DAVEY DAVE At Stacks in Cerritos, Calif.
Oct 1, 2002 12:00 PM, By Chris Gill
So many hopped-up Hondas, Acuras and Mitsubishis zip up and down Los Angeles' 605 freeway that it looks like a makeshift set for The Fast and the Furious. Most of these drivers pass through the suburban sprawl of Cerritos on their way to “cooler” nearby locations such as Huntington Beach, East L.A. or the So-Cal hip-hop ground zero at Compton and Long Beach. But a little more than a year ago, the city became the home of one of California's finest hip-hop-record and battle-wax shops, Stacks, a must-visit mecca for turntablists and hip-hop DJs from all over Southern California.
Davey Dave pulls into the shop's parking lot in a macked-out Mitsubishi Eclipse, making a dramatic entrance that's fit for a movie. If the scriptwriters for The Fast and the Furious stumbled across Dave instead of Racer X, the film would have featured breakneck battle sequences of fingers flying on faders and manic manipulation of vinyl instead of car chases. Just listening to Dave's frenzied scratching going head-to-head with Q's sample manipulations on “Kung Fu” — featured on Überzone's new Moonshine CD, The Digital Mix — is enough to make your jaw drop and leave you hanging on the edge of your seat.
Dave's terrifying turntable techniques can also be heard on BT's “Mad Skillz” and Überzone's latest studio effort, Faith in the Future (Astralwerks, 2001); otherwise, you can witness his moves live on tour when he plays with Überzone. When he's not in the studio or on tour, he's helping Tascam with the development of its new series of DJ mixers, which includes the X-9 and XS-3. He's also working on a solo mix CD that will showcase some of his influences beyond the nu-skool-breaks scene.
Dave chose Stacks for this “Shop.Talk.” excursion not only because it's close to where he lives and works but also because the store stocks Southern California's best selection of the latest scratch and battle-break vinyl, including titles that are not available elsewhere. The store is owned by Icy Ice, a former member of the Beat Junkies and DJ for KRS-One. Because of Ice's expert turntablist connections, locals such as Melo D, Rhettmatic and Babu, as well as A-Trak and QBert, have all participated in clinics at the shop.
Upon entering the store, Dave cuts straight to the chase, asking the clerk to pull the latest battle-break records and scratch vinyl for him to check out. Dave gives every record a vigorous workout, dropping the needle on the various samples and grooves, manipulating the disc and flipping the fader. A few records just don't win him over, like Toadstyle's Flatulent Boy Confesses. “I really wanted to like that record,” he says. “It's too bad, because that title is too much.”
After spending a couple of hours going through about 15 records, Dave found eight slabs of wax for his crates, including an exclusive preview of Icy Ice's upcoming debut disc.
DJ Flare
Butt Ugly Breaks (Dirtstyle)
The label on this record is really ugly. I almost can't scratch when I look at it, because it's so disgusting. It throws me off. This isn't recorded very well, but the sounds are still really good. This has good synth sounds and good beats to practice to. It's a decent all-around record from Dirtstyle with a very offensive cover.
DJ Flare
Hill Billy Brayks (Dirtstyle)
This doesn't have as many samples as the other records, but I really like it because it has a lot of synth sounds that I can use when I play with Überzone. The beats on it are really good to practice to, and there's a lot of bass in it. The video-game sounds are great. I'd sample them into my X-9 mixer and work with them in there.
Icy Ice
The Adventures of Eskimo Joe — Joe vs. the Volcano, vol. 1 (Stacks)
This has good beats to session to, but it also has a good section of diss samples for when you do a battle or a competition. It's an all-around good record. Ice doesn't overdo it with the battle stuff. It has some good stuff for drumming; scratch sentences; some skip-proof samples; and even some tones, too. Damn, Ice, this is a really good record! It's reminiscent of the Bionic Booger Breaks record — very well-rounded. This is my favorite record so far. I'd take this out with me when I'm doing a solo gig without Q. This has all of the elements of a good break-and-scratch record: drumming, beats for beat juggling, beats to session to, good samples, skip-proof samples, a long tone at the end and a good sound quality.
Megaman
Legend of the Scratch (Extensive Research)
This has some Speak 'N Spell samples that are cool, as well as a lot of the classic samples that you need. Everyone has to have the “aah” and “fresh” samples, and they're here. It also has a lot of cool synth sounds that I could totally take advantage of when I'm playing with Q. There are a lot of good, hard beats on both sides of the record that you can scratch over, use as transitions or do beat juggling with. This is an all-around good record, and it has a really good sound quality.
Melo D
Gambling Pete's Sin City Breaks (Lowlife)
This one is really easy to maneuver, and it has a lot of skip-proof samples. It has all the classic samples — the “aah,” “fresh” and breathing from Kraftwerk's “Tour de France.” I would definitely use this when I'm playing a live show with Q and want to play some classic samples. The skip-proof samples mean that I don't have to worry about wearing the record out. It's a good tool to have with a ton of cool samples and rhythms that you can beat juggle or groove along with. Melo D of the Beat Junkies did this — the label's address is right here in Cerritos. Anything that's by the Beat Junkies you can pretty much trust, especially Melo D because he's one of the best technical scratchers out there. There's even some guitar samples if you want to do some X-ecutioner-style scratching. It's a good performance record.
QBert
Gag Seal Breaks (Dirtstyle)
You can trust anything on the Dirtstyle label. This has a good variety of sounds and a lot of skip-proof samples on it, too. It's a straight-up scratch record. I don't think you'd do too much beat juggling with this. If you had two copies, you'd use one side for your samples and the other side to groove along with.
QBert
Y (Thud Rumble)
What is this one, Ouija board breaks? This is a great drum record. Both sides are straight-up drumming. Every turntablist needs something like this. You have to listen to it a few times to get the groove and to know where to cue it. This is cool because it combines scratch sounds with beats so that you can scratch a sample a while then go to the beat. If you mess up, it repeats itself. You can do everything on one turntable with this record. I'm having too much fun with this.
Spinbad
Bad Ass Breaks, vol. 1 (Styluswars)
Side A is a straight-up battle, diss-you record. Side B contains a bunch of really good grooves to play along with instead of just samples to scratch. It's a good record to use in scratch competitions, but it doubles as a good practice record. If you're going to get this record, you'll need two copies to make the most out of it. If you really want to diss someone, get this record.
Stacks; 18300 Gridley Rd., #B, Cerritos, CA 90701; tel. (562) 809-8560; e-mail info@stacksvinyl.com; Web www.stacksvinyl.com
For more information about Davey Dave, check out www.tascamdj.com.
Listen
to audio examples of Dave's scratch techniques!
Davey Dave scratches horn and "Fresh" samples from DJ Flare's Butt Ugly Breaks
Davey Dave scratches another sample from DJ Flare's Butt Ugly Breaks
Davey Dave scratches a drum rhythm for QBert's Y
Davey Dave scratches another rhythm from QBert's Y
Davey Dave scratches samples from Icy Ice's The Adventures of Eskimo Joe
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