Swollen Members

0:00Only a couple more to go One two three I have four more So it doesn't matter because I'm going to air mass after this and it was a spend a fucking whackload ago So what is that? It's only the I Feel like I should already know what you're talking about well it's a Put it this way we're gonna spend Two thousand dollars on the Louis Vuitton bag Then you're fucking up by not going to air man Buying a bag that you're gonna be the only person walking down the street with it instead of looking like a plebeian And I'll leave it at that I've only been here for years. I'm still learning the Toronto spots. It's from Paris But they have a story right well, but it's amazing

0:46So it's my shop a hollip are you Okay, so you've been on the road for like a month now. Yeah What do you look what you take these opportunities to just shop and go spend like fine random stores and random city? Well look, I'm I'm I'm a little particular okay, so you have your spots in every city Well, yes, but but not in every city because every city doesn't have spots for me every Sudbury doesn't look like that But yes Toronto of course has a great shopping So yes air mass is one of my one of my go-to some also a huge I'm gonna tell those then you fan savatory for a gamo I like a little bit of the off the beaten path Goyard Companies like that is it all clothing that we always have clothing and like accessories exactly not like electronics or toys

1:35Yeah, I mean once you got a place of toys. Yeah But yes mostly mostly clothing, okay Yeah, I just tell these guys a funny story. I was last time I was here. I went to a Strollery Yeah down the street and they literally followed me around every I put my hand on a shirt Sir, what size are you looking for? I'm just looking at the Patterns you know looking at hi, sir. Would you like me to take the tag off it so you can try it on in front of our Yeah, very nice. Yeah, they obviously thought I was trying to boost something I can tell I can tell the difference Is that your release on tour that is the shopping that's how you get out of the like madness that is touring Well look, you know you you go on you go on the tour or you go on the road you you work

2:23You know obviously there's some monetary reward that comes with that work So every couple of cities, you know Vancouver I try not to shop when we're when we're playing shows in Vancouver because that's rent money and other stuff But you know we hit Calgary we hit Toronto Montreal. Yeah, I'll afford myself Modest budget to go buy a one nice piece. I don't want better there like Sexities or anything like that, you know, I have one bag Maybe one or two small items in it, but yes, I do love fashion Oh The chef yesterday and the day Why are you doing why are you switching things up? Well, I know why I'm gonna talk about sure

3:15The original idea behind to bail prevail calm was to let people see Have a further insight into who I am what what makes me tick as a person and as a lyricist because Listening to our own stuff, especially with beautiful death machine. I realize I'm a little cryptic I'm not I don't necessarily wear my heart on my sleeve as well as mad child is able to do I'm a little more hidden. I'm a little bit more covert with my with my Feelings and emotions So I wanted to say hey But I do feel comfortable writing so let me write about what I actually do in my daily life I go to symphony. I go to offers. I like fashion. I used to be a not a chef

4:01I can't call myself a chef, but I worked my way up to onto metier So I cook I love wine. I my my nephew and I have dinners together all the time He's a studying to be a Somalia's a junior bartender, you know So I've got a bunch of great friends who are beer reps So I get to drink great beer all the time I wanted to give insight into that and also be able to vouch for my my team of contributors Who I feel share a like-mindedness with me. We've created this entity that's a Momentous lifestyle magazine Is it easier for you? Interviewing people now that you've been on the opposite side of it 100 you know people want to hear like how does that change your game as an interview? Oddly enough No, no, it's uh, it's interesting for me to talk about it too because as a new interviewer

4:54Only I'm only about 20 interviews in right? Okay, so yeah, it's still fairly new. Yeah Yes, it has help This side as it goes answering the questions Funnily enough, I thought great. I'm a lyricist I you know I wrap I'll be able to have a nice pace a nice cadence My first couple interviews I watched back actually had to end up reshooting one of them Because I was just too Rapid too fast too spur spur spur So I had to dial myself back a little bit with the pace and allow the interviewee to speak their mind Especially because I'm speaking mostly to entrepreneurs local proprietors. It's not about me It's about them being able to herald and champion their establishment or their product

5:40Their art their craft whatever maybe So it's been it but it's been awesome for me in the city. It's it's really helped me to Get a nice footing and you know There's some places now that I've been interviews for and I go back a month later and have dinner at a restaurant Oh crap. Hey, yo, oh and the chef wants to send this out for you. Here's a three, you know glassy, you know So that's why you do it. No doubt truth be told why I'm actually doing it is Again to give insight into who I actually am as a person, but I realized too in Five years so now seven years from now. I want to have something solid that I can still look to as a creative stream and as a monetary stream that I'm still somewhat in creative control over I can still flex the

