The Blog

The Grouch is Crowned King of Beats!

Despite a close race, it was The Grouch and his beat that drew the most votes, besting five other artists to win the crown. All of the participants made great use of Beat It! (glu's critically acclaimed beat re-creation game) to create their beats and we think you'd have fun doing it too... so give it a try for free!

In the wake of his victory, we sat down with The Grouch to ask some Q's and get some A's:

Q: How did you get the nickname the Grouch?

A: One of my Living Legends crew members - Sunspot - gave it to me. We used to butt heads a lot (still do) when we lived in the same warehouse years ago. One day he just said "You're The Grouch!" and it stuck.

Q: What gear did you use to make your first ever beat/track?

A: My first beat machine was an Ensoniq Mirage. I think it had like a total of 4 seconds sampling time so I used to speed records up with my finger till they were at like 1000 RPM's and then press the button. It couldn't save and didn't have any effects or anything but we made it work.

Q: Since then, production has been technologically revolutionized many times over... How do you feel about Beat It! with regard to it being a GAME that’s actually a bi-product of this ongoing revolution in music making – do you think it turns people on to beat-making/sequencing in a fun way?

A: Yeah, I think it's a great tool to get people thinking about what a beat is actually made up of. What it takes to program out a rhythm. You don't have to be a musical genius to figure it out. It's fun, it tested my creativity, I had fun with it and my 3.5 year old daughter is lovin' it. She's starting to tap out little beats.

Q: Speaking of fun... Did you have fun playing Beat It? Were you able to find time to get into the gameplay mode? Or were you more enticed to go freestyle with the beat grids?

A: I mostly stayed in freestyle mode but I did play the game a couple times. That was cool as well.

Q: The options on a MAC, an 808, an MPC or even a set of decks can offer you myriad ways to express yourself, Beat It! obviously has a more limited palette, but did you feel like you were still able to express yourself using the game’s functionality?

A: I felt that the limitations tested my creativity. Sometimes it's more fun to be challenged like that. I'd like to have a grouch version where I pick all the sounds though!

Q: any thoughts on the graphics/animations? Can you tell us what the Grouch’s 8-bit animated world would look like?

A: I definitely would have an Oakland/Bay Area world, an LA world and a Maui world because those are the three areas I spend my time. I'd probably have a studio world, a live performance world and maybe even a soccer world since those are some of my passions as well.

Q: and finally... We noticed that your daughter tweeted that she plays Beat It! When do we start looking for her tracks on the Living Legends crew website?

A: She'll probably have her own site! It's 2010!

We’d like to thank The Grouch for his time, as well as Headlights, Dr. Steel, Charlie Hunter, The Pacifics, and Cale Parks for participating in this experiment. And of course, a big thanks to the fans who participated and cast their votes. ALL HAIL THE GROUCH - THE KING OF BEATS!

Categories: Beat It!, Blog, iPhone