First of all tell us what part of Houston are you from and what was it like growing up there?
I’m from the Northside of Houston and I grew up in this area called Homestead. My neighbourhood was Rosewood back then it was kind of rough. A lot of the guys they made their money through hustling and stuff you know. Our neighbourhood was small, some neighbourhoods made money from selling drugs but our neighbourhood made money from robbing people.
For people that may not know you’re a Chop and Screw DJ and you also own Houston record label Swishahouse. When you first started out did you ever think that Screw music would be as big as it is now?
First of all I started out as a regular DJ I DJ’d for clubs and I DJ at the radio station doing regular stuff. I never really saw myself at this point doing Chopped and Screwed. When I first started doing it I did it for as friend because DJ Screw would make their mixtapes and they would strictly represent the South side of Houston. People loved the mixes but there was nothing in the mix that represented them so I started making mixes for guys on the North side. I took it from that point and just commercialised it instead of just making it a local North side thing. I kind of like commercialised it and made it neutral for everybody that like that type of music to enjoy.
What made you decide to be a DJ instead of wanting to become a rapper?
Actually I’m not good at anything else but that! (Laughs) I’ve always had a passion for music, ever since I was young I was doing little homemade mixes with what ever equipment I had. I have a natural knack for music.
A lot of people are now taking on the artform of Chopping and Screwing do you think the market is becoming saturated with people who think they can Chop and Screw?
Oh man the market is saturated with a bunch of bullsh*t! Actually there’s a lot of trash out there that’s actually destroying the art of what Chop and Screw is. Like, for people that’s really into it from like I hear, you know what a good Chopped and Screwed song would sound like right?
Yeah
Well I think it’s saturated with a bunch of trash, then it will eventually play the whole sound out because you can’t get what you want. Then it gets to the point that if I can’t get what I want then I’d rather not listen to anything at all or just listen to a regular speed mix. There definitely is an art to it.
I mentioned earlier that you also own Swishahouse, what was the main aim of starting the label?
When I first started it I wasn’t starting a label. When I first started the name Swish House I started making slowed down mixes, I didn’t want to call them Screw mixes because of DJ Screw. So, I called my mixes Swisha mixes and the reason why I called them that was because when we used to smoke weed, we’d roll them into Swisher cigars so we would just call them Swishers when we used to roll them up and smoke. Whenwe making the mixes that’s what we’d do so I called the mixes Swisher mixes and I called my studio “Swisha House” so that’s how we ended up with that name.
You also have a radio show can you tell us about that?
Yeah I have a radio show out here in the States I do 5 hours of Chopped and Screwed every Sunday. You can hear it at our time in Houston at 8pm CST and it ends at 1am CST. 2am – 7am UK time. The website that you can listen to it on is www.kbxx.com
It is all Hip Hop or do you play RnB too?
It’s 3 hours of Hip Hop and 2 hours of RnB but I play everything I play Rock all kinds of stuff I’m unlimited to it. If it’s hot I will do it I don’t care. If you want you can hit me there. Also you can hit me directly on MySpace www.myspace.com/djmichael5000watts
What do you think of the current Houston music scene at the moment?
The Houston music scene is growing and transforming to a different level right now. Some of the things you’ve been hearing from Houston before in the past like some of the things with Paul Wall and Mike Jones when they sampled Screwed hooks and stuff like that you know it’s not just all about that people are expanding their musical horizons. It’s getting more out of the average basic formula which you expect from Houston it’s like people are fully expanding into the music thing. So you gonna see a lot more of that you’re gonna see a lot more expansions from Houston.
What qualities do you look for in an artist before you sign them?
Creativity, cause that’s what’s gonna make you stand out above another artist. Out here in the States artist come a dime a dozen you know? Artists are everywhere so show me something that’s totally different from the last 100 people that gave me a CD or MP3. It’s got to be something totally different.
If you didn’t own Swishahouse and you weren’t a DJ what do you think you would be doing now?
