How would you describe the nerdcore style?

MC Frontalot- Nerdcore is very much like all of the rest of hip-hop, which we’re all so familiar with at this point, except there’s much less pressure on you to be cool. You don’t have to be cool at all, you could be a huge dork and it would still be okay that you’re rapping.

Well, we’re all in art school, so I think we’re all a bunch of weirdos over here, too. I was looking into your music videos, and they have a lot of interesting themes. Do you have one that stands out as your favorite?

There’s one for “Stoop Sale” off of my 5th album. It was directed by Max Isaacson and it’s all puppets. I don’t know whether it’s really the best. It seems like [it is] when I watch it, or whether I’m just attached to the long week spent in that freezing Brooklyn warehouse building a ⅓ scale neighborhood out of plywood and paint.

You were at SXSW (South by Southwest) this past March. How was that for you?

It was a really good year. It’s my 12th one in a row I think? It was all so overwhelming at first, but now I love it there. I didn’t think when I was little that Texas would be one of the places I liked going to every year, but I really do look forward to visiting Austin.

Your popularity skyrocketed once the webcomic Penny Arcade dropped your name. Would you consider this your ‘big break’, and what did that moment feel like?

It was 2000 or 2001 when Penny Arcade linked up one of my songs, “Yellow Lasers”. That was definitely a big explosion from having a couple downloads for each track to having thousands of people curious about it. It’s so funny to think of some link on a blog being a big break, but it kinda was. I’d say a larger thing was after that when Negin Farsad made a documentary feature about my band’s first tour, and that was on Netflix for a few years… She named it after the first album, it’s called Nerdcore Rising.

My next question is actually about that! You were featured in that film, I believe Weird Al Yankovic was in that as well?

Weird Al’s in there, [director Negin Farsad] got a lot of interesting people for the movie… I love the movie. I think it’s a great introduction to nerdcore, and more selfishly, it’s a fantastic advertisement for my band… I feel like I’m better at rapping now, it’s a little embarrassing to watch all the song parts of the documentary, but it’s still a funny and heartwarming time.

Your new album seems to deal with a lot of issues and opinions on technology. What is your opinion on the current technological state of our environment?

It’s called Net Split, or the Fathomless Heartbreak of Online Itself and it’s a breakup record about Internet. I’m a grumpy old man and I used to love Internet, and I still love Internet, of course, but I’m also terrified and horrified every time I go online. It’s just this cesspool of misery and hatred. But what are you gonna do? Humanity has got some conflicts to work out and now we have this gigantic new playground where everyone can hurt each other’s feelings anonymously… I think there’s hope, hope for the future. There has to be. If there’s none, then why log on at all?

MC Frontalot will be performing at Smith’s Olde Bar in Atlanta, GA on Monday, May 13th.

The post Interview With MC Frontalot, the Face of the Nerdcore Rap Movement appeared first on SCAD Radio.

Ian- Tell us how you got involved in the Wounded Warrior Project.

Tom- Like most people who watch TV, I’ve seen the commercials for Wounded Warrior, and they’re kinda heartbreaking. My dad in particular was a navy vet… My father-in-law, Walter, was a fighter pilot in World War II, he was a marine… I’m watching [a Wounded Warrior commercial], and decided to draw a line between veterans in my family and modern day veterans. It just turns out my father-in-law passed away inexplicably on December 7th four years ago. This past December 7th, my wife was feeling sad on the anniversary of her father’s death and I said “You know what, I’m gonna get the band to do a show for veterans… I reached out to [Wounded Warrior] and got a woman on the phone that day and she said to go online, and then registered us for an event. That’s why the band is playing a show on Saturday night, March 9th at the American Legion hall on Forsyth Park. All the money is going to wounded warriors.

Abby- Being able to perform a show for a cause you’re passionate about must be a very meaningful experience. Have you had any other meaningful live performances as the Park-Daffins?

Scott- As of right now, no.

