Mike D’s upcoming solo album, Thank You, includes music made with an E-mu SP-1200 sampler from the 1980s, according to Rolling Stone. The vintage machine was loaned to him by Beastie Boys bandmate Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz and came with floppy disks already loaded with Beastie-related sounds.
Producer Tyran Donaldson, who has worked with SZA, told The New York Times that working with the sampler felt like using a “time machine.” He said the Diamonds, who are Mike D’s sons Skyler and Davis, would sometimes run into old drum breaks associated with Beastie Boys songs while searching for sounds.
Thank You, due Aug. 28, will be the first new music to come from the Beastie Boys camp since the death of Adam “MCA” Yauch in 2012. Mike D told the Times that he spent years grieving after Yauch’s death and found it hard to stay creative.
He said his sons helped bring him back to music, and the album material released so far points toward an experimental sound with psychedelic touches. Mike D 5D, the group involving his sons, is also set to tour this summer.
