Born: 1952
Real Name: Dave Storrs
Artist Name: Alien Wizard, Davey Phd.

Interview Dave Storrs October 2004

What was your first music project?
Well, there have been many projects as I started making records when I was very young.  During the Electro period my first record was “The Itchiban Scratch”  then with Electrobeat Records came “Rough Cut” .

What was the first record or artist you’ve been inspired of?
There were so many but I feel Hashim’s intensity really made a mark on my attitude.

How and when do you get in contact with the Rap scene back in the days?
DJ Pebo took me to the „Radio Club“ (Disco) early on and I was impressed that the DJ’s were reworking music live – this was never done before – I’d been to many discos in London but never seen what Glove and Egypt were doing at Radio – to me, a great fan of Stockhausen and Edgar Verez, this was clearly the next revolution in commercial musical composition as well as production.

How did you came in contact with Artist like "Ice T, Chris "the Glove" Taylor , Kid Frost and was it only buisness or friendship?
Most of the artists I met at Radio or through DJs (like Pebo).  We all would hang and work together at times  -- so I would say it was a bit of both friends and business.

We know the following  productions you worked on.
- Ice T "Body Rock"
- Kid Frost "Rough Cut"
- Chris "the Glove" Taylor "Itchiban Scratch"
- Spinnmasters "Brothers"
- Kid Frost "Terminator"
- Bronx Style Bob "NY Ninja"
- Kosmic Light Force "Mysterious Waves" and
- Dancing on the Planet
Are there any others ?
Yes that is correct. The others are Females, Cold as Ever, Go Off, Speed, East Coast the West Coast is Rock'n, Battle Masters, Born to Battle,  Better Since Your Gone, (of course) Reckless, (and as you pointed out) Combat, and Kick it.

Can you sure say that the Combat record was never released on Polydor (We have send you the scan). I ask this because we had several discussion with other collectors and distributors. And they say it was pressed in a small amount.
Combat -- it could have been released -- I never recall having received any notice or royalties

We known from Chris "the Glove" Taylor that you worked with him on the Reckless Song. Can you describe how you came to this project? 
This was an interesting situation we were composing and producing dance tracks for the film Breakin as well as promos (the Breakin trailer).  We had finished the work ----  when a call came from someone at the film company requesting a Rap over one of the tracks for release on the Breakin Soundtrack Album -- we negotiated the deal.  As I recall this all happened in a very short time frame – about 24 hours from the call to the delivery of the mix to mastering.  I was in the studio for 20 hours straight cutting tape (no computers on this session), adding the Rap and mixing.  I can't remember who delivered the tape to Bernie Grundman for mastering but the next thing I knew it was on the charts.

How was a track like “Rough Cut” or “Terminator” produced, was it recorded in a studio, who had the ideas and who played the instruments?
Pebo and I worked on the groves all the time –when we were satisfied we brought in the Rapper, in this case Kid Frost, then added the rap and sweetened the track and then mixed.  It about took about 2 days –from start to finish.

You worked with several artist on the Electrobeat Label like Ice T, Kid Frost, Spinmaster and Chris "the Glove" Taylor. Did they ask you to produce their music or how came this partnership to real?
Pebo was selling records for JDC a local distributor and he new many of the DJs from the record.  He was in contact with the artist street scene and would bring them into my garage studio.  We would talk about how they saw themselves artistically and we would just let the relationships grow and see what happened.  Pebo was very aware; he knew there was a market for this new music from his connections with the stores -- he knew the buyers were there.   At this time the major labels wouldn't put this music out so the artists came to us and ---  away we went ………………  !

What was the most selling Electrobeat Number ?
I don’t really know -- some of the sublicensees did very well – I was told they went gold.

Who was the artist called Alien Wizard? 
It was Me –--This was a street name that Kid Frost had given me because I was always twisting sounds around and Kid Frost thought they sounded spacey.   Ice T had also given me a street name, he called me “Davy PhD”.  This came from my background in electrical engineering and my consistently pulling electronics apart in the studio –  Also, Ice T would ask me to come be present whenever we negotiated with lawyers because as he put it “Dave speaks Caucasian”!   It was nice to feel needed.

