Alex “Omar-S” Smith has been dropping bombs on his own label FXHE out of Detroit since 2001. We had a chat with him while he was driving around with his family on a Sunday afternoon. For those familiar with his fresh sound that mixes Chicago’s jacking house rhythms with Detroit’s sublime atmospheres, this will help shine some light on the man. For those who don’t know, you better ask somebody.
AOS: “KORG VC-10 Vocoder in brand new condition!!, Dave Smith-Poly Evolver, Derrick
May’s Memory Moog he let me use, 1 out of 2 Roland-MC-909,1 out of 2 Korg MS 20, Derrick May’s Waldorf Micro Q, and AKAI MPC 2000.”
ISM(infinitestatemachine): What did you do first, deejaying or production?
AOS(Alex Smith): Deejaying, in the basement.
ISM: You were born in Detroit, right?
AOS: Hell yeah.
ISM: How old were you when you started deejaying?
AOS: Like 12. I was playing all that early Chicago shit, you know, like Farley (Jackmaster Funk) and shit like that.
ISM: So where did you hear that music initially?
AOS: My older sister, my older brother, my cousin. They grew up back in the early 80’s, they heard all that shit, when it first started.
ISM: Were they going out to clubs in Detroit?
AOS: L’Uomo, shit like that. I can’t remember the other ones. That was the biggest one, L’Uomo.
ISM: So you were just a little kid, and you heard what they were listening to?
AOS: Yep, I was real young.
ISM: Was there also an influence from Chicago? I can hear it in your tracks…
AOS: Yeah, that was the stuff back then. You know, WBMX, GCI you know, I had those cassette tapes.
ISM: Where did you get the tapes from?
AOS: Anybody had ’em, my cousins.. They were going down there to get them, alot of people were going down there and getting them, they’d just tape ’em off the radio while they were there.
ISM: Were you also into hip-hop when you were young?
AOS: All that stuff was new, everybody was listening to that. House music and rap music back in the 80’s. They both kinda got big at the same time.
ISM: Were alot of your friends into dance music at the time?
AOS: I was the only one, myself.
ISM: Who were your influences in deejaying?
AOS: Back in the 80’S, Jackmaster Farley was the man. And Silk Hurley. We ain’t know about Ron Hardy, all the rest of these guys from Chicago, and Larry Levan. Like Francois (K.), I didn’t know Francois mixed “Beat the Street” (by Sharon Redd) and all the rest of these records. I didn’t find that shit out till like last year.
ISM: So when was the first time you deejayed for other people, at a club or on the radio?
AOS: I’ve never played on the radio! I did some shit back in New York back in ’93. My sister’s boyfriend threw alot of parties and shit, I just went there and did some shit there, that was about it.
ISM: What kind of things were you playing at that time?
AOS: Uh… I don’t know, what was I playing? Masters at Work, shit like that. Chez Damier, Ron Trent shit, know what I’m saying? Back when Masters at Work was sweet…
ISM: Not like they are now…
AOS: Naw, hell naw!
ISM: There’s no interviews with you in English as of now, right?
AOS: No, there’s not.
ISM: Has anyone else tried to interview you?
AOS: They have, but never shit that’s published.
ISM: Any magazines?
AOS: Naw, they don’t care about this shit over here in America.
ISM: What kind of car are you driving?
AOS: An ’06 STI… (Subaru)
ISM: Why an import instead of a domestic?
AOS: Just cause… it’s a rally racing car, nobody knows what it is so people don’t wanna steal it, plus it’s fast as hell and you can beat the fuck out of it all day in a race.
ISM: You like to race alot? I read (in a poor Babelfish translation) the article in De:Bug magazine from Germany that you race with Theo Parrish and Mike Banks….
AOS: I don’t know about Mad Mike, they always be throwin’ shit in. Basically, I just go out by the airport, there’s alot of people back there. As far as Theo, yeah he be racing and shit.
ISM: How has your deejaying been accepted over in Europe?
AOS: Oh, they really like it over there. They love that shit. I just got back from Fabric, they said they never seen the room as packed as when I was over there.
ISM: What do you think of the new “minimal techno” that is so popular in Europe?
AOS: Yeah, most of that shit is garbage, I don’t really buy records no more, man.
ISM: Which modern artists are you listening to?
AOS: Man, to tell you the truth, I don’t fucking know!
