Written by J Hatch

Hello Schpilkas, thanks for taking the time out to chat with iStandardProducers.com. Tell the readers a little bit about yourself.

What’s going on iStandard?! Let’s see. I’m an Urban Electronic producer and composer who grew up in Brooklyn, NY and now lives in Los Angeles, CA. I’m currently on the hustle, producing music for TV, film and new media licensing as well as establishing myself as an artist/record producer.

I started playing the piano at around age 5, where I began to take classical piano lessons and learn music theory. I got my first synthesizer (a Roland Juno-106) when I was about 10, and started self-teaching the fundamentals of MIDI and analog synthesis. I attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia H.S. of Music & Performing Arts, where I picked up the viola, and by sophomore year, I was playing in both the Junior and Senior orchestras.

After high-school, I busted a solo move to Los Angeles where, I stumbled into the recording music industry – on the marketing, promotions and artist development tip. It was also around this time, that I discovered “electronically” produced music. I always created music, just to create music, and honestly it didn’t occur to me that the records I was hearing on CD and the radio were created on the kinds of equipment I had (i.e. drum machines, synths, sequencers, samplers). I never really thought about it in that way, you know what I mean?

I left the ‘record industry’ on the executive tip, a few years ago, to focus on my own craft, which is making music full on. I got an opportunity to place some tracks for MTV and a work-for-hire situation with the ZTS library (distributed by Killertracks/UMG) – ever since that, I’ve learned about music licensing and have the bug to license my music for TV, film and media usage. At the same time, would like to put my “stamp” on developing and producing recording artists.

Hearing your music on TV, or a handheld device is a bug out… I’d bug out even more if I heard it in a movie theatre, club or radio (movie theatres, clubs and cars that have great sound systems…).

Funny thing is, even though I “worked” in the record industry, I never really told anyone I did music (except for my closest friends and peers). Strangely, I always kept that part of me separate, until I went into it full-time for myself. By day, I was hustling other people’s records… at night… working on my own shit. While I was working (for labels in the late 90’s), I used to play local spots in Los Angeles, such as the Whisky, Dragonfly, The Martini Lounge, Coconut Teaser. I would get up on stage as the “opening act” for local bands, and just rock my beats and songs, just so I could hear what I made in my living room, LOUDER than what I can possibly bump in my place. Basically I wanted to hear my music on a sound system, other than my own – plus it’s a joy to see how people react.

(I don’t want to tangent too much with my answer to your question, so if anyone is interested in learning more, you can check out: http://www.schpilkas.com/epkfor my bio, etc.)

Ok, you know I have to ask….where did the name come from and what does it mean?

A colleague of mine one day, said I had ‘Schpilkas’ because I was running around the office doing my thing. I literally stopped in my tracks, grabbed a piece of paper and wrote it phonetically to how I thought this “word” was spelled. I was like… ‘What the hell is Schpilkas?’ I learned it’s Yiddish slang for having “ants in the pants.” I said, ‘That’s my moniker from here on out… trademarked and all!’ (Laughs)

Congrats on your iStandard/ Remix Hotel LA producer showcase victory, you definitely had some heat and you seemed to have a very distinct sound of your own. How would you describe your own style?

Thank you for giving all that participated, the opportunity to showcase our material. It was definitely a surprise to know that I was in the running… let alone, surprised to win. Over the last year or so, “producer battles” (which I don’t like to call it) have become really popular. Artists have a platform to showcase their music; DJs have a platform (DJ your own shit along with other tracks), but being recognized as the ‘behind the scenes’ guy, used to always be like, ‘read the liner notes.’ (Laughs)

As for my style, ‘unpredictable’ would be a good description… No, seriously, I like to consider it Urban Electronic or Electronic Hip Hop. I love poly-rhythms, dense arrangements and instrumentation. I was a skateboard geek growing up in Brooklyn/NYC who studied classical music, was around computers, synths and grew up in a family where I had relatives in Brownsville, South Bronx and East Harlem. Go figure… maybe it has to do with my Chinese/Black nationality. (Laughs)

During the showcase you were holding up large poster like flash cards with words on them, what was that all about?

(Laughs)The flash cards… I figured, damn I’m going to get up, stand there and just play tracks? That’s kind of too anonymous. So I’m like fuck it, I’m going to let the judges know what I’m playing, so they have something to reference too while listening. Plus it gave me something to do, than just stand there. I like interaction.

