Alright folks, meet my main man Squincy. I actually went to high school with this dude. He’s cool, talented as fuck and about as tall as they come. But seriously, his Nintendub mixtape is incredible and he’s got plans for a sequel. If you’re ever in Houston, holler and we’ll grab drinks and watch Too Tall Squincy do his damn thing. Now enjoy the read as it actually sounds like him. Oh and shouts to Ray of GC. What up Three!

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Squincy Jones - Houston Texas

Roby: First off, let all these people know how tall you are. It’s at least 14 feet.

Squincy: Actually im 6′4, but i’m due for another spurt soon.

Roby: So how long have you been doing your thing?

Squincy: Define thing? My pog thing? Dj thing? Blog thing? Mortal Kombat thing?
My pog thing not so much anymore CAUSE THAT SHITS PLAYED OUT SON!
I’ve been djing for 10 years, blogging for like 2 days ( awwready.com )
AND I WILL TAKE ANYONE OUT IN MORTAL KOMBAT WORD IS GOLD BOND!

Roby: When did you first realize that you wanted to make music?

Squincy: In Middle School or High School I first heard Preemptive Strike by Dj Shadow. The album is mad chill and just relaxed the shit out of me every time I listened to it. I haven’t made much original material YET, but eventually when I have time to sit down and get along with a program that likes me and will let me make stuff on it, i’ll go down in the history books as the most worstest unoriginal composer ever.

Roby: Do you have any piece of work that stands out as the greatest?

Squincy: Yesh. My mixtape Nintendub.

I had a lot of fun making it. I still get buck to it in my car now and then. I think the flow and buck factor of it make me really proud. And yes I will make a sequel eventually. SUPER NINTENDUB COMING TO YOUR INTERTRON SOON.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Roby: What are some of your biggest inspirations?

Squincy: My Mom is the driving force behind my obsession for music. When I was a wee Squincy, my Mom and I would roll around going hamburger listening to music in the car. She would always quiz me and stuff making me memorize songs and band names and thangs. Thanks Momma! Also, things that suck inspire me to not suck. I just make sure I don’t suck as bad as sucky things and maintain my steady momentum of awesomeness and i’m good and inspired.

Roby: Do you have anything besides music that you’re really passionate about?

Squincy: Food. Expanding my horrible DVD collection. Smelling good. Being awesome.

Roby: So, if you could drop everything and become any rapper in the world, who would it be?

Squincy: One thats not in jail. GUCCI! Prolly Reh Dogg…..we’re pretty much already the same person, except he raps.

Roby: What are some brands that you really like?

Squincy: Desired Hearts DUH! Gold Coin (WHAT UP RAYYYYYY!?!)  Ummm Durkl, Mishka, Sixpack.fr I like bugged out designs. Dumb things that make me laugh, videogames, i’m a nerd so NERDNESS. Not a fan of naked ass broads on shirts. (Although I am a fan of the naked ass broads.) GUCCI!

As far as grown man brands….POLO F THAT HILFIGER, Uniqlo, J Crew, Gucci, Gap, Louis V, Old Navy, whatever girls think is handsome.

Roby: Squince, thanks for taking time to chat. Now’s the time to let everyone know where to find you.

Squincy Jones: I do a bi-weekly at Boondocks called RAISE IT UP (1st & 3rd Thursdays) w/ my SPKRBXX fam, Dayta and Elroy. Raise It Up is us goofing off on 4 turntables usually, just trying to get it in on a Thursday. GNAR MEAN?

Saturdays, I’m resident along w/ Gracie Chavez @ The Lot on Washington. We play a lot of current Radio stuff, Rap, Rock, House, Dancehall whatever. Basically like a house party, minus a yellowbone with a rad haircut… and like infinity girls in tight shorts. GUCCI!

Also, you can find me dropping dubstep @ Gritsy every other month. Gritsy is Houston’s Premier Dubstep Party. Sound system is ALWAYS on point. We just had Joker play this past weekend and it was amaaazinggggggggg.

Roby: Any last words?

