Oakland-based producers Steve Sandwich (Steve Sanchez) and Space Ghost (Sudi Wachspress) are the creative duo behind Late Feelings, a meticulously curated music mix series. The pair assemble mixes which flow smoothly, blending rare songs you've never heard before, with classic hits from the last decade. Featuring a well-constructed, yet eclectic assortment of songs, ranging from Jazz to Hip-Hop, slow-jams, Salsa, Funk, Soul, R&B and more, spanning the globe, and a variety of cultures, from the last 50-odd years.
I've known these two fellas since college. In fact, Steve was one of the first people I met at all (in line to get our college freshman ID's, no doubt). Flash forward to last year (a few years out of college), and the three of us had been living together for four years. These guys are like brothers to me, and there was really only one way to interview them - good ol' fashioned Skype session.
I wanted to pick their brains about music, their mixes, and how it all came together (even though I was part of the story). The following is what transpired (minus about an hour of extra jibber-jabber, jokes and internet connection issues). This is a longer interview, but I hope you enjoy - there's a ton of name-dropping, so get ready to up your music game, and throw on one of their mixes while you read, to really set the mood.
Cool Friends: For those that don't know about Late Feelings yet, how do you explain what you do?
Sudi: So, I play the mixes at work sometimes, and I get strangers who are like "Hey, what are you listening to?" and I say welllll... This is a mix series that me and my roommate make, and it's usually just like a lot of old school jams - Jazz, Hip-Hop, Soul, Latin, RnB...etc, and we're working with these genres, and most of it's pretty old, but we're not specifically bound to that, and we put these mixes up online for people to listen to.
Steve: They're inspired by a lot of samples that other musicians create, and it's a way to showcase shit that we've found while we're crate-digging...
CF: It's sort of showing what (primarily) Hip-Hop and Pop artists sample for their songs, but you're taking those little bits and you're showing the full sound - the full sampled song, right?
ST: Yeah exactly, we're opening the doors and we're showing what's going on behind the curtain.
SU: It's definitely a way for us to look for new music, and then share all these oftentimes rare songs, or maybe not even that rare, but it's stuff that people who don't go looking for music, want to listen to but [don't know where to go]. I know personally when I hear mixes like that, I get really excited because I find all this stuff that you won't hear on the radio.
CF: Do you think that your excitement around finding new music, and love of creating these mixes, comes from you both being initially Hip-Hop fans, and then becoming curious about the samples that were being used for the beats, searching for the full sample, and then realizing that the sample is just as good as the track that uses it?
ST: Yeah, that's definitely true. I also feel like when I hear other artists make mixes like that, I just wanna dive deep into a certain genre, or a certain culture. In a way, it's like doing the homework [for our mixes.] When we first started Late Feelings, we were kinda basing it off of Flying Lotus' Lovers Melt mixes. There's a lot of soul and jazz, a lot of prog-rock, and Brazilian stuff, and some Reggae stuff in there, but they go through a whole roller-coaster of music. He floats them in there really nicely, and that's what we used to start off with.
SU: I was inspired to start a mix series like this, because a lot of artists that I listen to in different genres, like Flying Lotus, Floating Points, Leatherette, they're making Hip-Hop inspired, danceable, electronic music, with sampling. But separately, they've made mixes that don't actually have the genre of music they [usually] make, it's just like a bunch of old tracks that inspire their music. And I was like whoa, there's this whole other world to these producers that's not just them making electronic music, it's also hearing a bunch of old tracks too. It makes me really excited to look up the songs in their mixes, and then make [my own] mix that feels like these all could be samples they'd use. I'm always searching for songs that were made in that time period and have become lost, or I haven't come across them in any mixes before, but they fit in the same genre for what i'm looking for at the time. I just enjoy that feeling [of searching].
CF: So 'Lovers Melt' was the initial inspiration for you guys creating a mix series of your own?
SU: Definitely. In the beginning, we didn't want to get too specific, and we wanted to explore how these different genres can flow together. We just started out with soul songs for like twenty minutes, and then move into some jazz and then maybe some Iranian shit, and it's just a really fun way to put all the pieces together of the songs that we're finding. After that, we made a couple mixes separately, because we were both just too hyped on that feeling of going through it and curating it specifically how we wanted it. We've also had two of our friends do mixes for us [so far] and I think that's one thing in the back of our mind going forward with Late Feelings... So far it's been people that we know and from the Bay Area, like our friend Alex, he goes by Xela, he just did a mix that uses a lot of African style music.
