DJ Seith’s True Taxi in Gentle Rain the ‘reel’ deal

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Shane Erickson sensed something special when he accidentally bumped into Ben FM’s True Taxi.

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And once the Sault Ste. Marie producer and hip-hop DJ, known on stage as DJ Seith, got the green light to adapt this work into a multi-faceted EP project, the wheels – and reels – began to turn.

True Taxi in Gentle Rain, the new EP by Ben FM and DJ Seith, features songs that tell the story of the “dark side” of Richmond, Va., where the former is based, as viewed by a taxi driver. All instrumentals are sampled from the Gentle Rain record by Moody (b/k/a Nick Ingman).

“I had an idea in my head about trying to take the original True Taxi cassette and do a remade version of it using all samples from just one jazz record,” DJ Seith told The Sault Star in a recent interview.

“That was kind of the challenge I laid out for myself. I wanted to do everything from one jazz record. It had a lot of different samples on it, but I was, ‘Can I do this?’ So I took to remixing it.”

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Indeed, he did.

It was during the pandemic that, on an Instagram account he followed, DJ Seith came across a label specializing in mostly instrumental hip-hop. There were also some full rap albums, including True Taxi.

Material was issued on cassette, and some units of the 2019 release were available.

“I decided, ‘This sounds like it’s kind of an interesting thing. It tells a little story,’” DJ Seith said. “I listened to it and, sure enough, it was kind of a little audio play, a little vignette.”

Production was handled by a Virginia-based outfit.

“So, I sent a message out to them, saying, ‘Hey, I really like this tape. It’s really good and I just wanted to let you know that it really entertained me, and I really liked it,’” DJ Seith said.

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A message back indicated a capellas of vocal takes could be provided should DJ Seith want to do remixing duties.

There was no need to ponder.

True Taxi in Gentle Rain, christened after the jazz record, delivers a glimpse of “real life” through “relatable, everyman raps” delivered with “casual cadence” by Ben FM and the “breathing soundscapes and loops crafted with care” by Seith.

The release, as described on Seith’s website, is a concept EP that “invites the listener” into a chance encounter between a cab driver and a passenger one rainy night in the streets of Richmond, Va., set to instrumentals sourced entirely from Moody’s The Gentle Rain.

The Sault Ste. Marie artist has been “in conversation” with Ben FM from the get-go. There was even talk of touring; that’s been shelved for now as some logistics could not be ironed out.

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“He’s just happy to see it get a second life with a remixed version,” DJ Seith said.

Released on limited-run cassette with digital download code, the album comes housed in deluxe packaging that can be constructed into a papercraft taxi.

A colouring book, crafted by Seith’s partner, Suzie Deplonty, which features visuals from each vignette, accompanies the album. Two Sault Ste. Marie launches, one at Mane Street Cafe & Lounge and the other hosted by Cafe 4 Good, are slated for early March. Both events will see the album played, a digital video collage debuted, a live DJ mix and opportunity to colour.

The packaging is right up Seith’s alley. Long a fan of physical music products, he said he is delivering exactly what he has always sought as a consumer: visual components to the story being told io the album.

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Seith, himself, grew up on physical media before the internet “provided all the music at our fingertips.”

“I remember the happiness it brought me to be able to hold a physical thing in your hands,” Seith said. A bonus would be printed lyrics or information on production personnel.

In fact, there is a whole new generation keen on the idea of collecting vinyl records and even cassettes, said Seith. A regular local gig is hosting The Vinyl Listening Party at The Rad Zone.

“Whatever physical media they can get their hands on because, truth be told, we’re in the information age now,” he said. “People want to have this information and there’s a demand for it. That’s kind of where it comes from. In a lot of ways, things haven’t changes as much as people think they have.”

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Those who lived through the cassette era may recall tapes dragging and sounds fading at frequently played spots – even more so than some of the compact product’s evident perks.

Seith won’t hear of it. He’s as much turned on by the technology’s “mechanism” as sounds produced.

There is no need to have very “high-level” technical know-how to understand how a cassette works and how vinyl records play, Seith maintains.

“The very low-level concepts are simple to understand for most people,” he said. “And that’s what draws it to me because, even as a kid, I was like, ‘Wow, that is really cool.’”

Seith hails cassette size as “fascinating.”

“It doesn’t achieve as much fidelity as, say, a CD does,” he said. “(But) I don’t approach it necessarily like that so much as just a fun kind of way to have something physical to just pop in press play.”

jougler@postmedia.com

On X: @JeffreyOugler

IF YOU GO 

What: Launches for True Taxi in Gentle Rain, a new EP by Ben FM and DJ Seith; 

Where and When: Official release March 7 at Mane Street Cafe & Lounge, 626 Queen St. E., 7 to 9 p.m. Second launch March 8 at Cafe 4 Good, 326 Queen St. E., 2 to 4 p.m. Admission is free. 

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