Del Tha Funkee Homosapien interview: 2011

FUNKEE BY NATURE

At hip-hop’s high end, there’s a lot of cringe-worthy behaviour that apparently serves as an enviable lifestyle. While these, often overnight, star’s pavement to penthouse stories continue to impress bogans everywhere, it’s comforting to know that for every overblown clown in a white suit with more jewellery than Kleins’ factory warehouse, there are fringe artists like Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, sharing more in common with the bohemians than the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. This Oakland, California native shunned the potential of an ‘easy street ride’ after cutting ties with his well established cousin Ice Cube, who helped launch the then 18-year old’s rap career. Del’s 1991 debut, I Wish My Brother George Was Here – a reference to his idol, Parliament’s George Clinton – showcased a decidedly less popular hip-hop/funk style, more in tune with Brooklyn based acts like 3rd Bass, than Cube’s/NWA’s West Coast gangsta rap, which was peaking at the time. His break-through single in the same year, Mistadobalina, openly stung the corporate hand which was already starting to dig deep into the hip-hop scene to check for potential cash-in-ability. But while it’s a credible thing to be seen as shunning The Man in hip-hop, Del – one time seen as ‘rap’s court jester’ – it turned out, was a little more serious than many of his contemporaries, and hence is still around to claim a sizeable share of respect, without so much as a hint of white suit-ery.

To celebrate his new album, The Golden Era, and 20 years of solid work, Del is making his first Australian visit since 1992. “I haven’t been out there since back in the 'Dobalina days, man but I got a lot more stuff behind me now.” Anyone who’s followed Del’s progress since would concur, the man is tireless. Nine solo albums, collaborations with Handsome Boy Modelling School, Deltron 3030, Gorillaz, Souls Of Mischief and even Dinosaur Jr, amounts to shit-loads to choose from for his live show. “I’m bringing everything I’ve done in one neat package for you all.” He teases. As for the hotly anticipated new Deltron 3030 album - his on/off group with cohorts Dan The Automator and Kid Koala, who slaughtered the competition in 2000 with their self-titled debut – Del urges ‘it’s coming’. “It’s still under wraps, you know, it’s not performance ready yet, so I won’t be doing any of that on this tour. It’s half-written though, so we’re hoping to get that out this year some time.” It’s often overlooked, but Deltron 3030’s debut was way ahead of its time in terms of where hip-hop was heading. While Kanye’s enjoying his view from the top, he should probably raise a little toast to Deltron – the first futurist hip-hop act on the block.
 

Del's Deltron 3030 persona

“It’s weird because that first record was pretty huge, you know, but we don’t know what we’re gonna do with this next one because the industry’s kinda fucked up now. We don’t know how we’re gonna release it yet, but that’s cool.” He adds, “I like change, you gotta move with the times and find new ways to get your stuff out there.” Del’s a stronger, wiser man these days since deciding to take the fate of his career into his own hands. Starting the Hieroglyphics label in the early ‘90s, Del was able to sustain his and several fellow underground rap acts releases when the major’s all backed out. But wiser still, it proved, Del began teaching himself music theory, and was soon digesting the lesson’s final examination text; How To Write A Hit Song. “For me it seemed natural to learn all I could about music, being a song writer.” He confirms, “If I was a visual artist, I would have my crayons, my oils, my easel and I’d learn about shading and all that; I’d have all the tools. So, by learning music theory I was adding all the colours to my paint box, you know what I’m saying?” He laughs, “But I make music for a living so I knew instinctively from that and from listening to it for so many years the how-to, but music theory taught me all the names for the parts in composition. I got tired of kinda winging it, you know, it was time for me to get professional.” Del’s tidy link between music and visual arts went beyond theorising, when in 2001, he became immortalised as Del Tha Ghost Rapper in Gorillaz, complete with his own animated on-screen character; a genuine dream-come-true situation, he claims.