(check it out below)
Our other friend DOM, who we met through Alex, because he had a couple little get-togethers at his house, where people would just bring a some records, and we would switch back and forth. Dom was one of those people who I'd show a record to, that I was not expecting him to know, and he's just be like: "oh yeah dude, that's such a good record! Have you heard this other one?" We eventually just emailed him and asked him to submit a mix for Late Feelings and he came through with a really awesome one. (Below)
CF: Do you have other producers specifically in mind?
SU: Yeah, we have Brian Azevado (Gold Leaf) on deck, and another Brian who is a local producer who just asked if he could make one and we were like, definitely, yeah! And anyone else who collects records and produces, or is doing similar stuff, or wants to work with us, or interview us, we're open to it.
CF: So if someone was interested and fit with the vibe could they email you? hint hint!
ST: We'd definitely encourage that, 'cause it's also hard for us to always think of new people, and since we're still starting out in a way, it would help us to branch out. And it's interesting when other people [like Xela and Dom] make mixes for us, because it's nice to see their version of what Late Feelings means.
SU: Yeah, and I mean, of course we'd wanna screen them a bit, maybe if they sent us a short mix or something so we can feel it out. But yeah, definitely encouraged. Also, we can't put out mixes as fast as we'd like to, so it would be nice to get other people on board.
Email: Late.feelings@gmail.com
CF: Sudi, you recently made a mostly Brazilian-cuts mix, and Steve made a mostly Latin and Salsa inspired one. Did you decide to make them themed that way because you found a single track, and then just kept exploring? Or did you start off with the intent to make a single-genre mix?
SU: Well for starters, I was mentioning mixes that inspire me in the first place, and Floating Points [made a mix] that was all Brazilian music, and I hadn't... well I've definitely heard Brazilian music being sampled in a couple of specific songs before, like a some M.F. Doom tracks. But his mix made me realize, oh shit in the 70's and 80's there was a lot of really awesome rock and jazz that was coming out of Brazil, and seeing it all in a row through Floating Points' mix was really cool. Steve and I have been slowly finding Brazilian songs from that time period, and getting stoked on it. I was happy with my Brazilian mix, and there are different genres of music in the mix, but I tried to make them all from the same time period, and find a good flow and show how they are connected together. It was a good way to get down and dirty, and discover a lot about the artists, and music that I hadn't known about before, and from that I've discovered tons of new music.
CF: So was yours the same deal, Steve? Or more specifically, since you like grew up on Salsa, do you feel like you were re-discovering and digging further, and finding more of it to work with?
ST: Yeah. it's shit that I grew up on, and it gives me a chance to do my homework and investigate that music more. That happened with Willie Colón, who's songs we had thrown into previous mixes. But I literally went through almost all of his albums to find what I liked, and there was at least one from each album that I was excited by. I'm always trying to put at least one salsa song in our mixes, and I thought you know fuck it, I want to dedicate a whole mix to it.
CF: Sudi, I know that your dad was very much into record collecting as a younger man, do you think you grew up that same same vibe as Steve but maybe a little bit more focused on Soul and Funk?
SU: Yeah, he listened to tons of different genres, but he has pretty fat record collection. He actually listened to a lot of Pop music from back in the day, and R&B as well. And now I'm finding records, which he probably has and would recognize. He definitely was just into music and although he changed over to CDs, he still has that record collection. You know what, I hadn't really thought about it, but I'm sure there's somewhere in [my love for music] that's coming from him.
CF: Have you gotten a chance to look through his collection?
SU: Yeah, I have a couple of times, and I might have to do it again with my brother soon. It's funny because he hasn't touched some of these records in so long. Like, I bought him a record a couple of years ago, and I recently saw it in there unopened, and I was like dang, I kinda want to steal that back. *laughs* I had to beg him to give me this Isao Tomita record because he had three copies of it, and he was like "OK, OK, let me see which one's in the worst condition..." I was like come on!
CF: Would you mind walking us through the process of creating a mix?
