Michael Raymond Russell / Drumetrics
Interview (2022)
We would like to start with your origin. Were you familiar with music and the arts as a child? Please tell us about your background, including what kind of environment you grew up in.As a young child, I would draw every day and was always inspired by watching cartoons. My father was in the military so looking up to him I would also draw airplanes, battleships etc. When I got into elementary school, I collected comic books and would try and draw all my favorite characters. Wolverine was my number one. I thought for sure I was going to be an artist or animator when I grew up. For my first official job at the age of 15, I drew caricatures of people at malls and sporting events. My mother was a stay-at-home mom when I was young and we would always visit my Puerto Rican family, which was the culture I grew up with. We had maracas
What kind of culture or music did you gravitate toward when you were younger, especially as a teenager?My older brother Kenny—who was born in the Bronx, New York—grew up in the breakdancing culture of the 1980s. He was my role model so whatever he did, I was following right behind him. He had mix tapes all over his room and one day I dropped one in our home cassette console and the first thing I heard were the drum breaks. That was all I needed to hear because growing with my mom playing vinyl of Tito Puente and El Gran Combo De Puerto Rico— it was all about the rhythm and percussions making you move and dance. My brother would get these BMG catalogs of cassette tapes and vinyl for sale sent to our house. So one day we got a brochure from BMG that said you could buy cassettes for one cent, and that’s where I had my mom get me my first cassettes. I ordered Street Jams compilations along with early 90s East Coast hip hop such as Black Sheep single The Choice Is Yours, Digable Planets, Das EFX, Leaders Of The New School single Scenario and countless others. Which then led to my teenage years of going deeper in finding more raw underground hip hop music.
All of the early 90s hip hop resonated with me, which I gravitated towards due to my mom’s vinyl collection and my brothers mixtapes— hearing the cream of the crop samples being used in hip hop.
Which people and works have influenced the development of your sensibilities and values?First and foremost, my brother Kenny who was a brother/mentor/step-father to me. Discovering so much through the hip hop culture of graffiti artists like Os Gemeos, beat producers like DJ Shadow, MCs like Company Flow & Project Blowed who all had rawness in common. It created character in myself which passionately drove me to find a consistent style and stick to it. My personal life quote I made up: “Be A Character & Not A Caterer”. In other words, to be what first put love in you that creates a unique “consistent character”. As opposed to trying to be someone who does only what others do to fit in or be relevant.
You create visuals as well as music. How did you become interested in graphics?Ever since music started to become more passionate than my drawings and sketches. I didn’t want to abandon my art so that’s when graphics coincided as a replacement.
We came to know your name through the artwork for Gonjasufi’s 1st album, how did you come to be commissioned for this production?Ha! Yes indeed— my brother Sumach Valentine is a San Diego, California native like us. So Gonjasufi and my other good friend/brother William Benjamin Bensussen—a.k.a. The Gaslamp Killer—all made this project come to life. A trifecta collective to produce this monumental album from music to art.