Catie Callaghan
05/14/04, 08:42 PM
So, you heard about that guy who had the balls to rap at, out of all the music festivals on the planet, Skate and Surf in Asbury, New Jersey. And your still not sure what to make of it or what that guy could have possibly been thinking. Well, just for you guys, Jake Wallace and I decided to find out. Early in the day he was to take the stage, a posse and I dragged MC Lars out to the street to get some info on what was in store for the show, his new LaptopEP, and the Absolutepunk.net Tour.
Ap.net: How do you feel about playing your first large scale venue?
MCLars: It's very exciting. It's cool because it's like our 75th show or something so in terms of the chronology I think we're ready but it's still scary. It's exciting though 'cause this is a scene we've been kind of on the periphery of. In England we played a few punk shows but we never played any U.S. festivals, well if this is really a festival.
Ap.net: Yeah, it's Skate and Surf Festival.
MCLars: Skate and Surf Festival!, so it is semantically. It's exciting but I'm really scared, to be honest.
Ap.net: Have all your shows been in England before now, or California too?
MCLars: Yeah, California, like central California, San Francisco area. And this is the first non-California U.S. show.
Ap.net: Tell me about last week, recording the EP.
MCLars: We finished it up, so the EP's done. It's fun 'cause the producer, Mike Sapone, wrote the last song on the cd with me. It's a collaboration with him, he's a really good drummer. It's the first time I worked with someone, outside of my band, in writing. So it's cool.
Ap.net: You did it really quick too.
MCLars: Yeah we did. The pre-production I did in my dorm room but being in the studio, the whole EP was done in 5 days.
Ap.net: How many songs are on it?
MCLars: Seven. So it's pretty cool. But only five of them I've done with him, the other two are just my room. Cause it's simpler. Pro-tools.
Ap.net: You have a record label in the UK right?
MCLars: Yeah, Truck Records. They're five years old. They do stuff with this band, Goldrush, that's kind of big there. And they put out the first album, and they're putting out this EP.
Ap.net: How did the UK hear about you before America basically did?
MCLars: I went overseas to Oxford for a term through the overseas study program and I brought my laptop with all my programs just for fun. I met cool punk bands and indie bands and started hanging out with them and they asked me, "Hey, what if you did a song before us." So I started playing. I played with this band, Exhale, I played a song before their set and people started, "Hey, you should come play it." And eventually I was doing a whole set, in Oxford.
Ap.net: So everything kinda just fell into place.
MCLars: Yeah, it was weird, it was so unexpected. It fell into place and then this label that's in Oxford, since I played with so many of their bands, they were like, "We’re gonna put out your album." So I was like, "Okay…"
Ap.net: You rap, obviously, but you rap about subjects more commonly found in a rock kind of genre rather than a rap kind of genre. How did you come to fuse the two genres together?
MCLars: Okay, let me know if this is too complicated. I was in a punk band in high school, this band called Amphoteric from [the] San Francisco area. And we were like local bands or whatever but eventually I started getting bored and I had to drop out of the band when I got to college and I started listening to more hip-hop. I was realizing a few things, like I rap better than I sing. So I [was] first doing this solo thing,[because] you can say more in a quicker time. And so I started recording rap songs in my dorm room but since I had been writing all these punk songs in this other band it happened to be more… They weren't typical rap songs. I was just switching the genre of music I was doing. You know what I mean?
Ap.net: Yeah, absolutely. You had the mindset of the punk genre but you were listening to rap.
MCLars: Yeah! So it's kind of weird.
Ap.net: We all know about the stigma given to white rappers in general. Do you think that there is any way you're gonna be able to avoid that?
MCLars: I think with race and being a rapper, where it was definitely a big issue in the mid- 90's when all the underground stuff was coming up and there was all these east coast/west coast feuds, there was a way you did hip-hop and that was it. But I think after Vanilla Ice, he made it obnoxious, he made it that you couldn't be white and credible. But MC Search, A Third Base, and Eminem kinda broke down the doors. And so now, our generation, the Post-Cold War Generation has grown up with hip-hop everywhere. So you have all these people coming up who sound like it's not an issue because it's so part of what they grew up with. You know what I'm saying?
Ap.net: Right, like it has become more of a pop thing.
MCLars: Yeah, it's there, so race is less of a component. But I get away with it because I'm not trying to rap about, like typical hip-hop…If I were I think I would be a lot less genuine. I'm not trying to fake it.
Ap.net: [Because] then it turns into a whole cultural thing, like you're trying to be a culture you're not a part of.