T- I will say this, and Scott may smack me. The Park-Daffins only play original music, and we have found it extraordinarily difficult to find venues in Savannah to play. I’ve personally reached out to 10 nightclubs, and if you’re not playing cover songs, it’s very difficult to get them to break that barrier. I find it frustrating and sad because Savannah has this great reputation for being artistic and has so many music fests. It strikes me as rather ironic that a band that sticks to its mission of only playing original songs can hardly get to play any gigs. We’ve only played 3-4 gigs because the nightclubs wanna hear cover bands. I’d say any gig is meaningful because it means we’ve broken through.

I- How did you guys meet?

S- Tom and I played tennis together for 3 years, and we played at Daffin Park. Tom came up with a bunch of names, I looked at ‘em. I said “what about Park Daffin? Just switch the names.” Knowing Tom, he says “that’s a good idea, but we gotta add something to it.” So he put “the” in front of it, and a hyphen between “Park” and “Daffin”.

T- I said “I play guitar, and I used to be in a couple bands”, Scott said “I play drums, and I used to be in a couple bands”. After a couple years, we finally looked at each other and said “we have to play together”… My original idea for the band was to call it The Daffin Parkers. I would be Tommy Parker, he would be Scott Parker, just like the Ramones. Everybody takes their own first name and used the band’s name as the last name.

A- Your publisher, Lose the Cat Publications, has an interesting history behind its name.

(Both laugh)

T- Scott and I played together for a few months and the whole idea was we would do original songs. I wrote a bunch of songs, Scott helped me arrange them, and we were looking for a bass player. A neighbor found a guy in Manhattan, very experienced, spoke to him several times on the phone and he sounded like a perfect fit. I said “Scott, do me a favor, send this guy a bunch of our songs recorded and we’ll see if he likes it.” So Scott sends this potential bass player the songs. When I talked to this guy, he told me “I’m allergic to cats”… Scott gets an email back.

S- He said “Lost the cat”. I said “what’re you talking about?” He meant if I lose [my pet] cat, he’ll come to practice.

T- This guy’s from Manahattan, and when they say a New York minute, they mean a New York minute. This email was 3 sentences that said: “Love the songs. Wanna join the band. Lose the cat.” That bass player never even came to rehearsal.

I- What’s the band’s overall favorite classic rock band?

S- There’s one band we have in common we grew up on, The Beatles. We were both 13-14 years old when they came on The Ed Sullivan Show. Then Tom went to the punk era, I went in the Frank Zappa era, and I’m a big Red Hot Chili Peppers fan right now.

T- One day I was at practice, and I warmed up my fingers by playing some random songs. I was playing an early Beatles song by John Lennon called “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away”… Our bass player is 35, and he’s got a different view of music. He likes more current bands, whereas Scott and I prefer- especially for recording- to record live and raw to get the emotion. [Our bass player] wants everything perfect… There’s a generational clash in our group. He wants perfection because he and our keyboard player grew up in the tech world.

To check out the group’s music videos, click here.

The post Interview With The Park-Daffins Prior to Show for Wounded Warrior Project appeared first on SCAD Radio.

I- You’re from the same state I’m from, New Jersey. Anyone from NJ knows how big Bruce Springsteen is there. Would you say he’s a major inspiration for you getting into music?

Will- No, I have to say that The Boss and I don’t really have much in common musically. To be perfectly honest, I’m not all that familiar with his work. I know that’s kinda blasphemy among the New Jersey population. Bruce Springsteen, I have nothing to do with that man and I have no desire to. Honestly, I’m familiar with two of his songs and if you asked me to name a third I’ll probably name a Tom Waits song instead. Nobody seems to recognize this but one of Bruce Springsteen’s successful songs, “Jersey Girl”, is not actually his song, it’s a Tom Waits song, I’m a big Tom Waits fan.

I- How about Bon Jovi? Another big guy from New Jersey.

Now I’m in pain. Jon Bon Jovi? No thank you.

A- It seems like you’re not into the mainstream rockers from New Jersey, but who would’ve been your childhood inspiration growing up?

