DRG Films

Although there hasn’t been anything posted on the drgfilms.com website in awhile, we are still working on many projects that will be released to the public very soon.

I wanted to take the time to dig into the DRG Films video archives and present a video that was made about 4 years ago this month.  I got a call from B1, who was working at WILD 96.1 out in the Inland Empire outside of Los Angeles (the station no longer exists), and he told me that he had this singer coming thru to the station for an interview on a Sunday afternoon.  It was a rare occurrence to have an artist come thru for an interview on a Sunday, but she was performing at some sort of makeshift fashion show at the Tyler Mall in Riverside and they arranged an interview.

Vanya happened to be at the station at the time and she decided to stay and sit in on the interview.  The singer came thru with a crew of about 4 people.  She was only 17 at the time, but she had a presence and confidence about her that really did stand out.  She was gracious and appreciative throughout the interview, but you can tell that she was going to be something special even then.  After she left the studio, I had this feeling within me of support for this girl.  I had a lot of hope for this girl to be successful at this music stuff, and that was only after spending about an hour or so with her.

That 17 year old girl was Rihanna.

BET.com has made a list of the top 23 mixtapes of 2009.  DRG Films has done work for 3 of those projects: U-N-I’s “Before There Was Love”, El Prez & Dale Danja’s “Perfect Strangers EP”, and the production team Los Angeles Unified Sound District’s “Curly Tops And Nautica Jackets”.

The music video release for El Prez & Dale Danja’s “Floss Angeles” happened yesterday and it has received a lot of positive response online.  The whole production process is a testament to the collaboration that it takes to make these things happen.

The idea came from a conversation between myself and J.J. as we were driving back from Austin and the South By Southwest festival in Texas.  We were talking about artists in L.A. that had projects coming out soon that we should do a video for.  A list of names came up and of course El Prez named popped up.  I told him about Floss Angeles, my favorite track off of the Perfect Strangers EP that was just released a few months earlier.  It was a song that featured 5 other artists and it reminded me of those vintage, 1990’s Hip-Hop posse cuts and I loved that.  J.J. agreed with the notion and we hit up Prez as soon as we reached California.  A meeting was held with him, E-Dubb, Eazee and Vanessa the PR girl.  Everyone loved the idea and we set the production wheels in motion.

We made the video with a super low budget because we were working with an independent artist.  So we designed the video to be shot guerrilla style at certain locales around the LA area.  We got everyone involved with the project together on a weekend and we shot the video over those 2 days.  I was dealing with 6 artists and 6 different locations, so it was a little crazy getting all of the shots and keeping everyone focused.

The editing process was another story.  I wasn’t able to get all of the shots that I wanted, so I couldn’t make the video that I had initially planned on making.  I made a first edit in which I was still trying to make my initial idea work, but the edit just wasn’t there.  After abandoning my initial idea and strictly working with the shots that I got, another 2 edits happened before I was content with the project.  But Prez didn’t agree with some of the choices I made.  A lot of back-and-forth would take place between everybody and I had to balance their ideas and my editing to make it work.  3 more edits would take place before everyone was happy with the project.

A lot of people don’t realize that these videos are collaborations.  Compromises are necessary and you have to admit when you’re own ideas aren’t going to work.  But as long as you’re working with intelligent people, the project will find a way to get done.

DRG Films just recently completed production on the “Floss Angeles” music video off of the “Perfect Strangers EP” from Hip Hop artists El Prez & Dale Danja.  Here is some footage of the water balloon/water gun fight that took place during shooting.  

A recap of some of the interesting stories that took place during the 2-day shoot will be up when post-production is complete.  

A big thank you to E-Dubb over at www.whateyethought.com for posting this video.  

We just completed an Electronic Press Kit for Inglewood-Based artist El Prez.  He is a part of the new Hip Hop sound coming out of Los Angeles this year.  His latest project is called Perfect Strangers, which is a collaboration effort with Dale Danja.  Check for upcoming solo project “Bottles On The White House Lawn” scheduled to drop in late 2009.  

www.myspace.com/elprezidente

The DRG Films crew went out to film U-N-I’s FOUR performances out in Austin, TX for the South By Southwest festival.  The trip was very interesting.  And it wasn’t because we got pulled over 3 times on our way out there by cops that wear cowboy hats.  And it wasn’t the fact that we took a longer route than what we were supposed to take.  

As soon as we enter Texas, we stop at some small town to use the restroom.  This town looks like it could be in that movie “The Hills Have Eyes” because it was desolate as can be.  Some young dude with long hair walks up to us and starts talking to us.  He’s from a rock band that’s from L.A. and their on their way to perform at SXSW.  Their van broke down the following night and they were stuck there since then.  He says it’s just like a scary movie because the mechanic can’t figure out how to fix the engine and they had to stay in some crazy-scary hotel that night.  We don’t wait around for anymore details and head out.  

We arrived a few hours before U-N-I performed at Karma Lounge.  After haggling with security for about 15 minutes about not letting us in, everyone is in safely.  U-N-I starts their performance and decides to tell the stagehand to turn off the lights because they want to perform in the dark.  After a song and a half, we tell the same stagehand to turn the lights back on so we can see the performance on video (sorry guys, but we still had a job to do).  Thurz and Y-O kill it and when the “headliner” Camp Lo comes on, the energy has 1/4 of what U-N-I had going on.  

