Interview with Damnage

Damnage was picked as Producer of the Month for January 2009, below is an interview I done with him.

MUSIC

Where did you get the name Damnage? What does it mean?
Honestly, i got into a fight with some kid, which I did not start, and I beat him really badly. Everyone said how much damage I did….They were like, DAAAAAAMMMNN…
so they started calling me Damage….

I just added the “n” to have a little creativity in it.

What genre(s) of music do you produce? What’s your favorite?
I produce mostly for Hip-Hop…more towards the horror side of it, but really I just make music, and let people decide what they wanna call it.

My favorite genre is 90’s hip-hop. I don’t like this modern take on it at all. All these “Lil’” this one, or “Young” that one…its all rubbish to me…

How long have you been producing? What first got you interested?
I have been producing for 7 years. I have always been interested, I tried first by picking up a bass guitar, but I really sucked, then I came across FL Studio and fell in love….

What’s your inspiration?
My inspiration is for the most part, Dr. Dre….from the time “The Chronic” came out, i was always wanting to make music like that….now, more so, its all these local people I make the beats for…They inspire me because they hopefully are the future of hip-hop…and if they are that is a good thing, it is fresh and new, but with that old school 90’s feel that we all know and love.

Do you Sample, Compose or Both? What do you prefer?
I sample, I compose, I do bit bit of it all… I used to be against sampling because I thought it was cheating…. Using other peoples music to make music, in my opinion was just being lazy…the, I tried it, and I was like damn, this is really cool, this has a real good feel to it…So more recently I prefer sampling over composing…

Do you use software or Hardware to produce? Which Software/Hardware? Which do you prefer?
All, software, except my trusty Axiom 49, and my MPD-16
Anyone making music should invest in an Axiom, or something similar, unless you got some real money and could afford the big guns…

I would prefer hardware because there really is nothing like playing with a board that has all these presets at the touch of a dial, it helps bring your creativity to the forefront when you dont have to go digging for just the right sound….

When did you decide you wanted to take your music seriously?
Seriously? Well, I guess since I first started….I mean, I used to be an avid video game player…I had this really huge collection of games, over 500 PS2 games…but when i started making music, I said to myself, I can do one or the other, because both are so time consuming…So I decided to stop playing video games and just make music…I sold all my games, got some equipment, and that was that.

What are you trying to do with your music? Do you want to help your community? Are you trying to get rich? What is your goal for your music?
I guess it would be nice to live off my music…Realistically, I do not see that happening…so I just make it for myself, and whoever likes it…

Do you have any kind of management, publishing or distribution teamwork behind you? If so what are their responsibilities?
Nothing at all…gotta have money to have a manager….

What are some accomplishments that you have achieved, and are most proud of?
Man, being on stage in front of hundreds of people is just amazing….having the crowd go nuts after a solid performance makes you feel on top of the world…

For those that didnt know, I do backups and what not for local artists…

We have opened up for a LOT of people…. I’m not gonna name drop, but, trust me, you’d be proud to have shared the same stage as some of these artists.

Have you ever made any contact with big time people in the industry and do you keep in contact with them?
Depends on what you call BIG… I mean we have contact with many UNDERGROUND rappers…they are big to me, but, I guess on the grand scale, no….

CRAZYPELLAS / INTERNET

Can you tell us how you found CrazyPellas?
honestly, stumbleupon….a little addon for firefox….press the stumble button and it brings ya to random websites…this was one….

Has this forum helped you at all in your musical journey?
Yea, you can say that….I get some nice criticism in the forums, and criticism is always good for growth.

What made you post your music online?
Just to get some feed back

Do you feel like the internet is helping you as an underground producer?
not as much as I’d like, but, I also dont promote and get myself out there….so I guess if I did keep on top of it I would be doing a little more…

IN CLOSING

Do you have any upcoming projects, events or anything?
Yes, actually….I have been working on several different projects…

First off is Mr Freeze – The Righteous Path

this album is going to be amazing…for those of you who dont know anything about him, he is a great lyracist. Check him out on myspace….

That album is going to have some of my best work on it….

Then there is Modifi Sci….

these guys are by far the most original rappers I have ever heard….I am not just saying that…go listen to them on myspace, you will see what I mean….

Again, they are putting out an album, called Eyes Wide Open…..I have some good tracks on there…lots of OLD STUFF…..

10 years from now where do you want to be?
living in a nice house, with a wife and kids….chillin

Any shoutouts you want to give out?
Shout outs? hmmm…..Na….FUCK EVERYBODY!!!!!

Any final things you want to say?
Yea…check out my soundclick if you want to buy some beats….whether its for an album or a movie or whatever, I have all types of music….

Finally, thanks for taking the time to do this interview!

You can check Damnage’s beats in the Homemade Beats forum on CP, and his Soundclick.