• 2 months ago
For this week's In Conversation we sat down with the Californian musician Anderson .Paak to talk about collaborating with Bruno Mars as Silk Sonic, Disney's House of Mouse tour, his upcoming self-directed film ‘K-Pops’ and his new era as DJ Pee .Wee

DJ Pee .Wee - AKA Anderson .Paak - headlined the first instalment of Disney’s new global tour, ‘House of Mouse’ in London this October. The tour marks a new era of Mickey & Friends, and will feature immersive events celebrating music, friendship and good times together. The experience in London saw these beloved characters show up in a whole new way that fans have never seen before, thanks to live animation technology. Keep an eye on Disney’s channels to find out more.

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Transcript
00:00Shout out to Disney, they hooked me up with a lot of cool shlag and I just put the outfit together.
00:04I got the Mickey racing jacket with the baseball tee and put some leather pants together and,
00:11you know, had to put a little razzle dazzle with the boots. You feel me?
00:24Hi, I'm Alex Rigotti with NME and today we are here with Anderson Paak. Anderson,
00:29welcome. Thank you. Nice to have you here. You are going to do this amazing tour for Disney,
00:34right? So please tell us all about that. What's it all about? We're just going to have parties,
00:39you know, Mickey Mouse house parties and we're utilizing some super cool technology and we're
00:46going to have all the whole gang with us. All of Mickey's friends are coming in. We're doing live
00:52final DJ sets and I got Donald coming in with Mickey doing DJ battles and a bunch of cool people
00:59that hopefully are ready to dance. Right, so how is this Mickey and Donald DJ battle going to work?
01:05Pretty much, I'm going to do a quick set and then I'm going to bring them in and they're
01:10going to battle each other and I caught a little bit at sound check and it's going to be super
01:15sick. Do you have any thoughts on who might win? It's tough. I think it's pretty much neck and
01:19neck. I think the winner is going to really have to, like, when the audience is in front of them,
01:24I think that's what, you know, we'll see and who's going to, you know, push forward for sure.
01:30And then you've kind of mentioned that it's going to be parties, parties, parties and I'm sure you've
01:33thrown quite a lot of parties in your life, right? So can you describe to us what is the secret of a
01:40really good party? A really good party is really good music, really good food and a really good
01:46space and you got to have space that's well air-conditioned, that has good parking and
01:52people can feel comfortable to dance and, you know, just, like, free their inhibitions. I think
01:58that's, those are pretty much the three things. So another thing, you were kind of mentioning the
02:02technology on this tour, right? So could you go into a little bit more about why that inspires
02:06you so much? I mean, I do a lot of shows myself and I'm always looking for new inventive ways to
02:14make the show better and production value, raise the production value up and Disney, I feel like,
02:20is always on the cutting edge of creating these amazing experiences and they've done it again,
02:27even with these Mouse House parties, with the projection mapping and bringing the characters
02:33into the party and making it feel like you're actually within the cartoon, which is, like,
02:39all I've ever wanted to do, even since I was a little kid. You know, what I like about you today
02:43is that you look like you're dressed exactly from a cartoon. You look so unreal. Can you walk me
02:48through the whole outfit today? Well, shout out to Disney. They hooked me up with a lot of cool
02:51shlag and I just put the outfit together. I got the Mickey racing jacket with the baseball tee
02:59and put some leather pants together and, you know, had to put a little razzle-dazzle with the boots.
03:04You feel me? And also what I'm noticing is this very sleek bob. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well,
03:10I feel like you've had quite a lot of hairstyles throughout your time. So what image does a sleek
03:14bob give to you? A sleek bob is classic Peewee. You know, this is like the silhouette that I love
03:20and I'm in London and I don't have to worry about humidity and I can let the bob just hang
03:25and I don't have to worry about it sweating out. It's going to be perfect for the weather,
03:29for the scene. Yeah. Got the shades on, got the bob on. You know what I'm saying? There's something
03:33about the silhouette. So you've mentioned Peewee a couple of times, right? That's your DJ persona.
