Peace man, Can you let the people know your name, the meaning behind it, and exactly where it derives from?

My name is J57, I’m a producer/emcee from the group Brown Bag AllStars. Fellow Brown Bag member, The Audible Doctor, gave me the name J57. I went by JLog1c from 1998 to 2008, until one day I woke up and realized that name was the least original name of all time and that it was time for a change. I was struggling with new names for a solid 2 weeks. Then one day, Audible Doctor texted me that I should just go by J57, since my government name is James Heinz. He’s a smart fella.

Where are you from,currently reside, & how would you say your neighborhood growing up influenced your artistic creativity?

I’m Long Island born and raised and damn proud of it. Wifey and I are both from LI, we moved to Brooklyn in late 2006 because she was commuting to college in Manhattan at F.I.T. and I was just finishing college but still commuting to Fat Beats in Manhattan. Growing up on Long Island obviously influenced my artistic creativity but I really ”got it” once I moved to Brooklyn. Something happened…the entire song making and beat making process just started to make more sense after I moved. Not sure why or how…but it did. I’m lucky for that.

How long have you been producing? Do you still have it & do you remember the first sample you ever used?

I’ve been producing since 2003. Yes, the first thing I ever sampled was a piece by Richard Wagner. I was taking a history of music class in college and fell in love with orchestral music. It was all I sampled for the first couple of months of beat making…until I started really going digging at local record store, Mr. Cheapo’s. I was very influenced by RZA, The Alchemist, DJ Muggs and Madlib back then, so I used to only sample really obscure and grimy sounding records back then.

Being blessed and having the privilege of knowing different producers, I always found it interesting hearing about different routines or the creative process that takes place before composing a beat. Do you have a specific routine or mood setter before getting into production?

I do and I don’t. I’m pretty busy these days, so I try to make a beat once or twice a week whenever I have a free hour or so. From 2003 to approx 2006, I was making close to 15 – 20 beats a day, sharping my craft. I used to start with the sample first and spend all day just chopping samples. Now a days, I mainly start with a drum pattern. I could spend all day on just drums, honestly, I love ‘em.

Whats your equipment setup like & can you tell us what you like about it compared to other products that are out there?

I use (and LOVE) Propellorhead Reason 3.0 with an Akai MPD32, a 32 key controller keyboard and a turntable. I’ve been incorporating a lot of live instrumentation into my production, for the past two years. I handle that aspect of production in Pro Tools, even though I hate making beats in Pro Tools, but I learned how to really step my game up, by doing this.

I originally learned how to make beats on Fruity Loops. I made beats on FL for a good month or two, until my homie Hi-Q (pretty much taught me how to make beats) told me to drop FL and learn Reason, ASAP.

For those that have not seen the video, j57 composed a beat in his automobile..are there any other places you create beats ? Also, is there a part 2 coming because the kids that saw def want more!

Glad you liked that! I have a LOT of video footage of me making beats in Fat Beats, after I’d close up the store and chill, etc. Tons of that footage should be coming out semi-soon. I will definitely do a part 2 of me making a beat in the car – probably will do that this summer.

In 5 words, please describe your style?

Versatile, original, grimy, soulful, different.

As far as producers, who would you say your draw inspiration from and if you could choose any 3 to work on a project with, who would they be?

As far as producers go, I’m lucky enough to be friends with the three producers that I look up to the most; DJ Premier, Marco Polo and DJ Khalil. I’ve had a lot of life-changing, production conversations with all three of them and I’m beyond blessed to have had those conversations with them. I am highly influenced by all three of them as well as J Dilla, and a whole lot of other genres, like Radiohead, Portishead, etc. I mean, the other members Brown Bag producer crew (The Audible Doctor, DeeJay Element marink, DJ Brace, DJ Goo, Maticulous, Tranzformer & Elaquent) ALL influence the hell out of me as well.

And if I could work on a project with any 3 producers, it would definitely be Premo, Marco and Khalil. No if’s and’s or but’s.

You have worked with notable EmCee’s such as your group Brown Bag AllStars, Von Pea, Homeboy Sandman, Skyzoo, Sene, & YC the Cynic…Is there any specific EmCee’s you have in mind that you would like to collaborate with in 2011?

Outside of my crew, the only emcee’s that I’m dying to work with are: Jay-Z, Eminem, Kanye, Busta, Pusha T, Ghostface, Raekwon, and Pharoahe Monch. But who isn’t dying to work with them, honestly?

With a successful 2010 and start to 2011, can you let people know your plans or anything they should be keeping their eyes open for in the near future?

First off, Alfonse, thank you for the kind words and for doing this interview.

2010 was an incredible year:

I released my instrumental album Digital Society, through Balanced Records. It came out on vinyl (life long dream of mine), CD and digital (get it here: http://bit.ly/fsJtFC).

Also, 2dopeboyz released Soul Khan’s free album, Soul Like Khan (get that here bit.ly/heWzI7 ) as well as Okayplayer releasing Sene & J57 eye don’t dream…but i do free EP (get it here http://usershare.net/o0x3e774a6s3).

I have a LOT of stuff dropping this year as well:

* Brown Bag AllStars Brown Bag Season, Vol. 1 double-CD drops on DJ Brace’s label Nostomania Records on May 17th

* Soul Khan’s 2nd album produced mainly by me drops at the end of the year

* Koncept & J57 “10″ EP drops in July

* Blame One & J57 album drops late spring/early summer

* Sene & J57 full album should be out by the end of the year

* YC the Cynic & J57 EP should be out by the end of the year/ early 2012

* The Audible Doctor & J57 8bit beat tape should drop late this year

* Jefferson Price EP’s – tons of them!

* Also, look for J57 production on Nitty Scott, MC’s debut EP, ScienZe’s new EP and tons of other stuff!

Digital Society (J57 ft. Jefferson Price) from Nicolas Heller on Vimeo.

Soul Khan-

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Homeboy Sandman- Angels With Dirty Faces

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Sene- The Complainer

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