Andy O. – Q&A Interview
We are really impressed by your freshman project “I Never Went to Summer Camp”. How has this project changed your way of thinking regarding a true Hip Hop career?
Thank you, I put a lot of time and effort into it. In fact, during the recording process, after recording probably about 90% of the album, Weighn acquired a Presonus pre-amp that gave the vocal recordings such a rich, warm quality–so we decided to re-record the whole thing. After that it was creating the skits and the little doo-dads between each track (Weighn calls it sprinkling sugar on the project), and that took a lot longer than I expected too.
In hindsight, I’m extremely glad we took the time to do it that way because when it comes to rap cats putting out music online it seems that quality is oftentimes lacking nowadays. And that’s the mindset I’ve kept and the moral that I’ve stuck to–so if I never make it as an artist I won’t be able to look back and say “damn, could I have done it better?”
What influences you in making Hip Hop and your tune for beats?
I grew up listening to a wide variety of music–from Eminem to Wycleff to Linkin Park to Metallica–and lyricism was always what stuck out to me when listening to music. I started writing little rhymes in the 6th grade, was told white kids aren’t allowed to rap, so I got into rock music. I really got into the Atmosphere, MURS, El-P, Cannibal Ox, Aesop Rock, underground vibe (basically anything from Rhymesayers & Def Jux) in the mid-2000s, and that affected me to the core. Started studying KRS a little more, started studying RZA and the Wu, and realized that the philosophies they describe that I connect with center around exploring and knowing oneself and fighting backing against ignorance and oppression. To me that’s what all good art does, so I decided to jump back into hip-hop as a medium, to honor that philosophy, and also cuz, you know, fuck anybody who says I can’t.
Describe your music, and what separates you from other MCs?
I like to think that my music is both insightful and soulful. I’d venture to say it’s more personal and introspective than your average, but is imbued with enough of the general elements of “human experience” that it’s accessible to those who listen. I also went to lengths to make sure that the album is sort of journey and an experience from start to finish. We wanted to treat this as a cohesive project, and not just a collection of songs.
Who have you collaborated with? Who would you like to collab with in the near future?
I run with a company called Earthlings Entertainment, more of an artist collective, and it consists of The Earthlings Rap Crew (myself, Axiom Tha Wyze, Clev Speech, ATG, WoodburN, ZERO, and DJ Manek), The Corvette Dance Crew (Miranda Palacio, Alex McLaughlin, Emily Long, Marissa Grund, and Khoa Nguyen), spoken word artist Sheradan Magee, and EDM DJ & producer Stux. I have collaborated with all of them in some way and will continue to in future–but I really wanna go on a tour de force of Boise, ID artists here in the near future, cats like The Illumneye Crew, Art Maddox, P.Dirt, The Dedicated Servers, Exit Prose, L.Nasty, Arcturus the Architect, and tons of others. Too many to list. I’ve got a lot of love for the scene out here, it’s packed with dope artists.
Our most popular question, whats your definition of “Underground Hip Hop”?
That’s a tough one, and I guess it comes down to perspective. I think traditionally when we think of The Underground, we think of cats slinging CDs out of trunks and backpacks, cats that aren’t on the mainstream radio, and dudes that you really have to go out to a show to see and get their merch. In the 90s and 2000s, that would have been the textbook definition–but when the internet came along with streaming radio and on-demand music, it became a lot easier for people to be heard. The definition’s become twisted. This interview is a great example–I was able to sit down at my computer, email and ask people to take a look at this thing, and boom, if they like it, I’m an “underground artist” by some people’s definition. And for people who don’t have a supportive scene around them, that’s a great thing. But while it was never necessary to network in my scene in Boise, to do live shows here, open for touring artists, or to try to get on local radio when I could–it was always important to me to belong to a culture of artists that have face to face interactions and engage in the performance side of things. The organic side. I think that’s my definition of “Underground Hip Hop”.
How did you link up with Weighn? And how do you think he compliments your style and lyrical output?
When I first got into the Boise scene maybe 2 or 3 years ago, Weighn was producing for a crew called The Illumneye, and they have some of the best, unique flows in Boise, cats I really look up to. So naturally I checked out their producer, found him through SoundCloud, contacted him, hung out a couple of times and became really good friends. Weighn creates such an awesome atmosphere for me to operate in, very solid grounding with the drums but with an atmospheric and spacious overlay. In a way, I think that allows me to rhyme outside of the pocket more often and keep my style and delivery varied and unique.
Any current or future projects you are promoting?
Weighn and I are taking the track “Fairweather Fam” and expanding on the concept in a mini album. Kind of made some mirrored alternate versions of that song, sort of like “Daylight” and “Nightlight” by Aesop Rock, and will be putting them in a compilation called “Beyond Jupiter’s Eye”. It’s pretty much finished, but I have no clue when we’ll be releasing it.
Can you give us a brief description of the creative process of “I Never Went to Summer Camp”? Also/ tell us a little bit about the concept and idea behind your Album/Mixtape Cover Art.
At first I was just kind of buying beats from Weighn as a customer, figuring that I’d put them on a project and just market it as an “Andy O.” album–but as Weighn and I started working together we realized that we wanted to make it into something refined and dope, so we put our heads down in Weighn’s studio in his apartment and recorded, re-recorded, and mixed version after version after version. Couldn’t have done it without him. After we recorded like 15 songs, we cut it down to the 8 you have on the album and added the skits.
The reason I called it “I Never Went to Summer Camp” is because I was talking with my significant other at one point, kind of discussing my general disdain for society and she remarked that I must not have ever gone to summer camp. It kind of stuck… it’s like one of those things that “normal” little All-American suburban kids do, but that I never did. I guess I feel like lot of people don’t really have that type of experience anymore, it’s like a mirage.
Where can we find your music and info?
http://earthlingsentertainment.com/andy-o
https://twitter.com/AndyO_TheHammer/
https://www.facebook.com/AndyO.HipHop
and at the Record Exchange in Boise
Any shout outs?
My younger brothers, the whole Earthlings Crew, you all know who you are, and everybody that works to make Boise, ID and awesome scene. And, of course, the UGHH blog for putting me on. Big ups.
