Q&A with GOBI's Chuco Phil

GOBI is an indie electronic trio based in Austin, Texas who create their own brand of electronic dance music by adding the dimension of rap delivered by vocalist Chuco Phil.  GOBI's debut release Gold on Black Ice (Deluxe) LP adds new depths to their signature style; the bass and beats still bring fans to the dance floor while Justin Dillon contributes analog synths and digital plug-ins for a little nod to electronic music of the past.  Drummer Matthew Kevin Dunn adds a live element to the production.

GOBI describes their music as a direct fusion of their interests and love for artists they have been influenced by.  GOBI is very inspired by the early house music often played in the clubs in Juarez, Mexico when they were growing up.  Chuco Phil explains, "We all grew up loving the Deftones and although our music is not rock and does not include heavy guitar, the keys we use and the darkness that some of our beats have in them was definitely influenced by their music."  GOBI also listened to gangsta rap, hi-hop and turntablists as they were growing up.  "Naturally we negotiated ways to create a sound and vibe that we hope touches on all of our influences and loves," says Chuco Phil.

In a city known for music, the band's energy fueled live show garnered them Austin Music Foundation's "Artist of the Month."  Last summer the mayor of Austin even declared June 6th as "GOBI Day!"  GOBI has shared the stage with some artists know to Knix Mix fans such as MSRTKRFT, Paper Diamond, and Big Gigantic.  GOBI has performed at numerous festivals including Insomniac's Nocturnal Fest, Neon Desert Music Fest, and the Pachanga Music Festival.  GOBI's re-release of their debut LP Gold on Black Ice with five previously unreleased songs became available on February 10, 2015.

  

Ten Questions and Answers with Chuco Phil of GOBI!

1. Favorite band?  Deftones
2. What is your earliest music memory?  My earliest memory of first really “feeling” music is when I was about 3yrs old.  My mom took me to a nearby Indian reservation in New Mexico.  There was a ceremony going on where they had built a fire, and there were dancers in traditional garb.  Most of the music was simply made from a group of men humming and singing a simple melody, but the drums…the drums seemed to possess my body.  Before I knew it, I was dancing around the fire with the men.  My mom told me to stop, but one of the dancers said that it was fine.  That was probably the first memory I have of truly being inspired by music beyond logic and comprehension.  It was also the first time I learned how you can meet new and interesting people through music; how communal and nurturing the whole music culture should and can be.
3. What was the first band you saw in concert?  My dad took me to see Alan Jackson when I was five, but my first concert that I chose - rather begged - to go to was Pearl Jam.  The Ramones was the opening band.  Pure rock amazement!
4. What hobbies and interests do you have?  We love to get out of the city and get into nature - mainly because we are obsessed with space.  When we tour through the Midwest, we often stop at our drummer’s dad’s house out in Clay Center, Kansas.  We love to drive out to the fields, have some smoke and some cold ones and just look up in awe.  When you can see the belt of the Milky Way, you can really put a lot of things in perspective.  Suddenly problems seem to dissipate and inspiration grows.  If you follow us on Twitter, we are always tweeting about new discoveries in our galaxy and the infinite galaxies beyond.
5. Do you have a nickname?  I go by “Chuco Phil,” Justin goes by “Dillon,” and Matt goes by “Dunny.”  So, yeah, I guess we all have nicknames.
6. Favorite food?  We love Mexican food.  Growing up on the border, you could never have Christmas without tamales.  We’ve come to the conclusion that the best gorditas come from a small spot in Canutillo, Texas named - quite appropriately - The Little Diner.
7. Favorite book?  Right now, our favorite book is Ready Player One.  We have read it a few times and have listened to the audible version on the road multiple times.  My favorite book of all time would have to be The Fountainhead.  I’ve read it over four times but not because of the political themes or rhetoric.  I love the idea of Howard Roark and how uncompromising, unique, groundbreaking, and individualized he is with respect to his craft of architecture, which is his art.
8. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?  This one is tough because we read a bunch of comics.  I was always fascinated by telepathy, but after a while my own thoughts drive me nuts, so this would end up most likely being a curse.  I once read a comic about Gambit and in the comic they noted that one of his highest powers was his charm.  I thought that was hilarious, but as an adult I realize how powerful that can be.  Just ask George Clooney or Bill Clinton.
9. Best compliment ever received?  When the crowd instantly begins to dance is not only the greatest immediate feedback, but also the best compliment we can receive.  Quite simply - dancing is like being on a jet ski, and you can’t be mad when you’re on a jet ski.
10. Biggest misconception about you?  A lot of people think since we play electronic music that all we do is DJ, go to clubs and listen to music that goes “oonce, oonce, oonce” all day and night.  But being born in Texas and being classically trained in different instruments, we love to check out jazz artists, bluegrass, rock, and classical.  We like to switch instruments when we practice and just jam out; to reach that point of spontaneity and get back to improvisation.

