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MP3 Illegoaliens - Blank Canvas
22 MP3 Songs
HIP-HOP/RAP: Underground Rap, FOLK: Alternative Folk
Show all album songs: Blank Canvas Songs
Details:
Illegoaliens consists of two emcees and one deejay.
Fres and Lase, two emcees from Oshkosh Wisconsin formed the group back in 1993 (middle school) and began circulating mix tapes and demos and started to participate in local shows.
Ten years later, 2003 Seed aka dj redbuttons joined the crew and now we are here with Blank Canvas.
Q&A with Fres.
q: How does this new album differ from the previous music that you’ve released in the past? Including songs like, “Beacon of Light” and “Hollow Man.”
a: The tracks on the new album, aren’t too different from music we’ve made and circulated in the past. We’ve just grown older and gained more knowledge, learned new things, opened the eyes to new experiences and matured.
The new tracks are just as confusing if not more then the old tracks. We’ve in someways simplified the words down a bit. I guess you can say we went from complex complexity to simple complexity, though, probably still confusing in some sense.
q: You make a lot of references to different folklorish/mythical creatures (vampires, werewolves, aliens, etc.)– especially vampires – can you explain the significance of these creatures? Are you a vampire?
a: I’ve always been a sci fi nerd and a fan of universal studio’s classic monster characters. Not only that, but greek mythology fascinates me. Also, I love to read and get inspiration from a variety of different books. Back when I was a preteen to teen, I’d spend countless hours in the library, just reading up on odd things here and there. I just wanted to learn anything and everything and now it’s the meshing of everything I’ve retained.
With my music I write to be creative and i like to think outside the box of the usual hip hop clichés and norms.
The comparisons, the references to odd folklore, mythical stories, again is to have fun with what you write. Thinking outside the box. Emceeing in hip hop is about being creative, about entertaining the listener.
And if it seems I have a cynical edge to my storytelling, I write a lot of songs to myself. Some days it’ll be my optimistic self talking to you or even myself, sometimes it’s my pessimistic self. It’s all on how I’m feeling at that moment, that day in life.
q: What do you hope to accomplish with your music?
What is your approach to creating your music?
a: With my music I hope to intrigue people, maybe even inspire people. Show them that you can be creative and think outside the box.
My approach to creating music is, again, being creative. I don’t count bars or have a specific set pattern. Once I write something, when I’m through telling the story or message, the song is complete. If I don’t feel there needs to be a hook, then there won’t be one.
Most of the tracks, I don’t have a concept until it’s done. I write what I feel at the moment, or how the beat inspires me. Sometimes, I’ll flip though my notebook, gather up verses I’ve written and put them together. I’m sure if I was upset this day, and I’m upset this other day, it would make sense that these verses do go together, but just didn’t stream out my head in sequence.
I really don’t have any sort of structure, whether that’s good or bad, it’s what works and how I will continue to make music.
q: What is the most satisfying part of being involved with Hip Hop music?
a: It’s a well needed outlet, being able to project all this cumulated energy and thoughts in my head into something positive. That’s satisfying.
At the same time, I’m learning new things about myself with each song written. I’m riddling myself and at later times in life I come back and listen, I’ll catch things that didn’t make sense before, but do now.
You can say my music is a collection messages and stories for the future self and future listener, and if someone can take what I’ve written and relate to it, even more satisfying.
Also, by myself putting in the effort to get to know and be part of the hip hop culture, I was unintentionally trying to escape my ethnic heritage and culture, which I didn''t feel was accepting me. Now after all these years enriched with the beauty of hip hop, I''m now getting back to the roots of my own heritage and culture. The effort used to find the beauty in hip hop is the same effort I now use to find the beauty in my own culture.
That is why I feel I owe it to the hip hop culture to be involved in it in anyway. Hip hop raised me up as much as my parents did and taught me things I would have never learned or tried to learn.
Hip hop taught me creativity, imagination and dedication.
q: Some of the most vibrant and intriguing moments of your songs on the new album is the production and how your vocals blend but don’t always overshadow the music of the production. Who is behind everything from the music, samples, to effects of the instrumentals?
a: This album and all the music I’ve made in the past is low budget. My studio does not consist of much. I am comfortable with what I use and I feel it''s the creativity that must be priority in music.
