TODD DI MARTINO (MTL RECORDS)  (May 2008) | Interview By: Jonathan Hay

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Interview was done in May 2008

Questions Asked By: Jonathan Hay

Todd Di Martino gave Dubcnn.com a Shoutout. Check that Here

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Todd DiMartino Launches Powerhouse Label From The Bay Area
By: Jonathan Hay
www.myspace.com/jonathanhay
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Dubcnn: So let me get this straight…it was less than two years ago when you were driving from the Bay Area on your way to LA and a friend of yours put in a locally known artist’s CD, and basically that was the beginning of your record label. Can you share the Genesis behind that divine intervention?

My friend Mario Iglesias shared a CD with me on a baseball trip to LA with my son and I. I thought the songs and production on the CD were crazy and immediately asked Mario what label this dude was signed to, he said nobody. At that moment in time, a light bulb went off and I immediately thought I must meet this kid and see if I can help him get his music to the world.


Dubcnn: At a time when people are rapidly getting out of the business due to the declining CD sales, you are jumping in headfirst. Are you nervous about the current state of the music business? Moreover, what can be done to help resolve all these cash-flow problems of the industry?

I am extremely nervous about the state of the music industry. Things have moved in the direction of downloads and ringtones. As a profit seeking music label all new artists will have to break with singles targeting downloads and ringtones. Once popularity and name recognition is built then album creation and creativity will then come to the forefront, after the artist is somewhat established in the marketplace.


Dubcnn: The mega corporation, Live Nation is giving out million-dollar deals for touring recording artists. Do you think touring is the best way for an artist to earn income now?

I think that touring in the near term will provide the artist / label with the band-aid of relief from declining CD sales. I do think overseas touring will pick-up and North America will only be one of many significant stops for all artists.


Dubcnn: When you had your artist open for Too-Short recently did it turn out to be a successful move?

Great move, Sterlen [Roberts] tore it up as shown on his filmed performance featured on either YouTube or MySpace.


Dubcnn: On your stylish website, www.mtlrecords.com, you are giving away a song called “Runnin’ (The Oprah Song).” What is the reason for this generous gift of music and why is it referred to as the “the Oprah song?”

This song is an extremely powerful song speaking to Sterlen’s life’s journey from Oakland to his present day path. Oprah is a very powerful figure and in Sterlen’s household, that is no exception. He reaches out to Oprah telling her that not all rappers are speaking about the denigration of women and the denigration of their race, but are actually trying to spit meaningful rhythms as well and not to be blinded by the negativity that there are still a lot of positive things in the hip-hop genre of music.


Dubcnn: According to Mediabase, your artist, Sterlen Roberts, 1st single, “She Works” is the 9th most-played Indie song (rhythmic) in the country. How has this milestone changed the parameter of your label’s business?

I think it fires everyone up to work even harder knowing that the public is embracing Sterlen’s first single. We are now following this success with working on Promotional touring through radio and live appearances. Sterlen is building a fan base in the Bay; with the help of all of the local DJ’s, shout out to all the DJ’s making this possible!


Dubcnn: I know that you professionally admire 50 Cent - can you explain why you look up to the G-Unit leader?

I am a businessperson first above all, I have followed the life of 50 Cent, and I am in awe of the enormous success he has had as a businessperson as well as an artist. I do feel that 50 being a rapper has not given him his due as a business man, as I feel unfortunately that big business in this country is still being controlled by white America with issues with black rappers, which is total bullsh*t. If 50 cent was white and had graduated from an Ivy League school he would be revered as the music / business Donald Trump, instead he is looked upon as a gangster. I would love to sit down with 50 to discuss business of every level, marketing and promotion, name branding, he is a genius!


Dubcnn: One of your first major moves in the development of your label was bringing in high-profile Los Angeles entertainment attorney, Dina LaPolt. How did you get her to join forces with you?

I begged her *laughing*. I called her until she said yes. This was the most important single piece of the puzzle when starting MTL Records. Her years of experience in this game keep me grounded and my expectations tempered. I look forward to working with her on the next phase of the labels progression, distribution.


Dubcnn: Another one of your early key strategic business moves is when you aligned yourself with Brandon Lamela, who has worked with Dr. Dre and Zach Katz (J.R. Rotem). How did that relationship emerge?

Dina and Zach Katz have a great professional relationship so when I needed to hire an A&R person to work on this project Dina called Zach and he recommended Brandon. After meeting Brandon in LA, I felt that his youthful energy, experience and personality would be a good fit on this project and it was.


Dubcnn: You were also involved with the Sha Money XL conference – What was that experience like?

Rob Salinas recommended that the label go down to this conference to show off our production side of the label and we are glad we did. Sterlen stole the show with his beats and we made a friend in Sha as well as a lot of other industry leader of whom we are communicating with presently on several deals, of which I cannot talk about.


Dubcnn: One of my favorite things about you is that you do not short-change the music -- you invest heavily into the music, which people seem to take for granted now. You have recorded in the top recording studios in the country: Encore, Larrabee, Paramount, and Westlake…can you share of your experiences in these famous Los Angeles powerhouse facilities?