Squincy: Shout out to my Momma and Poppa and all my families – SPKRBXX / GRITSY / DIRB! / GOLD COIN

We’re gearing up for one of our favorite events down here in Texas, the biannual H-town Sneaker Summit. Taking place Sunday, December 27th from 3-8pm, the 35,000 sq ft Meridian will be a packed full of sneakers, streetwear, art, as well as live music and skateboarding. This year’s special guest include the legendary Bobbito Garcia and Levi Maestro of “Maestro Knows. ” Maestro will debuting the release of his very first “Maestro Knows” tee shirt at the event. Also on the list of exclusive freshness, will be our own Benny Gold x Desired Hearts “Heart of Gold” tee done in a SUPER limited Texas colorway.

In anticipation of the event, we caught up with event creator, Kadoma to bring you a little insight on who he is and how the whole thing got started.

Well I’m just a kid from Houston,TX who grew up skateboarding in the streets of downtown. I would always keep a fresh pair of kicks to change into after skating, because my shoes would be tore up or some off brand, and I was trying to pull chicks. Back then you couldn’t really get down like that, or maybe I just didn’t have the skills. I don’t know. But over the years shoes became somewhat of a fascination or better yet an addiction. One day I was reminiscing about a pair I had back in the day, and I asked a friend where he thought I could find them. He hipped me to the well known sneaker forum Niketalk, and that’s when I realized that this was no longer a hobby of some sort, it was a freaking world wide phenomenon! From there I started the H-Town Sneaker Summit and its taken me to great places and helped me meet great people. My main focus is making each Summit event better. I handle pretty much everything behind the scenes including art direction, coordinating, promoting, and even designing our event merchandise. But in my downtime, if you want to call it that, I write for Sneaker News and Freshness Magazine, which are part of the Complex Magazine Network. I also write for Frank151 Media Group also out of New York, but they also have satellite offices in Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Barcelona. I am the lead sneaker and fashion editor for their Houston Grills distribution team. I also am featured on a couple of radio shows; The Houston Sports Rapp here in Houston, which is a more urban and youthful look at the world of sports, and Obsessive Sneaker Disorder, the Worlds first and only entirely sneaker themed talk show. I also do a lot of consulting, marketing, and even art direction and design for some boutiques and brands. Some people may look at all that and say geeze that’s a lot of work! But the whole of sneaker culture is a deep passion of mine and I really enjoy working with it.

I’ve been a huge fan of Felix’s mixes and while I haven’t been able to catch one of his shows, he’s always been a part of mine. I discovered his sound and it has influenced many of my sets, with a usually heavy rotation in the middle of my set. Nearly any day of the week you can find many of his tracks trending at the top of the list on Hype Machine.

Felix Cartal - Dim Mak Records

Felix Cartal was born with a passion for hard hitting electronic music. With influences ranging from the heavy hitting distortion of The Bloody Beetroots and Boys Noize, to the techno influences of Vitalic, Felix has created an amalgamation of electronic genres which results in a unique listening experience for home and live audiences alike. His distinctive method of incorporating abrasive distortion, intense instrumental build-ups and unique frequency variations in his songs gives Felix a sense of versatility within the electronic scene. This versatility has led Cartal to become one of the leaders of heavy-house – a genre known for its relentless intensity and bass and distortion heavy melodies.

Interview

Desired Hearts: You’ve worked with a long list of artists over the past couple of years both in shows and through producing. Who are some of your favorites to work with as far as music style goes?

Felix Cartal: I recently worked on a track for my upcoming album with Johnny Whitney (from The Blood Brothers, Neon Blonde, Jaguar Love). I have always been a fan of his work, especially the Blood Brothers, so to work with him was really exciting for me. The track I made was really high energy and I felt like his unique, abrasive, yet melodic vocal style could really add to it and make it something better. The product we came up with I feel is really strong, and is going to be the first single off my forthcoming album.

DH: What music labels out there right now are representing artists making amazing music that people may not have heard of?

FC: Sound Pellegrino is great right now. It’s distributed by Institubes and run by Orgasmic and Teki Latex. My friend Harvard Bass has put out a few releases with them and they have a great balance of being heavy and groovy without being too in your face or minimal. I also really like Vitalic’s label Citizen Records. It’s heavy emotional techno with influences from electro and house.