We shake from that spot and head over to the Red Bull party.  Unfortunately, we don’t know where it’s at.  But it doesn’t matter because as we’re walking, an Reggae artist stops us and starts freestyling in front of the camera.  Meanwhile, as some of the rest of the crew gets something to eat, they get into an argument with some Texans about how Obama is a socialist, he’s going to destroy American values, or something of that nature (we were smack dab in the middle of Republican-Bush-Country).  

They go back to the car, walk under a parking structure, and get pissed on by someone pissing off of the side of the ledge 4 stories up.  They run up to get the guy that was pissing.  They stop on the floor right below where the pisser is and they see a guy getting out of his car and cocking back the chamber of a glock 9mm gun.  They shocked at what they see, but the guy loading up the gun is shocked once he notices them looking at him.  The crew then proceeds go back to the stairs and continue their pursuit of the pisser.  They find him on the following floor.  Their so discombobulated from seeing the guy with the gun, that they forget to rough up the pisser once they see him.  But it’s all good because the pisser is a promoter and he proceeds to give the crew flyers for a party that’s the following day that’s going to be hosted by Mya the singer.  

The other half of the crew is still with U-N-I wondering around the main street of SXSW.  We can’t figure out where the Red Bull party is, but walk past the venue where Kid Cudi is performing and decide to go it.  The security hassles us about getting in but once we get in, Cudi’s wrapping up his performance.  I see one of the baddest white chicks dancing on the stage and I immediately get infatuated with every white chick in Texas hereafter.  We head back to the car and see another dude pissing off of the side of another parking structure (luckily we were across the street).  We continue to walk towards the car and I hear a gun shot coming from a parking structure.  I don’t pay it too much attention because there’s some dudes laying on the sidewalk with blood coming from his nose and his face all bruised up.  Apparently he got in a fight because his friends were scrambling to get a taxi to go to the hospital.  We head back to the hotel.  

Day 2

We head over to the Nah Right showcase and there’s too much music to handle.  Blu, Exile, Charles Hamilton, B.o.B., Currensy, and Tanya Morgan.  I spot the homie DJ Low Key from Colorado, but he has to get ready for his set with T Morgan, so we don’t get a chance to chop it up.  Spotted the homie Noah Ayala and met up with Dae One for the first time.  Then, Elliot Wilson walks past us and we connect with him.  I spot another white chick that’s working behind the bar and I start to get worried that I might try to get a one of these Texas chicks, her boyfriend gets mad, starts a fight with me, and it somehow escalates into a city wide riot like in the movie Rosewood.  We leave.  

We head over to another showcase and glance across the street and see that some dude walking under a parking structure just got pissed on from above.  We catch up with Donny Goines and 6th sense over at another spot that on the other side of the city.  We split up and head back to the hotel.  

As soon as we get back, Super Manager C London calls us and says that we have to get to the DubFrequency spot where Thurz and Y-O are performing.  We immediately head back and see a extra long line of people trying to get in.  Super Networker JJ makes a few calls and gets us in ahead of the line, but not before we hear some white guy that was walking by with his girlfriend blurt out “HEY HONEY, THIS MUST BE THE JIGGABOO LINE!!! HAHAHA!!!”.  Nobody else hears him except us, but we’re still in shock that he said it.  But then he blurts out the same exact thing to that everyone can hear.  As he passes us by, some cat from Atlanta looks at us and says “Did he just call us Jiggaboo’s?”.  We say yes and then head inside (so apparently the term “Jiggaboo” isn’t South thing, it’s a Texas thing”.  

We get inside and the place gets ridiculously crowded.  U-N-I is scheduled to go on at 11:30.  We head to the stage (which is nearly impossible because there’s no pathway through the audience and there’s no backstage area.  They tell them that they’ve been pushed back because their running late.  Not a problem.  45 minutes go by and then B.o.B. comes into the venue.  U-N-I still hasn’t gone on yet.  Thurz and Y-O are heated.  C London starts yelling at some dude.  I’m smashed up against the wall trying to keep the camera out of harm’s way.  B.o.B. starts setting up his band’s equipment.  London says that their going on now because Curtains (who is performing with them) has to get over to another performance on the other side of the city.  U-N-I takes the stage and make B.o.B. and his band stand to the side.  Once again, Thurz and Y-O kill it.  

Day 3 

Fatigue has set in.  We head over to the Okayplayer showcase and nothing ridiculous happens.  Thurz and Y-O close out the weekend with another outstanding performance.  We finally meet up with DJ Low Key and Tanya Morgan and give a quick interview for the Love Supreme documentary.  They give an outstanding interview considering the circumstances.  We then go to this Mexican food spot that served us the worst Mexican food I’ve ever had in my life.  

We head back home to L.A. right after that.  We take the quicker route this time and have to drive on some secluded road for about 3 hours.  This road takes us thru Fredricksburg, Texas, which scared the living bejesus out of me at the time because it was in the middle of nowhere, there was a bunch of old buildings, and there was nobody on in the streets.  We drive thru that town and go thru the backwoods of Texas until we get back to the 10 freeway.  

We finally get home, I kiss the ground and thank the heavens we got back in one piece.  

The crew is getting ready to travel to Austin, TX for the South By Southwest Festival to film U-N-I during their FOUR performances.  The “A Love Supreme Documentary” is coming.  

Here’s the latest installment from the A Love Supreme Sessions.