MCLars: And that's when it's weird. But if you're part of a culture, like you hang out with your friends and that's your lifestyle then it's not weird. That's your life and that's cool.
Ap.net: How do you think school is going to work out with everything that's going on now?
MCLars: I'm still trying to gage. Like it's cool that the June tour is happening, and I got money for this, and there might be something in the fall. It's exciting, but just in case, I'm still graduating and I'm almost done because I had a lot of high school A.P. stuff. It's cool so I can graduate early. So the idea is maybe I'll take off in the fall and finish in the spring with all my friends.
Ap.net: Who are you guys touring with in the summer? (pay attention here kiddies whom are reading this!)
MCLars: We're touring with Audio Karate, Lance's Hero and Say Anything.
Ap.net: The AP tour. ;)
Ap.net: Are you excited about that?
MCLars: I'm so excited.
Ap.net: And it's all west coast.
MCLars: Yeah, like we've played central California but we haven't played southern California, or Oregon or Washington. So cool.
Ap.net: How's your following in California?
MCLars: We're getting more people. It's interesting because we're definitely bigger in England than we are in central California. Part of it is because England is so much smaller, the word of mouth buzz collected. But we have a lot of high school fans and kids who go to school with me…So it's college and high school kids.
Ap.net: How is it over in England?
MCLars: It's pretty exciting. It's pretty fun because they love American music so I think if you're an American doing music and you're on a British label you're all of a sudden in the same league as, not MTV, but you're credible, I think. Kids will come to a show with a really open mind and be really supportive. And [they] sing the lyrics, rap along with me…And the kids here, it's cool because I'm talking to them but I'm realizing that my demographic is really more high school now. Because that's where I was when I started writing this stuff. So it's awesome because these kids are still innocent and cool…
Ap.net: So do you feel like you have definitely progressed since then (when he first began writing)?
MCLars: A little. I've progressed musically, I think, a lot more. Lyrically, kinda, I'm trying to be more fulfilling, I mean I think humors good but I want to say something and at the same time say something important and have fun, make it appealing. That's gold.
Ap.net: So you want to entertain and at the same time be heard.
MCLars: Yeah, so it's not like a joke. That's a challenge though.
Ap.net: Do you have a way of writing more serious lyrics or are you just trying to be more serious? Are you reading, listening to different music or drawing inspiration from elsewhere?
MCLars: Yeah, like these new songs I did I really tried to research the punk world. I definitely love Jake a lot and Jason too about all this stuff. And I was trying to do research on what it was like to be part of the punk community. What is wrong with how major labels have been taking emo and [drilled? it] into the ground like the Backstreet Boys or something. Like the third generation Dashboard Confessional stuff. And I'm a fan of punk and all that stuff but like I think like…I'm making fun of Yellowcard and stuff but the idea is that I'm doing it but I'm also trying to say something like, "Look you guys, what labels can do to you." So there I'm able to say something important but not be completely silly. It's silly and it's funny because it's kind of satirical but it says something. The thing I hate the most is when people write it off and say, "Oh, hey, he's just novelty. Let's put him in the comedy section." I mean like yeah, I love Weird Al incredibly but I want to say something instead of just be singing about food and television. I wouldn't be upset for being known for Weird Al's kind of brilliance but I'd like to say something at the same time.
Ap.net: Where do you draw most of your inspiration from, it seems to me it's mostly your surroundings, or do you research things you want to talk about aside from the punk songs, is that a norm for you?
MCLars: Yeah, like I'll do a lot of research, I'll talk to people and I'm always trying to connect things like ideas and funny coincidences when I'm at shows and stuff or things about the scene that I want to comment on. But really, one of my big things is I love taking literature and turning that into a song. So school has been a primary influence. I have two songs about literally stuff from class. One about a sociological study of the US and England from going overseas.
Ap.net: Tell us what we can expect from the Laptop EP.
MCLars: There's people doing similar stuff, like there's this guy Cex, from Maryland. He raps over his laptop but he does a dope live show and he's like a nerdy white kid but he's really good…I'm kind of like the anti-concept. But I don't think people are rapping over punk samples and really trying to identify with that scene. So I think that it's something new. And I expect people, well I hope people pay attention to it but I don’t know if they're going to like it because it's different…I hope people have an open mind, I hope they like it and I hope they learn stuff from like the Edgar Allen Poe song but I also can't anticipate how it will be received. And if it's good, that's exciting.
Ap.net: Where do you hope this is all going to take you? What is your top aspiration?