ISM: Yeah, in my opinion, alot of people are just releasing bullshit and no one is telling them about it.
AOS: Yeah, people are making bullshit like Kerri Chandler, shit like that.
ISM: You don’t like some of Kerri’s recent records that have that techno feeling to them?
AOS: Naw, that shit is not techno, that shit is bullshit. Kerri Chandler was sweet as fuck, you know what I’m sayin’? Put it like this, Kerri Chandler and Carl Craig came out around the same time, right? Carl Craig might have had a couple years off, Carl Craig is still sweet as fuck. Look at Kerri Chandler. Like he came out with that Video Game EP (“Computer Games EP” on Deeply Rooted House), it’s no video game sound effects on it! I didn’t understand, he called it Video Games EP, there’s no type of video game type atmosphere or feeling on that EP.
ISM: Some of your stuff has a definite video game feeling to it…
AOS: Yeah, because I sample all video games! But yeah, there’s alot of that shit going on. Motherfuckers ain’t shit as deejays, neither. That’s why Derrick May is one of the best deejays, know what I’m sayin’? He ain’t made tracks since like 1998, he’s just a good ass fuckin’ deejay.
ISM: You’re into video games, what are your favorite game and system?
AOS: Robotron. For systems, I would probably say the NES. Maybe the (Magnavox) Odyssey 2. Shit like that. The Dreamcast was underrated, then Sega went out of business. Kid Icarus was one of my favorites (games) too. My grandparents owned an arcade back in the 80’s. Stargate, Defender, all that shit when it first came out.
ISM: Has anyone ever contacted you about playing at the DEMF?
AOS: Hell naw, they don’t know who I am, they don’t care. I don’t care neither, fuck ’em. As long as I’m playing overseas, then just fuck it, you know?
ISM: Do you deejay out much in Detroit?
AOS: Not at all. Detroit is just a bunch of player haters, you know what I’m saying? If you ain’t down with them, you ain’t cool with them. That’s how it is, you know, like some crabs in a barrel type shit. Make sure you print that shit, too. If you ain’t locked onto their dicks then they put you down. A bunch of old player hating ass motherfuckers.
ISM: On your second record (AOS 002), you thank “Rick Wholhite and Mike Huckleby” (sic)…
AOS: I said that because Mike told me not to sell my drum machine, and Rick hooked me up with the distribution.
ISM: Did you misspell their names on purpose or was that accidental?
AOS: Oh naw, I ain’t know how to spell their names, Ron Murphy he ain’t know how to spell their names neither so we said “Fuck it” and wrote it any kind of way.
(laughter)
ISM: A question about your “collaborator” on the Oasis records: who *is* Shadow Ray?
AOS: (Laughing) I don’t know man, I don’t know! Man, I don’t know who that is! Man, you’re Shadow Ray!
ISM: Your records state your preference for using hardware instead of a computer, what make you decide to go that route?
AOS: That shit don’t sound right, it don’t sound the same to me.
ISM: It’s all about the sound?
AOS: That shit is not easy either. For me, I mean, I just don’t like it, you know what I’m sayin’? Fruity Loops, I had that shit before just to fuck around with it, but you know.
ISM: Which hardware do you actually use?
AOS: (Roland) MC-909, shit like that.
ISM: I really liked AOS 006, you had a good variety of sounds on that one.
AOS: 006 was a DJ tool. What people don’t understand, alot of the shit I do is DJ tools. You get some of those stupid ass motherfuckers probably from the suburbs or some shit like that who don’t even know what the fuck he’s talking about, been listening to dance music for like 6 months and shit, ain’t been listening to since back in the 80’s like me, know what I’m saying. You know how those motherfuckers is. Alot of tracks back in the 80’s, like the shit I’m listening to now (turns up car stereo bumping tracky drum machine track), you had to make shit out of it, you could ride shit, you could have one record ridin’ for like 5 minutes and people won’t even fucking know it. Like Oasis 14 is really a DJ tool. But you know what I’m sayin’, you got people like “Is that all the record do?”. Yeah bitch, that’s all the record do. Yep your lazy ass needs to do some other shit with it.
ISM: You sell your records directly from your own website, you even take the orders yourself. Do you sell alot of records like that? What percentage of your total sales are from your site?
AOS: I sell probably like 5%.