Follow GOBI on Twitter and Instagram using @GOBIband  

Check them out on Facebook!

Visit GOBI's website for tour dates and more information!

Dopethought & Worth

I recently had the pleasure of speaking to a young hip hop artist who changed my ideas about hip hop for the better.  Dopethought interviewed with me on The Knix Mix in support of the January release of the Dopethought and Worth track "Godly Indigos."  The track was written by Dopethought in collaboration with AK and Issa from The Underachievers and composed by producer Worth.  I fully admit I went into my interview with Dopethought with a fairly narrow frame of reference about hip hop.  My hip hop music collection mostly runs to where hip hop meets electro-pop in the form of Afrika Baambaata.

Dopethought is from Salt Lake City, Utah.  He is half Dominican and most of his dad's side of the family reside in New York, Boston, MA and Rhode Island.  Dopethought said he grew up breakdancing and listening to hip hop.  He started free styling at age 17 when he was in high school.  When his family moved to Michigan, so his mother could to go to law school, he chose to stay in Utah with his grandfather.  Differing viewpoints had him moving out while still in high school.  He had an opportunity to go to college on a baseball scholarship, but he wanted to make a difference with his voice.

It was around this time that the name Dopethought was born.  An encounter with a psychologist who explained to him that dopamine is the main chemical of happiness in the brain and releases a natural state of euphoria.  While the word "dope" is derived from dopamine, it has a negative connotation.  It was meaningful to Dopethought that the term started out positive, and positivity can evoke progression in people's lives.  

People have naturally been conditioned to stereotype what hip hop is, as I have been, and Dopethought set about to create hip hop that is more than just about money, cars, clothes and women.  He was inspired by the independent underground hip hop artists he listened to, which includes artists like Atmosphere.  He realized you can actually speak from anywhere with hip hop.  "What those artists did for me is opened my mind to the possibility that there's more to it.  Like even what I'm doing right now with you or anyone that may have a negative connotation of hip hop, but now you're hearing I'm just as hip hop as anyone else but my intentions are different.  That's all it comes down to in life.  It comes down to what is your real intention behind it.  Of using whatever tools you use."

Dopethought likens it to the numerous genres that constitute rock.  "You have heavy metal, you have classic rock, you have punk rock...There are so many different styles it doesn't mean that if you didn't like heavy metal, you wouldn't like indie rock because it's two different sounds.  It's the same with hip hop.  It's hard to say it's this or it's that when all you know is on mainstream radio.  All they want to do is evoke people to buy the next hot clothing brand, go to the club and buy alcohol, do drugs.  It's easy to naturally think that everything I know about hip hop is true."

The New Age definition of an Indigo suggests someone who is curious, emphatic and strong-willed with a clear sense of self and spiritual connectivity, which leads them to a higher purpose in life.  Hence becoming a "Godly Indigo."  Dopethought explains "Not just in America, but probably all over the world, people are talking about the concept of Indigo  I'm a kid who was born in 1991.  Most of the Indigo's generation, from what I've researched, is from the 80's to mid 90's.  My perception of an Indigo kid is someone who goes against stipulations of conditions that have been planned by society to this point.  This is why people in my age group have an issue with leadership roles or like in a classroom.  A lot of Indigo kids have problems paying attention.  They have issues with authority figures.  I guess you could say it isn't that they're so much against authority figures.  Just the way the human mind is naturally evolving, it being the age of information. There's so much that you can learn at such a young age.  Things are so different from the way they were for the generation before."

"The song is mainly me and Worth, who is the producer.  He produced the beat.  It's kind of an old school jazzy feel but it has a little bit of the New Age twist.  We tried to bring in an essence of sampling as it was done when hip hop first started.  Hip hop is going in a circle now.  It's like they say history repeats itself, so hip hop is kind of transitioning (along with all kinds of music) back being more positive, more thought evoking.  There is less of a mindset where hip hop went to the gangsta era to more of a material gain era.  I think it's going back to kids still talk about the same things in hip hop, but they kind of have a broader view of life." 

Though they are well regarded in their part of the country, Dopethought said he and worth are trying to bring their music to a national audience.  "The Underachievers, who are from New York, are pretty well known. They had a mix called "Indigoism."  It was enlightening for me to meet kids with the same thought process. We didn't know if it was just us or if we were crazy.  When you figure out that there are other people you've never heard before, you've never heard their music, and they are on the same plane, it must be something that's going on in a general consciousness.  We just try to bring the issues, whether it be personal like with emotions or relationships, to the government or religious issues. Music, but especially hip hop, has the forum."  

