DA RIFFS  (February 2005) | Interview By: Nima

       Dubcnn.com recently sat down to the newest production sensation out: Da Riffs. E-Roc & Zed are still fresh in the game, and have already produced for people like Method Man, Redman, Xzibit, Ras Kass and many more. With their universal sound, they can fit anybody. They told us about their beginnings, their experiences until now, future projects and much much more. We have both the transcript and audio for you to check and feel free to send any feedback regarding the interview to: nima@dubcnn.com

 

Huge thanks to Da Riffs for taking time out to answer the questions fans wanted to know and to Abby for setting it up! (Interview was done by phone in February of 2005)

Questions Asked By : Nima

Da Riffs Gave Dubcnn.com A Shoutout! Check That Here

Full Interview In Audio : Here
 

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dubcnn.com: So we're talking to Da Riffs.... Let me know, who are Da Riffs?

E-Roc: That's me, E-Roc.

Zed: And me, Zed aka Thunderfunk.


dubcnn.com: Where are ya'll from and how did you get together?

E-Roc: I'm from New York and was managed by a girl named Abby and she introduced me to Zed.

Zed: I'm originally from Alaska, and actually met up with Abby when I was out in Connecticut, and when I was out in California a couple years later, she put us together and the rest is history!


dubcnn.com: Why did you pick Da Riffs as a name?

E-Roc: Actually, I was watching that movie "The Warrios", old 70's movie, and you had all these different types of gangs in the movie, and one of the groups was called Da Riffs and they were kinda like the head crew that was out to get the Warrios throughout the movie. So that was kind of a cool lil name and that was that!


dubcnn.com: So you're a production crew... What's your work process in the studio?

Zed: Well it varies, I mean we both do stuff on our own, but most of it is done together. E-Roc does alot of the drums, and he also plays keys. And I do keys and do some drum processing, but mostly play the guitar, use the string insturments. It's collaborative, we kinda feed off each other and kinda feel it out. I guess like a Jazz band, one is one the drums, the other on the guitar, and you kinda stack it up from there.


dubcnn.com: Right, so you complement each other. How would you describe your production style?

E-Roc: Man everytime we sit down, it sounds like something different, cause we have so many different projects. People tell us what they're looking for, what budgets they're holding, and we can just vary up. We got stuff like Rock & Roll and Eascoast HipHop, Down South, we really put our signature shit on there. It's not really a name for it, but, you know, we got samples, we got keyboards..


dubcnn.com: But you do have a signature sound?

E-Roc: Yeah, I mean we got a sound. It's alotta people that just sample, and only have samples, or people who only do keyboard beats but we kinda have both backgrounds, so every beat we have, we're not just gonna take a sample and chop it up and loop it, we're gonna like replay parts, and add parts, and add alot of stuff on top of it. We try to have the element of musicianship on top of it, not just cutting and pasting and sampling and sequencing. We wanna put some real live instruments on it and try to give it that live feel.


dubcnn.com: Who have you collaborated with up until now? Who have you produced for?

Zed: A whole lotta people! Big names are.. we had a song called "I Will Not Lose" with Method Man & Redman, we did a song with Xzibit, Ras Kass, we got a whole album with Planet Asia... We got a whole album with Ali Vegas... Some stuff with Stat Quo (Shady/Aftermath), Sly Boogy, Young Zee, Rah Digga, we messing with Scipio and Bishop Lamont.. Heltah Skeltah..


dubcnn.com: That's all my people! Who would you say has been the dopest artist to work with in the studio?

E-Roc: Young Zee is pretty creative, he comes up with some shit! He's a cool cat, I definitely like working with him.


dubcnn.com: Have you ever had any BAD experiences with anybody?

E-Roc: Bad experiences... Nah, I don't think so, everything has been on the up!


dubcnn.com: You have a good relationship with DJ Warrior and the Cali Untouchables. How did that happen?

