Much hyped Brooklyn based producer & dj Pocketknife aka Skooby Laposky caught the DJing bug when he befriended DJ Wolf (original 70s disco/deep house icon in Chicago) and then perfected his craft with Theo Parrish (Sound Signature) while they were in art school together. Production was then inevitable, dropping original joints as well as unique remixes of Lykke Li or Bruce Springsteen tracks.
Check out his exclusive Fairtilizer mix.
Plus an interview below!

What’s your mix about?
The mix I did for Fairtilizer is more of a sampler of the kind of tracks you would hear in one of my sets. I snuck in a Yeasayer remix I did that’ll be out on an art rock remix EP called “Canyon Dancing” this Halloween. The Lykki Li remix I recently posted on Fairtilizer was commissioned, but won’t be released. Enjoy!

What’s goin’ on in Pocketknife’s world right now? Heard you were doing big remixes lately.
Well, Tambourine Dream got Cousin Cole and I some attention. We ended up getting some representation and now we’ve got someone who coordinates official remixes for us. It’s cool to try our hand at reworking an established artist even if our versions don’t always see an official release. I’ve been busy this entire summer working on getting Tambourine Dream 2 closer to completion and of course finishing commissioned remixes. I’m also working on some original material that I hope to release early next year.

How’s Cousin Cole doing?
Cole is busy as usual. He’s working on a new club-oriented Flagrant Fowl EP, which will solely be his project. The main track on his EP has a crazy music video that accompanies it. I made up a dance for the song while we were in Sweden, which I perform in the video and it is hype! Cole’s also working on his share of remixes for Tambo D 2 and as always more new party tracks.

Flagrant Fowl is your label right? It seems that one way to survive with physical releases is to make them very collectable?
Cole and I started Flagrant Fowl together. I heard some of his remixes a few years back and they really impressed me. I had enough extra money in the bank to press an EP, so we decided to get things started. I was solely working with my chamber ensemble then, but decided to do a remix for the first release. It was exciting when Casi G from Flamin’ Hotz approached us about release the vinyl version of Tambourine Dream because we knew from his previous releases that the packaging would be heavily considered. The Tambo D vinyl EP really is a special object that you couldn’t create in any other way – plus it’s functional!

What are you currently listening to outside of electronic music?

Since I’m involved in sound design and film scoring projects as well as remixing, I pretty much check out as much different music as I can. It pays to have a varied musical knowledge when you’re approached for a project. I just became a father five months ago, so I’ve been listening to Bach and Mozart with my daughter Ella. If I’m just hanging out, I listen to a lot of acoustic/folk music both old and new. I’m always checking for something to remix for the next Tambourine Dream project. Bon Iver is one of my new favorites. I’m also really feeling some of the new bands like Yeasayer and Fleet Foxes that use great vocal harmonies and have interesting arrangements. You might even catch me at a noise show deep in nether regions of Brooklyn.

How did you get into music?
Growing up in Iowa you just succumb to pop music, but my uncle was really cool and gave my brother and I our first LPs (Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream). I fell in love with synthesizers from that moment on. In the early 80s, the breakdancing craze didn’t leave any place untouched including my hometown. New York hip-hop culture totally mesmerized me. As a teenager I was lucky to befriend an old school Chicago house DJ named DJ Wolf who relocated to my hometown to raise his family. That was my exposure to underground house music. I was determined to start DJing once I left home for art school. I had another stroke of luck when I met Theo Parrish on my first day of school and he mentored me after I scored some 1200s while working at a pawnshop. After so many years of DJing I decided that I wanted to get into production, so the next step after tooling around with a sampler was to get a keyboard and learn some music theory. After a few years of practicing and writing, I somehow ended up being the main arranger for an 8-piece chamber group. Working with that level of musicianship really pushed me and I learned a lot quickly. I was creating chamber music while Flagrant Fowl started, so eventually I decided not to keep them separate any longer and started doing live recordings for my remixes. My bass player, Clint Brewer (aka C-Bassix), appears regularly on my remixes.

How is the scene in Brooklyn at the moment?
Brooklyn is poppin’! There are so many bands and producers here that it’s impossible to know about all of them. There’s really something for everyone being made at this moment – especially if you’re not a purist. A lot of peeps are combining disparate sounds in very interesting ways.