6:28Great matter Because music in the way that we perform shows and make records and tour There's a there's a certainly long jeopardy to it And physically, you know, it starts to wear you a little bit I'm 37 now so it's not as if I was 23 still jump around Surfing and things like that so again, I just want to have a backup plan where I'm still in creative control That's interesting No, we can The covert talking about writing lyrics covertly and so are you sitting there? Scratch and things out saying maybe I put too much my heart and my sleep where you are you self-conscious about what comes out of your mouth and your writing I like to think that I just Turn off and let the hand just move yeah

7:16But I think you know for for me as being a freestyle MC as well I'm able to channel into that That medium sometimes it's purely orated isn't with the freestyle stuff sometimes No, I I Bruce I always go written see and I have a strange dichotomy there in that my written material I I love word structure. I love to see Inter inter running words. I'm really Influency so I like to see that I like to know what I'm what I'm doing when I see it when I'm freestyling It's it's really unless I'm in a battle it's always on stage and

8:04I'm just picking up on something I know it sounds a little bit corny, but I really feel sometimes like I'm picking up on something and I'm just a medium for it My mouth is moving and I know my brain is functioning, but I don't I'm not having a cohesive idea of the words that I want to come next they just Sort of go Doesn't sound corny. Well it does, but I hear it from a lot of people so it's very much a collective I don't know just hip-hop I hear it a lot in even when I'm talking to like indie rock song writers They say that like I don't know what the song came from I just sat with my piano and it came yeah So I find that very interesting in the creative arts that it just people don't know where it comes from It just comes together you're other band members say the same thing It's mad say the same thing when you use right? Yeah, you know, I mean mad at mad at is a very

8:52focused writer And again because he's so open with his personal emotions not that he's not cryptic or has dark poetry He does but again because he's better at wearing his heart on his sleeve. I Think emotional words trigger his response More than mine more than for me, but in the juxtaposition I would say that For me I look at the syllabilic breakdown of what a word can offer a certain word structure will dictate a certain cadence shorter Five to seven letter words will obviously dictate a certain cadence because you're now going with that rhyming structure Yeah, anything longer allows you to have a little bit more give a little bit more play

9:42And for Rob, I don't know what planet Rob was born on But wherever it was it was definitely filled with music Guys a musical genius So I don't know how we dials it in but he has a wide range of musical influences and again, we're all we're all Appreciators of different styles apart Mad loves his pop art cream the Kubrick toys You know things like that Rob is a modern furniture duty loves Arles Sarnan You know I actually live proboscia to you about that, you know, we've start I'm an architecture guy

10:33I'm old like collect old school art and chickens from 1700s 1800s. I like We also we all have a unique eye and We appreciate each other's style and taste but they're all different and when I look at it really now that we're talking I was just good. I see how it all blends and lends to each other Well, how does it play like you want to explain that a little bit like sure so like do you look at these piece of art and Actually, no, just go. I don't know. I don't know. I'm gonna ruin it. Oh, no So I you're on a something okay, so I'm thinking now, you know Rob is one of the guys the design style that he likes he looks at lines That's really what we need from art from a producer is to provide that clean aesthetic that will allow say it's a

11:22Ball chair now if Rob produced the shell of the ball chair and Mad looks at that ball chair and says I love that design. I respect it and I'm gonna make my rhyme a Paisley pattern cushion and that ball chair and I look at it. I love that chair I love mad what you did with the paisley, but I'm really feeling hound's tooth right now complimentary all encompassing One linear vision Good. I like that. I'm glad I shut up How does it work with writing back and forth like when you guys come like back for I mean obviously I know the theme of song but sure does mad come in with the verse than you or you come in with the verse and he says I'm gonna write something to compliment that or is it are you guys going back and forth helping each other write the verse?

