“If you are from Vancouver and listen to hip hop then you probably know this week’s guests well. The Freshest are a 4 piece DJ crew that includes DJs Kutcorners, Rico Uno, Seko, and Marvel. As far back as I can remember going out in Vancouver these guys have been playing the go-to spots for hip hop. Nights such as Lucy Mae Browns and Re-Up are still talked about and referenced as formative events in regards to shaping the current scene. This past year has seen these artists move into a bigger spotlight with many new opportunities available. One of these opportunities was to play a set with all four members at the Redbull Threestyle Championships that took place in December. They are also creating a bigger audience for themselves by producing Live-Set music videos. The first of which has now been released starring Marvel and Kutcorners. I got to ask them a few questions about what they do.”

DJing has most popularly been known as a solo act. Explain the idea behind The Freshest Crew.

We were all regulars at hip-hop shows and parties in Vancouver and quickly became friends through a common love of music.  From there it was only natural for us to want to work on music and throw parties together.  It was clear that with the four of us we would have a bigger reach when we threw our first weekly party, Higher Ground.  Each of us had complimentary specialties around and beyond our hip-hop backgrounds making it an easy fit for us to come together musically.

How did you all meet each other?

Aside from seeing each other at shows around the city, we all would gather at Beat Street Records (shout out to Avi Shack!) during the past days of mandatory record-buying.  At the time (around 2005) Seko and Marvel were deejaying together at Get Up Get Down Fridays at Tokyo Lounge while Kutcorners was deejaying the front room with Paul Devro at Get Some Fridays at Shine.  Rico was the new guy who worked at the record store, did a radio show called Rhymes and Reasons on CITR 101.9FM and sometimes deejayed with a weird program called Serato.  We would all play basketball at False Creek together a couple times a week, and it all just grew from there.

What was it like for you playing the Redbull Threestyle World Finals event with the whole crew?

It was awesome! We definitely wanted to challenge ourselves and raise the bar of our performance to match the magnitude of the week-long event. Our ideas during rehearsals at the School of Mix laid the groundwork for what would become the live sets.  Also, it felt great to play for such a receptive audience while representing Vancouver for an international event of that scale.

How did the live set video come into the making?

The live set video was an extension of the showcase we prepared for the Red Bull Thre3style competition.  It started out as jamming on synthesizers, drum machines, and turntables at Marvel’s studio and quickly turned into an exercise in developing a new approach to deejaying and performance. Check the first set here.

Any other videos planned? Ideas for future videos?

We’ve got a new one in the works right now, details soon…

What is the arrangement you have with Aritzia? How did it start? and tell us about the newest release you will put out with them.

Our relationship with Aritzia started in 2008 with Rico Uno playing in-store sets at the Robson location and fashion shows.  He would release one of the first in their mix series, Whirly Pop and later Re-Up 4 Aritzia.  In February 2011 the Aritzia team was in NYC to open their SoHo location when they came to Brooklyn where our whole Freshest crew was playing at The Rub .  This naturally led to our first crew mix for Aritzia, released last week, called Spring Fling.  This new mix includes our original production and artists such as Breakbot, A$ap Rocky, Cassie, and Gang of Four.
SPRING FLING
WHIRLY POP 2
RE-UP 4 ARITZIA
WHIRLY POP

Who are your favourite Vancouverites?

Michael J. Fox, Gman & Rizk, Vikram Vij, Ken Lum, Sincerely Hana, Chris and Gary Bone / Livestock family, U-Tern, Rhek, Mark Brand, Martini (Dipt), Hedspin, David Suzuki, Calen Knauf, Rodney Graham, M!G!H!, Devro Bros, Kildare, Niña Mendoza, Dan Climan, Cam Macleod, Jeff Wall, Jay Swing, Kemo, Flipout, Tyler Fedchuck, Brian Hill.

Why Vancouver?

Vancouver’s diversity is so important to what we do musically and how we came together as a group. Obviously Vancouver is one of the most beautiful places in the world and we are so lucky to have people here that are receptive and supportive of what we do as a crew.

Check out the different weekly residencies that the guys hold down below:

Friday – Happy Ending at Fortune Sound Club
Friday – HousexGuest
Friday – Rad Times at The Astoria
Saturday – El Segundo at The Ascot
Saturday – Glory Days at The Biltmore
Sunday – Good Life / Sunday Reggae at Republic
Monday –  Hip Hop Karaoke at Fortune Sound Club (Monthly)
Tuesday – Tuesdays at Celebrities
Wednesday – Me & U at The Waldorf Hotel
Thursday – Skate Night At Garfs (Whistler) (Monthly)

Check them out:
thefreshest.ca
soundcloud
youtube
vimeo
twitter

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HEDSPIN & PUMP ON THE EH! YO! CANADIAN TOUR (EH! TEAM DJS)

http://theehteamdjs.blogspot.ca/

with guests

RICO UNO (THE FRESHEST)

http://ricouno.com/

AND IN THE LIVESTOCK ROOM WITH RELLY RELS, A-SHAE & CRILLZ

Parties pop off anywhere nowadays. When they do, it’s best to have two of the most versatile DJs you can find to turn loose on the decks. Introducing Pump and Hedspin.
Brothers from some parallel reality, Pump of Calgary and Hedspin of Vancouver were likely drawn together by their shared Filipino-Canadian heritage, extreme amounts of time spent on the Internet and affinity for practical jokes – often on each other. But it’s their uniform excellence in the art of professional party-starting that permanently forged their bond. Why rock solo when you can swap cuts with your musical equal?

The lucky crowd at a Pump and Hedspin jam is the biggest winner in this arrangement, however, with partygoers potentially receiving twice the hip hop, jazz, funk, soul, disco, house, electro, rock, original edits, aggressive mixes, dynamic cuts, exhilarating back-and-forth interplay and massive payoffs they might have been ready for, but loving it nonetheless. Because to witness one of Hedspin and Pump’s sets played basically by ear, their intuitiveness and inventiveness on display for all to enjoy, is truly a treasured experience.

So whether it’s somewhere hot (like MTV Spring Break in the Caribbean) or cold (like Vancity during the 2010 Winter Games), in the middle of heated battle (Hedspin is the reigning world Red Bull 3Style king, Pump a past DMC and ITF champ) or somewhere in between – Rock The Bells, The Rub (NYC), LAX (Las Vegas), WMC (Miami), The Summer X Games (L.A.), SXSW (Austin) and CMW (Toronto) – it should be no surprise to find Pump and Hedspin mashing it up, joking around and blowing minds. Be sure to catch them together, solo or with one or more of their EH! Team brethren in 2012 – your ears will thank you.