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Aspects Interview
interview 0142 added 05.05.03 words Sumo KaPlUnK technical: QED

En route between the All in one Greek restaurant on Park Street and that Buck65/Blackalicious gig at Bristol University's Anson rooms, I made a little detour to Replay Records; the daytime employer of The Aspects' El-Eye. It was not long before he had most of the rest of the group rounded up and so we all bundled into a nearby pub to nudge the suds and chew the fat about this that and the other. Now I could have kept them talking for as long as it took to get the desired pull out quotes for my article about Denom, I could have bombarded the lads with questions that would elicit responses to serve some political agenda or I could have asked them their favourite brand of cider - But nah - I thought it was about time that somebody gave one of UK Hip Hop's most misrepresented groups free rain to get whatever they wanted off their chests. So yeah, it's a bit of a long one so if you've got a space in your diary, keep scrolling and enjoy what Probe Mantis, Specify and El-Eye had to say about David Prowse, The UK Hip Hop awards and life both on and off the road.

Now I feel like a teacher taking registration at the top of class - isn't there somebody missing from this line up?

El Eye

Probe Mantis

Specify

Sumo

PM: Ummmm,

There was one more person here I seem to remember last time I interviewed you guys?

PM: There was, possibly even two. Nick (Nu Balance) is minding the kids
S: Cus he's a dad.
PM: He's got a couple nippers -
EE: There's one rapper missing but there's also a new member missing.

So tell me, what's going on with them then?

EE: Ok, we'll start with the deal with Bubber. Basically, when you hear the new album you'll understand what happened with Bubs. He was kinda going in his own direction -
S: Up to bed - he was only getting up to go back to bed every day He'd wake up and then go to bed -
EE: So yeah, he's doing like a Bed album. Nah, but seriously, it's hard for me because I've rhymed with him since we were little kids and he was doing his own thing and basically the story of what's happen to us will unfold on record and you'll get what happened.
PM: So for the new LP, there's no Bubberloui on there. We've got a new track out - there's a new Format album coming out -
S: But that's nothing to do with the album -
PM: I know but I'm saying, Bubber's on that track - so yeah, we've got a track on the new Format album and Bubsy's on that.
S: That could very well be his last ever performance with The Aspects!
EE: What happened was, it wasn't like he was kicked out, he was just doing his own thing. There was a lot of pressure - when you hear the album you'll hear how there was a lot of pressure put on us and he like had to do his own thing really whereas we've stuck it out. Which brings us to the new member who has joined The Aspects; Monkey Moo who is officially now part of the band as our beatboxer -
S: On the live thing yeah.
PM: He does all our live shows and touring and stuff and he's a real tight beatboxer so it adds a lot to our shows.
EE: He ads more of a live, freestyled unpredictable vibe to the shows! He's not one of those "I need a twenty seven hour sound check first" type of beatboxers, he'll just get up and do that shit!
PM: Real raw MOP style -
EE: Yeah MOP style - he should be MOP's beatboxer - except he's White and he looks German.
S: Yeah…he's not a good-looking dude to be truthful with you…he's quite an ugly bloke.

I think one of the best times I saw you perform was up in Sheffield where you were supporting Princess Superstar.

PM: That was a very interesting show.

How hard did you have to beg to be her support act?

S: Well she actually -
EE: Begged us -
S: I had to blow her off.
EE: We all done it with her but basically the only one who got asked for seconds was Specify
S: I had to suck her off - I didn't mind doing it but only once - that was enough -

Can you "suck off" a woman?

S: I did -
PM: This woman you can -
EE: She's got a dick
PM: Yeah, that would make it a lot easier -
EE: Nah, it was a cool tour -
PM: Yeah it was a cool tour because we met our man Twiz who was the real emcee that she had with her on tour.
S: Twiz was wicked -
PM: It was a good tour and he is a dope rapper -
S: I think it was a better sort of tour because a lot of people saw us who wouldn't have normally come to see us. That's why it was good. So even though it wasn't really "Hip Hop" and was more of the sorta gig-ish type people who wouldn't usually go to a club but who would go to a gig to watch something. It's just good to get across to a few more different types of people.
EE: It definitely opened us up to a new audience because obviously your average Princess Superstar listener isn't going to automatically know and want to check out The Aspects. It was good - we got crazy good reception everywhere we went on that tour -
PM: Sheffield was dope!
S: Very wicked!
EE: Yeah, Sheffield was dope - I've just got to say just a general shout out here - anywhere outside and above London is generally dope.
PM: Seriously!
EE: Birmingham was fucking Sick man!…wow! So yeah, Sheffield's Dope! Liverpool's Dope! Manchester's dope! Anywhere man -you know what? Scotland's off the fucking Meat Rizzack hahahah!

