5 Questions with Rags #68 - Rags

When Rags Blake was born, signs and auspices graced the world like none before. The sun composed a song to celebrate the occasion, the four winds conspired to whisper a secret recipe for excellence in his ear, and beneath his crib was found a pair of golden headphones. And from these humble beginnings, he has grown into the man of humble legend we know today: thoughtful and gracious in his friendship, fierce in his scorn of jabronis and pylons alike, blessed with an ear for music most tuneful, and generous in his sharing of said musics. It was with great delight that I recently turned the spotlight of 5 Questions with Rags upon his noble personage, whiling away a pleasant hour gathering the fruits of his wisdom on many a topic, for the personal edification of us all.

1. What's something you wish you'd had growing up?

Wow, that's a good question. Huh, that's hard. I had a really happy childhood. I had parents who loved me, I had friends and grandparents. I had pets. You know what? I used to really resent my mom for not letting us have a computer in the house. I didn't get a computer in the house until I was nearly graduated from high school. I was so jealous of all the kids with computers in there house, talking on ICQ and shit. But in retrospect, I'm really happy that I wasn't allowed to have a computer around all the time until I was 18. I don't think having unfettered access to the internet as a teenager would have been a good idea. I honestly don't know how young people today deal with anything. So yeah, a computer. It seems really superficial, but I was really lucky to have a lot of love in my life as a kid and that was pretty awesome, so it's going to be something like that.

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5 Questions with Rags #67 - Neil James Cooke-Dallin (Astrocolor, Stray Cougar, Righteous Rainbows of Togetherness)

A musical pillar of Victoria unto himself, James Cooke and his many projects – Righteous Rainbows of Togetherness, Stray Cougar and Astrocolor, my obsession of 2017 (into 2018, apparently) – have been helping keep my hometown way groovy and just a little bit more weird for some time now. It's actually kind of staggering the amount of creative energy this one human being seems to not only contain, but is able to harness and use effectively. “It's just what I love to do. They're all quite different, in terms of what I'm getting out of them. It's feeding a different part of my soul with each project.” It must be a pretty ravenous musical soul inside his body, because the homie never stops. A captivating performer, you should always take the chance to see Cooke playing/mixing his music live, in the flesh, because it's always guaranteed to be high-creativity and high-accessibility, the hardest things to balance in music.

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

<laughs> Yeah, I do. <more laughing> It was Quiet Riot Mental Health. My buddy's brother ended up getting two copies of it for Christmas one year, so he was selling one of them and I was in grade 2 and I bought a copy of Quiet Riot on the school playground from him.

I remember being weirded out as a kid the first time I saw that cover. Made me feel kinda funny.

I think I was pretty normalized to it by then. I'd been around metal and rock a lot just by virtue of having friends with older brothers and some of my parents' friends. I had Ozzy Osbourne Bark at the Moon on 12 inch already and I don't know if there's a weirder album cover than that. Things were getting a lot more gentrified by the time I purchased Quiet Riot.

When's the last time you listened to Quiet Riot?

<laugh> That's a good question. I'm pretty sure I pulled out “Cum on Feel the Noise” or “Mental Health” sometime in the last year and a half.

Come on, it was definitely only “Cum On Feel The Noise.”
Ahh, I was pretty into “Bang Your Head.”

2. What's your favourite household chore?

I would say I enjoy doing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen. I really enjoy seeing how nice it looks when everything's cleaned up. Have my girlfriend come home and see it and have her evening be that much better.

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5 Questions with Rags #65 - Grieves

I first saw Grieves here in my hometown Victoria in 2014. I was on assignment for a now defunct website, sent because I was the resident hip-hop guy on staff. I didn't know anything about him other than his affiliation with the legendary Rhymesayers, but I left a fan. I got home and right away I dug into Winter & The Wolves, the album he was touring at the time, and found someone with a respect for the craft of rapping – deft, nimble rapping with dense lyricism that revealed a deep intelligence and emotional knowledge. This was smart, affective rapping. But then things went pretty quiet and I heard very little from the Grieves camp until last year when he released the fucking phenomenal Running Wild. A snapshot of personal evolution, Running Wild finds Grieves' sound evolved and grown into new places while at the same time being stripped down to an ultra-personal core.

