Hey what’s up EOTC. Thanks to Tre for asking me to write this. I really appreciate it and feel honored to this little interview thingy. My name is Aloiso Wilmoth I’m an aspiring designer. Probably more known by my blog name “weformlikevoltron.” The topic is, “What does style mean to you?”. Well Im gonna go and try as much as I can to describe in words. This is Kind of a harder way for me to express myself, i’m more of a verbal person, but hey. Here we go. An overall sense style is a way a person projects their personality. Thus, this is not merely confined to just one’s attire or wardrobe. For example personality,emotions, or even something as miniscule as being right handed or left handed. It’s what makes you an individual. God invented style (haha). I think a lot of kids these days get too hung up on the fact that if a person is not within the current trend of dress, Or “fashionable,” that they don’t have any style. It’s more than that. It’s how you appeal to others. And you don’t have to appeal to everyone. Being an artist/musician I know this too well. The world isn’t always going to understand you. But it’s cool. Because its your style.
Fashion, what an elegant word. Fashion reminds me of a fox. Swift and quick. As a fox’s fur adjusts colors and thickness due to the seasonal changes, so does Fashion with it’s collections. As the fox matures it becomes more graceful, agile. Intelligent to its natural surroundings. Most importantly fashion is an art form. A lot of people get so caught up in current trends , that they tend to shadow that out a lot.
My personal style; whewwww I don’t even know how to start. I tend to take a lot of elements from subcultures in my style. Also a lot of indigineous cultures. I’m really big on that. Coming from a Honduran (Garifina) background. It’s just something I appreciate a bit more. My parents raised me around that stuff. I like a lot of accessories that stand out, like bracelets and scarfs. I’m the type of person that would rather pay 100 dollars for a necklace from a place like Ghana than something out of a retail store. It just has that unique one of kind handmade value. That’s what draws me to those cultures, nothings ever the same. As subcultures go, it’s just my interest. It amazes me why certain subcultures wear certain things. Thus that Is why I try to incorporate it into my daily style. It’s still really hard for me to describe my style as I am getting off-topic. I guess one word i’ll use is “experimental”.
I could go on and on and on. Anyways. Some of my favorite designers in no particular order are;
Kriss Van Assche,Rick Owens, Yojhi Yamamoto, Rei Kawabuko, Felipe Oliviera Baptista and Tetsu Nishiyama.
Last but not least! Here are my 10 rules of style:
(1) A lot of fashion housed design for the runway and not the street, and you see it on a regular person it’s a mess. Don’t hide behind a label show it on the clothing
(2) Black is always good.
(3) Don’t EVER copy a look. Just because someone else looks good in it doesn’t mean you will. Take elements and pieces from different styles an construct your own little puzzle
(4) “Swagger” should not be apart of your vocabulary.
(5) Whenever purchasing a piece, keep in mind “am I buying this because of the label? Or because I like the look?”
(6) If you’re gonna wear something with certain symbols, band etc. please know what it means. Countless times ive met people and asked “oh you know what that means?” and they are like “what?”. After all, a little research never hurts. The more you know…
(7) Theres a time and place for every outfit. Trust me.
(8) This one is borrowed from Kris Van Assche; “wearing a pair of hightops with suit pants deconstructs the look, and that’s important. I like the way hightops and pants act together. It’s like a the effect of Rolled up sleeves for your trousers. Just make sure the socks match your sneakers, no the pants. If you like black hightops, wear black socks. White, white…”
(9) Fedoras aren’t that cool.
(10) Fashion is like boxing, Dress within your weightclass.
For those who wish to further contact me:
AIM: sonthevillain
Tumblr: www.weformlikevoltron.tumblr.com
Myspace: www.myspace.com/i_drive_a_megazord
Facebook: www.facebook.com/childwithtaste
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We would like to Thank Aloiso for taking the time out to give us his opinion on what style is. Add him on his sites and get to know him. he’s a real cool cat. His personal style is dope as well. Thank you for tuning in, and if you have a personal viewpoint on style, feel free to let us know your opinion. We would love to hear it.
send in your opinion @ treandmarz@gmail.com
Than you again Aloiso!
Peace,
(Tre & Marz)
EOTC: So what’s going on Abjo?
Abjo: Nothin’ much, just goin’ to school, makin’ beats, burnin’ trees…the usual
EOTC: Where so you hail from?
Abjo: San Diego, CA, affectionately called “Daygo” where I live...
EOTC: nice, is it as beautiful as people say?
Abjo: from other people’s POV, yeah, it’s the best place in the world. me personally, it’s just home, and home has always been what it is: raw, real, and in your face.
EOTC: How about you tell the people out there a little bit about who you are, and what it is you do.
Abjo: Indeed. Well, as I’ve been sayin’ lately, hip hop is my heart, soul music is my soul, the two combined make me whole… but on the reals, I’m just your every day SD cat…you know. love to smoke, love to chill, love to act like a fool in public… I’m an artist, though, and I make art, as far as who I am and what I do. Music, sound is my paint and brush, dig?
EOTC: When did you start your venture in beat making?
