A Plus D Interview
Published in Mashuptown, The Blog. Tags: Interviews, Mashups, Music.
When did you start making mashups?
A Plus D: We made our first mashup back in 2004, when we mashed up Missy Elliott with The Cure, and produced “I’m Really Hot Hot Hot!!!” Back in those early days of bootlegging, someone once said that your first mashup should always be made with either Missy Elliott or Eminem, due to the tightness of their raps, making them easier to sync up with other music.
But of course, we had been downloading and listening to mashups since 2002, and had already been DJing them at our Bootie parties for over a year. But being so intimately familiar with the art form by the time we finally started making our own definitely helped our craft.
Was there any other mashup producer, or producers, that inspired you to get started?
A Plus D: We hate to sound cliché, but it’s the usual suspects: 2manyDJs, Freelance Hellraiser, and Go Home Productions all initially inspired us to start producing our own mashups.
Have you had any legal threats or issues arise surrounding any of your bootlegs?
A Plus D: Shockingly, no! In fact, we’ve even been clandestinely approached by representatives from a few major labels to help them mash up their own artists on the down-low!
What is the last mashup you listened to that wasn’t yours?
A Plus D: DJ Tripp’s “Just Stop Believin'” (Lady Gaga vs. Journey). Damn, now there’s finally another “Don’t Stop Believin'” mashup besides our own that we actually like!
Who are your favorite bastard-pop producers?
A Plus D: [As] the curators of the monthly Bootie Top 10, we have SO many favorites. Can we just go crazy? In no particular order: DJ Lobsterdust, DJ Schmolli, the Illuminoids, DJ Earworm, DJ Fox, MadMixMustang, Dan Mei & Marc Johnce, Divide & Kreate, Titus Jones, Loo & Placido, the Kleptones, DJ Y Alias JY, DJ BC, Zebra… these are just off the top of our heads, so if we left anybody out (and we’re sure we did!) don’t hate us, we’re sorry!
How many mashups do you think you’ve made in your life?
A Plus D: We actually keep track! We number each mashup in the MP3 ID tags! So far, we’re up to 52 officially-released A Plus D mashups… although we have at LEAST a dozen more that we’ve never actually posted online yet.
What is your favorite mashup of all time?
A Plus D: Of all time? That is SUCH a difficult question! We used to say “Rapture Riders” (The Doors vs. Blondie) by Go Home Productions, but now it’s getting a little long in the tooth. We can probably say what our “Mashup of the Year” is though, and that would be MadMixMustang’s “I Got More Than A Feeling” (Boston vs. Black Eyed Peas). But check back with us at the end of December when we release our annual “Best of Bootie 2009” compilation album!
[This article first appeared on Mashuptown.]