ISM: Really? I would have expected it to be higher since you can get them cheaper from you than you can even from a store. But its interesting that you do that because it goes along with your hand-written white label release style, its very DIY…
AOS: Exactly, I mean, I want full control of my music, know what I’m saying. I really don’t do alot of shit with people or labels, doing shit on different record labels and licensing my shit out because basically those people, they don’t give a fuck about you. They just heard the name. That kind of shit. Basically I’m not trying to get ripped off in the long run. If anybody gonna rip me off, I’m gonna rip my own self off.
ISM: You did that joint with Theo and Malik on Sound Signature, and you’ve done stuff on your man Jus-Ed’s label, do you pretty much only work with your friends?
AOS: Yeah, basically yep.
ISM: And you release tracks from other people on your own label. What are you looking for when someone sends you a track?
AOS: I don’t know, just shit that’s really just different, not like anyone else’s shit out here. I’d rather work *with* people but you know, sometimes people come with some shit where it’s like “Damn, that shit is sweet, I’m have to release it”. This guy named Luke, he’s from Detroit, his shit is sweet as fuck… this other kid named Kyle Hall. They came up with some realy wild out different shit, especially Kyle. Also Jason Fine, he lives in California, but he’s from Detroit. He sent tracks to me over the internet. I think Gary at Melodies and Memories introduced me to Seth Troxler, I think that’s how it was. He came over to my house, shit like that.
ISM: Have you ever thought about moving away from Detroit, especially since most of your deejay gigs are overseas?
AOS: No. I mean, I like Switzerland and Berlin, but I would never move.
ISM: In Detroit, do you see a divide between the suburban techno scene and the scene in the city?
AOS: Yeah, I would think so.
ISM: Why do you think that is?
AOS: I don’t think its nothing on the racial type shit, it’s not like that at all in this underground music at all, because people from the suburbs move around people in the suburbs and people in the city move around the city. It’s still possible for them to come together.
ISM: On your myspace page, you posted a rejection letter from DJAX, what other labels did you try to send stuff to before you decided to release your own shit?
AOS: Nervous, Strictly Rhythm, this was like ’00. Cajual too. They rejected me. I’m kinda glad that they did. You know, when you first start out in the industry, you don’t know shit. I did my own thing. My brother came up to me one day, he said “I know of this guy who cuts records” he read an article, Ron Murphy had an article in the Metro Times, I still got the article somewhere. He said “This guy cuts records”. I made 4 songs real quick, I put them songs together, and he cut ’em for me.
ISM: Do you get your records pressed at Archer?
AOS: Yeah, Archer is like 1/4 mile from my house.
ISM: Since you’ve become more popular, have any other established record labels come after you for some tracks?
AOS: Yeah a whole lot of people, I reject them. There ain’t enough money in dance to begin with, you know, record sales ain’t shit. I might as well do something myself. I don’t mind helping people out, but I want to work with people.
ISM: Are you interested in using more live instrumentation? Your “Just Ask The Lonely” album had that bit inside the cover about “This album contains No Live Instruments”….
AOS: Exactly, exactly, exactly. You know I just be talking shit, trying to make people mad, know what I’m sayin’?
ISM: Are alot of your comments on your releases just to make people mad?
AOS: Yeah, just to fuck with people. I write nasty letters to people on email, just to get people’s reaction. You know? I don’t mean it, but fuck em, if they get mad, fuck em, I don’t care.
ISM: So when you’re going to work on a track, what are you looking for initially? A mood, an atmosphere, what?
AOS: I mean, people don’t understand, I just put anything together, just make sure it’s got a good mixdown. I don’t go with the same type shit. I just try anything.
ISM: How long do you usually spend on a track?
AOS: I spend a couple minutes and don’t even fuck with it no more. I went to the studio when I was in Berlin a couple weeks ago, I was in the studio for like 4 hours. I ain’t never done no shit like that before.
ISM: Working on just one track?
AOS: Yeah, just one track. I had an engineer too, which I didn’t like. I mean, i like the engineer, I just do all that shit myself. I kinda wanted to go to a studio where there’s alot of shit I don’t have, but I had all the shit they had. And I think they was recording on Cubase or some shit.
ISM: What do you usually record to?
AOS: To minidisc. Trackboard to minidisc.
ISM: How big of a mixing board do you use?
