Dave Dub
Interview by Black Dog Bone
On this project that you’re releasing with M9 Entertainment it's Punk Rock mixed with Rap. How did that come about?
First of all, I’m a Rap nigga. I’ve always been a Rap nigga, period. I grew u
p in a household full of Soul music and Rap. When I was 18 years old I got a job at Tower Records. When I’m working at Tower Records I stumbled upon all kinds of different music, music I never would’ve known about if I were to be kickin it with my niggaz in the streets. All we listened to was Bay Area Rap—Hugh E MC, muthafuckin Ill Mannered Posse and Cougnut. Fuckin RBL Posse, and all the Bay Area shit from back in the day and plus all the New York shit. That’s all we listened to. But when I got this job I learned about one group called Bad Brains who were from DC. Here I am a young Black man. I’d heard the Ramones and I liked the Ramones, but I’m thinking Punk Rock is just for White boys. When I get this job at Tower Records there was this little Cuban girl, she was a Punk rocker. She’s like, “Dave, you need to hear this group called Bad Brains. They’re a bunch of Rastas and they do Punk Rock music.” She gave me this album called “Black Dots”. That album completely blew my mind! I always said that one day I’m gonna make a record that’s in that vein, and that’s the reason why I did this “Mind Police” album. Bad Brains and the Dead Kennedys, cause the dude who used to drum for Dead Kennedys was Black.
Right. D.H. Peligro, the drummer for Dead Kennedys was Black. Bad Brains from DC were also a great band.
Between those two records I was completely validated to go ahead and get into the vein of Punk Rock. Anyway, if you look at Punk Rock it’s all derived from Black music. It’s rooted in Chuck Berry and old Ska shit. All of it’s Black music anyway. Dead Kennedys, Bad Brains and Freestyle Fellowship—that’s what we had in mind when we started to conceptualize this album. I’m glad you already know about Bad Brains so I don’t have to explain the African influence in Punk Rock. Cause they were the best of the best when it came to Hardcore Punk Rock. There was no one better than Bad Brains, and they were all Black. That gave the motivation to take my Black ass and make a Black muthafuckin Punk Rock record.
People don’t realize how much Black music shaped Punk Rock from day one. Bands like The Clash were doing covers of Reggae songs. Johnny Rotten of Sex Pistols was very much influenced by what was happening in Jamaica
Exactly. Then you had people like Big Audio Dynamite, they were rappin and shit. The Clash were super into what was happening in the New York Rap scene. It was all intermingled. Like when Fast Five Freddy was kickin it with Debra Harry from Blondie. It’s all intertwined. Still you’ve got rappers that do Punk Rock/Rap, but I think that this one is original. It doesn’t sound contrived. It doesn’t sound like a nigga tryin to rap over a bunch of Rock beats. We put a lot into it, and my vocals blend impeccably with the music that Chris Smiley composed. I think I did an excellent job of riding those rhythms in a way no other muthafuckin rapper could.
It’s interesting to hear what you’re doing. I remember when Mac Mall and Ray Luv did a Punk band a few years ago. I think it was called Deathwish.
For real?! That’s amazing.
I recently did an interview with a magazine called Maximum Rock & Roll who were one of the first Punk magazines in America.
I know that magazine! We used to sell that all the time in Tower Records
Artists like Tech N9ne and Kottonmouth Kings are also on that level of Rap meets Punk Rock.
Yeah. And Insane Clown Posse with all those Juggalos—not so much the music, but the way the fans are participating and acting crazy. And all those dudes are getting money doin that shit. I strive to be able to reach as many people as I can. With Rap a lotta people are getting their music now via free downloads and bootleg CD’s. Unfortunately that’s the nature of the beast. But with Rock music, a lotta times the people would rather go out and buy the CD. They wanna have the actual CD. That’s why in Rap the artists are starving right now. But if you can tap into the Alternative Rock market it seems like there’s money to be found. Tech N9ne is doing beautiful with that. Same with Kottonmouth Kings.
I’ve been listening to a lot of Japanese Rap lately. Over there their music is like that, crossing into more experimental music and Punk and Electronic club music. It’s similar to what you’re doing. I think you’ll get a big response with International audiences. I haven’t heard your new album yet.