12:10Like how does it work when there are two MCs in the same group? Well, we've we've been making music together so long Quite literally on on beautiful death machine, especially Rob did about 60% of the beats the rest is attributed to sea lance and aspect so for instance with backswar I heard that beat To me that doesn't scream topical song my girlfriend broke up with me I'm getting kicked out, you know, that's a give me a mic and let me shred people So we have that innate sense already it just almost flows Osmatically that we know okay. This is a rippers beat just go do your thing on it and then We'll come up with the chorus or a hook sometimes vice versa with the chorus of the hook and it will set the tempo

12:57But mostly for thematic topical songs is how we set that off and then we go back and say okay Let's take a minute with the lyrics make sure that we're staying on Task on on message And that's how we execute making music. That was the double time coming off live. You okay with oh, yeah, I'm good Yeah, yeah, yeah for sure. It's nice to hear it though. It's different word. Thanks for money. Yeah West Coast influence a lot of that stuff from Obviously hieroglyphics through freeze out fellowship to my biggest inspirations musically as far as hip-hop goes So yes, I've been tempered with some of the best people on the planet and I learned this skill set from those guys I'm a west coast maybe think of the Vancouver scene like I have a lot of friends in the indie rock seat out there

13:43Okay, you say it's not great like people don't go shows very much people don't And maybe it's because the city's so spread apart I don't really know why but but I heard it from a lot of people that like prevent Cooper musicians It's really tough How is the hip-hop scene is it is it different is it the same? Well, it's it's it's different and I think it's it's interesting because Classically Vancouver is a classic rock and rock city. Mm-hmm. I'm of course we had our Our a lot of jazz and what have me back in the day Sorry to see that that has disappeared somewhat, but it really did become a rock city So now is the landscape changes people feel like they've seen I saw the classics I saw the great bands and say we're breaking out of Vancouver That that

14:32The Mosaic has changed to more of your electronic music more of your hip-hop stuff But our underground scene is amazing, you know, it's still works. Oh, it still works. Absolutely Yes, you have your beatbox and rap battle competitions once a week at such and such a venue Cyclic things like that you still go to those things I know you know, I don't as much as I should I but what I what I do do a lot of is I go to the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra once a week or once every two weeks. I go to a lot of opera I go to a lot of ballet Influenced by fine arts and performance arts Go to a lot of plays I actually wrote and acted in a play a year and a half ago really yeah very interesting

15:22So very I'm good. Yeah So it's an interesting concept which which might help give it a better framework It's called grief encounters. It happens once a year what they do is they take 12 artists of all different genres architectural landscaper ballet dancer chef Yoga teacher Videographer whatever whatever their their genres they pair you up now you and I now have two weeks from our first night on stage out of a three night performance To completely come up as a collaborative effort that needs to be roughly around 10 minutes of performance time and whatever you want And those ten whatever you want. That's interesting The one parameter is that they ask you that whatever your art is you lend a little bit of yours to mine

16:14Then I have to do a little bit of right so I got teamed up with a contemporary dancer Josh Martin very talented So we said okay, well, what's the first step? I said well you you probably heard me rap So let me see you dance. Yeah So he's dancing and and he's just he's amazing you can tell the even though it's modern dance You can see the influence of hip-hop, especially in the popping and locking So very fluid very awesome, but he reminded me almost of as if you were to see Pinocchio On the strings So I said let's take people let's throw people for a loop because they're gonna expect you to come out there and start be Boing and doing head spins and all that great stuff that I love and expect me to kick a rap and it's gonna turn into a Mini-rap show. Let's not do that So we wrote a story. I wrote the words and he did the movement

17:05Called the wooden boy in the world of machines and it's all about Pinocchio's older brother wakes up one day in a toy shop makes his escape Finds a laden a version of a laddens lamp Falls into a world of machines The machines are protecting the modern day Jepetto as we call him in the play the inventor Unlike Pinocchio Unlike his brother Who's nose grows his fingers grow Okay into five sharp and spears one on each hand five on each hand each one pierced a guardsman like a fresh-studdered lamb This part flew where they stand a disbanded band once majestic and grand now electrically damn perpetually slammed susceptible to projectile missiles his hands, okay, so

17:54Some are you standing on the side of stage? No, I'm no I am fully this is a full-on play Okay So no we're acting there's costume changes on stage like costume changes props I speak in the voice of the narrator, which is a my Soar attempted at a British accent. Okay, and then my rap cadence natural voice and then the voice of the professor who was also British but could have been Swiss German at the same time We had a very small part so long story short the wooden boy ends up killing Jepetto killing Jepetto the inventor gets his life back as a real boy Goes back to earth to the modern-day world But because of his angst and strife and ill-harvard feelings he becomes an assassin

