HEADS KNOW TAPE 001: Daddy Kev
An interview and DJ mix from the GRAMMY award-winning sound engineer, Alpha Pup founder, and Los Angeles native.
Photo: Edrina Martinez
HEADS KNOW TAPES is our mix and interview series, curated to introduce you to the most exciting innovators, selectors, and artists from New York City and beyond.
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People say never meet your heroes, but I’m glad I met mine. Kevin Moo, also known as Daddy Kev, has changed my life in the short time I’ve known him. The GRAMMY Award-winning audio engineer, record producer, and author played one of my very first parties (before it was even called HEADS KNOW) back in January and if it weren’t for that night, I don’t know if HEADS KNOW would even be a thing right now.
It would be remiss to say Low End Theory isn’t the blueprint for so many of today’s underground parties, including and especially HEADS KNOW, but Kev has also done so much since then. He’s the founder of label and digital distribution company Alpha Pup, mix and masters for acts like Thundercat, Flying Lotus, Kelly Rowland and Leon Bridges, among others, and he still throws a weekly party called Scenario in Los Angeles, which also runs monthly in Japan.
Moo is a master of his craft, but his tastemaking abilities, long-lasting authentic love of music, and penchant for nurturing newer artists and professionals scene are what make him one of my biggest inspirations. For the inaugural edition of this mix and interview series, Daddy Kev has put together “MILES DEEP,” a 60+ minute mix of alternative mixes and recordings of Miles Davis that don’t appear on any of his original albums. “Putting the mix together has been very fun and therapeutic,” he says.
Listen to the mix, find the tracklist and read our interview below.
You wear a lot of hats in the music industry. If you could list them out in order of what you'd like to be recognized with most, how would that look?
DJ, engineer, community builder, label boss, graphic designer.
Which role is the hardest (and why?)
For me, it's been the engineer role, as it has required the highest amount of practice and research to become proficient. It took me well over ten years to grasp the basics of audio engineering and another ten years to feel comfortable operating within the industry. I'm still learning new techniques and trying to improve.
In your opinion, what makes a great party?
The foundational element of a great party is great sound, which implies three preconditions: a high-quality (i.e., low distortion) sound system, an ideal acoustic environment (i.e., music-purposed venue), and a skilled live audio engineer. You need all three for a consistently great sound experience.
Can you share a story from the last good party you went to?
Last week I was blessed to do a series of four shows in Japan under the Scenario banner. The last show was in Kyoto at a legendary venue called Metro. My business partner Fumitake Tamura put together an outstanding lineup that night, which included an all-vinyl DJ from Oakland named Tessa Shimizu aka MiZU. Tessa went on to play one of the best sets I’ve experienced in a while. It was the combination of the selections—heavy bass tracks—and the sound source of vinyl—mostly 12-inch singles—that sounded marvelous on the Metro system. The difference in sonic detail felt like a PSD versus a JPEG insofar as how the bass sounded (vinyl vs. digital). Another reminder of what the convenience of digital forsakes.
What makes you want to stay in LA?
My family is based here, so that's the #1 reason to stay. The music scene is among the very best in the world. The artists attracted to Los Angeles are exceptional, and their expressions provide me with endless inspiration.
What are some of the things that haven't changed about the scene there?
The overall creativity level has always been high. It's also been highly competitive in Los Angeles since the earliest days of the music industry. What's also never changed is that multiple music scenes happen simultaneously, running in parallel across genres, venues, and audiences. With the population of Los Angeles County alone nearing ten million people, it's just a huge potential audience to fuel artist brands and careers.
With making and distributing records at Alpha Pup, DJing and finding artists to sign or book, it's clear your ear is probably something that should be put in the Natural History Museum. If you were given 10 seconds to listen to a song and make a decision on whether it was good or not, what part of the song would it be and how would you decide?
Thank you for the kind words. I wish there was a hard and fast rule around the best part of a song to assess for quality. For most listeners, the song's beginning seems to be the most important, so I’ll go with the first ten seconds as the most critical. I typically listen first for the melodic structure and the rhythm section. Are the melodic elements in key? Is there an interesting or logical progression of notes?
If someone wants to get into music and doesn't know what to get into first, would it be DJing, producing, or something else?
I'll go with "something else" here, which is to say being a good listener is critical to being good at music in any capacity. Having a solid musical memory and vocabulary (I.e., being able to articulate what you're hearing to both musicians and non-musicians) puts you ten steps ahead. My personal musical path had me begin as a DJ before trying production, which I always look back on as an advantage.
Why is it important to you to continue to cultivate relationships with the younger generations of artists and folks in the music industry?
Providing a platform for the next generation of Los Angeles musicians has been my personal goal for many years now, going back to Low End Theory and beyond. If we're talking about musicians with the freshest musical ideas and concepts, it tends to be the younger generation.
Anything else you'd like to add?
Your potential is only as high as your ambition. So set your goal to what's possible. Your potential is whatever your goal is. If your goal is to do what you've always done, then that's the potential you will reach. Setting goals that are ambitious and distant is how you reach your potential. You'll only accomplish something big if you go for something big.
Support Daddy Kev on Instagram and Twitter, plus catch him at his weekly Scenario parties every Wednesday in LA.
TRACKLIST
Corrado
Go Ahead John (part two A) [edit]
Big Fun (Derived from take 3)
Double Image (first version) [edit]
I Have a Dream (Rehearsal Take)
Mtume (take 11)
Yesternow (take 16)
Early Minor (New Mix)
Bess, You Is My Woman Now (Rehearsal Take)
Take It Or Leave It
So What (Studio Sequence 1)
Assassinat (take 2) [DK Reverb Mix]
Studio Discussion
The Ghetto Walk (New Mix) [edit]
The Maids of Cadiz (take 10)