MCLars: I'd love to make a living touring and like selling shirts and just writing songs and hanging out and meeting cool people. I'd love to do that. And it's such a crazy dream and it's so competitive and crazy and hard to get to that level but I'd love to, when I'm done with college, to make a modest living. Being able to survive by having an underground fan-base. I am definitely not excited about transcending that. But if that happens then cool.
Then, after showing us what he's got on stage, MCLars gave Jake his take on the experience.
Ap.net: So Lars, how was your first punk rock show?
MCLars: It was very fun and at the same time it was very terrifying to have played for 600 people. It's the biggest show I've played in five years.
Ap.net: What was your favorite part of the show?
MCLars: My favorite part of the show was when there were some people dancing in the aisles and I thought that was cool. That was really fun because even though it was a hard sell, being a different genre, and everyone was waiting for the Swedish death-metal band, HIM, I don't know him, but then there were people who were in the front that were like, "We don't care," and then there were people in the back that were totally getting into it and there were people dancing in the aisles.
Ap.net: What was the worst part of it?
MCLars: Two things actually, which I'm over, by the way. One, I say, "Hey, I'm on Truck Records, this British label I'm on," and some dude was like, "How did you get a record deal?" …And the other one was, I was trying to be a rockstar and I was drinking water on stage and had half left and I wanted to spray the audience with it because I thought they would be all pumped up and so psyched and rockin'. And I accidentally hit this dude with the bottle and he got all like, "Fuck you man." And I felt really bad.
Ap.net: So you're sorry you did that.
MCLars: Yeah, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hit him. I was just trying to do Atmosphere. When I say Atmosphere, like those guys, they drink water and …get worked up, so I sprayed water but apparently you're not supposed to throw the bottle when you douse the audience. If the guy's reading this, "I’m sorry."
Ap.net: So what are your feelings on playing in front of an audience that doesn't usually listen to rap music?
MCLars: I think it's an interesting thing because a lot of these kids like hip-hop and appreciate it and grew up on it like even just in the background. But it's a hard sell but I think if you're doing something different, sometimes they're open to it but sometimes they're not. So that made it fun but also really, really, really scary. Vocally I was so out of breath because I was so scared of the 600 people so I think I rapped faster and stuff but that was a different question. What was the question? Oh! I think I gave them my "o.k." rap performance, I gave them a B+ rap performance when usually I'm trying to do it in the high 90%. Wait, I gave them a B show, I like to give A- shows when I'm really feeling good. But it was so fun and I'm really thankful that they asked me to play.
Ap.net: How do you feel about playing your first large scale venue?
MCLars: It's very exciting. It's cool because it's like our 75th show or something so in terms of the chronology I think we're ready but it's still scary. It's exciting though 'cause this is a scene we've been kind of on the periphery of. In England we played a few punk shows but we never played any U.S. festivals, well if this is really a festival.
Ap.net: Yeah, it's Skate and Surf Festival.
MCLars: Skate and Surf Festival!, so it is semantically. It's exciting but I'm really scared, to be honest.
Ap.net: Have all your shows been in England before now, or California too?
MCLars: Yeah, California, like central California, San Francisco area. And this is the first non-California U.S. show.
Ap.net: Tell me about last week, recording the EP.
MCLars: We finished it up, so the EP's done. It's fun 'cause the producer, Mike Sapone, wrote the last song on the cd with me. It's a collaboration with him, he's a really good drummer. It's the first time I worked with someone, outside of my band, in writing. So it's cool.
Ap.net: You did it really quick too.
MCLars: Yeah we did. The pre-production I did in my dorm room but being in the studio, the whole EP was done in 5 days.
Ap.net: How many songs are on it?
MCLars: Seven. So it's pretty cool. But only five of them I've done with him, the other two are just my room. Cause it's simpler. Pro-tools.
Ap.net: You have a record label in the UK right?
MCLars: Yeah, Truck Records. They're five years old. They do stuff with this band, Goldrush, that's kind of big there. And they put out the first album, and they're putting out this EP.
Ap.net: How did the UK hear about you before America basically did?
MCLars: I went overseas to Oxford for a term through the overseas study program and I brought my laptop with all my programs just for fun. I met cool punk bands and indie bands and started hanging out with them and they asked me, "Hey, what if you did a song before us." So I started playing. I played with this band, Exhale, I played a song before their set and people started, "Hey, you should come play it." And eventually I was doing a whole set, in Oxford.
Ap.net: So everything kinda just fell into place.