AOS: It’s a 12 track.
ISM: I like how you used the Motown sample (The Supremes “Come See About Me”) on “Day”…
AOS: Alot of people don’t like that song, neither. People in dance music, the only music they like is 70’s and 80’s. They don’t like shit from the 60’s or 50’s. I think I’m the only person in the world in dance music who likes that shit.
ISM: So what upcoming releases do you have in the works?
AOS: I’m doing another Side-Trakx, Vol 2. I’m working on that right now. I have four tracks done, I’m gonna make probably two more.
ISM: I liked the first Side-Trakx, your hip-hop stuff is nice. Have you thought about working with any MC’s?
AOS: Yeah I worked with Jay Dee’s brother, Earl Yancey. I never released the shit. The “Turn-And-Walk-Away” track (from Side-Trakx Volume #1), I did that for him. It just wasn’t the right time, I just put the instrumental shit out.
ISM: Did your Side-Trakx release sell as well as your dance records?
AOS: No, nobody wanted to buy that record off of me. I couldn’t give that record away at first. I only sold like 600 copies of that record.
ISM: How many copies do you usually sell of a release?
AOS: I don’t sell shit but like 1000-1500 records. Some people sell 5000 records, I’m not saying their names. Trust me, I see them in Archer, trust me.
AOS: “ROLAND TR-626-707-727, AND EMU-DRUMLATOR.I HAVE TONS & TONS MORE SHIT THEN THIS.”
——————————————————————————————
102 Comments
:))))) ! thanx for this ! omar s is shit hot ! saw him both times , when he was in london . would be good to see him play a more underground party though , in london sooon!
great interview!! real and refreshing attitude from one of the best producers on the planet!!! keep doing what ya doing omar s.
Nice interview!
nice job, i´ll keep watching this blog. keep em coming!
great interview. keep up the good work.
Great Interview – good to get better sense of this musical eccentric/genius. Thanks
A conversation with Omar S…
Alex “Omar-S” Smith has been dropping bombs on his own label FXHE out of Detroit since 2001. We had a chat with him while he was driving around with his family on a Sunday afternoon….
Great interview and great to have you blogging. Looking forward to it all.
He’s an ass but makes good music.
i love omar-s as well. pretty nice interview..he seems to be a relaxed guy. waiting for the next one!! thnks 🙂
Love it. He speaks a lot of sense imo especially with regards to the minimal shite being produced here in Europe and K.C imo.
Interesting to see his views in print. I find his choice of hardware a little odd though, in fact I think he’s joking. 🙂
nah, i dont think he’s joking about his gear. he had pics of himself in his studio with not one but 2 MC-909s in it on his myspace at one point. mixing down to minidisc also doesnt surprise me, the compression that shit uses would explain some of his sound, and it explains the digital distortion you can hear on “night” as he clipped his bassdrum into it.
This guy is too ghetto and should learn not to Disrespect such legends as kerri chandler who OWN his ass Production wise and technical wise even more!!!!
HE is definately doin Ghetto dance music and not house music …
I cant believe this dude !! such a CUNT , a real MUDDAFUCKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Lol he aint no genius… just he is way to ARROGANT because BALL SUCKERS in Europe worship him as a good so he thinks he is the shit…
This dude is on the black list of dance music for sure..
lol he thinks he is dope lol get a brain
Right on hater
Plus, he’s an ass
Omar s is pretentious as hell…
Who does he think he is to dis’ people who MADE the sound
Excelent music from producer Omar
we need more producers like him, not people who want to revive old glory making crappy records, although this should be about music & not personal fights right Omar?
Yes this is about music.My true fans love me & I love them too very much so.See how people can read I like to get peoples reaction Bye me talking shit and they still fall for it.(No Reading Comprehension!)
omar is a faker!
I Challenge Kerri Chandler to a two track ep anyday!!!Just let me know?
I don’t agree with everything Alex said in this interview, but his criticisms of newer Masters at Work and Kerri Chandler stuff (aside from “Bar-A-Thym” and “So Let the Wind Come”, which I rather like) is right on. I love that he is willing to say that, it’s something that should be out there. Too much dance press is kissing the asses of established players in order to stay cool with them. That’s how you end up with an entourage like Richie Hawtin, people just kissing your ass so they can hang around you. Save that shit for Motley Crue!
