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Baltimore cocksure

Philly’s DJ Low Budget has a soft spot for the Baltimore sound—and Larry David

by SCOTT C

As one half of Hollertronix, Philly-based DJ Low Budget has been enjoying the fruits of his labours alongside good friend and partner Diplo. His championing of the balls-out club music of Baltimore’s underground has helped bring the gritty sounds of Maryland to the rest of the world. The Mirror spoke to Low Beezy over the phone before he rolls into town to play Kops Crew’s New Year’s party.

Mirror: So, how are you guys doing for bookings these days? I would have to assume things are pretty busy for you right now.

Low Budget: Oh yeah, definitely, man. In February, I’m gonna be gone for a long while. I just came out with a new CD of Baltimore club music with my boy, so we’re actually gonna be in Tel Aviv, Sweden, England, Berlin and other parts of Europe. Actually, towards the end of this summer, things really started to get hectic for me.

M: So as the reigning ambassadors of Baltimore club music, is it a trip to see so many people worldwide warming up to what was pretty much a regional sound for a very long time?

LB: I always just put it out there. I was playing that shit when I was still only playing in Philly, but putting it on mix tapes that have got international attention has made us the ambassadors, even if we didn’t set out to do that. We just play the music that we think sounds good, and it turns out that a lot of people really didn’t know about some of it.

M: What do you think sets Hollertronix apart from all the DJs out there doing their thing? People really seem to be bugging out over you guys, and the imitators are starting to pop up.

LB: I think it’s a combination of our two weird personalities and our musical histories. Wes (Diplo) is like an alien, and I don’t even know where he’s from. The combo of his cultural mash-up eclecticism and my East Coast hip hop flavour just seems to work. My friend at Turntable Lab told us from the start that people would bite our style, but that they wouldn’t have the musical knowledge or the DJ skills to pull it off.

M: How would you describe Baltimore club music if you had to nail it down?

LB: It’s kind of like sped-up breakbeats with a punchy, house-type feel. It’s not exactly your classic four-on-the-floor house, it’s got more punch and stab. It basically all revolves around two breaks, the Sing Sing and the Lyn Collins “Think” break, but they’re run at 130 BPM, really repetitive. You could almost make a Baltimore club mix out of anything. I made one out of the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme song (laughs).

M: No way!

LB: It’s actually on the Gutter Music CD, and it’s on a 12-inch now too. Check www.myspace.com/

lowbeezy for a track called “Crazy Eyez Killah.”

M: You addicted to Myspace too?

LB: Myspace.com is the streets, yo! It’s an incredible promotional tool, but I haven’t even gone all out with it yet. I’ve met mad friends who figured out who I was real quick.

M: I’m still waiting for Larry David to approve me as a friend.

LB: I saw that he had a page, but I wasn’t sure if it was him or not. I wanna be friends with Larry.

With Chromeo and Ghislain Poirier at Le Kopshop New Year’s at 111 Roy, saturday, dec. 31, 10 p.m., $30