WOW, that’s one word that would be best described, these place have so much history with the walls that it is awesome to step foot inside of them. When you work at studios like that on a regular basis you find yourself working in the same house as Snoop, Game and people like DJ Quick or Kurrupt would stop in to feel the vibe, what a honor being associated with cats like that, but that’s who is around facilities like that.


Dubcnn: You got with Grammy Award winners like; Manny Marroquin (Alicia Keys) and Anthony Kilhoffer (Kayne West) to work on a MTL Records project. What was it like working with them?

This is one of my favorite topics when I talk to people about my label. First of all let me tell you how I met Kilhoffer, I reached out to four people to work on our latest project, Sterlen Roberts; Kilhoffer, Manny, Mike Dean and Andrew Dawson. I heard back from everyone but Mike Dean, so it was down to three. Andrew who I vibed with lives in NY but I really wanted to do the project in LA so I decided to pursue Kilhoffer and Manny. Both guys were really responsive, I remember meeting Kilhoffer for the first time, for those of you that do not know about him, let me tell you this guy is a multi-winning Grammy mixer / producer, bad ass.

He was working at Chalice the night before with guess who? And he agreed to meet Pete, Sterlen and I at Starbucks near the Beverly Center. From the moment this cat sat down we all vibed, I felt the magic in the project already. We ended up doing about 50% of our work with Anthony; we still talk to him on a regular basis he is one of our go to guys fa’ sho’. Manny was finishing Alicia Keys new album so we started with Anthony then when Manny freed up we went to Manny for the other 50% of the project. Manny’s the dude! He became a friend and a respected colleague from the get-go! He did our blockbusters, Only Money, She Works and Time’s Right just to mention a few.


Dubcnn: The world renowned, Live Oak Studio, out of Berkeley, CA, is the home recording studio to MTL Records. What has your experience been like working there?

Nothing but great experiences at Live Oak. James Ward is an excellent engineer and works great with our MTL Team. Located in Berkeley, Live Oak is in very close proximity to everyone at MTL.


Dubcnn: You have worked with both esteemed and multi-platinum producers, AllStar and Mr. DJ. Tell us about the songs you have recorded with these elite studio hit-makers?

Well let me start with AllStar cool dude from New Jersey, he produced Sterlen’s two of our singles, She Works ( on the radio now ) and Only Money. Mr. DJ, Slim Jim the whole Camp David crew, great dudes. Mr. DJ, et al produced the song The Truth, real talk about this nightmare in Iraq and about real family issues. The other song was collaboration between Mr. DJ, et al and Rico Love that song is doing want your Girl a club banger. Mr. DJ is such a creative dude he produced hits with OutKast like Ms. Jackson and Bombs over Baghdad, MTL Records was lucky to have those guys on our team.


Dubcnn: You were able to get Mistah F.A.B and San Quinn to appear on your upcoming artist’s debut album. Are you happy with the recordings you received from Mistah F.A.B and San Quinn?

I wanted to get more of a Bay vibe to our club banger An Lean so we called out to some local Bay cats Fabby Davis and San Quinn; they both embraced the track and jumped on. It’s all about coming together to help unite the Bay. Both of them killed this remix, after all Fabby Davis is the life of the party!!!


Dubcnn: Being that you are affiliated with Mistah FAB, has the incident of him being blacklisted from 106 KMEL hurt your Bay Area spins?

KYLD has been real supportive to our movement, lots of love to those folks. KMEL, supported An Lean before the remix with Fab and Quinn, but we got caught in the middle of something we were not aware of until after the remix came out. That’s life I guess, we have lots of love for Big Von and they also have supported our movement.


Dubcnn: You were also able to obtain Pooh Bear and recruit him for a collaboration. Will that song be a single?

Pooh Bear is featured on Mr. DJ’s produced track, The Truth. That is more of an album track; it is a real retrospective type song.


Dubcnn: With the political and entertainment world being not very similar - and as a leader yourself – who do you think will be the next leader for the American White House? Who is your favorite candidate for the upcoming Commander-in-Chief?

I have voted Republican most of my life and admittedly, I voted for George Bush in the last two elections. However, I am freaking ashamed to say that. I am very much against the war in Iraq, too many of our troops have died it is horrible; the first verse in our song the "The Truth" is a powerful verse that follows my sediments on the war. I want change in the White House not the same old crap, McCain, Clinton….NO THANKS, my dude is OBAMA, I am very excited to vote this year, let’s vote for change!!!


Dubcnn: Staying on politics…with you also being a Californian, how do you personally feel about Arnold Schwarzenegger as Governor?

Not too much to say, Arnold is cool, anyone that can play a bad ass like him in the movies has my vote *laughing*.


Dubcnn: Last words and final thoughts for our readers?

MTL records has a powerful movement on the ground, MTL Records is a ground up label on the grind. Thanks Rob, Pete, Sterlen, Joe, Dina, DJ Maniakal, Rob P., and AB, much love. Thanks to my family, I have been out on the grind a lot lately and have been missing my family, thanks for your understanding. My advice to any new artists, get yourself as far and as polished in this game before coming to the label. The game is very fast now be prepared to hit the ground on the run with the hustle at 100MPH. Hit us up online at www.mtlrecords.com Peace!