Tha Silent Partner - The Creative Process Behind the Platters Series - The Lorenzo's Music Podcast (Transcript)
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Tom Ray: Quick note before we start the podcast, my sound card died right before we did the interview and I could not talk to the person that I was meeting with today. So I quickly pivoted, hopped on my phone and connected to the call that way. So the quality of the video and the sound is very different today, but it’s still a wonderful interview. So check it out, here it is right now.
Tom Ray: Hi, I’m Tom from Lorenzo’s Music and this is another Lorenzo’s Music podcast. On today’s show, I am talking to an artist, a musician, a creator, someone who also does Creative Commons music, and they are also on the net label that I’m on occasionally. I’m not always on it, but I’m on it occasionally. But they have been releasing albums for many years and I’m excited to talk to the person today. So why don’t you tell the people who you are and what it is you do?
Gregory Davis: the name is Gregory Davis, also known as Tha silent partner. And I’m a noisemaker.
Tom Ray: A noisemaker. I like that. Normally I have to go, how would you explain yourself and what you do? So a noisemaker. So, elaborate on that. Tell me more about the noise making.
Gregory Davis: I don’t know what I’m doing. I really don’t know what I’m doing. Even from shopping samples to even putting it all together, it’s all just a guess, you know, And I kind of just rely on my own good taste. I feel I have good taste to kind of just know where to stop.
Tom Ray: Now you say you’re a noisemaker, but like, would you give your type of creative outlet a title? What would you, what would you call it? Like, what genre? If you had to put it in one, would you say it is?
Gregory Davis: I don’t know. No, I don’t know. I mean, I have that problem to this day. I don’t know. I don’t know what to. Even if I wanted to give it a name, I don’t think I want to give it a name. Okay. Is what it is and I like it.
Tom Ray: I would hope so. The. I would say, especially, with the album that you just released, the. And I had to write it down because it’s a, It’s a long name. Platters, the Final act, the Lost Plates of Egads.
Tom Ray: Okay. I would say that it’s theatrical is one way to put it. the moods that you created on that, on that latest release, I would say is somewhat theatrical. You’ve got mixtures of, strings, or orchestral Sort of movements, but also they all have moods and the beats on them. I don’t know. I just really like the flow of it all. And I would say you also kind of. You find a groove, you do it, and then you just go, all right, that’s enough of that.
Gregory Davis: Yeah, pretty much. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You hit. You hit the mark on that one.
Tom Ray: Okay, now. Oh, I realized I forgot to ask. Where are you located right now?
Gregory Davis: Oh, right now I’m in, Florida.
Tom Ray: Oh, you’re in Florida?
Gregory Davis: Yeah.
Tom Ray: Oh, damn it. Okay. It’s all, like, cold again here, so I’m jealous of where you are right now.
Gregory Davis: You know what we get? We get east coast weather down here too. I’m not too appreciative of it, to tell you the truth.
Tom Ray: Okay, it sounds like you’re blaming them. Damn East Coast.
Gregory Davis: Reading our weather, like, it went. It was like 20 degrees like, like a week ago. I thought, no, I’m good.
Tom Ray: All right.
Gregory Davis: It wasn’t like. It wasn’t like, oh, my God, it’s cold. It’s just like, it’s cold.
Tom Ray: There was no distinction, but I caught what you meant. You’re like, it’s cold, but it’s cold. All right, good. I don’t want to talk about the weather the whole time. I’m just really upset that it’s cold out again here now. so you started making. Well, at least Blocsonic You’ve been releasing music since, I want to say, 2012?
Gregory Davis: Yeah, something like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. For Blocsonic Yeah.
Tom Ray: Okay. How’d you get started?
Gregory Davis: geez. Think all the m. Way back. It’s something I always wanted to do since I was like, in high school. Yeah. And I think it came to a point where, like, I want to put stuff out, but I know no one’s gonna take it because no one was taking it. So when you look, on Internet looking for labels and stuff, and the creative comments popped up. Well, not Creative Commons or say, like small little net labels like, Soul Seek. Had popped up. So I tried getting on there and ran into something called Up Sound, which is kind of like. Kind of like a Musical blog type of thing.
Tom Ray: Yeah.
Gregory Davis: It gave you. It was like a lower class. I won’t say low class, but it wasn’t. It was kind of like MySpace, but more for abstract creators.
Tom Ray: Right.
