WIUX : Pure Student Radio

How old were you when you started recording and when did you decide you wanted to make this music gig into a career?

Dave – I would say that sometime in middle school I got really interested in middle school. In high school, Mike and I knew each other and we would make beats for some kids. We never really thought it would turn into anything of a “career” but as we got older we started taking things a little more seriously and music has been a huge part of our lives for the past 10 or 12 years.

Mike – From my end, I was in bands in high school and stuff but I never at any point thought it would be a career, not that it really is now, but I’ve always been dreaming of it for sure. It was right before I met Dave when I bought my first turntable, and my first sampler and my first 4 track. So this was all converging around the time when we met each other. Like Dave said, it was a couple years later when we met with (the rest of CYNE) and it was the first 4 track that we did with them that turned into our first 12”

Who were some of your major influences growing up?

Mike – From the hip hop stand point, tribe, outkast, de la soul that whole early 90s positive hip hop soul stuff. In general, growing up, I remember listening to the Beach Boys when I was really young and I had a rap and metal stage in high school. I started taking notice of how groups were recording stuff and what intstruments they used. When I started making music with Dave we were taking samples from so many groups we were really teaching ourselves as we were picking sounds.

What does your typical day usually consist of?

Dave – well I got laid off from my job a few weeks ago, so now it consists of sleeping till whenever I want to, waking up, working on music for a while and kind of half-ass trying to find a job. Before that, it consisted of going to work all day and taking care of CYNE stuff while I was at work and working on music at night, but things are a little different at the moment.

What kind of struggles did you encounter as an up and coming hip hop grounp in an area that is better known for its harder gangster rap and punk scene?

I think at first people were a little skeptical but once we started to prove ourselves people were nothing but supportive. We get a wide range of people at our shows.

Mike – I had moved to Gainesville a little later, I grew up in Miami and finished up high school there and I think the first thing I remember doing was going in Gainesville was going to a show because the town kind of beckoned that. In college towns there are bands that come and go but then there’s that core of people that keep it going no matter what who find new things to do and get a lot of appreciation back and forth.

Dave – It would work out pretty well because if we needed like a bass line or whatever and between the four of us we knew a lot of musicians so it seemed like a lot of things would fall into place being in an area like that. People were always supporting each other

What has been your most memorable live performance?

Dave – One of them was opening up for The Roots and another show that ill always remember is opening up for LP because he is one of my personal music heroes for me.

Mike – I would agree with the Roots show. We didn’t know what we were getting into and we were both through the university and we were in front of this huge crowd and it was a huge sound and we’ve gained fans ever since. We did a festival circuit in Europe and we played a small stint of winter fests but we got to meet all these artists that you listen to their records regularly and you get to meet them so maybe the tour of a whole was more of an experience for me.

Where is your favorite place to perform?

Dave – Probably somewhere in Europe, we’ve played some amazing showing in France and Denmark and Germany. In town I would say the Common Ground, that’s like a second home for us in Gainesville but other than that I would say somewhere in Paris.

Is there anything that bothers you about mainstream Hip Hop today? Anything that comforts you?

I think that the theatrics, it’s as if you’re trying to create this persona and there’s nothing wrong with the entertainment aspect of rap but it’s with the esteems of people that are totally uneducated about rap or hip hop are talking about three main things and its guns money and women. And to some degree I think for all of us, it doesn’t always have to be about that and there’s so much more about personal experience and observation that can still deliver the same feeling. And we’re not saying we’re diehard preachers or not to talk about women or anything like that but some of the theatrics behind it get such negative attention drawn to it.

Mike – For Dave and I on the production side with top 40 production there is a ton on innovation like with the stuff the Netunes produce, or that timbaland is doing and there’s a bunch of stuff that up and coming people are doing and even staple guys like DRE for example. Music has consistently blown me away. The rapper may come and go but the list keeps building.

Dave – I think for a while it was really stagnant because some mainstream artists don’t want to deal with your samples because they have other things to do but there is some great stuff out there that’s great.

What keeps you true to your musical ethics as opposed to running to where the money is?

I think all of us are too honest and true to ourselves. I can’t see any of us making music that we don’t like just to make a buck. I think at the end of the day we would all regret something like that immediately. We’re all music fans and at the end of the day we have to be able to live with the music we make. That’s a huge part of what CYNE is. We’re always playing new music for each other that we find and we listen to it and try to find a way to incorporate it into what we do.

Do you have a specific audience that you’re trying to reach or is it truly music for the people?

I would say that it’s truly music for the people. There’s no specific audience we’re aiming at.

Whats your most rewarding music experience?

We were on tour over in Europe and we were going out but we walked into some random bar and the DJ was spinning one of our tracks. I’ll always remember that moment. Also, being in the internet age I really like being able to communicate with the people that listen to our music. We’re talking to kids from all over that have no qualms with reaching out.

What group haven’t you had the chance to see but can’t wait until you do?

Mike – I would go back in time to see Metallica. I would love to see Bjork but she only makes it out to a tour once a while.
Dave – I would love to see Wu Tang Clan, and The Sea and Cake and if Kraftwork got back together I would love to see them

What’s your biggest motivation to get out of bed in the morning?

Well, I have to go to work and pay the bills but the other one is the enjoyment of making music in general. There’s that and my wife, family, not being bored, that kind of stuff.

Who would you love to record with living or dead?

Andre from Outkast, Lil Wayne, Redman, Ludacris, Jay-Z, Nas

Would you ever sell out to an Apple commercial?

I’m going to go ahead and say yes.

Yea, the thing is and its going to sound terrible when I say this but I stand behind Apple 100% as a brand because there’s only a couple things in my life that I could say that about but my inclination is probably more towards yes than no.

I see a lot of people getting a bad rap for “selling out” but if you’re making music as a career and you’re having a hard time having ends meet and you have to choose between making music or going back to your day job, I think it’s understandable. It’s something else to sell out on the Blackeyed Peas level, but if some company comes along and they want to use your music in a commercial because it’s good, I don’t consider that selling out its someone recognizing your music is good.

How has being the first hip hop group on Home Tapes been for you?

Absolutely awesome. Home Tapes has been treating us incredibly the whole time and I’m very happy with us putting our album out through them and I hope to do more with them in the future. They have great attention to detail and they really open up to us like a family. We’re really happy to be a part of it. Its been the best friendship/business relationship we’ve ever been in.

-Interview by Andy Viana