Questions for Wayne

I'm finally meeting up with Wayne Marshall! This is exciting because not only were his writings some of the first texts I looked at as part of my research, but also pretty much everyone I've talked to since starting this project has asked, "have you talked to Wayne?" He's a busy guy so I'm glad he found time to join us for a conversation.

The following are some questions/ideas for topics I hope to explore with him. 

 -what is the relationship between the afro-diasporic tradition of Versioning and sampling?

-to what extent do particular samples engender bodies of musical work or even entire genres? Can those samples be seen as "folk music" or part of a creative commons?

-to what extent is remixing or using a formulaic repertoire of samples an open, democratic, participatory culture? How do notions of authenticity figure into this? (ie can a white guy from sweden make "real" reggaeton just because he has access to the same ingredients?)

-how does the illegality or high cost of licensing affect how artists can work? And, what kind of creativity is engendered by a copyright-free environment? Is "creative commons" really an adequate solution?

-is a sample just a musical "means to an end", or are the historical associations that go along with it an essential part of its signification? How do sample "replaying" services figure into this? What about uninformed artists and/or audiences?

-why does the original performance context of the sample matter anyway? :-)

-what is the trajectory of value and commodification that the sample goes through, from original studio performance, to vinyl record, to forgotten thrift store artifact, to rediscovery by hip DJs, to being sampled, to being cleared (or sued) by the record companies?

-what is the role of specific technologies in the aforementioned process, and what types of novel creative and/or commercial uses are enabled by them? 

-what are the implications of codifying musical performances as "property" and what are the connections to other past or present formulations of humans and their activities as property?

-does the notion of "digging in the crates" apply in the youtube/sharity era? There is lawsuit-avoiding value in obscurity, but how does this balance against the more allusive/versioning/re-licking aspects of using samples?

And also, on a more meta-project level:

-as an "amateur ethnomusicologist", what kinds of rhetorical strategies should I be using to fairly represent cultures to which I don't belong? How do I balance this with an approach that is largely based on appropriation? 

-how has the "sound of the machine" been theorized? I'm interested in looking at James Brown's "Sex Machine" as a notion that prefigures drum machines and sequenced/on-the-grid music. 

-part of my project is to sample/compile everything I can find that relates to the history of the funky drummer sample, as well as things that can be seen as evolving out of it. Are there particular sources you can think of that I should be sure to include, or things that you think should be part of that history?

-are there other notable artists/musicians that have obsessively reworked a single sample? 

-in *your* view, how should the Funky Drummer be enshrined? :-)

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