Gregory Davis: And I. I kind of slid in there trying to figure out what my sound was going to be. So that’s like around maybe 2005. Yeah, around four or five around there. Okay. Had some brief success with it and just wanted more. I said maybe it’s time to start a record label. I thought it’d be easy.
Tom Ray: Right.
Gregory Davis: And then I started midlife, in music and put out a couple releases through there. That’s where the first, Pavement Politics came from.
Tom Ray: Okay.
Gregory Davis: With a me and formula. And. And I’m not really liking the. That as far as trying to run labels because it was un. So like so unfamiliar and trying to put all into something. Like I just didn’t like all the work. Like I want to create. I don’t want to be the boss, you know. And I think around being put out. So before Blocsonic it was Jamendo and something called the Collective. And I released, Planets one Through there. Did well. Went to go to Part two and they chopped it because the samples that was in it. I thought that was weird. They were like. There was nothing wrong with the musical samples, but because I was using, some old, movie material, they won’t let that go.
Tom Ray: Really?
Gregory Davis: Yeah.
Tom Ray: that would. I find that surprising. Okay. But I suppose. Well, no, that early on I find that surprising. I wouldn’t think of the movie companies being up to date enough to go like, hey, that’s our radio sample. Or that’s our movie sample.
Gregory Davis: That’s. That’s what I thought too.
Tom Ray: Yeah. No, you would think you’d be ahead of the curve technologically for sampling movies. What were you sampling? Do you remember offhand?
Gregory Davis: an episode of the Untouchables.
Tom Ray: Really? So even something from like the 1960s or whatever?
Gregory Davis: Yeah. Like Universal probably has that.
Tom Ray: Yeah.
Gregory Davis: Yeah.
Tom Ray: Okay. All right. That happens. I mean, that’s the. That’s the gamble you take when you sample stuff, I suppose.
Gregory Davis: Yeah. I just. I just didn’t think that would be the case because I’m putting out there’s no money. There’s no money at all. So chill out.
Tom Ray: Yeah. You’re putting it on Jamendo for crying out loud.
Gregory Davis: Yeah. I had that same problem with, the Collective. But they end up shutting down and left me without home. And m. I think that’s how we got to Blocsonic I can’t. I’ve no, bro. Sonic had you throw in the songs.
Tom Ray: That would be my guess because he was. Mike was very. Mike at Blocsonic was very much going out to those places and looking for artists to put them on compilations at that time.
Gregory Davis: I think he found something from, the first mute.
Tom Ray: Okay.
Gregory Davis: Then he used one of my stuff and then I Was like, let me come over here. Because it’s less work. He’d. He’ll do the artwork, he’ll distribute it.
Tom Ray: Yeah.
Gregory Davis: And I can just make music. Since at that point I figured out what I was doing. As far as the sound I was putting together or some shit like that.
Tom Ray: Right. Yeah. Okay, now you were. When you were doing this stuff, were you just. Were you, using it or creating this stuff in a daw? Were you doing all tables? Like, how were you making the songs?
Gregory Davis: Well, like software and all that or.
Tom Ray: Yeah, well, I mean, in general, I have no idea how you put your songs together. And that’s basically what I want to know.
Gregory Davis: I’ve gone through a whole bunch of stuff. Like the first bit of musical creation was a video game called, MTV Media Generator.
Tom Ray: What?
Gregory Davis: On PlayStation.
Tom Ray: Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know what you’re talking about.
Gregory Davis: So I kind of learned how to make beats from there.
Tom Ray: Really.
Gregory Davis: But I also had a, Yeah, just, just the, the getting some type of idea. Because you could sample with it as well.
Gregory Davis: It gave you like a couple of seconds. So if you knew how to maneuver that. Yeah, you can make beats of it. I made some good ones. I got like. I got one recorded on video somewhere. It’s a nice one.
Tom Ray: Okay.
Gregory Davis: Has a weird. Has a weird timing to it and on. But that. And also I had a Sony, bookshelf system that had a loop function on it. So if you knew how to time it and you press that button, it’ll start making loops.
Tom Ray: All right.
Gregory Davis: To make arrangements. But I have a CD of that somewhere. I can’t find it. If I do find it, I’ll put it out because it’s interesting. It’s not bad at all. but for the most part I’ve been using Reason.
Tom Ray: Okay, so you do do most of it in a daw.
