#lamusicscene

claire rousay.

Interview with 5tr8tch, Neurotek 7/21/23

“You have to be adaptable. There are no excuses in this shit.”

There are a lot of DJs in LA; there is no point in denying that. However, for most, it does take them a while to master their craft, let alone anyone mention their name. During a six month period, Kian Stretch took a liking to vinyl and started spinning techno and other tunes and hasn’t stopped since. 5tr8tch is not someone that you should take your smoke break during. 

I had the luxury of seeing his first gig sometime in Febuary at a small store-turned-soundspace in Santa Ana. At the time of this performance, I had no clue that it was his first time ever spinning for a crowd. He has worked alongside some of LA’s current golden child DJ’s, giving much credit to Amir Karneh or 1Morning.

Originally from Seattle, Stretch moved to LA for a change of scenery. At 13, he was already scratching over hip-hop records, all the while expanding his musical talents. At home, he was a producer for the underground rap scene as well as a talented jazz drummer. Playing in jazz clubs and salsa/Latin groups, he applied the technical skill and trained ear into techno. 

“Drumming helped me with everything most, [...] playing the drums and understanding the timing helps me with everything. You have to be able to keep timing and um, beat matching. I see some people like, learn it on vinyl and its a lot going on. I already had my ear trained to play along.” 

Stretch is completely self-taught in every aspect of his music. Although drumming is no longer a passion he pursues, he commends it deeply. 

Before techno, he credits artists like Burial and LTJ Bukem for introducing him to the world of electronic music. What truly changed for him was watching Karneh spin for the first time. He had already loved the music and seen some DJs, but it wasn’t until his friend of seven years performing that flipped the switch. 

Their friendship had started long before his move dating to when he worked on SoundCloud rap. At the time, Stretch wasn’t taking music seriously and more so just enjoyed being involved in musical projects and the chaos of couch surfing. 

Stretch isn’t stuck to any specific styles yet. I had asked him if this was because he was still relatively new, but he wasn’t sure. For the most part, he does whatever sounds good, his style is fluid more than anything else. 

if anything, his sound is technical chaos. Although I will put my fascination with vinyl DJs and their ability to flip through their records at lightning speed aside, I was curious about his setup and knowing which vinyl he was about to play, to which he replied, “I just winged it.”

“Maybe some people plan it out, I don’t know. The way me and my homies do it, we have a general idea but we don’t like–, fucking memorize the BPM and do it this to this to this. Nah, there's no fun in that.”

I wanted to know if he had noticed any significant mistakes in his set that night. For the audience, if you can play off anything good enough, your worst nightmare could be your best transition.

“I don't think I did. [...] It’s vinyl, it’s never going to be perfect. That’s what it’s about. I don’t want it to be perfect, there’s fun in fixing your shit.”

He compared techno and its similarity to jazz music, my friend adding that techno became the evolution of jazz. Stretch has learned how to play the audience and never show sweat, something which can be attributed to his time in jazz bands. 

While he doesn’t have a signature yet, he doesn’t believe he can place that label upon him. He wants the audience to decide, with the only end goal being a good set that others can enjoy. 

“Every time you do that shit and the homies have you hyped, it’s not like you can remember what you did.”

Stretch also vends at the Silverlake Flea market and eventually is planning to open up a record store.

TOP INFLUENCES:

Jeff Mills 

As long as the opening band isn’t anything I can’t find on a UC radio station’s cluttered CD shelf, I usually like to stay and watch for a while. The crowds may be dull as they attempt to decipher whether the music is worth their attention, but the few listening are decently impressed. Most of the time, they won’t get anywhere far. This is one of the disappointing aspects of the LA music scene. However, with all genres considered, it makes some interesting discoveries.

I understand the annoyance of writing about two separate bands from the same night, but 2070’s performance opening for Bar Italia was something I would have kicked myself for if I had missed it. After one song, I pulled out my notebook and began to write anything that came to my head– I knew I would have to interview them despite knowing nothing but what had laid before me. Until the actual interview, I hadn’t even known the band’s name. After “excuse me”-ing my way to the front, knocking over someone’s propped recent purchase of Tracey Denim in the process, I was able to grab the bassist’s attention.

2070 originated in their home state of Michigan without any stable bandmates. Frontman Trevor Coleman began the band alongside bassist Khari Cousins’ brother before Khari took his place. The band’s current lineup consists of drummer Rogers DeCoud, guitarist Danny Rincon, Coleman, and Cousins.

Cultivating a fanbase out home, the band had some general success in surrounding cities. After moving out to LA with other 2070 bandmates, the pair began assimilating into a new landscape.

Much of the band came to be in spur-of-the-moment decisions, as each band member have their own additional side projects to focus on. Two of the three are indie-lofi artists, with the drummer DeCloud being a DJ. Despite this, their work doesn’t clash.

COU: “I feel like our own solo stuff is all very different, but we have very similar interests in music.”

COL:“We realized we play really well with each other.”

For me, this statement was not shocking.

Their sound fills the room, and I had explicitly asked them if it was the venue or how they genuinely play, realizing after that the question sounded slightly backhanded.

COU: “We still record softer but I feel like we still play it somewhat louder to like, give it that like ambiance– that like fills up the room.”

Once again, no surprise here. It is one of the beauties of seeing the band live, your experience is nowhere near the same as remote listening. I had mentioned to them that their imperfect playing added an element of reality that many current artists desperately try to erase. Artists have begun to sound formulated for live music, with their production tuned to what is believed to be imperfect perfection– a simulation of raw performance. While I am nowhere near calling 2070 the finest performers in LA, they have true character. Their fear of mistakes is not at the forefront of performance; they don’t become hindered by an overly loud chord.

COU: “ I don’t know if it is intentional it just always happens that way. I think we are just comfortable with it being that way. [...] We just kinda play through it, but it’s always something.”

Unfortunately, due to the owners of the venue yelling for us to leave and my inability to write legibly, the other questions were left unanswered. After the initial viewing, I can confirm they will be on my radar, and should be on yours too.