When we had the chance to do an interview with Scottie B we opted to send our questions via email and have him respond. Perhaps this was a mistake. It seems ridiculous to pass up the opportunity to have a proper and spontaneous on-the-record discussion with one of the pioneers of Baltimore club. Alas, we were left with more questions than answers after asking Scottie about his opinions on the massive proliferation of Baltimore club over the past three years.

But before we got into discussing the recent B-More explosion, Scottie, who runs his seminal B-More label Unruly Records out of Baltimore, briefly explained to us his role in developing the Baltimore club sound in the late 1980's along with his partner Shawn Caesar and DJ Equalizer.

"Me and my (still) partner Shawn Caesar held the two best nights in Baltimore i from 89-91," Scottie recalled, "We started what today you would call edits--looping this hip-hop vocal with this house riff and this breakbeat, then we thought to put them on record. [Caesar's] first joint was Blunted Dummies EP and mine was Sound of Silence with DJ Equalizer." (The latter can be heard on DJ Equalizer's Myspace page). The formula for Baltimore club tracks hasn't really changed much since then in that it still (more or less) relies on the "Sing Sing" break and the drum breaks in Lyn Collins' "Think". But Scottie pointed out how the sound evolved in Baltimore, New Jersey and Philadelphia.

"There is basically two, and now three styles of Baltimore club. They basically have to do with time periods," Scottie explained.

"Old style, which is more housey and is back again because of the spread (of Baltimore club). This [sound] is basically me, KW Griff, [and] Technics' type of sound. Early to mid/late 90s."

He continued, "[Then] club kings stuff--Rod Lee, Technics, etc--late 90s to like 2001 kinda stuff. Lotta sing songy stuff.Then now in B-More you had Blaqstarr's early 'Get My Gun' stuff and a bunch of young lazy imitators that are a disgrace. Blaq has gone on to a different sound, and these guys are creating crap. The old style is still the best in B-More."

But there has been a tremendous demographic shift in the fanbase of Baltimore club in the 20 years since Scottie B and his cohorts began making breaks records and club tracks. Indeed, in the last 5 years Baltimore-style remixes have been popping up everywhere as hipsters, indie rock kids and their favorite DJs have adopted the sound and, armed with their own sets of sensibilities, indiscriminately pumped out "B-More" remixes of almost every single song under the sun.

Rather than lashing out puristically, Scottie B seems happy that Baltimore club has spread like it has. "The explosion thing is great," Scottie said, "B-More everything. It gives the common man an inspiration that he can be the next Diplo. Everybody is involved with it." Considering it's rather obscure roots, B-More has almost become the common man's club music.

Diplo is largely to credit for 'the explosion' as he has championed Baltimore club in his DJ sets, his own production and his record label. Mad Decent recently released DJ Blaqstarr's 'Shake it to the Ground' 12", and the string of Hollertronix 12"s has included a variety of club edits from DJ Tameil, Say Wut, DJ Eli, Diplo himself and of course Scottie B. In keeping up with all the excitement, Scottie B has also recently remixed the Rapture's "WAYUH", !!!'s "Heart of Hearts", as well as the Justice vs. Simian track "Never be Alone".

Club remixes of old soul and rock songs have also become a hallmark of the Baltimore club sound. Scottie B is responsible for the "Almighty Unruly Simon Joint", a B-More remix of Paul Simon's "You can call me Al" (released on Hollertronix #6). There are plenty of others: DJ Technics' remix of "Mr. Postman" by the Marvelettes; KW Griff remixes of "Pillow Talk" by Sylvia; DJ Tameil's remix of "A Bay Bay" which is basically a remix of golden oldie "Hey Baby" by Bruce Channel; Rod Lee's flip of the Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams"; and Diplo's remix of the Beatles' "Twist and Shout"....the list goes on and on and on. Nonetheless, this trend within Baltimore club music has made it more palatable for a wider audience outside of the urban areas of the eastern United States.

On top off all that, as Scottie B explained, many house producers, namely those associated with "fidget" house such as Switch, Sinden and Herve, have been influenced by the original Baltimore club producers.

"All music is influenced by all other music," Scottie said, "Right now, the two genres that are the closest are Baltimore and fidget house. People always ask, 'Isn’t fidget influenced by bmore?' I say, 'Yeah, they do our shit their way, so I do their shit our way. I'm cool with those guys, especially Sinden, and it’s a lotta mad love and respect."

Despite the significance and the ubiquity of Baltimore club, Scottie B remains cool about his position. When we asked about how he felt about B-More, which began and remained demographically and geographically restricted (much like underground Chicago and Detroit house in the same time period), spreading to relatively widespread acceptance, Scottie's reply was simple.

"I love the fact that anything I do is accepted by anyone. I'm humble."

<p>Scottie B plays <a href="http://chalkedup.com/events/view/scottie-b">Modern on Dec 20th</a></p> <p>For more info visit <a href="http://www.unrulyonline.com">Unruly Records</a></p> <p>Hard Lee, 19 Dec 2007</p>