Gregory Davis: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tom Ray: All right. And in Reason. All right. That ex. Okay, that, that tells me a lot more. Like even the beats, like, is there a. Do you use a drum machine or do you use. Or. I mean, probably a mixture of both, but like sample beats, sample, I guess snares and. Or do you have like a drum machine that you use specifically with different sounds? Like, how are you putting together the actual beats that are on it?
Gregory Davis: everything’s done within in Reason. I have a bunch of samples, a bunch of drum sounds that I’ve collected over the years.
Tom Ray: Yeah.
Gregory Davis: And I don’t. I don’t necessarily cut my own My own drum samples. I usually just buy them.
Tom Ray: Okay.
Gregory Davis: Whenever, whenever I do them, I don’t like them.
Tom Ray: I know what you mean. I’m the same way.
Gregory Davis: You know, it’s like I. Because you get, you get flack for that, but I just don’t like my own drum samples. Like, I’ll just cut them up for the actual beat, put them into the beat and go, nah. And then I just, I’ll go into my folder, find something, and that’s what it is.
Tom Ray: Okay.
Gregory Davis: So I just cut out the middleman and, and, and buy drum samples and all that. And I also play stuff as well, but it’s all from, from vinyl and just trying to figure out some shit.
Tom Ray: What other. You said you also play some too. Like, do you play other instruments?
Gregory Davis: Not exactly, but I have a good idea where to put my hands at.
Tom Ray: Okay. It’s like you’re talking just like me. I know enough just to make noise.
Gregory Davis: I make noise.
Tom Ray: All right, so now what about when you’re like, let’s say the latest album that you just released? Specifically, how do you go about starting a song when you’re creating a project like this? Like, do you just. Is it just you hear sound or even pick one of the songs from that album? Like how, how would you say you went about creating one of those songs?
Gregory Davis: I actually remember the day I started. it was in no, like November, either before Thanksgiving or after Thanksgiving. And I had bought a, a. A shitload of vinyl, maybe like 20 something discs. And I woke up on a Saturday. I, didn’t have to go to work. It was cold, it was sunny. I opened my window and my system, my whole setup, it was in front of my window. So open the up. I sat down, the sunshine came in. I picked up one record, just Bradley Pear down, and sample track one.
Tom Ray: Oh, really?
Gregory Davis: Yeah, that’s how, that’s how the first track goes. That’s actually what I did.
Tom Ray: That I want to say is probably the most magical description I’ve gotten of somebody saying how they started an album that I’ve, ah. Out of all the interviews I’ve done, that’s literally the most poetic. That’s nice.
Gregory Davis: Yeah, that’s actually how it happens. And I think I made most of those beats that day. Like all the ones, all the, all the beats that sound like track one was done pretty much from that same vinyl and around that same weekend.
Tom Ray: Really? You did the whole thing in a weekend, you’re saying?
Gregory Davis: I think so. I think if it wasn’t a weekend, I just kept that. Yeah, I Want to say that weekend I stayed in my room all day.
Tom Ray: Okay. All right.
Gregory Davis: Because it was like, track one. Ooh, track two. Ooh, check three. Ooh. I think I did, like the whole A side, and then I switched up.
Tom Ray: I’m sorry. I laughed a little too hard because I just realized that in itself could have been a sample. What you just did. You went, track one. Ooh, track two. Ooh, track three. I wanted that in a song. so what did you say the name of the album you were sampling from was again?
Gregory Davis: for the players. I can’t remember.
Tom Ray: Okay, all right, all right.
Gregory Davis: I know. I know. I still have it.
Tom Ray: Okay.
Gregory Davis: But I don’t remember.
Tom Ray: So I wonder if that contributed to the mood that I heard on this. This new album. And because I really do love the orchestral. Orchestral. I never know how to pronounce it. I’m gonna say orchestral. The orchestral sort of movements that it goes through, when it plays through. And, I also like the abrupt sort of sampling that you did in it, too. Like, it’s one where it. Very quickly. It almost sounds like the record skipped and went back to where it was on a few of the songs. Like, it’ll be, you know. Or at least some of the way that they’re sampled. I enjoyed that. Anyway, that’s just an observation. That’s not. Not a question. So. So now. All right, you sat down and did that. It was just fully inspired by that. And it took you. I’m amazed it took you that. Not that long. But I guess that explains it. You. If you look at your discography, you release on average, like, maybe three a year. I want to say something like that.
Gregory Davis: Yeah, yeah.
Tom Ray: And I want. Okay, so explain to me the Platters thing, because you have several leases that are called the Platters or just Platters. What is that? What’s that all about?
