Austinist Prince Klassen
FDL rep Prince Klassen is a central representative of the DJ culture in Austin, TX. He is a true designer of musical landscapes when he is behind the decks, regardless of the environment. The man holds down three resident nights in Austin and has traveled to both coasts, sharing the stage with a number of DJs and groups like The Rub, Flosstradamus, Klever, Spank Rock and the list goes on. You can also find his writing contributions of cultural activism on both the centralbooking and fullfitted blogs. Next week, the Prince is heading out on a mini-tour, reppin’ The Austin Bats for Frank151, beginning in Calgary, Alberta and ending in L.A. He laced us with his new mix “Mi Fresh”, which is broken down into four parts: hip hop, soul, club, reggae along with interludes from some throwback movies. We had the chance to chop it up with the Prince, Texas estilo (style). Full interview after the jump.
F151: Lets start off with the title “Mi Fresh”, half Spanish half English, that’s Spanglish right?
PK: Yah mon, that is Spanglish, You are familiar with it I am sure. I sometimes also like to call it “Text Mexican”. Its a combination of the cell-phone generation short hand writing, central Texas slang, and a tribute to the Poor Righteous Teachers… one of the most underrated groups in hip hop history.
F151: We like how you broke up the mix into 4 segments; how did that idea come about?
PK: Well I wanted to really represent what I do in a usual set and what I love, so it came about somewhat naturally. Once it started shaping into the layout you heard, that’s when its started to become more of a story and making a lot more sense to me. I like when DJs have all types of flavor, but they don’t get to showcase it sometimes and I think I covered most of the bases.
F151: Tell our readers what the party scene is like in Austin, Texas.
PK: The party scene in Austin is really strong right now. Over the last two years or so there have been a lot of fresh faces popping up. There are a few drawbacks to that though. Mostly, that the city is so small there might be enough people to go around and that the new fresh faces I mentioned are so green behind the ears that they don’t know the proper way of promoting and respecting what has been set up for them. I am not trying to say that I am the older statesman, but I think being a DJ for 11 years now should hold some sort of right to be able to tell that there is a way to go about things. ENOUGH RAMBLING!!! Shits tight! Since moving to Austin a few years ago, things have been nothing but great and I am thankful for it. Not only do we have Austin popping right now, but Texas is really coming up and I think we (The Party/ Central Booking) have managed to really get things locked down state wide…. currently knocking on wood and counting my blessings.
F151: Are there any absurd stories you’d like to share related to DJing?
PK: I can tell you about the oddest series of requests I got from one girl. So I was playing and this girl came up to me and I usually listen to people just to see what they are wanting to hear and she proceeds to ask me for some Madonna (typical), after telling her that I probably might not play anymore Madonna for the rest of the night she then takes a step back and thinks of something else. Here is the kicker, she comes up and says, “what about Pantera?!”. I took my headphones off to make sure I was hearing this correctly. Sure enough, she asked for Pantera. I was blown away, Madonna to Pantera! So either she was a stripper or she was from Dallas… shout out to Dimebag Darrell.
F151: Anything you’d like to close with?
PK: First a big shout to the Frank151, I’m a big fan of the book and am looking forward to Austin Bats fitted. Chris at Turntable lab for being the first in the country to order any (TTL always on top of things), and Complete Clothing here in Austin for helping out as well. Instead of the president putting up a fence so Mexicans can’t get into the States, he should first air condition the state of Texas… Shit is too hot. Also, carrying a canvas tote bag doesn’t make you any more eco-friendly, you just have another accessory. I mean, think about all the Vans that can’t be made and the sailboats sans sails… canvas crisis ‘09 coming soon.
“Mi Fresh” will be available on Turntable Lab. We have Part 1 exclusively for preview, complete with the track listing.