What's been your favourite gig so far?

EE: Mine's Birmingham at the moment because we really got to showcase Moo properly for the first time. Basically because until now, noone's got to see Moo and all these new shows are where people can get to see what Moo can do! Moo does some crazy cutting and beatboxing all over the set - and we're more of a proper band now.
S: Don't shout Ian, you're ever so loud -
EE: Sorry, but yeah, the whole first album was more of a preview or introduction to what we do than a real album -
S: You're doing the exact same volume now -
EE: You prick! You've disrailed my train of thought now you ass-wipe! But Basically, the first album it did real good and it gave us a proper lesson in the music industry [probe mantis making like he's snorting coke] and how fucked up it is It taught us about touring - you know we had to tour hard
PM: We did a couple tours off that album -
EE: Nah man, we did a tour for fucking free, to launch the album and I got fucking pneumonia! We had like that worst ever gig in Camden and I fell down on the stage because I was so fucked up.
PM: We were pushed and we pushed it hard -
EE: It's been hard. The whole Correct English thing, we didn't know - we thought we'd only shift about 3,000 copies like every other fucker -
PM: We didn't expect it to do 9 million - never!
EE: We never expected to go triple plat maaaan!

"...But if there was a war, like an ocean of me and an ocean of you, I'm going to kill you - I'm going to absolutely muller you!..."

Dang thun! That's three triangles baby!

PM: I didn't want all these diamond rings - the label made me take them!
EE: And I didn't expect to get six mics in The Source.
PM: Apparently we did get a Source review but I never saw it.

Were you happy with the press that you got and did see?

PM: Oh god mate yes!
EE: The press we got was AMAZING!
PM: Put it this way, I got into Penthouse.
EE: We got reviewed in Penthouse so that was like the pinnacle of our career!
PM: We even got in all those womens' cookery magazines like More and Eve.
EE: I think the press was good but the understanding was poor. We got too much of this "there's a lot of this crazy cider-rap shit going on" stuff
PM: The media reception was them hearing what they wanted to hear.
EE: That was a bit…not gutting but -
S: That's what you've got to expect though I suppose -
EE: "It learned us off proper" about this whole "West-Country" thing in the media. If you're from somewhere like The West country you've got to think a whole lot more about every single thing you do and how it will be reported.
PM: The media serves a purpose. The best thing was getting radio play.

OK, on the subject of radio play - I asked Secondson this a couple weeks ago so I guess I should ask you too - how do you feel about the way in which the only people pushing your music in any significant way were the indy and "Alternative" shows like Lamaq or Peel but then a lot of the "rap" stations and shows (both local and nationally) weren't touching you or Fleapit or whoever -

PM: Nah, well may be not as much BUT, well I've got to say, we can't disrespect anyone because we got on XFM,
EE: Greenpeace represented! We got on Westwood too!
PM: Like I was saying, we were getting played on like Itch and Surf and all these sorta stations -
S: You've gotta think alright, a lot of those stations are very "Rap" orientated so anything that strays even a little bit off the norm is always going to present a bit of a problem to them to fit into their schedules
PM: To be honest, at first we were surprised to have all those options but we were just in the right place at the right time and we had a bit more of a machine behind us than some. We were getting our stuff heard and played by those sort of people and we had some good pluggers who were meeting with the right radio producers - basically it's just good business; if you have a little bit of backing you can get there. And that I feel is why groups like Fleapit only got that "Alternative" coverage is because Secondson didn't have the fucking bankroll to get him in there - but all the talent was there yes. So yeah, we were lucky -
EE: And we fucking grafted!
PM: Yeah We did put so many years' hard work in to get there -
EE: We're like labourers yeah? We properly work it! We did that whole first tour for free. For our first tour we were sleeping on peoples' floors and we all got super ill - we did get very ill in the traditional sense of the word.
S: But you have got to do it! We can actually see the sales figures shooting up when we're touring. You can actually see sales shoot up like a rocket - sure you do lose some money 'cus you're touring and you might not always get your money back from that but you will see sales go right up.
PM: Yeah you do If you do a good show somewhere you can shift about 500 units in like two days following that gig.
EE: I think a lot of people in UK Hip Hop release like three 12"s in London and everybody sucks their dick in
Camden and they think that because of that, they deserve the red carpet treatment everywhere they go. But then we've done an album, an EP and god knows how many 12"s and compilation tracks because we know you've got to work at it. If you don't work, you ain't got the right to say shit.
S: That's the thing see. We're all really hard workers. We don't take it easy at all. We are just constantly doing this.