I’m sure on your path towards a production career you have been influenced by some other musical greats, who are they and how have they inspired you to continue towards your goals.

I appreciate and respect ALL forms of music. I’m influenced by music and their creators’ experiences (how they came to be). I like classical orchestration, electronic music, hip-hop, jazz, metal and broken beat among styles/genres. If it catches my attention in someway or another, I’m down with it. Be it a melody, rhythm, arrangement or sonics.

To rattle off some names of composers, artists, producers and crews off the top of my head (in no particular order): Richard Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Quincy Jones, Will.I.Am., Bugz In The Attic, Quantic, Jazzanova, N.E.R.D., Timbaland, Missy, Jay-Z, Underworld, The Prodigy, Gnarls, Stevie Wonder, The Who, Herbie Hancock, Dilla, Madlib, Metallica, Soundgarden, Tricky, Louie Vega, Metalheadz, Kyoto Jazz Massive, the damned Scion commercials, and the list can go on… These are just some people (among the many, known and unknown) who persist in their craft and manage to get past any resistance because of, and in spite of, them being either “different” and not always on everyone else’s radar…. creating paths for cats like myself and others to share what we love to do.

Ok you’re in in the studio, getting ready to cook up some new beats, describe the approach and the setting.

That’s an intimate question. That’s like asking… “How do you get your mack on with your partner?” Let’s just say, it depends on the situation. (Laughs)

What are some of the ways you, as a producer and a business person, marketing yourself in efforts to get seen and heard in this saturated music industry?

Hmmm… I’m still hustling this one and probably will still for a while. I implement my own skills in promotion and marketing, for myself, this time around. I mean, who’s the better candidate to market and promote oneself, other than oneself? I’m my own business, so I approach everything the way I would like to be approached, or how it would appeal to me. No one’s going to do it for me, so I have to apply and handle myself the best way that I can.

Ever since I adopted the ‘Schpilkas’ moniker (circa ‘96) I’ve been “branding” my name inadvertently with stickers and stuff. I made my logo on the spot and immediately put it to use. Remember, I’m from NYC so I have a graf artist, street skater mentality. Examples I’d like to share: the late Keith Haring – a visual artist. I recall seeing his chalk art on curbs, poster boards and anywhere else he managed to get up and I was like… ‘That shit is fresh!’. Random tags (i.e. CBS, SO, zephyr), skate stickers (ie. zoo york, shut, powell, vision)… you get my drift?

‘Networking’ on a personal level I’ve found to be very important in this industry, and just in general. No will get to know you unless you make the move. I knock on every possible door I can, whether it’s researching and emailing someone, going to a networking event such as Remix Hotel/iStandard, going out to a show or club or striking up a conversation with a stranger.

I mean, that’s how I got one of my work-for-hire gigs. I said, ‘Fuck it, I’m going to (tastefully) email a bunch of prospects who I don’t know, from a Website resource.’ …out of probably 50-100 emails, I established one great relationship. Another example was back in 2000, when my boy told me about a Tommy Hilfiger contest. It was the ‘Unreleased Cuts’ contest for producers and artists. Winning it boosted my confidence in my music, and afforded me the opportunity to go out and start spreading the word… I got press on my own. The grand prize was a demo deal with Qwest Records, and I was featured in a Tommy Hilfiger ad in Rolling Stone & URB magazines. I used that like, ‘Fuck it – this is news, I’m going to hit up some magazines and let them know… hey, I’m an unknown producer, I just won this contest, here’s my music, what do you think?’ The magazines were Remix, ASCAP ‘Playback’ and Music Connection, and they all did a piece on me.

Same deal now, with winning the iStandard Producer showcase. I mean, 8 years later, I saw something on the ASCAP site and I submitted. I didn’t have ANY expectations, but I got to meet some cool people, see some reactions, hear my music loud and now I’m answering an interview. It’s pretty crazy. I can go on, but my marketing efforts are really summed up in layman’s terms, ‘By any means necessary!’ And to quote Craig Mack, ‘persistence overcomes resistance.’

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Sitting in a studio working on creating the best music I can. Maintaining happiness, health and good company (it’ll also be nice to have a calendar filled with an itinerary of projects and diamond seats at the Grammy’s… (Laughs)

Any last words for the readers?

My farts stink. (laughs)

Nah, really… if you managed to read through to this last line… ‘Thank you’ for reading.

Peace yo.