03:39So how did you come up with Peewee? Where did it start from? DJ Peewee originated within Silk
03:45Sonic, my group with Bruno and we were rehearsing night in after day and hours and we were getting
03:52a bit agitated and cranky and we were even rehearsing on Halloween, which is one of my
03:57favorite days. And I came in with the bob one day just to kind of lighten the mood and everyone was
04:02cracking up. And Bruno looked at me, he's like, you got to wear that. You're Peewee on the drums
04:08now. And he gave me that name right then and there. And I just kept wearing it. It put a smile
04:13on everyone's face and it made me feel like really cool. Something about having hair and being able
04:17to swing it around and just like completely changed my whole attitude. So it put me in a
04:23different zone. And that's pretty much where it derived from. And after the Silk Sonic shows,
04:28I would go off and DJ the after parties and I would keep the wig on. And I was like, wait,
04:33maybe I can kind of like that was the birth of DJ Peewee pretty much.
04:37See, but I believe you've been DJing back when you lived in Ventura in high school, right?
04:41That's right.
04:42So what were you DJing back then?
04:43I was DJing on vinyl as well. And I was going by DJ Styles. And I was DJing my house parties and
04:52school dances, birthdays, weddings. Yeah, I was doing a lot of DJing back then.
04:58That's so cute. What was like the ultimate party starter back in the day?
05:02The ultimate party starter? Well, maybe we have to keep it PG for Disney. But back then,
05:08I graduated in 2024. So it was like a lot of Missy, a lot of like Ludacris, Nelly, Jay-Z,
05:17Eminem, Snoop Dogg. Yeah, those were those were really huge back then.
05:22That sounds amazing. And so now do you feel like I mean, do you feel that the audiences
05:27between the house parties in Ventura and the House of Mouse audiences, do you feel that they're
05:32different? I feel like no, I think it's pretty much the same. I feel like everybody wants to
05:37hear good music. And I feel like good music, good music and music to dance to. And it's really cool
05:44now to hear a lot of the stuff that I played when I was in high school. Now it's like throwback
05:50stuff now for the younger kids and they're going back and doing the research and they really like
05:54that music too. So, which is a lot of stuff I play and a lot of even older material they love
06:00too. So I feel like if you come to a DJ peewee party, it's you're open to a lot of different
06:06genres. And yeah, it's really, it's really exciting to see that the songs that are good
06:11and timeless, they last forever. I think you've previously said that
06:16DJing has kind of led you to rediscover new genres or to kind of find love for new things. So what
06:21was the surprising discovery for you in this sort of DJ journey? I've gotten into like a lot of house
06:25music, a lot of dance music, a lot of 80s music, new wave. And yeah, also, you know,
06:36back into appreciating a lot of the stuff that I grew up on to the 2000s and 90s stuff as well.
06:43You were on Kei Shinoda's album, right? So like, do you feel like you've had a lot of
06:48conversations with him about your new house discoveries? Yeah, I've gotten to open up for
06:53him as well. We did a big show at the Cal Palace in San Francisco and he's a big DJ peewee fan
06:59and supporter. And it's always great to be able to have DJs and producers that you look up to
07:06and have a lot of respect to that are jamming to your music and your sets as well. It means a lot.
07:11I also want to talk about the vinyl aspect of your DJing, right? Because it could be so easy to just
07:16take a USB, do what most DJs do, right? Is there something for you about vinyl that makes it really
07:21special to DJ? Yes. I love to actually mix records and beat match and be able to... I'm not good with
07:30computers and sticks and all this stuff. And I barely know how to handle my iPad. And I had a
07:37laptop, but I lost it in a few days. So in order for me to do this, I need to actually have physical
07:45things. And I'm so glad that I'm able to have people like Eddie Mac, who is like my DJ sensei
07:52and curate a lot of the vinyl. And he's like a human Serato. And we're up there like Daft Punk
08:00and we're like working as a duo. I think it's really cool for me. And it's a great outlet. And
08:06I'm able to take records and listen to them and really sit there and try to mix them. And not
08:13every mix is perfect. And sometimes you get a great mix. And that's the exciting part for me.
08:19Well, could you explain your connection to Eddie Mac and how he's helped you with this
08:22DJing stuff? Yeah, we're like Cuss and Mike Tyson, you know, he's like my coach. And he has such a
08:29deep knowledge of records from all over every genre. So there's not a record that he doesn't
08:36know about. And if he does doesn't know about, he's searching it, he's figuring out how we
08:40put it in the set. And we're always working together and how we can knock the crowd out,
08:44you know, and like keep them dancing. So it's a relationship that I really cherish. And
08:51it's been really big for me, because at a time where I didn't really know what my next move was,
08:57I was able to dip into DJing and develop a really big passion for it. And he was also in a stage of
09:04his life too, where he was looking for something else too. And I think we found each other at the
09:08right moment. I think your musicianship, it's always so it thrives off the collaboration,
09:14right? They're all across the board. Why do you think you work so well in that kind of dynamic?
