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Artist Interviews
Q&A: Anti-pop Consortium
By CMU Editorial | Published on Friday 27 November 2009
Alternative hip hop group Anti-pop Consortium formed way back in 1997 when Beans, High Priest, M Sayyid and producer Earl Blaize met at a poetry slam in New York City, releasing several singles and two albums before signing with Warp Records in 2000. The group disbanded in 2002 due to creative differences, seeing Beans pursue a solo career whilst Priest and Sayyid formed Airborn Audio. After recently reforming and signing to Big Dada, the group released their new album, ‘Flourescent Black’, in September. We spoke to Beans and Earl Blaize to ask our Same Six Questions.
Q1 How did you start out making music?
Beans: When I was seventeen, I started trying to be a DJ but I couldn’t afford the equipment so I started writing instead.
Earl Blaize: I used to make cassette ‘pause’ tapes, splicing together megamixes from radio stations, Then started DJing, and got my first drum machine, a TR-707, which led me to start producing and engineering.
Q2 What inspired your latest album?
Beans: The title comes from a lyric I said in the track ‘Apparently’, but it was Sayyid’s idea to use it as the title for the album.
Earl Blaize: I was inspired by Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’.
Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track?
Beans: Anyone of us can come to the table with a track. Most tracks are done individually but some have been created out of collective improvising
Earl Blaize: Each member’s process is different. For me, creating a track is like creating a new life. Like any new life, it should have a reason to exist. This is why the track must have a pulse that can be felt by the listener. If it doesn’t move you, then it’s just constipation.
Q4 Which artists influence your work?
Beans: Dude, too numerous to list. I dig Sun Ra, 70s Miles Davis, Public Enemy, Suicide, Mantronix to name a few. We each vary with that question.
Earl Blaize: Mantronix, John Williams, Bob Powers (engineer), Led Zepplin, PE, Marilyn Manson, Eminem, Pharoahe Monch, KRS-One, WarDolphin
Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music the first time?
Beans: Enjoy the ride!
Earl Blaize: Hopefully you’ll experience a unique approach to hip hop that doesn’t fit into a nice neat little box.
Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest album, and for the future?
Beans: To continue to make records and music on our own terms
Earl Blaize: To continue to enjoy creating audio landscapes that take the listener through time and space without the need for a government-issued passport.
MORE>> www.myspace.com/antipopny