Abjo: toward the end of my high school career. I always wanted to, and at that time, I had been almost 7 years deep playin’, reading and writing music, so I felt at that time, I had the wherewithall, I loved it too much not to start doin’ it there’s always a time and place… that was it.
EOTC: Was there an inspirational push that sparked your interest to start?
Abjo: yeah, I had recently decided to dig deeper into the whole Detroit scene, who by the way, I think is where the best shit in the world comes from… other than from this side of the country, haha and of course, Dilla caught my ear, and I got to him just a year before he passed, so I can say I was hyped about him before the hype, you know? even before, the whole Stones Throw crew had my attention, and so everything was just build up for me until Dil Withers passed…that initially was the spark; I just felt a generation, an era had passed, and now it there was space for me to put my mark, I guess…a year later, I graduated high school and I had my first beat tape…the rest is history.
EOTC: that’s wassup. a great inspirational media Dilla is.
Abjo: yeah, and it’s funny, because I hate the hype about him, or rather, I highly dislike it, the whole “everyone is coppin’ his style thing” deal…but he’s a link, just like Pete and Premier are I needed him just like everyone else did to complete their sound, their study into their sound, like one has to study Bach or Brahms, right?
EOTC: Exactly
Abjo: I live in music, the whole world of it. You can’t really escape inspiration…Passing the torch has to happen, no matter how sticky and controversial it is. Dilla knew that.
EOTC: Did you venture into this alone, or did someone also share the same passion as you?
Abjo: It was all me. I take advice here and there, but I think some of the best, or really, some of the most “out there” and inspirational artists in history have always had to make their own mark, as the saying goes, move to the beat of a different drummer…I don’t rely on Dilla or Madlib, or I don’t always rely at all on others’ preferences and ideas, for ego purposes or otherwise…but I do consider and pick apart their modus operandi, for my own sake…I make music for me and my sanity, and it just so happens that part of that has to do with makin’ people nod their heads…
EOTC: So what was your first beatmaking experience like? How was the finished product?
Abjo: Oh, man…compared to right now, I guess it was like…the beginnings of hip hop…if I’m not bein’ too facetious, haha everything was about the “bump” so to speak, and unfortunately, it was tainted by popular music and ish, so it’s a convoluted listen…though, I’ve heard associates and relatives say it was ill…I grew into my music from there, but that first album was somethin’ else…I won’t get into details, it was great still, but it’s crazy to listen to, even right now. went by a different name and everything, ahahaha somethin’ ridiculous, it was all over the place.
yeah, I was really just tryin’ the waters out, you know? barely any sampling, I let my music talent do the work, most of it was synthesized work resembling either Kanye or later day Outkast, or even like some back in the day Common, or Mary J. Blige…I finally caught up as of late, but back then, I really went back in time…like I said, somethin’ ridiculous.
EOTC: On average, how long does it take for you to drop a track?
Abjo: I’m still workin’ on shit from months ago, but there’s stuff that I made, some of my greater works, that I made in less than 45 minutes…there’s masterpieces, and then there’s “donuts”…I have enough of both.
EOTC: What was the hardest project you have ever worked on.
Abjo: Hmmm…..I’d have to say this Midnight Kids album that I’ve been workin’ on…I’m actually workin’ on a follow up suite to it right now that’s killin’ me, but that joint had the most work put into it.
EOTC: Do you collab with any other beatmakers? Are there any you would like to?
Abjo: you know, there are beatmakers in SD, but all the ones I’ve met aren’t as into it as I am…As far as like, brand name producers, Madlib is on the top of the list…Pharrell sounds dope, I love 14KT’s work from Detroit, Mayer Hawthorne (Andrew Cohen, I believe) is another, and the whole Brainfeeder/Alpha Pup crew…Flying Lotus and them, you know.
EOTC: If you were not doing this music thing, what are some of your other aspirations, or what do you think you would be doing?
Abjo: Photography, for sure…that’s my second love…
EOTC: Have you ever been criticized for what you do, in opposed to having a regular 9-5?
Abjo: All the time. I’m a smart kid, so people say…and though I’ve been “blessed” with talent, a knack for a bunch of different things, I don’t feel the need to be about the safety of a secure job…if I have the talent, I won’t need to worry about whether or not I’ma get the paper…I don’t need much anyway, and I definitely don’t need the suit or sharp threads that come with them, or even the nice home to live in…I need music….and sex and weed and good times, but I need music. that’s what keeps a roof over my proverbial head. and the real one, so I hope.
EOTC: Are you signed to any label, affiliated with anyone?
Abjo: Kowloon City. 93, the Midnight Kids collective Shout out to Killboy, haha
EOTC: Last but not least, do you have any shout outs?
Abjo: Big outs to my man Bobby Lite, Chris Young the Rapper, my significant other Camesha, my District 4 peeps, and any and everyone who loves to put a knot in their neck to some good music everyday…
That was our Interview. We would like to personally like to thank Abjo for taking the time out for hanging out with us and do this interview. You can find him at the following links.
Myspace.com/abstractjones
Abjo.bandcamp.com
Peace.
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(Tre & Marz)