09:19I think that I have a gift of bringing the best out of other people, especially when I can see
09:26that someone's bringing the best out of me. And I have no problem with staying in my lane and
09:31figure out a lane that I can thrive in. And I don't have to be the main guy. Or if I do need
09:36to be the main guy, then I'll do that. But I get a deep joy out of collaboration. I feel like
09:45there's things I can do when I collaborate that I can't do, which is solo. It's a mind state that I
09:52put myself in when I'm working with other people. That helps me be even more creative.
09:57So maybe as an example, when you're working with collaborators like Bruno, for instance,
10:01what do you think he brings to the dynamic that you couldn't do alone?
10:04I think he brings just a number of things. I think he's one of the best performers, singers,
10:09songwriter, producers in the game. And there's so much to learn from working with him. And
10:17the fact that he's willing to share the stage, share studio space and writing with another
10:24person is huge. And that person was me. And I think that I don't know who else that could have
10:30been. And he doesn't really collab with too many people. So there was a lot to learn in that
10:35process and a lot of fun to be at. I'm a person that is usually not so concerned about structure
10:46and all these different things that go with the flow. And after working with him, I learned a lot
10:49about song structure. I learned a lot about not only creating a great song, but also now how are
10:57we going to perform it? How are we going to sell it? How are we going to present it to the audience?
11:01So that was huge. It's really interesting. When I watched the video for Smoking Out the Window,
11:06I saw that you took a lot of delight in the acting kind of aspects of the video. Is that
11:10something that sort of led to your future collaborations with film? Absolutely. We had
11:14a lot of fun. And one thing Bruno always used to say is like, you should just be an actor.
11:18And he directs all his own videos. And when we were doing that video, he didn't have much of
11:24a treatment. But one thing he said is, okay, you know that part where it says, you want to die?
11:30You're going to be laying on the floor. That's all I got. And I was like, all right, cool.
11:35And so we had so much fun just like being able to do so much acting and directing as well.
11:41And that definitely helped inspire the next era in my career. Yeah, I want to really quickly touch
11:48on that because you've had a really busy past couple years sort of making all these film projects,
11:52right? And I want to start with K-Pops because that premiered at Toronto International Film
11:57Festival last month, right? So first of all, what did it mean to you to have your film premiere at
12:02such a prestigious, you know, and it's your first time directing as well. What does it feel like to
12:06have your first ever film debut at a festival like Toronto? It was huge. Just my first film and
12:15we worked so hard on it for years and to do it with my son, to do it with the stellar cast that
12:20I had and friends and family was huge. I didn't think about it being accepted into the Toronto
12:29Film Festival and we barely got it in on time. It was still a work in progress when we did.
12:35So I was very nervous and even just showing it to anybody because we hadn't showed anybody. So the
12:39fact that it was able to be accepted in such a prestigious film festival was huge. And then
12:45to premiere it and to see the reception it had, I'm still on a high. What do you think resonated
12:52so much with people about the movie? I think nowadays there's a lot of heavy, deep movies that
13:00weigh on a lot of people's hearts and could be a bit dark. And I think for once it was cool for
13:06people to see a feel-good movie that had heart and charisma and to watch a son and his dad on screen
13:13with great music and be introduced to a genre that they might not know too much about like K-pop
13:22and also the combination of that and African-American culture with Anderson Paak and
13:32everything else. I think it was very refreshing for people. So talk to me about how this movie
13:38came to be. When did it all start? I was inspired by my son in quarantine. I was stuck at the house,
13:44couldn't tour. So then I was like, okay, what are we doing? And my son was like, I want to
13:48do YouTube. Okay, what the hell is that? And I was like, checking out his page. I was like,
13:51okay, let's do some skits. And then I'm going to post them on my page and we can get you some
13:54subscribers. And then I started realizing how much of a natural he was in front of the camera. And
13:59he inspired me to write a script for us. And my whole household was obsessed with K-pop.
