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Interviewees rarely say that it's "cool" to tape record an interview.
Typically, they glare at the little motorized machine as if it
were a deadly weapon. But for King Britt, a tape recorder can capture an atmosphere
- chattering conversations, bleating car alarms, heels clacking
down a sidewalk. "I use a lot of environmental records and sound effects when I
spin now," says the 28-year-old DJ. "It just enhances the whole
experience.... And I like to take a lot of old movies like Shaft and put them on tape and walk around the city listening to sounds.
You can visualize [the movie] yourself. Put your own stars in."
Similarly, on King Britt's funky/jazzy new project with Sylk 130,
When The Funk Hits The Fan (Ovum/Ruffhouse/Columbia), background noise, poetry and dialogue
are interspersed with songs to fill out the picture. With his
partner, Third Story Recording owner/engineer John Wicks, and
a host of guest stars, King has created a 73-minute soundtrack
of a day in the life of a DJ. It's also the first chapter in his
own autobiography. Sylk 130 is a family affair far beyond the fact that King put
his parents on the album. The project brings together a crew of
all-star Philly musicians. Jamaaladeen Tacuma and Tony T&T Jones
(of Sister Sledge) play bass. Daryl Burges (who plays for Grover
Washington Jr.) and Pete Rudd (of Kool and the Gang) sit in on
percussion and drums. Vocal duties are shared by singers Vicky
Miles and Alison Crockett, poet Ursula Rucker and rapper Tony
Green - among others. The cast also includes saxophonist Elliot
Levin and guitarist Monette Sudler. Sitting in the airy, moderne Paradigm restaurant in Old City,
the famed Philadelphia DJ and co-owner of Ovum Records spins his
Sylk-y story. Where did you get the name Sylk 130? I've always been a fan of graffiti. In graffiti you always have
a nickname, a tag - [that included your] address. My address with
Lee Jones [a Philly DJ] was 130. Sylk comes from Silkworm, my name when I spun
with the Digable Planets. And Silk City. And the music's very
smooth, like silk. How did you come up with the idea to create a sonic movie? When I was on tour with Digables, I started thinking about doing
a solo album - a work of art where I'd trace a day in the life
of a DJ. I didn't have money to do a film. I was able to do a
musical e-motion picture - meaning each song stirs up emotion.
If it's an old song you think of old memories. Eventually, the whole thing is going to be a trilogy. It starts
with '77, the disco era. [Although King uses literary license
- he would have been about 9 years old in '77.] The next album
will focus on '84. I was so influenced by Depeche Mode, Roxy Music,
Yaz, Alison Moyet.... The album's gonna be called Members Only. Remember the jackets? Ugh, those jackets! One song is called "Remembering Molly Ringwald," which I'm going
to do with The Interpreters. And then the third album will be
very futuristic, very experimental. Did you script out the dialogue for this album? No. There's this John Cassavetes film, Faces, where it was all improv. I like that... and I like to typecast.
Tara and Jason, who are really boyfriend and girlfriend, were
arguing one day and I said, "Why don't you guys come in tomorrow?"
I gave them a scenario to work with and they actually got in another
argument. Doz [DJ Dozia Blakey] was in a scene where he's at the
door at Silk and dealing with a guy complaining about how much
it is to get in. The guy says, "Two dollars?! For what?!" I incorporated
life situations in the album. I placed myself back in the '70s, and what I would do. I'd go
to a record store, hang out with Doz. My father would drive me
around. He still drives me, I don't drive [he laughs]... I wrote
all those lyrics over a two-year relationship with my ex-girlfriend
so a lot of that's about the ups and downs. Was it hard to sell your idea of a soulful, autobiographical soundtrack? Although Ruffhouse has really been behind everything we've done,
the black music department at Columbia didn't really understand
this project. It was too left-field. But the pop music department
did. Then I sent Maxwell the album. I was supposed to tour with
Maxwell as a DJ, but we couldn't work it out. Maxwell went to
Sony and said this is the best album you have this year. Now they're
all over it. You grew up in Southwest Philly? Yeah, 56th and Litchfield. Near Chester Avenue. Kinda rough. It's
real rough now. I put my parents on the album. The first track,
a funk track, my father's on it talking about funk music in the
car. Without my parents I wouldn't be into music as heavily as
I am now. How did they influence you? Well my mom, she knew Sun Ra and all those jazz cats. She would
drag me out to these shows. I hated that stuff back then; I couldn't
really comprehend it. But now he's such a huge influence. My father
was a big James Brown collector. He also took me to some weird
shows, like Art of Noise. Did you see the PBS documentary on rock and roll? Oh yeah, I own it. In the one installment they focus on the history of rap and its
link with rock and electronica. Did you think that was pretty
accurate? Definitely. For myself, I was introduced into electronica through
grade school. I went to Greenfield, which was predominately Jewish
kids. They were listening to Pink Floyd, Depeche Mode, New Order,
Kraftwerk. Then Bambatta came out with his stuff, which incorporated
Kraftwerk and Blondie. In Philly, Cash Money and Jazzy Jeff would
throw these block parties. They used to incorporate a lot of jazz
and rock stuff in their sets. The whole new wave and hip-hop scene
was so melded together. Over time it separated, unfortunately.
You've been spinning a lot at Fluid. That place has really taken
off. The sound there is so good. I was telling Silk City years ago,
you gotta put a system in. They didn't want to do it. That's one
reason I quit. [King started the very successful Back 2 Basics
night there seven years ago.] I do Mondays once in a while. Not
to be a priss or anything, but they should really make it into
a cool club. 'Cause their main income is our night and Ratpack.
We always have to bring our own turntables, our own mixers. How did you amass such a killer Philly band? We're all good friends. I met a lot of these people through Silk.
I just wanted to wait until I had a project where I could incorporate
all of 'em. With Ovum we want to keep everything Philly-based.
Are you gonna do Sylk 130 live? I can't wait to play live with the band. I want our first show
to be at the Troc. I want it to be very Las Vegas. We'll all wear
tuxes. The women will wear gowns. A cosmic lounge. What's your biggest hope for the Sylk 130 record? Basically, I just wanted to make a record that my 3-year-old daughter
could listen to when she grows up and be like, "Wow, my Pop made
this record."
The King of Philly