My Creative Hero: Madlib

Meet Dereck. He’s Pitch & Sync's young upstart studio engineer - he’s come onboard to hone his craft in audio post production & sound design, learning the ropes with Pitch & Sync’s good ol’ Ben Hauke. He’s sharp - having just graduated from UAL this July past - and has a keen interest in the studio as a compositional tool, “rather than just something that’s used for recording and mixing.”

In his own words, he comes “from a multicultural background - I was raised with a huge love of music, especially 70s jazz fusion. I love sampling as well, and see it as more of a way of paying homage to the greats, as well as an art form in and of itself!”

Fitting, then, that Dereck should be paying tribute to none other than Madlib, Quasimoto, Yesterdays New Quintet, Madvillian, Otis Jackson, or any other of his aliases.

LBB> How long has Madlib been important to you and what are your first memories of meeting them or coming across their work?

Dereck> This artist has inspired me ever since first discovering the more left-field side of hip-hop music. For over ten years I’d say. My first memories are listening to Quasimoto, and watching the Brazil in Time documentary by Stones Throw, with Madlib digging through Brazilian crates and finding whacky samples.

LBB> How did you go about finding to learn more about them and their work?

Dereck> I discovered his work naturally, as I started becoming more and more passionate about music and going through artists that were related within the same field. And the interesting aspect of Madlib’s work is, every few months to years I discover a new alias or project he’s worked on and it’s constantly different and varying. From free form Jazz to broken beat, to hip-hop, it keeps things fresh.

LBB> Why is the person such an inspiration to you?

Dereck> He’s an eclectic human being. I enjoy his approach and philosophy to music composition, which is very much a ‘for myself first and foremost’ point of view. For the love of creating and exploration more than anything. He pushes the boundaries of his field and also just has impeccable taste in music.

LBB> How does this person influence you in your approach to your creative work?

Dereck> Madlib reminds me to not forget why I started making music and also why I stay creative, the pursuit of creativity is not for anything but an expression. Anything else is a bonus.

He also keeps things fresh and breaks out of the box of what is expected, again which is inspiring when most artists stay in their lane and are known for one thing, I love the idea to pursue whatever interests you without the fear of making mistakes, or for it to be better or worse than what is usually expected.

LBB> What piece or pieces of this person’s work do you keep coming back to and why?

Dereck> Madvilliany, a collaboration with MF DOOM it’s a masterpiece. Ugly Beauty, is the album by his alias Malik Flavours, something I keep listening to, he plays all the instruments, it’s a freeform jazz project - sonically it’s super interesting and texturally pleasing.

We couldn’t have paid better tribute if we tried.