AWmusic

The Johnstones being in my opinion one of the best ska punk bands out there to date were one of the bigger names of Canadian Music Week and this was one band I had been meaning to interview for a while now. They’re unpredictable, crazy, energetic, and they always offer an adrenaline rush of fun and excitement. I had been talking with Ryan Long of the Johnstones over email for a couple days about doing an interview with the band and he offered that since he wouldn’t be available that night he would ask one of the other band members to help me out.

A cold Friday night in March at the El Mocambo during Canadian Music Week I met up with Brent Marks of the band who I had previously met at Cutting Edge Fest the previous summer. Brent is hands down one of the most insightful, down to earth, fun, and relaxed performers I’ve ever interviewed. He showed me a whole new side of the band, told me about some of their new stuff in the works, and told me the long journey they’ve gone on from starting the band off in high school up until now.

Adrian – How did you guys end up meeting and how did the Johnstones end up forming?

Brent Marks – Well we met up in high school but in different bands, we played some small punk shows, this was around grade nine, and then near the end of high school we started up the Johnstones and from there we started playing bigger shows.

Adrian – Now this has been on my mind for a while now but what’s the story behind the band’s name exactly?

Brent Marks – So in grade eleven there were three members in the band with a different name at the time. Kevin Johnstone was the bassist for the band but he didn’t end up meshing well with the band so he was kicked out and I ended up replacing him. From that, his last name ended up sticking with the band and has been with us ever since. I really hope he finds humor in all of this, I mean he could still be pissed over the whole thing but I just find it funny.

Adrian – Now I’ve heard a lot about this new album you have in the works, can you tell me a bit about it?

Brent Marks – Well we just finished tracking today but this was the first time that we made a real album. It’s a culmination of a longer period of time, it’s very diverse, and in my opinion is hands down our best album to date. I really think our fans are going to love it.

Adrian – At the end of “The Governator” there’s a line that you have that sounds completely mumbled, what is it that you actually say there?

Brent Marks – (laughs a bit) Oh yeah I remember that, it was actually Rene who ended up putting it in there as a joke. I was in Las Vegas while they were finishing that part and this always seems to happen to me when I go away, but the line is “I can’t I have a dick in my mouth”.

Adrian – Has it been rough at all on this big journey to become one of the bigger bands out there today?

Brent Marks – Not really, I mean starting out at first was a little rough, there were a lot of low points, but it’s a lot easier now. I mean we’re staying in hotels now instead of living in vans, it’s basically a relative life of luxury compared to when we were first starting out. We’re all very happy, we can tour for a lot longer, we’re comfortable with each other, we basically have this whole thing down to a science.

Adrian – What is it that sets you apart from other bands in the genre?

Brent Marks – We try to get our own sound, and basically we do our best to have a very original soun. We put a stamp on everything we do, we have our internet videos, our hip hop stuff, and a lot of other side stuff as well. We do what we want to do; we go crazy on stage and just have a good time with it. It’s all about just having fun doing what you like.

Adrian – What’s the craziest thing you or the band have done on or off stage?

Brent Marks – That’s really tough because we’ve done a lot of crazy things together as a band. Playing at warp tour the past year we ended up playing in diapers. While we were in England we pushed each other in shopping carts drunk down some huge hills. We got kicked out of Disney Land and we’re not allowed to go back there ever again. It just seems like a lot of trouble starts up when you get drunk.

Adrian Kowalski – What is it that you most enjoy about being in a band?

Brent Marks – It beats having a real job. I mean I love all the travelling, being with the same people for 5 years, having lots of fun, all the collaborating and just all of us being motivated to do this and stick with it. Seriously, I wouldn’t trade it for anything else in the world.

Adrian – Now this past summer, you guys played a show at Cutting Edge Music Fest, and as part of that you held a little sex ed session, what was that like?

Brent Marks – It was a fun little thing that we did.

Adrian- Yeah as I remember I ended up volunteering for the whole putting a condom over a banana with your mouth part even though I had no clue what I was volunteering for at first.

Brent Marks- Yeah we had a real hard time getting volunteers for that but it’s awesome that you actually volunteered, seemed like you had fun with it.

Adrian- I most certainly did. Then there was the whole sex talk on various positions and that one guy made the reference to something called the reverse oil rig.

(We both end up laughing over this)

Brent Marks- I remember that, can’t remember the guy who demonstrated for us, but I still don’t believe that it can be really done. The whole thing is that you just have to be funny, nothing gets by anybody. It’s easy to do this kind of stuff, it’s just fun and I love goofing off for a good twenty minutes. I mean being serious all the time just really sucks, so you just got to have fun and not take life so seriously.

