choose your language
Apsci Interview
Im happy to hook up with you to do an interview. What about a short introduction tellin people the basics.
Ra: Dana and I were in the same scene, somewhere between hip hop and live music. She was part of the Sydney branch, I was in New York. She came to NY one summer and its a funny story how we met... I walked down the street with a jar of peanut butter, she came from the other end with a chocolate bar. We collided when we were both looking the other way and WHAM! Peanut Butter Cups. We've been eating them ever since.
Dana: Ok. Thanks Ra. I do like peanut butter cups. All lower case because we are not doing free endorsements. We met in the L.E.S. (Lower East Side in Manhattan) by a club called Baby Jupiter. We had mutual friends who travelled between New York and Sydney, so I recognised him from photos and his previous music projects. The rumour is that I thought he was arrogant when we first met. That's not true. The repeated explanation was that he was just acting very uninterested due to an ex standing right beside him. Well, I married him so it goes to show that either first impressions aren't always true or I'm a sucker for cool, unaffected guys.
You seem to love the stage. What can people expect when they go to an Apsci show. Let me say it differently. Why should people go to an Apsci show?!
Ra: Its a tight & crispy set. I don't know anyone else who can combine hip hop, punk rock & opera without face paint.
Dana: If you wanna hear something different, come through to an Apsci gig.
Concerning your shows. You have a drummer and a DJ. You have singing and rappin goin on plus you use effect boards. The lets say “the average rap act“ only has a Dj that just puts on the records. Some dont even have a DJ nowadays and only use a sampler on stage. What do you think about that? Boring? Too simple? Not creative? Tell us why you do what you do.
Ra: I've seen some awesome shows where an emcee rocks the crowd with just him & a dj. I've seen some awesome live bands. I've also seen both do a lot of mediocre stuff. We like having more musicians up there, but the approach is more akin to electronic music. Guy Licata, our drummer, plays half the time like a drum machine, or a time-stretched sampler. But it gives us the freedom to bash around when we need to. Its more lively.
Dana: You go to different shows for different reasons. Some folks go to shows because they want to see the artist in the flesh, watch them do it live and ad-lib, plus the the skits in between. You go to see someone like Jamie Lidell and it's just him and a bunch of equipment, and he's far from boring. He creates it all live which is great to watch a mad scientist at work, and his personality makes it very user friendly. I'm up for the journey that the artist wants to take you on, whether it be full live band or one person and equipment. It's not about what you got, it's about how you use it. The brilliance is marked by the quality of the performance.
How would you describe your album “Thanks for Askin“? Tell us about the record.
Ra: It was our first album that was released worldwide. Before that we did a few singles (Tirade Highway, Ekleroshock) and one domestic release in Australia (Get it Twisted, Elefant Traks). Quannum basically stepped in and said they loved the songs we already had, but we added a few new ones with friends like Mr. Lif & Pigeon John. Its a good album, but I'm up to my neck in album number two... so you imagine that would be pretty smelly.
Dana: It marked where we were at at a certain point in our lives. I know from fans out there that that record really moved them, and that response means the most for me as an artist.
Dana, you are multi talented. You can sing and have an operatic and theater background, you dance, rap, produce you do spoken word poetry plus youre an actress. What and who influences a woman like you? What does art and expressin you in so many ways mean to you?
Dana: To express myself through various mediums feels very satisfying, even if it's only for my benefit at the best of times. I feel really alive when I am active and engaged in a project. Thankfully Quannum has opened their channels to us, giving us the exposure to bring it to a wider global audience. That recognition and leg up is a big head nod and I am honored to have joined the Quannum family. I'd be doing this whether or not Quannum was onboard, but having them by my side definitely gives me the confidence that I must be doing something right.
My main driving force is an idea and the possibility of where it can go, the journey of taking it there, and of course, the end result that you can listen back to then sculpt and tweak till it can speak for itself. Expressing that idea in it's purity, hitting the nail on the head, but giving it your unique twist too. It's no different to what any artist wants to achieve. The several mediums of expression gives me that all round workout, much like how a triathalon athlete would get from competition.