SU: Well it usually starts with listening to a couple of mixes, and then finding a few jams that really strike hard, and then I take it to YouTube and Soundcloud, and spend an hour or two just diving into stuff. I also hit up the record store and browse for a while. But, the Brazilian mix for example, that was all from the internet actually. I mean I have a few Brazilian records, but I never found the jams I was looking for. A lot of the time I find myself in a YouTube k-hole, just absorbing a ton of songs and ripping different samples. Then we both use Abelton to mix everything together. I'd like to think i'm a good enough DJ to spin on turn tables, but I haven't gotten good enough to record with Serato yet. So we just drop everything into Abelton, and then cut and paste and add transitions and occasional effects, to make it all flow nicely. Often we want to play tracks in their full length if we can, unless it's like a 12-minute Fela Kuti song, and then we obviously have to cut it down, but we try to leave the songs in their original form, and focus on making good transitions. We don't usually try to beat-match too intensely, but we try to get it to the point where you don't even notice.
ST: What I like to do as much as I can, is hook my turn table up with the USB and record straight into Abelton, to sample my records. There's certain albums that I can't find on the internet, like some rare stuff my dad gave me for the Salsa mix. Also, with transitioning, sometime we like to let it flow into a clip from a movie or something, we both like doing that - throwing in our outside influences. It's nice to curate the mix to feel genuine.
SU: Yeah, Xela picked up on that with his mix, and even included some audio from a clip of one of the artists he used in the mix to tie it all together. It's nice to make the mixes seem like a radio broadcast or something...
CF: How did the name Late Feelings come about?
SU: Because we were so inspired by Lovers Melt, but the name was obviously already taken, we had to come up with something similar. It's a good name that can take you in different directions, and we wanted something with that vibe, and honestly, we started looking up words. It got to the point that we had so many phrases written down, that we just needed to pick one 'cause it was getting outta control.
ST: The one thing they all shared though, was that it was specific to that time of night...Or like, something about feelings, something warm and hot... like soul butter *laughs* Something that is vague enough to cover a few different aspects, like you're in love with somebody, or you're missing somebody, or you're on a high coming back down and tryna find that high again... something chilled out.
CF: It would be nice to find that list... But you're missing one important thing, which is that I WAS THE ONE WHO CAME UP WITH THE FINAL NAME!
ST: Wait, really?
SU: I don't remember that...
CF: Yeah! I remember it very clearly, we were all in the kitchen, and you were mulling it over and over, saying something about feelings, and emotion, and something about being chilled out, and I said to you: What about Late Feelings? And i've never seen Steve grin harder, but he didn't wanna give it to me, and he was like "yeah, huh, that's alright, maybe i'll ask Sudi..." *laughs*
SU: *sarcastically* We owe it all to you...
Late Feelings logo designed by Steve
CF: Who have you been listening to recently? Who gets you excited and inspires you to make new mixes? What was the last thing you listened to?
Together: Harvey Sutherland.
ST: That's so hard though, there are so many... Although Hus Kingpin, who we're both into - he doesn't produce his own beats, but the beats he uses are stuff that I definitely wanna sample. He has that vibe of driving late at night. There's also a label out of Vancouver, Mood Hut, and they have these mixes called Morning Prayer, and they're so good at invoking a feeling or a specific mood. But they're more in the ambient music realm.
SU: Lately, what makes me want to make a new mix is Roc Marciano, Ka, and The Alchemist, and People's Potential Unlimited record label.
CF: What do you do when you're feeling stressed or burnt out on music? How do you recharge?
ST: Watching movies. That feeling of being in a theater is so nice, and having that time and space dedicated to that one thing, it immediately sets a mood, especially when i'm there by myself, it feels like i'm taking care of myself. I recently saw the Neon Demon, and it was really inspiring visually, and the music was really great electronic stuff. To be honest though, i've been slacking on my movie game lately, and we've both been watching a shitload of Seinfeld.
CF: Seinfeld?! Not what I was expecting.
SU: Yeah, it's not very inspiring, it's kinda the opposite, it's a way to do nothing at all... I've been mostly in music-world though, lately. And i've been trying to not stress-out about music and just let it inspire me. The other day I went to the SF Conservatory of Flowers and was just walking around, and there were all these crazy beautiful plants, and I threw on some ambient music and I was getting really inspired in there.
CF: Alright, last question: Who're your cool friends?
SU: Club Chai, which is Esra (8ulentina) and laura (Foozool). They're doing really cool things, both DJing events that are blowing up. Esra just booked some shows in Europe, they're really inspiring me right now to get more on my grind.,
ST: Oh, probably Leibo, he's been going hard [with tattooing].