Adrian – Now was there any big transition going from your first EP to the second?

Brent Marks – The first one we wrote at seventeen, back when we didn’t have the song writing expertise that we do now. The second we actually did in studio and turned out a lot better and cleaner sounding than the first. We try to make and put out our best stuff now. We can actually take time now to make our stuff better, the first EP we made was done in our basement, but we’ve expanded since then to a point that more suits our lifestyle.

Adrian – Lastly if you could have any super power in the universe, any at all, what would it be?

Brent Marks – I would definitely have to be X-ray vision. I’d be looking at girls all the time and totally check them out naked, like why not. I guess I could also check out scratch and win tickets too, which would be pretty amazing too.

Adrian – Seems like a lot of bands that I’ve talked to now have also chosen that same power. (I laugh for a bit at this)

Brent Marks – Well guys in bands just like girls, especially seeing them without clothes.

(We both laugh)

Adrian- That’s so true, it would come in handy at all times, no matter where you are. I got to thank you so much for this interview Brent, it was unreal.

Brent Marks – No problem at all man, total respect, you’re staying for the show aren’t you.

Adrian – I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

After watching yet another amazing show performed by one of my favorite bands to date. They came out on stage without shirts and played their brains out and with them there’s never a dull moment to be found. I stayed after the show and got a couple pictures with the Johnstones, hung out with them for a couple minutes, said my goodbyes, and was back off into the nights, with memories of probably one of the best interviews I will ever have with any band.

Bring It Back Around by The Johnstones
The Governator by The Johnstones
Gone For A Longtime by The Johnstones

I think Ketch Harbour Wolves are one of the/the most underrated bands in Toronto, maybe in Canada…. hell, maybe in the entire world. I came across their album on Herohill’s top Canadian EPs of 2008, and it took me approximately 15 seconds to figure out that the guys at Herohill had really hit the nail on the head with KHW. They (KHWs) ended the year in a three way tie for BM’s album of the year with Kanye West and Chad Van Gaaelen, so, pretty select company for a pretty impressive album.

When I went to go see them in January, I was a little underwhelmed for a variety of reasons which I discussed then (and we discuss in the emails), but after seeing a great deal of improvement in their live show I’m projecting a solid second half of 2009 and a break out year for 2010 when, presumably, they’ll have a new album out.

Also, and I realize I’m getting long-winded here, you should note that:

1/I’m kind of fine-tuning this ‘Exchanging emails with‘ segment, and am hoping to keep this a little more brief/readable.
2/Thanks to Jonathan, I think I’m now going to finish every series of emails with a LIGHTNING ROUND where I’ll ask a bunch of rapid fire, InsidetheActorsStudioesque questions…

Johnathan.

Thanks for agreeing to do this… and, like I said, I think what makes this interesting is if it turns more into a dialogue rather than just the standard – question, answer format. Also, if there’s something you want to ignore/don’t want to talk about feel free to just ignore any questions/comments.

First, that poster/photo(?) that you had up on your myspace for a while was spectacular. How/Where did that come from? It kind of looks like you’re playing in some sort of stadium… you guys aren’t secretly really big in Europe are you?

Second, what’s been going with you guys since you put out Dead Calm Horizon?

Third, what inspired you/how’d you come to the decision to give the album away for free?

Hopefully that’s a good start to get the ball rolling, and feel free if you want to ask/answer your own questions to do so… hope you’ve had/are having a good holiday weekend…

Rob

Hey Rob,

First off that was a pretty damned good dialog with Bryan from Black Hat Brigade so I realize I’ve got my work cut out for me!

On the poster – Sadly, we are not really big in Europe and despite the spectral haze surrounding the lights which is easily confused with the crimson smoke that wafted through Red Rocks in 1984 when U2 tore it a new one with their rendition of ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’, … it is in fact, Toronto’s very own Mod Club with a wonderfully serendipitous alignment of lighting and camera angle.

On post-Dead Calm Horizon – Actually much of our energy since Dead Calm Horizon, or at least up until the beginning of this year was taken up with developing material for the next album. We had been taking inspiration from the prolific careers of the Bob Dylan’s of the world and figured that our DIY system of recording should be the perfect compliment to a hyper-productive band. In retrospect I think we were focusing on the new stuff to a fault. I think our performance at The Elmo in early January really revealed that and so we took a bit of a step back to focus on learning how to properly ‘deliver’ the songs. (hmm…. this little email confession booth turning public idea is kind of terrifying, but also really great!)

