www.The-Lost-Art.com Phat Kidz Exclusive Interview & Promo Edit

The Phat Kidz is a breakbeat duo consisting of two Florida DJ’s/Producers: Nikita & Tweezy. With over 11 years under their belt they are a force to be reckoned with. For The Love Of The Beat had the pleasure of speaking with this dynamic duo and put together the following interview. The feature also includes an exclusive to The Lost Art edit of Paul Oakenfold’s “Who Do You Love” that the Phat Kidz put together, so be sure to check it out and download at the end of the interview!

 

 

FTLB: How did you guys first meet and how long have you two been working together?

Tweezy: Through a mutual friend, Nikita came over to a house party of mine back in 2006.

Nikita: I seen a milk crate full of vinyl in the living room and asked him if he spun, which he said he used to. I then said “Well you’re about to start again” the rest is history. I created a monster! Lol. We’ve been djing together ever since. We started getting our feet wet in production in 2007, when we joined with Shoot 2 Ill Productions out of Ocala, with founder Dj Gee Spot and fellow dj friend Casper.
FTLB: What brought about the formation of the Phat Kidz?

Tweezy: Well for starters look at us… We‘re fluffy. Lmao. To be honest we had been thinking of a name for a while but never settled on anything.

 Nikita:  We were working on a track for the Deekline Remix Competition. It came to my head and I brought it up to him.  He liked it.  Jokingly he said we  need a kid saying “Phat Kidz” so we could drop it on the track. I had my sisters boyfriends daughter (Jaedyn Berry Johnson) record it on my sisters phone and she sent it to us. We were sold!  It was perfect, hysterical.  From then on we were the Phat Kidz.

FTLB: What equipment setup do you use for DJ’ing and what equipment setup do you use for production?

Phat Kidz: We can play on anything but our preference for djing would be Technic 1200’s, Serato, Pioneer DJM 600 & up & Novation dicers.  As far as production Ableton Live 9, Oxygen 8 Midi, Akai MPK Midi, multiple VST plugins (DB Glitch, Massive, Etc.), KRK Studio Monitors, and for times that we can’t annoy people around us Pioneer HDJ 1500’s…and last but not least our imagination and special sound effects that come from out mouth. Lol.

 

FTLB: For your unofficial remixes, how do you guys pick a track to remix and what is your creative process?/Is it any different than when you work on an original production? (i.e. do you work live in the studio together, send changes/additions back and forth, etc)

Phat Kidz: We both dig for music that makes us hype.  Whether it be an old track, or an up and coming track that is new and/or not very “known” at the time.  This is why we like to go to bigger festivals etc. to see what’s fresh.  We then get together live in the studio at least once or twice a week if we can.  Then we both work on the track and send back and forth.  It’s funny because a lot of the times we’ve both basically done the same thing with the track, just a little different touch on it.  In that aspect we work very well together, we have a lot of the same ideas.  I’ll hear a sound in my head and try to make the noise lol he will lay it out and we’ll tweak it. “That’s exactly what I was thinking” lol.

FTLB: Who/what first got you into the breakbeat genre and inspired you to become a DJ/producer? 

Phat Kidz: For the both of us back in the day we would hear a lot of breaks (which we didn’t know at the time) at the local skating rink…(The Roller Barn) lol. There were tracks that made us want to skate as fast we could…such as Afrika Bambaataa “Planet Rock”.
Tweezy: For myself, I remember going to my first show and listening to Sharaz “Just Can’t Wait”…that track did me in… I fell in love at that point with the breakbeat genre. Sharaz and Baby Anne played that night. After that I knew it was something that I wanted to do.
Nikita: For me at a young age it was The Prodigy. I loved their music, not really knowing the genre at the time. But their sound was one I couldn’t get enough of. Funny to me now cause one of my favorite producers/duo is Smash Hi-Fi, which consists of Leeroy Thornhill (of the Prodigy) & Marten Horger. I also remember in middle school my older sister Erika coming home with a cd that I fell in love with. It was Dj Santana’s “This Is Love”. I then started diggin more into this style of music. Buying Cd’s online and from The Groove in Tampa (Thanks Mom!) , as well as listening to the Saturday Night House Party on 93.3. If you know Florida Breaks, all the pioneers have influenced me to become a Dj/Producer.

