5 Questions with Rags #44 - Ben Caplan (& The Casual Smokers)

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There isn't a voice in Canadian like music like Ben Caplan. The deep, gravel-voiced leader of Ben Caplan & The Casual Smokers is a captivating talent, writing intelligent, interesting songs and delivering them with an intense passion and formidable talent. His songs are at once modern and timeless, covering love and life, good and evil, light and dark with eloquent nimbleness. I caught up with the mysterious man from the Maritimes as he and The Casual Smokers prepare to embark on a 33-date North American tour that sees the band go coast to coast across the Great White North and dipping down over the border to help ease the minds of our southern neighbours during troubling times.

1. Do you remember the first album you bought with your own money?

I do. It was a tape, I bought Pink Floyd's Relics.

Wow, that's not usually the first Pink Floyd record people pick up.

<laughs> It was a weird one, yeah. I had an older brother who was really into Pink Floyd. I wanted to make him think I was cool by finding a tape that he didn't have.

And did it work?

I don't know. Probably not. But I got into it.

2. Speaking as an older brother, you're right, it probably didn't. When is the last time you did something for the first time?

Probably last week, but I can't tell you what it is.

A secret project?! Oooh la la.

Haha. I'll tell you what, here's another one...I went to the Banff Centre for the first time about a month ago to do some work on a theatre project that I'm building. I'm working with actors and musicians on a theatre project I'm writing and I've never done that before. That was a big first for me. I think there's eight of us in total – four musicians, two actors, a director and another writer. It's been an interesting project. 

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5 Questions with Rags #43 - Immerze

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An immense talent for the art of rapping combined with a seemingly endless well of hustle has helped Toronto-to-Vancouver transplant Immerze has established himself as one of Canada's most consistent and exciting Mcs in a surprisingly short time. A grimy, big-city east-coast feel gives his tracks a reliable bottom end with a defined west-coast lightness and positivity colouring everything, splitting the difference between the two aesthetics. It's getting trickier and trickier for to bond over hip-hop with younger, burgeoning heads but Immerze gives us a fertile common ground to start from. His trap-heavy beats are tuned for a younger ear, but the positive, family-man-gangsta lyrics are perfect for the uhhh older heads among us. There's an edge, but it's not sinister. It's a delicate balancing act that Immerze pulls off perfectly. I caught him on the phone from home in Vancouver to answer our silly questions for a smoky, bottom-heavy instalments of 5 Questions with Rags.

Keeping up with that track record of consistency, Immerze just released the new video for new single “2 Cents/Black Bond.” It's dope. Get after it.

1. Do you remember the first album you bought with your own money?

Yep! 5O Cent Get Rich Or Die Tryin'. I think I bought like five of those albums. <laughs> Realistically though I bought four or five. If it wasn't in the car I was in, I would buy just so it was there. That album was religion when it came out.

What's your favourite track on there? You can only pick one..

Oh man...So many... “Many Men,” that one was on repeat heavy. Hmmm, there's so many. That album's a classic. Yeah, we'll stick with “Many Men.”

When's the last time you listened to it?

The album it its entirety? Probably about a year ago.

Do you find you get much time to listen to full albums anymore?

I always try to find time. If a new album comes out and I know I don't have time to listen to it in its entirety, I won't listen to it. Whether it's late at night or early in the morning, I'll find time. It's hard to do. You really gotta be a fan to do that. You're not doing that just skimming through. Albums that came out, like the Anderson .Paak album, I knew I wanted to be fully attentive when I listened to that, so I waited until a month or two after it came out. Then I can form my own opinion without the hype. An artist spends time making an album, so when you listen to it, at least give them the respect of listening to it yourself. Especially albums. Albums are usually pieces of a person's life. They're putting their life on wax for you to enjoy. So, to it's just shit while skimming through some tracks, that's real disrespectful.

2. What's your most positive memory of an elementary or high school teacher?

My guidance counsellor. He smoked weed every day. He would call me out of class, make it seem like we had a meeting and he'd tell me some funny-ass stories and he'd be like, “I'm fucking high bro. Don't tell anybody.” He was cool and didn't give a fuck. I though, “If all teachers were like this kids would actually want to come to school.”

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Lyrics Born changed the Hip-Hop game for me. You should listen to Lyrics Born.

As the 'Quannum Mcs' tour gets closer to nearing my hometown of Victoria and second home in Vancouver, I'm taking a look back at a couple of the ways this collective has shaped my ear, my musical sensibility and my love of hip-hop.

Please get after it and go see three of the best Mcs the west coast has produced in the last 20 years. Tickets for Victoria (Feb 24 at Distrik) can be found HERE. Tickets for Vancouver (Feb. 25 at Venue) can be found HERE. Both shows are early shows for us older heads to get our hip-hop on.

I was taken into my first live hip-hop show almost completely blind. A friend had convinced me that this guy we were going to see was going to blow me away. I'd only known of Lyrics Born from his guest spot on Blackalicious' “Release” (from Blazing Arrow), but my friend seemed to know what he was talking about, so I tagged along. That was 13 years ago, just a few days after my 19th birthday, when I was legally allowed into venues in BC. I'd never seen anyone hit the stage with that much energy. The small brick room was packed end-to-end and side-to-side. (I think one can safely assume the '190' or capacity was being pushed to the very limits.) Air was hot, space was sacred and no one could have cared less. Lyrics Born put on one helluva show. At the time, I didn't really know any of his music but I was moving and going crazy none the less. His energy and smile were utterly infectious. When his hands went up, ours went up. When he moved from side to to side, so did the crowd. By the end of the night, I was hooked.

