Beatmaker on the Rise
Diplo’s Fabriclive 24 mix comp goes from grime to indie rock.


Published in the January 2006 issue of DJ Times Magazine
Volume 19 - Number 1
By Brian O’Connor

It sounds like the start of a bad joke: So a DJ from Florida going to film school in Philly and a Sri Lankan British MC/producer walk into a bar…

But it’s no joke, not for anyone who caught M.I.A.’s live show to support her acclaimed debut album, Arular. The DJ pumping out warped beats and subsonic bass was Wesley Pentz (aka Diplo), who co-produced two tracks on the album (following their collaboration on the impossibly rare mix tape, Piracy Funds Terrorism Vol. 1).

He’s also issued his own album, Florida, a fuzzy-chin rubbing, head-nodding beatfest that, while not bearing the musical zip code of the Sunshine State—no booty bass, no Icey breaks—does announce the arrival of a beat scientist in the making.

On the other hand, his recent mix CD, Fabriclive 24: Diplo, offers up his DJ programming aesthetic: all over the board, plucking choice tracks from electro-Miami bass-Detroit techno-rock-Latin-hip-hop-dub, a coalition of influences that make his Hollartronix parties so memorable. DJ Times caught up with Diplo and found out his master plan.

DJ Times: Your roots are in the south?
Diplo: From the time I was a teenager living in Florida, I was listening to bass music, Luke Records. I was going to clubs with hardcore bass nights, checking out block parties. Those were huge, and all the radio stations were playing freestyle and electro. I was 17 years old, into hip hop. I couldn’t rap—I’m white—but I knew I eventually wanted to produce.

DJ Times: Why did you first get behind the decks?
Diplo: I just bought turntables one at a time. I had a little bit of money, and I figured I’d try scratching. I got my first DJ gig from this real old DJ in Daytona, who was DJing with tapes at the time. He was doing this family-oriented hotel, and I was the worst DJ he could have picked out. I was mixing Hendrix into Iron Butterfly, not really caring if people liked it or not. I was not a digging-in-the-crates DJ.

DJ Times: You stole your first mixer?
Diplo: It was one of those Geminis with a sampler, one of those push-button ones. It was on display at Sam Ash or Guitar World. I grabbed it and walked around the store for a long, long time, so they got comfortable with it, and I just walked out with it, pretending I had gotten it fixed. I probably owe them money, but that mixer was the shit.

DJ Times: You say your style is all over the board. What do you mean?
Diplo: I spent the last three years making all kinds of music, being involved with all kinds of things, just trying to make things that are good. If you see Diplo is playing in your neighborhood, I don’t want anyone to know what I’m gonna do. It might be an all-Miami bass set, mix it with dancehall, and some house. I make a lot of my own edits, so 20-percent of the stuff I play is stuff I made—edits and dubs. I’ve put myself in a pretty cool position, with the Fabric mix, going from Detroit electro to Cat Power.

DJ Times: How did you segue into production?
Diplo: My interest in film school. I’m going to Temple in Philly. I started out thinking I wanted to make films, documentaries, but it reinforced the idea that I wanted to do music. Going into film school, I got into the downtempo stuff, because I was making film soundtrack stuff. And I did make the video for the first single off my album, “Diplo Rhythm,” went and shot that myself in Brazil—like, on no budget.

DJ Times: Have you experimented with DVD mixing with your sets?
Diplo: I used the Pioneer at Coachella and in Japan recently. I’m just cutting things in, making an a cappella DVD and scratching over beats when I’m playing. I need to learn more about it, but the possibilities are endless. You can take a laptop and do that, but it feels really good to actually play the stuff on the DVD. I’ll take an old video of “Walk Like an Egyptian,” an old VHS, and then I found an a cappella of that song, so I went and mixed the a cappella on top of that, so I cut that in and drop a beat on one deck and scratch them. So now when I do sets I have The Bangles singing on top of “Wait” by the Ying Yang Twins—that kind of shit.

DJ Times: How did you get together with M.I.A.?
Diplo: XL really liked “Diplo Rhythm” when it came out, and they wanted me to finish a beat for her record. So I had a really strange version of “Sunshowers” with a live band; eventually, she just came to Philly and we just worked it out. I’m on two tracks on the record, and I developed her live show. Everything’s cool.

Diplo’s Top 10 Tracks
Notorious—“Turbulence” (XL)
Switch—“A Bit Patchy” (Dubsided)
Kanye West feat. Paul Wall & GLC—“Drive Slow” (Roc-a-Fella)
7 Samurai—“Modulo Forro” (GAMM)
Planet Patrol—“Play at Your Own Risk” (Tommy Boy)
Three 6 Mafia—“Stay Fly” (Sony)
Diamond K—“Go Down” (Baltimore Breaks)
Cecile & Delly Ranks—“Teddy Bear” (Bun Up/King of Kings)
Ying Yang Twins feat. Pitbull—“Shake” (TVT)
Basement Jaxx—“Do Your Thing” [Seiji Remix] (XL)