14:06They were really obsessed with BTS. And I didn't get it at the time. I was more like, okay, you
14:12need to know about BET. And they're like, no, we're going to show you the concert. And then I
14:17became a fanatic as well. And it inspired me to just write a movie about creating a bond
14:23with my son and how I was able to do that through his interest. I think the part of this movie,
14:30it sounds like it's grappling with both those sides of identities, right? Which is something
14:33that you've had to navigate throughout your entire life. So how did it feel approaching
14:36the more Korean side of that culture, that kind of side of you with your son?
14:40Felt great. It felt great to celebrate it. It felt great. Just like when I was coming up,
14:45we grew up in a black household. My mom was born in Korea, but she was adopted,
14:48didn't know her parents. And her adopted parents were military officials, African American,
14:54and they grew up in Compton and then raised there. And she moved out to Oxnard. So we were always
14:59very proud of our culture. But I didn't know much about my Korean culture until Sol's mom came into
15:06my life and she pretty much schooled us on everything. And from the food to the music,
15:11to the people that he hangs around with at church. And very proud of both. And so I thought
15:18the K-pop was a great vehicle to celebrate both cultures. And it was a unique story that I felt
15:25like only a few people could tell. So I'm glad I was able to do it.
15:28I believe you went to South Korea to film this movie, right?
15:31Yeah.
15:31Did you take your mom with you as well?
15:33My mom didn't go, but my sisters went.
15:35And how did it feel for them?
15:36It felt great. I put them in the movie.
15:38Nice.
15:39They did some cameo. Yeah.
15:41Did you guys sort of like have any, well, I mean, you've probably grown up eating lots of
15:44great Korean food anyways, but was there anything in particular in South Korea that you were like,
15:48Oh, yeah.
15:48We got down with the Korean barbecue, the chop jay, all this stuff. It was great.
15:53So your son was into K-pop at the time, but I think you said by the time he got to the movie,
15:57he sort of fell out of it a little bit and got more into like Nirvana, right?
16:00Yeah. He's a teenager now. When we started the process, he was like eight years old and, you
16:04know, kids get into stuff and then they get out of stuff. And now he's into a lot of rock music.
16:10Now he was telling me about Slipknot and now he loves Foo Fighters, Weezer and Nirvana.
16:16That's really interesting because I believe you were really into the hardcore scene back
16:19in Oxnard, right?
16:20Correct. Yeah.
16:21Yeah. How did that feel for you to kind of see your son going through a similar phase as you?
16:25It's just amazing how stuff works out and how stuff goes full circle. And,
16:30you know, when he was growing up, I didn't know if he was going to get into music and I would try to,
16:36you know, force him to play drums and he didn't want to do it. He wanted to play baseball and
16:39all this stuff. So I kind of just let him do his thing. And now he's playing drums,
16:43he's ripping on drums, he's into so much, you know, cool music and he's dressing cool.
16:49And I'm just really in awe.
16:51Do you feel like you've shown him, you can now kind of get in the position now where you can
16:54show him some of your cool songs and be like, oh, you should listen to this dude?
16:58Yeah. I think with my kids that the thing is you have to show by your actions and just do it and
17:07just know that they're always watching. And it's not so much like, check this out, son,
17:13like blah, blah, blah. Because I think that's when they kind of, whatever. I think my kids
17:17are always watching. But I think what they love the most is when I'm just being a dad.
17:22Do you feel like you can also, you've tried to take them to certain like concerts as well,
17:26to be like, look how cool that guy is. Or you mainly kind of leave it to their own
17:29interests?
17:30Yes. I'm really happy when they want to go to my concerts. And he just recently went to my
17:35concert at the Hollywood Bowl and was out there. And I didn't ask him because he was with his
17:42auntie, my sister. And I was like, do you like it? What do you think? And she said he was dancing
17:46and just like really hyped up. And so that means a lot. If I ask him, he'd probably be like,
17:52it was cool.
17:53Yeah. He won't admit it. He won't admit his dad's cool.
17:56Do you think he will admit to his friends that his dad's cool, though? That's the real question.
17:59Yeah. I mean, we'll see. I don't expect them to. They're probably just like,
18:05he's so used to it coming up. So again, I think he just likes when I'm able to be in the house
18:11and chilling and just hanging out, watching movies with them and taking his friends out to
18:16Chick-fil-A.
