[Exclusive] DJ Eclipse (Non Phixion/Rock Steady Crew) 獨家訪談 2020

9月 30, 2020

[Exclusive] DJ Eclipse (Non Phixion/Rock Steady Crew) 獨家訪談 2020

因為在Discogs買唱片的緣故，聯繫上了來自紐約的傳奇DJ Eclipse來進行這次訪談。

DJ Eclipse出生於羅德島州，在80年代就已經是當地小有名氣的DJ。1992年，他搬遷至紐約定居，幫3rd Bass成員之一的MC Serch製作他的第二張個人專輯(後來因為與Def Jam合約糾紛而無緣發行)。

在Wild Pitch Records工作的時期，DJ Eclipse認識了Sabac、Ill Bill以及Goretex等人，於是決定在1995年組成嘻哈團體Non Phixion。一直到了2002年，他們才透過自己營運的獨立廠牌Uncle Howie Records發表首張專輯"The Future Is Now"，投下了地下嘻哈圈的震撼彈。

(也許對年輕人說Non Phixion這名字有點陌生。但如果有聽過老莫的了不起負責，其實正是使用Non Phixion的經典名曲"The C.I.A. Is Trying to Kill Me")

多年來兩人可說是合作無間，靠著Ill Bill生猛的風格與DJ Eclipse精湛的刷碟技巧，密切合作過多首作品，一直到2020年Ill Bill最新的專輯"Gorilla Twins"或是"La Bella Medusa"都還能看到DJ Eclipse的蹤跡。

DJ Eclipse本身就是個成名甚早的DJ，90年代就加入了Rock Steady Crew，此外DJ Eclipse也主持過許多知名廣播節目，例如紐約大學電台WNYU播送的The Halftime Show、或是Rap Is Outta Control等等，可說是相當活躍！

1. Can you introduce yourself? When and how did you fall in love with hip hop, and get into the art of DJ? (請做個自我介紹。如何愛上嘻哈並投入於DJ？)

DJ Eclipse (以下簡稱EC)：What's up everyone, DJ Eclipse here. I got hooked on Hip Hop when I first heard "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang. That was like end of '79 beginning of '80. From that point I started buying anything that would come out on the Sugar Hill or Enjoy labels. And over the next couple of years the other aspects of the culture like graffiti, breaking and DJing totally had taken over my interests. So in 1984 I decided I wanted to actually become a DJ.
EC：大家好，我是DJ Eclipse。我是在聽過Sugarhill Gang的"Rapper's Delight"之後愛上嘻哈的，當時大概是79年末、80年代初。自此之後，我就開始購買Sugar Hill Records或是Enjoy出品的各種唱片。接下來的幾年，我逐漸愛上了嘻哈的各種元素，包含塗鴉、breaking以及DJ。一直到1984年，我決定認真投入於DJ成為職業生涯。

2. What are your favorite artists (or albums) that influenced you the most? (你最喜愛的歌手或專輯有哪些)

EC：As far as being influenced in the very beginning it would have to be Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five. They were like the complete package. Then as time went on a bit and other DJs became known to me, guys like DJ Cash Money, Daddy Rich and Scratch stepped the DJ game up and were also huge influences. Additionally, there was a local crew where I grew up in Providence, RI called the Magical Four. I looked up to them a lot.
EC：如果說是在生涯早期影響著我的話，我會說是Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five，他們根本就是無懈可擊。後來，我接觸到許多DJ，像是DJ Cash Money、Daddy Rich以及Scratch等人都將DJ提升到了另一個層次，對我影響也很大。除此之外，我也很仰慕一個來自我故鄉羅德島的嘻哈團體Magical Four。

3. You are a core member of Non Phixion, and also collaborated with Ill Bill frequently. Looks like you and Ill Bill have very great team chemistry? (你是Non Phixion的成員，也與Ill Bill合作非常頻繁，我猜你們之間一定有很好的化學效應吧)

EC：Yeah, Bill and I are both very passionate about what we create as well as both very aggressive when it comes to getting things done. So it's easy to work with someone who works at the same pace as you and holds the same standards as to how the finished product comes out.
EC：當然。Bill和我都非常熱衷於創作，我們對於工作也都非常積極。所以與這種能和自己在同一個步調、且對於成果有同一個標準的人合作是非常容易的。

4. To those Taiwanese people who don’t know yet, can you recommend some of your favorite tracks that you have participated in? (請推薦幾首你參與過的作品)

EC：I used to produce a little in the 90s and I would say my favorite tracks I did were the remixes for "Time's Up" and "Born 2 Live" by O.C. Most of the tracks I'm involved in now are usually ones that I do scratch choruses on. Many for ILL BILL and Vinnie Paz....hard to pick just one. Vinnie's "Cheesesteaks" and "Nineteen Ninety Three" (which I also produced) are really good. In the last few weeks alone I've done some really good ones for Teflon, Reel Wolf, C-Lance and Goretex.
EC：我在九零年代製作了一些作品，我很喜歡那段時期幫O.C.所製作的"Time's Up"以及"Born 2 Live"混音版。近年來我參與的作品大多是用刷碟的方式加在副歌中，其中有許多是Ill Bill或是Vinnie Paz的作品....我很難從中挑選，但我會挑Vinnie Paz的"Cheesesteaks"、還有由我自己製作的"Nineteen Ninety Three"，這些歌曲也都很棒。不過在前幾個禮拜內，我也幫Teflon、Reel Wolf、C-Lance、Goretex等人做了許多很棒的曲子。

