Waddup DJ Pain 1? Thanks for taking the time out with iStandardProducers to share with our community First off, what’s the most important thing we should know about you?

I guess that I work really, really hard.  As a consequence, I’m usually pretty busy.  I’m holding down three formal jobs while DJing, producing and finishing grad school.  It’s hard for me to keep up with everybody as much as I’d like to.

What has had the biggest impact on your development as a producer? (Could be a person/mentor, thing, experiences, etc.)

The support and love I get from people is humbling,  The fact that there are fans of my work out there.  That is a part of my life I never expected to have and I respect it and I respect all of the amazing experiences that music has thrown my way and look forward to many more.

You’re a DJ/Producer/Composer/Educator. How have all these duties shaped your career in the music world?

They’ve made me crazy, haha.  Really, it’s hard to maintain them all, but I’m trying.  It’s funny how music has gotten me jobs in education and education has gotten me jobs DJing.  I love each one and don’t plan on quitting any of them any time soon.

As we can see you have a wealth of experience in the industry but can you back track and tell us the story about you getting your very first placement?

I got my first placement through lavish life.  Brendan from lavish life was the first manager I had who got my music placed.  I originally contacted him through myspace.  It took him two months to respond, but six months after I started working with him, I think it was six months, he called me while I was at work.  I could barely hear what he was saying, but after him repeating himself a few times I gathered that he had placed the “Don’t Do It” beat with Jeezy.  The other producer in the camp is T minus, who produced “How Low” for Ludacris and some recent songs with TI, Nicki Minaj, Drake and Wiz Khalifa.  I’m trying to catch up!

Tell us about the work you do with youth?

I’m a certified high school teacher, but I went back to school after graduating.  Now I work as an instructor at a precollege program here at the university of Wisconsin-Madison called ITA.  It’s a program for students with low income backgrounds.  I used to teach beat making and engineering, but now I teach ACT courses and a college preparation class.  I’m also the music director for the First Wave program, the first hip-hop college scholarship program in the world as far as I know.  The first wave students are working on an album, so I’m helping with directing it.

To date, what has been your most memorable experience in the studio working with an artist?

Probably my most memorable experience was a listening session with baby bash in a hotel room a long time ago.  It was memorable because it was my first listening session with a major artist, one I was a fan of.  Nothing came of it, but I got some positive feedback and I was no longer reluctant to play my beats to anybody.

Off the dome, who would you say are your top 5 producers of all time?

Rza, J dilla, Happy Perez, Premier and… Wow I don’t know, maybe Kanye or Timbaland.

What are the top 5 essentials of your everyday life?

Food, time to make music, positivity in any form, sleep and goals.

Any new projects or placements in the pipeline?

Absolutely.  Look out for the album me and I-20 are working on with J-Cuse and Trakksounds. Me and divided souls are making a lot of moves with Lil Chuck over at Young Money as well. There’s a lot going on, a lot that’s about to come out… everything from Vado to Kool G Rap.  It’s not released so I can’t say too much about any of it.

Where can we find you online?

www.djpain1.info is my new site.  It took me a few days to program.  I’m not great with XML or CSS so I’m proud of it.  You can also hit me on Twitter @djpain1

Anything else you would like to say?

I appreciate the opportunity to contribute to the iStandard site.  Shout out to you guys for stimulating the new industry and inspiring the up and comers.  Shout out to Violator, RB, DSE, SBIO, 93.1 Jam, First Wave, Inar, and everybody else who supports hard working producers and DJs.  Peace!!!!