Friday, May 29, 2020

Sleepy Hollow - 24/7 - 1993


12" - 1993 - Big League Records  


Back in 1993 with this 12" released by the Detroit-based group Sleepy Hollow consisted of Brett Belcastro a.k.a DJ 2nd Nature and Patrick Ward a.k.a Syko, MC & DJ better known nowadays for his work with Binary Star, Slum Village and Amp Fiddler under the name of D.L Jones
The Wax came out on Big League Records and is composed of 3 tracks titled "24/7" which is the main single ,"Hidey Hey Hidey Ho" and "How Free Are We ?". 









D.L Jones, where are you from exactly ? 

D.L. Jones : "Born in Detroit, raised in Hamtramck Detroit through and through “What up Doe” it’s a Detroit thing !!"


How did everything start for you in the music industry ? 

D.L. Jones : "For me my first memory is probably watching and hearing the video for the Message by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five that in a nutshell change my life single-handedly getting my first keyboard a Roland Juno 2 and drum machine Roland TR 626 when I was 13 definitely started setting the stage also my mom passed away from lung cancer in 1984 and on her deathbed she asked me what I was going to be, I said I was gonna be like my dad a baker in a bakery and she sat up and said no I want you to be a entertainer be in TV music radio make something of your life, I’ll be there to guide you. RIP MOM... she passed in 84, I was 10."



How did the connection happen between you and Dj 2nd Nature ?

D.L. Jones : "I wanted to learn to be a DJ and used to stop at the spot called DJ USA but I also wanted to make beats and rap. The guy that works there his name is Pierre Mayo a.k.a. DJ Kid Rock, he also knew 2nd nature's dad Harry and started showing him how to DJ. He thought I’ll put these two white kids together. I was working at a shoe store when I was 16 called Herman’s, him and his dad came in and we been cool now for 30 years..."


How did the connection happen with Dj Magic Mike ? 

D.L. Jones : "Harry Brett's dad made all that happen !!"


What is the story behind the name of Sleepy Hollow ? 

D.L. Jones : "It was the Disney record “Sleepy Hollow” I used to go digging all the time at a few different record shops in Detroit and ran across that record when I brought it home it just spoke to me I started brainstorming just rolled with it the house that’s on the record I drew."


Photo courtesy of Alex Degardin



Who did manage Big League Records exactly ? 

D.L. Jones : "Harry Brett's dad did all of our representation"


Could you give me more info about the productions ? 

D.L. Jones : "Harry had us link up with DJ Magic Mike and we drove down to Orlando Florida and hooked up with him, that’s where we did the 24/7 joint.
Then when we came back to Detroit we were always just been making beats and just was messing around we have some friends that play different instruments and that were MC’s or just people that would hang out and Ian Read Kessler played drums on a couple of the tracks I believe. We were just trying to make some noise and have a voice."


Who were your artistic influences at that time ? 

D.L. Jones : "Eric B and Rakim, Pete Rock and CL Smooth, Public Enemy, ATCQ, The ROOTS, De La Soul and Nas just to name a few."


Why is there only one 12" released in 1993 ?  why is there no album released after that ? 

D.L. Jones : "We did the song 24/7 and sampled A Tribe Called Quest Phife Dawg saying "24 seven" from "Dusk Till Dawn". Zomba Music Publishing who is their representative sent us a cease-and-desist letter, I’m pretty much that was the end of that !!... there are 4 more tracks that were recorded, none of them ever released or even mixed, they still live on 24 track 2 inch tape..." 




Mad Props to Patrick Ward a.k.a. D.L.Jones and Brett Belcastro a.k.a DJ 2nd Nature. 


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