The free album – The decision to give the album away for free was pretty easy actually. Our philosophy was about maximum availability to the point of total redundancy (hence the ‘Catch 22′ – esque situation of having it simultaneously available for free and for a price on our website… all we would have to do now is sell it back to ourselves for twice the price!). The thinking is that most of those who tend to pay for music will pay for it, most of those who don’t tend to pay would either not get it or rip it from someone, but most importantly those who come across the band randomly, who might really enjoy coming back from the far places of the web with some obscure canuck band in hand would almost certainly not have paid and thus not have brought it back to places like – Britain, France, Russia, Germany, Australia, The Philippines etc.

It’s not a perfect system as evidenced by the fact that we’re still drowning in debt but what has been invaluable is the ‘barrier free’ way to connect with fine bloggers such as yourself who consistently mention (and most of the time link to) the free download page. If we drew a grand old pyramid scheme we would ideally have visions of Giza but you get the idea. Revenue, not so much….. generating interest…. hopefully! (here it would be prudent to throw in the link I think… www.ketchharbourwolves.ca).
(more…)

I still remember the first hip hop track I ever heard – The year was 1990. The words “So you’re a philosopher?” opened the track. A response of “Yes” and “I think very deeply” was scratched out on a turntable. Then it hit. The beat in a four-four timing with a heavy bass line became my instant intoxication. Boogie Down Productions were my gateway to a whole new sound; a whole new world that I was entering with open eyes. A desire to fully understand this music, it’s origins and everything it had to offer. I quickly latched on to hip hop and the more I listened, the more I started to understand not only the art of writing rhymes, but more importantly the message that was being presented. A form of true expression. The ability to tell one’s deepest story and have it relate to the struggle of life we all face. I could always see the feeling behind every word that was said, even with being a white boy brought up in a suburban setting. To me that wasn’t important. I also had problems and hip hop became an outlet, helping me understand the issues of others and the ability to tackle my own.

Ok, why the nostalgic relapse? This just makes me realize the true essence of hip hop, which is something we all need nowadays. The business has taken certain elements from the original form and bastardized it so much we are now left with a completely new genre. A catalogue of club songs made up almost entirely of hooks and littered with vocoders, all being produced by the same handful of people. I can’t say I listen to hip hop without someone automatically assuming I mean this commercial garbage. Why do I have to stress that what I listen to is underground and conscious? Hip hop was derived from the underground and brought forth with a conscious message. It’s a shame this isn’t recognized by the masses.

Maybe they don’t get it, but there is a continually growing scene dedicated to the music, the message and the still ever growing struggle with life. I’m reminded of this every day as I find new artists with their own stories. An abundance of talent that lurks beneath the surface of mainstream rap. This became even more apparent with an email I received last week.

Based out of Seattle, Alexipharmic looks to be the epitome of conscious rap, with a selfless approach to spreading his word. He is completely aware of social issues that not only surround him, but the rest of the world and wishes to let it be known the life struggles of all. His most recent album ‘American Beauty’ is a showcase in his attempts to open people’s eyes to the amazing things America has to offer; those things that are all too often clouded with constant force-fed imagery of turmoil and destruction. An awakening to the realities that make up what is often seen as a disgusting nation by others. The very root of America is it’s citizens. Beautiful, heart warming people that, like everyone else, are just trying to make it in this world. A reflection of this is displayed in the front cover, collected images of homeless men and women brought together in a mosaic form depicting the face of America. One of the best album covers I’ve seen in a long time.

His opening track ‘American’ features clips from everyday people interviewed on a thirty state tour, all giving their views on what makes their country, lives, loves, values, downfalls and everything in between. A theme based on what America is and what it can be…. What it needs to overcome. A message that being rich is a full heart, not a bank account. We all have one life, make it yours because in the end we all turn to dust.

As I work my way through the album I begin to get a clear picture of who Alexipharmic is, as a person. He opens his soul with each song; stories of his growth into the man he is today, the affects of losing someone close, sex as a special moment of respect for both parties more than a means to just get off. He helps us to understand life is a series of dreams we all make for ourselves. In order to really live, you must dream. You must have a voice, an opinion and a means to make your vision stronger. To stand for something and use your power to fight for beliefs, a message we have to regain.

