Chris DeLine

When did you start making mashups?

Dj Doc Rok: I first started doing remixes of songs in late 2006, the first one was Mims “This Is Why I’m Hot.” It was a vehicle to promote my production skills, I didn’t mix it with another famous song I just put my own beat underneath it instead. I did this for about a year, exclusively with hip hop songs. Whenever a song came out that I thought had a weak beat (“This Is Why I’m Hot,” “Crank Dat Soulja Boy,” etc), I’d put my own beat underneath it and send it out to my email list. Then, in 2007, a friend sent me the American Gangster album a capellas about a week before everyone else had them, and I decided to sample Led Zeppelin tracks as the foundation for a whole remix album. I put the whole thing together in about three days, Perez Hilton posted it on his blog, and the rest, they say, is history.

Was there any other mashup producer, or producers, that inspired you to get started?

Dj Doc Rok: When I first started it was really just a novel idea to promote my beats.The American Zeppelin mashup/remix album was definitely inspired by the knowledge of Danger Mouse’s Grey Album, though I hadn’t had it specifically in mind when I started.

Have you had any legal threats or issues arise surrounding any of your bootlegs?

Dj Doc Rok: Yeah, the fuzz has been all up on my shit. After American Zeppelinblew up, they deleted my MySpace page due to “copyright complaints” and then a while later also randomly deleted my YouTube account too. Universal is pretty cool about allowing their stuff to be used creatively, Warner Brothers and Sony are complete dick holes. It also sucks because these projects really don’t do anything but help expose all the people involved. I haven’t made a cent off of any of the remixes I’ve ever done, but a lot of people have discovered either rock and roll or rap artists they didn’t know they liked because it hadn’t been presented in the unique way the remixes exposed them.

What is the last mashup you listened to that wasn’t yours?

Dj Doc Rok: Eric Pryds vs Sean Paul Temperature, we played it at the Epic Dance Party last night. It’s a banger.

How many mashups do you think you’ve made in your life?

Dj Doc Rok: I’ve done four album remix projects, American Zeppelin, Biggie Hendrix, 50 Cent’s Golden Oldies and Motown Electronic, plus probably fifteen single remixes of songs. That’s in between trying to get my own shit off the ground and working.

[This article first appeared on Mashuptown.]