FTLB: You both started your careers as DJ’s, what inspired you to make the change into production?

Phat Kidz: For us it was taking on the next step. We loved djing, but we both knew we wanted to go further and actually get noticed in music…It was time to take that vision and turn it into a reality. Any Dj can mix tracks on and on. It takes a true artist to broaden their knowledge in music. It was time to step out of our comfort zone and let our creativity take over. When we started with Shoot 2 Ill, Gee Spot introduced us to Ableton Live… basically showing us the ins and outs of production. Pointing us in the right direction, with taking that sound out of our head and sharing it with the world. We both really have to give a shout out to Gee Spot for this, as well as Agent K for hooking it up with samples, as well as showing him the route.

FTLB: Do you have a favorite/most memorable (good,bad,or comical) performance? 

Phat Kidz: Haha. Where do we start!? Well always comical with us two if you don’t know lol. We’ll start with….

The Good: Hands down for the both of us would be at Club La Vela in Panama City, Beach. Opening for Icey, Sharaz, Mark Sanchez, Doc Roc & Sandy. This was a hell of an adventure on the way down. Tweezy was driving, my “friend” at the time (which is now my girlfriend Danielle of 6 years) and I were in the back with the cooler full of beer. Everytime Tweezy said “Cop” we would obviously have to chug our beer to get rid of the evidence. What do you know, Tweezy said cop probably every 15 min or so…we then found out there was only 2 cops the whole trip. Keep in mind this was a 4 hour drive! Haha.
So much more but I’ll try to give a brief overview. Tweezy left his camera out at the condo that Danielle & Chrissy aka Rockstar got a hold of. Needless to say there were pics that looked like an audition for Hustler Magazine. Poor guy had no clue until he got home and his loving wife now (Becky Williams) went through the camera! Whoops!
Tweezy the drunken rapper came out “Dj’s Nikita’s throwing it down, showing all you bitches how its done in this town, if you don’t think these beats are ridiculous and cool, moF*cka you ain’t nuthin but a Foo…So bow down to the break beat highness, or go home and cuddle with your blanket like Linus”. And ending the story with Nikita accidentally turning a 2 day road trip into a 5 day vacation…driving back with Kelly Bubz, passing a water tower that we thought said “Alabama” (we were supposed to be heading to central Florida). We finally made it home 9 hours later!

The Bad: Nikita: I had a show at Firestone in Orlando- Deekline, Baby Anne, 12th Planet & More…I had a set in the Den, where I left my record bag behind the booth. After my set I went back of the mainstage to party and hang til closing time. When I went back in the Den my record  bag was gone. Someone stole it. Had a good $1000 or more in records, headphones that weren’t mine (sorry DV8), ortofon needles, and who knows what else. I ended up at a great after party at Adam Flurk’s house, where I got to sit and talk with Nick (Deekline) and told him the story about my bag…I have to give him a huge thanks because he ended up sending me a package from Rat Records with about 8 records, replacing some of the vinyl that was stolen and a personal note. For me it was a huge deal, as he is one of my favorite Dj/Producers. Very kind and honorable guy. As to whoever has that record bag, I hope you enjoyed all the dope music and hold some kind of guilt on your shoulder lol. I wont say how I really feel about that person lmao…

Comical: If you don’t know us, we are both some of the biggest jokesters. We both drink about a bottle of  Jager each show…this turns into a great time! For me (Nikita) it would be my Birthday. We had a limo drop us off at the club- Tweezy decided to do shots of Patron w/ DJ X, shots of Vodka, and who knows what else people gave him. This ended up with him on the ground outside the front of the club, spooning with the curb. For those of you that don’t know, he is not a guy that you want laid out. It took about 3 bouncers, Dj Dv8, and my cheerleading to get his big ass off the ground that night. Needless to say, he does not mix his liquors anymore! We could go on and on…but we’ll leave it with Tweezy is the best Scratch Dj after 3 a.m.. bahaha.
FTLB: What would be your dream track to legally remix and see released with the support of the original artist?

