Quickie Mart

Quickie Mart's roots are in hip-hop, but he has broadened his musical horizons. He still makes hip-hop with Gotham Green, has done a Girl Talk-like mash-up mixtape, and has recorded dubstep remixes of The Vettes and Ricky B. Still, bounce remains a through-line in his career. He has done yacht bounce remixes, and he's half of Gypsyphonic Disko, which mixes bounce with Klezmer and Balkan folk music. He has done bounce remixes of J-Boogie and Skrillex, and he has made bounce tracks including his own recent "Ass Rotation." He releases them and other producer-based music through his online store, Super Mart Produce. Just this week, released a new collaboration with Ricky B, "Breathe (Keep Bounce Thoro)," and it's free for now.

Recently, we talked about bounce, hip-hop and EDM subgenres, and working in both worlds. He's frank in his assessment of hip-hop audiences and EDM fans' priorities. - My Spilt Milk

Being a DJ and producer offers the kind of creative freedom few musicians have—you can work when and where you want, and balance multiple projects at the same time. It's the perfect lifestyle for Martin Arceneaux, aka Quickie Mart. In addition to recent local showings at the 2013 Buku Art + Music Experience and the Red Bull Thre3style DJ competition at Republic, the dubstep/ hip-hop producer recently added managing his own label, Super Mart Produce, to his increasingly prolifi c musical juggling act. Where Y'at sat down with Quickie Mart to fi nd out what lies in store next.

Where Y'at: You got your start as a professional DJ in New Orleans 13 years ago. What made you want to start your own label?

Quickie Mart: The label [Super Mart Produce] is a way for me to market friends, co-collaborators and other musicians that I believe in. We have a partnership with Ingrooves Fontanta, which is the largest independent digital distributor, with 700 digital retailers worldwide. I don't take a cut. My interest is promoting them, and EDM, in a way they may not have otherwise. We currently have 15 artists and put out 10 releases in our fi rst year alone.

WYAT: In an age when rock no longer has any edge, I feel that DJs are the new rock stars of the moment.

QM: Defi nitely. EDM has been huge in Europe for some time now, and it surprises me it took so long to come over here. The appeal is so widespread because it [dubstep] covers such a massive spectrum of styles: drum and bass, reggae, hip-hop, trance, crunk, electronica. Listeners get to explore and experience so many infl uence.

WYAT: What influcenes your art outside of music? How do you relax?

QM: Truthfully, since I moved back to New Orleans (from Los Angeles), I've mostly just produced—sometimes up to 16 hours a day. I read a lot...I like to go to Audubon Park and read by the fl y. I read a lot of philosophy, politics, topics that impact the world.

WYAT: Interesting. As a DJ, does any of this make its way into your music?

QM: No; I'm somewhat limited in this regard. Being a DJ, I can mash up and draw infl uence from any style of music composition imaginable, but it's diffi cult to incorporate your thoughts and feelings on topics like this. It's a shame, because musicians today aren't tackling heavy topics like this. There are no Public Enemy's or Rage Against the Machine's in 2013—I can't recall anyone who's done anything like that in years. But for me, how do you do that as a DJ? I guess I could lay spoken word over the beat, me talking, but no one would listen to that.

People want to party.

WYAT: Speaking of Public Enemy, you produce hip-hop in addition to EDM and mashups. How's that going?

QM: Great. I actually just produced an album with longtime friend and collaborator Gotham Green called Haze Diaries Vol. 4. It took us forever to get out: he moved to New York during the beginning of production, and back here around the middle. It was a lot of emailing back and forth, and working together to do the songs over the Internet. In a lot of ways, Haze Diaries is a passion project more than anything—it's really a style of hip-hop that is no longer popular. Though the lead single got a good amount of press, and was mentioned in a number of outlets, like XXL and Source.

WYAT: Where is there a good, consistent electronic music showing in New Orleans? Where do you go to check out EDM—or local music you enjoy in general?

QM: To be honest, I'm trying to get out more, discover more local talent. Church (formerly called Bass Church) at Dragon's Den has a good showcase of electronic music.

WYAT: Given the recent popularity of electronic music, as well as doing remixes and mashups, is it difficult as a producer to keep up with current musical trends?

QM: The less outside infl uence I have—unless I am looking for it—the better my catalog is, and my label's catalog is. You need to stay true to yourself to be unique and make music you can be passionate about.

WYAT: As a producer and DJ, you must have listened to countless records over the years. If you were trapped on a desert island with only one album, what would it be?

QM: Wow! It would have to be something prolifi c, with a lot of different sounds. I was mostly infl uenced by hip-hop...there are a dozen hip-hop albums I could name, but I guess it has to be something I wouldn't get tired of listening to. I'll go with Ween's Chocolate and Cheese album. If I'm going to be alone on an island, slowly going insane by myself, I'll want some crazy songs to sing along to. If I'm going to go mad anyway, why fi ght it—embrace it! It's the perfect soundtrack.

Quickie Mart's latest, Space Monkey Radio EP, is available via his website at DJQuickieMart.com. Catch him at Church at the Dragon's Den on March 31.


