I.N.F.O photographed above

KEYS: What up fellas, how you guys doing?

I.N.F.O.: What's good, working as usual.

NOVA: Same ol' same ol' enjoyin the summer

KEYS: You’ve done tracks for a number of major artists.  For people getting familiar with you guys, what would you say are the top 3 joints you’ve done so far?

I.N.F.O.: We have around 50 records out as of now, so it's hard to pick from, but most recent being a joint on Cam'ron's "Crime Pays" album called "Cookin' Up" and a joint on Paul Wall's Album "Fast Life" called "Pressin Them Buttons".

NOVA: I'm partial to Trae's "Nuthin to a boss" and an old joint Cam did over the beat that Info did that turned into "Gotta Love It".

KEYS: I was just looking over your Wikipedia page and it says that one of you are based out of Pittsburgh, and the other is in Seattle.  Do you guys work over the internet?

I.N.F.O.: Yeah, it's tough for us to be in the same place all the time, so we work when its best for our schedules. We do a lot of file sending back and forth through the internet.

NOVA:  I'll send a lot of ideas or play Info ideas over the phone I have or vice versa and we just build from there.

KEYS: So how did you guys get started?  How’d you guys link up together?

I.N.F.O.: Me and Nova were working with the same manager, but we knew of each other before that. We formed a relationship around the same time that we started working on The Diplomats projects. We were getting placements on the same records so it only made sense for us to work together.

NOVA: Yeah, around that time we figured we could each bring a lot to the table, just started working on records on the Dipset projects and expanded from there.

KEYS: The creative process must be tough since you both work in different locations.  What’s that like?

I.N.F.O.: It really don't make it much different than working in person I feel. It doesn't seem much different than when artists send verses to each other to collaborate on songs. It sounds odd but its really easy.

NOVA: We both got real similar taste so in my opinion its as easy as working in the same spot.

KEYS: Now that you’ve placed a number of songs together, is life pretty easy knowing you can push a track to an artist you’ve built a relationship with and get them to use it?  Or is it still competitive with new producers trying to take your place on those albums?

I.N.F.O.: Music Production on a major level is a very competitive business. Any artist may have 100-300 or more hungry producers trying to push tracks to them, but at the end of the day they can only use 12-15 songs for there whole albums that come out every year or two. With that said you really have to stay on your toes regardless of the relationship. There's a lot of relationship's where we might be in a better position than the next man, but you can never get too comfortable.

NOVA: Relationship and politics is obviously very important but we always keep our music top-notch so I'm not really too worried about the next producer in terms of competition. It's more competitive in the vice versa where we still trying to take the spots from producers that are ahead of us.

KEYS: Do you guys have hard times when it comes to production?  Times when you guys just want to quit, or you feel you should put your time elsewhere?  It must help to have a partner in the production process.

I.N.F.O.: We've had situations were the politics can really leave you uninspired. You run into some shady artists and labels that would rather buy a iced out chain or some rims than fairly break you off what they owe you for your work. Stuff like that can leave you uninspired. But if anything I've never felt like quitting, just a lesson to deal with people who handle good business

NOVA: I enjoy making music and always try to make shit I would personally listen to so I wouldn't quit producing, but like Info said there's a lot of shit you gotta deal with that will leave you uninspired.

KEYS: Going through your list of placements, ya’ll have a pretty impressive list of credits. It seems like in order to get placements like that, you must be under management.  Is that true, or are you guys getting your beats in the hands of these artists on your own?

I.N.F.O.: It's a little bit of both. When I got my first break it was with a Producer Manager, Spliff. He was working with the Diplomats at that point and that's were I first got my foot in the door. As time went on I learned more and used my resources I had to be more direct with artists and labels. Working with management is a good look but it's not healthy to be dependent on other people, so I try to do as much as I can to help build our brand.

NOVA: Basically what Info said, a good relationship with the actual artist personally makes it easier to get placements instead of goin through management.

KEYS: Right now you advertise your beats for $10,000 for major artists.  Are you guys pretty set on that price?

