L.A.‘s cumbiatech fanatics got a special treat this past weekend when Corpus Christi, TX-based and Peligrosa‘s DJ/producer El Dusty, aka DJ Dus, swung by Bersa Record’s Tormenta Tropical party to spin a set.
We briefly spoke with El Dusty about his 2011 hit and a Remezcla favorite “K Le Pasa,” Master Blaster Sound System’s upcoming full-length debut, and kiddie pools filled with beer.
Besides Tormenta Tropical, what brings you out to LA?
DJ Dus: Just that. I worked with my brother for a little while, ran a couple of tracks for my album, and established a couple of relationships with the people out here. I’ve never really been out here on my own so I had to come and do a bit of work. I came out to work with Karlos (aka Solrak) from The B-Side Players but we didn’t get to meet up. Now we’re just sending tracks back and forth.
You’re also a member of Master Blaster Sound System. Did you start that group?
Yeah. I did it because I like to bring different artists that I’m working with to the stage while I’m dj’ing. I kinda have them rap their parts like a dj set but live. Then it turned into a band with Cecy Treviño and Brian Ramos by playing out and still bringing in different artists.
Are you guys working on any Master Blaster stuff for this year?
Yeah, we just finished the album this past weekend. We did 12 songs that we’re about to send to get mixed and mastered. We’re working with Cósmica Artists on that.
Did they sign Master Blaster?
Yeah, we have a distribution and licensing deal with them or, well, I don’t really know what you would call it but, we’re putting the record out through Cósmica and they have it licensed.
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[WHEN WE SHOT “K LE PASA”] IT WAS ACTUALLY MY BIRTHDAY…
WE TOLD EVERYBODY TO COME TO MY LOFT…SO WE HAD A PARTY AND
SHOT THE VIDEO. IT KINDA GOT CRAZY.
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You released “K Le Pasa” last year, which is on our list of Top 25 tracks of 2011. Was that a stand-alone single?
Yeah, the version that has all the plays is the independent version and we just kind of did it because I wanted to do a video. A day later, Daniel Haaksman from Man Recordings called me saying he wanted to put it out. He started getting all the sample information and all that stuff. He got the sample cleared but we had to redo it. I got Brian Ramos from Master Blaster to sing it. Daniel got an accordion player from Germany to replay it. We reinterpreted the sampling, which is what it is now.
So the one in the video is the redone version?
The one from the official video, yeah. There’s one version on Youtube that’s on my Youtube page and that’s the original version. That one’s with the sample. There’s one on Man Recordings Youtube channel and that one’s the actual, official version of the song. The unofficial version got out there too so they’re both floating around.
Hopefully you won’t get in trouble with that one because of the samples.
Nah, I think it’ll be okay. It never was released.
Ah, so it was like an unofficial, white label release in a way.
Yeah, I guess. It never really came out, just on the video. Actually, it did come out on a compilation CD from Mexicans With Guns’ label in Texas and they had to pull it off once I got the deal. The comp’s are still floating around though but they had to take it off bandcamp and all that stuff.
Where did you shoot the video?
In my apartment. It was actually my birthday and I DJ’ed at a club that night. We told everybody to come to my loft. I live like a block away from the club so we had a party and shot the video. It kinda got crazy.
So the whole shoot was impromptu? It looks pretty pro!
People knew we were going to shoot the video. We started talking about it on twitter so people started showing up and some of the girls had Cumbia shirts and stuff.
They showed up looking like they were paid to be in there.
[laughs] We bought a bunch of beer and we threw in a kiddie pool full of beer and ice in there and nobody got a shot of it for the video! Though, there’s one picture floating around on Facebook of that thing, and that’s it.
You sent out a tweet a few days ago about an upcoming “K Le Pasa” remix EP. What are the details on that?
The remix EP is being released by Man Recordings out of Germany. We have remixes from So Shifty, Sonora (Peligrosa Crew), Jan Driver (Boyz Noize), DJ Mouse & Alan Rosales from the 3Ball MTY crew, and Alvaro, a Dutch moombahton DJ that has huge remixes all over. I’m pretty proud of the EP and really excited for it to drop in March, right in time for SXSW.
Check out the much raved about “K Le Pasa” video and download the single way below:
[insert-video youtube=-PsJsFNA0u8]