Hands on Deck
Using Turntables to Articulate His Own Post-9/11 Catharsis,
Rob Swift Drops a Bomb With Wargames

Published in the January 2006 issue of DJ Times Magazine
Volume 19 - Number 1
By David Cross

Jackson Heights, N.Y. – In an increasingly image-conscious hip-hop world, Rob Swift is an oddity. He makes his living not as a rapper, but as a turntable manipulator, someone who has honed his craft to an art form—an ace turntablist. Though he cultivated a superhero-like DJ identity with his previous crew, the X-Ecutioners, the Queens, N.Y.-based DJ is incredibly down to earth. He switches from technical discussions on DJ gear to unabashed discourses about his hopes, his fears, and his creative struggles, all without missing a beat. In short, there is no separating the DJ identity of Rob Swift from the man himself.

It’s with this convergence that we get Wargames, his most personal solo album (his third). A turntablist album with a contemporary consciousness, Wargames is Swift’s way of using his craft to highlight certain politically charged events from the past five years. That he manages this without shoving a specific ideology down our throats is a testament to his moderation and even-handedness.

Sure, concept albums aren’t anything new, but taking the idea into the world of turntablism certainly is. Traditional musicians take for granted the communicative capabilities of their voices. If they want to say something, they need only write it down and sing it in a song. Swift is charting new territory, using his production chops and his scratches to get his ideas and emotions across. He “speaks” by artfully manipulating spoken-word albums, sound effects, and political speeches over his beats. The release also features a second disc, a DVD that complements Swift’s audio with archived footage and video effects.

The album aurally reflects all the confusion, fear, anger, righteousness, determination and, in Swift’s mind, betrayals that resulted from 9/11—the outrage of the Towers’ fall, the resulting paranoia, the divisive election, the Iraq War that continues to rage, the new America, and all it entails. On the surface, it may play like another neo-con slam, but if you listen deeper it’s more like a Twilight Zone episode, a bad dream, a dizzying venture into an unknown territory. September 11 is only the beginning.

On Wargames, Swift explores our new American landscape—the genuine and continuing threats, the implications of its deep class divisions, the distrust of all forms of information. With its blizzard of moody tone scratches and squiggly, harsh flares, Wargames is unsettling stuff. And, as Swift describes, it’s a work that he found necessary for his head. It’s something, he says, he had to do in order to confront the multi-dimensional demons unleashed on the post-9/11 world.

Judging the success of his message is a highly subjective task, but there’s no doubting that he’s poured everything he has into the release. DJ Times had the opportunity to chat with Rob Swift from his Queens-based studio, and pick his brain regarding DJ gear, turntablism and his own catharsis that became Wargames.

DJ Times: Are you still using the Rane TTM-56 DJ mixer for scratching?
Rob Swift: Yes, that is my weapon of choice when it comes to mixers. I can’t really feel as comfortable on another mixer.

DJ Times: So the feel and resistance of their magnetic crossfader is perfect for you?
Swift: The fader is incredible! With a lot of other mixers, when you first get them they’re fresh, and you get used to the feel of the fader. Then let’s say you have a show, and you want to pack light, so you ask the promoter to provide the same mixer. You get to the show, you do sound check, and their fader is just horrible. It’s the identical mixer, but it doesn’t feel the same. With the Rane, I’ve never had that problem. Give me a TTM-56 at a show, and it feels like I’m cutting on my mixer at home.

DJ Times: That consistency is key for you…
Swift: For what I do, it’s so important because I’ll practice two or three hours a day on a specific routine, and I’ll get used to the feel of my mixer. I know how it’s supposed to feel when I execute a scratch, the amount of force I’m supposed to apply. When I go to apply that same force on a different mixer, if it takes more or less strength, it could throw me off. Little things like that can make such a major impact in how tight and clean you execute your routine.

DJ Times: And you use the Shure M44-7 cartridges, right?
Swift: Yes, that’s definite. As far as I’m concerned, they are the best needles to work with. Very, very rarely does it skip on you. The whole idea of needles that are non-skip or skip-proof—I don’t believe in that. Unless you’re working with digital turntables like the CDJ, there are so many different things that can make a turntable skip—the kind of turntable you’re using, how old it is, what kind of stage you’re on. Is it a hollow stage? Are people walking back and forth onstage? In my experience, the MM44-7s skip the least. I’ve managed to execute routines pretty flawlessly with that needle. I also really like that it doesn’t really wear your records out the way other needles have in the past. I’ve been doing this for 20-some-odd years now, and I’ve worked with numerous needles, and I’ve noticed that my records last longest with the Shure cartridges, so I don’t leave the house without them either.

DJ Times: Speaking of skip resistance, I saw a picture of you with a Vestax PDX2000 turntable.
Swift: Honestly, I just used that turntable because I just felt it complemented the photo. It wasn’t necessarily a specification. Now that I think about it, it makes a lot of sense, because that’s the turntable I used to record all of my scratches for Wargames. When I perform, I ask promoters to provide me with the Technics 1200/1210, but when I record, I prefer to use the Vestax one, because the pitch on it, there’s a lot more that you can do. You’re not as limited when it comes to pitches and other things scratch-wise as you are with the Technics.