I.N.F.O.: It's always give or take. At the end of the day it boils down to how large of an impact the project is expected to have.

NOVA: We can be flexible, generally depends on the budget etc.

KEYS: If you were to place a beat with say, a guaranteed multi-platinum album like Lil’ Wayne or T.I., would you guys be in a position to negotiate royalties or is it still a set price at $10,000?

I.N.F.O.:  We expect royalties and publishing for every record we do. What we were discussing before is considered up-front or advance. Basically the advance is to cover our expenses and to make sure we're guaranteed something in case the artist doesn't recoup or whatever was to happen.

NOVA: We obviously would expect royalties and publishing, I wouldn't be nearly as concerned with the advance, compared to the back end to be honest.

KEYS:  Over the years, we would hear about people like Dipset paying unknown producers somewhere around $5,000 for a beat.  Does that still happen?  How often have you had to give beats away for free and just settle for the exposure it may  give you.

I.N.F.O.: Of course. At the end of the day you have to evaluate each situation and its worth. A bigger artist can generate a million downloads on a mixtape and that's a million people hearing your music. I prefer not to do mixtape tracks though because it doesn't make much sense. At the same time it doesn't hurt anything because as a producer you wind up with tons of unreleased tracks that would've never seen the light anyways.

NOVA: We try not to settle with giving any tracks away but it's obviously gonna come with the territory that your tracks will see a mixtape every now and then.

KEYS: Now, having looked at these placements, it surprises me that ya’ll are not a household name as of yet. Why do you think this is so?

I.N.F.O.: It's a lot of things that come into play. You can't just wake up and become a Timbaland or Storch. A lot of the big names are older guys who worked there way up just like we are doing now. It boils down to the politics and the important singles usually go to the guys who are already in the hot seat. Another important part is being a producer who is co-signed by a big name or exec in the game. We get most of our records based off it being good music and not from us being buddy buddy with people. We're building a strong brand and it's only in due time. It's all about timing.

NOVA: It's a lot harder to get those single records without good relations with the label and artists. Like Info said, a lot of our joints are just off the strength of our music.

KEYS: A lot of the joints you’ve produced have been real street records, songs you find on albums but you never hear on the radio.  Do you plan on making more radio friendly joints any time soon?

I.N.F.O.: See, we make all sorts of records and people tend not to realize that. I've said in the past that's one of the set backs.  People can only judge us by what they've heard and not what we actually make. We have tons of crazy R&B and Pop records that could easily pan out to be huge records.

NOVA:  We do a little bit of everything.

KEYS: Now, I.N.F.O., I know you were saying that you had a family, alot of our readers are in the same boat as you. How do you manage to create a balance where you can give time to the family, job, and still have enough left to put into music?

I.N.F.O.: Man, it is definitely tough. I would say sacrifice is the biggest key to maintaining balance. One of the biggest sacrifices would be social life. Hanging out with friends, going clubbing and whatnot. I barely do any of that. I just don't have the time. Every day that get's wasted could be a missed chance at the next big hit. I'm a workaholic and sleep around 3 to 5 hours a day with a repetitive schedule. Knowing what to do with my hours helps a lot. I'm also studying time management so I can learn more ways to squeeze the most out of my days.

KEYS: What equipment do you guys use?  What do you use to collaborate when you’re in two different locations?

I.N.F.O.: I do a lot more of the keyboard and drum sequencing so in my personal setup I have Protools, Computer, Akai MPD32, Korg Triton that gets used more as a MIDI keyboard these days, Mixer, Microkorg and I use a lot of the new soft synths.

NOVA: Man, I just got FL and thousands and thousands of records.

KEYS: Alright, thanks for taking the time to talk with us.  To close this, what can we look out for from you guys in the future?

I.N.F.O.: It is appreciated. Thanks for your time also. For the readers please check us out at www.pmpworldwide.com/infonova and look out for new tracks soon with Lil Wayne, Gorrilla Zoe, Lox, Dipset and whatever comes our way. We are always making new things happen.

NOVA: We're always working on something so hopefully we get some non street record shit out so people can hear thats not all we are capable of. Peace

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