Glenn Gutierrez

It is said that one of the most important producers of Freestyle Music is Glenn Gutierrez, who would you say Glenn Gutierrez is and how did you become involved with Freestyle Music?

Glenn Gutierrez : Glenn Gutierrez is a man who loves electronic music, and found a way to express that love in what has become known as Freestyle dance music today. I grew up on records from Kraftwerk to New Order to Egyptian Lover, so it was natural (to me) to combine electronic-generated sounds with an uptempo dance groove. In high school, I met and worked with Dadgel Atabay on a handful of songs in this style, then we ended up working for Stevie B when his first album was released.

Today a lot of people assume that by speaking of Freestyle, we are speaking of Rapping, how would you define Freestyle Music for someone reading this and who isn't aware of the music and what would be some good and clear examples of Freestyle Music to you?

Glenn Gutierrez : The word "Freestyle" in both cases has similar meaning, which makes it tough to differentiate sometimes. When I first started working professionally for Stevie B in the old school days, no one called it Freestyle yet. It was a modest form of pop-dance music with a very loose formula. Geographical regions immediately spawned different versions of the same front. I believe it was these factors which encouraged people to relate to the music, when they couldn't find anything in the slick, overproduced generic pop being strategically released at them. There was a certain freedom in the style, for fans and artists alike, hence "Freestyle." Today's Freestyle Rap also represents freedom from a rigid definition, although in this case usually meaning a rap made up on the fly.

Is there a relationship between Freestyle and Hip Hop, and if so what is it?

Glenn Gutierrez : Freestyle was Hip Hop! You only have to trace each back to songs like "Planet Rock" by Afrika Bambaataa. Again, they both have roots in a mindset of freedom to try new things. Eventually each split off in its own direction, with Freestyle going in more of a pop vocal direction.

What are some of your biggest accomplishments?

Glenn Gutierrez : I think the coolest thing is when someone you haven't met before has heard one of your songs, and knows it well. Or when someone says "that's my girlfriend's (or boyfriend's) favorite song!" Watching a song you've created travel steadily up the charts is an amazing experience as well. Of course, licensing songs to video games like Dance Dance Revolution, movies and television shows is great, and gives me something to put on a resum». But it's the idea that I have songs all over the place now, essentially meeting new people, that's very interesting in the long term. Social networking web sites like MySpace have opened up that connection even more.

Freestyle dominated the Radio during the mid 80's through out the Mid 90's, then almost overnight the music was driven into the Underground. What would you say was a key factor that would lead this to happen?

Glenn Gutierrez : By nature, I would say that Freestyle was underground the entire time. It's just that people like to dive into the underground sometimes, in order to find something new and interesting. Unfortunately, you have your bad with your good, so the cycle wraps up and people move on. Sometimes people with influence and short attention spans remember only the bad. They will act to hasten, and even make permanent the end of the cycle, no matter what the public would want (or purchase). You may notice cycles getting shorter now, with retailers falling off the map accordingly because there is no indie market to discover. It makes one wonder how long this will last until the big marketers realize they have no Next Big Thing in the pipeline and have to work even harder to manufacture it.

What are some of your influences?

Glenn Gutierrez : If often list out my influences, but don't often get a chance to say why. Kraftwerk is still shapes what I do, not only for their obvious pioneering work in electronics, but because they have always known how to balance a melody and a rhythm. Everything they do is just right. It's amazing. William Orbit has a similar influence with the sound that he gets, but he applies it to modern pop music. Brilliant! Of course I learned a certain style while growing up with Depeche Mode, New Order, Front 242, ABC, Naked Eyes, and just after high school, Cover Girls, Sweet Sensation, and many other Freestyle artists.

What Artists or company have you worked with and what are your current projects?

Glenn Gutierrez : I've worked with many people over the years, including of course, Stevie B, Jaya, Jocelyn Enriquez, M:G, Sharyn Maceren, Angelina, John Luongo and Joy Winter (of Lime), Pinay, Cynthia, Make Believe, Heaven, and many others I'm probably forgetting. Behind the scenes, I've worked with a few different publishing companies who have placed my music into feature films and TV shows, which is very cool. I also love having a song in Konami's Dance Dance Revolution video game, as that tends to be the most common denominator at get-togethers when no one has heard of any of those artists. "Oh yeah, I've seen that game where they dance around like crazy!" Currently, I'm working on the second albums from both Sharyn Maceren and M:G.

Are there any plans to every team up with any of the artists from the past like Stevie B or Jocelyn Enriquez or any other from the past?

Glenn Gutierrez : Not at the moment.

Where can we hear some of your work?

Glenn Gutierrez : Well, I'm on MySpace at myspace.com/glenng, or you can download certain tracks (for free) from our own Jukebox program at planethype.com. Aside from that, more and more of my older catalog is showing up on iTunes every month.

What Are your thoughts about online business and how do you take advantage of Internet?