I’d probably be in jail right now honestly. I like money and I’d do anything to get it and a regular job is not big enough to fill my appetite. (Laughs)
Tell us about the artists on Swisha House.
You can check out our new artist Yung Redd we have a female artist by the name of Surreall and we also have a Latin artist by the name of Lil Young and of course we still have Paul Wall and Lil Keke he’s doing really hot out here in the States.
Are Archie Lee and Coota Bang still on there?
Yes they are we dropped a CD on Archie Lee and Coota Bang not too long ago it was called “Hood Theory.” Matter of fact Coota Bang is gonna be on the flip side of the I-45, it’s a double disc the second disc will be Coota bang.
Let’s talk about the releases you’ve put out a lot this year! Can you tell us about some them?
Wow! That’s interesting I’ve put out so many it’s crazy I’ve been doing it over 10 years. I’ve been doing it for a mighty long time you know. Lately I’ve been using my avenue to help more that just us. I’m expanding the Southern culture as a whole with my mixtapes. At first my mixtapes were more Houston based but now I’m more into working with Houston with everybody else. I’m trying to put it so that everybody who is in the circle with us, like people that’s on the same level that we work with and network with and stuff like that I’m using my avenue to help people as a whole cause I know that I have a lot of influence in music down here so I’m using it to help people more. As far as mixtapes we dropped one with Paul Wall called “Fast Money: The Album Before The Album” also we did one with Paul Wall and Yung Redd called “Paper or Plastic.” We dropped a new album called “Universal Ghetto Pass” that was with our artist Lil Keke and also I remixed Devin the Dudes last album “Landing Gear” I Screwed and Chopped that for him.
You’re about to release the “I-45” album?
Yeah actually what this is, is a CD that’s not all Texas its 90% Texas. There’s a lot of artists out here that have talent and I really wanted to put everybody on one big collaboration to work with us and push it out there to get people the exposure that I think they probably need. That’s the whole purpose of the “I-45” and it’s available regular speed and screwed.
Is that available from the Swisha House site?
Yeah www.swishahouse.biz
If somebody was just getting into Swishahouse what CD would you tell them to go and buy first?
I take pride in everything I do so you can pick any one that you like! Everybody has there own thing that they’re into like I have an RnB series called “Straight to the Room” so if you like RnB you can try that. It just depends, if you like rock I screwed and chopped Korn’s last album! It depends on what you like it’s an artform you know, if there’s a project that we did or there’s an artist that you like then pick it up and see how you like it.
You can also buy download CDs from your digital download page what do you think of the downloading generation, do you think it’s a good or bad thing?
Wow, well you know what from a record label stand point or the financial stand point it’s awkward. But as far as a promotional stand point and for an artist it’s a whole lot easier for an artist to get exposure. It can be good and bad it depends on what level you’re in. I feel like for an artist it’s good for a record label its bad.
Since starting Swishahouse do you think it’s got easier to promote your self and your artists with sites like MySpace etc?
Yeah it’s a whole lot easier to promote people because right now you know Swisha House has an established brand name, number 1, and having an established brand name and all the tools like MySpace and You Tube it makes it a whole lot easier for artists such as Surreal. We just dropped a song on her just last week, she just posted it up on her MySpace page and it got her a couple of thousand hits in a couple of hours. With Surreal she hasn’t ever dropped anything commercial really yet but I know that the exposure that she has with us and the quality of music that she’s got, working with us as a label has helped her out a whole lot and it gives her a jump over the average artist that is on her level. I think it’s a beautiful thing I know it’s easier to promote now. First you had to mail out singles to everybody and you had to pay thousands on expenses, now you can just upload your song to your DJ list, click the send button and all of them have the record. A lot more listen to the record because of the brand name you know.
Michael Watts that wraps up the interview but before you got can you tell us your MySpace and website addresses?
Our main thing is the website www.swishahouse.biz and we also have the MySpace page www.myspace.com.swishahosue and every body has their MySpace linked to it.
Thanks for taking the time out to do the interview!
Ok that’s no problem.
Interview by Jai Boo
www.myspace.com/jaiboowolftown
