Hip-Hop Core: Please introduce yourself, your crew, etc.

Tenshun: My name is TENSHUN from SKRAPEZ-KILOWATTZ.

HHC: What does your city look like, your environment? Is that a source of inspiration for your kind of agressive sound?

T: The area im currently staying at is surburbia, which is where I go to find peace, I get inspiration from leaving that area and driving to work where I get stuck in traffic and see a bunch of crack heads and cops, destruction of buildings and bullshit.

HHC: Let's talk about your first steps in hip hop, production, etc... What are your influences? What push you to make this special idm/hh sound?

T: I get influenced by a lot of things from the sound of a freight train to the sounds of buckethead shredding. I started making beats on a 4 track and a janky 12 second sampler after hearing various mixtapes from Babu, Mr Dibbs and Q-bert. Those tapes showed me that you can get buckwild on them.

HHC: What are your all time favorite albums?

T: Hmmm theres so much out there I can only name a few. Babu - 'Comprehension' Orko - 'Doomsday Prophet', Req - 'One', Gravediggaz - '6 Feet Deep', Brotha Lynch - 'Season Of Da Siccness', Company Flow - 'Funcrusher', Malcolm Catto - 'Popcorn Bubblefish', Squarepusher - 'Music Is Rotted One Noted', Aphex Twin - 'Ventolin'... I can keep going.

HHC: How do you produce your tracks? Saturation is an important part of your work device obviously...

T: I make most of my music on the MPC or on Protools. And then run it back through a 4 track to give it a analog sound and then again back to the computer. I try to make my music sound as dirty as possible.

HHC: Your music is very rough, and requires that the listener be patient... What's the effect you want to make on people's ears?

T: I want the listener to to just freak out and Break shit and cause chaos and at same time just think about life.

HHC: Scratchs got also a big part in your work... Do you consider your music as some sort of turntablism music, like Ricci Rucker ou D-Styles or just like a tool in your beats?

T: Scratching is a major part of my work, I see it as me rhyming over my music.

HHC: Let's talk about the Creatures Crew.. Who are they and what did you release collectively or solo? Who's Deph Shepperd also? His sounds is close to yours...

T: The Creatures are basicly a bunch of crazy heads that do anything creative whether it my be, making a video or doing some graff somewhere. As for Deph Shepperd hes my friend who I release the 7'' series with.

HHC: Are you in contact with other californian crews? What does the San Diego hip hop scene looks like?

T: Yeah I talk to a few hiphop heads out here. As for the scene in San Diego we got a lot of dope heads its just we get no love.

HHC: You did this album with Stuntdouble... Can you introduce him and what did you learn from this collaboration? Would it motivate you to make more albums for rappers? Is that the same work?

T: I met Stuntdouble at my job through a friend at work. My friend gave him a copy of ''Grey Death'' and StuntDouble came up to me and was asking for some beats so I hooked him up with a few and it just turned into a album. As for making beats for other rappers im down for it but that's a whole different bag.

HHC: Is that easy to sell experimental/idm hip hop to the westcoast hh shops? Besides Accesshiphop, your records are kind of impossible to find on the internet..

T: Its kind of hard to sell our music cause we don't really know what to call it. There arent to many stores in SD that wax anymore so we have to travel up north to distribute.

HHC: Now let's talk about the whole aesthetic of your Skrapez releases, the 7"... It's probably what catch my attention and make me want to know more about your work at first, it really came from nowhere and there were no information on the 7, but with a special attention on the artwork.. What's the idea behind this mystery? How many copies do you press? Is that important for you the way you bring your product to the listener?

T: The 7'' series came up with Deph Shepperd and I. We just wanted to put out some records. We only press up 300 to 500. There nothing really special about them besides that theres only a limited amount out there.

HHC: What are your future projects/releases?

T: Right now were about to drop another 7'', and im currently working on another beat album. Also im working with this experimental band called Troikestra and Obsuricon.

HHC: Thanks for your answers... any last word?

T: Yeah, thanks for your guys interest in my music and any other people out the supporting.