Also, I don’t understand the person who said “HE is definately doin Ghetto dance music and not house music …”. The original house tracks were made on cheap equipment and done “ghetto style”. In fact, to me the Dance Mania/booty house and ghetto tech stuff is more “real” techno and house than most of what passes for those genres these days.
dance mania is dope and so is omar-s but who gives a shit what’s real or not? “if it’s popping it’s popping”
All you no money getting bitches can eat a dick!Since you got a fatass mouth.
You aint ah Boss.
Check my post on “what is real” for my feelings on that. My point is that the purist “this is not house” attitude is based on nonsense, it doesn’t actually have any roots in what house music originally sounded like: very electronic and tracky.
Some of Omar’s music is cool… although making music should not be a competition to see who’s shit better. nobody fuckin needs a record to survive so just make it and let the critics say what they will if you decide to put it out. haters can say whatever the fuck they want because once you go to public domain, it’s over. If you give a shit about what people say then don’t do interviews and don’t make records.
kerri chandler and co have had their day. Same ol sound Join the dots house music..i like to call it Flat pack house! done done done.
I listened to some of Kerri Chandler latest work and I didnt get any feeling from it. When u listen to Omars music it sends off a soulful vibe. I think the interview was thought provoking and honest. U can always appreciate honesty.
Too bad his mixcd’s are computer-made,
so much for ‘being real’…
Too bad your wrong.On the fly mix first to Mini Disc than to cd for copying {ASSHOLE}!!!.
I have to say, that I could not agree with you in 100% regarding o.us poetry, but it’s just my opinion, which could be wrong 🙂
get some more jit trax out.
Love it how all the haters getting owned….
Good stuff Tom and A.O.S……
yoooo nice to see the interview alex. honest pumpin detroit shit! PEACE
Lots of people here in europe don’t like him as a person,
even djs & producers from the d that play here say to feel that same way.
His mixing isn’t all that too, saw him twice here, music was good but mixing was shit, don’t believe his FYA’s are mixed live.
What fucking djs from Detroit? What people from Europe? D.May? UR? Somebody important or some white suburb mnml “dj” WANNABE? His mixing is up there with the best and he have proven that he can hold a room all night. Something most djs struggle to do. How the fuck do you know that shit was mixed on PC? Are you the long lost A.O.S twin brother?
Trust me, people in Germany and Belgium along with respected labelowners/dj’s from the d that come here to play confirm His assness.
Musical genius but a total fuckwit.
What labelowners? What djs from Detroit? Back the shit up, instead of fucking around with hints….
if youre gonna talk shit, name names, i agree. i always name names, but then again i dont give a fuck about impressing people 😉
yeah, im sure the dude comes off as a prick to most pretty ass dudes who put on a fake smile and kiss ass. then there are those types who dont give a fuck and seem to have no problem telling you whats up. it’s called honesty. it’s not putting on a fake smile to impress the scene kids, dj’s, and labelowners.
fuck the hype, concentrate on substance
Ya’ll notice that Bitch said he seen me twice right!
Its the same person talking shit under two or three different names.Peace!
“then there are those types who dont give a fuck and seem to have no problem telling you whats up. it’s called honesty”
Sorry but that’s not what Omar is about:
“Yeah, just to fuck with people. I write nasty letters to people on email, just to get people’s reaction. You know? I don’t mean it, but fuck em, if they get mad, fuck em, I don’t care.”
& i’m not talking shit Omar, saw you in paris & germany.
Hey Tom this guy name is SAN in Belgium.
Thats who talkin all dat shit!
I couldn’t give a shit whether Alex’s a nice guy, whether he’s best buddies with everyone in the scene. That’s PART OF THE PROBLEM, too many people sucking up to the big names on the scene, instead of trying to do things their own way. Besides, Europe’s a big place, many different countries, many different scenes, many different people, amazing how this guy (Tom) can speak for us all.
Your music is great and a breath of fresh air in the dance music scene; soulful, raw, uncompromising, honest music. You keep doing what you do man.
Thank you!!
“On 08.14.07 at 10:54 am A.O.S said dis shit:
Its the same person talking shit under two or three different names.Peace!”
the posts from handles “Europe” and “Tom” show the same IP adress, that does seem to be the case.
Europe = Tom = me = letscleanuptheghetto@hotmail.com
but Omar knew that, surely remembers me after treating me like i was shit about a year ago.
