Pitchfork

Stones Throw Records recently celebrated its tenth anniversary with the release of the Chrome Children compilation and a subsequent tour. Label head Chris Manak, aka Peanut Butter Wolf, will head out on the European leg of the anniversary trek with Aloe Blacc in December, but Pitchfork took advantage of his break to speak with him about the label's past, his hip-hop history, and giving advice to his artists when they struggle.

Pitchfork: On the tenth anniversary tour you took to DJing using music videos. How does that work? Do you mix the videos so that the footage bleeds together, or are there quick jumps?

Peanut Butter Wolf: They're just jumps, quick cuts, and the crossfader is hooked up to it, so when you go from left to right or vice versa, the video cuts to the other one as well. But if you scratch back and forth, then the person [in the video] moves back and forth.

Pitchfork: So there is manipulation of the video going on?

PBW: Yeah, definitely. It's difficult to try to re-train yourself, because with the videos you can either manually switch them or you can do it automatically. And [when you do it] manually, you can bring in the video afterward, like, have the audio playing for a little bit so someone will recognize a song and then go into the video. Or vice versa, you can bring the video in first while the other song is going on. It gives you some extra stuff to think about.

Pitchfork: Would you ever release a DVD of this kind of stuff?

PBW: That's definitely something on the plate for me next year for the label. And a lot of other people have been asking me to do stuff since I did this [tenth anniversary] tour. I think I'm kind of the default go-to guy for people. They don't know who [else] does it, or maybe they just like what I did. Our distributor asked me to do a DVD mix for them; they were going to do like 40,000 copies or something. I'm [also] in talks with another company right now.

Pitchfork: Do you have a favorite era of hip hop videos?

PBW: Just the 80s, because that's when people started doing videos, and there were no rules at that point. There was no formula. Everybody was just experimenting.

Pitchfork: Do you find that it's also your favorite era of hip hop music?

PBW: In a lot of ways, yeah. The 80s-- that's when I was a kid, and I think that's a lot of-- like, when people are first discovering music, that's when they get their most passionate about it. When you get into your 20s and 30s, you know a lot more about it, and I think I'm able to contribute to it better than I was then. But at the same time, when I was a kid it was a bigger deal to me.

Pitchfork: As far as your contributions go, is there anything from the label's history that you're most proud of?

PBW: [When] Madlib started to do different styles of music, when he started doing Yesterdays New Quintet stuff, I was really excited that happened the way it did. The album that he came up with, Angles Without Edges, is something I'm really proud of. And the fact that he continued to push himself, push his boundaries, try different styles of music. I mean, there are really a lot of different highlights for me.

Pitchfork: Are you personally planning on recording again any time soon?

PBW: I don't have many recording plans right now. I do remixes here and there, more stuff for other labels, I guess. I never really use Stones Throw to put out my own music anymore.

Pitchfork: That's how it started, though-- as a way for you to release your collaborations with Charizma, right?

PBW: That's what gave me the incentive to start the label, definitely. And the Charizma album that I released in 2003, after he passed away-- that was a personal goal. I was able to get that out, and a lot of people responded to it.

Pitchfork: So when did you realize that the label could be more about a collective rather than just your own thing?

PBW: Maybe when Madlib said, "...in this Stones Throw era," on My Vinyl Weighs a Ton, my album. I didn't really think of it as anything like that, and that was in 1999.

Pitchfork: Is that the kind of statement that inspires you to back it up?

PBW: Exactly, yeah. It lets me know I have a responsibility to these people. But I don't really take myself, or the label, that seriously. If I did I'd probably have an ulcer right now.

Pitchfork: Is there a kind of vicarious artistic victory you feel when you see Stones Throw artists succeed?

PBW: Yeah, I kind of live through them like parents do with their kids. I don't have any kids, and my artists are all adults and everything, but I still take that pride like a parent does, I guess.

Pitchfork: Do they ever come to you for advice?

PBW: Sometimes, more so with their lives, and with their music careers and stuff. Dudley [Perkins] was going through a rough time where his album didn't really receive-- he basically didn't sell the units he needed to [in order] to survive. He was living month-to-month. He was at the crossroads a few months ago, asking me, "What would you do if you were in my shoes?"

Pitchfork: What did you tell him?

PBW: At the time, the Chemical Brothers were asking him to do a track with them, and I said, "You better do that track with the Chemical Brothers!" But he's always going to be a creative person. [He will] be able to sustain his life through being creative. Actually, we're working on a DVD [about] him right now, kind of a documentary.

Pitchfork: The new Madvillain album is coming out next year, right?

PBW: That's what we're hoping for. Every time they talk to [Stones Throw general manager] Egon, it seems like they're getting pretty close to finishing it.

Pitchfork: Have you heard any of it?

PBW: I haven't.

Pitchfork: What do you expect?

PBW: I don't know because when [MF DOOM] did the first one, he was rapping over Yesterdays New Quintet tracks, and that wasn't anything that any of us [had] even considered or thought he would do. So I'm sure there will be some curveballs thrown in this time too.

Pitchfork: Are there new directions in which you would like to take Stones Throw in the future? I know Nike designed those limited edition Quasimoto Dunks for the tenth anniversary, but have you thought about doing anything else clothing-related?

PBW: I've always wanted to do clothing, [even] before I did music. I've always felt like there wasn't enough men's clothing especially, stuff that I would buy. I always have a hard time finding clothes that I like. But it's just one of those things in my head. If someone came to us with the right proposition-- you know. [But] it's not something that we're actively seeking out. There's just too much going on with the music.

Peanut Butter Wolf & Aloe Blacc dates:

12-06 Copenhagen, Denmark - Café Rust
12-07 Zurich, Switzerland - Rote Fabrik
12-08 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso
12-09 Marseille, France - Cabaret Aletoire
12-10 Dublin, Ireland - Crawdaddy
12-11 London, England – Jazz Cafe
12-12 Sheffield, England – Tuesday Club
12-14 Bologna, Italy - Covo
12-15 Milan, Italy - Tunnel
12-16 Rome, Italy - La Palma Club
12-17 Vienna, Austria - B72