One newcomer to check?
I’m feeling my friend Jamie’s two-man band, Men and Women. They just released their first EP called “South America.” It’s experimental left-field disco — stoned and droned. He’s also got a late night radio show on East Village Radio called “War Time With Rezound” that he does great mixes for.

One club you recommend?
Brooklyn doesn’t have that many proper clubs (R.I.P. Studio B!), but plenty of bars and rogue spaces. There is a great outdoor spot that’s open in the summer and early fall called the Yard (over in the Carroll Gardens area). It’s literally someone’s backyard next to the Gowanus Canal with a barbeque and keg always active. Joakim was just there and I know Nicky Siano and Treasure Fingers were there this summer as well.

One record shop?
Dope Jams over in the Fort Green area. You gotta support the shops that sell new vinyl releases!

How important is the internet for you and where do you see it going?
The internet has been an integral part of Flagrant Fowl. Both Cole and I have generated some good buzz with music blogs and websites without any real promotion. With all the hyperlinking that occurs, people are able to track down our music and get a sense of what we’ve done. I would say that the internet has made being a DJ and producer even more dynamic. Access to new music is so immediate and having knowledge of what sites to frequent for music, whether on blogs or sites like RCRDLBL, is the new way of staying up on things. I think online media content management will only get better. I remember when youtube just started or even Myspace music for that matter. Now we’ve got Fairtilizer!

What was your best night out, and what would be your dream team line up for a party?
The best night out for me in recent memory was the record release party for Tambourine Dream. Cole and I were DJing with a few friends in the side room at Studio B here in Brooklyn. The place was packed with people dancing and playing along to the music with the tambourines that I brought along. The main room was Klever and Tittsworth, but our celebration kinda took over because the music was so welcoming (I sound like a hippie!). Our homie’s girlfriend even baked a cake with the Flagrant Fowl rooster on it. We ate cake and danced all night! My dream line up…If the time/space continuum didn’t matter, my line-up would be Larry Levan, Theo Parrish and Erol Alkan with a special live performance by Arthur Russell.

Tracklisting & track by track comments:

Kings of Leon “My Party (Kenna & Chad Hugo Remix)”
I don’t think this remix ever saw a proper release. I’m a big fan of Chad Hugo’s production. He gets my respect for being the more incognito dude in the Neptunes. The drum programming almost has a baltimore club-style shuffle. Dope!

Studio “Turn the Radio Off (Love Is All Remake by Studio)”
Studio does a great job here reworking the original into their own. The whole album shows just how good these dudes are.

Woolfy “Oh Missy”
Local NYC flavour! This particular song has got all the goodies–angular guitars, irreverent lyrics, reverbed synths and those really leaky hi hats.

Aeroplane ft. Kathy Diamond “Whispers (Love Affair Remix)”
An all-star line-up! Kathy D’s vocals are great, Aeroplane are balearic superheroes and then the whole thing gets remixed by another hot group.

In Flagranti “Effective Placebo Affect”
Gotta rep for NYC! The big synths are so open in this track and coupled with that really dope slap bassline. Normally you wouldn’t think about putting big cosmic synths with such an elastic sound, but it works great here.

Was (Not Was) “Wheel Me Out”
This song exemplifies the kind of music that made the 80s worthwhile. The mixture of styles created some really great music. This song has got some great disco elements , but is still off-kilter to give it great character.

Yeasayer “Sunrise (Pocketknife’s Rise and $hine Remix)”
I loved this song the first time I heard it. I decided to beef it up a bit with some Pocketknife trademarks so I could play it in my sets. Keep the bearded indie world music thing going, guys!

Kid Sister “Pro Nails (Simian Mobile Disco Remix)”
SMD have got some cajones to remix a popular track and leave out all the vocals! I love the audacity and the fact that the remix bangs hard. I wonder what part of the original is present for it to be a remix (chord progression maybe?) and not just a new original. Hmmm!?

Visit Pocketknife Myspace
Visit Pocketknife Fairtilizer profile
Visit Flamin’ Hotz Records website