A birthday is a perfect time for a little reflection and I linked up with Grieves for a 5 Questions shortly after his 34th birthday, and he was gracious enough to let me pick his brain as to what he learned over his last complete orbit of the Earth. “The years go faster every year, it's hard to take a lesson from each one. Last year I focused more on not giving a shit about what other people expect of me and just do the things that my heart requires. It took awhile to actually do that. An album like Running Wild is definitely a prime example of me just going with what I wanted to as opposed to sticking to my same formula. It goes beyond that to the stuff I make for myself in the studio, the work that I do for others in the studio and what I'd like to release to the world in the future. Where I'm going creatively...I feel like I've been hung up trying to follow in the footsteps of what got me where I'm at as opposed to creating new roads to create new steps.” Thankfully for me, and hip-hop heads everywhere, these new steps still include releasing dope music and touring. And now, more than three years after I saw him that first time he returns to Victoria (Thursday, April 5, Capital Ballroom) in support of this record that you should definitely listen to if you haven't already. Or if you're not in Victoria, check his tour schedule and figure it out.

1. What was the first album you bought with your own money?

I actually bought three in the first go. I was mowing lawns and whatever else knucklehead kids do to get money and I bought Green Day Dookie, Offspring Smash and, for some fucking reason I don't know why, Aerosmith Get A Grip. They had a bunch of curse words and I was like, “Ooooh shit.” It was my dirty secret, that there was a bunch of cuss words. In 5th grade.

I remember I was in this camp in Chicago before I moved, I think it was called Chandler Sports Camp, and pretty much parents just dumped their kids off so they can get shit done in the summertime. There was this older camp counsellor I remember sitting with on the bus and he was like, “What do you know about Green Day? Offspring?” And he put the headphones on my head and was like, “Whaaaaat?!” It changed my perspective on cool music. I was listening to my dad's music – soul, blues and a lot of folk. I just kind of thought that's what it was. I didn't really challenge it. I didn't dislike it but I hadn't experienced something I liked for my own. Still to this day I feel like I could recite Dookie from front to back, from when I was in 5th grade.

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5 Questions with Rags #64 - The Leg-Up Program

This is a long one, because this is a genuinely huge band (In number and sound), so I'm going to try to keep this intro thing short. If you aren't lucky enough to live on Vancouver Island, maybe you haven't heard of the Leg-Up Program. And if you are on the Island and still haven't heard The Leg-Up Program, what are you doing with your life? And lastly, if you have heard or seen The Leg-Up Program, good work. For real though, The Leg-Up Program is one of the raddest bands rocking these parts right now. With a staggering number of musicians at any given show (I think I've seen them with up to 16 people, in various configurations) the music they make – soul, funk, hip-hop, gospel, jazz – hits with an incredible energy. Watching such a large group of people up on a stage, all working together towards that common goal, is really something to behold. Every time I see them perform I am filled with the kind of joy that reminds me of what starting making me love music in the first place. It's warm, fun, communal. I hear that there's an album in the works somewhere, due at some time in the future, but until then you have to venture out into the world and find them. But at the end of your journey, rich aural gifts await! Nailing such a large band down all at once is, for all intents and purposes in regards to interviewing, impossible, but I was lucky enough to catch 10 of them in a room at once, so 10 members is what you get for the biggest round of the 5 Questions yet. (On the docket, David – Trombone, Nick – Trumpet, Ashley – Drums, Greg – Guitar/making the trains run on time a day late, Daniela – Vocals, Kady – Vocals, Fred – Bass, Stevie – Raps, Sean – Keyboard, Simon - Percussion)

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

David: Oh yeah. It was “Geist” by Smashing Pumpkins. I got it at a Walmart in California. I still dig it a lot.

Nick: I think it might have been Five Alarm Funk's first album. It was very informative to see that kind of music rather than what was on the radio. Instrumental music.

Daniela: Yes. I bought two at the same time. One was Boys II Men and the other was...uuhhh...Two boys and two girls from Sweden...What were they called?
Random voice from somewhere in the room: ABBA?

Rags: Ace of Bass?

Daniela: Ace of Bass! Yes!

Kady: Mine's not nearly as cool. <Don't know where Kady got the idea that Boys II Men or Ace of Bass is cool> I bought Backstreet Boys, because that was the thing back then. It was Backstreet Boys or the Spice Girls. Then also, Loretta Lynn. I saw “Coal Miner's Daughter” when I was about 6 and that's one of the things that made me want to start singing.

