Kottonmouth Kings - The Pier.org Interview
KOTTONMOUTH KINGS INTERVIEW
By Pilipo
Just like the current Pier background color, the Kottonmouth Kings has been thinking ‘Green’ of late. This So Cal rip hop crew just released its tenth studio album - nicely titled The Green Album. Band founder/MC Daddy X dropped by The Pier again to give us all the latest buzz from the KMK camp.
The Pier: With plenty of acoustic tracks, The Green Album certainly has a more laid back vibe. What was the decision behind that musical direction for this album?
Daddy X: Really it was because a lot of these songs were written on an acoustic guitar to begin with. Since it is our tenth record we wanted to make a statement with it. The whole concept of The Green Album, is everyone on the planet is thinking ‘green’ these days. We put our own little Kottonmouth Kings twist on it, as it is synonymous with the herb and of course with the environment too. We thought those types of songs kinda fit a classic rock/hip hop feel.
We are all fans of classic rock and so that came through in some of those songs and sometimes the best songs are written just on an acoustic guitar, you get to the organic roots of a song that way.
The Pier: What’s the story behind the album’s first single, Where I’m Going?
Daddy X: It is just about trying to find your way in the world - this crazy matrix that we call reality.
The Pier: What was it like filming the video for that song?
Daddy X: We had a real good time. The guy riding the chopper in that video is Seth Enslow, he is a friend of ours and a freestyle motor-cross legend. He had the distance jump record for many years.
The Pier: I know who Seth is. He didn’t break any bones on your video shoot I hope?
Daddy X: Yeah he wasn’t doing too many crazy things. He came out for the day and we filmed it at a ghost town in Southern California. We just wanted to be out in the desert cause I think that visual captures the feeling of the song very well.
The Pier: Any other songs from the album you particularly proud of or are a little different you want to talk about?
Daddy X: There is a song called Superhero. It is very cool because my daughter (Sky Blue) is on that track and I had a fun time doing that with her. It’s more of a punk song.
The Pier: I was going to ask you about that, it must be very cool for her that not only is her dad in this popular band but she gets to be on the records too.
Daddy X: Yeah she has made little appearances here and there on all our albums since she was a baby. There is a song called Size of an Ant, where we sampled her crying and worked it into the beat. It was pretty funny. She is always around and when I am not touring, of course, I want to spend as much as I can with her, so she will be hanging out with me in the studio. She has got such a cute voice and so we just like to put her on. It’s kind of interesting how we have documented her growing up on CD. She will either love me or hate me for that later down the line. Not sure how that is going to go yet.
The Pier: What does her friends think of her recording career?
Daddy X: She is really shy about it and does not like her friends to hear it at all. It is pretty funny.
The Pier: Tell us about the special guests you got on this album, like Brother J and Tech N9ne.
Daddy X: We do a song called Freeworld with Brother J (X-Clan), which is kind of a real melodic track. Brother J is a hip hop and legend and to have him on that song was kind of interesting because it is not your typical “hip hop” track. But because of the lyrical content it just made so much sense. He understood why I wanted him on that song and it is one of my favorite on the record believe it or not.
Sex Toy has Tech N9ne featured on it, well it is always fun doing something with him. I wrote the hook to that song and it has this middle eastern, reggae kind of feel to it. The song has this classic stripper sexual vibe. Tech N9ne is my most favorite outspoken nymphomaniac I know… so I gave him a call.
The Pier: Now I hear you are planning on donating a percentage of the album sales to environmental causes?
Daddy X: The three charities we picked, one was Surfrider Foundation, which does things to help clean-up the ocean. Living in California the ocean has always been a big part of our lives growing up. I used to live a block from the beach and at least once a month the beach would closed down due to the pollution. Our DJ, Bobby B, actually ended up in the hospital for two weeks and had to have surgery and almost died from swallowing polluted ocean water. So that really hit close to home.
We are also donating to Life Rolls On, which Jesse Billauer started. He was a pro-surfer that was paralyzed in a surfing accident and started this organization to help people with spinal-cord injuries. The last charity is Ward 57, which is a hospital for veterans in Virginia. We have been donating to that the last couple of tours.
The Pier: Very cool. Now the band certainly lives the Subnoize party lifestyle. Has there ever been any close calls over the years that may have put an end to the dream. Bike or car accident etc?
Daddy X: Absolutely, that is part of living. Johnny Richter actually in the last couple of years has walked away from two car accidents. One time him and his brother were coming back from the river and they ended up flipping their car. Both ended up walking away from it. Last year he wrecked his Cadillac on the freeway. D-Loc got really sick last year too, those things happen to everybody and at any point it could end, but we are still up on the board riding the wave somehow.
The Pier: You got some pretty sweet artwork for the new album. How did that come about?
Daddy X: I had the concept to make it like an old produce ad. Ricky Vodka, who used to play in a punk band called the Humble Gods, and is Lou-Dog’s brother, he does graphic art for a living so he designed and layed out the cover art. I love the cover too.
The Pier: How was the second Strange Noize Tour you did this year over the Summer? I was at the Seattle Show, it was pretty wicked.
Daddy X: It actually went really good. With the economy we were a little worried people would not have the money to come out. But then they came out in record numbers for the whole tour. It was pretty amazing.
The Pier: It must be hard these days to work out a set-list with so many songs to choose from?
Daddy X: When you do a record, some songs really surface as what will be the better live songs, you know? We will work through those and always play the classics from each record. We have so many songs we are always changing it up, there is only so many songs you can do in a two hour set.
The Pier: For a band that is so openly pro-weed, I always wonder how you are not constantly getting busted by the cops.
Daddy X: We are pro-weed and pro-personal freedom. At this stage in the game, I think as a race the quicker we embrace nature instead of fighting it we are going to be in a better position. As a band we are very conscious about what states we are in when we are touring and how much weed we are carrying. We know we are a target. We have our bus raided but we travel very smart. We don’t feel like criminal for smoking weed, it’s just part of our daily lives.
The Pier: What about Suburban Noize Records, what else have you got planned for next year?
Daddy X: Sen Dog from Cypress Hill just put out an album. (hed) PE has a new record called New World Orphans dropping in early 09. Unwritten Law is working on an album and so is Big B. King Spade is also in the studio, plus Hidden Stash 4 will be coming out soon. X Clan has a new album dropping called Mainstream Outlaw. Potluck too with Pipe Dream. We got lots of albums dropping in early 09. The Subnoize Souljaz is doing a covers album, remaking hip hop classics. All the guys are picking a song from the golden era of hip hop. That should be a pretty fun record.
The Pier: For sure. I heard rumors of a KMK all-acoustic album?
Daddy X: It is something we have definitely talked about. We really want to strip it down to doing a real acoustic jam band kind of record. I am just not sure when we are going to do it. We want to re-do some of our songs in this trippy jam band style and we will probably write a bunch of new songs for it too. We were going to do it before the touring cycle started for this album but we kind of ran out of time.
Speaking of running out of time… thanks again to Daddy X for letting us take up some of his valuable time for this killer interview.
A Kronic Kottonmouth Kondition. “Homegrown in Southern California”, The Kottonmouth Kings release “The Green Album” on Suburban Noize Records - already Billboard’s #1 independent album.