For me, writing songs can be a release that you can review back to later, kinda like a well written diary entry. Sometimes you're flexing to an imaginary situation and it's just you in the room. I guess that can also be a reflection of what many of us do in our lives. Imagine and create something out of nothing. It's beautiful about human nature, but that same skill is what also causes a lot of conflict in the world. It's easy for me to recognize it in song writing because when I hear the song back after just writing/recording it, but I've been the only one in the room the whole time, I am acutely aware that I created this situation out of my imagination and (pent-up) feelings. I wish could easily recognize this in my 'real' life situations...
Ra, you do most of the production. Tell us what equipment you use and how an instrumental comes together from scratch. In what way does your experience as a live musician influence your style of production?
Ra: I played bass guitar for about 10 years, saxophone in school for 9 before that. So my approach to a sampler or drum programming is very influenced by playing in a basement or a garage with a drummer. To me the beats have to feel unpredictable, like they have a mind of their own. If i can predict how a beat will go when i first listen to a song, I may never listen to it again.
Brainstorm-
Hip-Hop culture:
Ra: Is great and awful at the same time.
Dana: The great parts of hip hop culture are fun, engaging and show real ingenuity. The worst part is the predictability, the mimicking, lack of real creativity and those damn keep it real rules and how people have translated that. There's a lot of perpetrating in hip hop culture, and that is what I have the hardest time with. My complaint comes from that same ol' act that you see - if someone isn't perpetrating or emulating their favorite artists or movies, or trying to act hard when you know they're (not from the hood) but from a decent home and their dad came home every night, then someone else is reciting a bunch of rules that if you don't keep it real, then you're not into the real hip hop. When hip hop turned angry and elitist, suburban kids created a self-issued ghetto pass and created all these rules, getting hooked up on a rigid notion of what keep it real should be.
The first time I got to New York, I went to a local hip hop showcase with an open mic session up in The Bronx. The room was full, and mostly folks from uptown. Some local mcs did a track or two accapella or with the dj spinning an instrumental for them. Everyone who got up had serious skills. Then one teenager who had just started learning piano got on the upright just to the side of the stage. He nervously played the theme from Titanic for the full room. Against all of us non-local's expectations, everyone applauded enthusiastically when he was done. The genuine support for him was fantastic to see. You knew that being completely yourself was encouraged. From having lived in New York for almost a decade, I've learned that you earn more respect by just being yourself.
Spoken Word Poetry:
Ra: Can really get on my nerves
Dana: Could do with an upgrade. Can you... hear me? Hear me? Hear me?
Freestyles:
Ra: got in the way of writing better songs for me.
Dana: were fun times back in the 90's
Love:
Ra: is really all you need. that and a trust fund.
Dana: shouldn't hurt.
God:
Ra: is good.
Dana: means Go Do Good. I can't take credit for that acronym but it works for me.
Pain:
Ra: is bad.
Dana: hurts more if you focus on it.
Money:
Ra: is also good. it can get boring though when you have everything you want. it's good to have needs & goals, i find... keeps you alive.
Dana: Too few have it, too many don't.
Internet:
Ra: is this a trick question?
Dana: it's funny when someone always tells you a web address and they slowly and painstakingly start with "double-yoo, double yoo, double-yoo". and they're probably the same mf's that will tap on your computer screen too.
Travelling:
Ra: changed my life.
Dana: without it I'd be in some sleepy beach town in Philippines, singing in karaoke competitions to feed my 8 kids.
Quannum:
Ra: is the label that paaayyyys may.
Dana: I was a fan before I joined the fam.
Do you have an opinion on the american foreign politics?
Ra: its bad news.
Dana: Do you really want to open that can of worms? It disgusts me.