MCLars: Yeah, it was weird, it was so unexpected. It fell into place and then this label that's in Oxford, since I played with so many of their bands, they were like, "We’re gonna put out your album." So I was like, "Okay…"
Ap.net: You rap, obviously, but you rap about subjects more commonly found in a rock kind of genre rather than a rap kind of genre. How did you come to fuse the two genres together?
MCLars: Okay, let me know if this is too complicated. I was in a punk band in high school, this band called Amphoteric from [the] San Francisco area. And we were like local bands or whatever but eventually I started getting bored and I had to drop out of the band when I got to college and I started listening to more hip-hop. I was realizing a few things, like I rap better than I sing. So I [was] first doing this solo thing,[because] you can say more in a quicker time. And so I started recording rap songs in my dorm room but since I had been writing all these punk songs in this other band it happened to be more… They weren't typical rap songs. I was just switching the genre of music I was doing. You know what I mean?
Ap.net: Yeah, absolutely. You had the mindset of the punk genre but you were listening to rap.
MCLars: Yeah! So it's kind of weird.
Ap.net: We all know about the stigma given to white rappers in general. Do you think that there is any way you're gonna be able to avoid that?
MCLars: I think with race and being a rapper, where it was definitely a big issue in the mid- 90's when all the underground stuff was coming up and there was all these east coast/west coast feuds, there was a way you did hip-hop and that was it. But I think after Vanilla Ice, he made it obnoxious, he made it that you couldn't be white and credible. But MC Search, A Third Base, and Eminem kinda broke down the doors. And so now, our generation, the Post-Cold War Generation has grown up with hip-hop everywhere. So you have all these people coming up who sound like it's not an issue because it's so part of what they grew up with. You know what I'm saying?
Ap.net: Right, like it has become more of a pop thing.
MCLars: Yeah, it's there, so race is less of a component. But I get away with it because I'm not trying to rap about, like typical hip-hop…If I were I think I would be a lot less genuine. I'm not trying to fake it.
Ap.net: [Because] then it turns into a whole cultural thing, like you're trying to be a culture you're not a part of.
MCLars: And that's when it's weird. But if you're part of a culture, like you hang out with your friends and that's your lifestyle then it's not weird. That's your life and that's cool.
Ap.net: How do you think school is going to work out with everything that's going on now?
MCLars: I'm still trying to gage. Like it's cool that the June tour is happening, and I got money for this, and there might be something in the fall. It's exciting, but just in case, I'm still graduating and I'm almost done because I had a lot of high school A.P. stuff. It's cool so I can graduate early. So the idea is maybe I'll take off in the fall and finish in the spring with all my friends.
Ap.net: Who are you guys touring with in the summer? (pay attention here kiddies whom are reading this!)
MCLars: We're touring with Audio Karate, Lance's Hero and Say Anything.
Ap.net: The AP tour. ;)
Ap.net: Are you excited about that?
MCLars: I'm so excited.
Ap.net: And it's all west coast.
MCLars: Yeah, like we've played central California but we haven't played southern California, or Oregon or Washington. So cool.
Ap.net: How's your following in California?
MCLars: We're getting more people. It's interesting because we're definitely bigger in England than we are in central California. Part of it is because England is so much smaller, the word of mouth buzz collected. But we have a lot of high school fans and kids who go to school with me…So it's college and high school kids.
Ap.net: How is it over in England?
MCLars: It's pretty exciting. It's pretty fun because they love American music so I think if you're an American doing music and you're on a British label you're all of a sudden in the same league as, not MTV, but you're credible, I think. Kids will come to a show with a really open mind and be really supportive. And [they] sing the lyrics, rap along with me…And the kids here, it's cool because I'm talking to them but I'm realizing that my demographic is really more high school now. Because that's where I was when I started writing this stuff. So it's awesome because these kids are still innocent and cool…
Ap.net: So do you feel like you have definitely progressed since then (when he first began writing)?
MCLars: A little. I've progressed musically, I think, a lot more. Lyrically, kinda, I'm trying to be more fulfilling, I mean I think humors good but I want to say something and at the same time say something important and have fun, make it appealing. That's gold.
Ap.net: So you want to entertain and at the same time be heard.
MCLars: Yeah, so it's not like a joke. That's a challenge though.
Ap.net: Do you have a way of writing more serious lyrics or are you just trying to be more serious? Are you reading, listening to different music or drawing inspiration from elsewhere?
