Chat with Da Scientist

James Stamos a.k.a. Da Scientist is Ed's co-host on Wham Bam Mondays! for the Muchmusic channel - as well as being his musical director/D.J. for ED's Night Party. His Bio on Ed's site goes something like this:

FULL NAME: James 'Da Scientist' Stamos
MUSICAL CREDITS: Wu-Tang Clan, Nile Rodgers, NYC's Giant Steps, Tibetan Freedom Concerts.
BIRTHDAY: August 29,1971
HAIR: this week......Blonde
EYES: brown
WEIGHT: 170 pounds
BIRTHPLACE: Toronto, Ont. Canada
F.Y.I.: Lived in NYC for Ten years/ Is a New York Knicks season tickets owner. Two time MVP on the Hightimes Magazine baseball team/ Main band in New York was managed by Supermodel Beverly Peele. Was fourth runner-up at Superbowl 29 in the Madden Football Video Game Tournament.
LIKES: Satellite dishes, Playstation 2, gadgets, female wrestling, gummi anything, ESPN, ED the sock... (I'm serious).The Knicks/Leafs/Jays/Cowboys.
HATES: Non-sports that are called...sports, Nintendo 64, Chicago Bulls, curling, figure skating sportscasters that also try to do basketball!!!

When Da Scientist got in touch by e-mail, I asked a few question:

Darren: Is that list of Music contacts stuff that you like or music you have been involved with in some way?

Da Scientist: Both! I've been lucky to have had a chance to play with some artists that I admire and had looked up to when I first started playing music. Moving to New York was the greatest thing to happen to me.....and do I have some stories!!!! That is also where my a.k.a. was born......Da Scientist!!!

Darren: Cool, any you can share?

Well, while in NY I learned this..."It's all about who you know!" I got lucky, I ended up playing for are hip hop band that was co-managed by a supermodel. That meant doing all these model/celeb parties-so when Donald Trump hangs out with you and buys you a drink (I don't drink) ...I drink!! Or the time we were ushered over to U2's table cause they had asked to meet us after they saw our show!/ The (not so) private party for director Oliver Stone we did/ The time we played for the Prince of Morocco(he flew us to Morocco!!).....those are just a few!!There was a summer of shows we did that I will NEVER forget!

Darren: Have you released any CD's/records/tapes/MP3's?

Well, there's a bunch of stuff scattered around the U.S. I kinda lost track of most/There's the Tibetan Freedom live CD- I played with a couple of artists but only one track got on the cd ( the Tibetan artist DADON). I kick some MUTRON bass on that track. I'm listed as Dimitrious(it's Greek for James) Stamos.

Currently, between the ED shows, I'm working with my NYC crew( a few female singers/rappers)-but watch out for my main M.C. ...METAPHYSICAL. He's got bags of skill!

Darren: I'm familiar with Nile Rodgers, one time producer with David Bowie. What other sort of stuff does he do that interested you?

Niles was part of one of my favourite bands - CHIC with drummer Tony Thompson and the late GREAT Bernard Edwards. He just seemed to have the magic touch. He would make me like an artist ie. INXS, DURAN'S Notorious cd was my bible!! Dan REED's rock funk and of course the Bowie stuff. Ya , he's kind of a hero of mine, so, you could imagine when he joined us on stage to play and was relying ON ME for the music changes!!!!

Darren: Wu-Tang Clan, hip hop guys right? They have a large following in New Zealand, what have you done with them that people might be familiar with?

The Wu show was a live performance for their release of the Triumph CD. It was at a club and featured a few other hip hop acts (ONYX, ORGANIZED KONFUSION) I was part of the house band and we supplied the beats. Needless to say, that night was also filled with tension-when you get a hardcore rap crowd together and rappers that like to 'soap box' their opinions, there's bound to be some caps 'o poppin'!!-I wore a kevlar shirt(borrowed from security).

Darren: Did the kevlar come in handy?

Boy, that night I REALLY thought It was gonna happen. I never thought a show would almost get me shot. Mind you I'm talking crossfire here, I'm sure no one would have any 'beef' with the house band!

Darren:NYC' Giant Steps. Never heard of them what's there stuff like?

Oh, Giant Steps was a 'night' at a club in the Union Square area in Manhattan. It's known to be the scene (in 1990-91) where Hip Hop started ie. (The Fugees). My good friend who was the house bassist went on tour with Queen Latifah-got me an audition, and I won the acid jazz part of the gig! It basically was a big 'cypher' where as, these producers like Pete Rock/Russel Simmons(PHAT FARM) would bring down their new up and coming artists to show off in front of a crowd. Never mind them, I got to play with a Mile Davis drummer on week, a James Brown guy the other- and so on.... Giant Steps remains on of my more impressive credits!

Darren:Tibetan Freedom: An important cause. What sort of support do the concerts get?

Huge support! They seem to get bigger every year. My first one was the 2nd TFC in NYC-That was easily my biggest crowd I played in front of (30,000+) I also played at the 3rd in Washington D.C. A Great Time!!

Darren: How did your music career get started?

I was involved in a few bands in Toronto-but I wanted to play hip hop, so that meant I needed to move to New York City. I've just started to network myself in T.O., but most of my shows are still out of NYC.

Darren: How hard was it to get the work permits etc to be able to do work in NYC?

Works permit, hmmmm. I'll say this ....If I sat my ass in T.O. waiting for a permit/green card, I'd Maybe!!!!! just be getting down to work there NOW! Sometimes you gotta" do what you gotta do "my friend!! So my answer is YES - It's hard ( for artists/entertainers anyway.)

Darren: Was music a big part of your time at school?

Not really, I was into the sports thing, I always got stuck in 'vocal' class anyway and never had a chance to take band class. I guess you can say that I was a late bloomer-I didn't pick up a bass until the end of high school.

