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Uptown Magazine - Winnipeg's Online Source for Arts, Entertainment & News

June 18, 2009


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2009-06-18

At the top of his game

The momentum surrounding Juno winner DJ Brace shows no signs of slowing down

Anthony Augustine

nostomania [nos-tuh-mey-nee-uh] - noun
i: an irresistible compulsion to return home.
ii: another dimension where the orchestra resides.

Not many DJs can say they have won the Canadian DMC championship and a Juno - but Michael Topf (aka DJ Brace) can. He had to make more room in his trophy case earlier this year after his first full-length on Balanced Records, The Electric Nosehair Orchestra in Nostomania, snagged a 2009 Juno award for Instrumental Album of the Year.

Along with taking home some hardware, Brace performed at the opening ceremonies, had his music featured during the awards show and represented homegrown hip hop at a national level. A skilled battle DJ who has an impressive list of competitive titles, Brace is hardly a novice performer - but the Juno performance gave him butterflies.

"It was the first show I was ever nervous about. I have been in 15-plus battles and I was never nervous for any of them," says Topf, over the phone from his new apartment in Montreal. "I just worked hard for them and let the chips fall where they may. This performance was different, though. I didn't want to screw it up."

Built on a hip hop foundation with touches of classic, sample-based beats that wouldn't sound out of place between DJ Shadow and older RJD2 on a playlist, Nostomania is a concept album that has a strong visual element accompanying each song. Featuring the artwork of Shaun Morin (slomotion), Melanie Rocan, Timothy Kent, Fred Thomas and Ryan Carman , Topf took the time to ensure that the album looked as good as it sounds.

"I see Morin as the bus driver of the art section of this. He helped me visualize what I already saw," Topf says. "I knew that he could do what I needed. I knew he would come up with something that I was looking for. Those guys really helped me make Nostomania happen."

Although Topf worked alone on the bulk of the album, some friends stopped by his small bedroom studio to lay down a beat or play some guitar.

"Everyone was like a record to me. I just chopped them up and made some stuff out of it."

Topf is well-known on the DJ circuit thanks to his DMC Canada win in 2004 (he placed eighth in the world), but he's been producing ever since he got his first turntables and has been part of the Balanced Records stable since 2001. His music has also been featured on Fox's Prison Break.

"I started DJing and fucking around with sounds at the same time. I had to get better at scratching faster than I had to making beats," Topf says.

While he no longer participates in battles and has cut back his DJing schedule to focus on production, he has been working on a new hybrid setup - which includes Vestax's new Controller One turntable, Abelton Live, some MIDI equipment and Serato - which he unveiled for the first time at the Junos.

"I try not to DJ as much anymore. It's a waste of fucking time. Now they pay kids $50 because everybody has Serato," explains the veteran DJ. "You're not going to be paid well unless you are ultra-famous, like Michael Jackson, or unless you're throwing the party. I'm not into that. I'm still into DJing but not like that. I'm into performing the new way I'm doing. Nobody is really doing anything like this right now - straight up. People are using the Controller One, but nobody is doing what I do right now. I'm just waiting for people to see what I'm doing. It's not like I have some secret that they don't."

Along with fine-tuning his new live show, Topf has been busy in the studio. Not only does he have a remix of legendary hip hop group Pharcyde coming out this summer, he has been burning the candle at both ends to finish up beats for a new project with The Brown Bag Allstars' MC Soul Khan - the top-ranked MC in New York City for 2009's Grind Time Battle. This will be Topf's first rap album since collaborating with Gruf the Druid on Sound Barriers.

Topf is also working on material for a new-school electro album with Austria's soulglo, planning to work on some tracks for ITF Austrian champ Chris Fader and collaborating with The Brown Bag Allstars. In between all that, he has also started work on the follow-up to Nostomania.

"I work a 40-hour work week and then come home and work on music five or six hours every night. On the weekends, I spend 12 hours a day," Topf says. "It's just because I love it so much. I'm really here right now to grind and work hard. Sometimes I need sleep and sometimes I don't. I'm someone who would rather be working on something. It would be nice if I had more time, but a friend once said to me, 'You can sleep when you're older.'

"Look at musicians as students. When you're in school, you have to work hard and don't always get to see your friends. Then you graduate and get a job in the field. Basically the DMC was my Bachelor of Arts in DJing. The Juno was the Masters and now I'm working on my PhD. When you're working on your PhD, you don't get paid much and you don't have much time to do anything else.

"I love what I do. I don't mind making some sacrifices. I have the best life ever."

Web Extras

DJ Brace
www.djbrace.com

The Electric Nosehair Orchestra
www.myspace.com/theelectricnosehairorchestra

DJ BRACE
June 24, Royal Albert Arms

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