Interview with 5 & A Dime
So who is 5 & A Dime?
5 & A Dime is a 19 year old Lehigh student who happens to be really, really into remixing. I just started to do mashups a few years ago but became serious about it only in the past few months.
How did you first find out about mashups and decide you wanted to make them?
Mashups have always been around. For decades even. But those were mostly 1v1 mashups (one song over another). The first time I ever heard a continuous mashup of multiple songs was DJ Earworm’s compilation of the top 25 songs in the country in 2007. After that, I learned of Girl Talk, E-603, and Super Mash Bros. I always tinkered with programs because I always wanted to make music. I sucked at every musical instrument out there. You name it, I was bad at it. Piano, guitar, drums, everything. But when I started to teach myself how to mashup music, it just came naturally to me and I fell in love with it. If there is one thing I could say, is if you want to be serious about something, you need to love it. 100%.
How did you first get started mashing?
I started off of a site called jamglue.com. It has all the acapellas and instrumentals you could ever want and it has some pretty basic, but useful, remixing software built right into the site.
And then how and why did you become more serious recently?
I became more serious recently because I really do have a passion for it. I know it’s all about having fun and all that, but I really do love mashing. And I decided to push forward with my ideas.
So what software and hardware did you go to after the Jamglue software? And what are you using now?
I went from Jamglue to Audacity (free to download, on any OS). Jamglue to Audacity was like going from A to B. Audacity just had a lot more functionality and was more user friendly, and was a little more accurate with remixing. I tinkered with a lot of different programs over winter break and decided to go with Ableton Live 8. Going from Audacity to Live was like going from B to G. I didn’t know what was going on. At all. And then one day it just worked and I went with it. I currently use a MacBook Pro 15″ fully spec-ed.
Who are your favorite mashup artists right now?
I don’t really have a favorite mashup artist. They are all different and you can’t compare them. Girl Talk is obviously different from Super Mash Bros who is different from Milkman. So, I think they all bring their own goodness to the table.
What have you been listening to lately, mashup or non-mashup?
Recently, I’ve been listening to my up-and-coming album (mainly because I have been leveling it), and everything that I am interested in mashing. Right now, music to me is not just something to relax to, it’s a hobby. Scratch that, it’s not a hobby. It’s my life.
Who are some of your favorite non-mashup artists (or genres)?
I really do love Pitbull, LMFAO, Tiesto, anything with a good beat really. I listen to a lot of different genres, but recently since it’s getting warmer out I’ve been listening to music that is primarily useful in long car rides (aka car bumping music).
So in terms of your song choice for your mashups, is it stuff you like? Or is it stuff that is danceable and other people like, or what?
My song choice is honestly what I do like. However, there were a few songs that I hated that I put into The Other White Meat. But after I started to listen to them more, I guess I started to like them. You have to understand, in order to be a good DJ, mashup artist, remixer, whatever you want to call it. You just have to put in some songs that you really don’t like but that your fans will like. It’s not about what you as the DJ likes, it’s about what the audience likes. Because being a mashup artist or a DJ means that your job is to make people dance, not to make people listen to music that only you like.
Would you say that mashups have expanded your music taste a lot?
I do agree with that. I have bought maybe 5-6000 more songs due to mashup. I think it really makes you understand what music is all about. You then can mix whatever you want. It no longer has to be two techno tracks, or two rap tracks. You can mix soft rock and rap, or techno and pop. It really makes an infinite amount of possibilities.
And on the DJ note, how has playing live been?
I love it! Playing live is sort of wild. When you mix music on your laptop, it’s just you, the internet, and your computer. When it’s live, you have a few hundred to a few thousand people all dancing their hearts out to your stuff and you just have to go wild with them. I can’t explain it, it’s just my favorite thing in the world.
Do you just use Ableton when you play live? Any hardware?
I am learning how to use Ableton for live shows, I use Audio Mulch at the moment. I do have 2 Denon DNS-1000 CDJ’s with scratching (which is always a plus), and a standard Denon mixer. For shows where they want me to bring equipment, I got 800W of self powered bass and treble, a trussing system with 4 DMX Scanners, 400W blacklight cannon, 800W strobe light, 3-4 fog machines, bubble machines, a few mics. I have been doing it for a little while, so I take it seriously.
Oooh bubble machines. You must have some pretty fun playing-live stories?
There are definitely a few that I cannot mention haha. But I would say the best one by far was during this show for Rave Against The Machine, there were maybe 625 people or so there. I was doing my thing, and a few girls came up to me. They said that their friend lost her phone and if someone brings it up I should hold it for them. I said fine. Some girl brings a phone up and I hold it for them. The show ends and a girl asked if there was a phone lost. I said that I had it and gave it to her. She seemed like a nice girl and all of that. I then continued to pack up my equipment and 10 minutes later another girl runs up to me, frantically asking if I had a phone that was lost. I said I gave the phone to a girl who lost her phone. Apparently it was the wrong girl. So yeah. Sorry, whoever that was. My deepest apologies, hope you get a new BlackBerry soon!
