You've likely never heard of Victor Axelrod.
You might not even be familiar with his dub alias, Ticklah.
But unless you've been living under a soundproof rock over the past year, you've definitely heard his work on some of the most acclaimed and popular records of 2007.
Brooklyn-based Axelrod has been the keyboard player in Afrobeat band Antibalas since 1999, and has also been a regular session player with the Easy Star All-Stars and the Dap-Kings. In the latter capacity, Axelrod has appeared on both Lily Allen's Alright, Still and Amy Winehouse's Back to Black.
But for the better part of last year, Axelrod put much of his side projects on hold to focus on a solo album. Ticklah vs. Axelrod sees the producer channeling both his work as a dub reggae artist and his multi-instrumental background, and the result is a potent combo of Jamaican and Latin rhythms.
Axelrod spoke with MP3.com about the new record, the perfectionist in him, and waiting for the call to find out whether he'll be joining the embattled Winehouse at the MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas next weekend.
MP3.com : Hey, Victor, how are you doing? Victor Axelrod/Ticklah: All right.
You got some time? Yeah, I'm good. I'm good.
Cool. So, are we going to do the whole T.I. thing where I interview Ticklah first, and then I do Victor second or what? Oh, boy. I wasn't planning on that. So, I don't know how to change voices or mentalities exactly. Is this for like—are you going to like transcribe this?
Yeah, but I'm just kidding with you, man. No, but I have to be prepared, man.
You know, when T.I. did press for his T.I. vs T.I.P. album, he had like an outfit change and the whole bit. Who did?
T.I. Oh, T.I.
You know, T.I. did that T.I. vs T.I.P. album? You know what? I've only kind of seen that name on a couple of magazine covers. I mean if this gives you any sense of like how not interested in the mainstream I am.
Well, that's perfectly acceptable and I can guarantee you're not missing much. Okay.
But yeah, he did the whole "versus" thing and he literally did media tours as two people, you know, like you can interview T.I. and then you can interview T.I.P. Oh, really?
How different were the personalities?
I don't think very much; I think marginally different. So tell me about the meaning behind the title. Obviously, lots of dub records have used the "versus" in the past, but why did you choose to go with it for your record? Well, like the initial sort of inspirations for that title had to do with the fact that when I'm working on my own music, when it comes to finishing a tune that's my tune, I definitely put myself through a lot of psychic terror, just as far as really wanting it to be as good as possible in every way that I'm capable of making it good, whether that's compositionally or in the mix. I definitely hit these points where I know that there's a way to make it better, and I just haven't quite figured out how. And that sometimes takes a little while to figure out, what that entails is the whole heap of work. Right. It's sort of beating up on myself, a lot of internal pushing and pulling.
Sure, sure. It's like the whole idea of being a perfectionist and causing lots of internal conflict as a result and that kind of thing? Exactly, yeah. You know, it's the whole process connected to just creativity and just like sifting through the ideas, and sort of like taking it apart. But as far as the title, it's a bit truthful and a bit tongue-in-check. As far as there actually being historical context for it, that was definitely something in mind. Like, okay, there's plenty of dub titles that have that conflict of opposing force sort of theme, and also just the fact that I've done a lot of work under the Ticklah name, but then I've also done a lot of work where I'm just credited as Victor Axelrod. And what I've noticed over the years is that there's a lot of people who maybe know me as one and not the other.
They would be surprised to know that they're the same person. Yeah, you know, I've been in Antibalas for years, and I think there's many people who listen to the records and see me on stage and who may also know [the Easy Star All-Stars'] Dub Side of the Moon, and don't actually know that that's the same guy.
Until earlier this year could count me among one of those. It makes sense once you get there. But for some reason, you've been really good about maintaining a separation, whether it's on purpose, or by accident, or whatever. Yeah, the use of the name is usually sort of contextual. Right, yeah, sure. I started using the name Ticklah years ago primarily because I thought, 'Okay, well, if I'm making this reggae music and it's pretty rootsy sounding and it's an authentic flavor, that it'll be--it's almost like it's a little bit easier to swallow, I think, for people if there's that kind of pseudonym.'