Do you sometimes feel that touring is a more lucrative profession than selling the records themselves? I ask because a lot of artist's I've interviewed say that they get paid more and more often off of gigging than off the records.

EE: You don't get paid for putting records out. We didn't get paid for Correct English.
S: But this is pretty much the norm with any sort of music, not just Rap -
PM: If you get a good deal then you can demand some sort of advance but definitely otherwise, touring is where you can make the serious money.
S: But I think that's the norm anyway. If you're a band, you make your money from touring. You never make much money directly from record sales. That's why you see all these groups - even big groups on the major labels - having to go on year-long world tours and that.
EE: Just look at Radiohead yeah? They practically live off of their tours. I mean they probably do also make millions off of their records too the cunts but -
S: But still, the majority is off tours. There's no fucking around then -
PM: You get paid quicker too that way. If you're waiting on publishing money and radio royalties and that sort of thing, it can take a long time. So touring, you can have a good time and get a wedge there and then for having that good time.

[The interview is temporarily suspended when one of the original members of Fantastic Super Heroes (the crew of graf writers, breakers, emcees, deejays and stuff from which The Aspects descended) pops by on his way to the bar]….

I gather all you guys still have your day jobs right?

EE: We're all unskilled labour slaves -

What? Testing suppositories?…Trying out haemorrhoid cream?

EE: Nah I'm a condom tester!

Liar! You test the penis-welly style johnies designed for anal and when you ain't doing that, you test-drive femidoms for sheep.

EE: Hahahah! Aaargh! That's dark!

But Are you happy with this arrangement or are you trying to make rap your full-time life?

PM: Yes we are mate
EE: Absolutely!
PM: We're not happy with our day jobs at all. I cry myself to sleep most nights.
S: He wants to cry but it comes out as wee-wee.
PM: Yeah white tears
EE: It's hard…But the thing is yeah, a lot of people assume that we are wealthy and live off of music and have done and that's largely down to what the press said - mind you, we did make a bit of money when Correct English did sell quite a lot of copies - but it's so sheisty. There's a million people waiting to take their cut between you and the royalty cheque d'ya get me? So it's fucking murder sometimes.
PM: What people need to understand is that when you do an album, you get paid for that album. An album's cycle, if you're lucky, lasts a year and a half, if you're not so lucky, it can last less than six months. And you've got to make that money last. So unless you're selling on a very large scale, you can't make that your living. Unless you've got some significant global deal there's no way you can make that your bread'n'butter wages.
EE: We all do shit jobs -
S: But that's only because we are confident in ourselves that we know what we are truly capable of achieving under the right conditions and that we ain't going to get trapped having settled for anything less.
EE: We could, tomorrow, sign a shitty deal with a little Indy label and do exactly the same as what happened with Correct English but after we went through what we did and sold what we did we're like "fuck that! We could do that by ourselves!"
S: We learnt a lot. We learnt that there's a better way and we now know how to get what we want. This time round we know how we're going to do it and it will be done a lot more better than the last time.
PM: We know we still have a lot more untapped potential to realise and we will do that this time…when the time comes.
EE: And in the professional sense, when it comes to recording, mixing and mastering, producing or whatever, we just totally know how to do all that now. Correct English was done like, "you guys go in the evening, drop your lyrics, Ryan puts the beats down during the day and everybody get the fuck out!" No other group out there does a track a day from scratch to finish.

