Internationally renowned party DJ and electro funk icon Diplo (otherwise known as Diplodocus, Wes Diplo, and Wes Gully) heads up the Mad Decent traveling caravan of cutting edge artists from various strains of punk, electro and hip-hop disciplines. The Tropicália-inflected underdogs of the LA post-punk scene Abe Vigoda, along with Boy 8-Bit, Paper Route Gangstaz and NYC abstract electro duo Telepathe fill-out the bill on Mon., Nov. 10th, with a roster of divine sounds, and fringe art-punk and hip-hop that’s more concerned with pushing the party envelop than anything else.
Though his real name is a closely guarded secret, Diplo is known to friends, fans and journalists the world over as Wes Gully. Born in Mississippi, raised in Florida and now living in Philadelphia, he has been making inroads into the world wide music brain since the 2004 release of his Piracy Funds Terrorism, Vol. 1 mixtape with M.I.A.
His debut album, Florida (Big Dada), features a wash of sounds flowing through moments of inward journeys and fluid melodies. Heavily layered with an arsenal of samples, some of which are more familiar than others, Florida is the product of limited means, rather than a guerrilla tactic for using samples as a political means.
Did you pick the line-up for the Mad Decent tour to be like a traveling caravan of sorts?
Not really. I just wanted to throw a line-up together and get some bands who wanted to tour and are friendly. Telepathe are old friends of mine and Abe Vigoda are really cool. I just wanted to have a rock band on the line-up to change up the comfort zone for people who normally come out to see DJs and hip-hop. I wanted to break it up a bit. But also, they don’t sound like anybody else. They got a punk, garage sound that’s just really cool. We got some more rock stuff coming out on Mad Decent this year. We’re doing a 45 at the end of next month with some kids from Philly that I really like. I can’t say who it is just yet, but it will be good stuff… Fun.
Your Hollertronix parties are internationally known for being off-the-hinges, which is a sharp contrast to the typically boring reputation of live electronic music. What sets you apart?
When I was growing up I was hanging out in a lot of hip-hop clubs, and I was a hip-hop DJ. I think a new generation of kids who were born on hip-hop are expanding their musical vocabularies and getting into electronic, rock and experimental music, but these kids also want to party and have the same attitude that a hip-hop DJ would have, but want to dance to all kinds of music.
I think Mad Decent represents a real punk attitude toward making music. We’re not MashUp. We do things like with the Paper Route record where we sample really off the wall records, or like stuff from the M.I.A. record. People want to hear this fuck you kind of attitude toward mainstream music, which is what we do. Even though we’re becoming mainstream with artists like M.I.A. , it’s still a fuck a you attitude, and that’s what get’s people into the spirit.
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