BYOS Interview #1
An interview that appeared in a fanzine named Build Your Own Scene.BYOS:how long have you been rapping?
C-Head: Phew lets see...I've been writing/rapping for at least 5-6 years with many years ahead of me... hopefully, unless I get arrested or assassinated...or both. Yeah, if you see that I've died of mysterious causes or some shit like that, don't beleive it.
BYOS: why the name crackhead?
C-Head: Well first and foremost, it's an attention getter. I'm not gonna lie. With that in mind, I'm trying to grab your attention for a reason. I'm not here trying to fill my pockets with absurd amounts of cash or to sell my sneakers or whatever, I'm all about raising consciousness, waking people up from their hypnotized/zombified state. There's a lot of stuff that needs to be changed and people need to get up and do something about it.
Oh and I'm skinny, use drugs, and talk in long, rambling sentences, so people have called me crackhead for a long time, probably as long as I've been spitting flows.
BYOS: what inspired you to put politics into your raps?
C-Head: A lot of stuff. Punk rock (none of that MTV BS, I mean real punk rawk), living around a bunch of religous zealots (backwater traditionalist preachers made me really disdain organized religion), and 9-11. Actually 9-11 was a huge catalyst for my mission through music. After 9-11 when everyone went out and bought as many flags as they possibly could...I felt ashamed to be an American. Not only was I ashamed at the commercial exploitation of the events (IE yuppies buying flags by the metric ton), but the fact that very few individuals saw the symbolism behind the attacks. The ignorance and arrogance of America is what forces me to speak out.
BYOS: gotta say I dig your stuff (i like some hip hop but not most of what is cool today) any people who inspired you?
C-Head: There's also a group called the Kottonmouth Kings from California, I don't really dig their sound nowadays, but their first CD Royal Highness, is what inspired me to start writing. On top of that there's a punk rock outfit known as Choking Victim (RIP), and a rapper named Immortal Technique. My sound is similar to Technique's, except he grew up in the ghetto, and I grew up on the cold hard streets of suburbia. OH and Hunter S. Thompson, god rest his soul. Don't beleive the lies, he was assassinated!
BYOS: do you do your own beats? any help? What programs? (tell me a little about your recording process)
C-Head: For the most part yes, I do my own beats. There's a couple that have guitar riffs in them, I don't play guitar so other people layed those down and I looped 'em. I primarily use Fruity Loops for the beat making and then for recording I've used everything from digital work stations to MAGIX to demos of CuBase and ProTools. I don't have ANY money for recording so, I usually just get a song fully written/layed out , then lock myself in the nearest bathroom or closet and click record on whatever I happen to be using (usually my laptop). I usually will record a song the whole way through if I can, it gives it a more authentic sound. That doesn't mean I won't do multiple takes/overdubs/record verses separately, but the rawest form appeals to me the most. If it needs to be tweeked with by means of technology, then I'm not gonna say NO, ya know?
BYOS: so you have an album out?
C-Head: Not any legitimate albums. I have tons of songs recorded (that are all floating around on various samplers/burned CDs/tapes). I'm planning on releasing an album called Thug Life (sarcasm, I can't stress that enough) in the next couple months (of course I've been saying that for months). It's gonna go all over the place musically, hip-hop, punk, acoustic style rock, ska, techno, country, gangsta rap, it's gonna be nuts. I just have to finish recording it, and maybe get it pressed, but I don't have any money so it'll probably be given away for free on the internet for a while or something. Who knows, just expect mad flava.
BYOS: shows coming up? (this wont be in this next issue, but the next so if you dont know any yet, maybe you can tell me about the shows you play coming up here)
C-Head: Yeah I'm doing a show on April 16 at a place called the Needle House in Chicago. It's a hip-hop/punk rock show. Should be good, the other acts that are performing are kick-ass, 5 bucks at the door, it's gonna be a good time. Then there's on on May 28 at a place called Blue Room Recording. It's some recording studio that's recording my set on audio. So yeah if you want to participate in CRACKhead history come yell some profanity into the mic and you'll be forever remember as the asshole who ruined the perfectly good live CD. There's gonna be more shows booked soon too, I guess I'll plug the web site here. If you want info on shows, lyrics, albums, street teams, free music, go to www.ineedcrack.com. Catchy isn't it?
BYOS: chicago give you a warm welcome? (people seem to dig it?)
C-Head: Yeah I've been getting really good responses, especially after I opened a show on the 26th of February (well me and a fellow rapper named Hoop Star opened it in a dual set thing thing). I'm finding that there's a lot of people interested in something/someone different than the weak, watered down shit that's on the radio, which is AWESOME. I've been getting lots of props through the internet too, it's always nice to hear people you've never met show love.
Unity without conformity, or something like that.
Fin.