Music Mixology: An Interview with Russel Fong Russel Fong is a music mixer, spinner, and lover, as well as a graphic art enthusiast. At 25 he’s bringing new, inventive sounds to the Brooklyn music scene and beyond. 1.) When did you start getting serious about a career in the music industry? Seeing Michael Jackson do the moonwalk back in ‘83 was probably the defining moment. I knew I wanted to have some sort of relationship with music. When I was a kid I would spend what money I had on tapes and cds. I remember having this old sony dual-cassette boombox where I would just dub and mix cassette tapes. Fast forward ten years after seeing MJ rock that mysterious backslide, I heard Wu-tang Clan’s “enter the 36 chambers” and that pretty much put me over the edge. The production on that record was like a blueprint; I wanted to make those raw, grimy drumbeats, just like the rza 2.) Is this what you envisioned yourself doing at this age? I've never thought about what I’d be doing at 25 years old...always thought in the now rather than the future, but I’m happy with where I’m at and what I’m doing. 3.) What are your short term and long term professional goals? Right now my short term goals are to finish up tracks for some other artists’ records. There's one for Bernard Dolan’s "The Failure" on Strange Famous, two tracks for L*Roneous’ “Notes of the Righteous Outlaw” LP, The Bulbs' ongoing saga, which is their sophomore LP, and an EP with Fiasco. I'd like to press my own 7” or 10” record for Brooklyn-based Inner Current Recordings by the end of the year, too. Long term I would hope to be able to look back and see a catalogue of material having collaborated with like-minded artists. I just want to push my music as far as possible, and being able to bounce ideas off of other artists is a real motivator for me; getting a big record deal or having videos played on MTV isn't. 4.) Do you feel your age works for you or against you? I don't think numbers really come into play. No one cares how old you are. They shouldn’t at least. 5.) So it just depends on the individual person, no matter how old or young, as to whether someone can successfully can work his/her way into the music industry? Yeah, I mean, I am getting more and more connected everyday. There are The Bulbs and Fiasco in Sacramento, CA. Used Collect in Santa Barbara. L*Roneous in Oakland. Bernard Dolan and Sage Francis in Rhode Island. Johnny Marnell and The Exeter Popes in Brooklyn. Speaking of Brooklyn, it is such an art and music Mecca right now. I'm taking in everything it has to offer every single day. 6.) Do you think you’ve worked hard to find those connections? You’ve GOT to work hard. What’s that line by Guru? “I put in work to watch my status escalate...” at this point, getting more exposure is so important. I dj once a month in Manhattan, IC’s set to release some quality records this year and RD (IC label head) has lined up some serious distributors. With a little more time the work should pay off, you know? Hopefully the records will speak for themselves. 7.) What is "success" to you? Do you consider yourself successful? Being able to share my music with people is the driving force behind it all. Why do it if no one’s going to listen? Being able to work with emcees I look up to makes me feel like I am on the right track...I think success is directly related to what you, the artist, wants, so once you have your ideas and concepts together, you've got to put it all in motion. 8.) What advice would you give to aspiring musicians and artists ? Remember, I'm trying to lay the foundation for my music, so I’m definitely still aspiring and starting out myself. But as far as advice goes, I feel like if you can carve a name out for yourself, that’s great, but you need to create your own niche, distinguish yourself, play shows when and where you can. If you're working on an album? Finish it. Just get out there. You can check out Russel's Work and find out more about him at:

innercurrent.podomatic.com/  www.innercurrent.com  www.knowmore.org  www.strangefamousrecords.com  www.myspace.com/bonsaibuckaroo