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Pablo Paz, aka Adrenaline Truth, aka DJ Shatter, wanted to be an animator once upon a time. “But as I went along school-wise,” he says, “I realized I wasn’t really artistically inclined in that way, but I still wanted to make stuff.” Music, specifically hip-hop, had always been a creative respite for the Omaha-born, Santa Fe-raised Paz, however, so when he returned home after receiving a degree in creative media from the University of Hawaii and training under an audio engineer who he would “rather not name,” he re-enlisted with his old crew, Dezert Banditz. “The Zs are just for fun,” he jokes, “and we were—or we are—one of the bigger crews in the state.” Indeed, like a New Mexican version of the much-ballyhooed Wu-Tang Clan formula, Dezert Banditz remains a loosely connected tribe of groups, MCs, DJs, beat-smiths, producers and various hangers-on. If hip-hop is the product, Dezert Banditz is the factory.
For his part, Paz's MC and DJ efforts are certainly available for any and all performers, but the bulk of his best work seems inextricably linked to SUBLMNL RNSONS, a three-piece with which he performs alongside Cas Uno (Leroy Cardenas) and Mr. UnXnown (Jose Granados). They're well known to Santa Fe's hip-hop elite as prolific writers and producers, and rarely will a show within that genre take place without one or all of them onboard.
"It's been the project that I'm usually the most focused on," Paz says. "But lately I've really wanted to shift that focus more to the craft of production." He speaks of his DJ alter-ego, Shatter, a party facilitator who exists in stark contrast to Paz's soft-spoken and almost shy nature. As a person, Paz is clearly very intelligent, but it would appear he climbs into his own head about how he presents himself to the world at large. As a DJ and performer, he comes alive and takes on an almost completely different persona. Still, he's nothing if not self-aware of his own potential artistic growth.
"SUBLMNL has songs from over the years that people still like, and we'll still play those songs because people like 'em, and I get it, but I'm not sure how much I still agree with the message in those anymore, [and] anyway, I'm not writing lyrics as much these days," he points out. "I'm more focused on DJing, not just because I want my co-MCs to get more of the spotlight—and I know I can count on them to show up and fill in those blank spaces—but because when I step up to the mic, I want to have something to say, even … it doesn't matter if it's not important to the rest of the world, it still has to be important to me."
During his informal mini-hiatus, he's sharpened his DJ skills and broadened his repertoire by performing at various regional hip-hop showcases. "They can be really long and teach you that you have to know all kinds of styles," he says. "So I DJ with a rapper's perspective because when I was doing more MC stuff, the DJ was always the wild card, and they should be the conduit through which all the music flows."
His refreshingly communal-minded philosophy from within a field that seems to foster a single-player mentality has obviously served him well, as he appears among this year's SFR Best of Santa Fe-nominated artists in the DJ category and also helms the decks for a massive show Friday at The Underground, which features NYC artist Ricky Bats, Rill, Nspire, Ben Davis, SBLMNL RNSONS and others.
"I'm all about figuring out what's feasible, and when you get a little older and think about how maybe you didn't reach whatever level of success you thought you would … I mean, I have some cred, but I just don't see myself rapping for another 20 or 30 years," Paz notes. "This city's got a vibrant music culture right now, and I could easily continue rapping, but DJing had me right from the get."
Ricky Bats, SBLMNL RNSONS,
Rill,
Nspire, Ben Davis and more:
9 pm Friday, May 27. $5.
The Underground.
200 W San Francisco St.
Santa Fe Reporter