A ghostly Del haunts 2-D in Gorillaz "Clint Eastwood" video

“When I saw the artwork for Gorillaz, I already knew it was Jamie Hewlett’s work, man!” Del hypes, “I used to collect the Tank Girl comics man, that shit was tight, you know what I’m saying? When Dan (The Automator – Gorillaz/Deltron producer) introduced me to the project and showed me all the artwork, I was into it before I had heard any music just because Jamie was involved. He’s the reason I said yes.” In its infancy, Del was the first artist on Gorillaz, now overflowing, guest list. However, the previous year, he worked with Damon Albarn on a track for Deltron 3030, perhaps even informing Gorillaz ‘futuristic’ musical direction. “I dunno man, Damon already had platinum hits in Blur, right, so he wasn’t trying to recreate that, he was trying to make this cult thing - which was only gonna be online at first - so I think he just wanted it to be as far from what he had done before as he could get.” As Tha Ghost Rapper, Del performs elaborate rhymes - which he claims he wrote in under half-an-hour - on the Gorillaz tracks, Clint Eastwood and Rock The House. He explains. “Me and Dan were just finishing up in the studio on some Deltron stuff, and he was gonna take me home, and then at the last minute he says, ‘oh, do you think you can put some lyrics to this song Clint Eastwood’, and I’m just wantin’ to get home, you know, so I did my thing real quick so I could leave.” He laughs, “They already had a rap on that song, but the lyric wasn’t great you know. Anyway its Dan I gotta thank coz now I got a platinum disc on my wall, it (Gorillaz) paid for my house, and I got my own character by Jamie “Tank Girl” Hewlett. That shit turned out good for me!” Saying ‘yes’ to Gorillaz, learning his trade, starting Hieroglyphics and generally avoiding the rap star clichés, have all clearly helped Del survive in uncertain times. He discusses.

“I got a lot of guidance from Ice Cube back in the days but also, I’m a Leo man, that’s like the super-instinctual sign,” he laughs, “I’ve always just known what to do. What can I say?” In more practical terms, Del offers, “More importantly though (producers on Del’s debut album) Boogiemen and DJ Pooh taught me all about getting my tracks up to scratch.” When Del wrote his first hit in late 1991, Mistadobalina, cousin Cube was quick to bow out. Del recalls, “I remember at early shows, Cube would come on and introduce me and hype me up to the crowd you know, and it was like, well I don’t need that now.” He grins, “I think a lot of people would’ve been happy to sit up under him and get a name just for that alone, but that’s not what I’m about.” Dobalina was Del proclaiming himself rap's dissident from the very start. The music industry’s ‘compliant suits’ - as he portrayed them in this track - could have risen straight from the pages of 1984, with Del painting himself as the stories' protagonist, Winston Smith. In fact even a cursory glance at much of Del’s work, particularly Deltron 3030, smacks eerily of George Orwell’s vision of futurist, near-parallel funk-less world. He responds. “That’s the stuff I like to think about – how the world ain’t what it’s cracked up to be sometimes. It’s not just about corporations though, there’s people who’ll try and keep you down no matter what, you know. I’m from Oakland, California and there’s some serious pimpin’ going on down on every street corner; people will tell you anything just to get something out of you, and that’s what 1984 boiled down to for me. If they think they can, most people will try and keep you in line with whatever their agenda is.”

lEIGh5

Grace Jones live in Melbourne, 2011 (review)

Venue: The Palais

Date: 14/04/2011

The many phases/faces of Jamaican mega-star Grace Jones unfold at the Palais tonight, as the queen of subversion unleashes her craft on Melbourne as part of her Hurricane world tour. Australian fans have waited a long time for Jones, so she isn’t about to sleep walk through a show she’s been touring for four years now, in fact Grace demands her audience’s attention from start to finish in an exhaustive two hour showcase of costumes most drag queens would consider ‘over-the-top’, comical rants and that deep arresting voice.

Once a very late Jones decides she is ready to see us, the Palais curtain raises to reveal a body sheathed entirely in a silver satin sheet, looking like some forgotten mannequin left behind in Studio 54’s attic. From beneath the shroud only a rumbling voice and minimal movements indicate human involvement, but the exaggerated height and shape suggest something even more sinister lurks beneath. Here (almost) before us, larger than life, is the original pop provocateur and shock-style icon poised to prove she’s still very much boss of her quarter. Suddenly the shroud slips away, revealing Jones - dressed as a zebra - and the whole crazy ride kicks off as she prances animatedly about the stage under an orange spotlight.