[At this point, my minidisc recorder goes dead]

PM: You've got a display coming up now and there's a light too…

So you were talking about making rap your day job -

PM: Absolutely, we've got a long term game plan and we've been chasing it now for…well as The Aspects, we've been chasing it for like seven years now.
S: Eight years nearly -
PM: Long time, long time. I reckon that after we've done ten years in this game, we'll finally be where we want to be. So this next album is going to be more like a second LP -
EE: But that's because it is the second LP!?
PM: And there I was thinking I sounded so eloquent the way I was explaining it -

Gosh! You guys are so off the wall with your second LP antics!

EE: We're going to call it Aspects II: Revenge of the Pricks.
PM: The next album is going to be a lot bigger and better. It's going to be a Hip Hop LP and then some. There's not only gong to be Hip Hop sounds on there and it's going to be heard by a lot of non-Hip Hop heads and these non-Hip Hop heads are going to like it!

"...He's fucked himself. Basically, have you ever seen those pornos where dudes put their willies through a hole and like they think a bird's sucking them off but it's not; it's a lizard licking their dick?..."

Sorry to backtrack but last time I spoke with you guys you were on a label called Hombre? Still on it?

S: No
PM: NO
EE: No we're not actually.

Wanna talk about it?

S: Sure, it's all good. It's no big deal. We were always going to leave it anyway.
PM: So we did leave.
EE: Basically we got to a point where we could have gone to another level, i.e., to no longer need our day jobs - but the label lacked the money to support us. The label had got out of its depth. The classic example was our My Genre Single. It would have charted if it had been released on CD single (and it was already one of the biggest selling singles on Tower) but the label couldn't afford to bankroll putting the single on CD. That move would have immediately put us onto another label on that whole new level but they couldn't afford us. So in the end we parted company because there's no point staying on Hombre, working our asses off but then having nothing to show for it at the end of the day.
PM: And shortly after, Hombre folded -
EE: Nah, it's still together - it's been swallowed up by Ninja Tune now and they do like Downbeat stuff now.
PM: OK, so it hasn't folded; it's relocated and changed up its sound.
S: But the point is, there's lots and lots of these small sorta start-up labels which can all in theory get to become - not a major but a significant middle-sized label. They're all trying to get to that position in the market but very few of them ever do. Our plan is to get onto a bigger label as a stepping stone - not a major label straight away but a bigger label than what we were on before.
PM: It's like with this LP, it will be our mini/major album. We're hoping it's the LP in between what we had and a major deal. It's going to be our next stepping stone - we've always seen this as a series of stepping stones haven't we?
EE: I mean it's weird. The circles we've moved in have never been the classic career route of "let's hang around with other rap groups and grab the tablescraps of credibility and fame." The people that we actually got to know on tour was like The Bees - and the people we're now collaborating with ain't necessarily your typical "Hip Hop" heads - you'll meet them and know they're definitely Hip Hop kids and that they know their Hip Hop but it's not a "UK Hip Hop" thing.
PM: We're not actually down with a lot of the younger guys who…do "Rap."
S: With this new album, they're going to hear the vast difference between simply rapping over beats for an hour and making proper songs. We're not making "Rap Tracks" -
EE: We're into MUSIC.
S: We're not making product for you to play in your clubs for a couple weeks before never being heard of ever again. We're making an album of songs that should last for years.
EE: I'm not up for being big in London for two minutes before disappearing up my own arse all because I refuse to look outside of where I am. The best Hip Hop groups of all time are the ones that are still around or the ones that understand music as a whole. If you don't understand music as a whole, you shouldn't be making any type of music because whatever type of music you do try to make will be weak. I have no time for twats saying "Yeah Bredrin! But it ain't Hip Hop is it ya get me blud?" Well they can suck my fucking dick because (a) I can battle any of those fuckin suckers and (b) I'm into music as a whole. I love music…. And we're old as well heheheh - we've been doing this for a while now and we know what we're doing yeh? We've been doing this for time now and we ain't some fresh faced kids doing some chicken-fucker songs or whatever.

So you're not interested in gathering together a bunch of groups and affiliates and proteges and their affiliates which is what a lot of acts tend to do.