A collection of lyrics that really make sense and hit close to home, whether or not a citizen of America. These are messages for humanity. ‘American Beauty’ features a few guest appearances including P.O.S., Cas One, Grynch, Sarah Smalley and Braille. With intense lyrics and production from MGI, Budo, Elliot B, DJ Figure and Infekt, each track grabs your deep inner being and thrusts you into the importance of thought. Although Alexipharmic has prior releases, ‘American Beauty’ is his debut on his label Elephant Memories. He has also let it be known that 50% of all ‘American Beauty’ album sales will go to the Portland based charity Mercy Corps. He is also putting together the American Beauty Tour, which is set for fall, where he has teamed up with the Feed The Children foundation and will donate 100% of the net proceeds to help homeless and underprivileged children across the U.S.

As I said before, this man is truly selfless. With a vision of a better life and world for everyone, we should all take a hold of his message. Alexipharmic is that of what I remember hip hop being. A true form of expression with a message you can not only hear and understand, but also feel. It’s amazing to have these feelings come back…. Gives us hope for the state of music and our state of life.

I sent Alexipharmic a couple questions to gain some more insight to who he is on both a personal and professional level. What I got back blew me away, so I wanted to share it:

You say your album was written while on the road and that you interviewed people from all walks of life on your stops. The first track ‘American’ has various samples of people’s opinions on America, are these from some of the people you got to talk to? How was it being able to stretch across those 30 states and connect with people on that level?

I was incredibly fortunate to be able to take that trip the summer after graduating college. Visited friends and family I hadn’t seen in years, went to 15 baseball stadiums, explored a lot of cities, and – most importantly – met a ton of interesting people. It was initially pretty awkward to go up to complete strangers and ask them questions out of the blue, with a tape recorder in hand. Some people thought I was soliciting them and didn’t even let me get to the point of “hey, this is for an album I’m putting together” before they high-tailed it in the other direction. However, the more confident and comfortable I became in my approach, the more easily it was to carry a completely random 15-20 minute conversation. Out of a lot of these conversations came the samples that you hear on “American.” What I found was that a lot of the reason people were shy at first was because they’d never really been given the chance to speak their mind about the state of everything…but once they got going, it was almost a cathartic experience – like they were anonymously getting a load off their chest. Met a lot of really cool people, so it was awesome. A fair amount of the sound bytes also came from fans calling a digital voicemail that I slapped on all my websites, and leaving messages about their thoughts on a whole range of topics. There were hours upon hours to edit through, but it was a great process.

Did you find a common theme with what most people had to say about their country?

Even though people talked about tons of different topics, it seemed that a common theme underlying almost all of it was their desire to see something…anything…change for the better. Now, I’m sure almost all of their definitions of “better” were vastly different, and it wasn’t all political either. Some people just wanted a change for their better in their job, their relationships, their lot in life. Pretty much everyone had their silver linings, but when it came to thoughts about the country, I’d say change was a big constant (cliché as that may sound these days). 

Your lyrics are very consciously centered and you speak about the truths that surround people on a daily basis.. How do you feel about the abundance of generic hip hop and the lack of a real message it displays to those in this scene nowadays and do you see a return of true progression, or a constant downfall in mainstream rap?

Since I was born in 1985, I feel that my experience of living through hip hop is a bit limited. Even though I rocked YO! MTV Raps pretty much since I learned how to tie my shoes, I missed out on Rakim, KRS, Flash, Freddy, etc. when they were all brand new, and so I don’t really know what it was like to live in the scene back then and can’t comment on it from the beginning. But I can say in my own experience of being a fan of hip hop, the staple “money, cars, hoes” generic rap has seemed to have slowly eroded socially aware hip hop over the last decade or so. I thought we hit the bottom of the barrel content-wise with Ja Rule, but it’s insane seeing what its come to in the last couple years. Video-wise and musically. Its almost come to the point where “hip hop” songs are nothing but an indecipherable hook or a dance like the stanky leg that goes with it. I mean…really? Its gotten so bad that I’m looking back on the days of Ja Rule with nostalgia. (But I can’t front, I rocked Rule 336 back in the day). All that ranting aside, though, I can’t knock the rappers that make it, or the record label CEO’s that manufacture it, or the public that buys it. Most rappers want to be famous, CEO’s want to make money, and people want to dance at clubs. As long as there’s a demand, it will always be there. And I don’t think all of it has to have meaning…sometimes you just want to get stupid to an amazing beat and don’t really care about the words…at least I know I do now and again. But honestly, I think it’s only a matter of time until it gets so bad that people say, “Aright, hold on. Someone please rap about something that you actually know” and then the generic hip hop will swing back into the progressive being popular again. Outkast, Nas, The Roots, Talib…those guys are still around and making incredible music as they always have. And then you have amazing independent artists in Atmosphere, Sage, Ali, P.O.S., etc. that have grinded tirelessly and carved a completely brand new and incredibly loyal fanbase for themselves that I think will stick with them for a long time as they achieve more and more commercial success…the independent will take over the mainstream eventually.  

