Deftone My dude how is things in the UK for ya??
Whats good sir?! I appreciate you inviting me to do this interview.
Everything is good, I'm smiling- its a '07, just come off the tail-end of a successful year. Now hoping to build upon it

Hows the Royal Family going?? haha im playing you dont have to answer that one??
Prince Charles says whut up

I see youve been on holidays, where you been MIA??
Ah I just needed time off to get my shit together. I've got a lot going on, had to get my priorities and whatnot straight. But im good now.

Now just so people know who the hell you are please fill us in on where they may have seen some of your work??
Cool, you can see my work on the covers of various mixtapes hiphop cds/dvds/websites. If you bought a recent Clinton Sparks or Tapesmasters inc mixtape, you probably seen me.
I'm very much a part time freelance graphic designer

Now tell me man how did this whole Graphics Situation come about??
Cutting a long story short; I'm currently at University studying for an E-business degree.
About 2 years ago, one of the subjects I had was Web/graphic design. it was a short 4 month thing, but we covered various software such as Flash, illustrator and Photoshop which really
interested me; because i've always been doing art and so forth.

I ended up getting myself a copy of Photoshop and Dreamweaver and just played around making posters and CD covers (which all revolved around hip hop artists etc, because thats the genre i was into)
From doing this I learnt little tricks and techniques here and there. I then made my own portfolio site with one of those free geocities accounts.
It was real ghetto, you know the deal. It had the little popup ads in the corner, the stupid long web address, the whole shabang. haha

But about a month after I got the site up, I still don't know how or why, but a DJ Next managed to stumble across the site and decided to email me. He got me a job doing a retail cd layout for Shady Aftermath artist: StatQuo.
My first official client, which gave me that bit of credibility and i guess the rest is history.

What Programs and Tools do you use to Get that Candy Coated Crack look you have got going on??
Basically just Photoshop, a mouse and a good idea.

Any other Graphic Designers you look upto or respect right now??
Oh there are plenty. I respect everyone who is doing their own thing and excelling in their own lane.

What was the first Graphics job you did and where you happy with how it turned out??
Yeah it was that Stat quo cd, 'Street Status' which was an official retail mixtape. Like everything, you can always make improvements, but there wasnt much free reign for
creative input on that project because it had to tie in with the rest of his promotional material at that time

How did you come about making some of the hottest mixtape covers for P.Diddys DJ ,Clinton Sparks ??
Funnily enough, through another DJ- Mick Boogie. I think ive been blessed with good luck. I was never really heavy on the self promotional side in the beginning, but I'm lucky enough that my contact details have been spread through positive word of mouth.
Working for Mick and Clinton really made things pick up last summer. I owe alot to them, I mean theyre two heavyweight names in the mixtape game. One owns mixunit for god sake!

What has been the biggest Project for you to this date??
Mixtape wise: I would have to say a tie between the official Clinton Sparks and Eminem Smashtime radio Shade45 anniversary mixtape and the Superman returns mixtape.

Do you feel you are limited living all the way in the land of Football and That Big Ass Big Ben Clock (England)??
Good question, but no not at all, it just means on the odd occasion I'd have to stay up til 2am UK time, to meet a 5pm deadline in california or some crazy shit like that.
I mean the internet has revolutionalised everything. Yes, thats an obvious statement, but its a point I have to make. It's made the world a much smaller place, that whatever your geography, it won't effect you in this type of business where youre exchanging digital files and money online.
Differences in Currency ain't a problem either - paypal been holding me down, it's the shit lol.

Now your website www.imreallygood.com is whats really poppin and i love ya layout man can you tell me whats really good about you, why the name imreallygood???
Thank you sir, appreciate it. I knew this would be asked lol.
Well It's memorable ain't it? Imreallygood.com- short, sharp and to the point. This is my E-business strategy coming into the light ha.
People may misconcieve it to be cocky or arrogance, but it's just a bit of fun. The way I see it, there are so many 'so and so designs.com' or 'so and so graphics.com'. I wanted my web address to
stand out and be different to match my designs. Not only that, but it creates intrigue. if you see a web address sayin 'so and so designs.com' you already know its a design website, half the people ain't even interested in that shit, so won't even open the link.
But something obscure like imreallygood.com? - Self explanatory.

What Mixtape Covers have you got lined up in the near future??
I don't think i'm allowed to say yet lol.

Are you looking into dabbling into any other area of Graphic Design such as Movie Promos, Clothing, Websites, Concert Flyers etc..??
I did do websites etc before but I re-evaluated my situation, and right now I dont have time to be taking on so much work. At the moment I just do this on the side to fund my student lifestyle,
but I definetely have future aspirations and plans to go into a lot of different areas. I mean the foundations have been laid.
I'm just building up connections. Crazy thing is I've already had interest from several Corporate firms with job offers- Im astounded. I guess just watch out for me when im done graduating!

What tips or words of advice would you give to aspiring Graphic Designers??
Do you. Simple as that. Practice alot, Develop your own style. The mixtape game is saturated with graphic designers, theres plenty for Dj's to choose from.
As a designer, you're replaceable. If you're doing the same style as the next guy, (who happens to be cheaper) what's stopping your client going to him instead?
Thats why its key to make yourself irreplaceable. Develop a 'look' or technique that only you can do, and then no matter how cheap the next man is, people are gonna
come to you cos you're the only one who can do that certain thing.

Simple rule. If you've done a project and people are thinking some other designer did it, you're doing something wrong.

How can people get at Deftone for that Plasma Supersonic Comic Look??
deftone@imreallygood.com

Anything else you'd like to Add before we end this interview??
Yes. England are better than Australia at football. ahaha

Shoutouts??
Yea def shoutouts to all my clients and people who support me. All my fellow designers and peers on Rapmullet- keep doing your thing.
Shout out to my young apprentice Vini, and to Amrit (Big Brother needs you), and whoever else is cool with me.

And thank you Trac and Stadium music once again

THANKS FOR THIS INTERVIEW

Interview By Trac (Stadium Music CEO)