New York , NY – While being born and raised in Toronto, DJ Swivel has his hand in some of the biggest projects coming out of New York City. Starting out as a DJ, Swivel has now engineered Fabolous’ new album From Nothin’ to Somethin’ due out June 12 th. Swivel made it possible for me to attend the listening session at Sony BMG studios while I was in New York and it was dope. Being a veteran in the club scene, after high school he shifted his focus to engineering and now looks forward to getting into production. He’s been working with a ton of heavy hitters including Diddy, Ne-Yo, Trey Songz, Redman, and Gwen Stefani. DJ Swivel is using his technical talents as an engineer and producer to network his way to the top. Here’s how the interview went down:

HHC: So Swivel, tell me a little about yourself. How did you get started in the music industry?
I moved to Florida for school a couple of years ago and got into engineering. I was always into music all throughout high school and what not…

HHC: What school did you attend in Florida?
Full Sail and studied the recording arts.

HHC: Ok, so what happened from there?
As soon as I graduated, I moved to New York and had an internship lined up. The first studio that I worked at was called East Side Sound. It didn’t really work out for me, as I sort of had a falling out with the owner there. It was all good though, because a month after I quit I landed a job with Duro, who is the owner of Dessert Strom records with DJ Clue. We worked out of a studio called Mirror Image. I was interning ordering food, taking out the trash and what not. It just so happened that his (Duro’s) assistant at the time quit four months into it so everything fell in place for me. I have been working for Duro since.

HHC: Wow! Straight from school to the studios! So what made you want to come to New York?
I just really wanted to work with top hip-hop artists. There were a few options. I was thinking L.A., Miami, but I visited New York before graduating from school just to check it out and to be honest, it reminded me of Toronto. It seemed like a bigger version of Toronto; a slightly dirtier version. The city relatively felt the same, so it felt more like home.

HHC: What inspired you to want to become part of the music industry?
I’ve been a music lover my whole life. I’ve been a hip-hop fan for over 10 years now. Growing up, I was told to do a job for the love, not for the money. To wake up every day and be happy about your job is the best feeling in the world. This isn’t work to me, this is fun.

HHC: Well said! Tell me about being Fabolous’ engineer! You were just in school 3 years ago and now doing a job that you aspired to get from the beginning with a heavy hitter in the game. It has got to be a little bit surreal, no?
It is and it isn’t! Fabolous is a real cool dude; he’s a regular person like everyone else…

HHC: Some people don’t realize that the people you see all the time on T.V. and in every other media outlet are normal people...
I mean when you have your first session with a big artist you may be a little star struck, but after a couple times, it’s work.

HHC: I was reading in your bio that you used to DJ in various night clubs. What’s been going on with that aspect of your career?
When I moved to New York, I kind of put that on hold to focus on production and engineering. Throughout high school, back in Toronto, I was working with Mass Appeal doing Guvernment and a couple other clubs back there. I am just starting to get back into DJ’ing now, so I’m thinking of starting at Rewind, this club in the lower east side of New York. Eventually I want to work at a few other clubs too like Duvet and Mist, but that will be up-coming. I don’t want to talk about that too much! Back in Toronto though, I was at all the New Life parties and anywhere Baby Yu was spinning.

HHC: Nice! Did you keep your connections with your home base, Mass Appeal and everyone?
Oh yeah, for sure! Neil and I are really cool. He’s family to me, same with Baby Yu. Neil has helped me out a lot, and now I am in a position that I can even help him out with certain things.

HHC: How was it growing up in Toronto?
I love Toronto; Toronto is home. I grew up in Scarborough. My first year of college actually was at Fanshawe in London before I moved to Florida, so I wasn’t too far from Toronto. I love it; it’s a great city and the people are great.

HHC: What’s coming up for you?
We have the Fabolous album dropping June 12th. I’ve been doing some stuff with Brian Cox lately for Trey Songz, Gwen Stefani – we did a remix for her. I’m just basically focusing on the engineering. I’m getting some more production going to keep it moving. This whole industry is a hustle, so you just take it day-by-day.

HHC: Surprises everyday huh? [Laughing]
[Laughing] Yeah, pretty much. The Fab album has been the main focus for the past year. It’s been around 12 months since we started this project.

HHC: That is some solid time and work! So at the end of the day, what’s your thing? Engineering, DJ’ing, production?
Engineering to me was the stepping stone to get into the production world. I have been producing, making beats and stuff since high school. Most people get into the music industry through a hook up, they know somebody or whatever. I didn’t know anybody, so engineering is more of a technical thing to get in with. It’s based on your skill though, rather than a hook up. Engineering is my stepping stone, but I still love it and will continue to do it. One thing that is great about this business is that you don’t have to stick to one job; you can do a whole bunch of things. I can DJ, engineer, and produce all at the same time.

HHC: You can do it all! [Laughing] Who would you want to work with that you haven’t had the chance to with yet?
That would have to be Dr. Dre, Eminem and that whole camp. Dr. Dre has always been one of my inspirations as a producer as well as an engineer; he mixes a lot of his own records and what not. I definitely look up to him.

HHC: For those readers that are looking to head to a post secondary education and are looking into the recording arts programs, what is one piece of advice you can give to make sure that they’re on the right path to success?
Those classes give you the fundamentals of it. If you are trying to get into the studio business you are going to learn a lot of things in the studio. I learned the job in the studio. I learned the basics back in school, but for the most part the studio is where you learn the most. Be prepared to hustle really hard and work for free. Everyone has to do it. Try to work as much as possible.

HHC: The whole working for free concept; we hear about this all the time in the industry. Everyone has to pay their dues and what not. What would you say to the parents who have kids wanting to get in the industry? To some parents the thought of the music industry doesn’t come across as a “real job".
Support your kids! If they want to do music, support them 100%! I am lucky I had the support from my family, and they said go for it. I understand a lot of people aren’t going to have that. Some parents are going to say, “Go the safe route, get that 9-5, sit in a cubicle.” I wasn’t having that for myself. Basically just let your kids do what they love. If you do something that you love you’ll excel at it.

HHC: Do you have any shout-outs?
Big shout-out to Baby Yu, Neil, all my people back in Toronto. Everyone here – Fab, Duro, everyone in the building… my family!

Editor’s note: For more information on DJ Swivel, you can visit him on the web at http://www.djswivel.com or on MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/djswivelmusic.

  

Samantha Wong http://www.myspace.com/that_girl_sam Samantha Wong has been writing for HipHopCanada.com since mid-2006, and has just launched her new press company “Euphonic Music Entertainment”. Samantha is currently attending Wilfrid Laurier and studying fine arts and communication studies. Along with writing for HipHopCanada, Samantha also writes for TheSource.com and has currently become Writing Director for Players Magazine, a new urban magazine based out of Toronto. To get in contact with Samantha, check out http://www.YourGirlSam.com, or http://www.myspace.com/that_girl_sam.