Apart from the mixcd’s which obviously i cannot know, ment every word i said and i repeat,
when you say stuff like this:
“Yeah, just to fuck with people. I write nasty letters to people on email, just to get people’s reaction. You know? I don’t mean it, but fuck em, if they get mad, fuck em, I don’t care.”
you’re bound to get people pissed & doing the same thing.
WTF ARE YOU ON… I can see why he would roll over you. Posting some koko shit, you made up. What the fuck have you done for electronic music lately? You have still not provided proof for your statements…
might as well further stir the shit: “What the fuck have you done for electronic music lately?”
“eddieeeeeee, what have you done for me lately? i want half!”
sorry, just tryin to shed a little humor on all shit fuckin shit talkin
oh Eddie Raw:)
San I’m sorry for pissing you off!Can we get over this shit like men?
K we should,
some shit i wrote was nonsense anyway im no hater
thankas for +ity finally. pics are sound… thanks again for the time and the music.. properly loved. AOS – you have kept it reel to reel 🙂
[…] Blowing Up Your Spot […]
Real Talk. Keep it Real and Righteous.
Powerful Education And Consistent Elevation
PEACE.
The Optick One.
“But you know what I’m sayin’, you got people like “Is that all the record do?”. Yeah bitch, that’s all the record do.”
Classic!!!!
Specter
Tetrode Music
Chicago
I’ve met Alex here in Italy, that guy is down to earth like nobody else, had a great conversation about gears and techniques, synths and samplers, I’ve totally enjoyed meeting him. He’s the real deal and really into what it does. Regular day job, family and shit, a true music lover, for sure not one of these international motherf*ckin superstar dj’s without a clue, most of them ask for drugs just out of the airport, scumbags.
LONG LIVE A.O.S. !
[…] …en Omar-S… Alex “Omar-S” Smith has been dropping bombs on his own label FXHE out of Detroit since 2001. We had a chat with him while he was driving around with his family on a Sunday afternoon. For those familiar with his fresh sound that mixes Chicago’s jacking house rhythms with Detroit’s sublime atmospheres, this will help shine some light on the man. For those who don’t know, you better ask somebody. >> A Conversation With Omar-S […]
I dont fukwit no weed or drink!
I’m a collector!!
hahaha
The only thing better than the interview is the comments fight.
quality.
Long live real equipment/real music, funk all those laptophouse “producers”
The Revolution will not be Digitized.
quote – gil scott heron : “Long live real equipment/real music, funk all those laptophouse “producers”
The Revolution will not be Digitized.”
Damn right – music is an experience, as real as any other and one that cant be reached by sittin in front of no computer movin coloured blocks around. that shit is an insult to every musician in funking history.
Peace
AOS = a talented musician, successful label owner, honorable family man, admirable friend, and doing an excellent job of improving on the legendary Detroit Electronic Sound.
Actions speak louder than words – I learned that in my science class… 😉
Peace and thanks for the support!
Can this guy (Omar S) be any more negative? The last thing techno music needs is his nasty attitude. There I was thinking that this scene should be about respect and unity. Concepts which obviously, judging by the interview, Omar Ass is not familiar with.
what about the “techno scene” makes you think it should be about “respect and unity”?
I aint got no nasty attitude,you must cant make traxk.
Finally i found something more about Omar S – and have 2 say, specially after the interview, HUGE RESPECT from me (Croatia)…its funny what some of u r are writing – (in slices documentary u could see that Richy pissed Detroit scene with future sound of detroit and similar stuff – so its a detroit culture – HW is also detroit culture – so Omar is respecting his roots in full sense…)
Here on Balkan we have similar attitude – so just go for it man !
PS and thnx a lot for hint about spelling 🙂 now i will feelmuch better, couse always friends complaining about it 🙂
cant wait to hear you play next friday in amsterdam man!
PEACE
can’t wait to listen to your 4hours djset in paris next saturday
KEEP IT REAL & DEEEEP !!!
What matters is the feeling in the music – not how *nice* the artist is. To me Omar S’s sound is very fresh, unique and delightfully RAW! It blows the brain. Basically, it gives many people from different places great artistic pleasure.
An important point: it’s not all that bad for an artist to have attitude. This upholds the social pressure in the scenery of artists – it makes the others feel less confident about their productions and work harder on their tracks!