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5 Questions with Rags #63 - Qdup

The funky groovemeister Qdup has been startlingly important in my development as a fan of electronic music. The first time I ventured out on my own, without the anchor of a knowledgable friend, at an electronic festival was some years ago at Shambhala, where I stumbled upon his set at the dusty, ol' AMP. His super bouncy and accessible breaksy-funk treats delighted me instantly and I gave way to the overwhelming desire to dance without my friends for the first time. I clutched that Qdup sticker I got that day like a kid with a carnival prize, ran back to camp and told everyone of this rad DJ I just saw, like I'd just discovered something no one ever knew about. (That sticker remains on my friends' camper-van and Qdup, if you're reading this, really needs to be replaced. It's taken quite a beating in six years.) Then, a couple of years later, Qdup got behind the decks in Fractal Forest with Steve of the mighty Fort Knox Five to lay down one of the most powerful sets of funk music I've seen to this day. Dancing with all the friends, as the face of the funk-legend Jon H. adorned the screens around the Forest, I was moved in a way that I never expected from electronic music. It was a turning point in my life as a music fan, as I realized that even amongst the bounce and fun and colours, deep-rooted emotional impact was possible. Qdup is still out in these streets doing the Big Work, keeping the funk vibrant and alive wherever he goes. His latest single “Sonic Drop” featuring San Fransisco MC Awoke, is an old-school breaks/hip-hop delight that's been on repeat since I got my grubby mitts on it. When I got him on the phone from his new homebase in LA for our little chat, he assured me that he's been staying close to home, hard at work building up his funky arsenal with new tracks and sounds, regathering strength for another summer of laying it down hard. But luckily for me, the good homie set aside some of his valuable time to get down with the 5 Questions!

FKX116 - Qdup - Sonic Drop ft. Awoke Qdup returns to Fort Knox Recordings with a new single first imagined on the Playa at Burning Man. During his first trip to Black Rock City Qdup performed a special hip-hop showcase at Funky Town and invited MC’s to rock his set and bring the cypher to the desert. San Francisco b-girl and Hip-Hop aficionado Awoke was one of the MC’s that appeared out of the dust and blessed the mic that afternoon and caught the ears of the crowd, inspiring this collaboration. “Sonic Drop” captures the fun of that impromptu Hip-Hop jam in the desert. This tune pops and locks from start to finish, with an infectious vibe that invites the party to get down on the dancefloor like Awoke and Qdup did that day! The track is all about Awoke’s flow as she says “Feel it deep inside and when the DJ starts to vibe, I’ll be the first one in line, straight Salt-N-Pepa pushin’.” It’s time to push it real good, so get on the dancefloor and push it when the DJ drops this cut! Qdup’s tight beats, 808 boom and bass-laden production set the tone as Awoke’s concise party raps direct the dancefloor to drop it like it’s hot. Put this on as a sure-fire way to get booties moving and create a Sonic Drop on the dance floor.

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

Run-DMC – Raising Hell, I saved up my allowance and got it on tape. My parents were really supportive of me wanting to buy and listen to music.

I'd ask if you still like Run-DMC but everyone still likes Run-DMC, right?

Classic.

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

Mr. K, my high-school shop teacher. He really had a way of communicating with kids of all kinds, like he was on their level. I know was shop class and it wasn't “intellectual” or anything, but it didn't matter. It wasn't what we were learning but the way he communicated with us that really left an impact on me.

3. What's your favourite household chore?

Picking the music to listen to while I do the chores. <laughs> I know that's not really a chore but as a producer I'm constantly searching for new music and listening to new masters of my own tracks and stuff. Even in the car, I'm listening to stuff for work. So a lot of the time when I'm doing chores is the only time I really get to listen to music for pleasure. I get to just put on music to really enjoy.

4. If you could spend the day with anyone living or dead, who would it be and what would you do?

I'd get my brother Jon H, and we'd go have a night at Shambhala.

5. When's the last time you did something for the first time?

I went to Six Flags for the first time for my birthday. It had been years since I'd be on a roller coaster. After 5 or 6 coasters I thought maybe I had a filling loose or something from all the Gs.

6. Your Guest Question comes from the homie Handsome Tiger, who's currently lighting up Vancouver something fierce... If there's one place in the world you could play a show, where would it be?

Probably somewhere remote, small and tropical that I've never heard of or ever seen. Maybe Brazil or Thailand or something far away like that.

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And while you've probably listened to “Sonic Drop” while you read this (And if you didn't, you blew it. Scroll up and sort it out.) you should probably put this mix on before you continue your day and listen to a master at work for a proper amount of time. It's real good.

This weeks RIPEcast features a very special guest mix from Fort Knox Recording Artist Qdup. A Space Cowboy favorite, he has been making dance floors groove and butts move worldwide for a decade. Over the years, Qdup has released top selling tunes and remixes on many well received labels including Bombstrikes, Fort Knox Recordings, Bombastic Jam, Goodgroove, Air, ESL Music, Royal Soul, Boxon Records, MustBeat and his own Qdup Records imprint. Don't miss Qdub headlining at the upcoming LOVEBOAT HALLOWEEN event on Friday October 27th at Pier 70 in San Francisco. Event info and tickets are here: bit.ly/LBH17sc

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