Gregory Davis: it’s just me not, ah, wanting to start making beats.
Tom Ray: Okay. It’s not a reference to something or.
Gregory Davis: No, it’s. No, no. Because it started after, Pavement Politics came out, and I wanted to do Part two, but with formula. Like, he has a schedule or, like, a timeline of how he wants things to go. So once this was done, he was on to the next, which ends up being the Overcast album that he put out on blocsonic Okay, so here we, are with payment Politics being a success and me wanting to do more and him disappearing. I was like, I gotta figure out what to do. So, I put that together. Pl. Act One. And I call it Pl. Because it’s just another name for vinyl. No, like plates.
Tom Ray: That’s what I figured. Okay. Yeah.
Gregory Davis: But I cut and then I break it into acts because I wanted every. I felt like what I was sampling was like one set. So if I was going to do it again, I’ll have a whole new theme for the next one. Because the next one was tv and then the third one was like a sound bombing type of mixtape.
Tom Ray: All right. I don’t know what that is.
Gregory Davis: Like a beat tape.
Tom Ray: Okay. All right.
Gregory Davis: So yeah, I just. I. That was on purpose. Like, I just wanted to keep making beats but have a purpose to do it.
Tom Ray: All right. And one other thing I’ve seen that’s sort of a theme going across your releases. What’s with the number six? There will be something and everything kind of goes either 6 or 8. It seems like, like everything. It seems like it’s saying that it’s the number of something, but then the next one will be like the same number. I don’t know, maybe I’m just getting confused looking at all your releases, but I’m like, it looks like you guys are making a bit of a play or a bit of a. A bit of a joke or an inside gag. Like, is there one or is it.
Gregory Davis: I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Tom Ray: Yeah, go look at your albums. There’s a six on more than one release in the artwork, and I’m sure that’s just Mike. Maybe Mike has given you a brand. I don’t know.
Gregory Davis: It’s probably. Mike talked to him. I have no idea.
Tom Ray: I love it. You have no idea. That goes to the. You don’t want to be part of that. You just want to make the music. You’re like, I don’t even know what the releases look like when they come out.
Gregory Davis: For the most part, I don’t. Okay. Like, I get. As of lately, I’ve been giving him like, a little bit of direction, but for the most part, it’s open. Him.
Tom Ray: Yeah, yeah, no, it’s the, I. When we first. When we first did one of our eps on the Net label, I even was just like, oh, here’s some ideas for that. And he’s like, no, no, no, I got it. Don’t worry about it. And I was like, you mean I don’t have to do anything? That’s fantastic. now, being on Blocsonic 2, one thing I know between all of you, because most of the creators on it had met online and everybody’s located in different places, but you all had a central hub in, Or at least it started out in the Public Enemy forums or message board. And, so they’ve all been talking about hip hop and rap and things like that for years. And one thing they’ve all done, and I know you’ve done too, has collaborated on each other’s releases. And you just collaborated with somebody recently, didn’t you, on. On a release that they did. at least I think that may have been you. That’s the thing. There’s so many of you on the label, and so many releases come out where it’s like. And I did a collaboration with this person and with this person, and I can tell by the expression on your face, maybe you didn’t, or maybe you don’t remember.
Gregory Davis: I don’t remember. I think the last person that did anything with was, cdoc, a couple remixes for M for the slam label.
Tom Ray: Okay.
Gregory Davis: That might bring one of them. Other, than that. I can’t remember.
Tom Ray: All right. I might even be. That’s what I’m saying. Be confusing it. I don’t know.
Gregory Davis: Unless you’re talking about Blocsonic with me. C.M. yeah.
Tom Ray: any of them. Because the reason I want to ask is because I’m fascinated with the collaborations that that whole community does, because it is more than Blocsonic I know everybody else also has another thing they do elsewhere and they release things on different stuff or work on different things. I want to say CDOC has even a podcast that I think he’s been doing recently. And just the different releases. And I’m just so fascinated. I love the community that you guys have there. So I’m really just asking basically, what collaborations have you done with other people and how do you work on those? Because I know most of you aren’t together when you work on stuff, is basically my main question.
Gregory Davis: for the most part, I want to say it’s because of Mike. Mike just gives out the feelers. but for me, I think most of the time, my collaborations with everyone with probably V mixes. Okay. I think at one point that’s one of the biggest things that he wanted to Us. For us to do on that. On that purpose. I don’t know what I was doing back then. Neither. I was like, okay, it. I’m down.