You’re very big on social issues. What sparked the 50% of album proceeds going to charity? How did you get involved in the Save Darfur Tour and Feed The Children foundation for the American Beauty tour?

Honestly, I can’t pinpoint anything in particular that really sparked the 50% going to charity. It’s just something that always made sense to me to do. The way I see it, the only reason I’m able to be alive and do the things I do is because of a ton of sacrifices made by people around me – friends, family, and complete strangers alike – have allowed me to be here right now doing what I love. Now, a lot of what I’ve accomplished is because of the hard work I have put into it myself, that’s true. But I wouldn’t have even had the chance had the cards not fallen in my favor at some point down the line. So it’s my duty, my compulsion, and my blessing to be able to give back. I’d do 100% if I could, but then I wouldn’t be able to eat. The Save Darfur Tour and American Beauty Tour were both just extensions of this same paradigm. I created the Save Darfur Tour because I wanted to help the victims of the ongoing struggle in Darfur, and so I thought, “hey, why not create a tour.” At 21, and never having done a tour at that point, I had no idea what I was in for logistically when it comes to all the pieces of touring…securing the artists, travel, promotion, booking, etc…and I can definitely admit I was grossly unprepared for a lot of it. But the tour raised a lot of awareness, most of the shows had great attendance, a lot of really great artists that had never really met one another got to perform and travel together, and I learned a lot. That learning is definitely translating over into the American Beauty Tour. I’m really looking forward to the partnership with Feed the Children and helping to raise awareness of and feed hungry and homeless kids in the US.

You’re a Zen Buddhist, right? Did that come before or after your start making hip hop? Does it impact in how or what you write?

That’s definitely the closest philosophy or religion with which I align, and it came before I started writing. I got exposed to Buddhism around 10, 11 years old, and really started getting into it a couple years later. I was raised Lutheran at a really laid back church with an incredibly humble, noble, and genuine pastor, but it just wasn’t really for me. I’m not sure why, but I’m just not really wired to fully have faith in god, or really even worry about that. Zen definitely influences how I write, for sure. One of the main tenants of Buddhism is just being present in the here and now, and making the most of the moment right now. Because, really, that’s the only thing that’s tangible, that’s real. So it helps me to focus on being completely present when I write and trying to communicate clearly and with as much truth as possible. Some of the themes that underlie a lot of my lyrics – making the most of the present, not worrying about god or some after life in order to make heaven on earth, helping the world around you – can be traced to a lot of Buddhist philosophy. 

You say that ‘American Beauty’ is your label debut, but you also have a few other album ‘Good Side of Bad volume 1 & 2′ and ‘Run’.

It’s the label debut because it’s the first album I’ve officially released under a label. I suppose it’s sort of splitting hairs a bit, but Run was released before I really understood how a lot of music works, and it was completely fly by the seat of my pants. The beats were made to songs I already had written, and the producer approached me with beats he made to the lyrics, and so it wasn’t really an organic album that came together the way they usually do. The Good Side of Bads are B-Side EPs more or less. They are really fun to make, but aren’t full and complete albums like American Beauty.

Tell me a bit about the Elephant Memories label. How did that come to form?

Senior year of college I investigated setting up an LLC, getting my business license, and started brainstorming names for the label. I had about 50 ideas, but Elephant Memories just stuck out to me. I thought it sounded cool, and the meaning behind it comes from the theory that elephants remember their ancestors and can go to a graveyard and pick them out…they have reverence for where they came from. So the mission statement of EM – “Respect the past. Progress the present. Protect the future.” – comes from the idea of elephants never forgetting. Musically what this means to me is to pay respect to the legends of true hip hop by making progressive music that empowers the listener and lays a socially conscious foundation for the future…at least that’s the hope.

If you had to sum up your goals in life for hip hop and humanity, what would they be?

Oh man…how much time do you got? Since I’ve rambled quite a bit in the previous questions, I’ll sum it up like this…

Life/Humanity Goals: Help others realize their full potential. Do well by doing good. Leave the world a little better than it was before I got here. Be truly happy. Have an English bulldog named Lola.
 
Hip Hop: Always give 50% of my net profits to charity. Make music that is relatable, has a message, and is enjoyable to listen to. Perform with Nas, Outkast, Atmosphere, Brother Ali, P.O.S., and Devin the Dude…all at the same show.

