BOBBITO GARCIA (DJ CUCUMBER SLICE) ///
INTERVIEW JACLYN MARINESE ///
DATE JANUARY 12, 2004 ///

Known for being a master of many trades, Bobbito Garcia, a.k.a DJ Cucumber Slice - formerly known as Bobbito The Barber - has been making his mark on music, style, dance and basketball for more than 15 years both in and out of NYC. Besides being known for the three-year strong "Waffels and Falafels" Monday night party at APT in Manhattan, this New York born, rare music aficionado has impressed crowds all over the world with his eclectic mixes of funk, Latin, Afro beat, soul, classic rock, house, and hip-hop.

Though he is involved in many other projects Bobbito's solid musical foundation has become the backbone for many of his other accomplishments. After meeting DJ Stretch Armstrong in 1988, while working at Def Jam Records, the duo began the Stretch and Bobbito radio show on WKCR 89.9 FM, which was later deemed the "Best Hip Hop Radio Show of All Time" by The Source.

After graduating from Wesleyan University and playing pro basketball in Puerto Rico, Bobbito returned to New York to host open mic showcases, run the indie label Fondle'Em Records and open the record/clothing/sneaker store Bobbito's Footwork. As a journalist, he has written for countless magazines and his Vibe magazine column has lasted for 10 years. His recent book, Where'd You Get Those? - New York City's Sneaker Culture: 1960-1987 (Testify Books) pays homage to the New York City sneaker culture.

Because basketball is one of his passions, he founded a group called Project Playground, a Harlem Globetrotter-like crew of mostly Latino athletes whose performances have spanned from local community center gigs to halftime shows for the NBA. Aside from running the Fruitmeat record label and starting Bounce, a playground basketball magazine, he also recently produced a basketball instructional DVD entitled Bobbito's Basics to Boogie that features music by Cannibal Ox, Sadat X, Rich Medina, and Geology among others. Bobbito also recenlty released his own sneaker the k1x Cheifgliders Bounce Edition, a performance shoe which he designed for the company.

As an actor he was featured in films like Prison Song and Spike Lee's Summer of Sam and worked as a music consultant on 25th Hour, and the upcoming Sneaker Heads documentary. He has danced with the world-renowned Rock Steady Crew and has performed in Rock Steady Crew Anniversary shows and music videos including "Clones" by The Roots. Last fall he released the Wonder of Stevie album on Harmless Records with DJ Spinna which is a compilation of Stevie Wonder covers and the Earthtones album on R2 Records which is a mix of house, Latin, hip-hop, funk, and other African and Latin music.

By finding a way to combine his many passions, Garcia has become one of New York's most important figures. Though he generally keeps a low-key status, much of his work has had large and lasting impacts on those it has reached.

Did you always plan on being such a juggler of projects or is this lifestyle something that just came about as you began working?
I don't think I had any anticipation that I was going to be able to juggle so many things. I think that's part of the joy of living for me because every day is part of the challenge. I'm definitely not one to wait for one time of year to give thanks, or wait 'til one time of year to make a resolution. On a daily basis I give thanks and count my blessings and try to figure out how to improve, continue and expand my life. Because I hustle so much and because I work seven days a week I'm able to accomplish a lot.

So many parties and events in NYC come and go quickly but it seems like many of your projects have had a lasting impact on the culture here. The radio show lasted 12 years, your APT party has been going for three years, the Vibe column for 10 years. How do you have that staying power without over exposing your work?
Things that I've been involved with have staying power because they always come from a very uncompromised source of passion. Because of that they are slow burners. I don't do many things that are going to pop out and be pop culture on an immediate level and then nobody cares about it two years later. I've been fortunate enough to attach myself to projects that I think are innocent in some ways and are useful in some ways. The party at APT didn't blow up for the first couple of months but I stuck with it and people enjoy it because it's something different. I'm able to provide and create a different spectrum of music on a weekly basis and people appreciate that. I don't make everyone happy at that party. People leave in the middle of the night 'cause they don't like what I'm playing.

How does that affect you?
It's fine. Sometimes I think if everyone is staying there the whole night that I'm not doing a good job. It's very odd. Or you know when people come up to me and are like, "Oh my god you're playing the dopest shit." It actually turns me off because I'm like, "You're not supposed to know what I'm playing. You should be sort of like puzzled like, oh shit..." I love playing music that people don't know, that's the joy. Playing music that people don't know and having them still dance, that's the challenge. That's the highest point.