It's been deeply disturbing for a very long time. It's very obvious to non-americans, but for Americans living in the States, they generally have no idea how they or their government is perceived outside of the country. I think every American should live outside of the States for at least a year so they can step outside of themselves and the cocoon/shelter that the media and local communities can weave around them. Perhaps those less in the know may finally give a shit about what their government is doing and be more vocal about it. It's a very troubled country with a glossy cover, and for all its brilliance there is so much neglect and ignorance mixed with arrogance that they live in the best country in the world.
Whats a good day like? What was the last good day like?
Ra: when blackalicous came to sydney one time we took em to the beach, the fish market for lunch and the best ice cream in chinatown after. gab told me it was a 'really dope day.'
Dana: Today. We're in the studio mixing our next record. We just finished pigging out at a great cheap, local vietnamese restaurant, came back to the studio resisting the urge to undo the top button of my pants, sprawled out on the couch and brought up a mix of one of our new songs.
On what do you spend the most time besides music?
Ra: cooking. easily.
Dana: Eating what Ra cooks. Making dumplings. Yoga-ing. Gardening. Yeah, I'm one of them.
Imagine youd find a hundred bucks on th street. How woud you spend them?
Ra: maybe on a Wii game. or a hard drive. i'm always running out of space.
Dana: My piggy bank for a Macbook Pro.
Where is your favourite place on earth?
Ra: man i don't know i got a lot more to see. australia has some coastal views that will blow your mind. new york has really good pizza. kuala lumpur has killer curries & cheap AF1's. paris has good bottles of red for 3 euro. and then the cheese. omigod the cheese.
Dana: Sitting at a meal with all my family.
What comes to your mind when i say all elements. Whats your connection to graffiti, b-boying, turntablism, beatboxing and so on?
Ra: because i grew up in ny & nj, hip hop was all around me, and there was no need to tout all the different styles of it as a collection of elements. it started out as black party music, but was something everyone could enjoy in the 80s. i think because commercial rap has eclipsed everything else, you have a whole group of people who want to classify it down to elements, or emulate what was going on in the bronx in the early 80s. What I find gets lost is the spirit of those original b-boys & b-girls. You go back to wild style or even early rap videos and you see how free it was. It was good times music. I think a lot of the modern day folks who champion hip hop as 4 elements sometimes don't have that spark, that joy that seemed to be everywhere in the early days.
Dana: Agreed. Although I didn't grow up on the north-east coast of the U.S., my older brother and sister got into hip hop in the 80s, and that was a big influence on me. The fun and open-minded nature of those days is sorely missed. I understand and respect the elements, but 'keep it real' has really twisted many of us up into a big knot.
Please name me some of your all-time favourite songs and records.
Ra:
Public Enemy - Nation of Millions
Tribe Called Quest -The Low End Theory
Pixies - Surfer Rosa
John Coltrane - Giant Steps
Dana:
'African Sanctus' - David Fanshawe
'Off The Wall' - Michael Jackson
'My Life' - Mary J. Blige
'Sign of the Times' - Prince.
When I was about 13, Kate Bush did a cover of a traditional irish folk song. How she used her voice opened my up to the scope of vocal styles possible.
What Artists would you like to work with?
Ra: I'm sure there's a ton I could list. Rakim, Prince, Andre3000, David Bowie. But my mind has really been focused on getting this new record done, and its really not at all about guests or collaborations.
Dana: Andre3000, Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, Missy Elliot, Phil Collins.
Is there something youd like to tell the readers or is there an advice youd like to givem?
Ra: Make that shit count
Dana: In whatever you put yourself to, the real work happens once you step outside of your comfort zone.
The future of Apsci. Whats next? Where at would yall like to see yourself in 10 years?
Ra: Hopefully in a carbon neutral car, living off royalty checks, taking my kids to school.
Dana: Feeding my family off my own veggie-garden, writing songs in our studio with a view of the ocean outside the window.
Shout outs and props:
LaMotta's, Tutaan's, Diaz's, Heatley's, Quannums, Aussies, Frenchies, Malaysians, New Yorkers...
Interview: Frank Dirr (thebaske.com)
Websites: apsci.net , myspace.com/apsci