18:46so at the end of the story Josh actually Killed me carries me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and carries me off stage So interestingly enough out of all the plays that night or performance pieces that night They don't tell you until day one of the performance. It was a Friday Saturday Sunday They don't tell you until Friday ten minutes before the performance Who the first act is going to be and who closes the show? So they they also though they give you about a five six day window to perform or to practice You know then they say come into the studio show us what you got We've been doing this for a long time. Let us give you a little feedback and help guide you They don't let any spill any of the beans then Opening day of the show Josh prevail. You're closing the whole thing every night

19:35Pressure level already. Okay. I can wrap give me a mic go out. I know my stuff I haven't done performance theater like that since 12th grade So it was amazing. It was eye-opening standing ovation three nights sold out house. We got the cover of our local You know our version of explain which is called the Georgia straight We didn't get the cover what we got the cover of the entertainment part of the section beautiful right up And I think it threw people for a loop and that really was one of the things that helped trigger me saying men be open with your Art yeah, don't try to hide it away You just did a performance piece of people didn't expect you to do just be free with it So what do you want to do next if you have like of the saying yes to things like where would you like to see our

20:22Go so well, I am very interested in hosting a TV show I'm trying yeah, so I've written a couple concepts One of them has been well received they I've made a sizzle reel I did the whole the whole nine yards It's been it's been shopped and all that and now my name is being thrown in the hat for some interesting hosting roles So I'm in Vancouver stop right we're gonna be competing for gigs. All right. No, no, no, no I'm sure you're I'm sure you have a love your best interest and I but Yes, but those are things that interest me again and knowing that the twilight is Approaching at some point you feel that way though that you couldn't continue on a behalf Well look I want to I also want to challenge myself in life And I think like any artist if you're a sculptor and you've been a you you become a master

21:09Sculker or a master glassblower and it takes you 25 years to reach that pinnacle Then you if you still got some some vibrancy You want to be able to see if you can master another art or some or get somewhere somewhat close I Feel that I'm close to I feel that I'm the I've been touching up with myself to realize My thought process I Can explain it I can put it on paper I can put it in front of people and it can be received whether well received or received that doesn't matter You have the function enough to put your art out there and let it be Digested by the world Now I'm interested to see how well my other art forms could be Digested and I want to be able to manifest those things at some point

21:57Right going back to France after I've asked you Did doing that play change the way your demeanor is on stage now like has it changed your live performance in this world? Yeah, I think it has It made me very aware of spatial energy Matt and I have always been very good about all right, you know, we're starting There are a couple lines in let's switch sides. Let's I'm gonna stand back you take stage front You know all the microphone tricks and all that stuff But it was working with the dancer you really have to give them their space to do their thing But at the same time you have to have a presence on stage because you're narrating the whole plane Where's the lighting hitting my face how close am I to the side of the stage am I getting lost in shadows?

22:49Am I or rating loud enough for the crowd to hear me? Of course with the microphone if you that problem is not as confessing but Yes, it really did help dial me back to Grade school junior high high school where I did a lot of performance theater and I think I'd maybe traded that understanding for MC for for wrapping performance understanding, so it was nice to reconnect with that original Discipline interesting Hope you dug it. That was fun. I was awesome girl tried to do it a little differently cool For that you go five good questions one more answers sure I should be six because the hip hop I like that one okay rotor studio

23:37road Leonard McCartney we McCartney Hot when you hear a song what usually hits you first lyrics melody or rhythm lyrics song you've written your most proud of And awesome. That's a stop right there Pretty proud almost famous cool on the new record tonight and in one word swallow members Determined that's a good one. I like that sweet man. Thank you. Thank you Yeah Rob run his gear on the bus he did so you guys are working on music or trying to we are the tricky thing with the bus

24:32You pull it out sorry The tricky thing with the bus is when the generator flips over he's worried about losing everything right so He and mad we had a couple days off in Winnipeg So he and mad stayed at Dow Jones's DJ Dow Jones shady bill DJ Matt's DJ when he does his solo tours And I think we had said he recorded something in three days 13 verses but he had all these guest cameos that had been Stock piling okay, so he he went out and just knocked all those out in three days Rob left the end up leaving the gear at Dow Jones's okay with flying back and he's obviously pretty Sensitive about flying with the two right on the microphone sure things like that so those are getting driven back