What was the first DJ gig you ever had?
The very first time I got behind the tables was on the radio with the Stretch and Bobbito show on 89.9FM. I started DJing because I watched Stretch every week at the radio show. The mutherfucker was incredible. He used to blend Beatles records with A Tribe Called Quest records effortlessly. I'd just see him in there having his hand on the pitch, not even touching the record, just crazy shit. And his selection was great. He was technically sharp and he knew the equipment well and you know watching a guy like that every week I couldn't help but be inspired and I started DJing. But as far as parties go, Stretch was DJing a party at the Barefoot Studio on 14th and 6th, in like '91, and I got behind the turntables and that shit was mad fun. It was exhilarating. And then in the winter of '95 is when I got my first regular gig at Coney Island High. That's when I got the nickname DJ Cucumber Slice. Back then I was called Bobbito the Barber. But my homegirl who worked there was like, "Yo, you need a DJ nickname." She's was like "Cucumber Slice." I was like, "Yo that shit's dope, I love cucumbers." And that just sounded so silly. Even today I get kids all the time who love it. I meet 10 year old kids and they get giggly yelling, "Cucumber Slice! Cucumber Slice" and they just start laughing.

It seems like your outward qualities have a lot to do with your success. How you present yourself as an artist...
Let me say this. When people heard me on the radio on 89.9 FM for 12 years there was no separation of Bobbito on radio from Bobbito in real life. None. I had listeners that swore to other people that I was their best friend 'cause they listened to me every week and they felt an intimacy with me as an announcer, as a host. And I think the same thing when I write the Vibe column or when I wrote the book, like the shit is stupid sometimes, like it goes off on tangents. Or on surreal shit. I show embarrassing pictures of myself with a bowl cut and tight shorts from 1980. It's like fuck it, laugh. My nickname is Cucumber Slice - just laugh. Whatever people get is just honest. It's just me. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. If you listened to an early show, I definitely tried to be much more hip-hop. And then after a while I was just like, "You know what Stretch? I'm a fuckin' nerd and I'm a goof ball." I drool saliva out of my mouth on the air and I'm gonna say I did it. If I fart on the air, that's just what it is. And Stretch is a goof ball too and so is [Lord] Sear, so that's how we made it a great trio for all those years. Yo we would get the hardest motherfuckin' gangsta, kill motherfucker MC's up there they would just be laughing with us. Everybody likes to laugh.

How has your family influenced what you do?
I think the shining moment for my parents as far as being proud of what I've done, for my dad was when I played pro ball in Puerto Rico. That was a huge dream of his that was denied to him 'cause his parents split up and he had to move to New York. When I played out there that was something he bragged about for years. That was a big deal for me too because I never thought I'd be able to do that at 5'10" and 160 lbs. My pops passed away in '97 and since '97 I did a lot of crazy things. I think one of the shining moments for my mom has been when my book was released. Because my mom had a lot of input in my book, Where'd You Get Those, Sneaker Culture in New York from 1960 to 1987. She went through a lot of the old family yearbooks and photos albums. There's a lot of photos of my childhood in that book and that was all my mom's research. She's been holding on to all those old photos over the years. She just loved it. She read it from page one to the last page. And she's not a sneaker head at all you know what I'm saying. She'll wear five-dollar sneakers in a heartbeat without even thinking about it. I'm like, "Mom you can't really rep like that. Your son's a world-renowned sneaker connoisseur." My mom is mad cute.

Do you think they had any impact on your direction at all?
My grandfather was a barber and my mother was a hairdresser. I got into cutting hair in like '86/'87. My mom is definitely a work-a-holic. She's no stranger to working from nine to five and then cutting hair after work and on the weekends and then knitting sweaters and sewing wedding dresses for people. I don't think she tried to impart that on me but I definitely picked it up. It's easy to see that I have no opposition to working 12 to 16 hours a day if I have to. Luckily I enjoy everything I do so I'm in a good position. But my dad definitely loved music and he loved basketball. And my dad loved non-commercial music. And again without trying to impart that onto me I just picked it up. And I didn't realize that till like two or three years ago. I called up my moms because my mom has all my dad's records still, and I was asking for this salsa album that was really popular in the early '70s, 'cause I couldn't find it in any record stores. And my mom was like, "Well your dad didn't really collect popular salsa albums. He really liked Latin jazz, but general people didn't appreciate Latin jazz the way they did salsa." That shit bugged me out because here I am living a music career, pushing all these like unknown artists, unknown songs, and unknown concepts, and it was the same thing my father did. Without even trying, without it even being spelled out to me, I just picked up the music. ///