peoplemusic

Delrey of Light

Mad Decent Records continues its tradition of showcasing standout artists from a variety of disciplines with the upcoming release from recent signing Bosco Delrey. The record, titled Everybody Wah, is a strong, fresh, super-diverse collection that speaks to Delrey’s sensibilities as a musician. Already in the process of trading remixes with Mike D. and Ad-Rock (as in, the Beastie Boys), it seems pretty clear that dude is being vetted by the best and there’s sure to be a heap of dope material coming from him in the future. I recently had the chance to ask Delrey a few questions about his work, linking up with Mad Decent and the current project…

Tell me a little bit about yourself, growing up, what first got you interested in making music, that kind of stuff I guess…

I got an acoustic guitar from a garage sale when I was three and it all spawned from there. I’d fake-play along with my parents’ records and swing the thing around like I’d see on TV.

How did the relationship with Mad Decent develop?

Paul Devro got a hold of one of my tracks through 77Klash and blogged about it on the Mad Decent board. After that we all became friends.

Tell me a bit about some of the different styles that you’ve been experimenting with over the years.

To oversimplify, I’ve always been a songwriter doing the rock thing. I’ve messed around with ambient music quite a bit too.

The instrumentation of your work is really impressive. Tell me little bit about your process.

I usually just imagine the whole thing in my head and then use whatever is around to make it come true.

What are some of the tools that you like to work with?

My main tools are the acoustic guitar and my voice. I’d be fine with just those.

Did your approach to this project differ in any way from the 7-inches you’ve released, or any of the other work you’ve done in the past?

Not really. I always write the songs and record them at home. For the 7-inches I finished the recording with Drop the Lime at Toshi Yano’s studio in Brooklyn. The album was finished at Easley McCain Studios in Memphis.

Tell me a bit about what it was like working with Doug Easley; did you pick up any techniques you think you might apply in the future?

It was really easy working with him. Super-laid-back. We never overworked the takes or did comp tracks on the vocals. Faith in the first is something I’ll stick with. A good number of the main vocal tracks on the album are from the first take in its entirety. Doug basically encouraged me to practice instead of overworking a recording.

What are some of the remixes you have in the works right now?

I just finished up a remix for Buddy Holly. I’m also working on a remix of a new Beastie Boys track with Diplo as a trade for the remixes they did for me. The Mike D remix of my track “My My Racecar” still isn’t released, but I’m really into it.

—Omar Almufti, 02 May 2011