25:20But yes, we we we do we try I know Rob's working on works on beats sometimes when we're on the road, but usually We haven't been on a tour bus in collectively in Years we have been doing Two car car events okay truck to care about so every night we get a hotel we get our own hotel room Rob can set up he makes beats during the day goes and does sound check has dinner comes back works on beats goes And does the show goes back to the hotel packs up sweeps wakes up and off we go to the next city and repeats the whole process So crazy, so we're able to manipulate the hotel rooms into recording studios if we need to being on the bus again It's trickier you got the Jenny always running works not like we're playing arenas

26:06We can't plug in the shore power so the bus can't go quiet So you always get that hum and we've tried it a couple times It just it all you end up really getting is a demo and then you listen to it 50 times thinking how you're gonna make it better When you get home by the time you get home you're sick of the song I was just before you got here though, it was just reading an email do you read Bob left It's you know who he is I do like an industry writer okay right to newsletter mostly to industry higher ups like music industry people in the states But anyone can read them and this new one was about why it takes two or three years in between records And you guys don't really do that from what I'm familiar gathered just because What do you what do you relate it to you related to something? Shoot song in the company, but anyway the point was why wouldn't you stay shaker fans the news?

26:51What why put out ten songs every two years? Why not say here's a song this month? Here's a song this month. Here's a song this month And I wonder if that's your theory behind trying to make a record every year Why wait so long yeah, it is the market has become a little finicky as far as The demand is high A record every two years these days just doesn't cut it which is I think why we're so thankful Yes, Matt had the dope sick album and a plus VPs which definitely helped keep the name alive sure um but We didn't intend for it to be so long in between records. It just It's what happened but now we're we're we're on pace to do two records a year

27:38Yeah, that's what I heard you saying that's right So a record every six months and we go in and we treat it like a job because it if we if we're able to do that it helps you keep a clear vision of the importance of the work A song a day sometimes two songs a day at the end of a month you you've got a record And then you've got a bunch of other great songs that can go on for us Monsters in the closet. I guess will be three whenever it comes out We'll have all these great songs to grab from in their besides no one's ever heard uh, so we were able to Redistribute those songs Through those through that channel. Yeah, but yeah, it's it's important for us and it's hip-hop and you know it it keeps us on the road

28:24Keeps us in people's ears keeps being able to do interviews and That's important for us the interviews are Yeah, what? Absolutely, well, can some people see it as the worst part of the day and some people see it as just another part of it I love it. You know we I mean as you know today we look at the press schedule. Yeah, yeah, like wow This is gonna be Pretty crazy. So I brought the schedule with me in a sharpie and I said okay guys here's what we're gonna do Everyone we're just gonna cross off when we're done it feels good when you cross it off when we get down halfway to the page Halfway through our day. Yeah All good. So everyone spirits are bolstered one, you know, we realized man we're able to do the entertainment tonight's again much music's mo

29:11Lots of print you even though this is for for an indie MSM MSA. Oh, yeah, that's big. It's all right. Yeah, sorry I Was wonder that though I think half the people don't know what it's for they're just totally thanks to down with this guy You know what I did know and I just know it's all good. I don't mind at all. Yeah, so yeah doing 17 in day I would know what the hell you know, yeah, we know it's all important and you start to see man So it it all it all weaves together It that leads to a new fan base man our fans should be 30 Year olds to 42 year olds. Yeah, just based on when we started and the fan Doing these shows like 18 19 year old kids

29:58Said how did how did you guys hear about us? Really my parents listened to you guys. I was like four What that's crazy. That's crazy. So that's just that must just be starting in shows though. Yeah But again, we do all ages shows and how did these 16 year old 15 year old kids know Know about us right that's like a 15 year old kid going to an AC DC concert 20 years ago or now Oh, yeah, you know, right? so Yeah, it's a thing. Yeah, that must be that must be really cool for you guys on stage when you look out and see that that's Because I hear that from a lot of older bands too like I mean, I'm talking like older bands like 60 70 year olds who are saying you know, it's it's interesting because you see three generations in the crowd now Yeah, like the who shows or whatever. Yeah, you see the you know the guy who was in the 60s grew up

30:46They're kidding be but my age and then you know like a five year old too Blows their mind so that'll be interesting that happens for you guys when the next generation comes up. I would leave it Funny I like that Awesome. Okay. I got another interview to go