Clang & Clatter

After Adam “MCA” Yauch’s passing last week—and when a friend of mine started posting Beastie Boys videos on his blog—I started a process of digging a little deeper into the Beastie Boys’ background and music catalog.

My introduction to the Beasties was (naturally) Licensed to Ill, funnily enough through one of my younger brother’s friends who wanted to listen to the album every day on the way to school. Of course I gravitated to the heavier (and less hip-hoppy) tracks “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” and “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party),” but I was also exposed to tracks like “She’s Crafty,” “Brass Monkey” (I still haven’t recovered from that one), and “Paul Revere” that I could appreciate from a creative standpoint. It’s not that I necessarily disliked the burgeoning rap scene, it’s just not where my head was at the time, and truthfully, it was a little uncool for metalheads to actually enjoy rap, right?! Remember, this was around the time Anthrax released their rap goof “I’m the Man” and well before their “Bring the Noise” collaboration with Public Enemy that was the final signal that it was now OK to like hip hop that we metal devotees had been waiting for.

With each successive Beastie Boys release, I was exposed to less and less of their material, hearing only the tracks mainstream media or friends latched onto. So with Paul’s Boutique it was “Shake Your Rump” and “Hey Ladies,” and until recent years I had only heard “So What’cha Want” from Check Your Head and Ill Communication’s “Sabatoge.” Little did I know that the Beastie Boys could actually play instruments and had started life as a hardcore punk band—which makes sense the further into their catalog you listen—nor did I realize that their music had become more removed from traditional hip hop.

In all my research, I ran into this long-ish—and often uncomfortable—interview the Beastie Boys did with Charlie Rose. It’s apparent that in the beginning the guys—especially Ad-Rock—fully expected to conduct the entire interview in character and pull their normal stunts, but Rose was having none of it, alternately giving it back to them or giving up and changing the subject. Once things settled down a bit, it turned into quite a good conversation about their career.

All in all, it’s a great interview, and despite the occasional weirdness, it appears that a good time was had by all.

Enjoy!

Here’s an interview with Ty Tabor and Doug Pinnick of King’s X from late 2001 shortly after the release of Manic Moonlight. The guys discuss everything from the songwriting process and the decision to use loops on the album to the cover design and how the album was named. They also talk a bit about the rigors of touring, working in the studio, and what they see as the problems with the music industry.

At one point the conversation turns to the internet and using it to promote a band’s music. Here’s what Ty had to say:

The internet is important but highly overrated still at this point… It just doesn’t come anywhere close to reaching the market yet… It will someday, but it’s nowhere close yet… [at] being actually really effective.

Remember, this was 2001, and while MP3 players had been around for awhile, Apple’s iPod had likely just been introduced to the market, so there was no iTunes or Amazon music store to speak of. For that matter, there was no Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Bandcamp, Soundcloud, or any of the other online and social media tools that bands use to market themselves these days.

I bet present-day Ty really wishes he could go back in time and have a talk with his 2001 self. Then again, after listening to him and Doug talking about being comfortable with where they are in the band’s career, maybe not.

Enjoy!

Then… is a long-out-of-print retrospective of the genesis of King’s X. Originally released on VHS, this backyard interview finds Doug, Ty, and Jerry reminiscing about how they repeatedly crossed paths as part of the Springfield, MO music scene and how they finally decided to form a band together. The trip down memory lane includes discussions, videos, and photos of the guys slogging away in the Springfield club circuit first as The Edge and then as Sneak Preview before deciding to pack up and move to Houston, following the promise of a record contract and a gig as the support band for Morgan Cryar. The interview concludes with the band having finally changed its name to King’s X, formulating its signature sound, and signing with Megaforce Records after getting the attention of Jon “Jonny Z” and Marsha Zazula by way of Memphis of all places.

Enjoy!

CNN’s Poppy Harlow takes an inside look into the business workings of KISS for CNN Presents—everything from the merch booth at concerts to the huge licensing deals to coffins and condoms. I really hate I missed this last night, but you get the gist of the show from the above clip and some of the interview clips on the CNN Presents blog.

Enjoy!