You’ve recorded the new album for Erykah Badu New Emerykah. How was that?
Mike Chaw — It was really kind of a unique recording experience, it was definitely amazing and the high light of my career, so far. It was laid back, we took our time despite being rushed by everybody. Erykah has a unique approach and a unique way of working. She works in layers. So, she’ll start with the music, she’ll pick the music that she wants, and the melodies will come to her, she’ll record over the track’s and whatever words come to her at the time, she’ll sing them and sometimes she’ll just hum the melodies and then after the format of the song is laid, she’ll more or less put the lyrics to it, at that point we’ll start with the arrangements, refining the song, and then we mix. Usually when people mix they have the whole song recorded, after we mix is when she really adds the icing to it. Everything for this record starts with the music and then the melody.

There’s a lot of things going on that are beyond the control of politicians

When I listened to the album, it has a political meaning. Is that right?
Since her last album, it was about what she had been seeing in the world, what she’d been exposed to, and she referred to it as people are always asking her where have you been? How come its taken so long to come up with an album? And for a while she didn’t have any material, she didn’t have anything to worry about, but for a good period she called it downloading time. She was just being and seeing what was going on in the world. And finding something that she had to say, so that’s why she decided to do an album. And actually she went through a creative burst in the last three years or so. She basically has three albums ready to go, and written. We just gotta record and finish the production on them. That’s what I think inspired her. Especially in America as people we kind of are in a place where we haven’t seen anything like this and in our generation it seems like its going down hill. So she had something to speak on basically. Politics are definitely involved but it’s the condition of living is going down hill dramatically over the last decade. (Hilary and Obama situation) — to me at least the out come of that is not gonna necessarily affect what is going on. There’s a lot of things going on that are beyond the control of politicians.

One thing I was shocked at was when Georgia Anne Muldrow used the N word for an Erykah Badu collaboration song on her New Emerykah album. Why do you think Georgia used the N word when Erykah Badu is talking very politically?
Well, I wasn’t there and that song was originally written by Georgia Anne Muldrow and I don’t know what was on her mind when she did that. I mean it’s a word that is used everyday, the word is almost has a whole lot of meaning, and a lot of significant but it also has no meaning, and no significance. In that situation it seems to me, honestly I don’t even really know what she’s talking about, its up to the interpreter and she’s definitely trying to make a statement. Erykah Badu doesn’t really do things for a reaction, I guess she heard the song from Sa-Ra as it was originally a Sa-Ra feat. Bilal song. She needed something for the project, so she decided to include it on the album.

I think she’s doing something great for music, unfortunately her personal circumstances are being exploited but that is kind of what makes an artist who they are, when they go through problems, you know?

I’m not saying it’s a bad thing but because Erykah Badu is talking about so many serious things going on in America, I was just shocked that the word would be used. Maybe its my part that I don’t understand it?
I think a lot of who she’s speaking to is directly to black people, she’s trying to encourage black people to raise their conditions of living and conditions in society because we still live, its not an openly segregated but it’s still a segregated country. And there’s still racism but its not as in your face as it used to be, and she says in another song in The Healer. “When Nigga’s turn into God’s walls come tumbling down”. It’s kind of like the same thing, you could interpret, that as, when black people recognise their true history and their place in the world. Not only the lower rung of American society but as God’s and either the walls of yourselves are gonna come tumbling down or it could be a warning that like there’s really gonna be a change, if that were to happen. She speaks a lot about-she’s a member of the Nation of Islam but she doesn’t really have the respect for what they do in the black community and I think she’s just trying to speak on that and raise awareness to people that do not know or understand. Especially black people and not so much black people but a lot of poor people are just medicated and sedated with television, with drugs, prescription drugs, fashion, with music and there’s just so many things and it’s just a way to open up doors musically for people. And lyrically, there is not enough music out now that is speaking on anything and is inspiring that is coming out from an artist of her calibre.

What were you doing in terms of production before the new Erykah Badu album?
During Erykah, I produced J Eletronica’s Eternal Sunshine, and previous to Erykah I was working on Dr. Dre’s Detox record for a couple months. I was the producer with Denime Porter, he’s a member of D12. Mostly, what he did was be a producer, but we worked with Method Man, Dr. Dre, and 50 Cent. I worked on D12’s unreleased album and their previous album D12 World. They are definitely a talented group I don’t know if they’re still working on a record or not but that’s what I was doing before with the whole camp, Eminem, 50 Cent and Shady Records.

So you’re a hip hop producer?
Right. I mean, I started out as a guitarist I always had wanted to produce but in order to get to that point I had to get into engineering and I become a recording engineer. And a mixing engineer, so I mixed records for Snoop Dog, Method Man, The Game, and a couple of movie soundtracks. And I used that as a means to get to were I wanted to be as a producer and I also engineered and mixed Erykah’s record as well as produced.

How did you start getting work with artists like those?
You don’t get work from record labels, you get work form producers and artists. Record labels there basically just a company, there staff changes by the month and to try to meet people at record labels is almost useless because there always given work to there friends or to people who are gonna give them kick backs. The way that I got to where I am was to build a relationship with producers and artists. And if the artist wanted to work with you, then that’s who there gonna end up working with. It really is about building relationships.

What do you think of Amy Winehouse?
I love Amy Winehouse, I love her newest record and I first got turned to her record Frank. That’s when I first got turned onto her, I actually loved her from the from the first time I heard her. I was actually on myspace, and I came across a girl’s website and she made some comment in her profile for people who aren’t lazy music listeners to cop this website, so I went to their website and it was some kind of indie music store on the web. One of the things on the front page was Amy Winehouse and I clicked on it and I was amazed that was the first time I heard her but I think she’s doing something great for music, unfortunately her personal circumstances are being exploited but that is kind of what makes an artist who they are, when they go through problems, you know?

a lot of poor people are just medicated and sedated with television, with drugs, prescription drugs, fashion, with music and there’s just so many things and it’s just a way to open up doors musically for people

Do films ever inspire you?
Not really Pixar but I love 3D Films, and 3D IMax, when you kind of go in the picture and in the movie and even sonically. There able to place things inside the stereo fields that is like right next to you. Right where they want to put it but I definitely get a lot of inspiration from movie soundtracks and movies.

Is there anything that you’d like to talk about that we haven’t discussed?
Just that were about to get started working on the new Erykah Badu album, and its called New Amerykah Part 2, Return of the Ankh, and it’s due out I believe July, 29th-2008. Its a similar kind of sound, with a similar kind of sonic texture. The first album will be the more political and the second album is gonna be the more emotional and spiritual side of things. Its kind of like the different side of the same project.

On New Emerykah Part 1 I liked the song ‘Telephone’, it had that Baduizm feel to it. Do you think that side of Erykah Badu is still completely gone? Because she was saying that she didn’t want to be labelled as a neo-soul artist but then gets dubbed The First Lady of Neo-Soul for her biography. Do you still think she has Baduizm in her?
Well, she definitely does because the album that is gonna come out after the New Emerykah Part 1 is kind of like Mama’s Gun revisited. The more organic Erykah Badu, more live instrumentation, the band is actually going to be-we’ve called it the super band, or the Dream Band. It’s QuestLove on drums, James Poyser on keys, he played on Mama’s Gun and wrote and produced Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, and a lot of other classic records. And a bass player called Michael Lorzendo who is Dr. Dre’s bassist, he also produced for Fiona Apple. Doyl, I can’t remember his last name, he played with Prince.

So the band are not really that good?
Right (laughs).

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