Zed: That happened through our manager Abby also. She works with alot of artists and she's always hooking up like exclusives for mixtapes and stuff. And Warrior heard our beats and he uses his networking which is working with artists to get them to change the mixtapes into more original production going on, not just covers and stuff like that. Warrior likes to get creative with what he's doing.


dubcnn.com: What projects are you currently working on?

E-Roc: We're doing a project with Planet Asia, his alter ego I guess, King Medallions. We're also doing some stuff with Ali Vegas. Also alot of EA stuff, the video games. Different video games, so we always have stuff popping with that. We actually just signed our contract with EA Sports as exclusive urban music producers. So on every game, they gonna be using us on like 3-4 songs. And also recently we signed a publishing deal with Next Level on the Cherry Lane publishing, which is a new company started up with EA Sports, a joint venture.


dubcnn.com: Will Da Riffs be doing a compilation album too?

Zed: Yeah actually Dow Jones and Warrior were talking about doing a Da Riffs mixtape which will be more like an album, better artwork and real packaging and barcodes. But that was just all the songs that were featured on alotta shit we worked on.


dubcnn.com: Which artists would you like to work with that you haven't worked with yet?

E-Roc: It's alotta artists *laughs*


dubcnn.com: Your Top 5!

E-Roc: We got a track with Lloyd Banks but we haven't heard it yet, but that was one that in the past was someone we wanted to work with, so hopefully we'll get to hear the song first. Who else... I really wanna work with AZ, so if he reads this, hit us up!


dubcnn.com: Who besides Da Riffs do you think is bringing heat in the game right now?

E-Roc: Red Spyda... Just Blaze got fire.. Timbaland... Battlecat.

Zed: Yeah Battlecat! We actually collaborated on a bunch of tracks with him recently.


dubcnn.com: How did that happen?

E-Roc: Once again through Abby! He heard our stuff and he was like "I gotta deal with these cats" and we were obliged to have him come to the studio and he came and brought all his stuff for like 3 days and we just pumped shit out! Cat can come out with some heat over and over and over!


dubcnn.com: We're currently trying to rebuild the West Coast... who are the top artists you think will have a significant part in this?

Both: Ras Kass!

Zed: Ras, Scipio, definitely Bishop Lamont, he's one of my favorite out here.

E-Roc: Sixx John, he's nice. We got a song with Sixx John, Roscoe & Bishop and Young Maylay. That's a hot one.


dubcnn.com: If you were to do a whole album with just one artist, who would you pick and why?

E-Roc: Personally I would pick Jay-Z cause I know that as long as I thought the beat was hot, whatever he put on it I know it'll sound fire.


dubcnn.com: Have you done alot of work with Ras Kass since he got out?

Zed: Yeah, alot, the guy is a fuckin' animal! He pumps out 5, 6, 7 songs a day, everyday, over and over and over, he's a workaholic. He obviously studied hard and when he came back, he came back with alotta songs. He got alot of concepts. The last 2 songs we did he told us how he wanted the beat to sound and the vibe he needed, and we hooked it up. Hopefully we'll make a couple on the album. The one with Xzibit is real hot.


dubcnn.com: If everything goes according to plan, what will you be doing htis time in 5 years?

E-Roc: Hopefully we're gonna have singles out there, we're gonna have high demand for Da Riffs, people gonna be lookin' at us to get their shit out there. And shit, in 5 years, we might be retired! On an island! *laughs* Nah but we just gonna keep the music on forward and not backwards.


dubcnn.com: That's about it for the questions, is there anything you'd like to let everybody know?

E-Roc: Yeah, if you're lookin' for any beats, holla at Abby1ill@aol.com!


dubcnn.com: Yeah, sounds like Abby been puttin' in alotta work for ya'll! Give her a shoutout!

Zed: Seriously, she definitely puts in her work. It's great to have her on the team!

E-Roc: Yeah, tell the business world to watch out for her!


dubcnn.com: Alright, good lookin' out on answerin' the questions!

E-Roc: Good lookin' Nima!

Zed: Alright peace man!