thaFormula.com - How did your connection with the Soul Assassins come about man and how did you come into the scene?

DJ Lethal - Basically, my dad is a guitar player and I always grew up with my bedroom being his studio. He always had like 4 tracks, 8 tracks drum machines and stuff like that and basically I just grew up around it so drum machines were always around, but I got more into it like junior high school. I kind of went more for DJ'ing and stuff like that. Basically I was dating this girl and Muggs from Cypress Hill, he was dating one of her cousins and she lived with us so Muggs would come over to hit the chick and he would bring over Cypress Hill demos. The first shit I heard was "Pigs" and "How I Could Just Kill a Man." I was like "wow this is what I want to do." Before that like in '88 I met Everlast and I met him through this girl Tairrie B back in the days. She was a rapper on Ruthless Records. Somehow I met her and we became friends then we stopped talking for about a year and out of nowhere she called me up and was like "oh my boyfriend is this dude Everlast and he's with the Rhyme Syndicate (Ice-T) and he's going on tour and he needs somebody to beatbox and DJ and shit," cause I really started out beatboxing cause that was my shit. So she arranged a meeting with Everlast and we met up at the Pink Dot on La Cienega and Sunset (Los Angeles) and just sparked a doobie with him and hit it off. He asked me if I could DJ and I was like "hell yeah I can DJ." I couldn't even DJ that dope but I was like "fuck yeah." So my first tour I went with Everlast to Europe with Ice-T and the Rhyme Syndicate. I think I was about 16 or 17 years old. This was back in like '88. After that when we came back his record didn't do too crazy so we just started chillin' and basically just robbin' cars. Stealing shit and basically doing whatever we could do to eat. That's around the time the Muggs thing jumped off and I was like "wow that shit is bananas." He wouldn't leave the demos, he would just play them for me. At that time me and that girl broke up and then I moved back home and then my dad was like "yo man, you wanna go in the studio and start fucking around?" I was like "hell yeah." So I locked myself in the garage for like 3 months straight just learning all my dads shit and I started on a Roland W30 keyboard. I think I finally got a SP1200 at that point, but I really started out on the Roland keyboard and actually all the first beats that I made were all the beats on the first House of Pain album. Those are literally my first beats ever.

thaFormula.com - It amazes me how a lot of producers first beats on albums or whatever, turn out to be some of their best work ever. Why do you think that is?

DJ Lethal - Because muthafuckas are so fuckin' hungry. When you first start doing it you really don't have any premeditated thoughts of what it's gonna sound like. You tend to like experiment and your not like "oh I got to make some club shit," you just wanna make some dope shit to impress all your friends and make them say wow.

thaFormula.com - So when did you guys come up with the concept for House of Pain?

DJ Lethal - Everlast went to Taft High School over in Canoga Park and Danny Boy was his boy when they went to school. Danny Boy ended up moving out to Hollywood and he moved out to a little place called Martell Hell, it was on Martel and Willoughby. He moved in there and me and Everlast would bail out to the valley and chill in Hollywood with Danny Boy. We just kept hanging out and eventually I started bringing beats over and then we were just like "yo we need to make a fucking group," and Danny Boy came up with the name House of Pain. From there we were just like a crew. Then Everlast and I would go to Muggs crib and we did a demo with Muggs. "Jump Around" was on there and a couple of other songs and that's basically when it jumped off.

thaFormula.com - When you guys were recording the album were you guys worried about sounding to much like Cypress or were you guys shooting for the same type of sound?

DJ Lethal - At that time that sound was the shit. That gritty SP1200 dirty sound. We weren't gonna sound like Cypress right off of the bat anyways 'cause Everlast wasn't gonna be doing no any high pitched rapping and Danny Boy was gonna do the low thing, so like right off of the bat we had our own thing we were representing.

thaFormula.com - When you guys dropped the album man, did you guys have a feeling it would blow up like it did?

DJ Lethal - Not really, but as soon as we dropped "Jump Around" and go to the clubs in L.A. and have our boys play that shit and watch people go fucking bananas, then is when we kind of knew we had something on our hands. Then we started going up and down the coast down here in San Diego to San Francisco and people started knowing that song. When that song came on people went bananas. I was like 18 bro just happy to be on the road. Girls, playing concerts, if it all ended there I would have been happy still.

thaFormula.com - So knowing that you had just come off of a huge debut album, how did you approach the second album production wise?