So what plans do you have for touring?
I cannot say yet. But what I can say is that this summer is going to be extremely productive on my part. Anyone in the New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania areas will probably be hearing more of it. I am not allowed to say yet, but I am opening for some big names this summer. I was surprised. It’s all due to my great booking agent, Alexander Heckmann. He really does know what he’s doing.
And this new album…tell us a little bit about it.
I saved up some money and bought myself Ableton Live 8 on New Years Eve. When I came back from the festivities, I started to mash. I never used Ableton Live, didn’t know how it worked, so I went online and looked up tutorials. Within a few days I was off making the album. So I started in January, and it was finished in late March. So it only took me about 3 months or so of mashing, leveling, finding songs, and making transitions. Plus I now have a month to sit on it until it releases on April 20th. I would say I worked on it an average of 3 hours or 2 hours a day. Some weeks I didn’t work on it because I didn’t feel I had any good material. You can’t plan it really, it’s all about what comes to your head and when. So, overall, I would say I spent about 90 hours on it or so. My goals going in were to just learn the new program. I didn’t expect anything of it. Now, I realize what I can do with this program and I am ready to go all out and make some amazing music. The people that I have shown it to are amazed, and almost don’t believe that I made it. I surprised myself when I listened to it in the car today (back home for Easter weekend). I just want people to hear this album because it honestly is my favorite creation thus far.
What’s your favorite track on it?
My favorite track on The Other White Meat is Put Your Stunna Shades Up. It has a combination of the following: Around The World (Daft Punk) vs Tell Me When To Go (E-40 ft Keak da Sneak) vs Hollaback Girl (Gwen Stefani) going into Call On Me (Eric Prydz) then going into Grindin (Clipse) vs Yeah! (Usher ft Lil Jon and Ludacris) going into Gotta Get Thru This (Daniel Bedingfield) in 2 minutes and 31 seconds.
So this is the new 5 & A Dime? What happened to the old 5 & A Dime and how did it go from a duo to just you. How are you regarding your previous work?
5 & A Dime was originally a group formed during the Summer of 2009. My former partner was John Formica. He is a really nice kid, honestly. We loved making mashups. I taught him how to do it in the summer and he had a knack for it. I could tell. We had a ton of fun that summer, sending tracks back and forth, making an album called “College Daze”, which WTM was the first to put up. When we both came to Lehigh I was still as serious about mashup as I was during the summer but he was losing a bit of interest. It’s not his fault. He wanted to put more time into being with his girlfriend, school work, and things like that. And I completely respect his decision. He was a great friend, and a great person and I have no hate towards him whatsoever. I did have to make the decision of whether he should be in the group or not considering I was doing a majority of the work. I was doing everything promotion wise for publicity, the Facebook, and a lot more music. I made the album under the alias Final Copy, called “26 Days” because I wanted to show the world that I had my own talent, besides 5 & A Dime’s duo. That album actually only took 26 days to create in Audacity, when we were finishing up “College Daze”. People started to tell me that 26 Days was better than College Daze, so I started to make more solo mashups. I then took 5 & A Dime into my own hands considering that John would not meet up with me for a month or so after I asked him if he wanted to make some more mashups. That was a sign for me to get out of the group and pursue my own interests. I know it was a bad thing to do. I know it was mean. And I’m sorry. I really am. I never meant to hurt anyone and I never meant to make anyone mad. But mashup is my dream. Making music is my passion. And if someone gets in the way of that, I’m sorry, but I can’t let it happen.
But things are working out now, right?
Things are working out better than I could have dreamed. I honestly could never have seen myself opening for big names in less than a year when I started. And I owe it to my roots. And the people who supported me. Thanks, mom.
So after TOWM, what else can we look forward to? What goals do you have for the future?
Well, I do have something cooking up for a group of artists for this summer. I also am looking to make another album within the next 6 or so months, easily. My goal is to change the mashup world on its head. I want to put out more than just one album a year, because fans want to hear more of it! But they also want to have quality, not just quantity. So my goal as of now is a minimum of 2 great mashup albums a year, with great production value. The more experience you have the better you become, so why not supply the audience with what they demand?
Sounds good. Anything else you wanna share?
I would like to thank everyone who has helped me get here. My closest friends from High School, my family, especially my parents, my cousin, and my sister, all of the musicians that I have contacted and gave me critique, and my booking agent, Alexander Heckmann, for believing in my talent.
Favorite pizza topping, candy, and color?
Favorite pizza (no toppings): Margarita, candy: Fudge Kitchen’s cookies-n-cream fudge, color: lime green.
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