LISTEN TO THE SNIPPETS HERE
 
 
So for the 200th Herring release in 2017 Herring teamed up with Cambridge producer Derek Marazzo, MA artist Manuel (Matos), and graphic designer Nerco for the Deep Waters 7", a partial repress of the extremely rare 1996 12" on Majestique. [Good luck finding a copy]. 

For this new/old project we put the team back together again for the unreleased album material from around the same time period as the 12". Nerco is on the artwork [as well as the new season white label jackets] and Derek has remastered and mixed the old tracks to create what wouldve been Manuel's debut album made up of material from 94-95. 
 
We didn't see this one coming so when Derek hit me up telling me that he had found the old multi-track recordings I was buzzin. And when he got back to me a few months later to show me what he had been working on, I was stunned. The ish is top notch - what a record - but dont't take my word for it - peep the dang snippets yo!!
 
Shout out to everyone involved - it's another Herring suuuuuureshot!
 
 
There are 300 copies only in Full Colour Large Sticker cover - artwork by Herring Superfan Nerco [who also did the white label jackets for this season].
Black wax only.
 
 
 
 
 
Peep this short interview:
 
 
Where did you come up?
 
Manuel/Derek: Both us are from Cambridge, Massachusetts USA
 

What are your earliest memories of the culture?
 
Derek: My earliest memories of hip hop culture came around 1980 or so. Like most, my first introduction to hip hop culture was hearing the Sugar Hill Gang's ‘Rapper’s Delight’
 

How did you actively get into the culture?
 
Derek: I’d say probably around 1983. I was 13 at the time and fascinated with being a DJ after becoming a big RUN-DMC fan. Also was into (at least trying) break dancing, graffiti etc.
 
 

When did you start rhyming/producing?
 
Derek: started producing around 1985-86. A friend in my apartment building introduced me to the first Boss Dr. Rhythm, and from then on, I had a keen interest in beat making, music instruments and recording equipment. I started really getting into when affordable sampling became available via the old Casio keyboard (SK-1) and drum machine (RZ-1). It wasn’t until 94 that I got my hands on the Akai MPC 60.
 
Manuel: Same with me, around the same time, 84-86. I was always rhyming on the streets, at the parks, out on the block doing mischievous things, etc. A lot of dudes were saying I gotta get into this rap thing fully, you’re kicking some real stuff. So that’s how I got into it, and I brought it to a higher level.  That’s when I started to rock with Steve, also a Cambridge DJ. Derek and I were already honing our skills before we started doing some collabs.
 

How did you guys meet?
 
M/D: Can’t remember exactly, but some time in our early teens.  A few of us in the area were into either rapping, beat making or DJing, so we’d often talk of collaborating here and there. 
 

When did you start recording together?
 
M/D: We recorded a couple songs together in the late 80’s, and linked up again in the early 90s when we both more polished and ready to put out more than just demos. The two of us and another rapper from Cambridge named Flip had a short-lived group called “Hellbound” with a gimmicky devil rap thing. We got signed to a new label run by a professional basketball player also from Cambridge, but things never got off the ground and we parted ways with them. We started working exclusively one on one soon after that.
 

How did you get the 12" deal?
 
M/D: We actually put the single “Deep Waters” / “Luv Luv” out on our own label, ‘Majestique Recordings’ – the two of us and another friend, (Dana he was on the promotion/biz side), owned a stake in the label and got the single pressed with what we could afford at the time. I think we only had 200 copies made.  Most of them went as promos to college radio stations.
 
 
Was there much interest from the single at the time?
 
M/D: After it was played locally on a few stations (WERS, WMBR, WZBC etc.) we received a pretty good buzz around town and it soon was in heavy rotation, at least on the college radio level.  That brought a lot of opportunities for shows/appearances in the area as well.
 

How come you didn’t follow up with another release?
 
Derek: A year after the single, we put out a cassette-only maxi-single featuring the two previous songs and some new joints. We had planned to release a full album, but things never quite got there. I started losing interest in the business of it all and took a break from music with the intention of getting back to it full steam at some point. Unfortunately, time passed and it never came to be. I had a bit of a career opportunity as a graphic designer around that time as well.
 

What does it mean to you guys that the music finally sees the light of the day 30 years after recording?
 
Derek: Really exciting to share these with the public. I’ve sat on a few DAT tape masters that I thought were lost. Then I found actual multi-track recordings on old hard drives thought to be dead. Hearing these joints feels like time hasn’t even passed, they still sound pretty good sonically – A surprise to me seeing how they were recorded on some questionable equipment!
 
 
 
LISTEN TO THE SNIPPETS HERE