Murder Dog Archives


	Kottonmouth Kings Interview with Brad "Daddy" X By David Friedman I’ve been listening to your new album, "Rollin’ Stoned," for a few days now and I really like the way you blend different musical styles throughout the album. Was that your goal here? The only goal was to not put any limits and boundaries on ourselves. We had different songs written and we just wanted to make the records we’re making. This one crosses over from hip-hop to punk rock to all kinds of different flavors. When you were producing tracks for this album, did you implement any techniques that you hadn’t used before? I think we brought some more live instrumentation into some of the stuff. A lot of times, when you make hip-hop records, you’ll dig through the old record crates and come up with cool samples from old records and stuff. This time, I got a band together of friends and really good musicians and we literally just went in and jammed for two days straight. And I picked a lot of pieces out of that. Then, we’d make our own samples out of stuff we played. Really, I think that was it. We wanted to kind of make it a concept record on this one a little bit. We wanted to take them on a journey. The concept was you hop on the magic bus with the intro and then you go on this whole journey with the Kottonmouth Kings which takes you in and out of all these different moods and styles. It represents life in general because in life you have all kinds of different moods and styles and things you go through – you know, ups and downs, highs and lows. And then it drops you off at the mountaintop, camping out with the Kottonmouth Kings, having a massive session around the campfire and light it up. That was the concept. On the song "Sleepers," you mention how people are sleeping on the Kottonmouth Kings. You’ve sold a lot of albums since releasing your debut album, "Royal Highness," on Capitol in 1998. But why do you think that even more people haven’t caught on? You know what? I think as far as the fans when we go and play across the country, obviously we have massive support and a very loyal following that comes out and supports the band and is into the band. I think that was more referring to a lot of media and stuff. They’ll do all these exposes on MTV on white rap or whatever, and they never mention the Kottonmouth Kings. We have four albums and we’ve been touring the country for seven years. It’s cool with us. I think a lot of people maybe don’t acknowledge the Kottonmouth Kings. The Kottonmouth Kings, at least as far as a diverse and interesting group that I hear out there, I think we’re making interesting music that pushes boundaries. Why do you think the media has skipped over the Kottonmouth Kings and makes a bigger deal out of guys like Bubba Sparxxx? It’s hard to say. It’s one of those things. We’ve never really been a critic’s band. But at the end of the day, the people validate the music – the people that come out to see the Kottonmouth Kings validate it. And who’s to say? In music, it’s music. So everyone has their own opinions, everyone has their own contributions to make as artists and musicians. Who’s to say who’s better or anything like that? We just hope to make cutting edge records that keep us stimulated as artists and hopefully keep our fans intrigued and take them on a journey as they grow with the band. When I listen to the song "4-2-0" from "Rollin’ Stoned," it makes me want to play some of your earlier CDs because it seems to encompass everything that’s good about your music. Could you talk about that track? That was kind of a West Coast beat. I think it was more like a party, feel good, have a good time, get high jam. It was about 4:20, the national code and time for smokin’ herb. Which songs are likely to be released as singles from the new album? It’s hard to say right now. I like ‘Full Throttle’ just because of the aggressive attack of the song. ‘Float Away’ I think maybe could be a single just because it’s more like a summertime, feel good song. The hooks you’ve got on "Float Away" and "Positive Vibes" are really catchy. That’s what makes fans want to play the songs again and again. How much did you emphasize the importance of strong hooks this time around? If you look at all our albums, I think in our songwriting we always write hooks. It’s just the way we write our songs. ‘Rest of My Life,’ I think that’s a killer song. I think that’s a stoner anthem. It’s more of a stony kind of (track). That was all live instruments. We just came out of that jam session that we had. We all have ideas for songs and it’s just about what kind of feel and vibes should go with that song or that hook. Sometimes the beat comes first and we write something to the beat. "Rest of My Life" was another one of my favorites. It kind of reminded me of "Only God Knows Why" where Kid Rock took a break from rapping to sing on one song off "Devil Without A Cause." Both songs are relaxing. Do you agree? Right on. I think it works. It is what it is. It was organically written. (Johnny) Richter had the hook, he came singing me the hook and then we just kind of said, ‘That sounds good.’ We could have approached it in the hip-hop way, but we said, ‘No. Let’s get the band to jam out on that a little bit.’ And it just kind of came together. On the song "Zero Tolerance," you deliver a political message over a beat that’s reminiscent of Timbaland. Could you talk about that song? I mean, when it flips right there in the second verse, it definitely flips like that kind of thing real quick. You know, when the beat flips real fast. Obviously, it’s about the war on drugs. The lyric is ‘The war on drugs is a waste of time. How could a plant be a crime? They’ve got the bombs to kill off our kind. Arrest and seize, we get jailed, fucked and fined.’ It just put in perspective the war on drugs. How, all of a sudden, is a plant that the creator put here, that grows naturally, now it’s a crime? But yet they make these bombs and missiles that could fuckin’ blow up our whole planet 20 times over and that’s somehow acceptable and legal. It’s a little out of whack, to me, with the creator’s laws, with the universe’s laws, with man living out of balance with nature. How do bands like the Kottonmouth Kings and Cypress Hill tour all over the country and smoke pot without getting caught? Well, it’s not about getting caught or not getting caught. It’s about not being afraid to legalize freedom and pursue true freedom. If the police authorities are worried about us smoking a little herb, then I think they have better things to worry about. Yes, we get harassed. We had our bus raided, we’ve had our houses raided. Of course, we have. But at the end of the day, it’s just a plant. Obviously, we’re on the front lines fighting for freedom – for all types of freedoms but now it just happens to be one of them. In addition to legalizing marijuana, what are some of the other freedoms you’re fighting for through your lyrics on the new album? I think just personal freedom, about just trying to find a place in life where you can experience and live in balance with nature and just live a peaceful existence and spread good, positive energy to the world. Do you feel like you’ve matured as a person and as an artist since you started up the Kottonmouth Kings? Well, I hope we’ve grown and I hope all the experiences we’ve had traveling around this world have (done that). Yeah, I’m sure everyone’s constantly evolving and changing. That’s just the cycle of life. As you grow and as you experience things, it probably affects your writing and how you are as an individual and a person. I think life experiences have changed me, like having a daughter. I had a baby girl a couple of years ago. That helps you kind of re-evaluate and look at life through different eyes. The most simple things or picking up a pile of dirt or going hiking and looking at the trees or the animals is such an amazing thing to a child. It’s such an amazing thing that we overlook. The small things like that, having very close friends die... I had a real good friend, Rob Harris, who was my roommate and actually the first deejay for the Kottonmouth Kings. He passed away in a skydiving accident. I had Jason Thirsk, who used to play in Pennywise and played in my punk band, the Humble Gods. He committed suicide. And the follow-up bass player, Bianca Butthole – who used to play in the band Betty Blowtorch – she died in a car accident last year. Knowing how mortal we are and how precious this life is, hopefully it just puts everything in perspective when things happen in your life. You grow and you learn from those experiences. Being that you’re married and you’ve got a daughter, is it difficult for your family when you’re touring so often? They come on the road. But you’ve gotta understand that Kottonmouth Kings is a big group. I am the only one who’s married with a kid. The road calls me, that’s what I do and my wife and daughter have adapted to that. I’ve always done that since I met my wife, so they just roll with it. My daughter goes on the road, my wife does – for not extended periods of time but enough to where it just it what it is. Part of what I do for a living entails going on the road a lot. You’ve been on Capitol Records since 1998. What is the status of your deal with that label? You know what? This, really, the way I see it – unless something crazy happens – probably will be our last album with Capitol. The bottom line is pretty much we’ve experienced three presidents over there. And every time we try to form a working relationship with this label... Obviously because of Suburban Noize, we do a lot of marketing and stuff like that. But it seems like, from my perspective, they haven’t stepped up the way they need to step up for this band. So therefore it’s really frustrating working with a company like that because we’re trying to work in synergy with them and it seems like we’re always kind of butting heads with them. Has Capitol tried to get you to change the band’s style? Well, I mean, of course if they had it their way they’d have us sound like the fucking White Stripes or The Vines. That’s how those industry people are. Whatever’s hot right now. When Kid Rock was out, ‘You’ve guys have gotta write some stuff like Kid Rock.’ And I said, ‘No. We’re the fuckin Kottonmouth Kings. We stand on our own. If you don’t appreciate the stuff we do, then why did you sign this band here?’ We make our own records. They don’t come into the arena of us making our albums, although they’ve tried to. But that’s a sacred space for our band. We’re the kind of band that needs to create and write our own records. If we can’t write and do our own records, then why are we a group? Will you look for a new label deal for the Kottonmouth Kings? We have our own label, Suburban Noize. So obviously what I have learned from dealing with major labels is these major labels are completely geared to fuck the artists, straight out. Number one, the deals that are structured are so one-sided and the way they do their accounting, it’s just like the whole thing is a big sham. So we definitely would love to put out our own records, just do a distribution deal with somebody. That’s our ideal situation. Obviously, it just gets frustrating. It’s kind of a frustrating situation when you feel like you’re doing all the work and you’re supposed to be partners with somebody, you know? Do you feel like being on Capitol has helped you have the resources to put out other bands on Suburban Noize over the years? Well, it has. It actually helped us get the whole thing going. Besides the Kottonmouth Kings, the Suburban Noize joint venture with Capitol was up a couple years ago. So we’ve just been working independently since then. A lot of Kottonmouth Kings fans also buy albums by the other bands on Suburban Noize. Could you tell me about some of the albums that are in the works? We’ve got the Judge in the studio right now. He’s featured on the song "Living in Fear" on the new album and he’s featured on the ‘Hidden Stash’ record. He has an album coming out. It’s coming out really killer, too. Mix Mob’s album is out right now. The Sunami brothers have an album coming out – that’s D-Loc and Bobby B, like kind of a deejay record. And then Pakelika the visual assassin, he’s working on his album right now. That should actually be done by the time we leave on tour. That should be out hopefully by Christmas time. Since Pakelika dances but doesn’t rap or speak in his role with the Kottonmouth Kings, what is he going to do on his album? On his solo stuff, he raps. He definitely has a very unique, abstract style – definitely more on the underground flavor. He uses a lot of metaphors. He really has a style that I really can’t compare to anyone. Maybe Kool Keith would be someone I can come closest to comparing it to. But he definitely has his own style and his own thing going. Suburban Noize has also signed the Phunk Junkeez out of Phoenix, Ariz. How did that deal come about? Well, we’ve been going on the road with the Phunk Junkeez for a long time and they’re out of their deal right now. I just like them as people, I like them as a band. So I thought it would be cool and it’d be a good situation for both of us. They’re kind of an established band. We don’t have the pressure of having to sell a million records. If we sell 10,000, 20,000 records, it’s a good venture for everybody. Another band that got its start on Suburban Noize is Corporate Avenger, which got a deal with Koch and released on of the best albums of 2001. After the terrorist attacks on September 11th of that year, Koch seemed to have stopped promoting Corporate Avenger entirely, which was really lame in my opinion. What are your thoughts on that? If you really understood and got into what the Corporate Avenger was saying, they were talking about religious wars and ‘The Bible Is Bullshit’ is all about fighting over the bible and fighting over religious territories and fighting over God and beliefs between the Jews and Christians and Muslims and Buddhists and all these people fighting each other. It’s just insanity. And it talks about that. It’s all about ‘it’s time for us to love one another’ before it’s too late, before this whole world goes up. So really, if anything, after 9/11 the world needed Corporate Avenger. But Koch totally backed off of it. I understand. I’m not pointing fingers. Corporate Avenger backed off of it themselves. They canceled all their shows after 9/11. That’s what kind of inspired them to change everything. It kind of freaked them out a little bit, which kind of bummed me out. But it is what it is. Over the past several months, there’s been a lot of talk about "Stoners Reeking Havoc," which was the name of your first EP. Is there any reason in particular that that phrase is coming up again? Well, we have a video coming out. We’re calling it ‘Stoners Reeking Havoc.’ It’s a live concert video, lifestyle video. That hits stores on October 22nd. It’s like the follow-up to ‘Dopeumentary.’ We just kind of put it together ourselves. It’s lots of live stuff and lots of just lifestyle, on the road, hanging out kind of stuff. What else is down the road for you? I really just try to live in the present right now. Obviously we have this record coming out, we start a tour, we’re gonna see where this record takes us and then just keep trying to survive as an independent label and keep putting out music. We’ll just do what we do and who’s to say what the future holds for us? We could be at war next year and maybe there’s no such thing as tours. Maybe they’re gonna ban rock ’n’ roll in America. Who knows? Do you have any final thoughts for all your fans who are picking up copies of "Rollin’ Stoned" if they haven’t already? Yeah. We’re gonna be on tour. Just come out to the shows and come check it out. If you’ve never checked it out, come check it out. Other than that, just enjoy life.
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