A big thanks to Alexipharmic for the chance to review ‘American Beauty’ and helping to remind me that there’s more going on in this world than what’s outside my front door. Check out more info and where you can buy the album at www.myspace.com/alexipharmic.

For your ears:
Alexipharmic – American
Alexipharmic – Sun
Alexipharmic – Stardust (ft. P.O.S., Cas One, Grynch & Sarah Smalley)

The Buddy Nielsen who casually walks down Sherbourne street towards me dragging a suitcase behind him, fresh from the laundromat, dressed all in black and covered in tattoo’s seems so far from the portrait that he’s painted of himself through his highly personal lyrics. A portrait of a man constantly struggling to come to grips with a wide array of demons, ranging from his own addictions and anxiety to his hatred of his estranged father.

The Senses Fail frontman that is sitting across from me on the bus now is calm and relaxed. Dressed in a Deftones t-shirt and a black on black Yankees hat, slowly sipping from a bottle of water, he seems miles away from all of that.

Buddy has never held back in his lyrics, wearing his heart on his sleeve and putting it all out there for public consumption. I asked him if it was hard, at first to put so much of himself into his music.

“I don’t think so, no, I just think that at first I was young so there wasn’t that much to pull from or put into it. I don’t think it was ever hard, I just think that, what I liked about my favorite bands, I just tried to replicate that.”

On Senses Fail’s first full length, 2004’s, Let It Enfold You, the lyrics focused on lost love, anger and pirates, which made 2007’s Still Searching a giant leap forward in maturity, as Buddy tackled depression, addiction and anxiety, all on a very personal level.

When asked what topic was the hardest to tackle, Buddy sighs, takes a moment and a swig, before answering, “I don’t know, maybe my own addiction or addictive personality or admitting to that, I think that that was kind of hard.”

And on the subject of regrets, as in, is there anything that Buddy has regretted sharing with the world, there is no hesitation as he offers a plain, simple, “No.”

Being so open and honest with your lyrics leads to a fan base who think that they know all there is to know about you. “Yeah, definitely, and they don’t know really anything about me. That’s the shitty thing with it. I think that people expect you to be a certain way, which is fine, but it’s not.” Buddy takes a moment to think on the subject before continuing, “Anytime I met someone that I thought I knew from lyrics, it’s part of them, but it’s not them, their whole thing you know. I don’t think that….sometime there’s a difference, cause I’ll joke around on stage and I’ll fuck around. The lyrics are very serious, but I also don’t take myself too seriously. So I think that people find that strange, that you can have two sides to your personality. I think that people expect you to be a certain way whether it’s good or bad, or whatever, you know. I don’t think you ever live up to peoples expectations, just because, I don’t know what peoples expectations are, nor do I actually, honestly, really care other than just putting out good music, and staying true to what we do. That’s all that I want people to expect from us and that’s something that I think we can deliver without, you know going too far.”

On 2008’s Life is Not A Waiting Room, Senses Fail stuck to their roots and delivered, hard straight post-hardcore that featured an, at times, upbeat Buddy, who seemingly had moved beyond much of what had been holding him down on Searching.

“I’m just trying to get a grip on my life and move forward instead of staying stagnant. And so a lot of it was the looking forward from where I was. That’s where the positive message came from. It was more of just telling myself that, than I was trying to be positive. I think I was just telling myself to be positive more than I was telling anyone else to be positive. I mean, be positive, PMA. I’m the only one that’s positive in the band right now.”

Elaborating on the positiveity within Senses Fail, Buddy is relaxed and jovial, “When people are trying to destroy your soul because we’re going to Europe. Get me to admit defeat, which I did yesterday, but it doesn’t count, cause we were in Wawa Ontario and there was a bear walking down the street, and I don’t know how you’re supposed to accept that. And I was really hung over, and I was thinking this is fucked up, I need to get out of here.”

Alcohol is a subject that pops up at different points throughout Senses Fails entire catalogue, so I couldn’t help but enquire as to his own personal drink of choice.

“Beer. Beer straight up. Good beer, not bad beer…actually I don’t care, as long as it’s not Bud Ice, or Molson Ice, or anything sort of Ice, it’s pretty okay. But I’d probably drink that anyways.”

Buddy has stirred up some controversy on The Saints and Sinners Tour with his criticism of tour mates Brokencyde, saying in a statement to Absolutepunk, “Yeah, I slam them every night because in no way, shape or form do I back anything they do or say and I am embarrassed that kids these days are into it and am sad that kids these days are exposed to it. There is absolutely no substance whatsoever in their songs and no passion in anything they do.”