Tom Ray: I just love.
Gregory Davis: Especially about that time I was
Tom Ray: getting so much stuff, and you’re so laid back. You’re like, I don’t even know what I did.
Gregory Davis: I’m still shocked that it’s 61. Uh-huh. You know, like, when I found out. I think I found out. When was that? 44. And I was like, that’s a lot. And I was like, what the. And Now I’m at 61. I’m like, Geez, what happened? I can’t remember half the time. Like, even when I’m trying to make. Write out the liner notes. This one. It took me a month and a half to do, this last place. Just trying to get the timeline together, especially for me and Egads. Because I’ve known him since 2005, but we didn’t really start working until around 2010.
Tom Ray: So tell me about Egads. Tell, me about that.
Gregory Davis: Igad is a friend of mine. He runs Cursed Ah Out Productions, a record label. And, found him through one of my friends because I was helping my brother who was rapping, get into the whole Boston scene. And, we knew him through another guy. And he was like, yo, I do artwork if you’re looking for anything. And I was like, yeah, I’ll definitely get back at you and I’ll show some things. And this is, like, around when I first started, when I first did Players one, two, and three. And now we started the record label Wak Saki around that time, and I needed some artwork and I went to him. He’s been one of the guys that’s been low key, supportive, and it didn’t feel like it was fake. Okay. because there’s a lot. There’s a lot of fakeness in local, hip hop scenes. And I didn’t feel that way with him. So we all just been just giving it 100 and finding time to work and do stuff because he’s done artwork, for me previous, like, recently. But he’s all over the world doing whatever he’s doing now. I just try to get hold of him when I can.
Tom Ray: Okay.
Gregory Davis: But he’s just a good friend.
Tom Ray: Okay. And I also heard from that conversation that you did start in that label, and it was called Wasaki.
Gregory Davis: You said Wasaki is the VO label.
Tom Ray: Okay, tell me more about that.
Gregory Davis: So, I was not managing, but helping my friend, my brother Mayhem, get into the Vaccine and was like, we should start a label just so we’re not answering to other people. And at least let’s start making the mistakes now. Before or if you get signed, at least we’ll know a little bit. So we started with Saki and we put out a few singles. two of them did good. And then I just didn’t want to run a label. Anymore.
Tom Ray: Right. Okay. How long did that last before you decided that?
Gregory Davis: I mean, it’s still a label that I still put out other stuff on, but as far as wanting to sign people, I don’t want to do that.
Gregory Davis: Because I, I’ve done that. I’ve done it. And people are weird.
Tom Ray: Yeah.
Gregory Davis: And. And you find that out and you’re like, why am m I with you? You’re weird. Just do this. You don’t gotta do that.
Tom Ray: Yeah.
Gregory Davis: And then. And you’re taking the grunt of it. Like I got yelled at for no reason. And I was like, dude, I’m doing what you told me to do. I was like, fuck it. I don’t want to do it no more. There’s this people just weird. I’m not built for that type of Well, like I’m not a manager, I’m not a supervisor.
Tom Ray: Yeah.
Gregory Davis: Like put me out into the field, I’ll work.
Tom Ray: That is the distinction. Yeah.
Gregory Davis: I don’t want to be a boss. It’s too much work and I don’t have an attitude problem. So after a while you may as well fuck yourself.
Tom Ray: Here’s what I love about that. So every musician at some point in their life, gets the idea where like, what if we just start our own label? And many people have and they’ve been successful, but that’s also because they’re built to handle both sides or want to handle both sides. And you just gave the best description as to the. Here’s the reason why you might not want to. Because you have to deal with this. I love that the way that you just put it. You’re like, I don’t want to deal with this. Yeah, that’s awesome. and now you with this. Do you talking about the labels and stuff now? I’m assuming some of the conversation you were talking about was because they would go. You would maybe set up live performances for them or were you doing other things rather than just releasing the songs but also setting up tours maybe or setting up shows.
Gregory Davis: It was all the admin in the background.
Tom Ray: Admin. Okay.
Gregory Davis: Yeah. Because my, my distribution set up. I’m the one that’s putting it up. And also I don’t like, I don’t want to get into too much because I might give up too much and I don’t know who’s gonna see. Just wasn’t going to work out for who I was working with, you know, all that time. I can’t, just can’t get into it and I, it’s, it Was it was the admin and Dinner with people.