A happy owner of a few pounds of FXHE vinyl, from Finland.
found about this on the blastitude blod. really great interview.
i think things need to return to the chi & the D. & the Bronx. fuck Europe & NYC & the ‘burbs.
OMAR-S is da truth. stop hatin’!!!
This man is sarcastic,who does he think he is ?
1-Just because you have 2 known records doesnt make you an innovator.Stop being disrespectful to Masters At Work, Kerri Chandler.
2-Kerri Chandler will kick his ass anytime.
3-Yeah fabric was full but….. Also, a head’s up about the following weekend at Fabric, its birthday weekend. ROOM ONE: Craig Richards, Terry Francis, Luciano, Shinedoe, Martin Buttrich (live), and Ralph Lawson. ROOM TWO: Robert Hood, Baby Ford, Mark Broom, and Soul Designer (live). ROOM THREE: Omar-S, Patrice Scott, and Keith Worthy.
4-I am sure he doesnt have any disribution deal,if there was it would be stated on his label site..
What percentage of your total sales are from your site?
AOS: I sell probably like 5%.
That is all you can sell,someone needs to get over himself.You will be always the most underground selfish ignorant dj ever.
karun- wtf are you talking about distribution deal? do you go in record shops? you can buy omar s records all over the place. is this what you mean by distribution? plus everything he said about kerri chandler and masters at work was spot on-you’re the one that needs to get over yourself you don’t know shit and when was great art about being nice to every mother fucker out there?
this guy is a real good producer…no bullshit just music
oh shut up! I am sure you ”a friend”of this ignorant asshole
Every one is entitled to their oppinion, I can’t say I agree with everything said in the interview but I did enjoy reading it and I think Omar makes dope tunes! And for me that’s all that matters, the music.
It was interesting to see what he was using in the studio though! No doubt you will have 10000 people buy the same gear as you now lol
i dont know the brother omar but i do know that MAW and mr. chandler are played the fuck out! its obvious.. they had some bangers back in the day but that time has passed. can you name something truly amazing and innovative they’ve done in the past 3-5 (maybe longer?) years? true artists in the game know how keep their sound fresh. and u cant blame a dude for having an opinion! and u can’t blame a dude for telling it how he sees it! grow up! people get their feelings all hurt over some damn opinions, ridiculous!
omar’s from detroit. kerri and them are not. you tell me who MADE the sound! dude said in the interview he grew up listening to farley and what not.. do a lil research!
lol this is a funny thread. 2 years later ppl still talking. Well at least one thing is now proven… the “U can’t f- wit Omar-S” style. Peace AOS, keep up the good work. Ain’t worth shit talkin’ about has beens… 20 years on Derrick May STILL sounds fresh and ppl will be playin’ that shit long after nobody knows who Richie f’kin Hawtin is. FXHE is class if I’ve ever heard it. Just try shitting on any of them now!
[…] years ago Infinitestatemachine Blog published an interview with Detroit’s Alex Omar Smith, also known as Omar S. The back-catalogue of his label FXHE is available […]
coool
Omar S is a deconstruction Specialist. Raw but tight music with the essential sparseness and soul.
The interview was very enjoyable to read. Omar doesn’t fuck around – obviously stated in person and in his music.
[…] die mich in ihrer Komplexität stets an Masters At Work erinnert, damals, als sie noch ‘sweet‘ waren. Coming very […]
I love most of Omar’s productions. I do find him a bit arrogant though I must say, but what matters is his music of course.
However, to say that Kerri makes shit music, that’s bullshit. Carl Craig is a amazing producer still also, but so is Kerri. And Carl isn’t a very good dj btw. To say that Derrick May is a DOPE dj, he’s superarrogant (although he did teach Kyle Hall to dj, who is an amazing dj), that is really not true in my opinion. He shouldn’t have stopped making music! At least we got some goodies from him not so long ago:
http://www.discogs.com/Various-Music-Institute-20th-Anniversary-Pt-2-Of-3/release/1921516
I love, Omar S, Kerri, Carl and Derrick May, especially for their music. As DJ’s I’d go for Kerri for sure, for the intensity. Love to everyone!