MCLars: Yeah, like these new songs I did I really tried to research the punk world. I definitely love Jake a lot and Jason too about all this stuff. And I was trying to do research on what it was like to be part of the punk community. What is wrong with how major labels have been taking emo and [drilled? it] into the ground like the Backstreet Boys or something. Like the third generation Dashboard Confessional stuff. And I'm a fan of punk and all that stuff but like I think like…I'm making fun of Yellowcard and stuff but the idea is that I'm doing it but I'm also trying to say something like, "Look you guys, what labels can do to you." So there I'm able to say something important but not be completely silly. It's silly and it's funny because it's kind of satirical but it says something. The thing I hate the most is when people write it off and say, "Oh, hey, he's just novelty. Let's put him in the comedy section." I mean like yeah, I love Weird Al incredibly but I want to say something instead of just be singing about food and television. I wouldn't be upset for being known for Weird Al's kind of brilliance but I'd like to say something at the same time.
Ap.net: Where do you draw most of your inspiration from, it seems to me it's mostly your surroundings, or do you research things you want to talk about aside from the punk songs, is that a norm for you?
MCLars: Yeah, like I'll do a lot of research, I'll talk to people and I'm always trying to connect things like ideas and funny coincidences when I'm at shows and stuff or things about the scene that I want to comment on. But really, one of my big things is I love taking literature and turning that into a song. So school has been a primary influence. I have two songs about literally stuff from class. One about a sociological study of the US and England from going overseas.
Ap.net: Tell us what we can expect from the Laptop EP.
MCLars: There's people doing similar stuff, like there's this guy Cex, from Maryland. He raps over his laptop but he does a dope live show and he's like a nerdy white kid but he's really good…I'm kind of like the anti-concept. But I don't think people are rapping over punk samples and really trying to identify with that scene. So I think that it's something new. And I expect people, well I hope people pay attention to it but I don’t know if they're going to like it because it's different…I hope people have an open mind, I hope they like it and I hope they learn stuff from like the Edgar Allen Poe song but I also can't anticipate how it will be received. And if it's good, that's exciting.
Ap.net: Where do you hope this is all going to take you? What is your top aspiration?
MCLars: I'd love to make a living touring and like selling shirts and just writing songs and hanging out and meeting cool people. I'd love to do that. And it's such a crazy dream and it's so competitive and crazy and hard to get to that level but I'd love to, when I'm done with college, to make a modest living. Being able to survive by having an underground fan-base. I am definitely not excited about transcending that. But if that happens then cool.
Then, after showing us what he's got on stage, MCLars gave Jake his take on the experience.
Ap.net: So Lars, how was your first punk rock show?
MCLars: It was very fun and at the same time it was very terrifying to have played for 600 people. It's the biggest show I've played in five years.
Ap.net: What was your favorite part of the show?
MCLars: My favorite part of the show was when there were some people dancing in the aisles and I thought that was cool. That was really fun because even though it was a hard sell, being a different genre, and everyone was waiting for the Swedish death-metal band, HIM, I don't know him, but then there were people who were in the front that were like, "We don't care," and then there were people in the back that were totally getting into it and there were people dancing in the aisles.
Ap.net: What was the worst part of it?
MCLars: Two things actually, which I'm over, by the way. One, I say, "Hey, I'm on Truck Records, this British label I'm on," and some dude was like, "How did you get a record deal?" …And the other one was, I was trying to be a rockstar and I was drinking water on stage and had half left and I wanted to spray the audience with it because I thought they would be all pumped up and so psyched and rockin'. And I accidentally hit this dude with the bottle and he got all like, "Fuck you man." And I felt really bad.
Ap.net: So you're sorry you did that.
MCLars: Yeah, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hit him. I was just trying to do Atmosphere. When I say Atmosphere, like those guys, they drink water and …get worked up, so I sprayed water but apparently you're not supposed to throw the bottle when you douse the audience. If the guy's reading this, "I’m sorry."
Ap.net: So what are your feelings on playing in front of an audience that doesn't usually listen to rap music?
MCLars: I think it's an interesting thing because a lot of these kids like hip-hop and appreciate it and grew up on it like even just in the background. But it's a hard sell but I think if you're doing something different, sometimes they're open to it but sometimes they're not. So that made it fun but also really, really, really scary. Vocally I was so out of breath because I was so scared of the 600 people so I think I rapped faster and stuff but that was a different question. What was the question? Oh! I think I gave them my "o.k." rap performance, I gave them a B+ rap performance when usually I'm trying to do it in the high 90%. Wait, I gave them a B show, I like to give A- shows when I'm really feeling good. But it was so fun and I'm really thankful that they asked me to play.