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SoundSlam: What’s up Muggs? How is life out West?

Muggs: What’s up brother. I’m good, man.

SoundSlam: Word. So, you’ve produced previously for Gza a few different joints...What spawned the new record, GrandMasters.

Muggs: Just working in the past and making good music. I was thinking, ‘man, I want to do a record with Gza,’ and I had some beats and stuff. I was in New York and I reached out to him and he came to the hotel and gave him the beats. He took them and started writing to them... wrote some rhymes and sh*t… he wrote a few songs and we scheduled some time to come out to L.A. and boom! We banged it out.

SoundSlam: Now, I grew up on 36 Chambers and this record is interesting to me because sonically it has the feel of 36 Chambers, but minus the lo-fi quality, really. How was the approach to the music-making on your end?

Muggs: Well, the way we wanted to do it was like the earlier records, like Temple of Boom and the first Cypress (Hill) record, that was just real grimy, you know what I mean?

SoundSlam: Yeah, I love it.

Muggs: My sound has always been really dark and grimy, in that sense. And some cats don’t like to f*ck with that sound no more, know what I mean? But I make beats like that all the time and the Gza loves that sound, so we connected. And we had mixed the record real lo-fi, but its just the way that everybody is using computers nowadays, it sounds super super muddy compared to everything that’s playing it. We had to mix it digitally and make it sound a little cleaner, make it crack a little more. But yeah, that was [the] approach, man. Just a love for a certain style of music and just doin’ the hell what we felt like doin,’ instead of just try to chase this radio, chase this video. We knew we were out for respect again because we knew we wouldn’t get any radio and very limited video play. And even a lot of the mixshow DJ’s now are worrying about their ratings so they’re playing daytime records up there. SoundSlam: What 12”s are you getting pressed up for this? Muggs: Right now we got “General Principles” and “All In Together” and another 12” is “Destruction Of A Guard” and “Advanced Pawn.”

SoundSlam: Now, I don’t know if a lot of people realize it, but your discography is kind of crazy. I mean, you’ve collaborated with non-hip hop artists such as Sonic Youth, Tricky, Pearl Jam and so on. Is it important for you to take on different projects or is it more just about the timing that they come up?

Muggs: It’s, umm, a little of all that. For me though, just being an artist, I just like to experiment, and test my boundaries as a producer. I like to try different things. You don’t want to be in the studio every day doin’ the same things or it’ll get really boring. So, it makes it fresh to do hip hop records again and it makes it fresh to try other things as well.

SoundSlam: Now, I just found out that you guys got some shine in the magazine Scratch recently. I know you mentioned you don’t expect much radio or video play, but are you pleased with the other press attention and the word on the streets about the record?

Muggs: Yeah, I think that it’s been great. A few of the major publications were reluctant to do the story because they’re more interested in putting new artists in their magazines. But I thought we had a great story, with two of the most influential groups in hip hop history, and the impact that we made is just moving. So I thought that a bunch of majors would’ve seen that, but I guess a bunch of young writers out there have to cover some of the places that don’t understand the impact that we made for this culture.

SoundSlam: Yeah, very true. I was talking to Reverend Run [of Run D.M.C.] about that. Personally, I pay attention to the older music, I still go out and dig for it weekly and still play older stuff in my DJ sets, but I, too, think that a lot of young people do miss the importance of going back and seeking out the older music.

Muggs: Yeah, you don’t gotta do that. I mean, I don’t expect [you] to have to love “C.R.E.A.M.” you know what I mean. But, I’m sure that if you took a Mick Jagger or Eric Clapton, a rock magazine would understand the significance or importance of a story like that. The press has been great, but it’s just been the mainstream publications, you know.

SoundSlam: Now, the album is just one big chess reference, more or less. Was that a product of Gza’s lyrics or is there a story behind how that came about?

Muggs: That was just as important as making the record. I mean, when you make a record in a concentrated amount of time, it kinda starts to take a life of its own. And then it started to guide itself. We were playin’ while we were checking out some chess samples. I knew I wanted to put some chess samples in the record and I saw that “Grand Master” is the highest level of a chess player, so I asked some homies about what they thought. Then, I hit him with the idea and Gza was with it and we thought about Grandmaster Flash, Grandmaster Melle Mel, that the highest level of chess player is a grand master. So, that’s where that came from. And then we was thinkin’ about how to make it like a chess game, tying the record together because Gza plays chess everyday… that’s his personality. And me being a producer, when I put a project together, I feel like the record has gotta have that cohesiveness.

SoundSlam: Right. Makes perfect sense. Do you play?

Muggs: Yeah, I play.

SoundSlam: Fresh. So tell me about what type of legacy you guys expect to have? Or, is that even a concern on any level?

Muggs: I don’t know. That ain’t for me to decide, really. It’s not my choice. I just wanna make good music. And what I’m doin’, where I’m comin’ from is that hip hop is urban punk rock. So, it’s not about conforming and you aren’t gonna conform to what’s goin’ on. I refuse to put a bunch of r&b hooks on my records and that crap, or tryin’ to do what the trend is at that moment. You know, it’s become this formulated form of pop music, you know what I mean? I refuse to get down to that. I get down to it with a punk rock attitude like “F*ck everybody and this pop sh*t!” I look at this like I’m in it for the long haul. You can’t chase every train… you gotta be you, man.

SoundSlam: Yeah, everyone has different opinions on the topic, but I think that different ideas and positions are healthy. It’s people like yourself that keep that necessary character in the game.

Muggs: Yeah, I do this because I got love for the art. Period. I’ve always done it my way and people have always accepted it. And I’ve had some success, so I’m gonna continue to do it my way.

SoundSlam: Yeah, respect to that. Now, your sound has a quality of ten and fifteen years ago like we discussed. So, let’s talk about who your influences were?

Muggs: EPMD, Rick Rubin, all of Marley Marl’s sh*t, the Bomb Squad, Ced Gee from Ultramagnetic, BDP (Scott La Rock), and just lots of other miscellaneous music.

SoundSlam: Word up. Any plugs you want to speak on?

Muggs: Well, we just started a label, Angeles Records. That’s who we put the album out through. Also, Self Scientific, another group from LA, is on it. Their album came out the same day as GrandMasters and it’s one of the most bangin’ albums of the year. So, everyone should check that out. Also, we have a new Soul Assassins album coming out this summer. Another couple releases coming this year too.

SoundSlam: How much of the production have you done on the Soul Assassins record?

Muggs: I’m doin’ all of it probably.

SoundSlam: Well, I didn’t know if you would have Alchemist or anyone else throw production on there.

Muggs: Yeah, we aren’t that deep into it yet, but I might have Alchemist do a few tracks for a little more flavor. So, I’ll probably have Al and Khalil do a few tracks. So, be on the lookout for that later in 2006