On the Song “Rough Cut” there is a guest appearance by D.J. Yella. Can you describe the work with him on this project?
Yella was a friend of Pebo’s.  He knew of him from the Wreckin´ Cru and worked with them on a project at JDC Records.  We discussed his addition to the project and brought him to my garage studio -- he was very cool and mellow and had great ideas.

Who was your favourite rapper you worked with back in the days? 
The Rappers back then were all incredibility creative and genus’ in their own right – with enormous courage to pursue an artistic career when no Rapper had been successful as of yet.  I have old tapes where they rap about this.  It’s rather cool considering Rap music dominates today’s commercial music industry.

What was you Part in the Electrobeat  Label ?
Electrobeat  was a partnership that included Pebo and myself.  The label inspired by our belief that there was a market for our music. And, my feeling was that this music is timely and needed to be recorded because its passion was sociologically strong.  You could see it when you walked the streets – you’d find kids trading tapes like they were gold. It sounds odd now but I saw DJs sell mix tapes for $100 each – I thought this was incredible.  The music was obviously so important that it could command that sort of street value.  Anyway back to the Electrobeat  partnership -- I provided the music (composition, playing, studio-recording, mixing and producing) and he (Pebo) handled the marketing, gave music artistic direction.  He also helped with the mixes and gave general overview to each project.

Did you ever visit the Disco „Radio Club“ back in the Days?
Most definitely –yes and it was a most important link to my involvement with this music.

What music equipment did you use for the Electrobeat productions (vocoder, drum machines)?
I used the following: 808, DX, OB8, PAiA Vocoder, Arp 2600, Prophet 5, Mirage, 01a Digital Reverb  – Oh, and I also borrowed an early Fairlight and used it on Tibetan Jam.The PAiA Vocoder sound on Terminator was a bit tricky as I recall -- because one needs a lot of hi overtones to recreate syllables -- I used the OB8 and tuned all the 8 oscillators to a single note in octaves using saw and square waves -- then detuned them just a little.

Why are there so many unreleased Electrobeat numbers?
My concern was mainly getting the music recorded -- selling and collecting on the shipped product was another story.  But, you should note that most of the other recordings were cut to vinyl or acetate and were played on the radio and/or used in films.

What was your biggest musical success? 
That depends on how you measures success.  Don’t get me wrong the money is very important to me; but when I think about the music I have played a part in making -- I feel most successful when I hear other producers and artists extending musical ideas that I had a hand in developing; or when I learn that some of my 12 inches have been bid up and sold for $50 or $100, a pop, on Ebay or when music fans Email me for a copy of some long forgotten track – To me that is success!

Was the Nightbeat Label with the releases Bronx Style Bob "NY Ninja" and Kosmic Light Force "Mysterious Waves" also owned by you? 
Yes, but they were more of a collaboration than solely my production as is shown in the credits

What was the greatest memorable moment back in the Electro Days?
There too many to count but I think working in the film(s) in Ice’s band was real wild - Just look at the live performance of  “Go Off” -- it was the first heavy metal Rap recording—a scene in Breakin’ 2 (Electric Boogaloo).  We were smashing things and Ice was hacking vinyl records on stage with my Great Uncle’s dagger used in the Spanish American War – that’s a fact – check it out!  Nothing was rehearsed -- I had no idea what would happen.  We knew it better be exciting. We got on stage and acted out – and it is what it is.

Can you name your personal five Electro Songs from back in the days? 
Planet Rock, Al Nanfiysh, Beat Box, Juice, Egypt Egypt

What kind of music do you perform today?
I am working on several projects that range from experimental jazz to minimal tone poems with an Electro feel – all is very new music –I also play Acoustic Guitar in a duet that performs Gospel songs that are all over 100 years old with a vibe that ranges from Gypsy Kings to a bop.  I have had a couple of Electro ideas using heavy guitars instead of synths with 808 real intense but am looking for a Rapper with a fresh style – will see if it had legs.

You are still in contact with artists you worked with back in the time?
Ya, some of them call from time to time and I do talk to Pebo quite frequently.

Was this kind of music only a project for you or did you love this music back in the days? 
This music was so real, current and passionate I loved it – I knew it would either die a mean death or revolutionize commercial music. I am very glad to see the interest it has generated and maintained -- in many ways it kept my interest because it was a social phenomena – Also, it was great to see so many of the artists mature and gain great success -- particularly because all the major labels had turned us down in the early days.

How old are you now?
52