Phat Kidz: Avicii- Levels ?? NAHH! Lol.  It would be Paul Oakenfold (Who Do You Love) Hmmm…Maybe we should do an edit 😉  
FTLB: Do you have a personal favorite track out of your own productions/remixes or one that was the most fun to do?

Phat Kidz: Would have to be “You Can’t Hide”.  It was our first original production track together which sampled the Fugees “Ready or Not”.  We spent numerous days and hours on the track and finally came together, which was released under Tommy Who Records.  Shout out to Dustin Hulton for the mastering on this track and to Tommy Who for the release.
FTLB: If you ran a label that could instantly sign anyone in EDM right now, who would be your top 3 picks (yourselves excluded!-lol)

Tweezy: Showtek, Nikita: Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Phat Kidz: Stanton Warriors
FTLB: Any current/future projects you are working on at the moment and want to mention?

Phat Kidz: Tweezy has 2 releases coming out in July. One under VIM Records titled Paul Echo-Deep Space (Tweezy Remix) as well as Viper corps & No Profit-Bassline (Tweezy & Chaos Remix) which will be released under Breakz R Boss.
We just wrapped up some Phat Kidz edits that we are using for our Summer Shows. We’d tell ya more but we like to keep that on the DL 😉

We wanna wrap this up with a big Thanks to you guys for this interview. Nikita’s gf Danielle James & Tweezy’s wife Becky Williams for putting up with us and our shenanigans. Long nights, repetitive beats, and for always supporting and believing in us.We love you ladies! To Ashton, Tweezy’s daughter and biggest fan! Daddy loves you Monkey.

To our Family-Mamacita & Momma Tweezy. Erika & Jed Hernandez, Jason & Jaedyn Johnson, Meghan Puchalla. Thank you for all your support, motivation and going to countless shows. We couldn’t do this without you. To our fellow Djs support/mentors & friends such as Chaos & the OKC crew, Bella (my hussy) & Agent K with Digital Records, Tecniq, Dv8, Nasty, Dj Dee, Vic, Dustin Hulton, Mark Ivan/LO Iq?, Perez with Social Menace, Curtis B, Keith Mackenzie & the 11:11 crew, Frenzy, Rel-1 Bandar & 321 E, Bass Charger & the crew at Breakz R Boss, Scarletti, Krispy Beats & United Breaks.fm, Dj X, V.I.M. Records, Affiliated Beatz, Florida Static Crew, Somatic, Tommy Who, Mondo, the NLP crew, Si Dog & DEDR, Dj Shal, Casper & Gee Spot, Faze, Inferno, Rob Analyze, Blackwell, KUAD, Bud (Stylist/Rekognized Noise) Raiu, Glyn at FSOB & Sara Veyatour with Controlled Chaos Productions/Earthdance Florida… Nick D’Antico (Hands down the best IT guy in the world) lol…and last but not least our fans and anyone that supports the scene & The Phat Kidz! Anyone that we forgot, we are very sorry! We Love You All !

 