A lot of people think I’m joking when I say this ‘cuz people who listen to my music wouldn’t hear anything of it in my songwriting style or any element of what I do. I really like Green Day. I grew up on a steady diet of Green Day… I honestly think Billie Joe Armstrong is one of the greatest songwriters of several generations. His melodic instinct is unparalleled.

A- I mean, didn’t we all grow up on a little Green Day? I think we all did.

For sure. And then Tool. I know that’s a big leap from Green Day, but I switched over from Green Day to Tool, and then that’s all I listened to for 5 years. It was horrible, I was completely insufferable, I walked around in a trench coat and a fedora quoting [Tool’s] “Parabola”. It was bad.

I- Apple Music has your albums listed simply as “rock”, but one listen to any of your songs would second-guess that, so how would you describe your genre?

It’s tough because I don’t ever want to, but it’s a very common question. I get asked that a lot and I usually just wanna be like “no”.

I- Will Wood is the genre.

I don’t wanna say that. That’s James Brown’s schtick, you know? It’s self-aggrandizing in a way that is not a good look. I don’t know, I’m not really a big fan of genre in general. It can be limiting when you say “this is the genre that I play” and that’s that. I’ve always been really attracted to the novelty songs in any given record. Listen to a pop record or a punk record where there’s one song that sounds nothing like the rest of the album, and that’s what I was always drawn to. I always really liked how the musician would set a precedent as to what they do and then subvert it actively… I don’t know what’d I’d call what I do.

A- I’ve heard that you have a daughter that apparently doesn’t exist, could you explain that to us?

I got carried away with a joke. A while back, I saw a video of Eric Nally from Foxy Shazam on stage talking about his son… He was saying “I have a son named Julien” and then someone from the audience was like “bullsh*t!” and he said “No, it’s true”. I thought to myself “maybe it’s not true, maybe this guy doesn’t have a son”. I wouldn’t put it past that guy. Eric Nally has always had a very fluid and experimental stage presence and public persona. I’ve always really admired it. It turns out he does have a son, and I was like “well, what about mine not having a kid? What would that be like?” So I tried it, and I got really carried away. It got to the point where I hired a nine-year-old girl to come up on stage during a show and claim to be my daughter… Public apology to the world- I’m sorry I lied about having a daughter. I don’t regret it.

A- You’re really into character acting. Is that true?

I’ve always been a fan of experimenting with identity and the way identity is presented… I think for the most part, our identity and what we perceive ourselves to be are mostly stories we tell ourselves based on faulty, flawed, reinterpreted memories that pile up and eventually, you have this narrative inside yourself of what you are based on, what you’ve been under, what you’ve said or thought, and it doesn’t actually necessarily relate to reality… At the end of the day, you’re not anything inherently.

I- You orchestrate special things like audience participation and acrobatics in your shows. What kind of magic is there in your concerts that one can’t get by simply listening to your albums?

There’s a difference between a movie and a play, and a difference between a play and a book. There’s a difference of what’s recorded and what’s experienced. I think they should exist as two separate art forms. It would be pretty boring for me and the audience if I just got up on stage and tried to replicate what’s on the album. It would be hard to replicate exactly what’s on the album because going into the studio is such a different process than getting up on stage and trying to interact with an audience, so I think you get the living experience. You get something else entirely. You have songs you may have developed an affinity for by listening to the recordings, but you get them in living, breathing, communicative variants that is never parallel to recordings. I always say I hate concerts. It’s boring. I like shows. It’s a performance; it’s theater… When I get on stage, I have the opportunity to do something different and what has been established so far is who I am publicly and what I do publicly… You don’t get an honest appraisal of my art from the record, you get an honest appraisal of that record.

The post Interview with Avant-Garde Artist Will Wood appeared first on SCAD Radio.

Abby: So, your new album Punk Songs. I feel very surprised by this album. Originally when the music director at SCAD Radio pulled up your music, I could see how I would vibe with it. But after really sitting down and listening to it, I felt that Punk Songs tells a very cohesive story. Each song really makes up a greater part of a whole.

Billy Moon: Oh, wow.

A: What, are you surprised by that?