We’re on the same page as far as you knowing the Punk bands I’m talkin about and everything. I know when you hear this record you’re gonna feel where I’m comin from. I’m actually thrilled that you haven’t heard it yet, cause when you do listen to it you’ll be like, “Now I know what this nigga was talkin about.” I have heard a couple of things that come from Japan, like weird abstract type shit. I’m tellin you, when you hear the “Mind Police” album it’s impressive. It’s not for everybody. Not everybody’s gonna dig it. A lotta fools gonna think that it’s too out there; a lotta people don’t think that Rap should be mixed with Rock. But it’s not no bullshit sounding, like new Metal-type Rock shit. It sounds like some real authentic, like “this nigga did his homework” type shit.
Do you make beats too, or are you a straight rapper?
I do produce some too, but I can’t consider myself a producer. Like if I’m doing a little project I’d do a beat here and there, but I would never give a beat for somebody else to rap over. The beats that I like to rap over, I wouldn’t try to sell them to anybody. I’m primarily a rhymer. I do have a project out that I produced entirely by myself, but I consider myself a rapper, not a producer. I also have my own label, Isolated Wax. M9 Entertainment is who released the “Mind Police” album.; it’s a joint release of M9 and of my own label, Isolated Wax.
M9 is the label of Myka 9 of Freestyle Fellowship?
Right, it’s Myka 9’s label. Imagine me being a kid and idolizing Freestyle Fellowship. Then years later he’s starting a label and the first record that he puts out is my record. And it’s a Punk Rock fusion record, and he loves it. Myka 9’s always been an idol of mine and it’s a dream come true to fuck with him on some music shit. That’s what M9 stands for, Myka 9.
I’ve been a fan of Freestyle Fellowship since way back. They were some of the first to do different stuff with Rap.
Way back! Even Tech N9ne says that Myka 9’s one of his favorite rappers. Anybody who knows anything about writing innovation and technique and stanzas and all that, you’ve gotta check Freestyle Fellowship. Anybody that says they love Rap and don’t know Freestyle Fellowship, I don’t consider them a real Rap fan.
They had a big influence on so many artists, including Hieroglyphics Crew and Black Eyed Peas.
In the mainstream and in the undercurrents of the under-realm. I think their influence will stand the test of time. People will be talking about Freestyle Fellowship 30 years from now still.
How did you make that connection with Myka 9?
JtheSarge and Myka 9 own M9 Entertainment and they have a group called Magic Heart Genies. They decided to combine forces and make a record label. When I first met JtheSarge he was a youngster, like years ago. When I met him he had a guitar. I was like 18 years old and he must’ve been like 16. I was like, “You play instruments, we need to do some Rock shit!” Then years later this dude ends up fuckin with Myka 9 and he’s like, “Yo it’s about time we do that Rock shit. Myka wants to do it too.” I was like, “Perfect! Let’s do it.”
Magic Heart Genies are up in Northern California?
JtheSarge lives up in Humboldt, California. Up there by Eureka, way up north. I believe Myka stays in the Los Angeles area.
Magic Heart Genies are an interesting group. On your record you did all the rapping and lyrics, and Smiley made all the beats?
I did all the writing of the lyrics. Myka 9 appears on one song. I’ve got Medusa, who’s a legendary Los Angeles female MC, on one song. Everything else is played live. It’s not like one person produced the tracks and gave them to me. We had live musicians. We have a 4-piece band when we do gigs.
What you’re doing will appeal to the Indy crowd, the Rap crowd and even some Punk fans will get into it.
That’s what we’re hoping for. If we could get people to see what the vision is and get into something like SXSW, and get the album out to magazines like Maximum Rock & Roll or the Indy music blogs, it could really take off. For the Rap audience I think it could do something new because it’s refreshing. It doesn’t sound like no Rage Against The Machine or no other Rap/Rock type shit. When you hear it you’ll know what I’m talkin about.
Do you listen to artists like MIA and Santigold? You know Santigold did something with Bad Brains. I think those audiences would like what you’re doing.