The instrumentals behind the album were a collaboration of KshKsh, Cad of dreamlogic, Seed and myself.
KshKsh is a beast when it comes to beats. His sounds are astounding, extremely dope and different. I can’t go wrong with a Kshksh beat. Tracks like, Cursed Emerging, were written thoroughly after only one listening. We’ve been collaborating since 2001 and I hope to continue doing so. KshKsh also provided the illustration for the insert. He is currently concentrating on his film career.
Cad of dreamlogic, I’ve known this cat for sometime now and he’s been always fucked up in the head. That’s why we click so greatly together. We’re all “bothered individuals.” Cad’s use of electronica sounds and arrangements will mess with your head, be it intoxicated or sober. Cad and dreamlogic are also onto something as well as ON something. They dabble in electronica and progressive trance, but can also make some dope hip hop music.
Seed, one of the illest deejays I’ve ever known and will ever know. Creativity just oozes out of this cat’s fingertips. He contributed all the cuts and wicky wickies on the album. Seed is currently out of the country on one of his many expeditions.
Everything was mixed down by myself, as well as arranged and I added effects and manipulated some of the beats provided by KshKsh, Cad and Seed to accommodate the sequence of the album. Samples were then added to where the storyline of the album would run smooth.
Again, this is a low budget album, so don’t expect to hear everything sounding crisp and clean.
q: What/Who are some of your musical influences when creating your own music?
a: I’ve got tons of musical influences. I listen to all sorts of music and try to absorb all types of sounds.
Hip hop influences: Krs One, Rakim, Amosphere, Sage Francis, Anticon, WuTang, Galapagos4, Molemen, Kool Keith, Del and the Heiroglyphics family just to name a few.
To be honest, during the process of this album, I rarely listened to hip hop.
What I do listen quite a bit to, is 60s/70s classic rock. I love hippie rock or psychedelic rock. Anything from Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, Janice Joplin, The Doors, The Who, The Ramones and many more.
I love the lyrics of the 60s/70s era and I love the beats of hip hop. So it’s the formula I use.
When it comes to arranging music and production, Dan the Automator/Handsome Boy Modeling, Ant, Pink Floyd and Queen are big influences. The change ups, the melodies, the lyrics and passion found in their songs/albums are mind blowing.
But, not only does music influence me when I’m writing or arranging/composing. Art and artists, such as, Salvador Dali and Picasso are big influences. Their creativity and abstract depictions are beautiful.
With my music, I try to create audio optical illusions, something to bewilder the mind, magic eye for your ears, if you will. Movies for the ears, soundtracks for the eccentric.
q: What would you like to end off with?
a: Hip hop is extremely influential in this time and age. Hip hop music is a powerful art form. If you choose to use it, use it wisely. Don’t disgrace not only, hip hop, your ethnicity, but yourself.
Portray yourself how you would to your own flesh and blood, your own kinfolk. Be true to yourself. You may not want to be a role model, but you’re participating in an art form that younger folks want to be a part of and emulate.
Remember, your work will be taken literally by some and of course, as art to some. You’re going to be criticized. You’ve got to take the good with the bad and ugly.
Learn the history of HIP HOP. Learn the history of MUSIC. To be an outsider to any culture and want to be involved, does not mean, simply picking up from where the culture is and developing from knowledge of the current status. It means you have to dig deep, get to the roots and discover what molded and made the culture and music what it currently is.
Enjoy life. Take it seriously, yet take it lightly.
If you feel you’ve made a dope track. You’ve made a dope track.
Take it slow. Don’t rush. If you feel it’s not perfect. Make it perfect.
Think outside the box. Think outside the social norm. Be unique. Be intriguing. Don’t cater to one mind state. Music, hip hop or not, is a creative outlet, use your imagination.
Look into the arts. Look into the past, present and future for inspiration. They’re great resources. Read some books! Learn new words! Read poetry! Use wordplay, metaphors, ambiguity. Make people think. Let people make you think. Listen to other types of music. Eat other foods. Visit other places. Experiment. Trial and error. Think different, be different! But be yourself. Find yourself. It’s all on this album. Listen, take notes and apply.
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