Darren: What bass players do you respect and why?

The first guy that did it for me was Bernard (Chic) Edwards, then John (Duran) Taylorto Stu Hamm, Victor Wooten and Boosty Collins. These guys just did something that stood out and brought bass to a new level.

Darren: What kind of bass do you use?

Right now I have 2 five strings and am looking to add a 4 string -cause I miss them! You could always funk a little better on a 4! I keep my DR Fender 5 in Toronto while my red Soundgear Ibanez 5 is in Brooklyn for my stateside shows.

Darren: How easy was it getting into the hip hop scene in NY?

Member what I said, "It's all who......" I have friends who were born there and got really jealous/frustrated on trying to crack any of the scenes down there.

Darren:>You'll have to explain who the New York Knicks are to us New Zealanders

OH, well, that's my team!!! c'mon , you guys know NBA basketball don't you?? The MECCA of basketball is NEW YORK! If you are ever in NYC, you MUST see a game!! Seeing a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden is a must!!! for anyone! It's considered the place to be' among celebrities.

Darren: Yeah, we know about the NBA, and I've heard of the Knicks but weren't sure they were basketball. Whose their best player at the moment and why?

Well, Toronto just tied the best of 5 by winning game 2 tonight....DAM! The Knicks best has to be number 8 Lattrell Sprewell -he's got talent, plays with a lot of heart and is a current fan favorite!

Darren: How long have you lived in Toronto?

I was born in Toronto, so most of my life. With the decade I've spent In NY though, It's sort of become my latest new home-I guess having most of my work/friends/furniture and clothes there makes it a home.

Darren: What are Toronto's good and bad points?

I love Toronto! I'm proud to be from here. It's Canada's largest city. Fourth largest market in North America. Toronto is a slick, clean city. The few gripes I have might be that the city kinda shuts down a little early ie. subways close at 1:45 a.m. and... not that I drink anyway, last call is around the same time!....We're supposed to be the NYC of Canada!!.....(well, until 1:45 a.m. anyway.) Really though, I always here good things about the city from visitors....Darren!, you were here right? tell 'em!!

Darren: Sure, Toronto is a great place, friendly people and there is a huge amount of things going on. Every time I stopped to look at my map someone would ask if I needed help. It seems like a good place to get work if you're in the broadcasting/music fields. Am I right?

It's funny. Since being up here for a little while now, I've noticed that T.O. is a very 'Techy' city- what I mean is everyone is either a designer, web person, or programmer. Every body's either carrying a laptop or rolled up blue prints or doing shit on there palm pilots! With broadcasting (I'm guessin' you mean at Much) It's probably like every other station- you have your nice folk/not so nice/power players that are just DICKS, but some are nice/ and the " I'll do anything, ANYTHING to get to the top'ers.

Darren: If a movie was made of your life which actor should play you?

Ready...............................JACKIE CHAN!!

Darren: How did you get teamed up with Ed?

Ah, yes!....When I used to come up to T.O. for a visit, I'd bring up the 'cool' U.S. shows you couldn't catch up here for my friends and ED would be the show I'd bring back down with me. I was a huge ED fan. My good friend is the production designer at Muchmusic so she got my foot in the Much door. I got to know ED after a short while, told him what I was about and when it was time to expand his talk show (ED's Night Party) he called me. The tapings went very well and now ED has me as co-host for his 2 hour Muchmusic slot. I wish you guys could see those shows as well!!....cause there hilarious!!! I'm starting to think the other reason I got 'stuck' with ED was that I was just his next...........................victim???

Darren: What's it like working with a bad tempered sock?

All in all though, he's great! I just gotta stay alert and on my toes. Right now he's buggin' me cause one of the V.J.'s asked my to co-host a show (a one-time deal) that she was doing in a talk show format- Ed ended up showing up on this show and yelled at me -calling me a "moonlighting S.O.B.!!" IT WAS GREAT!!

Darren: When the show screened down here we got half hour shows with a minimum of studios footage, they mainly showed Ed's interviews. What really happens at the taping of a show and how long does it take?

That pretty much correct- Keep in mind, the new shows are now a bigger/better production. We spent 2 weekends ripping about 5-6 shows a night! C'mon, you can imagine what goes on with 8 ED dancers, an audience, a hot tub with strippers and ....ED (and me too!) ......GOOD TIMES my friend!

Darren: Ed can be quite nasty to the dancers, have any every thrown a tantrum/punch?

Well, you're drifting toward s a question that you should ask ED. We have a great time - the dancers all love ED!!! and I'm not doing so bad either! nudge, wink!

Darren: What's your role in the show?

On the Night Party show I'm the musical director. I supply some grooves for the dancers coming in and out of breaks and also speak with ED and Craig for a bit.

Darren: You mentioned to me that your MC set-up is bizarre cause you don't have a turntable. So what do you use instead?

Yup, strange. Hence the name Da Scientist! I love gadgets, so along with my bass (plusmulti- effects and a mutron), I use a laptop for sound effects, my Mini-disc for musical loops, a thermon, my Playstation 2 for more sound samples, and my DJ X which contains loops and a DJ scratching type controller................OOooooooooooo......AAaaaaaaaaaaaa.

Darren: Wu Tang Clan V's Duran Duran in a fight - Who would win?

Yikes!! I like those Duran Duran guys, but MAN ALIVE!! they'd lose an awful lot of blood in this matchup...12 against 3 = bloodbath er,...I mean bloodbath bloodbath!

I'm off to do another WHAM BAM tonight...see ya later!

Darren: Thanks for taking part and all the best for the show.

Thanks Darren...........we're doing more Night Party tapings last weekend of May and first weekend of June 2001......talk to you soon!!