Internet's Steve Reidell removes hood to talk mash-ups, more

Is the Hood Internet on an official tour or just playing so one-offs at clubs and festivals?

Yeah, well, as official of a tour as we could be—we’ve been doing shows on weekends and otherwise for about two years now. We started last year in New York and have been touring since. [In the last year,] we played Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza. 

Are you two full-time or did you keep your day jobs?

No, we both [still work]. I work by day as a graphic designer for a music club in Chicago called Metro. Aaron is a karate instructor. 

So are you the one making the funny mash-up artwork that accompanies the release of new tracks?

Aaron’s actually a skilled Photoshopper himself... but we both take to that for sure.

What’s it’s like processing all this new music to incorporate in your mash-ups, and what inspires the combinations?

We’re both people that—like anyone else—get music through the Internet. I read music blogs and still listen to the radio to hear what’s going on in terms of new pop singles and hip-hop and R&B singles. Especially nowadays there’s a lot of music to take in at once. We process it all quickly—we’re exposed to so much, so much comes in. Now that we’ve been doing this for so long, we lend a different ear when we listen, thinking what samples we can pull. One to three songs usually [go into a single mash-up] to make a cohesive piece.

I know Girl Talk uses the Creative Commons fair use argument to justify his unlicensed sampling. Has the Hood Internet run into any legal issues yet that you have to deal with?

We really hadn’t anticipated the reach [the Hood Internet] was going to have. It was more for our friends to download. When it hit and people started paying attention, it was useful that we weren’t charging money for the tracks, since we usually use most of the whole song, not a seven-second sample. The only feedback I get [from the original artists] is positive.

What comes next for the Hood Internet, a fourth mixtape or the rumored debut LP of original material? What would that sound like?

A new release... 2010 sometime. The idea behind the record is to get bits and pieces—combine disparate elements into a more cohesive idea. It’s not a mash-up at all, it’s sort of: so-and-so drummer from some band sends us a drum beat, we maybe cut it up and add a bass line, add some synths, format it in a way that somebody could rap over it or sing over it. It’s more original production from the ground up. I guess that comes from the framework [for our live show]. When we do a live set, it really is a live set. We play our own mixes.

The Hood Internet will be playing Sunday, Oct. 24 at 9:30 pm, in Raleigh. Their performance will take place on the Main Stage, 14 E. Hargett St., as a part of the Cherry Bounce Festival. The festival is free.