Diplo, the famed DJ, producer, and proprietor of Mad Decent Records, has added director to his résumé. July 20th will see the release of Favela On Blast, a documentary he self-funded and shot with partner Leandro HBL. As previously reported, the film investigates Brazil’s burgeoning underground baille-fun scene and features appearances from funk superstars Deize, Tigrona, Mr. Catra, and Duda Do Borell. The project, Diplo says, began about five years ago when he first started traveling to the country.

“I was amazed at the music scene and underground culture there,” he tells Big Shot. “Everybody’s paying attention to Brazil, but no one had really gone into the favelas like this and show was going on. I wanted to put that down on film.”

Diplo says he shot the film on a Sony camera he bought for a fraction of the price on the Hong Kong black market. “I live in L.A., and now I know how easy it is to put a film together and raise funds. Back then I had nobody telling me how to do it.”

Speaking before he left for a brief Asian tour, Diplo had only positive things to say about “C’mon,” his new collaboration with Dutch dance king Tiësto.

“Yeah, I did it last month,” he says. “I don’t think there’s anyone in music who I couldn’t partner with. I don’t have a specific sound or anything, so that makes it really easy for me to go from working with a rapper to a rock band. The bottom line is that I always want to do something that hasn’t been done before and make something that sounds interesting.”

“I don’t even know how he got into my style or found my music. He just hit me up to make a record. I sent him some ideas, and we went back-and-forth on the Internet. We’ve met a couple of times at festivals. I’ve played some pretty big festivals in my life for like 15 or 20,000 people. That’s a huge coupt to play for that many people. But at Coachella [Tiësto] played for like 150,000 people. It was insane to see so many people there for one DJ. “

“The guy is so positive about music and one of the biggest artists I’ve ever worked with. He’s bigger than Snoop Dogg or anyone I can imagine. Everybody knows him around the world, and I can’t believe how humble and cool he is about making music.”

Look for a full interview with Diplo in Issue 33.