DJ Lethal - I think we weren't really trying to follow it up with just trying to find one big ass song. I think we wanted to kind of just chill back down and shit and not go to crazy again. At the time there wasn't no Eminem. You had 3rd Bass, Beastie Boys and you had House of Pain. At that time 3rd Bass wasn't that large at all. The Beastie Boys are the Beastie Boys, they are the fun and party shit. We were on that straight hardcore "yeah we are white and Irish and were ripping' shit up." But we were getting a lot of flack man. We opened up the door for white rappers in a sense as far as like being credible Hip-Hop dudes.

thaFormula.com - So did you guys face that many problems man?

DJ Lethal - Oh Man! Are you kidding? In like every damn interview it was like uh...I got stuff I saved from back in the day from all the magazines and I go back there sometimes and I read some of the stuff and I'm like "wow, they were really trying to grill us on being white in rap." So we were more worried about making dope shit and keeping our credibility then making another cheesy Hip-Hop dance song or something. We just felt like making some dope shit. If we have another hit single, we have one, and if not at least we got the one. We just wanted to keep it raw and hard.

thaFormula.com - Do you think that you guys had too big of a hit album for a white rap group and that it really affected you guys on the next album?

DJ Lethal - Nah. I think that's what happened to Vanilla Ice, but he was wack. For somebody like that yeah, but I don't think so. To this day though you should be so fuckin' lucky in music to be even a one hit wonder. You should be so damn lucky in this world if you have one hit. But you know we kept it hard and dark on the second album and we just kept getting darker. The third album I was just like "fuck this." All I was thinking is "damn I want DJ Premier to hear this and be like 'damn Lethal got beats'," so that was like my record for producers. I should have been trying to make hits, but I wanted to show muthafuckas that I got beats. I was doing stuff for other artists too around that time. I was doing stuff for Funkdoobiest and others too.

thaFormula.com - Did you ever feel that you were slept on as a producer?

DJ Lethal - Well for me, I been in bands and stuff so my whole theory is that I don't really want my two years of producing tracks for everybody in the world and not being around after that 'cause they're so tired of your sound. It's like I have had a steady career for almost 20 years now and I'm only 33. So I'd rather cruise, stay quiet. You know I just worked on another number one record for Evanescence? I did all the beats and programming for that record and I just stay on the low. But if you check your credits on some of those records, Lethal Dose is on there.

thaFormula.com - So why was the third House of Pain album the last album for you guys?

DJ Lethal - Well, House of Pain we just started having some differences and it seemed like a long time and we really weren't having as much fun on the road together and we were just kind of like "I think it's time to chill out for a while, let's just do our own thing for a minute."

thaFormula.com - Now after that I didn't really see you in a while until you popped back up with Limp Bizkit?

DJ Lethal - Well like in '96 or '97 we did a little run of St. Patrick's Day shows in Florida and one of the opening bands was Limp Bizkit. I remember I met these dudes outside and they were all like super rednecks and I was like "these fools are crazy." Like rolling up in like 20 people in a van, carrying their own equipment and just whatever. Anyway I think I got some weed from one of their buddies and we hung out and I was like "these dudes are pretty cool." So I think I watched them perform and I was like "these dudes are kind of ill, they are kind of crazy, this is some shit I wouldn't mind producing," 'cause I was dabbling in the rock stuff way back then. I produced Sugar Rays first album when I was like 21 or 22 and that was some of the first Hip-Hop/Rock shit. I was scratching on there, I was doing beats, sampling and looping rock guitars in the SP1200. Then we did the song with Helmet and House of Pain and that was some rock shit for the "Judgment Night" soundtrack. So I was trying to dabble in all that stuff. So I was like "I need to explore this rock shit 'cause this is cool," I've always loved Rock. In Hip-Hop all the drums and shit come from Rock records so I had mad crazy rock influence in myself. So basically I was like "wow I need to produce these cats and find a way to get them back in L.A. in my studio and try and get them to cut an EP or something." So basically we kept talking a little bit and then finally they got a little record deal or something and they were all gonna come out to L.A. and they all hopped in vans and started driving out and like a couple of days go by and I'm like "damn what happened to these dudes." So I called and it ended up that they ended up flipping their van on the freeway and almost all dying. They flipped their van completely over on the freeway. So they show up to my house with like stitches and shit so I have like 10 guys in my fucking house living on my floor and shit for a couple of months. I think they got a deal with some label and they weren't giving us no money 'cause I needed to like rent gear and drums and all kinds of shit. They really weren't doing nothing so I was like "you guys need to hook up with your boy Jordan (who was the president of Geffen at the time but now he's got his own label). He was like trying to sign them back in the days so I was like "you guys need to call Jordan back up and have him buy you out of your contract 'cause these guys suck." So then next Jordan came down and they had a meeting and they signed them and we went to New York did some songs and then they got a deal and came back down to Cali and at that point they were like "fuck it why don't you join the band." I was like "fuck it, why not," and that was pretty much it.

