Droppin' Knowledge: Behind The Boards With Bozack Morris

Bozackula is in the house! For this week’s Behind The Boards, Backseat Mafia is joined by Bozack Morris, producer and musician extraordinaire, and co-founder and label head of GGBR Records, based in Toronto. GGBR’s main man gave us a rundown on his inspirations, favorite places to crate dig and artists he’d like to work with. He also provides some tips for the gear heads, too. Morris has worked with a panoply of today’s most vital hip hop artists and has added his unique ear for sound and deft touch to albums by El Camino, Heem Stogied, J. Scienide, Ty Farris, and tracks featuring the members of the Griselda Crew – Westside Gunn, Conway The Machine and Benny The Butcher. The conversation has been lightly edited.

BSM: What inspired you to create music? What inspires you every day?

Bozack Morris: Moods and music are really all that inspire me to make music. I listen to a lot of shit outside of hip hop, so I’m always finding new sounds that I think dudes should be rapping over. That’s kinda all it is.

BSM: Where is your favorite or usual place to work/create?

BM: I work out of my lab. My whole set up is there, so it’s easy to work in my space. I can just stay for hours and vibe out to records before I actually go to work and that’s important to me.

BSM: Are you a crate digger? Where is your favorite place to dig? If you have one, give a shout-out. What was your greatest find?

BM: Been digging for over 20 years. I’ve got thousands of vinyl [records] and I only sample from what I dig up. So, no mp3’s or Youtube for me, personally. My favorite place to dig has gotta be Detroit. So many gems and so much culture to expose yourself to out there. Tokyo is incredible for digging, too. They’ve got everything out there. Its amazing to see how vibrant the vinyl culture is. Heatrocks and Pokemon galore.

BSM: Do you use music production software? If so, what is your preferred software?

BM: I don’t actually make beats using software. I use Pro Tools for mixing and recording and Audition for editing samples. The main centerpiece of my lab is the [Akai] MPC-1000.

BSM: What is your favorite piece of audio gear/instrument and why?

BM: It’s gotta be the MPC-1000. I’ve created most of my shit on there. I’ve copped an MPC-Live as well but keep going back to the sound of the 1000. It’s what I’ve learned on, so it’s what I’m comfortable with.

BSM: What is the one non-musical item that you must have with you when you are working in your lab?

BM: Probably my iPhone and my Pax vaporizer. Essential to get the vibe right.

BSM: Track or album of which you are most proud? Why?

BM: Probably the Loose Cannons stuff. It really set up my whole life right now, from the music, to the vinyl, to everything.

BSM: Dream artists to work with?

BM: I’ve worked with Conway a few times already, but guys I haven’t gotten to work with yet are Doom, Jay Z, and Roc Marci. I mean, who wouldn’t want to get work in with them?

BSM: Favorite artists or artists that you admire? Artists who have influenced you the most?

BM: DJ Premier, Dilla, Alchemist, Madlib. We’re standing on the shoulders of those guys, calling ourselves giants. Always paying homage.

BSM: Upcoming project or projects?

BM: I got a few. Stay tuned and follow me!

Listen to Never Change, from the project that started it all, Loose Cannons.