The Gaslamp Killer X Monts (Vice Magazine) UK Version
The Gaslamp Killer X Craig Monts
Title: One Man Band
Date: -
Each mix I hear from The Gaslamp Killer makes me feel slightly sick (in a good way). Every mix or compilation is like a bunch of eclectic sledge hammers being thrown towards your head-piece at unremitting speeds. His ability to combine hundreds of genres could be compared to a musical roller coaster where the man behind the buttons & knobs controlling your speed can be seen head-banging furiously with a fixed stare in his eyes. Ever wondered what goes on in his head? Read on…
Monts - So your from LA right?
The Gas Lamp Killer– No, I’m originally from San Diego. I moved to San Francisco for a while, but I’m currently residing in LA. It’s a very nice place to live, the weather is nice the vibes are good. Although the air quality could be better.
Monts – You seem picky about your air…
The Gas Lamp Killer – Well it’s like the equivalent of smoking 10 cigarettes a day in some areas, and that’s just from being on the interstate for a couple of hours a day. It’s really smoggy. One of the smoggiest cities. Kind of like London I think. But it doesn’t really effect my quality of life.
Monts – No??
The Gas Lamp Killer – No, you get used to it. Most of my friends smoke anyway!
Monts -So what’s it like about living there? Poor air quality must be a minus! I hear it’s pretty over- populated.
The Gas Lamp Killer- It is, but it’s also very spread out. LA is like hundred miles, it’s full beautiful spots. You can go pretty far west you know, into Malibu & Topenga which has the most gorgeous, amazing beaches. It’s totally clean out there. I like that. There are also so many different cultures living and working in LA. I always tell people: ‘You can do any job out there, any job as long as it doesn’t include snow!’
Monts- What’s your hood like in LA?
The Gas Lamp Killer- My neighbourhood’s real nice. In fact it’s fucking amazing man. I live down the street from Jay Rock, Peanut Butter Wolf, Madlib, Flying Lotus, Kumah, Daddy Kev and so many other dope artists. It’s a cool community that we live in. The other day for Flying Lotus’ birthday we had a jam with Computer Jay, Shafiq Husayn, me, Exile, Fly Lo and a bunch of other homies just jamming on stage, it was such a sick jam. There were maybe 20 if us in total each with musical instruments going ape shit. So fresh!
Monts- Sounds like a Kodak moment! Speaking of Shafiq Husayn, I heard the new album, it’s pretty amazing.
The Gas Lamp Killer – Shafiq lives just around the block from me, right next to Z Trip actually! So I have been hearing a bit of it. He’s like the grandaddy of the whole SA-RA movement. You know he’s produced for Ice-T, Jurassic 5 and mad other people. He has some huge production history in Hip Hop.
Monts - I never knew. So, aside from it’s geographic assets and the neighbourhood benefits, what else keeps you in LA?
The Gas Lamp Killer – Yeah, It’s also a really happening place to be. Back when I first moved there every Friday or Saturday night there would be some awesome party with some crazy DJ playing. Like Cut Chemist, Numark, Rob Swift. Or maybe the Ubiquity heads Waajeed & the Platinum Pied Pipers, maybe Madlib. It’s just a really dope vibe there.
Monts - What kind of people are going to these parties?
The Gas Lamp Killer -Just a whole mix you know. Artists and political types, intellectual music fans, Hip Hop heads, Latin cats. That’s the beauty of it, there’s never any kind or particular type. Just a huge mix of people. There’s never any specific demographic, there’s always a mix of everything. Which is kind of like Low End Theory.
Monts- A seamless link, I was just about at ask about your Low End Theory nights. How did they come about?
The Gas Lamp Killer – Daddy Kev had the idea at first. He had a specific venue in mind that he wanted to try out. Then I guess he pitched it to me, Edit & Dj Nobody. We were all into the idea from the start. It was a rough start like any weekly club night but it has gathered momentum and maaaan has it paid off! It has become one of the world’s most influential club nights. It’s like hub for the up and coming producers as well as old skool cats. It’s also a nice opportunity to catch up over some beers!