DJ Times: When I’ve seen you perform, you’re just using a simple pair of inexpensive, behind-the-ear headphones. Most of what I know about DJing, people are using huge cans that cover their ears.
Swift: Hah! It’s funny you noticed that. You know what it is? This is funny. I used to rock an Afro, and it was my image, my look. So I wouldn’t wear hats because with the Afro, the hat fits all tight and is uncomfortable. And I didn’t like wearing headphones because when I’d take them off, it’d leave the indentation of the headphones. So what I figured out was by going to stores and buying CD Walkmans, and I found these headphones that just clip on to your ear. So being that I used to rock the Afro, I’d be like, “I’m gonna get these headphones that just clip on to your ear. That way my Afro will look right, and I won’t have no big headphone indentation when I’m on the plane.” Then I started using those clip-on headphones onstage.

DJ Times: Was there any other reason beside your hair?
Swift: I noticed that, if I unplugged the jack and went to go for my records, it was a lot more comfortable doing that, being that the headphones just clip onto your ear. I don’t have to take the headphone off, put ’em on the table, then go get the records, and put ’em back on my head. I could just unplug it, put the plug in my pocket. It takes a split second, turn around, then go look for records. When I’m done, go back to my mixer, take the plug out of my pocket, then plug it back into the mixer, and continue on without having to take the headphone on/off. Even though, sonically, they’re not the best ones to use, I just deal with it because I think it looks better, and I have more flexibility onstage. I don’t have to be conscious of taking these big-ass headphones on and off. I think that over the ears I’ve almost trained my ear to just hear the music that’s coming out of the mixer better—usually I’ll have huge-ass monitors near me. I just figured out ways, if I can’t hear as well—turning up the gain—and using the volume control on the headphone myself to hear the music. I live by those headphones now.

DJ Times: What production gear did you use to make Wargames?
Swift: Rane TTM-56 mixer, Vestax PDX2000 turntables, Pioneer CDJ-1000s, Shure M44-7 cartridges. For samplers, Akai MPC2000XL, E-MU E6400 Ultra, and the Roland VS1680 and VS2480 workstations.
Swift: With LCD screens and motorized faders?
Swift: Right, exactly. Digital speakers, little Alesis monitors. My board is a Mackie 1604-VLZ Pro. Every now and then I’d use Digidesign Pro Tools, if I needed to send files to another state, to another DJ. Most of my production is sample-based.

DJ Times: How did your background in turntablism inform the way you produce music?
Swift: On one level, I want to be able to execute my scratches and arrange them in a way that impacts the fans that currently listen to turntable music. I want people to think, “Wow, he’s doing new scratches,” or, “He’s phrasing his scratches in a way that others DJs don’t,” because that’s what I got from listening to DJs like GrandMixer D.ST and Cash Money. At the same time, it’s just a way for me to express my talent and showcase my potential as a DJ. You know, you don’t just have to limit yourself to battling and entering competitions. You can make records, make music, and put it out there instead of being judged on stage.

DJ Times: Wargames is heavily influenced by September 11…
Swift: When 9/11 happened, I remember falling into a depression. I felt what I was doing as a DJ didn’t mean anything, like it wasn’t relevant considering what had just happened. It was hard to get myself in the mood to work and to practice. I remember even canceling a whole bunch of shows after that because I was too afraid to fly. My day revolved around sitting on my couch and watching CNN—just flipping channels, trying to figure out what was going on, why it happened, and what we were gonna do about it.

DJ Times: How did that depression inspire you to make an album?
Swift: After a couple of months, I realized I hadn’t gotten any work done. I became this couch potato and I wasn’t being productive and living my life. The more I got wrapped up into 9/11, the more I started thinking I should use that in the realm of music to help work through my feelings. Take for example Jimi Hendrix and his song “Machine Gun,” which is about the Vietnam War. He was a paratrooper himself, and was in the Army. He used music, his talents on the guitar to express his feelings on the war. I felt that all great musicians do that, so I decided to use my fear and my anxiety in a creative way as a form of therapy to work through those feelings, and to get productive again. Gradually, Wargames started to take shape.

DJ Times: When did this all happen?
Swift: The creative process started from November 2001, and the actual production started in June 2004. It was like three different phases. The first phase was getting inspired from what I was watching on TV. I took all of those events that were impacting me, and I’d write down ideas. Once I got all that together, it was a matter of figuring out a way to make sense of it all—how I would piece these little things together and come up with a song like “Terrorism,” or “The Ghetto Poem.” The second phase was seeking out the music, sounds, and words that were going to help me translate what I saw on TV into music—spoken-word albums, Black Revolutionary albums, famous speeches, stuff like that. The third phase was working on the music and physically taking those ideas and turning them into songs and stuff. I think I spent about an equal time on each phase.