Yeeeeaaaahh! There’s no question in my mind that they would. It’s just a matter of getting it into their hands. Artists like MIA, it’s that kinda groove. Raw lyricism and fuckin Punk Rock rhythms—it’s got you. Even the Andre Nickatina crowd. I want the Strange Music crowd, I want the Andre Nickatina crowd, and Equipto. Equipto’s my folks. I know a lotta these people already. I feel like this is the album that’s gonna finally get me the notoriety that I want. You know the band Portishead? Geoff Barrow started the band, he’s the main producer who made all the beats for Portishead. I recently opened up for his other band called Beak at the Independent in Frisco. He heard the album and loved it. Peanut Butter Wolf introduced me to Geoff Barrow, and he loved the fuckin record. I know there’s a demographic out there that, once they hear it they’re gonna love it. I’m not trying to get rich and famous. I just want to eat and feel comfortable, that’s all!
You should check out Witch House music. We had a big article in the last issue of Murder Dog. It’s real cutting edge shit, and the person who’s running the main record label for Witch House is a Black dude named Disaro. The music is influenced by DJ Screw and it’s mixed with Electronic club sounds. Does your music have a dance/club sound to it?
Because the music was organic, a lot of it is raw hardcore and aggressive. There’s one song called “Skank For Your Life” and it’s more inspired by Fishbone. You know how Fishbone has a Ska feel to it? There are one or two songs on the album that have an upbeat tempo. Most of it sounds more devious. A lot of it’s real dark. One song’s on there for people to move their bodies to, but most of it’s dark subject matter. A lot of the concepts have to do with inner turmoil, drug addiction and the loss of love. That’s the reoccurring theme throughout the album. I’m not rapping about your average G.
It’s more emotional and inner darkness, whereas Rap usually deals with the outer.
Exactly. The name of the album is “Mind Police”. It’s basically about any external factor that tries to control you thought process. It’s about not letting anybody or anything police your thoughts.
Is this an ongoing project or just a one time release?
It could well become an ongoing thing. We’re already working on sketches for a follow up, and I’d love to do a follow up. At the same time, we’ve got to work this record and see how receptive people are to it.
What kind of stage show do you do? Do you have a concept for how you present yourself on stage?
We need to reevaluate our stage show. Like last time we performed we opened up doing a cover of Iggy Pop “Search and Destroy”. That’s how we started out the show. We go up there, handle our muthafuckin business, and get off the stage. But I’ve been reassessing the situation and thinking about ways to be more creative and get more interactive with the audience. There’s a lot of shit yet to be done with our live performance.
When I saw MIA perform, she’s one little person with a DJ doing the music, but she has an amazing light show and DJ and dancers on stage with her. The visuals were amazing.
We need to develop that more. We have a lot of growth to do as a band. It’s hard cause I’m in San Jose, and those boys are like 6 hours away. The only time we get together is to do gigs. I’m trying to form another band out here who can learn the music from Mind Police, so we can come up with better concepts.
Do you live in San Jose now?
San Jose, California, that’s my residence and that’s what I claim. We call it the Zae, San Jose California. That’s our nickname for the city. Some people like to call it Teal Town because of the Sharks. Teal Town Boyz.
When Murder Dog started Bay Area Rap was mainly coming from Oakland and San Francisco. Since then it has spread to Pittsburg, Antioch, San Jose, and basically every town in the area. To you, what is the San Jose sound?
I’ll break it down like this. Right now there’s a lotta versatility in Rap period, not only in the Bay Area but on the nationwide level. You’ve got some rappers that are more or less tough where they rap about their hood, what drugs they sell, what drugs they take. Like in Oakland you’ve got rappers who are rapping about the hood shit, and then you’ve got rappers that are rapping about more conscious shit. It’s that duality. I think that duality exists nationwide now. In San Jose we’ve been very underestimated. All of the rappers from outside who come to San Jose get a lot of love, but I don’t think we get a lotta love in return. That needs to change. We’ve got producers like Traxamillion. We’ve got labels like Stones Throw Records. Peanut Butter Wolf came outta San Jose. A lotta talented artists come out of San Jose, but we’re getting slept on. People need to embrace San Jose more. We might be doing something different but it’s not so different that it should turn the people off. I think it should turn the people on.
