This electronic dude Pretty Lights (Colorado based producer Derek Vincent Smith) has been selling out shows all over the nation and he’s not even on a label yet. All three of his albums are available on www.prettylightsmusic.com for the sanctioned and amazing price of FREE. His live shows are mind-bending experiences of the Pink Floyd variety, tripping the light fantastic and all that good stuff. From secret shows with Chromeo to having Tabu from the Black Eyed Peas jump onstage to freestyle over his beats – it’s safe to say dude is on the verge of explosion. URB jumped at the chance to delve into growing up in Sunday School, the overwhelming influence of House of Pain and well….read for yourselves.
URB: What’s the first record you can remember holding in your hands?
PRETTY LIGHTS: Usually the question is what’s the first record you bought.. so this is definitely a new one for me to consider. I think it was when my older sister opted to try out one of those 8 cd’s for a penny deals that used to be everywhere in magazines in the early nineties. I was home when the mail came and decided to open this box that came for my sister. When I saw 8 new shiny CDs inside staring up at me, I remember being in awe for some reason. The first disc I picked up was KLF The White Room but it was the second disc I picked up that really ended up affecting my life later down the road. It was House of Pain’s Shamrock & Shenanigans. I would sneak in my sisters room before she got home from junior high and replay tracks from that album over & over again, attempting to memorize every lyric. Which I did. I know that album front to back.
The first record I purchased however was Nirvana’s Nevermind followed by Green Day’s Dookie. Then a few years later, Wu-Tang Clans 36 Chambers. Those 4 albums came together to make me the person I am today.
URB: What makes an artist and when did you start considering yourself an artist?
PL: I think everyone has an artist somewhere deep inside. How’s that for a bullshit answer? For real though, I’m not sure what makes someone an artist. Is it people that create art? I dont think so. I’m not sure what makes an artist but I can tell you what I think makes a good artist. For me, a good artist is a member of society that has a unique perspective and can recreate it in a way where others can feel something new from it, or understand something new, or gain insight, or channel their own emotions.
Art is something different to everyone, as well as beauty. To me, art serves to stimulate evolution, and catalyze internal reflection, and inspire emotion.
I knew I wanted to become an artist from the moment I popped that House of Pain cd in the 5 disc changer. I didn’t know how, but somehow I knew.
I don’t think I started considering myself an artist until I dropped out of college as a fine arts major. I definitely didn’t feel like an artist in painting class.
URB: Tell us about this track “Sunday School” – did you ever go to sunday school?
I definitely did go to Sunday school, every week for about 15 years. I chose to use that Biggie sample “Fuck em, I didn’t wanna go to heaven anyway” because, for one, I really connected with it.. and two, it matched the attitude of the beat.
I was the kid in Sunday school who raised my hand in the middle of the lesson about doing what Jesus says or face eternity in a lake of fire, and asked “Are there going to be roller coasters in Heaven?”
The fear tactic as a persuasive strategy of Christianity jumped out to me at an early age. Since elementary school I remember being distraught by the inconsistencies of what I was being force fed. Thank God for music (laughs) because it really helped me open my eyes to the tricks and evils of fundamental religion.
The track “Sunday School” is meant to be a very serious but yet sort of sarcastically immature rejection of the belief system that raised me. You won’t take me how I am? I don’t want your bullshit streets of gold anyway.
I want people to see how confident I am in my disbelief of that dogma, because so many people are scared to make a decision about what they believe regarding a god. All I know, is if I can’t drink a top shelf liquor, enjoy a good smoke, and flirt with a beautiful woman up in heaven, all before riding a bad ass roller coaster.. I don’t wanna be there anyway.
URB: How does Passing By Behind Your Eyes differ from your other releases?
This is the first record that I’ve produced while I was touring at the same time. I made most of this album in green rooms, hotels, airplanes, and airport gates. Also my mentality was different because I was producing a lot of the tracks with the intention of bringing them to the performance. I think that it retains my original style of soulful samples and organic timbres as a common thread, but has dirtier harder basslines, and beats that stomp harder. I also stayed within the range of hiphop tempos for the whole record which is something I haven’t done before. I wanted this record to have a consistent hard yet pretty & organic hiphop feel to it… However I am already working on another EP that I’m super psyched about. The new new is not far behind.
URB: Where did you grow up and how did that affect you musically?
PL: I grew up in Fort Collins, Colorado. I think it was a cool place to grow up and develop a musical sensibility because I was exposed to so many scenes and genres. I started going to shows and playing in bands when the punk scene was really poppin off. In high school & college, the underground hiphop scene blew up in CO and I was able to see and open for every touring hiphop act that came through, and half the time they’d come to the after party at my house after the show. I remember slap boxing Murs in my backyard after a Living Legends show. I also remember kickin it with Aesop Rock on the rocking chair on my front porch til about 5:30 am. Also sometime in all that the rave/party scene pretty big in CO, and thats when I was first exposed to the DJ culture and the many different sub-genres of electronic music.