Tom Ray: Yeah.
Gregory Davis: That made me say no.
Tom Ray: And I was mainly wondering about it, if there was a live component to it. That was really what I was wondering.
Gregory Davis: Like, it’s just all. It’s just he. He was able to get his own shows. He was getting features and stuff like that, more or less the admin and also dealing with people. Like. Like, why are you making us wait? Just give it to us now. We’ll figure out the rest of it. Right. Like, this is your part. Do that. Or they’ll ask me to shoot a video. I’ll shoot the video, and then they want to take it, and then I don’t get no credit for it.
Tom Ray: Yeah.
Gregory Davis: Or it’s the deal of people. Yeah, I can’t deal with people. I don’t like people.
Tom Ray: Studios go through the same thing. There’s that whole classic scene in the movie Boogie Nights where they’re trying to get the song that they recorded for, Dirk Diggler, but they’re trying to get the studio guy to give it to them because we can’t give you the money until we give it to the producers. And he’s like, I can’t give you the recording till you pay me for a recording session. He’s like, you don’t understand. I need to get it to the. Yeah, it’s a whole thing anyway. They were just trying to steal the record, but.
Gregory Davis: Yeah, I know. I seen that.
Tom Ray: And, Do you ever perform live, or do you just create the songs and release them out into the ether?
Gregory Davis: Yeah, I just. I just create them and put them out there. Okay.
Tom Ray: What is your studio set up?
Gregory Davis: Like, right now? I don’t have a studio set up.
Tom Ray: All right.
Gregory Davis: but, just a, vinyl. Mpk.
Tom Ray: Yeah,
Gregory Davis: it’s the mpk. No, it’s mpk, the keyboard one.
Tom Ray: Oh, gotcha, Gotcha.
Gregory Davis: Okay.
Tom Ray: Just with the buttons.
Gregory Davis: Yeah, yeah, I got the keyboard one. I had a, this interface, and that’s pretty much it. Just that. Drum samples. Vinyl.
Tom Ray: Yeah. What’s your collection like? Your.
Gregory Davis: Your vinyl collection, it’s all over the place. Mostly. It’s mostly stuff I’ve dug up randomly. A lot of dancehall records and. Yeah, that’s pretty much it. It’s sprinkled with a few things that I purposely buy for myself. Like, what was that? Record Club? Columbia House, not Columbia. They did vinyl. Like, special edition vinyl. Oh, that.
Tom Ray: I don’t know.
Gregory Davis: They’re still around, but they’re like, give you, like, this really dope, packaged Albums, reissued albums.
Tom Ray: Oh really?
Gregory Davis: I can’t remember the name but I used to be a part of them and get that that vinyl every once in a while. But most of my collection is just random ass ah records that I was sampling from.
Tom Ray: Okay. Now as a person collects stuff like this, I want to ask you this on it too. where do you have a specific place or way that you go about hunting down vinyl at all if you’re looking for stuff like what’s, what’s you know, like when you go on the hunt one that you were you just like I want to go find something today. What would you do for that?
Gregory Davis: Well, if I was back in Boston day there was one store in Rhode island that go to and I’ll spend a few days in there. Not a few days in there but you know, few hours in there. And so I think sometimes during the summertime they’d open up the store next to them which was empty and put like a whole bunch of vinyl in there. Oh and it’ll be like a dollar, a dollar put dollar per album. And I think it was like 50 cents for the seven inches. So whenever they do that, I’ll just stay in there for like three hours, get face masks, some gloves, bring my my, my portable record player and spend like three hours just picking while going.
Tom Ray: I never thought of that. You bring a portable record player so you can check them out.
Gregory Davis: Yeah, because I, I, my bad luck every time I do it and then I blindly take a record. It sucks.
Tom Ray: Mm
Gregory Davis: So if I’m gonna go out and spend upwards to 20, $30 at least at that point of my life. Go, go take your vinyl. Play with you. What they gonna say? No like fam, I’m gonna buy a record if I like it.
Tom Ray: Right.
Gregory Davis: Let me hear it.