S: We'll do that one day as soon as we get settled as a band but at the moment we're still trying to get ourselves to a point.
EE: I think it would be very arrogant of us to presume that we could sort proteges out at this level. There's a lot of young kids coming up that are fucking sick that we're down with but I would never pretend to be able to sort them out. We've got to sort ourselves out first.
PM: The closest we ever got to that was with our original crew SFH. There was loads of rhymers in that crew, we were the first to come out and others really should have followed suit but the cash just wasn't there, the motivation wasn't there etc.
EE: Basically I'm not very interested in putting someone on who can't put themselves on in the first place because I managed to put myself on and I'm from a dead-end town in the middle of nowhere. I got myself out and put myself on. If you haven't got the will power I ain't got no interest in you.
PM: Only the strong survive. If you're good enough man, people will respect you and you'll get somewhere

I ask because with every region or sub-genre within Hip Hop, you always get that one group and then dozens of proteges and imitators following their lead. And I was expecting after Correct English to hear a lot of groups but there wasn't - there was Parlour Talk around the same time but that was it. There must be more talent in the area?

EE: There is! There is! There's kids round here that are crazy! There's kids that are fucking amazing! There's groups like All Creatures, The lowercase kids, there's a lot of kids in Exeter that are dope!
S: And I would say about those groups, they don't care much for this "UK Hip Hop" scene; they're more about -
PM: Making good music.
S: They're professional musicians and bands. All these guys from this area that we've named, if you see them on stage, they are like a proper band. They put on a full-on show.
EE: Even those little kiddies - those lowercase kids, you see them, they'll blow anybody off stage and they're only like 18. They're two young kiddies and they're fucking amazing! They don't play instruments but they can battle anyone, they can do all the Hip Hop essentials and they're into a wider love for music. The whole reason we're not mentoring kids like that or making them suck our dicks or whatever is because they don't need us.
PM: And They've got their own sound. Although we are perceived as representative of everything coming out this area, I think most of the artists coming out of here have a much wider outlook and see this music in terms of the UK, Europe and the world. We're into being known and they're into being known as not just as a "Bristol" group but as a British group or a European group. We're an English band and certainly with our next product, it's going to be through the music industry. Because the "Hip Hop industry" doesn't really exist - there isn't really a specific industry where you can make Hip Hop music your career. You can do the underground thing and you can hustle, peddling your records and you can work hard -
S: Yeah it's not that hard to make a bit of money but that's an imaginary scene - c'mon, we're living in England yeah.
PM: The reality is, there is no "UK Hip Hop industry" but there is an establish pop music
industry in this country so the key is to go through that.
EE: Usually the reason that these kids are "hustling" on "the streets" is because they want to do that and live like that. You can make more money being a plumber or a plasterer though mate. If you want to be blinging, go and learn how to plumb. Don't go an "hustle" your CDs in my face.

OK speaking of labels and the DIY ethos, last time I spoke with you El-Eye, you were setting up this label…Masterpiece Theatre or something?

EE: Mystery Theatre. Basically I put out a track myself for two reason
S: 1) Basically I think Rola from The Numskullz is fucking amazing! And when they got ditched by
Hombre (again not through their own fault but because they wanted to become a downbeat label) I kinda wanted to get Ro' back out there because I've got a respect for Rola 'cus he's a wicked producer and a dope rhymer. So I just put out a record (a) to get Rola out there and (b) to see how to do it. And you know, it's so easy to put a record out, I don't have a lot of respect for these people just waiting for something to come along because it was so very easy to do. I got Lammaq and pretty much everybody like that to play it too - pretty much a piece of pis basically. It's no big deal, it's not like a label I'm starting to do full-time - I will put something else out on it if and when I have more money but at the end of the day, it was just to try and put something back for someone who gave me a lot of inspiration and encouragement when I was coming up.
PM: And it worked man! That record did the rounds. And like, I know it sounds awful to say it but I want to tell it how it is. Basically, the people that are struggling, often, are struggling for a reason. If you listen to a lot of the music that's coming out and are honest, it's not good enough. Currently I'm fortunate not to be listening to a lot of dire stuff but I have listened to a lot of dire stuff in the past what with reviewing stuff for magazines I was being sent demos left right and centre and I was hearing a lot of CDs of dire material. There's these kids who think they're a Hip Hop crew just because one of them has just bought a computer and the other one writes a few lyrics and they instantly expect 5 mics!? The cover note says "we're Hip Hop artists, please check this out" and I'm like "nah, you're not mate."
EE: Well there's all types of funny business that goes on - like "The UK Hip Hop awards" - that was like the funniest thing I ever saw. A crew arranges these Hip Hop awards and then gives themselves all the awards!? I ain't got no interest in that type of thing if that's what "UK Hip Hop" means. That's going nowhere; that sort of low-level hustling of the culture is going nowhere. That's not a good hustle "Yeah bredrin, I is on a hustle" - yeah right you're on a hustle - you're a fucking joker. That's not a good hustle: a good "hustle" is to make good music and promote yourself and work your ass off - develop ulcers and spots and have to sleep on someone else's floor every night and do a hard-core tour! Grafting to me is "hustling." I've got respect for grafters and nobody else. Fuck the rest of 'em.

