read the full interview in issue three

How did SXSW treat you guys this year?

Man, I didn’t even go out there this year.  Slug was there, but I’m not allowed to go anymore.

Why is that?

I have a tendency to drink way too much in Austin.

How do you think the album compares to ‘You can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having’?

It’s totally different, musically and lyrically. That album was a lot of samples and heavier stuff, distortions and shit like that. The new one is strictly storytelling and a lot more quite. Even the way Slug would speak,  just kind of talk or whisper. The music was much more organic. There are no samples on the album; I had musicians come in to do everything. To me it seems totally different.

I can image that would be a new experience, was it more difficult to put together?

Yeah, it was. There have been times where I’ve had different musicians involved with stuff, but I never let them totally jump in. It was definitely a chore and a learning experience giving up so much power. It was a challenge to find that certain sound.  It was much more difficult than I thought, but it was much more rewarding as well.

We are less than two weeks away from the album being released; what kind of pressure or emotions are you guys feeling?

I am probably more confident than ever before about this release. Not to say I’m not nervous, but probably more so to hear what my friends think about the album. I’m not too worried about what the press is going to say, and that’s not saying I don’t care, but that’s just how my brain is working.  More like, ‘Aw shit, my friends are going to make fun of me again.’ We are really busy now too though, so I don’t have a lot of time to worry about it.

If you weren’t making a living of off hip-hop, do you think you would still be out rocking clubs like you are today?

That’s really hard to say, I’m sure I would still be making music thought. Lets face it though, I’m 38 years old and don’t have an education so I would probably have to have a full time job. If I could go on the road at all, I would definitely have to manage my time differently.  Honestly, it would be a lot different. Being employed by music is really new to me though, I am only like three years in. I had to have a full time job before that.

What were you doing for your full time?

Man, I was doing maintenance work for ten years. Blue-collar jobs, ya know? Cooking, and cleaning all types of dumb shit. I just did what it took to get by, and did my music in-between.

If you could go back in time and give yourself any advice, what would it be?

I would go back to when I was in school and taken all that more seriously. I really fucked it all up.

What is the biggest misconception you see from fans?

I guess it would have to be our personalities. I think people think we are going to your ‘darker side of life’ people. I’m going to be mean, and he is nothing but depressed or quite,
which isn’t the case at all. He is super outgoing, and I’m actually nice.

How many songs do you guys write that don’t make it to an album?

We probably do about forty songs. Twelve to fifteen are actually worth hearing; twelve to fifteen are put on other little side projects or releases, and the others should never be heard by anyone. The stuff on the side projects maybe shouldn’t be heard either, but it’s fun to show off.

I think Atmosphere fans seem to appreciate that type of thing.

They seem to be. ‘Strictly Leakage’ had one of the biggest responses we have heard. We just did it for fun; to see how many people would actually download it.

How many downloads did the album get?

Last I heard it was pretty close to 150,000.
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