5. In the 80s & 90s, DJ was an important element of hip hop. You can see there’s a DJ in almost every great hip hop crew, such as Run DMC, Dilated Peoples, The Artifacts...etc. Looks like things have changed after the 2000s. What are your thoughts or opinions on this trend? (在80、90年代，你可以看見每一個偉大的嘻哈團體中一定有個DJ成員，這在2000年之後似乎改變了，對於這種轉變你有什麼看法?)

EC：The DJ is the backbone of Hip Hop. The MC came as an extension to hype what the DJ was doing. Once Hip Hop was put on record the focus started to become the people that you actually heard (the MCs). And when videos came it was also the people that you heard AND saw. The 80s were all those original crews with DJs coming out, but actually the 90s is when it really started to change. Those of us that were independent were heavily influenced from the originators so we started groups that had to have a DJ. But when you think about the mainstream artists that were coming out in the 90s most of them (Jay-Z, Nas, Wu, Biggie, etc) didn't have a DJ in the group. It was just them as the MCs. They would use DJs, but they were never billed as part of the group. I think the best artists were those that had the complete package of DJ/MC. Made for better shows and just overall better chemistry.
EC：原本DJ是嘻哈的骨幹，而MC則是伴隨DJ放歌時而衍生出來製造現場氣氛的。但當嘻哈音樂開始被錄製進唱片中，人們的焦點就隨之轉移到MC上了，因為你直接可以聽到他們在表達什麼，當音樂錄影帶推出之後，人們的注意力不只是聽而已，外表如何被人看見也很重要。80年代的那些嘻哈團體，都是以DJ為中心而生，到了90年代就開始逐漸改變了。而我們這種獨立藝人，早年受到這些前輩的影響很深，所以當我們要成立團體的時候，一定也是必須要有個DJ才行。但那些90年代的主流嘻哈歌手，像是Jay-Z、Nas、Wu-Tang、Biggie..等等，他們其實都沒有正式的DJ成員，他們都是以MC的姿態呈現。他們會使用DJ作為演出的一部分，但從來都不會是正式的成員。我自己認為，最好的嘻哈音樂人應該是要有完整的DJ/MC編制，這對於現場演出的精彩度或是團隊的化學效應都是最好的。

6. Do you still buy vinyl? Are there any differences for you between using real vinyl records and using a DVS system? (你現在還買唱片嗎？你覺得使用真的黑膠或是DVS系統放歌有什麼區別嗎？)

EC：Yes, I still buy vinyl, but nowhere near as often as I used to. Main reason is I just don't have the room to put anymore! I love spinning vinyl when I'm playing out, but also love using Serato to play new music on my show that might not even be available on vinyl. Makes life easier. Vinyl does sound better to me, but I make sure that when I digitize my vinyl that I save the files at the highest quality possible so that I don't lose too much of that warmth that you get from vinyl.
EC：當然，我還是會買唱片，但也已經不如以往那麼頻繁了。主要的原因是我真的沒空間放這麼多唱片了！我很喜歡用真的黑膠放歌，但也很喜愛使用Serato在我的節目上播放新的音樂，因為這些新音樂很多都沒有被做成黑膠，這對我來說真的很方便。我覺得黑膠唱片的聲音確實比較好，所以當我在做數位轉檔的時候，也會確保能用最高品質的格式來存檔，才不會失去了黑膠唱片原始的溫度感。

7. What is your favorite DJ equipment? (你最喜愛的DJ設備)

EC：Technics 1200 will always be my favorite turntable. Mixers change by the years. I've loved many of them through time. Right now I would say my favorites are the Pioneer S9 and the Numark Scratch mixer.
EC：Technics 1200永遠是我最愛的唱盤。至於混音器的喜好則會隨著時間改變，我有很多款喜愛的混音器，現在我最喜愛的大概是Pioneer S9以及Numark Scratch。

8. How’s your life during this covid pandemic? I wish you all the best! (在這段疫情中，你的生活過得還好嗎？希望你一切順利)

EC：It's been hard adjusting to the pandemic. I have two kids so dealing with social distancing and school has been very challenging for them. And touring is a big part of my work so obviously that isn't happening now either. The family has since adjusted and we're now maintaining, but it's crazy to see how much has changed since March. Looking forward to 2021!
EC：要適應這個新冠疫情真的很困難。我有兩個小孩，對他們來說要保持social distancing又要去學校真的是一大挑戰。而巡迴演出一直以來都是我工作中很重要的一部分，現在也明顯是無法了。我們家已經開始調適並且維持至今，從三月以來的這些轉變真的是太瘋狂了！期望2021趕快到來。