Yeah, absolutely. Which doesn't imply necessarily any kind of race or background. It's just like it's just a pseudonym.
Right. And, yeah, particularly with the reggae. And then also other things that I've been involved with--I don't know if you know DJ Spinna?
Yeah, sure, of course. We've done a lot of remixes together. And in the world of hip-hop, tongue-in-cheek pseudonyms are the norm. So that always seemed to be the way to go. But then, obviously, if I'm the keyboard player in Antibalas like I'm not going to have the credits read 'trombone by Aaron Johnson and keyboards by Ticklah,' you know. I'm one of the guys. It does make perfect sense actually. Yeah.
Well, the new record sounds like a pretty natural evolution, almost a melding of [1997's] Polydemic record and the Roots Combination record. Is this an evolution of your sound over the years? I guess so. That's interesting. I would kind of assume that Polydemic is like sort of so buried in my past that like nobody knows it. So, you're familiar with that record?
Yeah, sure. I mean I've only heard it a couple of times but you can still find it online. It's in All Music Guide. Yeah, actually, I saw it. I saw it on the MP3.com site. And, yeah, it looks like it's gone untouched. Like it looks like no one's listened to it.
It was a while ago. But it is still up there though. True. But it sounds like you did that record, and it had a lot of different elements to it, and you did more of the straight rootsy dubby vibe on Roots Combination. And this album in a lot of ways brings those two together. Let me ask you. What do you hear about the other two records that you hear sort of summarized in the new one?
Well, I mean, certainly the dubby and rootsy feel of Roots Combination is prevalent throughout the new record. But there are also different sorts of rhythms, the Latin rhythms, specifically, and that kind of thing that I think I remember hearing on Polydemic but not on Roots Combination. Yeah, I think that can be attributed more to the fact that the new album has more instrumental content than Roots Combination does. Roots Combination has many more dubs and some vocals and things like that, but the new album has more melodic--.
Interpretation and that kind of thing. Yeah. And Polydemic was very much, for me, like about that. It did jump a bit from style to style to style. Soul and jazz and all that stuff, which is also music that I like, and there are still times when I get to play stuff like that but in terms of actually making jazzy funky stuff like on my own, I don't really do that anymore. It's more just naturally I kind of ended up sort of on this path of reggae.
Okay. So, how long were you working on the record? You have so much else going on, it sounds like you're never going to get a gigantic block of time where you can focus on it exclusively because it seems like with Antibalas, with the Daptone stuff, with the Easy Star All-Stars, you've got so much going on that you probably had to work on this a bit piecemeal over a long period of time, is that right? Yeah, it definitely went that way for a while. I think originally when Easy Star wanted the record from me I think we had talked about it being done a couple of years ago. And the thing was that Antibalas was in such a flow with touring and recording, and I was always giving that priority. So, yeah, what would happen is that when I was in town for a while, and without any other obligations, I could put in a little time, and maybe say, 'Oh, I'll call up a trombone player because there's that tune that I need a trombone on.' Just get a little something done. Right. I basically spent most of last year focused on actually finishing the tunesAnd there were a lot of tunes in different stages.
Now, a couple of these songs have seen the light of day before, right? I remember seeing "Nature Loving Dub" a couple of years ago, I think, right? Yeah, that came out on Turntables on the Hudson 3. That's one of the few straight dub instrumental tunes on the album. As far as straight dub instrumental tunes that I've done, I'm really proud of that one. Yeah, it's a fantastic track. Thank you.
After doing this long enough, is it easy to find that ability to compartmentalize between your various roles in various projects as well as your solo work? I mean are you in a pretty good rhythm or is it a constant adjustment for you? It gets tricky sometimes. To simply answer your question, I'd say no, it's not easy.