DJ Tweezy
In 2008, Tweezy became part of Shoot 2 ILL Productions, based out of Ocala, Florida. Alongside DJ’s Gee Spot, Casper, and Nikita he was able to broaden his horizons and leap into the world of production. Although the label is no more, it was an honor to be part of. Also in 2008, Tweezy became a member of Unitedbreaks.fm holding a residency along with the Shoot 2 ILL crew every Wednesday night from 8-10pm till 2009.
After a 2 year break, Tweezy was back and better than then ever. Tweezy signed on with Affiliated Beatz Records and The Florida Static Crew. In 2012 He began hitting the studio like a mad man. He has been turning out remixes for artists like Shawn Davis, K5, Breaks R Boss, and more with requests flying in. In 2012 he dropped more then 51 remixes!, and is not stopping anytime soon. So be on the lookout! Even out of the studio he has been quite busy with numerous guest mixes for Party95.3, Andy Just & SPB Breaks, and more. His talents are being recognized worldwide from the United States, to Russia, to Spain. With his remixes popping up in promo cd’s, podcasts, and Radio Stations all over, While getting Support from such Dj’s as Mondo, Chris Craze, Rel1, Chaos, Shawn Davis, Ian McDaniel, KJ of K5, Jimmy Joslin, and countless others. You don’t want to miss this up and coming artist!

JT Williams aka “Tweezy”, only in the scene since 2008, is surely making his mark. “Tweezy” has had the pleasure of playing at venues such as, Club La Vela (Panama City), Vintage Lounge (Orlando), Vixen Lounge(Orlando), and Club 238 (Gainesville) to name a few. He has had played in lineups with some heavy hitters in the EDM world, such as Dj Icey, Josef Plante, Dave London, J-Break, Agent K & Bella, Dustin Hulton, Faze, Curtis B, Viro & Rob Analyze, Rick West, Tommy Who, Shawn Davis, Johnny Cage and more.

 

 
DJ Nikita
In May of 2005 Nikita immerged on the scene determined to leave her mark. Since then she has opened up and played alongside many successful names in the EDM scene.
In the past 7 years Nikita has played alongside with: Dj Icey, Deekline, Marten Horger, Agent K, J-Break, Keith Mackenzie, Baby Anne, Curtis B, 12th Planet, Dj X, Sharaz, Far Too Loud (UK), Mark Sanchez, Dj Fixx, Rick West, Dave London, Doc Roc, Dj Sandy, Dustin Hulton, and Josef Plante. She has also had the honor of performing at the largest nightclub in the U.S. (Club La Vela in Panama City Beach)-Rated one of the Top 10 Clubs by Maxim Magazine.
In 2008, Nikita was invited to play @ the Winter Music Conference in South Beach, Miami opening for UK based producers “Far Too Loud”. Nikita returned in 2013…this time having the honor of playing Future Sound Of Breaks XI- The #1 breaks party of Winter Music Conference.

Nikita’s passion for music and dedication to the scene are the driving forces in her endeavor to reach the top of the DJ world. Her ability to play clean along with sick track selection keep her in demand as the “the Woman on the decks.” Nikita loves to throw down a collaboration of Breaks, Electro, Dutch & Fidget House . Her love for all music and Latin roots allows her to step out of the box of her EDM background and be diverse. She creates a great Vibe in any genre, taking on hip hop, top 40, pop, reggaeton, merengue, bachata, and back to Electro.
Nikita collaborated with Bella on their first release together “Skeeza” available on Beatport.com. Also remixes by K-Shyne and MKM & GBX of Brazil as well as “Dame La Sucia”, Remixed by Miami legend Jimi The Genius of Hydraulix/$uper Geniu$-also available on Beatport.com. Another release under Tommy Who Records titled “You Can’t Hide” w/ a collaboration with Dj Tweezy, as well as their Edit of The Wanted “Glad You Came”- Recognized in Spain by Rhythm and Breaks. 

Nikita is a past member of Breaks Mix hosted by Dustin Hulton & Justin Re-Faze of DNF Music. Nikita has had many residencies and has performed in numerous venues throughout Florida. The upcoming year promises to bring lots of excitement. Stay tuned!

 

 

You can check out more from The Phat Kidz aka DJ Tweezy & DJ Nikita here:
https://soundcloud.com/dj-tweezy

https://www.facebook.com/OfficialTweezy

https://soundcloud.com/dj-nikita

https://www.facebook.com/DjNikitaFl

Exclusive For The Love Of The Beat/The Lost Art Phat Kidz Promo Edit:

Download Link in description or click here!