Each song in the set, which heavily covers 2008 album Hurricane and most of her ‘80s hits, is accompanied by different, equally extraordinary Grace-look; horror/demon drag (Devil In My Life), walking mirrorball (Pull Up To The Bumper), tropical Rasta-chick (My Jamaican Guy) etc… but proving you just can’t beat a little black dress; Grace wows us the most in a subtle cocktail gown, performing a flawless tango partnered by a pole-mounted legless dummy of herself during I’ve Seen That Face Before. These kinds of choreographed pop-circus’s are usually so strategised they fast become bland-fests, but Grace from inside her hyper-surreal concert display, serves so much personality she easily remains the sole focus throughout... If not her appearance, then at least because things generally look to be teetering on the brink of collapse throughout.



In what could have been a momentum killer, Jones’ costume changes demand she spend a considerable amount of time off stage. To ensure focus does in fact remains on her, mic in hand Grace’s offbeat commentary keeps the crowd roaring as her minions prep her for yet another grand entrance. “I nearly didn’t make it here tonight.” She quips from back-stage, “I passed out at the airport with a bottle. They had to call a doctor.” She continues with a half-arsed attack on the twitter-verse, “Does anybody out there twit? Should I backstage twit you? Okay… Twit, twit, twit.” But the hilarity peaks as she shamelessly professes, “My vanity’s gonna send me straight to hell. I just hope hell has straws so I don’t mess up my lipstick when I have a drink.”

Her adoring fans are collectively gasping in awe one moment and laughing out loud the next, but for me its the chaos element which provides the most delicious aspect to Grace’s show. The failed attempt to get fans up on stage during Love Is The Drug, the confetti cannons misfiring, Jones forgetting her band member’s names all helped to make us feel connected to the person behind the performer and not just spectators of some faded star being wheeled around in pre-arranged motion. If there’s one thing Jones has repeatedly asserted since the late ‘70s when she shifted from modelling into music – don’t expect a compliant clothes horse offering nowt but a blue steel gaze. The fact is, the 62 year-old’s movements on stage were so incredibly lithe - even wearing a dress the size of a small house and ten-inch heels – she becomes almost dizzying to watch.

By the close of the main show, the audience are on their feet and it feels as though we at last have arrived on Grace’s plain. Hurricane is performed in a billowing cape, engulfing the entire stage with the assistance of wind machines, while huge projected black clouds roll across the backdrop. Grace’s voice soars above the faux storm and the alien vision on stage melts away all sense of reality. Then before a hysterical crowd, Grace returns for one encore and drives home her legend status with a rousing Slave To The Rhythm. Grace is at last fully unveiled as she extends her signature song’s refrain to lead a sing-a-long, and her simple enjoyment of this moment is plain for all to see.

Whether it’s a sign that Grace has relaxed too much or some well planned whimsy, the whole bonkers extravaganza ends with the weak, tinny sound of Grace sloppily crashing two cymbals together. “This is for you,” she enthuses the audience, before holding the cymbals between her knees and awkwardly making them turn, kind of like she was miming riding a bike, but not really…? In its lame inadequacy, this act was the perfect end to a seriously impressive show. By that point Grace had overstimulated and confounded the audience so much, it was as if she had read our need for some relieving daftness to go home on. Many great and not-so-great artists have tried, and continue to do so, but after spending a night on planet Grace, I don’t see how anyone could hope to keep up with this Jones.

lEIGh5



PALAIS SET LIST:

This is
Williams' Blood
Private Life
Devil In My Life
Love You To Life
Demolition Man
Sunrise Sunset
La Vie En Rose
My Jamaican Guy
Corporate Cannibal
Well Well Well
Love Is The Drug
Libertango (I’ve Seen That Face Before)
Hurricane
Pull Up To The Bumper
Slave To The Rhythm

Irma Thomas interview: 2011

THE QUEEN OF NEW ORLEANS

As far as royal titles go, Soul Queen Of New Orleans is an impressive honour whichever way you look at it. In what will be a first for Australian audiences, the owner of that title, Louisiana-born Irma Thomas, will finally bring to this year’s Bluesfest what she’s been celebrated for in the US for over 50 years now. 

