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  Lifesavas Interview
interview 0552 added 18.01.08 words:
Lady Jay UK
technical:
Spoon
Gutterfly -
Not your average hip hop album.
This offering has an interesting concept; reflecting the fictional
deeds of a trio of ghetto superheroes – Bumpy Johnson, Sleepy
Floyd and Jimmy Slimwater - taking inspiration from the
Blaxploitation films of the '70s.
Nice…
Basically the Lifesavas take on an alter ego to explore different
themes and perspectives and relate this in the music. The album
features a host of enviable talent: Dead Prez, Smif N Wessun to
name a couple. The title track ‘Gutterfly’ features Camp Lo. And
when it comes to performance they certainly ain’t lacking. Even
when performing to a crowd where many are fresh to their sound,
they soon have the crowd rocking. Owning the stage, and drawing
the audience in, they put on a good show. No doubt.
Right now Lifesavas are touring internationally to promote the
album. I managed to find out a little bit more about these
talented and fast rising guys from Portland, Vursatyl and Jumbo
aka: Lifesavas.
Introduce yourselves, and tell me what you bring to
Lifesavas?
I am Vursatyl. I am an MC. Jumbo is an MC and he does
the majority of our beats.. Shines is the DJ and makes beats as
well.
 How did you all meet?
We met at 'Alberta Park'. We used to play ball there daily. Cats in
the city used to tell us 'you should meet this dude! He dress just
like you!' There were referring to me or Jumbo. Not knowing we
already knew each other from 'Alberta'. We just hadn't realized the
we both shared a love for Hip Hop. So we were re-introduced at a
party that Jumbo was DJ'ing at and we looked at each other like, 'I
KNOW THIS CAT!!!' We play ball together. So we kept in closer
contact after that.
What did you do before you created Lifesavas?
Jumbo and I were always involved in music. Prior to
Lifesavas, I (Vursatyl) was an MC in a different group. Jumbo was
DJ'ing for another group.
What’s Lifesavas all about? Like, your sound, your aims…
We are Hip Hop! That's what we're about. We are about
making the best music that we can. That's our primary aim. Our
music is immersed in the funk. Saturated in soul. Most importantly
it's our purest expression of who we are and what we dig.
OK. Sounds good. Which artists have influenced your music?
Dont' get me started... Eric B. & Rakim, Parliment Funkadelic,
Roger Troutman & Zapp, Big Daddy Kane, Slick Rick, De La Soul, X-
Clan, A Tribe Called Quest, Brand Nubian, Organized Konfusion, Poor
Righteous Teachers, Earth Wind & Fire, Pleasure (Portland Funk
Band), Freestyle Fellowship, Gang Starr, Kool G Rap, Stevie Wonder,
James Brown, Barry White, Rick James, Prince Jungle Brothers etc.
What are your views on current hip hop?
I Love Hip Hop! I listen to the dope stuff. I 'hear' the wack stuff
but if it's garbage, I don't listen to it enough to really have a
view on it. I can tell you this, the public is forced to see more of
the wack music than the dope music. So the public perception of Hip
Hop lacks balance.
Whats the most important thing/s in your life?
Family is the most important thing. After years of
making music it's easy to see that without our family, music
wouldn't be as fulfilling.
Is there anything that you don’t have that you wish you
could?
We could all use more Time! There is never enough!
 Why? What’s taking up your time right now? What’s a
regular day for you(if there is one!)
When I'm not creating or touring, I'm with my family. A regular day
with me is takin' my seeds to school, hit the barber shop, sneaker
spot, gear spot, record spot, catch a movie etc. I also teach a Hip
Hop History course called 'Hip Hop 101' during the spring term. It's
real dope! We bring some of the pioneers, current artists, and
cultural historians. There's live performances, B-Boy
demonstrations, it's amazing if I say so myself.
I saw you live at Jazz Café – London, and you put on a
real good show, you’ve toured with some cool peeps right?
Thank you! We love playing the Jazz Café. We had fun
there recently. We take pride in having a great live show.
Is that something you have to work at?
We've toured with De La Soul, Talib Kweli, Little Brother, Del The
Funky Homosapien, Blackalicious, DJ Shadow, Zion I etc. Too many
to name.
Tell me about the Gutterfly Album…who are Bumpy
Johnson,Sleepy Floyd and Jimmy Slimwater!
The Gutterfly Album is Lifesavas on BLAST!!! Funk and
Soul through the eyes of Lifesavas. Our best work to date. We
presented it as a soundtrack to a Blaxploitation movie called
'Gutterfly' that was never made.
Bumpy Johnson, Sleepy Floyd and Jimmy Slimwater are the names of
the characters we play on the album. Ghetto Super Heroes, who
come together to take down 'The Man a.k.a. Pharoahe'. Bumpy is a
'Time Traveler'/Enforcer, Sleepy is the 'Con-Man' with mind
manipulation power. Jimmy is the 'Wise Guy'/Illusionist.
Do you have a favourite track on the Gutterfly album?
I think 'Gutterfly' featuring Camp Lo is my favorite joint. Close
second would be 'No Surprise'. They just sound soooo much like Me &
Jumbo and what we dig. We try to let people have a window into who
we are through this music. If you were in a car, with Jumbo and I
and a song that sounds like 'Gutterfly' or 'No Surprise' came on the
radio, we'ld lose it! Those are the type of songs we put on repeat
when we hear them. So it feels good to have songs of our own that do
that to us.
What / who are you listening to at the moment?
 Right now, I'm diggin' albums by Little Brother, Common,
Kanye West, Pharrel & The Yessirs remix project, Ohmega Watts, and
this cat Shawn Jackson out of L.A.
Has anything changed since your first album ‘Spirit in
Stone’?
A lot has changed. More people are aware of who we are.
We are different people 4 years later. We've travelled the world
so our perspective on things is a lot broader. We see the world as
our platform now, when before it was just about our block or our
city(Portland).
Ok, big ups; shoutouts, websites, downloads etc!!!...
 Big Up to our brother Chief Xcel, our crew 'Misfit
Massive'- Libretto, Wolveryne, Harp, Mixmaster KD, and Lunden (the
future), LS extended fam DV One! Jake One , Vitamin D, my dude Ish
of the DP's.
Hit us at myspace.com/lifesavas you can download Gutterfly there.
Gutterfly features Dead Prez, Smif N Wessun, Camp Lo, Ish of
Digable Planets, George Clinton, Fishbone, Vernon Reid and many
more.
Buy Gutterfly at most popular record stores, or independent record
stores. Online outlets such as quannum.com giantpeach.com
sandboxautomatic.com undergroundhiphop.com amazon.com As well
download Gutterfly at itunes.
-
Lady Jay UK
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