Deep Topic 2: Peanut Butter Wolf
“Exclusive Interview with Peanut Butter Wolf”
Who is Peanut Butter Wolf?
Chris Manak first started buying records in San Jose, CA in 1979 at age 9. It was mainly soul/funk 45s by artists like Cameo, the Gap Band, and Rick James. By the mid 80's, he was DJing and making his own beats for MCs and a few years later, he met 16-year-old rapper Charizma and they soon signed with Hollywood Records. In December 1993, the world lost Charizma to gun violence. Wolf took a break.
"Making beats" eventually became therapy for the next few years and in 1996, he started Stones Throw Records out of his bedroom as a vinyl-only record label that catered to DJs. His own album My Vinyl Weighs A Ton, was the most successful release of the label's early years. In 2001, Wolf moved to Los Angeles, bringing hip hop artist Madlib along with him, who became the center of the label for many years. When Madlib made Quasimoto's The Unseen, Stones Throw saw a turning point and defied more conventions with each year.
With artists as varied as Dam-Funk and Anika, Stones Throw grew a reputation for its left-field style, while Madvillain and J Dilla's Donuts, cemented their status in hip hop. As the founder of Stones Throw, Wolf has also curated albums for Adult Swim, 2K Sports, Serato, and Urban Outfitters. He has also discovered Mayer Hawthorne and Aloe Blacc, encouraging both artists who were rappers at the time to become singers.
After three decades of vinyl DJing, PBW now prefers A/V sets, playing music videos pulled from his personal collection of rare VHS, DVD, laserdisc, beta, etc.
Peanut Butter Wolf the label founder still enjoys a DJ career that has taken him around the world since 1992. Whether it's a private dinner party for Bill Clinton, a string of dates with the Beastie Boys, Gwen Stefani's birthday party, or his own high school reunion, Wolf is equally at home behind the turntables.
A documentary on the life of PB Wolf and his label Stones Throw, Our Vinyl Weighs A Ton, is now playing at film festivals, focusing on the path of Chris and the record label he created nearly 20 years ago.
INTERVIEW Q&A
Hip Hop has had many incarnations since the style came out of R&B and Soul from the 60’s and 70’s. It feels as though through you and those you have worked with have helped maintain a healthy, thriving “underground” scene of true artistic expression that’s hard to see in the mainstream. But in the advent of the internet, and now there is more music than you could ever listen to at your fingertips; Do you feel that the underground Hip Hop can maintain its heart in this world of easy access?
As long as people are interested in creating it, which they currently still are, it will always be.
DJing has also evolved a great deal since the early days of spinning at clubs. It has become a very big part of modern EDM, with DJ/producers playing on CDJ’s at any and all festivals. How do you feel about the modern DJ from your place of seniority in the DJ community?
I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way to DJ in terms of what equipment is used. I started on turntables and then before Serato came out, I started doing CDJs so that I could make CDs of unreleased music and play that and then I switched to DVDJs so that I could play music videos and after Serato came out, I went back to turntables and sometimes to music video sets, sometimes, all vinyl sets, etc. I’ve seen a lot of DJs do really cool stuff with Ableton and I’d like to learn to spin that way too. I’m all for evolving.
Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton is a documentary on the story of your record label Stones Throw Records. From its beginning as a means for you to release what you and the late Charizma had originally created, to now having countless releases by very recognizable artists and eclectic artists as well. You seem like you could have really put yourself at the center of all of it, but in the documentary, it feels as though you always stayed in the background of it all. What leads you to handle yourself in that way?
A lot of people don’t really even make the connection between myself and the label and yeah, in the doc, there really wasn’t much footage of me being in the studio with the artists, even though that’s a lot of what I do. Beyond that, I’ve hand chosen every artist on the label so far and am very involved in everything creative. I used to want to have my name on the back of every record, but lately, I’m not really mentioned on the records usually. As long as I can continue finding cool music to release, I know my involvement.
After the Late J Dilla had passed, you did something that people called “a Change of Direction” for Stones Throw, but you stated that you had always looked for new music in any form. However, it did feel that it went from Hip Hop, to Avant Garde, rock, punk, soul, to just anything that caught your interest. Was this influenced by where you were emotionally at that time? Or would you say that you just occasionally like to throw a wrench into things?
I think it was a little of both. When I started Stones Throw in 1996, I really wasn’t into any music but indy hip hop. There were so many interesting one-off records coming out on unknown labels and I was collecting all of them. But by around 1999, I started releasing 7” singles of stuff that didn’t fit in the boom bap, backpack, “keep it real” hip hop that the label came from. But, yeah, I was switching things up way before Dilla passed but after he passed, I guess it got more attention.
Stones Throw has always represented acts that were kind of on the fringe of genres. What is it that an artist does in their music that really causes you to say, “I really want to work with them.”?
Not something I like to try to describe, but I guess certain music emotionally moves me. In it’s simplest form, I just wanna release music that would excite me as a record buyer/collector/listener.
Small labels, niche labels, and Hip Hop labels come and go every day. Many without even having more than one or two releases. However your label has stayed at some degree of relevancy throughout its time. What would you say is the key to your label’s longevity?
Probably not relying on the legacy and not overthinking things.
Of all of the artists who’ve been a part of Stones Throw, from Madlib to James Pants to MF Doom. I have to say, I found the most interesting person on your roster to be Folerio. Who is Folerio?
My cousin.
As both an artist and a founder/head of a label, what is your professional philosophy towards music?
I got an A in philosophy but don’t have an answer for this.
Do you have any past Nashville experiences or stories to share?
One of my favorite memories in Nashville was when I did a show with the late Weldon Irvine and Madlib and some other guys. The promoter had us all do soundcheck then told us all, “OK guys, now let’s all go grab some food. I have a big table reserved for you all” and Weldon said to the promoter, “I am getting paid to do this show. Not to hang out with you” and it got all silent and awkward. But Weldon ended up eating with everyone and it was a good dinner and show for me.
Are you ready to get tropical?
Let’s get tropical.
Learn More:
Peanut Butter Wolf: https://www.stonesthrow.com/pbwolf
Until next time remember, stay tropical!
Deep Topics
“It’s never too late to get tropical, deeply tropical.”