[…] “7 Days” erscheinen soll. Big Strick ist seines Zeichens der Cousin von Omar-S und nach dessen eigenen Angaben auch dafür verantwortlich, Mister Smith überhaupt hin zur (House) Musik bewegt zu haben. Big […]
Couldn’t agree more! He sounds arrogant, disrespectful and too ghetto for me. His music is all right but nothing to write about… The quality of productions is so much higher in Europe, i don’t understand why Europeans rave about these half a brain Detroit producers…
They have inspired us, Europeans, in the 90’s but we now have surpassed them.
Omar S is the man. I can totally relate to him..he is NOT arrogant. He is just keeping it real
[…] wind up merchant, his opinionated interviews make compelling reading, check them out here, here and here. His music does the real talking though, here’s a brief introduction for the […]
… thats the spirit~!
Hey Haters,
Come to the Dee in the dead of winter and see if you your bravado holds up. Techno tourists and wack producers step into the ring (NOT). Let Omar do his thing.
i wonder what ‘& TONS MORE SHIT THEN THIS’ he has & if he has acquired any new stuff since this Interview. someone should just do a straight gear interview w/ him.
[…] fear, major, major incoming for non ACL goers and ACL goers alike! Legendary Detroit techno pioneer Omar S. will be in town next Friday (Oct. 12th) alongside Thomas Turner of Ghostland Observatory, performing […]
2013. FXHE. Omar S in one of da best.
[…] fear, major, major incoming for non ACL goers and ACL goers alike! Legendary Detroit techno pioneer Omar S. will be in town next Friday (Oct. 12th) alongside Thomas Turner of Ghostland Observatory, performing […]
Right on man, 50 and 60’s shit is where it all came from anyways, keep your shit tight
Well it’s 2014 and i have only recently discovered Omar S, some of his output is exceptionally good, I like it and I will buy it, vinyl first and foremost and cd/downloads as and when ( well perhaps), the man’s got his S**t Down! I have been listening to house infrequently since the late 80s, like his vast array of musical equipment, his output is clearly diverse, jazz, soul, acid, deep house, minimal tech. – big phat bass lines… Well done 🙂
He’s using the s*** word quite often isn’t he 🙂
AOS is what house is all about but we got MAD HEADS TALKING DUMB SHIT BECAUSE THEY CAN’T HELP BUT WHINE
the day AOS vibe and mentality is nowhere to be found in house music…. house is gone
also alex S you sound like a fucking baby ass idiot talking about he’s ghetton and shit and “[detroit artists] have inspired us, Europeans, in the 90’s but we now have surpassed them.”
why does nobody wonder why techno is white European dominated… because pussy ass white euros can’t stand US brown and black producers doing they shit and WINNING FROM THE FKN HOOD
if these artists were never shut out of house by whites like you then Euro heads wound have absolutely no say in the lineage of house…
“GHETTO” HOUSE AND TECHNO FOR LIFE IT”S HOOD MUSIC ANYWAYS!!!!!!! fucking assholes…
Man, reading this article and all these comments going back 10+ years. Still relevant in the year 2020. It was true then and it’s still true now.
Omar S. is the fuckin’ man. He was playing by his own rules then and he’s still here now doing the same thing. What changed from now to then is that it’s a lot harder to come by a real motherfucker like Omar and the rest of Detroit. More talent in this dude’s little finger than all the clowns who play shows at Ibiza and Vegas put together.
Seeing a dude tell it straight in ’07 to today is breath of fresh air when the “scene” is full of a bunch of fucking assholes worrying about instagram follower counts and where there name shows up on a festival line up flyer.
Long live Omar S. and Detroit Techno.
Omar S is the realest in the game and he always knew he was. These haters just pussies that never amount to nothin
What a big gift for me in this morning to red such a great insprational shit like this interview with Alex!
Yeah man, being true is the only Way of living. Being yourself. Being real….
In that fuckin times of robots and zombie the real man among them is a treasure.
Simplicity that’s the key of all that Life. U just do whatever people say. God is simple. So we are ought to be simple too. I love Omar S ‘ stuff . I Buy his Records on vynil and tell my DJ Friends who the Hell is Omar S and why he’s one of a kind. I Don’t Think we are here to take a bow to the Idols. No Idols we gotta have. But we are able to appreciate the Real mothefuckers on the underground scene. And the humor of Alex is the reason why i love this Guy much more than anybody on the scene. Hugs from Russia and let the world be kind to those who know!