Glenn Gutierrez : There are a couple of great things about online business. First, you can reach everyone immediately, and get feedback immediately. Second, there's very little risk since you are super-serving directly to your customer. This means you don't have to manufacture thousands of units just to fit into the old distribution methods. Or even better, your songs simply wait on a server somewhere, ready to be downloaded instantly. This is why I made sure to get our label on iTunes at the very beginning, the day that they opened it up to independent labels. I've been online since the early modem and BBS days, so the Internet has always been important to my work. Our web presence is very important. I've always found it strange when I hear of a new artist and can't find more information on the web. Terrible! Of course, it's even worse when established artists don't have a web site, or have some back corner of a major label's site which hasn't been updated for a couple of years. As a consumer, I very much appreciate the ability to know what's going on with my favorite artists, instead of wandering around a music store blindly, usually leaving with something I don't want. For those of you who don't remember this, it was around the time we all walked to school barefoot in the snow, uphill both ways. There's also a downside to online business. You can reach everyone immediately, but so can everyone else. And now that other labels have realized this, music fans are bombarded with so much marketing that it becomes noise and we're back to square one. You can get feedback immediately, but you have to filter that feedback and stick to your purpose, not letting it get in the way of your vision or worse, paralyze you.

Now a few years ago I became Hip to the iTunes technology through you, yet I feel that in today's music market the consumer is more in tuned with where today's market is than more people in the music industry, what would you say are the biggest misconception about iTunes and what kind of results has it given you, your label and labels artists?

Glenn Gutierrez : You don't need an iPod to use iTunes!

That was the first misconception we had to overcome when we first got our music onto iTunes. Otherwise, iTunes has been extremely good for our artists. It has allowed us to continue to offer catalog product without having to remanufacture. In a few cases, we wouldn't have been able to make more units, so the product wouldn't be available today at all. It's also allowed us to release interim product like remix albums and demo EPs, whereas the costs would have been prohibitive if we had to make a thousand CDs. Today, the worry is more about DRM (copy protection) on iTunes purchased music. As a customer of iTunes as well as a label guy, it doesn't bother me at all. I know I can burn a CD or move my music around my computers and iPods as freely as I'd ever need. I once challenged a web forum to tell me how iTunes DRM prevented them doing what they needed to do with their music. No one could. The ability to buy only one or two songs from an otherwise poor album is also a huge plus, which many people forget about, though it's probably saving them a lot of money in wasted CD purchases. This is why we always make sure to offer more than 10 tracks for the standard $9.99 price. If you will take the risk, we'll give you more!

What are some of the things someone may find if they were to look into your iPod today?

Glenn Gutierrez : I have a few playlists for my new car, which has great iPod integration. Of course, I have the Freestyle playlist with everything from my personal library to the Tommy Boy set. I've found I like driving to M.I.A's album Arular, as it's not only great music but one of her songs was also in the TV ad for my car. I don't know if it's the chicken or the egg on that one, and I may never figure it out. Wow, what wouldn't you find on my iPod is the question. It's still not full.

What about technology in the making of the music its self, How do you feel that today's technology that for example allows people that are millions of miles apart to work on music together?

Glenn Gutierrez : It's pretty easy to share tracks, bits and ideas over any distance now that we're all digital to some extent. Even if it's not a perfect fit, the tools which let us use 30-year-old loops can step in to help. I've never really thought much about this. It's not so different from walking into a studio after someone has laid down a vocal track the previous day when you weren't there. That said, a lot of music collaboration happens off of the recording. What if all the musicians don't agree? It's a tug of war between ideas and personalities. If you can still make that happen alongside the music, then you're set. Some might say this is still the job of a good producer. I say, "good luck."

Can you tell us a little about your company, what makes Planet Hype different and who makes up the Planet Hype team?

Glenn Gutierrez : We like to think of Planet Hype as the remnants of the core creative team from the new defunct Classified Records. We are the writers and producers who created the songs you know from Jocelyn Enriquez, Pinay, M:G, Heaven, and DnH (which included Sway from American Idol 2005). When Classified folded, we just figured that indie labels today are so transparent that a lot of the phony desk jobs weren't necessary achieve our goal: Getting our music to the people who enjoy it.

Do you believe Freestyle could and will make a commercial comeback and how far is it from that future or what do you think of it's future?

Glenn Gutierrez : That's hard to say. Not because I don't expect any one of the old school artists could come through with another hit song today, but because I don't know if the old school fans would recognize it or buy it. But I was doing this before we used the word "Freestyle" and I got into this genre because it offered aspects which appealed to me. I don't live in a Freestyle box. When I hear more and more TV commercials and shows using an up-tempo breakbeat soundtrack, or songs hitting the radio like Promiscuous or 1, 2 Step, I feel like there is a light at the end of the tunnel and I should keep shoveling coal.

What does Glenn Gutierrez do on his non music time, like for fun time?

Glenn Gutierrez : World of Warcraft. Next question?

For anyone that becomes interested in Glenn Gutierrez and his work, how may you be contacted?

Glenn Gutierrez : The contact form on planethype.com goes to my partners and me. If you're lucky, you can also catch me on World of Warcraft and we can go take down Hogger.

Glenn, thank you for taking part in this interview, are there any last things you would like to add for anyone that's reading this?

Glenn Gutierrez : I hope I can continue to earn your interest. As always, thank you for your support!