TUNERAIDERS

By Mark Williams-Washington

Hailing from upstate NY, Syracuse to be exact, this production duo is up and coming with fire beats. If you need beats and you spit lava, holla at the Tuneraiders. Shine Magazine recently chopped it up with the Tuneraiders about the industry, and what it takes to be hot producers. 3-1-5 what up?

Shine: So what's good?

Tuneraiders: I'm chilling.

Shine: How did you get started producing?

Tuneraiders: It all got started when we was in high school. We always wanted to do it but we never had the time or the equipment to get a chance to do it. We used to rhyme and we wanted to do the beats. If you got the beat situation tight then you the man. That’s what made us want to do it.

Shine: How long did it take you to get nice?

Tuneraiders: To where the street was talking? About a good three years. We been doing it for about four years. Three years to where we got to the point to where we got the hang of everything. Three years to the point of where we were industry ready. It takes time. It won’t happen overnight.

Shine: Who have you worked with so far?

Tuneraiders: Some of the Diplomats, Juelz Santana, Cam, Hell Rell, JR Writer. Outlaw affiliates - Muzamil, and Kamikaze. Taj Mahal, and a couple cats that’s up and coming.

Shine: What’s in your CD player right now?

Tuneraiders: I'm not even going to lie I listen to a lot of our stuff.

Shine: Who would you give beats to for free?

Tuneraiders: Jigga Man. :::Laughs::: 50 Cent.

Shine: Who do you want to work with?

Tuneraiders: Some of the G-Unit dudes, Ludacris, Twista, Kanye, Game, and a couple others. It’s a lot of people. It’s a lot of people I wish I could work with.

Shine: What kind of equipment do you use right now?

Tuneraiders: We work with a Motif, MPC, and Logic Pro.

Shine: Who is your favorite producer?

Tuneraiders: I got a number of them. One of my favorites is Timberland, Neptunes, Scotch Storch, Dre, Swizz, Just Blaze, Heatmakers, and 9th Wonder. Dame Grease I want to see him come back I don’t know where he at and Rockwilder.

Shine: When you buy new equipment do you read the manual first or you play with it?

Tuneraiders: Actually, I just mess around with it to see what I can do offhand. Then if I can’t get it I just go back and go over it.

Shine: You be madd anxious?

Tuneraiders: You just be ready to work. I get the info before I get it and I just be ready to plug it up. That’s how we were with our MP. I was like I'm just ready to work on it. But it’s good to read into what you’re getting into because you might not know what you’re going to get out of it.

Shine: What advice would you give up and coming producers?

Tuneraiders: Keep working. Keep working on your stuff. Don’t let nobody kill your dream if that’s what you want. Keep banging out your music. Don’t never be afraid to take bad criticism with the good, because that’s going to help you in the long run. Even the bad, that’s just going to make you go back. You ain’t going to want to hear that answer or that statement again yo. If somebody say your joint is wack, or your stuff ain’t good enough, it’s cool, you want to hear that one answer like “Yo, that’s hot.”

That’s one of the reasons why we at where we are today because the people and because of the streets. It don’t matter what you think of it. You got to remember it’s not for you no more. It’s for the people or the person who is listening to it. That is who you really doing it for. You got to take time out and let them get an ear for that and see what you doing. If it’s good, keep it going. If it's not, you know what you got to do.

Shine: Any last words or shout outs?

Tuneraiders: I want to shout out to the record label we just signed with, Palm Trees Records. My homegirl Z’yana, she’s going to be real big. Pops, and the whole Fefe staff. My brother, the second half of the Tuneraiders. You my n*gga Mark out in Cali, Outlawz, Dipset, Senate fam, Knight, Justice, and everybody in the whole Cuse 3-1-5. Anybody I left out, no hard feelings.

Contact the Tuneraiders for beats at: tuneraiders@yahoo.com

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