thaFormula.com - So did you have a lot of input production wise on the Limp Bizkit record?

DJ Lethal - I mean yeah, I can't take credit for everybody 'cause everybody did their own thing but I definitely had an influence on the vibe and how hard the beats should be and how the drums sounded. I mean we would be sitting there in the studio and as a Hip-Hop producer if your drums ain't hot, your track is wack. So it starts there. But Wes was a genius guitar player, John was the most retarded fucking drummer, Sam was a bomb ass bass player and shit so it was a good sound. But definitely I had a lot of influence on what was going on.

thaFormula.com - How did you guys decide on bringing DJ Premier into the mix for "N 2Gether Now?"

DJ Lethal - Actually we was working on the track and I started the track. I did the track and it was that track that we had Method Man come on and everything and we were just like "yo let's send it to Premier and see what he can do with it." So we sent the track and he added his drums to it and he added a couple of scratches and sounds and he made it a hundred times fucking hotter. When I sent it to him I think it was just that little harp loop and some drums and that's about it. So he threw the drums on there, threw a bass line on there, he threw some crazy little screeching sound on there. You could just play Primo's drums and your neck is gonna be fucking banging. So he definitely gave that track what it needed. I was just happy I sent Premier a track and he fucked it up, that was dope.

thaFormula.com - So here you are once again in another group that blew up ridiculously and once again you are on album number 3 in almost the same situation, or was it completely different?

DJ Lethal - With Limp Bizkit it just kept getting bigger and bigger dog, it was crazy. That first record sold like 2 million, the second record sold like 5 or 6 million and I think the third record sold like 8 million or something. We sold like 30 plus million worldwide with Limp Bizkit. Then Wes left the group and Fred was starting to get too much exposure in the press. You know whenever your number one dog, people are fucking trying to bring you down. Nothing lasts forever and if you're a band today your lucky to have 2 years in the public eye let alone like 7 or 8 and sell like 30 million records. I think Limp Bizkit might still hold the record for the most records sold in one week for a rock band which is 1.3 million. I think it's gonna be along time before anybody even touches that.

thaFormula.com - Were you better prepared this time with Limp Bizkit as far as knowing from your past experiences that this wasn't gonna last forever?

DJ Lethal - Yeah, for sure. After House of Pain a bunch of shit happened to me and I basically had to start all over. I was broke.

thaFormula.com - So you didn't make crazy money all those years with House of Pain man?

DJ Lethal - Nah, not ridiculous amounts. I think the record sold like 1 million records. We were doing shows and shit but in the business man, there is a lot of shady muthafuckas. My business manager was jackin' us, not paying taxes and there was just a lot of shit that happens behind the scenes that you would never think of. I basically had my house foreclosed on, I had my cars repoe'd, just everything straight got jacked by everybody around me. There was lawsuits here and there for fights in clubs and shit like that. All that shit comes back and bites you in the ass and next thing you know you're fucking broke. So after House of Pain I was broke man. Literally, my bank was the fucking check cashing place on Hollywood and Vine. That was my bank. I was living check to check and shit.

thaFormula.com - So you were livin' like that for how long man?

DJ Lethal - I did that until shit, uh 'til Limp Bizkit sold some records man. From like '96 to like '98 I was broke. For me during that time, making beats is how I stayed sane. That's how I kept out of the clubs drinking and partying. That's my job. If I'm not getting paid for it, I'm not getting paid for it, but at least I'm still trying to do something and building up a catalog of beats. I could probably stop making beats right now and have enough beats to last the rest of my life.

thaFormula.com - So you were better prepared this time when the Limp Bizkit thing came around...

