24: Introduce yourself to the readers and let them know where your from ?
Brandan Toledo: I’m from Miami, FL and I am a producer as well as an engineer.
Chip Williams: I’m from North Carolina. I’m a producer and engineer as well.
St. LaRok: I’m from Chicago, IL. I’m a producer and writer.
24: How did you guys come together to form a production team?
Brandan Toledo: We all met in college going to Full Sail University in Orlando, FL. We began working on music with each other as a way to pass time while getting our recording arts degree. After we graduated, St. LaRok and Chip stayed another year to get another degree while I went back to Miami and started building the studio and a business up. We have been working as Miami Beat Wave since then.
24: Was producing always your guys first love?
Brandan: The love for music was instilled in me at a very young age playing in the band. I began to love producing records later on in my life.
St. LaRok: My first love was Hip-Hop music. Everything else just evolved from there.
Chip: My first love was my drum kit which made me fall in love with producing music.
24: Who were some of your biggest influences as far as producers go?
St. LaRok: I grew up listening to an array of eclectic sounds. My sound came from me listening to House music and James Brown. As far as Hip-Hop production it was definitely inspired by DJ Premier, Pete Rock, and J Dilla.
Brandan: The RZA and all the Wu-Tang stuff definitely to Dr. Dre and Quincy Jones as far as being all around producers.
Chip: For me it was Bob Marley and Dr.Dre. They’re pretty diverse and Bob has the guitar and bass that I love.
24: For the readers that may not be familiar with you guys run down your resume a bit?
Brandan Toledo: We’ve had the opportunity to produce for Rick Ross, Dead Prez, Skyzoo, Guilty Simpson, Ghostwridah, !MAYDAY!, Ras Kass, Smitty, Omniscient, Dynas, Locos por Juana and many others. We also worked on the score for the “Miami Law“ Nintendo video game.
24: You guys produced GhostWridah ft !MayDay!-Still Not Famous which is definitely a personal favorite of mine so tell me how did that record come about from a production level because GhostWridah pretty much explained the concept of the record in the video?
Brandan Toledo: The process started with me chopping and layering a sample and then adding the drum pattern on top. From there Chip laid guitar on the hook and a acoustic riff in the verses. We then dumped it into Logic and started adding some breaks and arranging. GhostWridah & !Mayday! wrote there verses in the studio and history was made.
24: What are some projects you guys are currently working on?
Brandan Toledo: We are blessed to be working on a variety of projects right now. We’re currently in the process of getting the “Information Age” for Dead Prez complete. Singles for both Saheed and !Mayday! are in the works, as well as collaborating with DJ EFN on a remix project he is releasing called “Digging in the Tapes“. We just wrapped up on a single with Pitbull & Garcia with future projects off that. Also, albums for Live Free, Dangerflow, Real Talk and Davincci‘s “Personal Contribution” LP are coming along and finishing up the recording process for Dynas‘ album “The Planet” that will be releasing soon!
24: Looking towards the future tell me a few artist that you would love to get together with in the studio?
Brandan Toledo: Artist such as Cee Loo Green, Common & Talb Kweli are all personal favorite’s I would love to make magic with.
Chip Williams: I would be excited to work on a project with YelaWolf right now.
St. LaRok: Definitely, Mos Def.
24: With 2011 right around the corner what do you have planned because I’m sure you want to make an even bigger splash on the music industry then you did in 2010?
Brandan Toledo: There’s plenty of things to come for the New Year, a lot of projects in the works that will definitely make the team more visible to the listeners. Omniscient’s Social Work LP just dropped on SoFLo Ent. and we have two new music videos directed by Adam Rush coming out on MTV. We have music videos coming out for tracks off our latest compilation “Slight Modification“. Look out for the “I Can’t Stand It” video with Chief, Guilty Simpson and Wrekonize! Also we are working with some new pop songwriters to get some songs to shop for 2011 and being able to collaborate with more established, as well as up-and-coming talent.
24: What’s the best way for the readers to keep up to date with everything you guys are doing?
Brandan Toledo: Check out www.MiamiBeatWave.com for upcoming new releases and download our latest compilation “Slight Modification” right off the website or itunes. Also, www.twitter.com/MiamiBeatWave and www.MiamiBeatWave.Blogspot.com.
Follow Us On Twitter
@24hourhiphop
@Jay_Carter
@MiamiBeatWave
No Comment