AJ: Your own gigs are mostly improv, but when you sit in with other bands you are playing composed songs. How do you approach each situation?
Logic: The main difference is that I have to stay more focused working with composed music. I can’t just float out into my own space and find my own groove. It’s like someone else is driving and I’m just helping with the directions. But at the same time, I look at all situations as being equal. I don’t prepare much differently for other bands than I do my own. I just keep it logical.
AJ: Project Logic has been called a workshop. How is Project Logic a workshop?
Logic: It’s almost like a chemistry experiment. It changes every day. It’s never the same and we’re always adding different players, sounds and styles.
AJ: Tell me about the new album.
Logic: It’s groovy from the A side to the B side. I like to make people mesmerized with sounds and different grooves. The record is a collage of different things. There’s some acid jazz, some funky stuff, some abstract stuff, a Latin track, a hip hop track, and one with a female vocalist (Jennifer Charles).
There were many different musicians on it, some of which I have known from the past and others who I just met. It was just a matter of getting the right people together on the right tracks. You get different vibes with different people. I wanted to do something different with a DJ, something these normal musicians would never do. Everyone’s schedule worked out. We did the record in three or four weeks and most of it was improv. Melvin Gibbs and Scott Harding helped me produce it. We listened to all the grooves, arranged them and chose some nice textures and music.
AJ: What influence did New York City have on the making of the album?
Logic: Everything! This album IS New York City at its best. Every single artist appearing on the record is based in NYC and the whole vibe is a reaction to life in our fine city. Ultimately, I think the mix of peoples in NYC is reflected in the mix of music on the record – lots of variety.
AJ: What are your favorite sounds on the album?
Logic: That depends on my mood. When I’m chillin’ it’s the sound of Jennifer Charles’ voice, or Graham Haynes coronet. But when I’m on the subway I like to bug to the sounds of Melvin’s bass. When I’m groovin’ it’s John Medeski’s keyboards. It depends on the weather and my vibe.
AJ: I know that Bleu had a lot of friends in the music scene. For those who do not know him, who was he? Is the song “Kind of Bleu” in honor of him? If so, why did you choose that song?
Logic: That song is for him and the whole album is for him. Who was he? On the business tip he was the mad scientist creating the hippest clothes with his company Project Dragon. On the personal tip, he was everybody’s best friend, always there for everybody, always giving. And he LOVED music. You could find him nodding his head at every concert EVERYWHERE. He was always in the house….still is. He’s a big part of me. We chose that song because it felt like it invoked his spirit and we wanted to end it on the Bleu note.
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