In 2012, Quickie Mart started the label Super Mart Produce. His recent - Where Y'at Magazine

How will bounce be reinterpreted, embraced and marketed by the (sorta) mainstream? The question lingers in the air, with a smattering of answers for consideration. See Mr. Ghetto on YouTube. Big Freedia slays Jimmy Kimmel. Diplo visits Manchu. Arranged as such, things appear to be improving, from bad joke to respectful hipster appropriation.

Regardless of direction or outside approval, bounce remains the ubiquitous street music of New Orleans, 2012. In Volume 2 of their Gypsyphonic collaboration, Quickie Mart and Galactic saxophonist Ben Ellman continue to turn fecund soil while charting fresh adventures for the triggaman.

Gypsy/klezmer/circus music isn’t an instant fit. A few tracks feature a synched tempo but little else to connect the sides. Fortunately, forced pairings are the exception, with Ellman and Quickie Mart broadening the mix to include samples from ever more exotic locations. The really interesting tracks marry bounce to tropical dance music, as on the Big Freedia/Systema Solar track and the remix of Yolanda Be Cool’s international hit, “We No Speak Americano”. Other DJs have made similar experiments, and we can only marvel at the possibilities of bounce as a global threat.

Raised in New Orleans, it’s no surprise that bounce fits well with punchy brass, as in the brief “Fela Phonic” and the more expansive version of Galactic’s “You Don’t Know.” Note, too, that this is yet another batch of creative music from the House of Galactic, one of the most productive forces in the last 20 years of local music.

For the second time, Gypsyphonic draws a stellar map. The ferocity and charisma of the sissy bounce spitters make them standouts on this album. - Offbeat Magazine

Gotham Green & Quickie Mart Ft. Freddie Gibbs & T. Mills “All I Know” - Allhiphop.com

Bam! Gotham Green & Quickie Mart‘s new rap opus Haze Diaries, Vol. 4 is here. Or perhaps I should say, Poof. Because as attentive okayplayers and inhalers I mean consumers of Haze Diaries, Vols. 1 through 3 already knew, this thing is a smoker’s delight of swirling beats, mindf**king samples and of course, grimey streetcorner rhymes. In that department Green & Mart’s accomplished rhyme & beatcraft is augmented by well-tailored cameos from Freddie Gibbs, T. Mills, El Prez and Grafh (!) amongst a grip of other solid pinch-hitters and fireball slangers. Find a comfortable spot in your opium den and stream the whole damn thing below, exclusively on Okayplayer (back cover art with tracklisting after the jump. Look for a download link to drop soon. When you least–or most–expect it). - Okayplayer.com

Quickie Mart has been collaborating with rapper Gotham Green on the Haze Diaries releases since 2009. Haze Diaries Vol. 4 will be available this August with guest spots by Freddie Gibbs, Wax, Grafh, T. Mills, Zeale, Casey Abrams and Jes Hudak. In the meantime, here's a track from the album for download, "Everything," featuring El Prez. - My Spilt Milk

Worlds have collided and oddly enough, it comes as no surprise that bounce music and American dubstep were made for each other. If this is the beginning of a longstanding relationship one thing is clear, the two genres are about to produce some hyperactive and hyper-aggressive musical love children. With thanks to Gypsyphonic Disko for sharing, we present to you Quickie Mart’s remix of Skrillex’ “Bangarang” with the NOLA Bounce treatment. As a precautionary measure, we advise our elder viewers to proceed below with caution, this isn’t exactly Frank Sinatra. - NOLA Live Music Blog

Gotham Green and Quickie Mart link up with El Prez once again for the lead single off their upcoming Haze Diaries v.4 project. - 2 Dope Boyz

New Orleanian DJ/producer Quickie Mart presents his NOLA Bounce remix of “It’s On Fire”, a new song from Bay Area lyricist Lateef The Truthspeaker, best known for his work as one half of Latyrx alongside Lyrics Born. The song appears on the It’s On Fire EP, a collection of remixes of the track from the likes of B. Bravo, Non Stop Bhangra and more. New Orleans-raised Los Angeles resident Quickie Mart produced three volumes of the Haze Diaries mixtape series with East Coast emcee Gotham Green, and recently released Space Monkey Radio EP, five artist-approved dubstep remixes of tracks from Freddie Gibbs, Ricky B, Slightly Stoopid and more.
- Raw Drive

If you are under 21 in New Orleans, your night life might be in jeopardy.

An ordinance presented by City Councilwoman Jackie Clarkson to ban anyone under 21 from entering bars and music venues has been referred to the Criminal Justice Committee, and a meeting is tentatively set for March 28.

The vote was delayed mid-February so that the city council could reflect on the community reactions to the ordinance and allow members of the New Orleans music community to respond.

Council members declined to release any official statements to The Maroon on the ordinance until the re-evaluation process is completed.

