dakim

A Beat Happening

On this week's episode of A Beat Happening we welcome a producer from Detroit who rarely gives interviews but whose music has been an inspiration to those in the culture with keen ears for over a decade: dakim. Coming to the attention of many in the late 2000s, when he relocated to Los Angeles and involved himself in the local scene, and early 2010s, thanks in part to his central role in Gus Sutherland's sadly unreleased All Ears documentary, dak has been a quiet force as a producer unafraid of experimenting with the potentials of beat culture beyond its most obvious representations. As comfortable with sample chops as he is with jit rhythms, drones, and layered compositions, dak's music traverses internal universes. he has released primarily via his own ddust label and matthewdavid's Leaving Records, and has taken on aliases such as Saafron and Peoplemover to represent different sides of his output or creative approach. Based out of San Francisco since leaving LA, he is a true producer's producer and we are very grateful to have him on the show to discuss his career, creative process, and perceptions of beat culture.

This episode was edited and produced by Laurent Fintoni. Intro and outro music by Duke Westlake. Artwork by Kutmah. Design assistance by Paper Resistance and Brandy Flower. This show is a labor of love and if you enjoy what you hear and would like to support us in being able to continue, you can donate via PayPal at https://paypal.me/abeathappening.

In this episode we discuss...

• Audo pilots project
• Coming up in Detroit after the '90s era
• Discovering Slum Village and electronic music
• Seeing Mike Paradinas live and being inspired to get an MPC
• Working with different machines/processes
• The importance of dancing for creativity
• Spirituality in the creative practice
• Beat archives and samples
• Improvisation and live vs recorded output
• Relationship with jit culture
• Connections with Baatin, Black Milk, and Akh
• Meeting Kutmah, Ras G, and Sacred at Project Blowed
• Lessons on the MPC

Tracklist:

• Extract from The New Dance show
• Saafron - Saffron
• ddustbin archive joint
• Peoplemover - jitterbugs
• Sterling Toles - 11/19
• ddustbin archive joint

Links:

• ddust Bandcamp
• The Unseen - A Detroit Beat Tape