Wednesday 8 December 2010

The Gar Interview

The Gar Interview



Bless for passing thru and doing an interview. Please tell the people your names and where you from?

No problem man, we’re called the Gar (meaning The Family in Cantonese) and we’re a three man crew coming from Stoke-on-Trent which is up in the midlands.

What releases have you had out to date?

This mixtape ‘Stoke-No city For Old Boys’ is the first official release from The Gar and is pretty much a collection of all of our new vibes, along with some of our older stuff that we thought would let people in on the journey.

What’s your favourite part of making rap music?

For us its got to be a toss up between the creating of the actual lyrics and tracks or the performing. There’s a certain buzz that you get from it that you can’t get anywhere else.

What do you think you bring to the rap world?

As a collective we bringing back that authentic sounding Hip Hop that you used to hear. There’s three of us in the group and we all bring different skills to the table. We got Bobby J who’s got a crazy original flow and lyrics you’re only gonna find here. Then we have Dirty D who’s vocab and wordplay is up there with the best of them. Then Benny Blaze who’s got a forever changing style and technique when flowing, its something you do have to check out for yourself because its not like anything that your hearing at the moment.

If you was not involved in music what do you think you would be doing?

For us music is everything. I can’t really think of an answer to that. Life without music is pretty unimaginable so I honestly couldn’t say.

Let’s talk about your current project. When’s it out? Can you tell who is involved?

The current project ‘Stoke-No City For Old Boys’ is out now you can download it from datpiff.com, iTunes and Amazon. Its all written and performed by ourselves and mixed & hosted by Tricksta from UK runnings. We’ve used a mixture of beats, some original and some old school bangers that we just love to flow on. The original beats are provided mainly by Ash Wilcox who’s a good friend of ours from around these ways. Tricksta provided us with a track as well ‘The Way We Be’ and we also had a couple of tracks from Desert Rhino from Tru Fam records. Next time we’re hoping to get a few more original beats on the mixtape just to show the true extent of what we can provide.

What type of music do you listen to mostly?

Apart from that original Hip Hop vibe we mentioned earlier, we listen to just about anything as long as its got soul to it with some real meaning its good to us. We've got a lot of Reggae in the collection, soul, Jazz, things like that really.

Where would you like to see yourself 5 years from now?

Five years from now we hopefully gonna be at least a couple of albums deep. A couple of good albums too. Albums that everyone appreciates and want to just keep hearing.

What have you been most proud of in your career so far?

We’ve been lucky enough to have recently joined a project called the U-Turn. Its basically a collection of independent artists from the UK and overseas all put together by Godfrey Fletcher and legendary producer Herb Middleton. Herb’s done us our own track as well for the U-Turn album which is an honour because he’s worked with some of the greats like Biggie, Nas and Mary J to name a few.

If you could pick one producer to work with in the world who would it be and why?

Thats a hard question because there’s so many top producers. We could sit here all day and we’d just keep thinking of new ones that we would prefer. If I would have to just say one though off the top of my head it would be DJ premier. His sampling and feel to his beats is unreal and has been for well over a decade.

What’s your opinion on the current state of the charts?

Music in the charts at the moment isn’t all too great. There’s the odd tune that comes out that’s ok but what’s happened to the Lauren Hills, the 2pacs, the Big Puns, there’s nothing extraordinary anymore. We’re hopefully gonna put a stop to that.

How do you view Hip-Hop right about now?

Hip Hop at the moment seems to be at a stand still. All of the artists that are big are the same ones that were big in the 90’s, Jay-Z, Nas, Wu-Tang, Eminem, Lil Wayne. Don’t get me wrong they got skills but no one seems to be breaking through that just makes you stop and want to listen. I do like the rise in the UK though it seems to be getting more established now, we’ve still got a long way to go yet though.

Would you like to see yourself in the top ten?

If it was with a track made completely by ourselves with no compromise to our style or beliefs then of course, because that would just mean that people were genuinely feeling our vibe. It’s just when people sell themselves out to get to that position that agers us because its the complete opposite of what music is supposed to be about.

What is your opinion on the current UK music scene?

The UK has currently got some massive artists with some really good vibes. Its just a shame that most of the top talent isn’t the stuff that they broadcast on the radio and so you have to really search to find that quality UK material. When you do find it though it matches anything from anywhere else in the world.

What’s next for you as an artist?

You should be seeing us soon in the U-Turn project. There’s a single coming out with a video so look out for that. We’re also already working on a second mixtape and in the future looking towards an album. Watch this space for all that future fire!

Okay before you go please tell us how we can get your music and how people can get in touch with you.

Ok the webpage is http://www.wearethegar.co.uk/
Other addresses you can reach us on are;
www.facebook.com - We Are The Gar
www.reverbnation.com/wearethegar

You can download tracks straight from these pages.