So basically, growing up in the middle of the country in a small city in CO exposed me to a bunch of different scenes and styles of music that all influenced me in one way or another, and helped me develop the current vision and sound of PL.
URB: What was the first piece of musical equipment that you purchased? What do you use to play and manipulate sounds currently?
PL: I bought my first bass guitar at the end of 8th grade.
Now, during a live performance, I use Ableton Live 8 with an MPD32 sample pad/midi controller and a 128 Monome running an application called Molar. I also perform with another monome app called MLR from time to time.
In the studio, which doubles as my loft, I have synthesizers and vintage keyboards everywhere, boxes & boxes of old vinyl, as well as my flute and my warwick bass. I have a Fender Rhodes 73, Wurlitzer 200a, Farfisa Compact Deluxe, Virus TI Polar, Moog Little Phatty, and a handful of other vintage effects and toys that I use in conjunction with lots of software applications to create & produce music.
URB: How does it feel to perform at sold out shows?
PL: Awesome. Surprising. Nervous. Satisfying. A little lucky.
URB: How do you feel about social networking tools such as twitter?
PL: I wasn’t down at first, but now I’m pretty into it. I like being able to share news and funny moments on the tour with fans that are interested.
URB: Who are some dream people that you’d like to collaborate with?
PL: Quincy Jones, Rick Rubin, Jay Z, Flea, Ravi Shankar, Thom Yorke, Beck, Snoop, Joe Pass, Butterfly & Lady Bug, Bob Moog, 50 cent, Danny Boyle, Danny McBride, Spike Jones, Empire Of The Sun, Phoenix, Sean Daley, Lyrics Born, Bernard Purdy, Yeah Yeah Yeah’s….I could do this all day.
URB: What’s next?
PL: The hottest album yet..by far. I’m planning on working with an extensive network of live musicians and also moving towards producing the audio and video side by side… as well as taking the production of the live show to whole other universe.
TOUR DATES:
11.13.09 – Newby’s – Memphis, TN
11.14.09 – The Masquerade – Atlanta, GA
11.17.09 – Cat’s Cradle – Carrboro, NC
11.18.09 – 9:30 Club – Washington D.C.
11.19.09 – Fillmore NY @ Irving Plaza – New York, NY
11.20.09 – The Note – West Chester, PA
11.21.09 – Paradise Rock Club – Boston, MA
01.03.09 – Jam Cruise 8 – Fort Lauderdale, FL
This electronic dude Pretty Lights (Colorado based producer Derek Vincent Smith) has been selling out shows all over the nation and he’s not even on a label yet. All three of his albums are available on his site for the sanctioned and amazing price of FREE. His live shows are mind-bending experiences of the Pink Floyd variety, tripping the light fantastic and all that good stuff. From secret shows with Chromeo to having Tabu from the Black Eyed Peas jump onstage to freestyle over his beats – it’s safe to say dude is on the verge of explosion. URB jumped at the chance to delve into growing up in Sunday School, the overwhelming influence of House of Pain and well….read for yourselves.
Pretty Lights – “Sunday School”
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URB: What’s the first record you can remember holding in your hands?
PRETTY LIGHTS: Usually the question is what’s the first record you bought.. so this is definitely a new one for me to consider. I think it was when my older sister opted to try out one of those 8-CDs -for-a-penny deals that used to be everywhere in magazines in the early nineties. I was home when the mail came and decided to open this box that came for my sister. When I saw 8 new shiny CDs inside staring up at me, I remember being in awe for some reason. The first disc I picked up was KLF’s The White Room but it was the second disc I picked up that really ended up affecting my life later down the road. It was House of Pain’s Shamrocks & Shenanigans. I would sneak in my sisters room before she got home from junior high and replay tracks from that album over & over again, attempting to memorize every lyric. Which I did. I know that album front to back.
The first record I purchased however was Nirvana’s Nevermind followed by Green Day’s Dookie. Then a few years later, Wu-Tang Clan’s 36 Chambers. Those 4 albums came together to make me the person I am today.
URB: What makes an artist and when did you start considering yourself an artist?
PL: I think everyone has an artist somewhere deep inside. How’s that for a bullshit answer? For real though, I’m not sure what makes someone an artist. Is it people that create art? I dont think so. I’m not sure what makes an artist but I can tell you what I think makes a good artist. For me, a good artist is a member of society that has a unique perspective and can recreate it in a way where others can feel something new from it, or understand something new, or gain insight, or channel their own emotions.
Art is something different to everyone, as well as beauty. To me, art serves to stimulate evolution, and catalyze internal reflection, and inspire emotion.
I knew I wanted to become an artist from the moment I popped that House of Pain CD in the 5-disc changer. I didn’t know how, but somehow I knew.
I don’t think I started considering myself an artist until I dropped out of college as a fine arts major. I definitely didn’t feel like an artist in painting class.
Pretty Lights is incredible. I’m glad he is receiving credit when due.
\Thanks God for music\– priceless!
Such a great track, looking forward to the NY show!
SOOO glad you guys are on to Pretty Lights. Saw him over the summer and Pretty Lights KILLED. Can’t wait to see them again.