DJ Times: Wargames isn’t just about 9/11, though…
Swift: Wargames was inspired by images and events. I was so wrapped up into TV that 9/11 almost made my mind more sensitive to information. Before 9/11, I’d watch something that happened on the news, and I’d be affected by it, but now I was even more sensitive to things that happened. I was more analytical, more aware. So I decided, “This isn’t just about those planes that crashed into those buildings. This is going to be about everything that I feel is related to that in some weird way, indirectly, or directly.”

DJ Times: Seems like the album is trying to convey that sensitivity in a forceful fashion, while really shoving it down anyone’s throat.
Swift: Exactly.

DJ Times: Was there ever a struggle with that, finding a balance between sending a message and possibly alienating your audience?
Swift: The whole album was a struggle. Usually, music and movies are like an escape from reality. They serve as something to take us away from the bad. On average, once a week, I’d be working on the music, and it’d hit me—are people gonna want to listen to my music and be reminded of the horror that’s out there? It’s such a depressing subject; it’s a scary subject. I didn’t know if people were gonna want to gravitate towards it. It was really tough because I’d be in this euphoric state of mind, making songs like “Terrorism.” I was shocking myself that I had managed to put all these songs together with this meaning. In the end, I said, “Fuck it. I gotta finish this album. I gotta put it out.”

DJ Times: It was with the [Pioneer] CDJ-1000s that you managed to scratch in those speeches from the TV?
Swift: Right.

DJ Times: Are you liking them more and more?
Swift: In the recording sense, yes, I like it. I think it’s one of the most important inventions for the DJ community that ever came out. To a large degree, that album wouldn’t have come together if it wasn’t for the CDJ, because I would’ve had to go out and press up records. If you add up all those sounds and stuff—I don’t even know how many quotes I used from TV—I’m not sure how realistic it would’ve been. Pressing would’ve taken so much time and money. If I watched something on TV and got inspired, I could take my VHS, record the audio, and burn it. In a matter of minutes, I’d have a CD ready to be scratched. It was definitely an important tool in creating this album.

DJ Times: What has your career taught you about the turntable as a creative tool?
Swift: I’ve learned that the turntable isn’t just a mechanism for you to show off your talents. I always knew that, even on previous albums I’ve done (Sound Event, The Ablist). I’ve always tried to showcase the turntable as an instrument—something you can use to coax sound out of in the same way a mouth coaxes sound out of the throat.

DJ Times: Has the new album changed that perspective?
Swift: When I think about Wargames and see what I managed to accomplish, I realize that in addition to being an instrument, it could be a tool to convey an actual idea. The turntable can convey a sociopolitical thought—it can make a statement.

DJ Times: How so?
Swift: This may sound corny, but take, for example, a microphone used by Martin Luther King or John F. Kennedy. To have a mouthpiece, the ability to make a speech and reach millions of people…I feel now the turntable can be used as a mouthpiece. You don’t have to be into the art of scratching—you don’t even have to understand what a Flare [scratch] is—but you can listen to the album and still be moved. It’ll provoke you to think. You could almost debate with me about my theories and thoughts about what’s going on in the world, just by listening to the scratches.

DJ Times: So you’re pleased with the result?
Swift: I’m really thankful that I was moved to make the album, and that I figured out a way to compose these ideas without having to grab a mic and verbally say something, because I’m showing people the range that one has with the turntable. God willing, it’ll help bring even more respect from the outside world to the turntable community. There are scholars out there, traditionalists, that think the turntable is not an instrument, that is has no relevancy. With Wargames, I think there’s no way you could demean the importance of it, and what you can do with the turntable.

DJ Times: What else do you see happening in the turntablism world to help bring relevancy in from the outside?
Swift: Have you ever heard of DJ Radar? I worked with him on Sound Event. He was classically trained, but he’s a DJ, so he incorporates a lot of his training with scratching. In October, he performed at Carnegie Hall with an orchestra, a conductor, the whole nine. The turntable was the focal point of the piece. I think that’s the future of what we do. You’re gonna see it a lot more in places like Carnegie Hall. When I was with the X-Ecutioners, we performed at Lincoln Center a couple years back, which is another historical Mecca for classical music.

DJ Times: Mainstream exposure then?
Swift: Seeing what Radar is doing with his orchestra, it definitely lets me know that the path we’re taking as DJs is limitless. Eventually, it’s going to reach people that still don’t know our art exists, people that go to Broadway shows and to Carnegie Hall. For example, on Wargames, I worked with Bob James, who’s a legend in the jazz world. Hopefully, through my inspiration, and the inspiration of other people like Radar, more DJs are gonna be inspired to collaborate with people from other musical backgrounds and other styles of music. The one thing that bothers me about the world of DJing and the DJ community is that a lot of DJ albums are meant for the ears of other DJs. I want my shit to be heard by someone who loves Bob James or Herbie Hancock, or someone who goes to Carnegie Hall. I think that’s the future of the DJing art.