Review Fix Exclusive: David E. Beats Q & A

David E. Beats, is the founder and currently only member of the White House Band. In this exclusive Q & A, Beats discusses his up and coming career.

Review Fix: How did you form this band, when did you start it officially?

David E. Beats: I formed this band in February 2010. I made the band because I felt like I needed a better live show, a better angle, so I created the project of the White House Band. Right now, it’s just a project I use to combine the whole hip hop and rock thing that’s been going on in my brain for so many years. It’s just like an excuse to find a way for that to mesh organically.

Review Fix: What’s your favorite song on “The Stimulus Package” EP?

David E. Beats:“Grown Ups” is actually one of my favorite songs. You know I played the solos on that. It was a cool song. My favorite song though is “Wasup” right now mainly because of the beat. Did you hear the album version? The extra, extra long one? That version is five minutes longer. It’s even crazier with a 3rd verse and I’m going in on some like lyrical punch line.

Review Fix: Why did MTV ban the “Wasup” video?

David E. Beats: I don’t know, I think it might be because in the video we run up in a store and wave a gun in someone’s face, steal his merchandise then walk out and blow it up. Then we highjack Times Square (laughs) this would be our third video to be accepted on MTV and they hit back and said “were not playing this.” But seriously, they’ve been banning a lot of shit, so it is what it is. I think the best thing that I’m looking forward to is focusing on getting fans , doing lots of interviews, openings a lot of my own shows. Pretty much where we are right now is like it’s 1962 and we’re like the Rolling Stones and it’s time to hit the road. We’re not relying on a label or anything, I got some offers and its weird, so I just decided the best thing to do is to own my own product. A lot of black people don’t own their own shit; a lot of artists don’t own their shit. Of course, it’s a little bit harder because you know it’s a whirlwind, but every day you make fans and you make more sales and eventually it gets to the point where you’re selling out shows.

Review Fix: What are some of the struggles you’ve gone through to get to this point of success? In “Grown Ups,” you say, “I made it back from places they never came back from” and you rap about coming from a broken home.

David E. Beats:A lot of people probably don’t feel this way, but it’s been very hard to get to this point. We have a lot of haters. I guess it’s because the grass always looks greener on the other side. I’ve worked very hard to get where I am and everyone on my team works very hard.

Review Fix:What’s your overall goal for the band?

David E. Beats: Of course, I don’t see why you would do this and put your life on the line if you didn’t. I’m aiming to win a Grammy. It’ll take a while, but were going all the way, mark my words.