18:17I also believe like you've spent a lot of time with them, obviously filming
18:21this movie, but obviously you're not in dad mode. You're in like director mode, right?
18:26Was it difficult to work with not just a child, but your own son under those circumstances?
18:30Yeah. Because I mean, naturally, I'm always in dad mode and especially my son. He's just a kid
18:36and I want to protect him on set. And so thank God he's such a natural and I didn't have to.
18:42Um, it wasn't much of a challenge, just making sure he was comfortable in the right atmosphere.
18:48And, uh, he was so prepared. He had acting lessons and was doing choreo and all this stuff. So,
18:53uh, he was so good that it made me have to get more on my game, honestly.
18:57Oh gosh. Did you have to get some acting lessons as well?
18:59I did. Shout out to Sarah, the acting coach. And, um, she spent a lot of time with my son
19:04and I was doing a lot of work with directing and trying to do the music. So, uh, I didn't get to
19:09do as much, but, uh, um, the character, uh, wasn't much of a stretch from what, who I am.
19:17And who's the character?
19:18His name is BJ. He plays a washed up kind of musician that finds out he has a kid. So,
19:24uh, it was a lot of fun and I know what it's like to, uh, you know, be a musician that things aren't
19:29going too well for you, but you feel like, uh, they should be. And, um, he's kind of more of
19:34an oblivious kind of character that feels like he is a star, even though he's not real.
19:40But it's funny though, cause you're, you're touring Malibu. Well,
19:42you've just recently toured Malibu in the U S when sort of things were starting to really
19:47rise for you. Right. How did it feel to revisit that album, that period of your life,
19:51like 10 years on?
19:53Felt great. Brought back a lot of memories and, uh, it was awesome to be able to, uh,
19:59give that back to the fans. Um, since the albums come out, I've seen, uh, how much
20:06the album means to a lot of fans and the album means a lot to us as well, cause it changed our
20:10lives. And, uh, there was a lot going on when the album came out and a lot of people didn't
20:15get to experience the tour. So it was awesome to go back and play a lot of songs that we've
20:19never really even played live before and create a show and experience for the fans. It was kind
20:24of like a thank you letter.
20:26I think also every show on that tour, you've also paid tribute to Mac as well. Why was it
20:32important for you to do that?
20:33Oh, he was just a huge influence on my life and, um, gave me one of my, you know, I feel like
20:42that one of my best songs and he was one that really believed in that song. And, uh, I felt
20:48like it was important to close it out to, uh, you know, when, when he was around, I thought
20:52that we were always going to be hanging out. And so, um, I think it's important to appreciate
20:57people while they're around and give them people their flowers and, um, really be present in the
21:02times that you have around people that you, uh, that you really cherish because you never know
21:07when they'll be gone. So, uh, I wanted to honor him in that way.
21:10It's really lovely. I think another way that you're doing that currently is you're going to
21:14star in Atlantis, the coming of age story about Pharrell Williams, right?
21:18I don't know if I'm starring, but I do have a role in it. Yeah.
21:22Were you going to have a role in the Pharrell Williams movie?
21:24We'll see how the edit goes. Hopefully they kept me in there. Yeah.
21:28Um, what's he like as an actor? Cause he's such a multi-hyphenate like you,
21:31like how is he on the acting side of things?
21:33Um, Pharrell, I didn't get to see him acting. I don't even know if he's actually in the movie,
21:39but I know it's based around his life and where he grew up. And, and, uh, I can say that there
21:45were amazing actors, um, on set and even people that I didn't even know that could act that
21:51were acting. Um, I got to do a scene with Missy and, um, that was amazing. So, uh, I think it,
21:58he put together a very talented cast and, uh, to work under Michelle Gondry, the director was,
22:04um, just a dream of mine as well. Uh, so I'm excited to see the final product.
22:09Amazing. And as a final note, you know, you've done your DJing, you're gonna do this film
22:15then directing, you know, what's in future for Anderson Paak?
22:19Oh man, sky's the limit, but I would love to do more DJing. I'm thinking about doing a DJ Peewee
22:25album, uh, do more film and directing, acting and writing and, uh, figuring out cool ways to
22:30tell stories, whether it's on the dance floor, on the big screen, or, uh, in your headphones.
22:36Amazing. Well, thank you so much for your time,
22:37Anderson. It was a pleasure to speak to you today.
22:39My pleasure.

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