When I asked if he still stands behind these comments, Buddy’s voice is confident and full of conviction as he offers, “Always, 100%.” Adding that when both bands play Warped Tour this summer, “They’ll be off on some corner stage really with their own kind…it’s all like those kind of bands. It will be interesting to see what all the older bands think about it cause I don’t think they know about it yet, but they will, so it will be interesting.”

Some of those bands include NOFX and Bad Religion, two bands that Nielsen is looking forward to seeing. I asked, how he, someone who has to deal with fans of his owns feels about meeting or even touring with bands that he himself is a fan of.

“I try not to, like, mix the two. Just because, like I said, if you have expectations of someone, not that you’ll be let down, but it’s a totally different thing to be friends with someone than it is to like their music. It’s two separate things and I think you have to separate them or else, for one, you’ll weird the person out, cause if all you want to talk about is their band and you’re just like a super fan. It’s hard to have that relationship with someone too, to meet someone that puts you on a pedestal, it’s hard for you to feel normal about that you know what I man. I just treat them as friends, and peers.”

One thing is for certain, if Buddy and Senses Fail continue to make awesome, post-hardcore tinged with the realism that accompanies Nielsen’s lyrics, people are going to continue putting him up on a pedestal for years to come.

Full Interview Transcript

A few albums recommended by Buddy Nielson:

Young Bands:
The Mongoloids
Static Radio NJ
Polar Bear Club

Albums that delivered:
Have Heart – Songs To Scream At The Sun
Propaghandi – Supporting Caste

Album everyone should listen too:
Jets To Brazil – Orange Rhyming Dictionary

Senses Fail – Choke On This
Senses Fail – Family Tradition
Senses Fail – Can’t Be Saved

Vancouver, BC is home to some outstanding hip hop. It has grown to become (in my eyes) the foremost hub in Canada for diversifying style from it’s amazing underground artists, but seems to have a problem with it’s representation, not only in Vancouver but also across the rest of this country and into the U.S. Maybe the problem lies with the constant struggle within. An abundance of artists almost working against each other to obtain the same goal, rather than helping to elevate the music by bringing the scene together. One man standing above this, trying to break that mould, is Evil Ebenezer.

With a decade in the hip hop game he’s seen the highs and lows, which comes across full force in every lyric he delivers. With two full length albums, ‘Call Me Evil’ and his most recent ‘The Wanderer’, Evil Ebenezer is on a constant path of personal growth and development while still trying to maintain close ties with the hip hop community he represents. ‘Call Me Evil’, which was released on Camobear Records, is littered with guest appearances that stretch across whatever closed cliques there might be here. An open mind and a heart that gets poured into every song delivered; he is what he raps, no question about that.

With his production crew, the Draft Dodgers, he has taken the cliche of hip hop and flipped it, delivering each album with it’s own unique feel. Proving that he knows no boundaries when it comes to what hip hop “should” sound like. In fact, he’s working on a new album titled ‘Evil Eye’ which is slotted to come out summer 2009 with a couple new producers, ensuring another new sound. Never one to be lumped into the “it just sounds like his last album” category.

It doesn’t end there. Evil Ebenezer and Spit 36 are also set to release a six song EP titled ‘Weekend at Dilly’s’ in May. Also he’s been working with Moka Only on a Draft Dodgers production titled ‘Zzbra’ which has yet to see a release date. He also has some big tours under his belt with artists like Josh Martinez, Sweatshop Union, R.A the Rugged Man and his most recent with Australia’s Bliss N Eso.

From his songs it’s apparent there is a dark side to him, but honestly who doesn’t have that? Evil Ebenezer just has found his outlet, a way of projecting his evil side in the form of music. In person he’s a really laid back, fun and interesting person to talk to, only proving you can never judge an artist solely by their work. He loves what he does and is happy with where he is now, but that will never slow him down from always trying to achieve more. You have to respect that kind of dedication.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with him to discuss a bit about his past, future and some of what lies in between.

So let’s start this off, how long have you been making music?

Ten years, but for the first four years of those ten you’re working at it, but I didn’t have a release. ‘Call Me Evil’ was the first…. Well, I did this release just called ‘The Draft Dodgers present: Evil’ and we pressed that one up ourselves in 2004. For the first couple years you’re just sort of experimenting, then after a bit it was time to come out with something.

Did that have a lot of the songs that were on ‘Call Me Evil’?