The last time I saw you perform was, if memory serves, The Essential Fiasco here in Bristol -

S: Whoa! Whoa there! Are you trying to bring some bad memories back up or something?

"...anywhere outside and above London is generally dope..."

But do you think people took it personally - I mean, do you think people took that event as a reflection on Bristol and the scene here?

PM: I wonder…Nah 'cus it weren't really anything to do with Bristol or its Hip Hop.
EE: Nah I don't think it did see 'cus Bristol kids thought it was a piss-take and there was no Bristol crews involved apart from us. It was just us - and why? There's more than twenty groups here!? If any London person wants to say something about some Bristol bias they can eat my fucking faeces.
PM: Yeah I think we were the only Bristol-related act performing the whole weekend - but there was a hell of a lot of London artists there -
EE: But damn right we should have been performing there!
PM: But yeah, I don't think anyone in Bristol had anything to do with that Festival to be honest.
S: I think the biggest fraud of it was that it was too expensive for what it was really.
EE: I think it was bad that they said all these groups were going to come and play but they didn't play but that's as far as I think it was bad. On a Hip Hop tip I ain't worried about it at all tain'ting Bristol because there was more London and other non-Bristol groups playing than there was Bristol groups.
S: So what Bristol groups were there playing?
EE: Us and that's it.
S: That's…..that's so out of order!
EE: That is out of order. -
S: But didn't we play the one in London?
PM: Yeah we did play the London one -
S: Well that's OK then -
PM: But the groups that did perform like Blak Twang did deserve to be there -
EE: I'm not saying they didn't deserve to be there but if anyone was saying it was a Bristol-bias thing or that no-shows were Bristol's fault -
PM: Were people going round saying that?
EE: I don't know; Dinos saying there was -

Nah, I was just asking that in light of it being a bad show, did it reflect badly on Bristol?

PM: To be honest, I don't think it did because I'll tell you now, I don't know many Bristol people that went. There was no reason for Bristol kids to go there to see us because they get plenty other opportunities to see us - not so much recently actually - but they did and do. I think the majority of people that did go came from a long way away to see a lot of acts that didn't show up.
EE: It's hard to comment on the event really because we had a really wicked show. The fact that noone else turned up but we still rocked it reflects better on us - that's in a complete selfish view.
PM: A lot of the kids who came to see us were from surrounding counties and then further away so it was a good thing.
S: It was quite funny to see that we drew a bigger crowd than say, any of the big American acts - like Ugly Duckling and Smut Peddlers. That was quite funny.
EE: Well it's good to know - and damned right we should have a bigger crowd!
PM: Events like that and circumstances like that really test your metal and show what you're really about.
EE: And just because a label like XL doesn't want to sign us, they want to sign Ugly Duckling or some other American group, that doesn't necessarily mean that we sell less records than them does it? It doesn't mean that we've put in less work than them. It's people's perception - their perception is, "you're from Bristol - you ain't even from London, why should you be there?" You find yourself constantly explaining why we are where we are. But we've got to that point where we're like "no, we ain't gotta explain shit."
S: The reason is because we're better than them.
EE: We're fucking bad and I don't care what other people say, we're fucking wicked. We put the work in so we don't give a shit about that.

Continue on to Part 2