Kenny Dixon Jr., Theo Parish…..I’m very spoiled when it comes to DJ’s…Jazzy Jeff, Joe Cooley, and Don Q.




Elzhi – “Audio Cinematic” (Prod. DJ Dez)

Links:
DJ Dez’s Official Myspace
DJ Dez’s Official Facebook

Similar Posts:

• Tim Parker a.k.a. Gift of Gab
• Interview: Nick Speed – City Sounds
• Interview: Mayer Hawthorne
• Funk Night Records – 45′s
• Brother Ali & Fashawn Interview ~ Part 1
• Amazing One-Man-Band Street Performer in Croatia
• Flying Lotus Returns With Cosmogramma