Musicians are undoubtedly influenced by the music they listen to. An artist's musical selection can sometimes even foretell what a next album might sound like. So if you've ever wondered what the artists who grace your stereo are getting funky to, here's your chance to find out. Every week, I'll ask traveling musicians as well as locals the fated question: What's playing in your CD player or tape deck right now?
This week, we sit down with Oakland.-based electronic producer Dave Sugalski, more commonly known as The Polish Ambassador. Sugalski was recently in town for a gig at the recurring Creme de la Creme event at the House of Blues' Cambridge Room.
Currently Jamming: Gladkill, Emancipator and Little People.
"I like to listen to people who I feel are pushing some boundaries, but that can also maintain a good sense of melody. I listen to Emancipator for
some good down-tempo tunes, and just played RE:GENERATION [Music Festival] with him. Such a cool dude. Another good down-tempo DJ is
Little People. who also played RE:GENERATION with me."
Main Influence: The 1980s
"The '80s were a lot about melody. There are so many classic songs from
that time that we look at now as '80s ballads, but the melodies are
really just great composition. There's something about the melody-on-top-of-melody that speaks to a certain part of me and I find very
inspirational. I definitely have an affinity for the '80s. It's a
regular channel on my Pandora."
Where The Two Roads Meet: Side project called Ample Mammal.
"Once I moved to the Bay Area, I started being influenced by all this
dubstep and glitch-hop. I was always more an electro-house guy, so I
said 'How can I take this stuff I think is really cool in that genre and
apply it to the music I'm making?' You'll notice a lot of Ample Mammal
tracks are a bit slower -- between 70 beats per minute and 105 bmp -- and
it's glitch-, hip-hop- and dubstep-style beats. Ample Mammal is a way for
me to experiment, so the next album may sound nothing like the first.
