(Non) Interview: Diplo
The dual jewels of travelling, be that there are few things more exciting as wondering alien landscapes and harbouring a sense of where-the-fuck-am-I-ness can - upon consideration - be whittled down to two altogther more human experinces- that of acquiring new friendlings and new musical knowledge.Taking this to an extreme beyond most of out more modest capabilities is Wes Pentz, aka Diplo
I mean think about it - how many of us have been able to form friendlingships with people resposible for creating the sounds that are defining a culture? I know I havent, but Diplo has…
Moreover, who then re-works these sounds and introduces them to thousands of our personal fansbase… I certainly dont, but Diplo does
And finally, not many of us then merge these friendlingships and music together in an immaculate documentay called Favela On Blast which then gets screened at Film festivals the world over? I didn’t, but I think we all know who did…
And its thanks to Favela On Blast that Wes might now consider himself as a seriously talented documentor in addition to being one the most relevent and respected dj/producers in multiple subculture scenes the world over.
So CLFmag decided to pick the brain of our favourite DJ//filmmaker/ all round superfly guy Diploooooooooooh!
The End.
What should have followed is an interview, but as with many things in life - it didnt work out that easy. First off, pinning this guy down for an interview is like catching a fly in chopsticks a la old dudee in Karate Kid. This gentleman skips the light fandango at such a pace you wonder if owns an i-wormhole for just vanishing and reappearing in far off lands. Or mebeez he just flies alot, who knows.
So in the build up to the interview went something like this -
Colin (PR guy): Wes is in Berlin, so we can arrange something there
Me: Time difference to Rio? Plus 6 hours. Great! (Yay!)
Colin: No hes not he inTokyo,
Me: Time diference from Rio, plus 12 hours. (Boo)
Colin: Now hes stateside, LA,
Me: time difference minus four hours. (Yah!)
Colin: But And then he has a meeting really soon, (Boo)
Me: Oh
Colin: And you have to do this by phone
Me: Fuck.
So there I was running all over Rio trying to find someone whose landline I could call of after shitty poo-poo skype wouldnt connect. And then I didnt have the cash to buy recording equipment (damn you muggers for stealing my credit crard).And then friend laptop which I was to tpe out the interview decided to repeatadly switch off at will…. cute! Aha! I thought, no worries, Diplo’s slow southerm drawl should buy me some time to note some of his quotes by hand. Turns out however Wes actuallytalksquitefast so I sat there with my head in my hands as journalistsic liquid gold flowed through my ears and was lost in the proverbial toilet that is my memory for al enternity. It was at once my greatset acheivemnt and biggest failure as a journalist. However, thanks to my great questioning and soothing tones, Mr Pentz has aggreed to a follow up, In the meantime here a few things that he said to me…
On knowing who to select to be in Favela On Blast
We had emtional bond with these people, sometimes you just have to get someone from the outisde in the help you”
On commitment to his art
“Its a relationship - you have to give it attention.I lost a relationship during this…”
On writing the screenplay for the film
I wrote a screen play where I was going to be kidnapped and then I was like - fuck this!”
Now if that doesnt have you wanting more… hahahaah! Yes, yes, I am a standout amongst my peers. A. A. Gill learnt all he knows from me people.
Seriously there is more to come…. stay posted.
beijos, (sasha)
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