The proposed measure has an enormous impact on the music scene in New Orleans, said Caitlin Sullivan, a mass communication senior.
Sullivan received an email from Bethany Bultman, director of the New Orleans Musicians Clinic, encouraging students to get organized and protest. Sullivan responded by contacting Clarkson.
“I do believe that many bars that are just catering to those underage drinkers should be restricted to 21 and over, but those music clubs that regularly have live music need to remain available to younger citizens,” she said in her letter to Clarkson.
“If not, you are stifling the tradition and culture, let alone forbidding many future talents from blossoming,” Sullivan added.
Sullivan’s opinion mirrors that of several musicians in New Orleans including well-known DJ, artist and producer, Quickie Mart.
“The real artists that are going to suffer will be the musicians and DJs that rely on their weekly gigs in the city, especially if some of those artists are underage themselves,” he said.
Quickie Mart said that the ordinance would be a disadvantage for musicians and DJs under 21.
“I had the luxury of playing in 21 and up bars years before I was of age. Not to say that there wasn’t trouble at a lot of gigs, and some I didn’t end up getting to play because of my age, but it definitely impacted me as a young artist,” he said.
The ordinance presented on Feb. 16 said that the restriction would not apply to people employed by the alcoholic beverage outlet. Although the wording is vague, presumably “persons employed,” would include musicians hired to play.
The possible consequences of the proposed ordinance have raised concerns with some of the city’s top promotion companies.
Ron Richard, CEO and founder of Simple Play, a music promotion company that throws shows in New Orleans, said he was alarmed when he heard about the ordinance but raised doubts about its likelihood of passing.
“I thought there was no way this would go over in New Orleans, just being the town that it is, I didn’t think the people would let it happen,” Richard said.
Richard also manages the bookings for bands such as Big History, Royal Teeth, EarPhunk and the Floozies. He said that the ordinance would affect the way he promotes these and other artists.
“You have three years of a demographic that can’t come to a show. It completely takes away the ability to promote to those kids,” Richard said.
Richard said it wasn’t fair for that demographic to be the target of the ordinance.
“Whether they drink or not, someone that comes because they really love the music gets denied this chance,” he said.
Olivia Lueckemeyer, mass communication junior, agreed with Richard.
“I think it’s a ridiculous measure because people don’t go to music venues just to drink. They also go to hear music,” Lueckemeyer said.
The New Orleans’ younger bar patrons have been the focus of a recent string of crackdowns. The proposed measure came just months after council members voted unanimously to tighten the city’s curfew policy requiring young people under the age of 16 to be accompanied by a guardian in the French Quarter after 8 p.m.
Lueckemeyer said that obtaining alcohol in New Orleans was as easy as getting a po’boy, but that the ordinance wasn’t the right solution to the problem.
“There are other solutions to keeping kids away from alcohol than banning them from the bars or music venues. How about just giving a wristband to those over 21 like the Maison does?” Lueckemeyer said.
Quickie Mart suggested that the focus should be shifted toward other problems.
“I think the police will be overwhelmed with MIPs, and the city has many more things to worry about than 18 plus going to see live music,” Quickie Mart said. - The Maroon

DJ/producer Quickie Mart and singer/songwriter/musician Jes Hudak (together known as Bang You’re Dead) love the comforts of Los Angeles but, when they’re itching to get away form it all, there’s nowhere to go but Arizona. On their first Booth feature and latest promo single, Quickie Mart’s bluesy production bangs in the back as his crewmate pays tribute to the unique charms of the Grand Canyon State. Fellow L.A. resident Dez Hope contributes guest rhymes. This joint isn’t attached to any forthcoming project, but fans can look forward to Bang You’re Dead’s latest video, Alive, debuting Feb. 14, exclusively on Beatport. - DjBooth.net

Quickie Mart [Martin Arceneaux] is talking about Gypsyphonic Disko‘s new release, NOLAphonic, Volume Two, which is out now (hear individual tracks here). It’s his project with Galactic’s Ben Ellman, merging bounce primarily with klezmer and Eastern European music. They released volume one in 2010, followed that Christmas by a gypsyphonic version of “The Little Drummer Boy”, adding Katey Red to Neil Diamond’s track. Last football season, Gypsyphonic Disko cut “Crunk-O-Phonic”, which set the Ying Yang Twins’ vocals on “Halftime (Stand Up and Get Crunk)” against a string-band backing, complete with an accordion solo. - Offbeat Magazine

Say what you will about the names of the artists involved on this track but you might soon be catching “All I Know” bumping from a ride or two on your block. With the Freddie Gibbs stamp of approval (in the form of a murderous guest verse), you can even get away with an auto-tuned hook. This is taken from the latest, fourth installment of Gotham Green and Quickie Mart‘s Haze Diaries series, which will also feature appearances from Planet Asia, El Prez, Grafh and others. They found Grafh! How dope is that? - OkayPlayer.com

DJ/producer Quickie Mart and singer/songwriter/musician Jes Hudak (together known as Bang You’re Dead) love the comforts of Los Angeles but, when they’re itching to get away form it all, there’s nowhere to go but Arizona. On their first Booth feature and latest promo single, Quickie Mart’s bluesy production bangs in the back as his crewmate pays tribute to the unique charms of the Grand Canyon State. Fellow L.A. resident Dez Hope contributes guest rhymes. This joint isn’t attached to any forthcoming project, but fans can look forward to Bang You’re Dead’s latest video, Alive, debuting Feb. 14, exclusively on Beatport. - djbooth.net