Get Your Tittsworth Out: Interview Outtakes With DJ Tittsworth

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FOR SEVERAL DAYS, I tried in vain to set up an interview with Jesse Tittsworth for a Weekend Pass feature about his debut album, "12 Steps" (Plant Music), and his CD release party on Aug. 29 at 9:30 Club.

When I finally received a call from the D.C. DJ, it was 1:30 a.m.

On a school night.

I didn't pick up the phone, but I could hear his message — and it sounded like he was ready to do the interview right then and there. Tittsworth was on the West Coast and was about to catch a plane back East, so he was amped up. But since I was practically unconscious, I figured we'd catch up the next day.

But Tittworth couldn't wait, and he ended up using his airport downtime to respond to the e-mail questions I sent him earlier in the day.

A lot of his answers didn't make the newspaper article, which you can read here, but a lot of what he said was still interesting.

Check out Tittsworth's extra verbage below, along with some download links to his free (and awesome) mixtapes.

» EXPRESS: Have you had any feedback from the long-timers in the B-more scene, who have been doing this sort of music for 20 years with only local fame — meanwhile, folks like you and Diplo are killing it in Brazil?
» TITTSWORTH: When I first started to put my own club records out, there a lot of early criticism from the vets. Initially I was seen as unauthentic, being from D.C. and being non-black certainly didn't make it any easier. Also, I wanted to develop my own style and my own method for getting club music outside of B-more, so I understand how those inside of B-more see my differences. As the times changed, and the world would start to accept and change the sound, I'd start to hear the comments change. I'd go to drop new wax off and cats in the shops would be like, "Yo, Technics was just asking about you," or "Scottie [B] just said he heard your record and said he's gotta step his game up." Next thing you know I'm DJing with these cats, being on the same record, hanging out, etc. I mean just this morning Scottie B sent me a text message going crazy over my Solange remix [listen at his MySpace page]. Scottie's a hero in my eyes. He's been in the game since day one and just as relevant, still as humble as they come. He commands respect, the right way — a real role model.

» EXPRESS: Not that you album is all B-more club, natch. "4:21" reminds of me of Kraftwerk doing mid-1990s techno, and "Tittsworth Theme" is a nice mix of breaks and acid jazz. Was it a conscious decision to reach into your electronic music background, rather than just the club stuff?
» TITTSWORTH: I wanted this album to be both a reflection of where i am and also a reflection of what I thought club should be. I wanted to show that club could be rap, R&B, electro, instrumental, noisy, clean, polished, funny, whatever. Also, because I like a bunch of different types of music, it was easy for me to take it there. I love that music is so diverse now. It's not like my rave days where you'd have a breaks DJ, or a trance DJ, or a d 'n' b DJ. Now you can play half a dozen genres from various time periods and any tempo range. It's beautiful and it's going next level. Songs don't even belong to genres anymore — they borrow from so many.

» EXPRESS: Is the song "Bumpin'' an eff you to all the dudes who crushed your decks during the "bottle service" gigs you used to do? Did you ever beat anyone up for bumping your turntables?
» TITTSWORTH: Oh, man, why you gotta take it there? OK, I tried the bottle service thing on for a little while to make ends. It really wasn't my thing. I remember this one time I was DJing at Eyebar. I kept noticing this cat's elbow creep closer and closer to the live needle. "Careful of the turntable, homey," I warn this guy two, three times. I'm saying, "The club is covered in tables. You paid hundreds of dollars to reserve one. And you have to put your oafy elbow on this table?" So, sure enough, there he goes. When I'm not paying attention he knocks the live tone arm and the stylus goes skydiving. It's one of those really ugly moments where the needle tears back and forth on the record for a full 10 seconds. Then it goes completely silent as the needle goes tumbling off, going bump, bump, bump across the platter. I immediately push the guy back. He's so drunk that he falls square on his back, taking two and a half folks with him. At the time I felt horrible, but as the night went on, everyone else saw how much of a mess this guy really was. At one point he falls completely unprovoked, and takes out a row of velvet rope with him — it all fell like drunk dominoes. The only reason why he didn't get kicked out is because his friends reserved a VIP table. So, to answer your question, there are a lot of emotions in that song, and I have some negative memories for sure. In the end, [bottle service gigs] also all taught me a lot musically and allowed me to save up some dough at a critical point in my life. So, I don't regret it by any means.

» EXPRESS: Do you have expectations that this new full album release gets into the ears of those who might never set foot in a club — or those who have 15-month-old babies and prefer their dance parties in their living rooms?
» TITTSWORTH: There are some songs on there that are clear crossover attempts. I think the Nina Sky and Pitbull joint ["Here He Comes"], or "Almond Joy," could be played on a lot of radio stations. I'm careful about how far I take that, but I do want to push club beyond the usual DJ tools. This is the first time I've released something that didn't have the dance floor strictly in mind. I would need to think about how to move my music and more importantly club music into new areas — including the seeds!

» Free Tittsworth mixtapes: "The John McCain Experience" [tracklist]; "12 Bottles" [tracklist]

Photos by Carleton Hall