Dopethought said his sound to this point has been directly from his soul.  "I'm trying to show that people still care about the essence of hip hop.  I'm very strategic about how I get my stuff out there and let it naturally build.  An artist wants to make what an artist wants to make.  It depends on what your perception of success is.  If your definition is a lot of money and winning Grammys, then you've failed by your standards.  To me, I've succeeded already.  I'm doing what I love and using music as a tool to make a difference in people's lives and give them a positive perspective in life that I think is lacking in the world right now.  I'm not perfect. I make mistakes.  I'm conscious of the mistakes I make and hold myself to a high standard.  I do have goals to win a Grammy.  I do have a goal to do all those things, but I use my voice to influence kids who listen to hip hop to not just care about material gain, degrading women, the use of drugs.  There are so many artists who have so much power, and they're wasting it to a degree because they make it big and stop caring about the influence they're having.  They get content."  

"At the end of the day, I want to effect kids to realize the power they have and effect all the artists that are big.  The change has to start within yourself.  Everyone can point out the problems, but I'm ready to talk about solutions and give positive feedback.  I think we're really tired of the negative that's taking over society's mindset.  I try to keep my focus on what I actually care about and what my goals are, so that I stay in that realm. On a general scale, the messages that we're speaking haven't hit a full mainstream level. They're still on an underground level.  More and more kids are awakening to the idea."

To learn more about Dopethought and Worth, The Underachievers, or the new track "Godly Indigos," you can find information on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, iTunes and Spotify.  Dopethought is an artist who wants to connect with people personally.  "If you want to learn more about anything, feel free to find me on Facebook.  I'm always down to have conversations.  I'm not one of those artists who want you to listen to me, but I never want to have a conversation with you."  

I was genuinely impressed with Dopethought, and his words went a long way in dispelling some of the assumptions I had about hip hop and hip hop artists.  I applaud his efforts at stepping outside of what has defined the genre in the past and using the platform of music for good.  I'll be watching closely to see where Dopethought's career takes him.  Check back in a few weeks for an interview with the producer Worth, who will be chatting with me about his hip hop album "13Love" set for release in late January 2014!

Dopethought & Worth on Facebook

Godly Indigos on YouTube

Pretty Lights at Alfond Arena

On Friday, September 20^th the eager crowd stood in long lines snaking all the way out to the parking lot.  Something big was happening at Alfond Arena.  Indeed, self-described electro soul hip hop producer Pretty Lights aka Derek Vincent Smith was in town to perform.  A reported 2600 tickets were sold for the event, which “surpassed expectations” according to Sarah Goode, VP of Student Entertainment.  I’d had a chance to speak with Derek about his new album “A Color Map of the Sun” on The Knix Mix the week prior, and I was happy to be in attendance to show my support.  Derek, a Colorado native, was particularly looking forward to this show because a close friend and artist on the Pretty Lights label went to school here and raved about Maine at this time of year.  Naturally, I agreed since I am a Maine native and highly prejudiced in this regard.   I also highly recommended Derek try a Maine lobster while he was here, and he promised he would.    The Pretty Lights performance at Alfond was one of the last of his summer touring cycle and the production was perfected on the festival circuit.  Derek vowed Maine concertgoers would hear Pretty Lights “at the top of his game in a synchronized multimedia show.”

On The Knix Mix, I asked Derek about his inspiration for “A Color Map of the Sun,” which was recorded in Brooklyn, New Orleans and the Pretty Lights studio in Denver, Colorado.  He composed all of the songs and wrote most of the lyrics.  Interestingly, some of the lyrics are reworkings of old gospel songs and members of the Harlem Gospel Choir contributed vocals.  Derek’s goal for the album was to make something “classic and timeless that is emotional and intriguing while also being interesting sonically.”  While all the tracks on the album speak to him, he particularly likes “Color of My Soul,” which is the track that originally inspired the album.  Pretty Lights has always employed a free download model, which has become “a philosophy of creation and artistic expression.”  Still a surprising 15,000 copies of A Color Map of the Sun sold in the first week while another 100,000 copies were downloaded for free, placing “A Color Map of the Sun” high not only on the electronic charts but propelling it to number 24 on the Billboard Top 200.  Derek is currently busy with his directorial debut, which will be a music video for a remixed version of “Color of My Soul.”  He says that the song inspired the video and the video in turn can come back and re-inspire the song, which will make for “a cohesive piece of art.”  “An audio, visual, emotional experience.”