DH: Take us through the process from conception to delivery when you sit down to mix a track together, be it original or a remix.

FC: I will usually start with a kickdrum and work a bassline around it. Once I get a groove that sits properly, i’ll develop an arrangement that I think will work for the track. From there I lay out the entire track and do the bassline automation. After that I’ll add in any extra melodies that are needed, make the buildups and any final drum automation. I’ll play it once or twice in the club and then go back and make any final changes. I’ve actually broken down a few songs of mine in-depth on my website, felixcartal.com. (Montreal Dreams: In Depth, From Monument to Masses Remix: In Depth Look)

Click here to view the embedded video.

MSTRKRFT playing Felix’s From Monuments to Masses Remix

DH: Where do you see yourself in five years? Do you see yourself getting into producing albums for other or being a part of the process with other artists?

FC: I’ve always looked at myself first and foremost as a producer. In 5 years I’d love to be producing records for other people, whether it be pop artists, electronic groups or maybe even some bands (if it felt right). Right now my production partner and I are developing our production portfolio and working with a few pop artists to build our brand. Down the line I’d like to see us have a more solid name established outside of Felix Cartal, and perhaps take on an artist and do an entire record with them.

DH: You are working on a new album right now, correct?

FC: The album is finished though, and will be out in Early 2010 on Dim Mak Records.

• MySpace
• FelixCartal.com
• Twitter

A few weeks ago, while poking around the internet for random new tracks and artists I ran across this amazing album produced by Alex Goose. I’ll be honest, I hadn’t had a real good chance to listen to Jay-Z’s latest album The Blueprint 3. Here I was at 4am, at the office, playing the tracks louder than I probably should have. I’m sure the guy on the first floor didn’t appreciate it… or looking at it a different way, maybe he did.

Here’s a few tracks to listen to while reading the rest of the article:

I emailed Alex soon after asking for an interview. We sent emails back and forth and here’s what he had to say about this new release.

Desired Hearts: Your recent release “The Blueprint 3 Outtakes” is a remix of beats originally performed by Jay-Z himself, is that correct? How did you get involved with the project and get the stems needed to remix?

Alex Goose: Actually, they weren’t performed by Jay-Z. They were beats that I made for Jay-Z for his BP3 album. I got the opportunity to submit beats to him but none of them ended up being used. After finding out they weren’t going to be used, I decided to release them for the public to hear months later. The remixes on the album are remixes of older Jay-Z songs and the last track, which is a mash up was done by a great dj named DJ LilMan, who is a part of Swurv Radio.

DH: How did you produce the album? Was it just you, a mac, some headphones and a couple of weeks of late nights?

AG: Pretty much. Everything was mainly done on my MacBookPro (I run MAC OS and Windows Bootcamp) and my old PC (because some of the beats are very old but were revamped with better drums). My set up is very simple. I’m not the “big studio” flashy type of guy. I love creating music in my personal space where I have close access to my inspiration, whether it be from a fashion magazine or something out of my record or photo collection. I use an M-Audio Profire 610 and KRK VXT8 monitor speakers to mix. I also use live instrumentation as well… mostly vintage instruments.

DH: Did you have any contacts or previous relationships with Jay-Z?

AG: Not really. I met somebody connected with them that’s an A&R in the industry. That’s how the music got to him.

DH: Tell ya what, we all have a horn to toot and you are obviously very busy; why don’t you plug yourself and let some of our readers hear about what you have planned or what you are currently working on?

AG: I’m currently working on a number of projects. I’m working with a singer/songwriter right now named Jake Troth, and I’m producing his album. I’ll be working with DC based band, U.S. Royalty very soon, which I’m very excited about. Just finished an album with Danny!, an MC I met at SCAD, which will be out soon. Also planning a clothing and music collaboration with a special NYC-based street wear clothing brand, which I won’t say now but it’ll be dope. I’ve got other things in the works but for now that’s what I’m mainly working on.