“People are gonna get Irma honey, that’s what’s bringing me over there to Australia.” The soul diva snaps, “They know me as Irma the soul queen of New Orleans and that’s what just what they are gonna get.” Her star might not be the biggest in the soul galaxy, but Irma Thomas can sure talk up a tour. She first hit the stages of New Orleans in 1960, and was for a time the hottest ticket in town. Her career however had several stops and starts and Thomas found herself being re-launched to new audiences as each decade passed. Australian fans have waited a long time for her to launch on them, but Irma’s promising a full retrospective to make up for lost time.

“I try to do a mix of my ‘60s hits and my current stuff too, and if there’s time I let fans make requests - and if I remember it I’ll sing it - but I don’t always remember some of the older songs.” Irma adds surprisingly, “I will have my iPad though with my lyrics all on it, and if I can work out how to use it then everything’s gonna be just fine.” She laughs. “Hell I’m 70 years old now, I can’t remember everything I’ve sung, but hopefully fans will get to hear their favourite Irma song.” Thomas’s joy at discussing her childhood memory of music’s impact on her is striking. In her voice is the sound of a woman who never forgot the first girlhood rush of hearing soul music for the very first time.

“Oh it (soul music) was all over where I lived - in my house, in the street, just all around me. When I was growing up most neighbourhoods had clubs with live music in them, but as a kid you couldn’t go in those places so we would stand outside and listen to all the performers or else they’d turn up the jukebox for us and we would dance right there in the street.” She laughs. The impression this early musical exposure had on Irma was a little different to her many brothers and sisters. At the age of 13 she was singing in a Baptist church choir and already laying the groundwork for what would be a life-long commitment to soul. But despite early set-backs – she had two failed marriages in her teens and had started a family by the age of 19 - Irma never took eyes off the prize.

“Life throws you all kinds of situations, but everyday is a new chance.” She says brimming with wisdom, “And that’s the way I’ve always looked at life. Nobody else in my family was an entertainer, I was it, so I got to fulfill my dream and that has kept me going through everything life has thrown my way.” Irma’s title of Soul Queen is something she’s extremely proud of. Her commercial success never reached the level of say, Aretha Franklin or Tina Turner, but her accolade was based on her ability as a vocalist above all. “I am proud of that because a lot people mistakenly call soul a genre and it’s not a genre, it’s a feeling. You can be a pop, jazz or rhythm and blues singer and still have soul for what you’re doing. So to be thought of as queen of New Orleans soul is a huge compliment to me. It means they know that I get it.”

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina toppled the city of soul, including Ms Thomas’s own home and the club she performed at. Irma however wasn’t home at the time and it would be two years before she could move back to her beloved city. Six years on and Irma believes New Orleans’ music is strong as it ever was. “There are parts missing from my town, and some folks who used to live here now have to come visit when they want to play a show, but I think New Orleans still has its soul.” She adds defiantly, “Katrina couldn’t take that away from us.” Irma, in a strange twist, was recording an album out of town during the hurricane titled After The Rain. It was an almost custom designed ray of hope for the local residents who rallied around the record as they rebuilt their town and gave Irma cause to question coincidence. “That entire album, apart from one song was completed before the hurricane, and that last song was called Shelter From The Rain – a Stevie Wonder song that I covered. I don’t know if I believe in coincidence or any of that, but every one of those musicians who played on that record were in some way personally affected by the storm when it hit.” In closing I wonder what, if the 70 year-old soul legend had taken a different path in life, would she had liked to do differently.