At the time I didn't realize that the homie was part of the legendary duo Latyrx. I mean, I grew up on the west coast and had ears, so I'd heard “Balcony Beach” but I didn't put two and two together that night. And I knew of the previously mentioned spot on “Release,” but little else. I took to the internet to discover more, trying especially hard to find a song that hadn't left my head that I only assumed was called “Bad Dreams.” Turned out that I did indeed have the song title correct, but the album that was supposed to contain that song was still due out for release. I waited and waited. I remember going down to Ditch Records on release day to get my hands on Later That Day, an album that still finds regular rotation to this day. The sides of the CD's digipack is frayed and beaten up, but the music is no less hot than it was the first day I brought it home and blasted it on my headphones, laying on my bed. “Bad Dreams” still makes it way onto playlists. “Callin' Out” shows up when it's time to get pumped up for something. “Hot Bizness” has helped me thump my way through many walks around the city. “Do That There” still inspires solo dance parties in the basement, or kitchen, or even shower. You know, that bastion of safe dancing space, the shower?

The standout track from his debut album

Since that night, and the proceeding years of hip-hop goodness, Lyrics Born has been a constant fixture in my listening diet, even showing up at the least likely of times. I'll catch a clip of an LB song in an ad and I'll smile, be happy that the homie is getting paid to get his music out there. I remember a particularly annoying younger girl singing “I Changed My Mind,” and making me forget how bothered I was by her. I had friends coming up to me after seeing Lyrics Born at Rifflandia, telling me how much they loved that guy and asking if I knew anything about him. The world – well, my world at least – is better for having Lyrics Born in it. If the world was a perfect place we'd all have a bit of LB blasting from our radios, headphones, computers, whatever it is you listen to music on. His positivity and hustle are a constant source of inspiration but above all else, brother can rap his fucking ass off.

The Official music video for Lyrics Born's smash hit song, "I Changed My Mind" off of the album 'Same !@#$ Different Day'. As heard on the HBO Original Series, Entourage. Song remixed by Stereo MCs. http://www.lyricsborn.com ********************************************************* Subscribe to LBTV, my official YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=lyricsborntv ALL MY L-BEEZIES, FIND ME ONLINE!

It's January, so it's time to start obsessing about Shambhala. A Wishlist.

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2017 brings the 20th Anniversary of the legendary Shambhala Music Festival. It will be my fifth and the second for Rags Music. As the calendar turns, it's time to start obsessing about who we're all going to get shake our asses to. The following are acts that have been in my ears constantly throughout the past year and, apart from Wick-It, acts that haven't appeared on the Farm before (As far as I know, at least). It doesn't really matter what I say, the Shambhala family has impeccable taste, year after year bringing the tastiest grooves of all kinds from around the globe. But whatever. I'm still going to throw my voice into the void and cross my fingers. So, here it is, my wishlist for Shambhala XX.

(Tickets are completely sold out, but keep your eyes open and you might be able to find yourself one. Please, use caution when buying resale tickets though!)

Fractal Forest – Jimi Needles

There is no one I want to see at Shambhala more right now than the mighty Jimi Needles. The guy is damned near untouchable. His production is top-notch, his song selection is of unqualified taste and his scratching is totally on point. His Needlewurk mixes have been staples of my listening diet since I first heard them, his singles are never-ending glory parade. Following in the footsteps of my DJ hero, Featurecast, Jimi Needles is doing thing that I admire most in a DJ – all of the things. He moves between genres with liquidy ease, seamlessly blending any ideas and sounds he sees fit. It might be good if Jimi Needles doesn't appear in Fractal Forest, because there would be so many melted faces, but I'm still rooting for it. With all of my heart.

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5 Questions with Rags #42 - Gibbz

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Like a lot of people I discovered Gibbz from his work with Gramatik. The first time I saw him live I couldn't get over the unprecedented swagger the guy had on stage. Who the fuck did this guy think he was? But more than that, the overwhelming thought of the night was, “This brother can sing the shit out of some songs.” Luckily, since then Gibbz has been on a tear, releasing a constant stream of sexy, fun tremendously dancey synth-pop. Near the end of 2016 he released the stellar Oh My God EP and if you haven't got that into your earholes, you definitely should. I was lucky enough to get ahold of him at home in New York as he prepares for his first-ever residency, at the famous Knitting Factory, before heading off on his first full headline tour – just him and drummer, driving in a van, working the road. If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing the supremely talented singer/producer/gangster of love, do yourself a favour and get out to one of his shows.

1. Do you remember the first album you bought with your own money?

Yeah. I went to a store that was called The Wiz, way back when that was a store. It was kind of like Best Buy. “Nobody beats the Wiz,' was their catchphrase. I went in with my own money. I bought three records. I bought Busta Rhymes – “Dangerous” single on cassette, Usher - My Way on cassette and I got my first compact disc ever, which was Britney Spears – Hit Me Baby, One More Time.

Of the three, which holds up the best for you?

Well, Dangerous is such a badass song. But I got the Britney Spears because it came with a poster. You could pull out the booklet and it folded out into a poster and I was like, “Sweet!” I wanted Britney Spears on my wall. I didn't really give a fuck about the music, so I bought it just to put a poster of a chick up on my wall. I remember my parents were like, “No, that's not gonna happen.”

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