Monts - I have heard nothing but good things about it! So, what’s new? What have you been up to?
The Gas Lamp Killer - I’ve just got back from the UK. I was playing in Nottingham.
Monts – Nottingham of all places..how was it?
The Gas Lamp Killer – Yeah it was good. It was a student night, just a small Monday night show. It’s a college town so it’s a party vibe every single night of the week.
Monts – A Pound a beer?
The Gas Lamp Killer – Yeah! The kids are crazy in the UK right now; I think it’s because they’re bored you know. There’s not much going on, apart from the whole UK Funky thing. I haven’t really heard much of it myself.
Monts - It’s just Garage, no?
The Gas Lamp Killer – Yeah right, music moves in circles.
Monts- What are the college/student crowds like?
The Gas Lamp Killer- I have been playing to college students my whole life! So it’s a good feeling at the moment to be playing to people who have really come to see me and want to see what I play and the way get down, you know. So occasionally when I go back to playing at parties where people don’t really give a shit, they’re just there to get pissed, that’s when I get uncomfortable and begin to find it a little bit……
Monts- Soul destroying??
The Gas Lamp Killer- Exactly! You know what it’s like right? When you’re playing and people just don’t give a fuck, and you start thinking ‘why do I give a fuck?’ (Laughs)
Monts- So what do you do when things get like that? What’s the solution? Do you go in harder? Play background music?
The Gas Lamp Killer- Noooo, playing background music is impossible. Never an option. I just do my thing until I’m done and then get the fuck out of there, you know? The majority of the time I’m in heaven. The energy that I get from the crowd fuels me, the love from the audience is better than money! I’d do it for free if the tables were turned and I didn’t have to support myself. I would fucking pay a crowd to come to let me unleash on them! I can’t play to my friends all the time, they’d get bored of it!
Monts- So times have changed. You said that now you’re playing to people who have really come to see you. How does that feel?
The Gas Lamp Killer- It’s a great feeling. I’m not living pay cheque to pay cheque any more. I can tell you when I dropped out of college to pursue music and Djing, my parents said I was a fucking idiot! And you can quote me on that ‘a fucking idiot’. And now I’m like the highlight of their existence! They kind of live vicariously through me.
Monts- Was there a particular conversation or occasion when they said, OK, maybe we take back what we said?
The Gas Lamp Killer- We went to P.F Changs [a Chinese restaurant in LA] for their 44th wedding anniversary. As soon as we walk into the restaurant a waiter walks up to me and is like ‘Gaslamp Killer?! What the fuck are you doing here? Oh my God!’. Then he looks at my Mum and says, ‘Your son is the shit!’. He actually said that! My Mum grabs hold of my Dad’s arm and she’s all like, ‘He’s really made it, our son’s really made it’. And then there’s all the magazines, LA Times and other press etc. Those kind of concrete things help them to understand that my efforts are actually paying off and that I’m actually working pretty hard!
Monts - Do you see it as work?
The Gas Lamp Killer- Slowly but surely my view has changed. I find that scary, frustrating and disenfranchising at the same time. I can see how it would end up being more about ‘business’ than music. For me it’s always about the music, but I feel like I’m working so hard in so many aspects that I’m neglecting my happiness because I’m working, working all the time. It’s become so serious. It used to be so fun, you know?. Now I have so many responsibilities! I used to take shrooms [magic mushrooms] and go and play music and run through the canyons going fucking crazy. These days I don’t even think about taking psychedelics! I don’t even think about taking a vacation, just to go somewhere and experience some things. Every single thing I’m doing is calculated.
Monts- Calculated by you?
The Gas Lamp Killer- Yeah by me or by my agent, my manager, you know? The whole thing is ballooning. It’s crazy man. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad thing, it’s just fucking business. I’m a one man band. I don’t really have anybody you know.