 We spoke about the inspiration for Pretty Lights’ characteristic style.  Derek said his musical taste is deeply rooted in an early appreciation of vinyl and a love of hip hop.  Different than a lot of producers who started with synthesizers or computers, the foundation on which Derek built his style is the record.  He said he spent a lot of time digging through flea market record crates.  Derek said he discovered he was especially drawn to a certain era of sound, particularly a 60’s soul sound, when sampling records.  He also uses sounds from music genres, vocals and instruments, some bizarre, that span an entire century.  He takes the best of everything and works it together in a new and interesting way.   In a live setting Derek manipulates songs, using a number of tracks he and friends remixed off the album, mixing and producing on the fly, throwing a party with Pretty Lights tracks that make you “dance and drop hard.”  The result is that each performance is fresh and innovative.

As the crowd poured into the arena, I took up a position in the middle rear of the floor, so I had an ideal view of the stage and could surreptitiously people watch.  The concert goers, mostly college students, were doing their best to emulate the festive party atmosphere of an outdoor music festival despite the indoor arena locale.  The uniform de rigueur appeared to be neon.  Lots of neon.  And glow accessories.  Lots of glow accessories.  The girls were bedecked in booty shorts and tank tops in shocking shades of pink or green, and the boys favored board shorts and brightly colored tees.  To me, it’s a look more at home on the boardwalk at Old Orchard Beach, but what do I know?  When I was at UMaine, all my friends wore black and listened to morose bands like The Cure and The Smiths.  Our party music tended towards angry industrial like Ministry and Nitzer Ebb.  Notably, a number of the girls were rocking a boho-chic headband around the forehead look while the boys favored trucker style caps.  Emblazoned on more than one were the words “Sorry mom.”  Indeed, there was twerking a la Miley Cyrus going on, which would give most parents a coronary.

One of the unique things about Pretty Lights’ music is that it is appreciated across music genre boundaries.  What I like to call “alterna-kids” were represented at the show, though in lesser numbers than the neon clad masses.  I was visually stalking a boy wearing all black from head to toe except for a red skinny tie.  He had long New Wave style crimped bangs peeking out from a porkpie hat.  He couldn’t have stood out more than if he was plucked from 1986 and deposited by a DeLorean onto the arena floor.  It’s a look I love but haven’t seen much of since Flock of Seagulls topped the charts.  If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you are not my age, and you should look up Second British Invasion immediately for reference.  There was a group of hippie chicks wearing flowing dresses and sporting dreadlocks who admirably owned their corner of the floor, dancing ethereally in a manner I associate with the Cocteau Twins.  Also seen were three people sporting multicolored light up LED gloves who joined together to face off in a battle of the neon fingertips.  I’m not sure who won.

There was reserved seating at the show, but the majority of attendees took up a position on the floor.  So many were pouring over the short wall between the seats and the floor that it reminded me a bit of that scene in World War Z where the zombies were spilling over the fortress wall.  You know the one.  A rousing chant of “USA!  USA!” was heard before the lights went down.  The crowd erupted when opening act, producer and DJ Kap Slap, started his set.  Club remixes of popular songs had the crowd cheering.  People danced, girls were hoisted on boys’ shoulders for a better view, and there was even some crowd surfing going on.  There was a bit of a snafu before the second opener, producer and DJ 3LAU, went on.  Dean of Students at UMaine, Dr. Robert Dana, announced to the crowd that the performance would not continue until people who held tickets for reserved seating got off the floor and into their seats per the fire marshal.  Those who were allowed to remain on the floor were wearing the requisite wristbands.  It took about 20 minutes and an impassioned plea from 3LAU, who had driven all the way from Las Vegas the night before after his flight was delayed, for the crowd to disperse.  The mood was dampened slightly, but it wasn’t long after 3LAU’s set began that people were back in a party mood.  3LAU’s set included his original mix “Escape,” which was received with much enthusiasm.

When Pretty Lights took to the stage, he delivered on his promise to be at the top of his game.  Derek’s gear was set up high on the stage and he is tall in stature, so he is a commanding force on stage.  One has the impression of a genius maestro at play.  The Pretty Lights stage production is a spectacle to behold in itself.  At the Bonnaroo Music Festival in 2009 Derek was the first to unveil a video screen on stage, which was commonplace by the time he played at Bonnaroo for the 3^rd time, this year, so he decided to “go backwards to go forwards” and take the video screen out.  Instead he created interesting light effects using state of the art lighting fixtures and lasers, hidden disco balls and filament bulbs.  He employed three dimensional laser shapes onstage instead of simply laser beams.  The result is a visual delectation.  Most importantly, Derek seemed to be having fun on stage, which was infectious, and the crowd responded in kind.  When Pretty Lights’ headlining set was over, the crowd pleaded for an encore with a chant of “One more song!”  Derek obliged with a 20 minute set.  As I left Alfond to head to my car, I noted that most of the people leaving en masse were sweaty but upbeat.  A definitive sign of a good show if you ask me.  My only remaining thought was “Hmmm.  I wonder if Derek ever did get to try a Maine lobster?”