Thursday 2 December 2010

AC Interview

A.C. Exclusive Interview





Thank you for taking your time out to do this exclusive interview.

Thanks Franko for the opportunity!

What’s your name and where you from?

My name is AC and I live in London.

What releases have you had out to date?

My first release was a limited press vinyl with Terra Slim and Eic Lau called 'In England', then my mix CD 'Human Trash' with Terra, then the album 'Broke' with Mentor Kolektiv, then 'Youthanasia: Escape from the land of the wastemen' with Terra and now this EP 'New Day' produced by Jabbathakut. I have also recently put out two EPs of my beats for MC’s and singers to use.

What’s your favourite part of being a rapper/MC?

My favourite part is either the recording process in the studio and hearing the end result after mixing etc or seeing a crowd get hyped up when I'm performing at a rave.

What do you think you bring to the table as an MC?

I bring humour, political opinions, different speeds of delivery and don't act like an arrogant wanker.


If you was not involved in music what do you think you would be doing?

I think I would be concentrating full-time on drawing cartoons and doing illustrations, or acting, since I just got a taste of that after taking part in a pilot for a TV program called 'Bad Karma'. If that all went wrong I’d be doing various hustles to stay alive.

Let’s talk about your current project. When’s it out? Can you tell who is involved?

It is out now! You can get it FREE from my bandcamp page: http://acthemc.bandcamp.com/album/new-day. Jabbathakut has produced all the tracks, I met him thru my boy Genesis Elijah at a show we did in Southampton. Also I got Genesis and D21 from Black Mobb on the last track.

So what type of music do you listen to mostly?

I listen to allot of stuff, hiphop from the 90s, drum n bass and jungle, grime, dubstep, rnb, soul, jazz, classical music too.

Where would you like to see yourself 5 years from now?

I would like to have established a loyal fanbase and be throwing my own events with like-minded emcees, while doing more tours of other countries and working with artists all over the globe.

What have you been most proud of in your career so far?

Selling 40,000 cd’s on the street independently! That is why I am giving this EP away for Free, to celebrate that! The other things I am most proud of would be doing tours of Europe and India and getting into the top 10 on MTV Base, while still being an unsigned artist.

If you could pick one producer to work with in the world who would it be and why?

I don’t know you know that is very difficult to answer, maybe Dj Premier or Dre or Lil Jon, Pete Rock, Dj Quik, Heatmakerz.......

What’s your opinion on the current state of the charts?

The charts are a load of rubbish that I ignore. I don't pay attention to soulless, overly commercialized drivel. However I do like the occasional song that gets in the charts. I liked the beat to 'Pass Out ' and the beat to 'Frisky' still. The good thing is that there are allot of emcees in the charts, which gets the media noticing our music in general, but the labels make them change their style that made them popular in the first place for some reason.

How do you view Hip-Hop right about now?

I think there is allot of good music coming out and allot of rubbish coming out too. People say hiphop is dead if they just take what the mainstream is offering them, but if you look for what you want then you can still find it.

Would you like to see yourself in the top ten?

If I can put a track out that is real to me then yeah why not? However the fame it would bring would be a double edged sword so I don't know if I want that. I'd be happier being an underground name with a big fanbase.

What is your opinion on the current UK music scene?

The UK music scene is very good. Genres have been invented hear that other countries follow like Drum n Bass, Grime, UK Bhangra, Garage, Funky House etc. At the moment allot of artists are trying to do the mainstream commercial thing which I think they should be wary of as the industry is a horrible entity, that can ruin your life.

What’s next for you as an artist?

I have my album 'Keep it together' completed now. It is being mixed at the moment. I have done the first video for it and will be doing more soon. Then I will release it with allot of videos early next year.

Okay before you go please tell us how we can get your music and how people can get in
Touch with you.


You can get my music from my website www.aceshighclothing.com, which also sells my designer clothing brand so check out the jackets and tee shirts! Also check out these pages:

www.facebook.com/acthemc
http://acthemc.bandcamp.com/
http://soundcloud.com/acthemc
www.twitter.com/acthemc
www.youtube.com/acandterra
www.myspace.com/achillescharrington

Thanks for the interview! I wanna big up Tricksta my PR man and all the artists who sell/sold on road and create their own industry: my cousin JAY, DJ Amnesty, Execution Squodd, k-Sly and Chrissy (RIP), Mike GLC, D21, Stylah, D Raw, Darker, Daley Grinder, Genesis Elijah, Terra Slim, Wordsmith, Predator, Rizlo, KC, KJ, Rootsman, Navigator, Lexus, Shadowman, Luc Skyz, Kosha, Curt Composure, Final Element, EC, T Bizzle, Bate Nate, Breakbeat, Mr Drastick, Iron Braydz, Killa P, Tosh, Mohammad Yahya, Jungstas, Yeshuah, Rhyme Asylum and anyone else I forgot!

Interview by Franko Fraize