“Well I never thought I would end up doing anything other than singing.” She offers after some thought, “I mean at one point, I would maybe have liked to become a teacher, but now I realise still singing at my age, I am kind of a teacher anyway. Younger performers tend to watch what you do when you have been around a long while and take pointers from you.” Irma laughs, “But I have been told many times I’ve been an inspiration by other singers. In fact when I met Randy Newman he told me he had always written his songs with me in mind. So yeah, I got to fulfill both my dreams in a way – singer and teacher, honey.”

lEIGh5

Mayer Hawthorne interview: 2011

THE FUNK SOUL BROTHER

 
Mayer Hawthorne's a realist when it comes to his place in the great musical scheme. He wears his influences on his well-tailored sleeve - see pretty much any of the '60s Motown greats - and thus makes traditional soul music. Pure and simple…? Well no, Mayer Hawthorne is merely the invention of Detroit native Andrew Cohen, who in reality is a hip-hop DJ, multi-instrumentalist and former-headbanger. The work he's produced under the Mayer Hawthorne banner is a funk-lightly album of dissin'-that-ex-girlfriend tunes, called A Strange Arrangement. Cohen's alter-ego, even though he's coy to admit it, is next the progression of the Gnarls Barkley/Mark fucking Ronson-popularised retro soul movement.

Now based in LA, Cohen's life took a dramatic turn once the DJ decided to cut a soul record in vein of his much loved Detroit-based forefathers. He was soon signed to Stones Throw records on the strength of debut single, Just Ain't Gonna Work Out, and the reluctant - "I only really wanted to be a DJ" – singer's fate was sealed. As his second Australian visit approaches, I begin our talk by asking Cohen what it meant for him to grow up in the city of soul. "You kinda take it for granted that it's not like everywhere else, you know." He shrugs, "When I was growing up and getting introduced to music, I didn't realise Detroit was actually the best place in the world for music." He laughs, "But I consider myself unbelievably fortunate to have had that right on my doorstep." While a singing career is the newest aspect to his life, 31 year-old Cohen has actually been performing for crowds since his early teens as a DJ. He talks me through his favourite phases in music and being "underrated" as a disc jockey.

 

"I listen to a lot of hip-hop stuff now, but going back a few years I was a bit of a metal head. I was into Nirvana, Iron Maiden, Smashing Pumpkins and Helmet, which might surprise a few people who only know my Mayer Hawthorne stuff." He giggles. Cohen still plays the decks to this day, but he claims, he's underappreciated in that field. "Nobody who comes to see a Mayer Hawthorne show even knows I've been a DJ my whole life and that that's what my first love is." He rails, "I'm primarily known as a singer now but it still feels weird to me to be thought of in that way. I always wanted to be known as a DJ." Cohen as a singer has been likened to some of the great female soul vocalists due to his extremely high falsetto. Andrew's singing style, he hints, could possibly be traced back to childhood visits to the barber's shop.

"When I was a kid and my parents would take me to get my haircut, I would always have a tempter tantrum and start screaming at the top of my lungs because I hated it so much." He grins, "So they would buy me a record to keep me occupied and to take my mind off this trauma." He adds laughing, "It really was my parents that got me into singing and collecting records, and also that's how I got my DJ name – DJ Haircut!" Cohen built up his collection over the course of many haircuts and gained a deep respect for music and his parents' tastes, "I owe them a lot in terms of educating me about music." Although a typical DJ Haircut set is less about reflecting less of his own tastes, he claims.

"When I DJ I freestyle it, I never put a set together, I just go wherever the mood is taking me." He adds, "But I always throw some Motown in there. I gotta have that in my set every time." Cohen's alter-ego Mayer Hawthorne (named after two streets in the neighbourhood in which he grew up) looks set to break him internationally as a soul vocalist. When asked if his beloved hip-hop and DJing will continue along-side Mayer Hawthorne, Cohen sounds unsure. "Yes… Maybe…. I mean I still listen to hip-hop and pay attention to that scene, but the way I make music as Mayer Hawthorne is quite a bit different to the stuff I grew up with or DJ with. I gotta look after my own style now, but you know it's really not that separate." He adds, "I started making soul records because I wanted stuff to sample when I play my hip-hop records. It was just simpler doin' it that way rather than digging through all those old records to find just a couple of good samples I could use."

