A Month with Thelonious Martin
On Friday, Thelonious made his return back to his New York roots to spin at the bar in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. Over the weekend he made some time to chat with office about his musical process, partnering with Kitsuné, and his latest project, We'll Be Right Back.
How did your relationship with Kitsuné first begin?
I’ve spun a couple events with Kitsuné pre-Covid, shout out to Sarah! My main man Charly is working with them now and we’ve been friends since kindergarten, the universe kind of lined this up.
What has the process of curating Café Kitsuné’s month of September programming been like? What sounds were you initially drawn to for the space?
I wanted to take advantage of it being a cozy space where the DJ could let their hair down and play a personal set. So it made me select people who I’d love to hear their perspective personally. All of the DJ’s have such diverse taste across BPM’s and can tap in any niche they’d want.
What producers excite and inspire you?
Forever? J Dilla, Just Blaze, Alchemist, and Madlib. Right now? Michael Uzowuru, Whoarei, Eddie & IZ Burns, Kudda, J. Robb, Da-P, and The whole Pelham and Junior team.
Do you quantize your drums?
That’s a good question…rarely, at the most I’ll snap the snare to the grid a lil bit to hold a certain pocket, but hi hats, kicks, etc. that’s all boneless.
What made you choose Chicago over LA or NYC?
It’s my birth place! My family is here and I get to make music with one of my best friends Joey Purp! If my presence is ever needed in NY or LA I’ll pop up. I’ll randomly show up for a couple weeks to work on music, my mom has a key to my crib and I leave her weed and she waters my plants.
Are there reasons other than the Kitsuné artist residency that drew you back to the East Coast?
Listen here, I’m Montclair (NJ) High School class of 2011! I have a lot of ties to the east coast and a lot of friends out here. It’s tripped out, my boy Zane has a barber shop right by my childhood home. I visited earlier this month and had nostalgia overload. I think I’ve been needing this reset to move forward, so far it’s been refreshing.
How does a Thelonious Martin track come together? When do you know it’s finished?
Usually with a sample, something that feels like ear candy, some chops, unquantized drums, some audio processing, and after your neck hurts from nodding to the beat…it’s done.
When did you first start producing and djing?
I started producing in May of 2008 after begging my mom to buy me a laptop. I was watching Adult Swim and heard Dilla and it was over! Spinning records I was always on the fringe of but I didn’t take a serious swing at it til college and my friends were starting to throw parties. We did this monthly called Open4Mat I got to play EVERYTHING! It was a great training ground and led to some interesting gigs from opening for Metro Boomin’ to opening for Young Guru.
What’s your go to equipment?
For production, Logic X Pro. I’m looking to upgrade the studio though. I think I’m gonna try the SP 404. I’ve been meaning to add more analog to the set up. Until then it’s the dusty trusty Akai MPD 32.
What’s on your plate post-residency?
By the time this comes out my instrumental album We’ll Be Right Back will be out! It’s not just another clever television related title it’s legit where I’m at in life. I had been working on the album for a while and to me it wasn’t good enough, so we’re back to the drawing board. We’ll Be Right Back!