Ya and then Josh Martinez heard it and said “Cool, you want to put it out on Camobear?” So we did up a couple more songs, one with him, I did ‘HA HA HA’ and an outro. Just spiced it up a little bit. Me and Stu Ray, who always worked together hooked up with Vaughn Oliver (DJ U-Tern) and he really helped us out with our sound and cleaning it up cause he was going to engineering school.

How did you and Stu Ray meet?

High School in Chilliwack.

Ahh….A Chilliwack boy.

Ya, well I was born and raised in Vancouver and when I was about fifteen my mom and dad split up. My mom moved away to Europe and my dad was teaching Sociology at University of Fraser Valley and he was living at Cultus Lake so I moved out there. So I did the last couple years of high school out there, met Stu and spent another four or five years out there and then came back out here.

Is it you and Stu Ray that have Draft Dodgers, or what’s with that?

It’s a production crew, but I do work with them. I’m actually working on a new album and while they will still be involved I’m trying to spread out and work with some different people. I’m working with a brand new guy named Whalley Wonka, a new up and coming producer. We’ve already been making some cuts and working on an album for a summer release and it’s called ‘Evil Eye’, so that’s what I’m doing right now.

In ‘The Wanderer’ liner notes there’s mention of another release ‘Zzbra’ with you and Moka Only.

Ya, that’s a Draft Dodgers record and Stu’s the executive producer. He’s got something worked out and it’s done just waiting on release. That album’s got some big tunes on it too and I’ve been really wanting it to come out.

I also read something about ‘Weekend at Dilly’s’.

That’s me and Spit 36, who’s a rapper from Kelowna that’s been doing his thing for a minute. I started doing some stuff with him and we went up to Kelowna for a show and he had a friend up there that he’d done music with that has a studio. So we went there and recorded a six song EP in like a day and half while just hanging out at his house. It’s going to be a soft release, hand to hand in like May. We’ll be out touring with it.

You recently just got off a tour, right?

Well in the fall I went out with R.A the Rugged Man and Snak the Ripper and in December I did the tour with Bliss N Eso from Australia, which was really cool. I’m trying to go to Australia and Europe this year.

How do you find things like promotion in Vancouver with the underground scene, is it hard to get anything really going?

It’s a really small community. Well, it’s a big city, but the hip hop scene is very small.

It’s seems like unless you’re on the inside you don’t really know what’s going on.

Ya, and it’s like in a re-building stage too. I’ve seen it’s ups and downs too. I’ve been there in the heart of the Rascalz and Swollen Members era and ready to do that, loving it. It’s just sort of crashed and burned since then and I think it’s because there’s just not enough industry. It’s a business and the music business part of it is kind of fucked up, but it’s starting to get more things like Grounded TV. There’s just some more things happening which is giving a more positive vibe, but sometimes feels as though it’s every man for himself.

Ok, well I’ve got to get a little personal.. Your songs are on a very personal level, speaking a lot about yourself, do you ever feel vulnerable about how others might perceive what you’re saying?

No, I don’t actually ever think about that. I don’t know if that’s self centered but it’s just like the music is therapy, you know? It’s me, I just do it for me. I am aware of making a song that a wide range of people will like, that’s catchy or whatever, but at the same time I don’t try to censor myself. I guess that’s what I like about hip hop, rapping, the art of freestyle, you’re just in the flow of it. I’ve never stopped myself because you can’t and you might say something that’s hurtful or personal to yourself or you might say something that’s stupid and doesn’t make any sense, but it’s just the fact that you’re doing it, you’re living it and making it happen. When I’m in the zone and writing a song I really like to write about myself because I find I like listening to other people when they do that.

You get to know them a little bit more.

Ya, they’re not just a brick wall reciting a grocery list of words. I want some feeling, some emotion. I want to feel what that person is like. Like, what’s a day in the life of that person, their relationship with their parents, or whatever. I’m a fan of that and like artists that can do that.

Very cool. Any last words?

Ya, if you don’t have it yet get ‘Call Me Evil’. Pick up ‘The Wanderer’. I’m not trying to do the same album each time. I don’t want ‘The Wanderer’ to be ‘Call Me Evil’ and that’s why I made it different. This ‘Evil Eye’ is also really different sounding, it’s got more pop tunes, more singing. It’s just more straight ahead hip hop. I don’t know, I’m feeling good. I’ve just got a whole new energy.

Again many thanks to Evil Ebenezer for taking the time. Check him out on his myspace at www.myspace.com/evildraftdodgers and here’s some songs to give you a little taste.

Evil Ebenezer – Stuck Up
Evil Ebenezer – She Made Me ft. Josh Martinez
Evil Ebenezer – The Cooler
Evil Ebenezer – Money