DJ Lethal - Yeah, but you know life is funny man. You know like say you get married and you got money, you get divorced but you have a kid, next thing you know you're paying 10 grand a month. I mean, that didn't happen to me but shit can happen that way. Next thing you know 100 grand lasts you 6 months. There's different levels of everything. Even if you're a millionaire you can go broke. But yeah, I learned a lot but it's still a struggle. What's comfortable, what's rich these days, I mean you're not rich if you have a million dollars. How long is a million dollars gonna last you? So you get a check for a million that's already 600,000 after taxes, you put down 200 grand to buy yourself a house which leaves you 400 grand left. Then like all of a sudden your bills are like 5 to 10 grand a month and then you got 3 or so good years and then you're done. So what is rich? I don't think I could ever be comfortable. If I was comfortable, I would be chillin' in Miami on a yacht fuckin' doing nothing. I just always feel like I'm broke.

thaFormula.com - While you were doing the Limp Bizkit thing you were gonna come out with your own album, what happened with that?

DJ Lethal - I got it signed to Geffen Records. I got a label deal for my own shit and then the fucking Eminem thing kind of jumped off, and also the people at the label were like all acting shady with me and trying to extort me for cash 'cause I signed Rock from Heltah Skeltah. Scott Storch did the beat and they were just hatin' at the label. I wasn't feeling them so I was just like "wow this is bananas." So I kind of just gave up on it like "this is fucking bullshit." I'm like getting extorted by the radio promo people for like 10 grand so they can play the record. So at that point I was just kind of bitter and was like "fuck this."

thaFormula.com - So once the Limp Bizkit group came to an end, what was the next step from there man?

DJ Lethal - Well, you know I think that phase is right now actually. I'm in that phase right now. What I've been doing lately is you know, we actually got a new group called La Coka Nostra.

thaFormula.com - Yeah I remember seeing the beginnings of the group and saying "yo that's Lethal doing it again." I had to hit you up to see what was poppin' with that..

DJ Lethal - Well basically I always have studios. I always try to have a recording studio and a place I can go to and a place where my boys can come and people can come and I could be around music all the time. So I had a studio in Hollywood and Danny Boy introduced me to a couple of his boys named Slaine and Big Left. At that point I was like "fuck Hip-Hop man, everything is just bullshit right now." I was like "what am I gonna try and do, some 'ol bullshit ass Hip-Hop shit." Hip-Hop was going downhill and I was like "you know what fuck it, I'm gonna give it another shot." So we did like a little record. Like a wannabe House of Pain white boy of today record. Then that kind of took its course and then I think I gave up on it a little bit and then I started talking to Everlast again and then Ill Bill came into the picture and that morphed into the La Coka Nostra.

thaFormula.com - So are you doing a lot of the production for the album?

DJ Lethal - Yeah, we got pretty much the whole record done and I think Ill Bill did like 1 or 2 tracks and I did the rest. We probably got like 20 songs so far, but pretty much everything you heard from La Coka Nostra so far is DJ Lethal production.

thaFormula.com - It sounds dope man. It's just good to see you back. What is the status of your solo album now?

DJ Lethal - Well what's going on now is that I just did a label deal for my label Lethal Dose Records with Navarre distribution so be looking for that record probably first quarter of this year. I got Method Man, Pharaoh Monch, Dilated Peoples, Linkin Park, Will I Am, Diamond D, I got Street Life from Wu-Tang. I got ODB, Alkaholiks and I'm gonna be doing new stuff. I'm just waiting to get my deal signed and done and then I can get incentive to go back in and pull up acapellas and re-freak stuff.

thaFormula.com - Are you doing any other production for other people?

DJ Lethal - Yeah, I just did that Evanescence new record, I just did Fonzworth Bentley's first two singles, I just did a track with Redman. Rampage from Flipmode, Ya Boy from Black Wallstreet, I'm working with Elliot Yamin from American Idol and a few other things. You know some of these are pop records, some of these are rock records, some of these are Hip-Hop records.

thaFormula.com - So when should people be expecting the La Coka Nostra album?

DJ Lethal - I would say definitely by summertime. We're gonna keep giving away free music right now up until we put the record out. But look for that possibly on Lethal Dose/Navarre. We're gonna try and do that independent. Just so you know La Coka Nostra is Danny Boy, Everlast, Ill Bill, Slaine, and DJ Lethal.

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