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Bill Elder (The Dynamites) interview: 2011

RESPECT YOUR ELDER

When Nashville-based song writer/guitarist Bill Elder formed The Dynamites in 2005, it spelled the end of a long retirement for the ex-touring band leader, who'd comfortably moved into the producer's chair to remain connected to his love of music. The birth of his group, who are now celebrated world wide for their classic funk/soul reviews, also re-launched the career of one of the '60s hottest soul shouters, Charlie Walker. Walker's credits included opening for James Brown's and Wilson Pickett's concerts, as well as fronting his own band The Sidewinders, who found fame in New York's club circuit back in the day. Walker's near-forgotten status during at The Dynamites' inception was considered somewhat criminal by Elder while all around the then producer, pretenders and plagiarists where being celebrated.

Nashville's contemporary music, Bill suggests on the eve of his band's second Australian visit, is largely riding on the state's name as a way of getting itself heard. The passionate New Orleans native does his best to not mince words about what he sees as 'The Tennessee Plague'. "We're totally outside of the whole Nashville scene. I absolutely hate modern country music so much, and that is what 99 percent of artists from Nashville are playin'." He laughs, "I avoid it at all costs… I mean, The Dynamites came together there, but we didn't play the Nashville game at all." Bill adds, "I will say this though, that place attracts some of the most incredible musicians I've ever had the pleasure of working with. If I wasn't in Nashville I doubt I could have assembled a band of the caliber that these guys in The Dynamites are."

In amongst Tennessee's long tradition of Grand Ole Opry and big hat-wearing stars of blue grass, a steady stream of soul and R&B acts wove its way through, and only in recent years has this secondary history seen a revival. While Atlanta, New Orleans, Chicago and New York, to a much greater degree cultivated their mostly black music heritages, the white country scene in Nashville reigned. However, Bill Elder, while assisting on an exhibit celebrating Nashville's contribution to soul, discovered a still thriving scene and was soon amongst musicians perfectly suited to his old-school writing style and improvisational approach to guitar playing.
 

"The Dynamites, at last count, are a collective of up to 20 people who I can call on at any time to play with." He beams, "So the line-up tends to shift from time to time which lends itself to making our shows evolve quite fast. Plus as a rhythm section that plays together more and more and as we do more and more shows, we've found that it becomes necessary to alter how we perform the songs because we get bored of 'em," he laughs, "Playing with so many gifted musicians, every day you always get fresh ideas coming through on new ways to perform the songs." The Dynamites new Australian release is Kaboom - an album originally recorded in 2007. The group toured a follow-up, Burn It Down, during last year, yet Bill seems quite content to re-launch his debut album onto a new audience.
 

"It's my view that a band should be able to pull from all their repertoire on stage, but then it is an interesting concept to back right up and go out in front of a new audience, or an audience who are only familiar with a small amount of our work and be kind of introducing yourself." He continues, "As we're putting these (new) sets together, we have made the connection that there's a lot of continuity in what we do. I mean they (Kaboom and Burn It Down) could almost have been a double album." Elder adds confidently, "But we go out there and make timeless music, man, so the way I see it, it doesn't matter what album we're playing from, it's all kinda coming from another time and place." If The Dynamites do belong to a particular time, they'd be most at home in the days of civil rights protests during the first wave of changing attitudes in the US. Bill, in his songs, makes a convincing connection between that era and today's equally complex human rights issues.
 

"A lot of everyday people were starting to become very active politically in the 1960's and I see that as an important flame to keep alive today." Elder assures, "That alone isn't something that necessarily dominates our songs, but it is a factor I'm interested in." He adds, "A writer should write with all of his mind, you know and one of the things I've tried to do from the inception of this project is keep one foot in the golden era of soul and stretch the other all the way to the artistry of modern times and keep the common threads intact, including what that music meant for people and how it can still say something important." Whatever the world has been up to for the last 40 years, it has left little impression on The Dynamites musically. That is to say, you'll find no inorganic intrusions on their albums, only a love of playing and a reminder of a time when music seemed intricately connected to great leaps in social evolution. Bill, along with his gifted band are sadly more like the exception than the rule in this age: it's a fact that hasn't passed him by either.
 

"Obviously the music business is a very strange place filled with peaks and valleys, and for a soul band like us to be allowed to do what we do, just because we love it, is kind of a blessing." He says, "Over the last year we've gotten to do many amazing things – a couple of the highlights being our Australian and European tours – sometimes I can hardly believe I'm able to make a living from doing this, you know. I really am blessed."

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