Tom Ray: Yeah. No, it, it, it’s something that makes a lot of sense but it seems weird or like somebody would go you, when I go to estate sales, there will be people who will walk up to the person hosting and even ask them like if they have spare batteries or if they have like a blue light so that they can check the uranium, glass or whatever the hell. But like the specific things where you need something to test it, they’ll even, they’ll bring their own or ask the people. And I used to be, when I went in there I thought I’d have to be all secretive about it, be like, oh, I’m going to make sure that it’s good like, like they were going to be offended or Something if I. If I tested it before I bought it and it’s like, that’s ridiculous. It makes perfect sense. But what is a portable? like, portable just in the fact, like, I’m picturing like an Inspector Gadget sort of thing. You open up. You open up a trench coat and this little miniature player comes out. But what is your portable turntable?
Gregory Davis: Well, his funny thing, I have a couple many record players that could. That you plug into the wall. Like those old ones from the 60s? Yeah, I have like, I have like three of those. But the one I’m taking to these places is a new mark.
Tom Ray: Okay.
Gregory Davis: Yeah. When it comes to that briefcase, it’s the pt. The PT one.
Tom Ray: Yep.
Gregory Davis: That came up a decade ago. Put a couple of batteries in there, get my headphones, plug in, go.
Tom Ray: Nice. I like that. That’s awesome. All right. Now, another thing too, that I want to know is with the amount of stuff that you do, with the amount of stuff that you release, you have to have future plans coming up or do you really just wing it? Like, what are some projects you have coming up or things that you’re expecting to do or things that you want to do that you’d like to tell us about?
Gregory Davis: there’s going to be another six and a seven this year. I’m looking back at some old stuff I did in 2020 and seeing what I can salvage from that. Because I still don’t have my, my full set up, but once. Once that’s up once. So while that’s the case, I’m just going back into projects that I had cancelled. At one point, I just couldn’t do music. I was, I was just so depressed. I was like, ah, yeah, over there because I was so stressed out. at one point I couldn’t hear Like, it got all tinny. So when that. It doesn’t help when you try to mix music because you end up mixing so high up. I said, oh, that’s a problem. So I thought. I said I have to get this stress off my back before I can start doing anything.
Tom Ray: Okay, so you’re revisiting those?
Gregory Davis: Yeah.
Tom Ray: All right.
Gregory Davis: There’s gonna be some more until I have my setup. okay.
Tom Ray: Did you move just recently, it sounds like. I guess I didn’t catch that in
Gregory Davis: the last two years I lived. Yeah, I just got.
Tom Ray: Still isn’t set up is what you’re telling me.
Gregory Davis: Yeah, it’s in storage somewhere. I’m paying for it. I just haven’t had. I just haven’t been in the mood. Because when I came down here, I’m helping my sister out with my parents.
Tom Ray: Okay.
Gregory Davis: So while she’s off doing what she has to do to keep the house, I’m the one that’s helping my parents out.
Tom Ray: Okay.
Gregory Davis: So that kind of takes a. Music takes a. A back seat to my. My family.
Tom Ray: Yeah. Well, you’re still very Prolific, another word I can’t say properly. Prolific releaser in music, though, with putting this stuff out, I mean, seriously, you’ve put out so much great music and I think wonderful. And, if people wanted to hear more of your music or check your stuff out, of course they can go to Blocsonic but where else could they hear what you do and maybe even see what you do?
Gregory Davis: just look for me. I’m on. I’m on stream platforms for one, so. Yes. So all the other stuff is there, but apart from that, there’s really nothing else at this moment. That’s the reason why I’m. I’m turning now, platters, so I can move on to something else.
Tom Ray: Oh, I get that.
Gregory Davis: That becomes the main focus. That’s kind of. The next six and seven might be the last one as well. Because those players in six and seven were like the big schedule releases. Like, I always made sure I was putting out a, six and seven every year. Players was like every two to three years. Because I really would just create and then finally pick what beats and then form the whole compilation to what it is. So I just want to get those two big hurdles and then when the setup. When the studio setup, is complete, I’m going to move on to something totally different. Oh, have something. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m kind of excited. It’s gonna be nice.
Tom Ray: Any hints as to what that might be, or is it.
Gregory Davis: No.
Tom Ray: Okay. I love that dramatic lean in.
Gregory Davis: It’s. It’s not a big deal. I don’t think it’s gonna be a big deal. I just gotta get into the focus of doing it and that’s why it’s the last one.
Tom Ray: Okay, I got you.
Gregory Davis: Yeah. But pretty much that. Everything is on Blocsonic to tell you the truth. Everything.
Tom Ray: Yeah. Yeah. And it’s a lot of stuff and it’s really fun to listen to, so. Well, I want to thank you so much for talking with me today. This has been great.
Gregory Davis: Thank you.