B: Well, it’s just interesting because I had an interview with a guy last night, and he said “Oh, each song is so different, like “White Shoes” is really aggressive and “Tangerine Dream” is really melodic.”

A: I like “Tangerine Dream” a lot.

B: Oh, yeah thanks. Yeah, I don’t know. Because I wrote White Shoes a couple months before we recorded, and then “Tangerine Dream” I wrote back in like…2010?

A: That’s crazy.

B: Yeah, it was about a girlfriend. “Tangerine Dream”, “Bicycle”, and “Big Black” are fairly old songs. They’re at least 4 or 5 years old.

A: So, that’s kind of interesting. I always thought the creative process for music was working from album to album and starting from scratch every time.

B: That’s how some people work. For me personally, I’ve had a long year. So I’ve been in kind of a creative slump. But I make sure to keep writing and working on new stuff.

A: I’ve read you’re a do-it-yourself kind of person.

B: I don’t record on my own, someone like Mac Demarco would. He writes it, he records it, he plays all the music himself. For me, I’m not that great of a musician. So I need to find a drummer at least. I played bass on one song on the record. I play guitar and I sing and the piano sometimes. You know, kind of. But I can’t play drums.

A: So the album is kind of a patchwork of different times in your life.

B: A little bit, yeah.

A: You mentioned you had a rough year. Do you tend to throw yourself into your work in those times?

B: I do and I don’t. I love performing, and I love this. So much of the work is planning on the road. It’s like… planning a vacation constantly. Where are we going to sleep, where are we going to eat, on and on…it’s a work vacation. But in terms of throwing myself into work: yeah, I do. The property we live on is big, so it’s very demanding in its upkeep. A lot of my time is taken up with just daily chores. I have a lot of responsibility in my “non-music life” that I can’t just walk away from.

A: What is your overall interpretation of the message you put out there with your music?

B: I really don’t know. I’d love to ask other people what they thought. Someone said it’s about expressing vulnerability and kind of admitting to your own faults, which is really something I hope comes through my music. There’s a lot of artists that became activists that I think are really amazing. But I’m also a fan of people who just write these beautiful songs, and just let them be.

A: I just wanted to say, your lyrics really struck a chord with me. I really liked your writing in the song “Dingus”. Especially in this verse: “Same faces staring back / same faces haunting me / for all my efforts, and what they may lack / I was only demanding my own autonomy”. Autonomy defined as: ‘freedom from external control or influence, independence.’ That’s some heavy stuff. I was just wondering, what is your relationship like with writing?

B: I try to keep writing. I’ve been in a slump, but I would always have a Moleskine journal and I was always going and writing in it all the time. But it does kind of spook me that some kid in Los Angeles is currently making an entire album on his cell phone, and it’s just crazy because cell phones are only meant to distract us. We have a whole economy based on what can get our attention the longest. It’s very spooky.

A: Yeah, that makes sense. Because I see a lot of themes of yearning for freedom and criticism to those people who are ‘blind’ or ‘just don’t get it’ in your music.

B: Oh, yeah. Well, I always grew up being the weird kid. Like, I always felt alone, I still do in a lot of ways, and I just felt like a weirdo! And I think that’s something everybody feels like. As you get older, you realize how universal that feeling of loneliness is. And I think sometimes when you’re able to touch it, and you can kind of understand that feeling… you can write really impactful stuff because you can kind of tap into those emotions that everyone shares, but they don’t necessarily know how to articulate.

A: I think the most important thing you can do as a creator is to put art out there that help people feel a little less alone. As a fellow artist, I really respect that.

B: I feel like I’d be doing my friends a disservice by saying I was alone or didn’t have any friends in high school, because my actual friends would be like, “I’m right here!” But despite everything, I’ve had a very privileged life.

A: I mean, despite life’s tests, you’re doing pretty great. You’re making awesome music.

B: You know, that’s funny you say that. The other day my friend told me next year is going to be the ‘year of Billy’. Later that day, our septic tank erupted. And I responded with, “Dude, I better be. I’ve literally been carrying buckets of sh*t.

The post Interview with Punk Artist Billy Moon appeared first on SCAD Radio.