PJ Harvey & John Parish no compromise - FILTER Magazine

TO INFINITY
AND BEYOND
N.A.S.A. and Fatlip’s
Bizarre Ride Outerspace
BY COLIN STUTZ | ILLUSTRATION BY JASON CROSBY
It’s out of this world, to say the least, that a litany of notable musical names, such as David Byrne, Chuck D, Seu
Jorge, KRS-One, RZA, John Frusciante, Fatlip, Karen O, George Clinton, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Tom Waits, Kanye
West, M.I.A. and Ghostface Killah (and believe me, I could go on) would all participate on the same album of
purely unique hip-hop. With such a varied arrangement of artists—both young and old, but all talented and highly
respected in their own genres—it’s a wonder that it only took Sam Spiegel, aka Squeak E. Clean, and his Brazilian
partner DJ Zegon seven years to wrangle, record and release 17 songs with this most eclectic group of musicians.
But in the end, they triumphed, globetrotting to track some of the most extravagant collaborations ever imaginable.
The duo calls itself North America South America (N.A.S.A.), and with its skilled production, famous friends and
outrageous vision, the musical pair has ushered in a dream debut, The Spirit of Apollo.
Filter had the chance to bring Spiegel and Fatlip [The Pharcyde] together at a Hollywood restaurant one Friday
morning to discuss artistry and the collaborative process. Fatlip ate a breakfast sandwich and asked the questions,
while Spiegel ate a B.L.T. and answered them. What, no Tang
Fatlip: In general, what was it like working with legends
like Blast Master [KRS-One] and Chuck D
Sam Spiegel: Man, I view the record as Producer
College. Basically, I was like, “This is dope! I’m going
to make this great record and I’m also learning how
to work with anybody.” At first when I started making
music, I had all these musicians—like you do growing
up—on a pedestal. Even when I met you, I was like,
“Fatlip! Oh shit!” And so it was really dope learning
how to work with anybody, no matter how much I
love their music or am inspired by them, because I
realized that everyone is just like me—all these people
are enthusiastic about making music and want to make
some dope shit.
Fatlip: Dr. Dre said that the main thing of being a
producer is knowing that you don’t know everything.
It’s like, yeah, you know what you know, but then there’s
other shit that you can learn. So if you think that you
know everything, you’re immediately limiting yourself
to what you know. You’re not learning anything towards
the maximum.
Spiegel: I think that’s true about being an artist in
general, right Like, always being open to learning,
you just have to keep growing and growing. Whereas if
you’re like, “I know exactly that this is how you do it,”
you don’t grow. Your growth stops right there. I grew a
lot of confidence with each session, you know. Towards
the beginning of the project, I was still really new to
making music and working with artists, and each time I
worked with somebody that was some kind of a hero, I
would gain confidence and just be like, “O.K., this is just
like working with anybody else.” It was just like making
music at home or in high school, same shit. I think that
helped a lot.
Fatlip: For me, I always like to hear about these successful
artists and how they came from humble beginnings,
because most of the best artists are the most
humble people. [Laughs] There, I said it. You heard
it here first.
Spiegel: But then there’s somebody like Kanye West
who’s not the most humble person in the world, but
is still a great and inspiring person to work with,
and as a producer, you have to learn how to be like,
“O.K., I’m gonna let this person do his thing and if
he’s got a vision, I’m gonna let him do it.” You’ve got
to know where to step in and be a guide, and where
to step off and let it ride. Everybody has a different
process and every time you’re in the studio with a
new person, you’ve got to figure out that process
real soon or shit goes south. You have to figure out
exactly how they work, be intuitive, know when they
need help, when they need support, and when they
need just to be left alone. F
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