Okay. It's not so much jumping between the different styles that I might be involved with, but it's more, say if I have been out on the road, and I'm going to be home for a limited amount of time to actually get in that sort of a studio flow. I didn't really hit my stride with working on the tunes 'til kind of like the summer of last year. It was pretty late in the year that I managed to find that space, and really get into it where, all of a sudden, it didn't all seem so daunting anymore.
Also I'm sure that a lot of these times that you're away, you're on the road, touring all over the place with a bunch of you guys in a van, so it's not like you get home and you're perfectly well rested and ready to jump into something else. I'm sure it's a little tiring at times, too? Yeah, yeah, because even without having to make a record, it takes a minute to sort of normalize.
Absolutely. I assume your studio's at home like in a basement? Yeah, it's in my basement.
Okay. So, at least you have that convenience that you can just head downstairs when the moment strikes you? Yeah, and I head downstairs even when the moment doesn't strike me. I'd just be down there. And then like it's some nights you're hot, and the ideas will come in, and you have the right insight. And then there's other nights where you think, 'Okay, I've just got to put in this time and hope that something gets done.'
Have you ever thought about picking up the mic yourself, either lyrically or otherwise, or do you prefer to remain the man behind the keys and the beats and that kind of thing? No, that's not going to happen. If singing was my thing, everybody would know already. I'll sing a few backgrounds with Antibalas and leave it at that.
Leave it at that? Yeah, no, no, I'll leave the singing for the real singers. I mean this is very much a case of doing what I'm good at.
What's next for you? I mean you've got this record coming out. It seems like you've got a ton of stuff going on. I think I remember hearing that you're working on a remix for like a Dap-Kings project of some sort? I just submitted that yesterday. Is that a Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings thing? Yes, you know the song 'How Long Do I Have To Wait For You?' Yeah, sure, yeah. Yeah, remixed that.
Okay, cool. For like a twelve-inch release or something like that? Yeah. Do you know this company Scion, the car company?
Sure. They've been funding these strange collaboration projects for the past couple years.
I think I recall seeing some of those. They teamed up Raekwon and El Michels Affair.
Yeah, okay. That was a great one, actually. I like that a lot. They're putting out a double CD of things from the Daptone catalog. And the first CD will just be tunes from the Daptone catalog. And then the second CD will be remixes of those tunes.
Oh, cool. That sounds great. They've got people like Mark Ronson, Spinna, Hank Shocklee, Kenny Dope. Okay. It was like a last minute thing. But it should be good for me because I'm probably going to be the least known name on it. But it's a promo thing, and I think they're going to be making some insane amount, like 400,000 copies.
Oh, sweet. That's fantastic for you, and also, obviously, you've been working with the Daptone, and so for The Dap-Kings for a long time or a while now. Yeah. And they're certainly—they've got a lot of heat behind them right now with Sharon Jones coming out, and, obviously, on the heels of the Winehouse record and all that. Yeah, yeah. So, what's the rest of the year look like for you otherwise? Will your tour behind this record? It's kind of murky right now. I don't actually maintain a band that plays my stuff. I mean I'm going to have a record release party a couple of days after the record comes out. I'm putting a band together and we're going to perform most of the album. But the fact that the record features different singers and different musicians, coupled with the fact that having my own band is not really anything I'm into.
Okay. You play a lot of the instruments on the record anyway. Yes. I definitely know people who would do a great job playing the actual material, but setting up a tour, I don't know. Maybe a few dates opening up for the Easy Star All-Stars, or maybe DJing and just playing my records like other producers do.
That would be cool and easy. That's a possibility. Antibalas is probably going to do a little thing here and there. I'm supposed to go to Vegas to play with Amy Winehouse at the MTV Video Music Awards, although I've heard that she's a mess. So, I'm waiting for that phone call any minute.
Yeah, I'm actually supposed to be there to cover it, but, yeah, it doesn't look likely that she's going to make it. We'll see. That call has not come in yet that it's off.
Yeah. Well, Victor, I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to us. Yeah, no problem, man. Thank you.
By Jim Welte
09/05/07 >> 