When you talk about the two sides of Rap mainly you’re talking about the lyrics—either hardcore street lyrics or conscious lyrics. What about the music, the beats? What is the sound in San Jose? Is it very different from other Bay Area Rap?
No, not at all. For this album “Mind Police” we decided to go with more like Punk Rock rhythms. Obviously that’s in a different vein from a lot of Rap. But most of the Rap coming out of San Jose, it’s no different from what’s goin on in the Sko; it’s no different from what’s goin on in the Rich; it’s no different from what’s goin on in Sac. Niggaz is rappin about the same ol’ turf shit. It’s no different in San Jose. My album is definitely cut from a different cloth because we decided to make it a Rock fusion album. But music I did before this is right in the same vein as what everybody else is doin, except that I’m stretching my subject matter into different places. Some of my beats might be not on a Triton or an SPC or SR10, cause I wanted a different sound. Other than that, San Jose is no different from any other city in the Bay. To be honest, I think a lotta the shit we do is superior. Not only is it Silicon Valley where we have the most cutting edge technology, but I think we make the most cutting edge music as well.
I feel like San Jose should have its own unique sound. It’s different there than other parts of the Bay.
You can sense the difference in the production as well as in the lyricism. We’ve got a group of DJ’s out here called The Mixtape Mob. A lot of artists here are not tryin to imitate what’s goin on in the East Bay or what’s goin on in Frisco. We have a lotta artists that’s tryin to do something original, that’s in a different lane. You’ve probably stumbled upon the artists who are willing to take a risk and say, “I respect Vallejo, I respect Sacramento, I respect Richmond. But at the same time I want to be in my own lane.” But there’s other rappers out here who are not like that, who are trying to do exactly what everybody else is doing. They’re just trying to mold themselves to a formula that is already accepted.
What I like is when there’s a difference. I like to hear something coming out of San Jose that’s different from what you hear in other parts of the Bay.
Right. And plus you gotta understand that you’ve got lunatics in every place. You got psycho thugs anywhere you go. You got street hustlers anywhere you go. Except in San Jose, because it’s Silicon Valley a lotta that shit is way more behind the scenes. You can’t be as thugged out as you can be in North Richmond or in Sunnydale or at 24th and Mission. San Jose is basically the city of behind the scenes dirt. People are a little bit more relaxed out here. People get murdered here too, but it’s not like Oakland or Frisco. There’s too much technology out here to be protected, so people are more low key here than in other cities. That’s reflected in the music.
What I see is that in Frisco, Oakland or Vallejo there’s more of a primitive, darker sound, more raw. San Jose has a more modern, technology sound.
Yeah! We the home to Google, Microsoft, Apple, and all these companies. I grew up in San Francisco. I grew up on Geneva and Mission Street. I moved to San Jose when I was 13 years old, so I knew the difference. From the concrete to the suburbs. There’s a lotta ghetto-ass suburbs out here, but it’s still it’s different than concrete. That reflects in the music. You’ve got a front lawn and a backyard and it’s always sunny. In San Francisco it’s always foggy—that’s gonna effect the music. It’s gonna be darker because every day you go outside and there’s no sunshine.
It’s different when you have a backyard and some trees, and birds singing in the trees. And the space.
You’re very right. It’s more space out here. But like I said, you still got your psychopaths and your lunatics. Like out in Oakland you’ve got East 14th Street, you’ve got bitches out there on the stroll gettin money. Here they do it with escort services. It’s the same hustle, but here they do everything on the under.
I see the space as a positive thing. Having the space doesn’t make your music weaker, but it will be different.
It’s good to allow the alternative to what the rest of the Bay represents. I think San Jose is a good alternative to what the rest of the Bay has to offer. Musically and as a scene. You can come out here and have a good time and not worry about getting shot up. You can come out here and stumble upon some music that’s original and doesn’t sound like it came from anywhere else. I think San Jose is unique. A lotta people like to shit on San Jose and don’t even wanna consider us part of the Bay. But it’s the biggest city in the Bay and we’re not goin nowhere. We’re factors in the game, period. We revolutionized technology and we’re tryin to revolutionize music too.
